Chu Xia couldn’t help but burst into laughter during the conversation between Miss Financial’s sponsor and customer service. Unfortunately, she coincidentally ran into the team leader venting his anger, and the imaging room fell into a silence where a needle could be heard dropping, making her laughter particularly conspicuous.

In an instant, Chu Xia became the focus of everyone’s gaze in the room, and the various complex expressions could be summarized into one meaning.

—A true warrior!

Under the leader’s murderous gaze, Chu Xia reluctantly stood up and said, “Sorry, I…”

Before she could finish speaking, she was interrupted by the person next to her.

Yin Han stood up while taking over the conversation.

His voice was neither hurried nor slow, but he didn’t give anyone a chance to interject. “Sorry, Team Leader Deng, it’s my fault. After watching that surveillance footage, Minglan was too scared, so I told her a joke.”

With that, all eyes in the room shifted from Chu Xia to Yin Han, and the meaning in their gazes changed as well.

Brother, you really know how to comfort a scared little girl!

Team Leader Deng’s gaze also shifted to the young man.

After giving this efficient and capable member of the department a once-over with his sharp gaze, he looked at the pale girl beside him and finally put on a stern face, saying, “No next time.”

This unexpected incident was resolved without much trouble.

As they sat down, Yin Han tilted his head slightly and silently mouthed: Focus.

Chu Xia nodded repeatedly.

This is the power of the official pairing; she even gained some favorability points.

Childhood sweethearts are the best!

*

This short meeting was originally meant to introduce the basic situation to the players, and as the opening plot for the [New Rookie Investigator], it quickly came to an end.

Just as Chu Xia pushed open the meeting room door and took a few steps outside, she felt a weight on her head, and a big hand covered her head.

Perhaps considering her neatly arranged hair, the hand just pressed down without messing it up. The young man sighed. “When will you fix this habit of daydreaming anytime, anywhere?”

The tone was both intimate and familiar, but Chu Xia’s vigilance suddenly rose.

In the early stages of the game, certain traits of the main controller are easily judged. “Daydreaming anytime, anywhere” is not a good evaluation.

Chu Xia grabbed the wrist of the other person to move the hand away and, looking a bit displeased, said, “I’ve already fixed it; this time it was because you were there, Brother Yin.”

The young man’s fox eyes narrowed, and his slow and languid tone sounded very dangerous. “You can daydream just by talking to me?”

While speaking, the hand that had been pulled away was not politely pressed down again, messing up the neatly combed hair.

Chu Xia made a pleading expression while letting out a sigh of relief.

This judgment has passed.

…

The next part involved some [daily work], and Chu Xia was already very familiar with these after playing through them multiple times, effortlessly achieving the highest level of evaluation.

As the end of the workday approached, Chu Xia sneaked over to Yin Han’s office.

Leaning against the window of his workstation, she whispered, “How about I treat you to dinner later? Thank you for helping me out today.”

Yin Han didn’t hesitate and smiled as he agreed, “Sure.”

Although Chu Xia was using the high-level account of a rich girl, her in-game account was reset to zero after starting a new game, and she was still a pauper.

But Chu Xia still chose a super expensive restaurant.

Because—

Yin Han was paying the bill!

With the restaurant waiter courteously escorting them out, Yin Han casually rested his elbow on Chu Xia’s shoulder and said with a smile, “What are you thinking? It’s your first day on the job; how could I let you treat me? If my mother finds out, she’ll kick me out.”

Chu Xia seemed a bit embarrassed. “Then, next time?”

The young man raised an eyebrow and smiled, “Sure.”

And so, Chu Xia took advantage of the official pairing’s benefits, increased Yin Han’s favorability points, and brushed through a wave of attributes with the help of the advanced food.

Conscience?

Players don’t have that kind of thing.

All high-risk strategy routes actually have a default novice protection period. Taking advantage of this window of time, Chu Xia brushed through all the attributes and favorability points that could be gained.

The player’s liver emperor spirit shocked the NPCs, and Chu Xia’s reputation in the faction even inexplicably increased.

It could be considered an unexpected joy.

The car smoothly stopped in the underground garage, the engine shut off, and there was almost no sound as it turned off.

However, the young man in the driver’s seat did not have any intention of opening the door and getting out. He sat in the driver’s seat, turned his head slightly, and gazed at the woman sitting in the passenger seat.

Her curled eyelashes drooped low, but they couldn’t hide the blue shadows in her eyes. Even her usually straight back seemed slightly hunched, and the fatigue on her body couldn’t be concealed.

How long had it been since she had rested properly?

Yin Han sighed silently and turned to reach for the blanket in the back seat, but as soon as he moved, he saw the person in the passenger seat’s eyelashes tremble. He immediately stopped, worried that he might wake her up.

Chu Xia was purely due to the pre-set rest time being over, not because she was startled awake. Even though there was no other sound around, she instantly became alert.

Without any special plot, [Rest] for players is just a skip. Chu Xia’s thoughts remained in the moment of getting into the car and closing the door, so when she opened her eyes, they were clear, without a trace of drowsiness.

She was about to reach for the car door.

“Ding—”

The car door was locked.

Chu Xia was puzzled and turned to look.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

The young man with fox-like eyes was leaning on the steering wheel, supporting his face with one hand, and tilting his head to look at her. “I should be the one asking. What’s been going on with you lately?”

This time, Chu Xia was truly at a loss.

She began to carefully recall her recent in-game routine—attribute grinding, increasing favorability—mostly routine tasks and nothing unusual.

Seeing her like this, Yin Han couldn’t help but sigh. “Why are you pushing yourself so hard? Can your body handle it?”

Of course, it could.

She was keeping an eye on her [Health Points] and wouldn’t make the mistakes that novice players often made.

However, in this moment, years of gaming experience prompted Chu Xia to react reflexively.

She suddenly turned her head, avoiding Yin Han’s gaze. The hand resting on her leg clenched into a fist, seemingly nervous. She bit her lip, hesitated for a while, and then spoke softly, “Because… there’s someone I want to catch up to.”

Yin Han’s eyes widened.

While maintaining a lazy posture with one hand on the steering wheel, the muscles in his body tensed, and distinct lines of muscles appeared on the forearm exposed below the cuff of his uniform. His Adam’s apple moved, feeling a dry throat, and it took a while before he could say, “You…”

When he finally found his voice, having just uttered a somewhat awkward “you,” the person sitting in the passenger seat had already pulled away from the car lock like a startled rabbit, opened the door, and ran out.

The car door slammed shut heavily, and the still-locked Yin Han was stunned for a while before finally shaking his head with a smile.

—Like a child.

Chu Xia, who had run out of the car, pressed down on her wildly beating heart.

That was close, almost getting into the official pairing’s personal route.

Yin Han’s favorability was very easy to raise, and it had already reached 90 a few days ago. This was theoretically the highest value for the non-strategy route. To go further, she would have to enter his personal route.

Chu Xia hadn’t forgotten she was here to work, not to play games. The official pairing was great, but she couldn’t rush into it recklessly.

Moreover, she had already unlocked Yin Han’s various endings multiple times, and her gallery was almost complete… (whispering.jpg)

For these reasons, Chu Xia quickly shifted her focus.

The opening of the personal route also meant another thing: the end of the novice protection period.

Next, she could potentially come face-to-face with Capper, the big shot.

Chu Xia: Deep breath.jpg

The girl’s thinking was not wrong. If she wanted to have a cross-faction romance in “Heartbeat,” she had to hide her faction identity well in the early stages and accept the [Casual Attire Mission].

Chu Xia accelerated through the report, quickly completing the mission, and settled all the [ongoing] tasks at hand before entering the [Mission Hall]—the leader’s office.

Team leader Deng, with his elevated favorability, smiled kindly and said, “Young people are so energetic. Let me see what cases we have here.”

After triggering the dialogue, a series of task lists appeared in front of Chu Xia. She precisely selected the one with the [Casual Attire] label.

However, after selecting it, it wasn’t immediately approved.

Chu Xia was puzzled. “Team Leader Deng, can’t I take this mission?”

Her attribute values should have met the requirements.

Team Leader Deng frowned, “You’re just a young girl; you shouldn’t go to those places, it’s dangerous… let those smelly boys do it.”

Chu Xia: ?

Tasks given by the main controller also had gender restrictions? How is that possible!

Coincidentally, the door behind her was pushed open, and a voice with a smile spoke, “I walked in and heard the boss talking behind our backs.”

Team Leader Deng raised his eyebrows, not pleased. “Knock before entering my office, don’t you know?”

Yin Han raised his hands innocently and said, “The door was open.”

Indeed, it was open. After all, with a young girl alone in his office, Team Leader Deng was quite cautious.

The immersion of the holographic game was evident in these various aspects.

Yin Han casually submitted his report.

As he passed by Chu Xia, he glanced sideways at the task in her hands, paused, and raised an eyebrow.

These consecutive unusual reactions finally made Chu Xia take a serious look at the [Daily Mission] (System Translated Version) she had selected based on tags.

【Investigation Mission (Casual Attire):

In the light, darkness is concealed. The vibrant colors become the best cover for hidden shadows. The noisy and bustling atmosphere masks secretive whispers.

The [Destiny Club], located in the southwest of the city, is suspected of engaging in illegal transactions. To avoid arousing suspicion, as a rookie investigator, you decide to secretly investigate…】

Chu Xia stared at the four words “Destiny Club” for a while.

Maybe, this time she had hooked a big fish.