Mercenaries in Two Worlds

Looking exhausted, Zhang Qian dragged his weary body and opened the door. With a "snap," the dim light came on. He kicked the door open casually, sending his leather shoes flying, and without even looking for his slippers, went back to his room in his socks.

While waiting for his laptop to boot up, Zhang Qian pulled off his tie and put it in the drawer. He muttered to himself, "Why did I bring my tie back again? It'll be a problem if I forget it tomorrow." Bank employees usually keep their ties on their desks to avoid forgetting them the next day.

The usually outgoing Zhang Qian developed a habit of talking to himself in this small town of Jungui, driven by sheer boredom. After graduation, he found a job at a bank, only to be assigned to this town, more than two hours' drive from the city center. Working as a teller, isolated from the world by a glass partition, he worked six days a week, spending his remaining day off cultivating a bond with his bed, becoming increasingly withdrawn, yet utterly helpless to change it.

Zhang Qian always felt that he couldn't fit into the unique customs of the small town, and his accented Mandarin further alienated him from the locals.

"Cough cough," Zhang Qian, who was filling a kettle with water, suddenly coughed. He didn't care. It must be the local residents in the building burning incense again. They have a custom of building a door god by the door and burning incense every few days. Zhang Qian was too lazy to pay attention to the specific days, after all, he had no intention of integrating into this small town.

Returning to his desk and staring at the computer screen, he suddenly realized he didn't know what to do. He habitually rested his chin on the desk, sighed, and said, "Ugh, so tiring, so boring. What should I do?"

Earning a meager salary that barely covers his living expenses, Zhang Qian often considered quitting. However, his family told him that the bank job was so good, he should continue, save enough money to buy a house and get married.

Zhang Qian could only chuckle at this. Only those working in banks know the hardships they endure. Earning a pittance, they greet customers with a smile every day, sacrificing their dignity to gain a little understanding from difficult clients. At the end of the month, they beg and plead to attract deposits. It's truly a case of one person entering the bank, and the whole family getting busy.

Fortunately, Zhang Qian's family was also a poor farming family, which spared the whole family the troublesome pace of being busy.

Zhang Qian loathed the suit he was wearing, which made him look like a dog in human skin. He pretended to be high-minded, but inside he was already miserable.

"Ugh, I can't take it anymore, this is so boring." Zhang Qian slammed his hand on the table a few times. With a "bang," one of his slams was off-target and hit the laptop instead. "Click, click, click," the screen flickered.

"Damn it, don't mess with me, bro, I won't do it again, I didn't mean it! I still have six months left on the computer installment plan, that's a month and a half's salary of mine, please stop!"

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. The computer screen flickered and then went black with a "snap." Zhang Qian sighed and leaned back in his chair, speechless. How could someone be so unlucky?

With a "whoosh," the computer suddenly lit up again, giving Zhang Qian, who was feeling dejected, a glimmer of hope. After the computer flickered twice, the screen suddenly went white. A strange scene unfolded: a line of text slowly appeared on the screen, as if someone was typing in the background.

Zhang Qian, leaning tightly against his chair, stared wide-eyed at a line of text that suddenly appeared on the computer screen: "Are you bored?"

There are two options below: "Yes" and "No".

Zhang Qian, holding the mouse, said, "No way, is the paranormal event caused by a virus?"

"I'm not bored." Then he reached out and clicked "no."

"Hmm? I can't click it." After clicking the "No" option with the mouse, there was no response. I clicked it several times, but still no response. I could only try the "Yes" option.

With a click, Zhang Qian clicked the mouse, and a white light flashed on the computer screen. This light could not possibly have come from a laptop, and the entire room was as bright as day.

"Oh my god, don't mess with me! I have eighty... uh... no, only forty, and I don't have... uh... no... I don't even have a girlfriend yet! Anyway, please stop!" Zhang Qian found himself surrounded by white light, unable to open his eyes, and could only keep muttering to himself, not knowing if anyone could hear him.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhang Qian found that he could finally open his eyes. He looked at the computer screen and saw a line of text: "Congratulations on becoming our collector on the Tianxing Continent."

"Tianxing Continent? What the hell? Hey, explain yourself clearly." Zhang Qian's heart was still pounding; the eerie light from earlier had left him with lingering fear.

"The interface to the plane where Tianxing Continent is located is on your Earth. Only through Earth can you enter the universe where Tianxing Continent is located. According to the agreement we signed, you will need to help us collect top-grade spirit stones." A new line of text appeared on the screen.

"Holy crap, it can actually hear me!" Zhang Qian exclaimed. "A top-grade spirit stone! You crappy computer, you're even cultivating immortality?" Zhang Qian often read online novels when he was bored, so he was particularly sensitive to the word "spirit stone."

After carefully reading those words again, I realized something seemed amiss. "Don't talk nonsense. I didn't sign any agreement with you. If you lie, I'll sue you. A lot of my classmates are lawyers."

"Given that you have met the signing conditions, you are forced to sign. The agreement stipulates that you need to pay a total of 10,000 top-grade spirit stones. Furthermore, low-level civilized beings do not have the right to protest, otherwise they will be exterminated." Regardless of Zhang Qian's protests, this rather domineering statement was stubbornly displayed on the screen.

I've never seen such a shameless person... Um... Zhang Qian hadn't even seen a copy of the agreement, and now they're telling him he's already signed it? Accepting it would be insane. It's like you're walking down the street, and suddenly a woman comes along holding a child and says the child is yours and you have to take responsibility. You'd be like a Spartan, right? The worst part is, you're still a virgin... And then this woman and her whole family point AK-47s at your face and say, "Sorry, you have no right to refuse."

"Tch, is this some kind of virus? Are they kidding me?" Zhang Qian was still skeptical. After thinking for a while, he tore off two tissues and covered the webcam on top of the laptop, muttering, "It would be troublesome if a hacker took control of my webcam. I don't want it to be filmed and posted online."

Zhang Qian didn't understand computer hacking, but being cautious and suspicious, he felt it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Mr. Zhang, please believe me. If you are ready, I can teleport you to Tianxing Continent now," the notebook explained, seemingly understanding Zhang Qian's intention.

Before they could even exchange a word, Zhang Qian was enveloped by a ball of light that seemed to flow through his body as if it were a tangible substance.

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