Chapter 34

034

Regarding this employee’s behavior, the other Information Department employees in the office were all unfazed.

Their boss was far-sighted with sharp eyes and had long ago seen that the network world was a big piece of juicy meat.

Hadn’t countless weird ones been scamming and swindling every day for decades just to scrape together enough for internet fees? How many ambitious weird ones had been corrupted by the internet, ultimately falling into depravity, forgetting their former grand ambitions entirely!

To counter this, the boss had long recruited talented weird ones far and wide to establish the Information Department.

Did they really think this department—which even within the consortium offered top-tier benefits and welfare—was that easy to join?

Without some killer skill related to the internet, forget about working alongside them.

In the very next minute after the first employee slammed the table and stood up, another employee shot to his feet with a whoop and shouted, “Troll, you dare!”

Immediately after, the entire group of weird ones leaped up like fish and dove into the computer screens one by one.

As time passed, the entire office gradually quieted down. Even at the minister’s workstation up front, no weird shadow remained—only the office chair continued spinning from inertia.

In the temporary chat room that the first Information Department employee had pulled them into, there wasn’t just that one troll who had been slamming the Tonight’s Big Star preview online. For efficiency’s sake, Employee 7242 had dragged nearly twenty netizens into the chat room in one go.

At that moment, the troll who had first provoked 7242 saw no response from the other side and assumed that dumb weird one had run out of things to say. He immediately began crowing like a victorious general, spouting off to the other troll netizens in the chat room.

Everyone had voice chat enabled for easier heated exchanges—no need to type.

A hoarse voice laced with contempt rang out in the chat room channel: “Who knows where this retard came from? What business of his is it if I can’t stand the Tonight’s Big Star preview?”

“And that ‘Do~you~understand~what~you’re~seeing~?’ Pfft!” The short-haired young weird vented sarcastically in the chat room before slamming the table in fury. “Even a lowly selection staffer from an idol selection show can afford water army now!”

This remark successfully ignited the other netizens’ envy of the rich.

Yeah, they had basically all been dragged into this chat room for cursing that Third-Floor Elimination Staff for going too easy on the trainees.

Damn it, in this day and age, even a selection staffer could afford water army. How much money did the entertainment industry really make!

At that moment, another netizen in the chat room chimed in: “Who knows what’s going on? All the footage from the other floors in the preview was blacked out, but by some coincidence, the Third Floor cameras were perfectly fine?”

“Entertainment industry unspoken rules, duh. Didn’t you notice? The Tonight’s Big Star production team claims to promote trainees, but everyone knows what those trainees are really about. The ones they actually want to push are the mentors! Adding a selection staffer now changes nothing?”

“Tsk tsk tsk, if this Third-Floor Elimination Staff really debuts, I’ll black him to death! Can’t help it—pure envy of the rich.”

“Speaking of, could this be some rich weird family’s kid slumming it for life experience? Otherwise, how do you explain that level of comment control? Earlier online, it felt like I was facing down thousands of troops. I’d post one thing, and ten replies would hit me!”

“Thanks, hearing that makes me even more envious of the rich. Bored—I’ve made a group. Who’s joining?”

“Me.”

“I’m in too.”

The moment they heard a group was being formed—and not just any group, but one meant for badmouthing—the netizens in the chat room signed up eagerly.

They were all plenty frustrated in real life, not even daring to vent negative energy freely, lest some powerful weird one passing by overhear their casual complaints and make them regret it—maybe even cost them their lives.

The network world was different. Everyone wore virtual masks and didn’t know each other.

Only online did they feel truly alive, able to spew their malice without restraint.

Just thinking about those powerful beings who could crush them with a glance having to take their online attacks made them shiver with exhilaration!

A dozen or so weird ones were still clamoring to join when the so-called group quickly added ten members.

The group owner was about to keep promoting when a scream that made every weird one’s fur stand on end suddenly echoed through the chat room channel.

“Ah!!!”

“Who are you?”

“How did you get into my house?!”

The only response for this netizen was a sinister laugh.

The other weird ones in the chat room weren’t sure if it was a prank, but they reflexively fell silent.

In the short minutes that followed, they could only hear this new group member’s voice shift from robust to feeble and miserable.

His tone went from indignant questioning to terrified begging for mercy.

Finally, with a burst of static in their headsets, a video window forcibly popped up on every weird one’s computer and phone in the chat room.

In the video, a horrific face was shoved right up close to the camera. All the weird ones could see was a thumb with a thin callus lightly patting their new group member’s head in contempt.

As it patted, a voice asked, “Dark Night? Is that your username? Hmm? Didn’t you say if I had the guts, I should crawl over and find you? Well, Daddy’s here now—what do you have to say to me?”

“Heh, a bunch of country bumpkins! You really think throwing on an online skin lets you run wild?”

“I warned you how many times in the chat room!” That hand contemptuously patted the colorful face of the chat room troll. “Watch your words! Watch your words! Got it?”

“Frogs at the bottom of a well, staring at the sky from your bucket. You think our Young Master is someone any of you can slander?”

“Lonely Wolf, Very Bad Yet Very Gentle Brother, Female Weird Sister Hug…” Employee 7242 read off the netizen nicknames in the chat room one by one.

The other weird ones in the chat room, now grasping what was happening, instinctively tried to exit, only to find their mice unresponsive—their accounts seemed locked in the chat room.

As 7242 recited the usernames, he also played back the chat history. When he heard these dark weird ones actually planning a group to target their Young Master, his rage boiled over even further.

“Good, very good!”

“You’re making a group for our Young Master? No… you’re stomping on our faces with your filthy feet!”

“Wait right there!”

With that, 7242 couldn’t be bothered about overloading. He grabbed the nearby “Dark Night,” and the two weird ones squeezed together into that tiny computer screen.

Time flew by amid the Information Department employees’ diligent work, and in the blink of an eye, it was six o’clock the next morning.

In the Information Department’s dedicated work group:

【Information Department Minister: @All Members, report your work results.】

After a full night of busywork, 7424 pulled out his phone and snapped a selfie with the pile of weird ones behind him as the backdrop.

Just a few hours earlier, this bunch of arrogant weird ones had been insufferably cocky. Now, every last one beamed gentle, docile smiles at the camera like newborn lambs.

7424 nodded in satisfaction, used photo editing software to tweak the image a bit—making himself look even more travel-worn and weary—then uploaded it to the work group.

Before him, two colleagues had already reported in.

【7421: [Image][Image][Image]】

【7458: [Image][Image]】

After posting his own work photo, 7424 immediately opened his colleagues’ uploads and scrutinized them critically.

7421 had fewer weird ones in his photo background.

7458 had a few more than 7421, but… but… but 7458 wasn’t even wearing his work uniform! Deduct a point.

All in all, 7424’s work was the most perfect.

The work photos ended with the minister’s as the finale.

7424 smacked his lips at the minister’s photo, thinking it was no wonder the minister was the minister—that background wall had a whole stadium’s worth of weird ones, right?

He still had much to learn from the minister in terms of work efficiency.

And then there was an unexpected bonus. Third Assistant Wang Wei from the President’s Office dropped into the work group to relay the boss’s instructions.

【President’s Office Third Assistant Wang Wei: @All Members, per the boss’s orders, the entire Information Department must now treat purging unhealthy online trends as routine work—keep at it relentlessly. Our Young Master is in the flower of youth, full of boundless curiosity and kindness toward the world. We must carefully protect, cherish, and safeguard these wonderful qualities of his.】

【President’s Office Third Assistant Wang Wei: @All Members, as the saying goes, train troops for a thousand days to use them in one moment. Below is the new promotion quota standard for all Information Department employees—everything based on KPI! Accumulate enough KPI, colleagues, and promotion is within reach!】

Promotion?

Spotting that keyword, every Information Department employee’s eyes lit up with greed.

A glance at the KPI chart Third Assistant sent next had every employee—scattered across all corners of the Weird World—drawing in a sharp breath.

The chart went all the way up to general manager level!

Keep in mind, the Su Consortium had never established that position at headquarters to this day—aside from branches, the boss had always handled it personally.

Now, their Information Department was the first to reach for that gleaming general manager pie, all thanks to the Young Master!

How was this any different from the ancient human tales of military merit earning noble titles, blessing generations?

It wasn’t!

【7424: I, 7424, swear to protect the Young Master to the death! Not a single filthy word online will reach him!】

After sending that reply, his eyes glowing red, he turned toward the flock of little lambs behind him. His expression was so agitated it bordered on manic: “Good children, tell me—how many more black groups like this do you have?”

“The first one to tell me gets to leave after writing their self-criticism~”

Su Ximu had been getting up early lately to accompany the trainees, so he went to bed earlier than usual these days.

After staying up to watch the first episode, he was yawning nonstop—even skipping the production team’s follow-up preview clips before passing out.

Thus, he completely missed the online storm that night.

When he woke up that morning and went to the production team’s account for the preview link, the comments section was already a sea of flowery praise.

【Dark Night: What moving prose, what magnificent graffiti! Seeing these on the trainees’ faces is the honor of my lifetime!】

【Lonely Wolf: Isn’t it obvious the production team has no eye for talent? Someone with such expressive power, such excellence, and you stick him as Third-Floor Elimination Staff?】

【Sleepless Tonight: ? How are you seeing through walls up front? The Third-Floor Elimination Staff’s face isn’t even clear—how do you know he’s expressive? Did you graft your face onto his?】 Comment deleted.

【Lonely Wolf: What do you know… about anything? Aura, aura—get it?】

【Very Bad Yet Very Gentle Brother: Paying top dollar for that painting the Third-Floor Elimination Staff drew on the trainee’s forehead! 10 million!】

【Sleepless Tonight: ? Are you all nuts? Isn’t that just a ‘king’? Did your mom never paint you a tiger face as a kid? Never seen a dad carve one on?】 Comment deleted.

In the blink of an eye, a bunch of comments marked as deleted.

Su Ximu, reading the comments, blinked curiously. What exactly had those deleted ones said?

Meanwhile

In a three-story office building on the outskirts of Tanzhong City

Su Jianglou stepped wearily into the office and flopped casually onto a sofa.

He had indeed been too busy lately.

It was unknown whether it was because the competition in the chaos edge region’s territories was too fierce, but in just this half month, dozens of desolate mountain villages in Tanzhong City, Tandong, Tanxi, Tannan, and Tanbei had all suffered harassment and invasions from some jobless wandering Weirds.

But as everyone knew, these places were all territories of his Desolate Village Tourism Group.

In the past, he might not have paid much attention to such harmless harassments. When he was bored for too long, going out to stretch his muscles occasionally was pretty good too.

But things were different now. He had more important matters that demanded his energy, so these Wild Weirds running rampant on his turf from time to time seemed particularly blind.

To prevent such disturbances from interrupting his time with Xiao Mu in the future, Su Jianglou got serious this time. Over the next few days, he swept through a total of forty-five desolate mountain villages across Tanzhong, Tandong, Tannan, Tanxi, and Tanbei without a moment’s rest.

Wherever Wild Weirds had invaded, he cleaned them up.

Where there were no Wild Weird invasions, he gave a casual warning to the Weirds managing the villages.

After all this hustle, his skin had tanned even darker than before.

Su Jianglou had not been lying down for long when an assistant entered the office with a cup of strong tea and carefully placed it on the coffee table.

Su Jianglou waved his hand at the assistant. “Alright, I’ll call you if I need anything.”

With that, he casually picked up the teacup.

He actually did not like tea much; the stuff was bitter and astringent. It was just that, in his memories, this flavor stood out particularly vividly.

Sipping the tea with mild distaste, Su Jianglou took out his phone and casually opened a local entertainment app, intending to check if anything new had happened in Tanzhong City during the days he had been away.

The app had a very clean design. The first thing that caught his eye upon opening it was the local hot search column.

The number one hot search entry was strikingly: 【Tonight’s Big Star Premiere Ratings】

Seeing this entry, Su Jianglou set down his teacup and frowned. He suddenly remembered that the last time Xiao Mu had thrown a fit about quitting his job for a new one, the workplace had been the crew of this Tonight’s Big Star program, right?