Chapter 24: The Giant Panda and the Rumor

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

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After two hours of work, he finally completed the task assigned to him.

Qin Ruo stretched his arms to temporarily soothe the stiffness in his body and his mental fatigue. He secretly warned himself that what happened that day should not be allowed to happen again. He spent the whole night awake all because of his excitement in getting one equipment. This made him feel sleepy during office hours for the very first time. He really should not have done it!

At this exact moment, a slender hand was outstretched from behind him and a cup of coffee was placed on his table. The steaming coffee and its aroma raised Qin Ruo’s spirits immediately.

“What did you do last night? Look at you, you’re just like a giant panda.”

With such sweet voice, he knew who the person was without looking. It had to be Xiaoxiao who sat next to him. Her full name was Zheng Xiaoxiao. She was almost the same age as Qin Ruo, but she joined the company half a year earlier than him. She was also… very pretty.

On normal days, Qin Ruo was not the type to be very presumptuous. However, on that day, he did not know if he was driven by the strong and attractive redolence of the coffee, or if it was his unusual psychological state, he picked up the coffee naturally and took a sip of it, then he sighed. “It’s good being a giant panda, who’s dearly loved by everybody.”

Perhaps Qin Ruo was really exhausted. He spoke with a completely different expression, tone, and gesture from his usual self. He was emitting a kind of casual and relaxed aura that made Zheng Xiaoxiao’s heart race a little. She had only been used to Qin Ruo’s modest and courteous side.

Nonetheless, she jokingly said, “Well, I’ve already brewed you a cup of coffee, what else are you not satisfied with? Do you want me to ask your Su Yi baby to come and serve you?”

Qin Ruo nearly spat out the coffee from his mouth when he heard this sudden remark from Xiaoxiao. He forcefully swallowed back the coffee, but this led him into another fierce fit of coughs.

Just as Qin Ruo tried to defend himself, Brother Da’s deadly sarcastic voice abruptly reached him.

“Hey Ruo Ruo, please be grateful. I’m not jealous of a giant panda, I’m jealous of you. Xiaoxiao’s such a nice lady, but you wish to have someone else? She’s been so kind to brew you a cup of coffee, yet you remain half-hearted. You’ve got no conscience, man…”

Who’s half-hearted?

Holding his cup of coffee, Qin Ruo could only feel grief without tears.

There was only less than an hour before lunch, and everyone seemed to be done with their tasks. With Brother Da’s provocation, the spacious office started to be filled with the noise of chit-chat. They were discussing the rumor regarding Qin Ruo and the babe Su Yi from the front desk…

Regardless of the credibility of the rumor, the bored office workers latched on to the topic and discussed it openly in a serious tone.

Some said their birthdates were not compatible, while others said that they were a perfect match. Qin Ruo had completely collapsed during this brief moment. The perpetrators were Zheng Xiaoxiao and Wang Da—one was laughing sneakily, while the other was doing what he did best…

“Ya’ll didn’t know that Su Yi’s tiny face became red so quickly after Ruo Ruo flirted with her…”

“Really?”

“Of course. I was trailing right behind him this morning. I wonder why I never realized that Ruo Ruo’s flirting skills were that powerful. He’s silently won over her heart. I bet now, a lot of male employees won’t be able to sleep soundly at night.”

The half-truth, half-false sentences coming from the big mouth king sounded like the real deal. This immediately pushed the office atmosphere to the climax. It was all too late now for Qin Ruo to express anything. He patted his own head, put on his headphones, and decided to ignore them, leaving them to continue with their nonsense.

He remembered what Slayer’s Heart had told him early in the morning and he was pumped by the thought of it.

The Galewind Wolf King Boots—Slayer’s Heart and Burning Rose estimated that they were worth at least 50,000 gold coins. With this sum of money, he would not have to worry about Xin Yu’s medical fees this annual term.

However, Slayer’s Heart disagreed with the idea of selling off the equipment. He recommended Qin Ruo to trade this rare Gold Equipment of the highest grade with other players in exchange for an equal value Aquamancer equipment.

Qin Ruo’s agreed to this suggestion completely.

He wanted to build up his strength and challenge the Boss again. That way, he could earn more in the future! Perhaps, in a few year times, he would have sufficient savings to send Xin Yu overseas for an operation.

Judging from the roughly 13,000 gold coins he had with him at that moment, he could still sustain Xin Yu’s medical bills for several months by exchanging them into RMB. So, the most important matter at the moment was to push his character up to Tier 4 as soon as possible.

But before that, he would need to complete a particular mission first.

Qin Ruo logged Citadel.net—the H&G internal forum. He retrieved a post he sent out a few days ago. It was a post asking for assistance from other employees.

The contents described the search for a Bandit who excelled in the Intermediate Thievery Skill. It was someone who could help him enter the next side quest, which required him to launch a rescue mission…

In the middle of the side quest, a hidden vault had to be unlocked by a Bandit well-versed in Thievery, so that the mission could be accomplished.

The reward of the mission was the acquirement of a random water element magic spell, which would be taught to him by the rescued elder Elementalist. This reward was only effective before Tier 4…

Unfortunately, in the game, there were only a limited number of Bandits skilled in Thievery! Normally, only a powerful Clan or party could afford to provide training for this class. It was very rare to find ordinary players taking this class. Qin Ruo had never even met such a Bandit in the game before, and Brother Da was also not familiar with the Bandit class. Thus, Qin Ruo was forced to seek help through the forum.

However, a few days had passed, and there was still no reply to his post.

Qin Ruo was checking on the post as part of his daily routine. And as usual, there was no one following the post. Judging by the situation, he was afraid that he was going to miss out on the chance of gaining the skill.

As he sighed, Qin Ruo suddenly noticed a flash in the management column of his personal messenger.

One new message!

Hmm?

Qin Ruo was stunned for a while. The first thing that came to mind was

Brother Da. But when he raised his head, Brother Da was still standing next to a few ladies, wagging his tongue ceaselessly.

Qin Ruo then opened up the message, which was sent by Little Kitten. She worked in the Finance Department located on the 24th floor.

Of course, Little Kitten was a virtual name used in the game. Li Lanlan was her actual name. She was a very serious person who was rather strict towards the upper management as well as her colleges. Besides, she owned the nickname “Scrooge Lady”. Qin Ruo did not even know it was her when he interacted with her for the first time. In addition to that, she even made herself such a cute in-game name.

He still remembered how he felt after he found out. He was rueful towards the saying, “don’t judge the book by its cover” and he dwelled on it for a very long time.

Little Kitten was introduced to the game by her best buddy. She was not really an expert in the game then, so she used a male identity to seek help through a forum post. Similar to Qin Ruo, she wanted to complete a mission, but unfortunately, she was not capable enough and needed help. In the end, Qin Ruo accepted the request out of boredom.

They had limited interaction since they completed that mission.

Therefore, when he first realized that the message was sent by Little Kitten, he was naturally shocked for a moment. The image of the girl, who wore thick glasses, and sat up straight behind the glass door in dull working attire, while she verified each bill in detail emerged in Qin Ruo’s mind.

Umm…

Qin Ruo vigorously shook off the “Scrooge Lady” impression that gave him chills. He then took a deep breath and carefully clicked the message open…

“2.00 pm, Savis Town, my friend and I will aid you in your quest.”

Qin Ruo’s mouth was slightly agape. As he prepared to reply that he needed to work in the afternoon, a person from behind removed the headphones over his head.

“Little Qin, look at you. You better go back earlier to rest. It just so happens that the company’s also closing for the rest of the afternoon… Please don’t stay up late in the future.”

Qin Ruo hurriedly stood up from his seat after he heard this, and said, “Manager!”

The one who spoke was apparently his direct supervisor, the manager of the Human Resources Department, Ireya. She maintained a good upkeep of herself and she did not appear to be more than thirty years old. She was also very kind to others. However, Qin Ruo was still a little bit nervous. Although he had completed his work, he still felt guilty being found out by his boss during office hours, doing stuff unrelated to the job.

Fortunately, Ireya was not a strict supervisor. She smirked, then raised her head to repeat the news she whispered to Qin Ruo. She instructed a group of people to stay back and announced that others could leave work earlier today.

Only then did Qin Ruo realize that Brother Da as well as the others, who were gathered and gossiping earlier, had since returned to their own seats and pretended to be dedicated to their work…