Who gave you permission to travel through time with Earth?

"Bang!"

The gunshot still reverberated in her brain. Fang Jin had originally wanted to savor the burning heat and pain of the flesh falling out, but her consciousness had already been forcibly pulled out of the darkness of self-destruction.

"Sizzle... sizzle."

In her field of vision, large swaths of black and white snowflakes suddenly exploded, and the unfamiliar scene solidified its shape as it swayed. Fang Jin forced herself to come to her senses.

This is a narrow, oppressive meeting room.

Inside, there are white porcelain and red chairs, and outside the window, it's pitch black. The swaying incandescent light bulbs occasionally flicker out of power and then come back on, filling the room with large swaths of glaring, cold light.

Fang Jin was fixed in the third seat from the left. He tried to get up, but his joints seemed to be stuck by air pressure and he couldn't move. The system's restrictions on him were still not lifted.

There were actually five others like Fang Jin, all dressed in white shirts and black trousers, sitting sparsely in various positions in the conference room. From this angle, it was impossible to see their faces clearly.

However, it's not necessary to see a face to know an emotion; even just from subtle reactions seen from behind, Fang Jin can deduce a lot.

Hair tied up, legs shaking, fingers clenched tightly... these people all showed varying degrees of tension or excitement, but they were clearly not unprepared for the unusual situation that was about to unfold.

What impressed Fang Jin the most was a young man with a white buzz cut. His eyes were as sharp as daggers. He sat in a relaxed but not casual posture, calmly waiting for what was to come.

"Smack."

A soft sound came from the front of the conference room, as if a switch had been flipped, freeing everyone from the shackles around their necks, and they all looked up.

There, seemingly out of nowhere, sat a typical office whiteboard. A woman dressed in office attire stood before it, her body appearing as if she had just recovered from a blurry image.

Holding a ballpoint pen in her hand, she tapped it on the whiteboard, drawing everyone's attention. Then, a stiff, alluring smile appeared on her excessively pale face as she slowly began to speak:

"Welcome, new employees. This is your last work experience before you officially join our company."

Her voice was clean and sweet, but almost devoid of warmth.

"I hope everyone cherishes this learning opportunity... This will determine whether you can meet the survival pressures of our company."

"Now let's explain the precautions..."

As she spoke, a familiar mechanical voice rang in her ears, and the panel most familiar to players was reflected on her iris. Fang Jin instinctively scanned it quickly.

[Instance loading complete. Welcome, players.]

[Duplicate Title: "Mr. Beast's Securities Firm"]

[Instance Type: Tier 1 "Hard" Instance, Multiplayer Survival]

[Without a doubt, Mr. Beast's logo is renowned worldwide. They manipulate the entire financial system like stacking or overturning building blocks, and the company handles 60% of the kingdom's annual finances.]

As elites selected from a pool of twelve million applicants, the six of you already possess the basic qualifications to join the company, and should have been enjoying a wonderful life ahead of you...

But I'm sorry, please leave as soon as possible! This company is no longer normal. Whatever you see during the tour... either run away, or you'll have to kill us immediately.

[Main quest triggered: End the "Workplace Experience" within the time limit (either kill Mr. Beast and be forcibly fired, or find the company's true exit and leave early)]

[Note: "Okay, do you think they'll issue N2 certificates after we go on a killing spree and end up in jail?"]

The word "multiplayer dungeon" caught Fang Jin's attention more than any other description, so he looked up earlier than the others.

At this moment, everyone except Fang Jin was listening intently or looking down to familiarize themselves with the panel's contents. Some acquaintances were even whispering to each other, their identities already self-evident.

"Players from the virtual space...it turns out there really are others besides me."

Fang Jin tapped his chin in relief. To be honest, before this, he had always thought that the freedom promised by the system was just empty talk, and that the closed space connecting all the worlds was his future destination.

But the presence of these newcomers has cleared up his doubts. Unlike the stowaways, he doesn't feel anxious. As newcomers, he has learned about dungeons and spaces in advance and is full of anticipation.

Perhaps there really is a main world outside, a planet favored and even established by the system, a special society that mass-produces players and utilizes dungeons... a world where everyone is a player.

Could it be that these people...

"Difficult dungeons, plus a survival-type... battle royale?"

A girl wearing round-framed glasses stood up uncontrollably, her knees slamming heavily against the table and chairs with a sickening tearing sound.

She felt almost no pain, staring intently at a point in the void, her face ashen, her thumb nail almost bitten off.

"The hardest type with an 86% mortality rate, even the monsters with the lowest stats are above the average player level, so why... why are we the only ones so unlucky?"

"Any one of those monsters could tear us to pieces! I'm done playing! I'm done playing! Let me leave! I choose to give up my chance to evolve!"

The other speakers were a pair of twins, both large and stout, with flowing, eye-catching blond hair. However, they were also gripped by fear, and their entire bodies were twitching and trembling uncontrollably.

"...Tsk."

Well, maybe my expectations were too high. It seems the players in the main world are of varying quality... He rubbed his temples helplessly, his ambition to latch onto someone's coattails instantly extinguished.

The remaining three remained silent. Fang Jin, the girl in the knitted hat, and the young man with the white buzz cut showed almost no emotion on their faces.

At least they didn't think this out-of-control behavior would increase their chances of survival. They silently watched the out-of-control girl and continued to assess their surroundings.

The physical limitations were lifted the moment the system connected, and the feeling of drowning in the air pressure disappeared. Fang Jin could clearly feel the restlessness of the melting fluid in her chest.

The shirt and trousers seemed more like a play of light and shadow than actual clothing. Fang Jin reached into the non-existent pocket on the right side of the shirt and found two unfinished mints.

Fang Jin chuckled and tossed it into her mouth.

What's most concerning is the white-collar worker's behavior. Half of the six employees were behaving inappropriately, but she ignored them and continued explaining the procedures in a flowing manner, with only a busy signal coming through her words.

"...In addition, there is this item."

Sensing something amiss in the folds of her clothing, Fang Jin reached out and pulled out the foreign object from her chest. It was a thin blue rope looped around the back of her neck.

But what was tied to the end of the thin rope was not the employee badge he had expected, but a heavy, cold pistol... brand new and shiny as if it had just been printed.

The pistol gleamed with a cold metallic sheen, its silver cylinder protruding from the barrel. The exposed chamber was filled with six bullets, the casings deep black, the bullets a rich, bright red... like congealed blood.

"Click."

With a gentle push of his thumb, he repositioned the protruding cylinder back into the gun body. The crisp metallic knocking sound was unusually abrupt and jarring in the entire conference room, drawing everyone's attention.

...including the white-collar worker in front of the whiteboard.

"This is your pass, and it's the only credential you have to move around within the company."

Her voice returned to clarity, but her body seemed unable to keep up with the movement of her head; her skull turned 180 degrees backward, and blood gushed from her twisted and folded orifices...

That stiff, unchanging smile was permeated with it.

"Please do not lose or discard this item. Our employees are quite hostile towards outsiders. They probably won't give way unless you point a gun at their heads... Of course, this is just a joke."

"There are only six bullets. Red is our favorite color. You can use them to exchange for different 'benefits' from different employees to ensure a smooth and safe visit."

"That's all I have to say." Her body began to blur, like a faulty television signal, and the remaining image was overwhelmed and covered by an absolutely abnormal amount of blood!

"There are only... five minutes left before the official tour begins."

"My personal suggestion is... to leave this meeting room within five minutes."

As soon as she finished speaking, her body finally swelled to its limit, her smiling face was finally stretched open by the uncontrolled liquid, and her body, which was wrapped in a uniform, exploded like a blood balloon!

But as she disappeared, the splattered blood faded and vanished in just a few breaths, leaving only a faint, slippery feeling on her body... and a deathly silence in the entire conference room.

"..."

"Ha ha."