Redemption

Chapter 2: "salvation"

Dinner time, across from Hualian Building.

Yang Jian and Zhou Yue sat face to face by the window in the restaurant.

"Two years ago, when the company moved here to Hualian Building, I thought we would be here for a very, very long time..."

Zhou Yue sighed, seeing that Yang Jian said nothing.

"Seriously, Yang Jian, why did you suddenly sell the company? I'm genuinely curious, can you enlighten me?"

Yang Jian finally lifted his head from the dining table.

"Because the end of the world is coming!"

Zhou Yue fell silent for a moment, then looked up at the sky.

The sky had gradually darkened, and the crack suspended high above was no longer visible.

Even though experts and professors all said that this thing was nothing to worry about.

Some said it was just an astronomical phenomenon, while others claimed it was a problem of light refraction, just like a mirage!

But damn it, this crack could be seen by looking up from any corner of the world... whether you were in Xia, the United States, or Europa!

People's firm belief in those unreliable experts was also a form of compromise in the face of an uncertain future.

Otherwise, what else could they do?

Fall into despair and then self-destruct?

"Tch, you're talking about unrealistic things again!"

Zhou Yue furiously cut her steak on the plate.

Yang Jian ignored her. "See? I told you, and you still don't believe me..." Seeing Yang Jian picking at his food with chopsticks, she couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"At least pay attention to your image!"

Yang Jian was unconcerned.

"No choice! I'm one of those poor people who suddenly got rich but couldn't stay in that class for too long before being knocked back down! The mud on my legs hasn't even been shaken off yet!"

At this, Zhou Yue got angry.

"Ugh, three or four years of hard work, all gone to waste!"

Yang Jian didn't respond, pulling out his phone and tapping a few times before handing it over.

Zhou Yue, bewildered, reached out to take it.

"Let me show you..."

"Show me what?"

Zhou Yue took the phone with a puzzled expression, glanced at it, and her face immediately darkened.

"What do you mean by showing me this?"

"Look at my balance... It wasn't all for nothing, we didn't waste our efforts!"

Seeing that his little assistant was truly about to explode, Yang Jian composed himself and pulled out a pre-prepared check from his bag!

"You didn't waste your efforts either... Twenty million, that's your hard-earned fee!"

Now it was Zhou Yue's turn to feel awkward.

"I can't take this money! My salary has always risen with the company, I'm already earning millions a year!"

Yang Jian pushed it directly in front of her.

"The fact that you can get angry and then unconditionally support me in selling the company and leaving Chuangsheng with me, that's what you deserve!"

Zhou Yue thought for a moment, as if it was indeed her turn to get rich, and no longer hesitated, picking up the check and putting it into her bag.

Seeing that she had accepted the money, Yang Jian wiped his mouth and stood up.

"Let's go, let's check out our studio!"

"We're really regressing, from the field of artificial intelligence to a game studio... I have to say, our leap is really big!"

"Don't complain so much, you'll understand later! I have to say, you are really lucky!"

"Lucky? I, Zhou Yue, have been an ace student since childhood, skipping grades to get into Linhai University, and then you tricked me into child labor, how dare you say I'm lucky?"

"Because you have always been assisting the protagonist of this era!"

Zhou Yue: ... I knew you were shameless before, but I didn't know you were *this* shameless!

They arrived at a beautiful commercial park and rented a four-story detached building.

The previous owner used it as an office, but later the company went bankrupt, and the owner ran away.

The landlord reclaimed the building and then rented it to Yang Jian.

Because it already had a foundation of renovation, it was mostly tidied up in about ten days and could be put into use!

"Boss, I didn't expect you not to propose buying this place! After all, you even bought those two floors in Hualian back then!"

"You're switching roles so fast, are you the boss again now?"

Zhou Yue: ... "No need to buy, it's almost the end of the world. If this landlord is unlucky and dies in the first wave, this building will all be ours!"

Zhou Yue: ... Her rationality told her that Yang Jian was talking nonsense.

Her intuition told her that he was telling the truth... and Zhou Yue had always trusted her intuition since she was a child!

"The 'salvation' you mentioned, I also ordered two advanced game pods and over two hundred game helmets, arriving tomorrow! It won't affect the game's open beta at 6 PM the day after tomorrow!"

"Why only over two hundred? Didn't I ask you to prepare more?"

"They have purchase limits, and we only got this many by using the name of a game studio!"

Yang Jian nodded, understanding that they would likely restrict hoarding.

"What about the professional players you were supposed to recruit?"

"Because you, Boss, didn't require them to be professional players, and also demanded that everyone be able to come to the company to work together, some people I was optimistic about weren't recruited!"

If they don't accept your recruitment, it means they don't have the good fortune!

Yang Jian was noncommittal, continuing to listen to Zhou Yue's report.

Thinking back to the early days of Chuangsheng, it seemed Zhou Yue was a finance manager, part-time HR, part-time office manager, and part-time assistant... After three or four years, she was back to this job, no wonder she felt it was all for nothing!

"Anything else?"

"Currently, we've recruited two front desk staff, one finance person, all recent college graduates!

Additionally, there are three cleaners, five security guards, and a chef team!

These people started work two days ago; now it's after hours.

The key is that thirty professional players have been recruited, all college students! They are scheduled to report in tomorrow!"

Good, Yang Jian nodded in approval!

Indeed, college students are a better fit for the profession of game player!

Arriving at the new office, Yang Jian sat in his familiar boss chair.

He opened the computer, and a pop-up ad immediately appeared on the desktop.

"Online game 'salvation,' grand open beta on June 27, 2225 of the Xia Calendar. This is a holographic virtual game that combines multiple nations..."

Yang Jian's eyes narrowed.

"Name: Game of the Gods"

"Description: Where there is an abyss, there will be gods. For example, the unlucky Titan who was besieged and killed by the Abyss Lords is one of them. The moment Blue Star was locked by the Abyss Will, the God Game also descended upon Blue Star. Here there is power to resist the abyss, and also an opportunity to become a god!"

"Note: Go, young man, what are you still thinking about? That's becoming a god!!!"

This game suddenly appeared ten days ago.

As soon as it appeared, there was overwhelming promotion, and countries all over the world actively helped with its rollout.

Yang Jian had a cheat, knowing the essence of this game, but did the governments of Blue Star also know?

He couldn't help but suspect that perhaps an envoy of the gods had descended and enlightened the various countries about the purpose of "salvation"!

Back home, Yang Jian, lying on his bed, pulled out the necklace from his chest.

It was a blue rhomboid crystal encased in a small golden cage!

"Item: titan heart Fragment"

"Description: Why else would you be a follower of the Goddess of Fortune? Even a fragment of divinity can fall at her feet, and you, this old trickster, just happened to snatch it!"

"Note: This is a shortcut to becoming a god! Whether to use it or not, you need to consider carefully! But in the game, it is very useful!"

... The next day, when Yang Jian arrived at the company, it was no longer as deserted as yesterday.

A plaque had already been hung at the entrance.

"Lingyun Network Consulting Services Co., Ltd.?"

The two twin girls at the front desk slightly nodded to Yang Jian and asked with a smile.

"Hello, are you here to report?"

The open beta was tomorrow, and there were many things to do, so Yang Jian wasn't in the mood to play around with them.

"My name is Yang Jian, and I am your boss! Has General Manager Zhou arrived?"

The twins' eyes lit up.

One of the girls, who looked a bit more lively, introduced herself.

"Hello, Boss, my name is Xia Mingruo, and that's my older sister, Xia Mingwei, we are..."

"Hmm, good. Today is the first day of work, and there are still many things to do in the company. Let's chat later!"

Yang Jian wasn't just being perfunctory; his path to godhood was set to begin at 6 PM tomorrow, so he didn't have time to chat with them here.

When the abyss invades and the human world becomes a hell, if he can truly stand at the pinnacle of the world, won't he have as many beauties as he wants?

Arriving at the large conference room, a dozen or so people were already sparsely seated inside!

When Zhou Yue saw Yang Jian enter, she stood up and offered him the main seat, then sat in the first seat on the left.

Yang Jian looked up and couldn't help but frown.

"Why are there still women?"

Zhou Yue looked at Yang Jian in surprise. She had never noticed this little Wu had workplace gender discrimination before!

"You hired so many female employees at Chuangsheng before, and I never saw you react like this!"

"Playing games, Big Sister, can men and women be the same?"

This touched upon a blind spot in the good student's knowledge.

Zhou Yue asked with uncertainty, "Is there a big difference?"

Yang Jian opened his mouth... Forget it, as a big boss like him, he didn't care about a little extra salary.

"Where are the others? Didn't you say thirty?"

Yang Jian looked at his watch; it was clearly past the time.

"They've all been contacted by phone and confirmed they won't be coming!"

Yang Jian wasn't surprised by this at all.

This was too normal. When Chuangsheng first started, it was incredibly difficult.

The hardest part for a makeshift team was recruiting people!

Out of a batch of thirty people attending training, perhaps only three or five would remain after three days of training... After all, they weren't recruiting for white-collar or gold-collar positions!

The fact that fourteen people showed up now was already thanks to the game!

After all, each "salvation" game helmet cost ten thousand yuan, and coming here meant getting a free game to play!

"Everyone, I am the boss of Lingyun. I'll say a few simple words to you all..."