Gu Mian had seen this exaggerated, garish red, semi-transparent font before.

It was in a hide-and-seek instance. Back then, he had visited the neighboring food processing plant instance and coincidentally met a Fortune-teller. The Fortune-teller had enthusiastically led him all the way to the plant manager's office.

Gu Mian had long forgotten the manager's name, only remembering it seemed to be a number.

At that time, the manager of the food processing plant had a "Gu Mian Detector," though it was a beta version. Listening to the bald man, it seemed this machine was now being mass-produced and was available for purchase; it had even been upgraded and revamped with a newer model.

However, these subtitles looked similar to what he had seen in the food processing plant before, just with an added inserted advertisement. Gu Mian didn't know what practical functions this latest model had gained.

The bald man had just said he hadn't purchased a Gu Mian Detector when warning subtitles from the device began to appear around them, instantly filling the air with an awkward atmosphere. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"Heh heh," the man forced out two stiff laughs, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small machine, the size of a lighter. "So this is the detector, huh? What a coincidence! I just happened to pick this up on the street. I really don't know what this thing is…"

While the man was speaking, Gu Mian had already snatched the detector from his hand to inspect it. The machine's exterior appeared to have been upgraded and looked better than before. Printed on it were the words: "Advertising space for rent, please call XXXXXX."

Gu Mian, disgusted by the shoddy subtitles surrounding them, casually tossed the device far away under the man's pained gaze. The detector landed near a flowerpot about half a person's height, far across the hall, and the surrounding subtitles finally disappeared.

"Do you know where the person in charge of Sunshine Insurance Company is?" Gu Mian hadn't grabbed these two to assign blame, but to get some useful information out of them.

"I really don't know. This is also my first time coming to this insurance company," the man began. "The main thing is, the insurance here is just too expensive. A single accident policy would cost me half my savings to buy. Tell me, what if I bought the insurance and you *didn't* show up? Wouldn't that be a total loss for me?

"COUGH, COUGH, basically, everyone hopes for the best, thinking they won't be *that* unlucky. So, most people are here for the first time today; how would they know who's in charge or not?

"Besides, my workplace is incredibly busy. The ghosts, artifacts, and whatnot in the museum all need daily maintenance. I'm swamped all day long and don't have the time to ask about other people…"

This sparsely-haired man certainly had a lot of nonsense to say. Gu Mian clapped a hand over his mouth, not wanting to hear any more of it.

While still covering the man's mouth, he looked at the bespectacled woman beside them.

Before he could ask, the woman, as if understanding his unspoken question, quickly said, "I work at the Star Disk Game Number 7 Subsidiary Company in the suburbs. I'm a game programmer…"

A programmer? Gu Mian thought, glancing at her hair, which seemed quite thick. Compared to her, this guy next to me looks more like a programmer. His gaze shifted to the bald man's head.

The man also noticed the gaze fixed on the top of his head and shyly looked down.

The woman fumbled for a small booklet to prove her identity. "I'm a programmer for a small game. I usually repair and maintain games at the company. Today is also my first time here, and I don't know who's in charge of this insurance company."

Gu Mian took the booklet from her and looked. The few pages with entries were all records of bug fixes—

"Fixed a bug where player clothing would be eliminated during gameplay."

"Fixed an issue where multiple corpses in the same room would cause players to get stuck and unable to move."

These bugs sound pretty horrifying, Gu Mian mused. She's probably a programmer for a rather twisted instance, what with the disappearing clothes and corpses.

"But based on my experience working at a game company," the woman continued, "I believe there might be clues in their offices here. When our company's game designers create maps, they often place important clues in offices. Most designers will include a password-locked safe in an office and scatter the password clues in various corners of the building for players to freely explore…"

While the woman was speaking, Gu Mian had already swept his gaze over the entire first-floor hall.

There wasn't much cover on the first floor; it could be taken in at a single glance.

"This staircase leads to the second floor." Keke had already found the stairs to the second floor and was waving to Gu Mian and the others from over there.

Gu Mian immediately led the two NPCs quickly up the stairs, and soon they were upstairs.

Once everyone was on the second floor and the first floor was empty, a sneaky head suddenly poked out from behind a meter-high flowerpot in the corner of the hall.

It was Zhao Tiankuo.

When Gu Mian had entered, Zhao Tiankuo hadn't had time to escape and had frantically hidden behind a flowerpot in the corner. Fortunately, the flowerpot was large enough to conceal him.

He had hidden there, listening nervously to Gu Mian's group conversing, and only dared to peek out after everyone had gone upstairs.

Now is the perfect time to escape!

Zhao Tiankuo immediately tiptoed out from behind the flowerpot and moved towards the entrance, also snatching up the Gu Mian Detector that had been thrown near the flowerpot earlier.

Meanwhile, Gu Mian, now on the second floor, had no idea his romantic interest was downstairs.

He had just reached the second floor and hadn't yet had a chance to carefully observe the situation when he heard the frantic sound of a table being dragged, coming from one of the rooms.

The group looked towards the room the sound came from. A plaque on its door read "General Office."

There's definitely someone inside, Gu Mian thought.

Gu Mian immediately let go of the two people and strode to the office door, trying the handle. It was locked from the inside and wouldn't open.

Of course, a small door like this was no obstacle for Gu Mian.

Under the terrified gazes of the NPCs, Gu Mian took his "handy door-opener" from his guitar case. He quickly sawed through the lock, and then Gu Mian kicked the office door open.

A small desk had been pushed against the door from the inside, but it was useless; Gu Mian kicked it aside along with the door.

Opening the door revealed a huge window.

The weather outside was pleasant: blue skies, white clouds, and a gentle, warm breeze. Wind blew in through the open window, making the nearby curtains flutter gently. It was a very picturesque scene.

If it weren't for the old man by the open window, apparently preparing to jump, the scene would have been even more beautiful.

The old man was clearly startled by the sudden sound of the door being kicked open. He hadn't yet decided on the pose with which to greet the earth when the sound startled him, making him wrench his back. With a "YELP!" he tumbled out the window.

Then, the people at the door heard a dull thud from below, followed by an "OUCH!"

Gu Mian quickly went to the window and looked down. He saw that the old man who had jumped had landed in the green belt below. The height wasn't fatal, but for an old man with his old bones, a fall from there would still be quite rough.

The old man had probably sprained his leg but was still resilient enough to get up and hobble away into the distance. His speed, however, wasn't impressive—barely faster than walking.

Keke picked up an insurance brochure from the desk by the window and flipped through it. "He seems to be the person in charge of this Sunshine Insurance Subsidiary Company. His photo is in here."

Gu Mian took a look, and sure enough, the old man's photo was on the first page, with his job title and name underneath—

"Wang Napao, Person-in-Charge, Sunshine Road Sunshine Insurance Subsidiary Company."