1 Virtual Dream Gear

5: 45 p.m. Inside an enormous, quiet office.

Chen Xu leaned against the back of the chair, held a pen under his nose and stared at the computer screen, seeming to mull over a serious issue.

In fact, he was just staring blankly. He was about to get off work and was thinking about where he should eat later.

Old Tang sitting behind him came over to him and whispered, "Old Wang said that he wants to treat our new colleagues to a meal, don't forget alright."

Another gathering?

Chen Xu had a little headache. But after hesitating for a second or so, he still answered, "Got it."

Old Wang was their supervisor. Everything about this superior of his was great, except for one thing. He liked to hold gatherings randomly, at least two to three times every month. Basically, Chen Xu would avoid these whenever he could, but as it was to welcome the new colleagues this time, being absent wouldn't be good. Moreover, he had already turned down the last two gatherings with made-up excuses. If he were to turn this down yet again, Old Wang would probably be keeping a record of him.

He felt a little blue having the thought that his two hours after work would be wasted at a boring dinner. It wasn't that he had any issues with his colleagues; it was just that he preferred to be alone after working hours. The most important thing was that, after sending money home last week, he didn't have much spending money left, and everyone would be paying separately at these gatherings…

He couldn't help but sigh on the inside. Going to work was already hard enough, and he couldn't even control his own time after work. He really had enough of this kind of life.

When can I put aside these trivialities and live the life I want?

"Drip——"

"Language calibration complete. Activate Virtual Dream Gear. Commence identity verification——"

Chen Xu heard a voice that suddenly spoke in his ears and was startled. His hands jerked, and the pen fell to the ground.

What was that?

For a moment, a lot of thoughts dashed through his mind. While he bent over to pick up the pen, he tilted his head to examine a few of his colleagues next to him and couldn't see anything different. It didn't seem that his colleagues had pulled a prank.

Could it be an illusion?

Later on, the voice spoke again.

"Verification failed. Switching to visitor mode."

"Welcome to our product experience. Made by the Xingyu Virtual Equipment Manufacturing Group, our product allows you to experience 100% virtual reality dreams. There are many scenes for you to choose from to have a wonderful dream life."

Chen Xu felt thirsty all of a sudden. Aside from the voice, an interface with an icon in the middle appeared. It was just like a virtual computer desktop. To verify what he was seeing, he closed his eyes, reopening them only after a few seconds. The interface was still there, with the high-definition colored icon in the middle still ever so conspicuous.

His heart was thumping wildly.

...

In a short while, the closing hours arrived. Chen Xu was still in shock, and only came around when Old Tang patted his shoulder.

"It's time to get off. What are you doing there staring blankly?" Old Tang asked.

"Nothing." Chen Xu lifted his head and looked around. Seeing that all his other colleagues had left, he quickly packed up and said, "Let's go."

A nearby restaurant was selected for the department gathering this time.

There was a total of eleven people in the advertising department. After arriving at the restaurant, everyone fit at one table just right.

His new colleague was a girl. Everyone was very enthusiastic, but not because of how pretty the girl was. It would soon be the end of the year, and things in the advertising department would soon become very hectic. With an extra person to share the workload, everybody was naturally ecstatic.

As most of the people present were young, the atmosphere quickly became energetic. The only area that didn't fit right in was where Chen Xu was sitting. He wasn't talking much, appearing to be absent-minded. The others didn't bother about him. During the past gatherings, Chen Xu had been just as silent, and everyone was already used to it.

Everyone left after the meal. They still had to work the next day. They couldn't hang out too late, or their work performance would suffer the next day.

After dismissal, Chen Xu returned to his home, riding in Old Tang's car.

After they got in the car, Old Tang asked abruptly, "Chen Xu, are you okay? Chen Xu, Chen Xu…"

After hearing his own name a few times in a row, Chen Xu, who was in a daze, came to and responded, "Hm?"

Old Tang became even more worried, and asked, "You seem preoccupied ever since we got off from work. Did anything happen?"

"Nah, just thinking about some stuff."

Chen Xu knocked his own forehead lightly and wound down the window slightly, letting in the wind from outside to make his head a little clearer.

Ever since he got out of the office, he had been thinking about that "Virtual Dream Gear", which consequently made him seem absent-minded.

Old Tang looked at him and said, "Are you experiencing any difficulties at home? Here is 20 thousand bucks from my secret stash; you can use it."

"No, that's not it…" Chen Xu quickly explained. "Not that, I'm thinking about other stuff."

"Hmm." Old Tang nodded his head and said, "If you have any difficulties, just say so. There is no need to be more polite than wise."

Chen Xu felt a surge of warmth in his heart and said, "Thanks."

Old Tang stopped with that and started the car.

Chen Xu felt that he was quite lucky to have made friends with someone like Old Tang. Old Tang graduated from the same university as him, five years earlier. The two only got to know each other after he joined the company. It was precisely because of this relationship that Old Tang was rather caring towards him.

He was grateful to Old Tang. However, no matter how difficult things were for him, he didn't want to ask Old Tang for money.

Old Tang just got married not long ago. With house loans and car loans, the pressure he was dealing with was not any smaller than Chen Xu's.

...

After more than half an hour, Chen Xu arrived at his rental house. The location was relatively far-off. It would take 10 minutes to walk to the nearest bus stop.

The place he rented was a single room of about twenty square meters. There was only one single bed and one computer table. It was small, but it had a separate bathroom. The room was adequate for one to live in.

The key was that it was cheap. The cost of living in this city was quite high, and rentals were often the biggest expense. It was not easy to find a place close to the company and with cheap rent. He was lucky to be able to find this place.

He put down his briefcase, laid down on the bed, and held his mobile phone while looking at the bank balance indicated in a text message. 499.32 dollars. He felt a little troubled. Still more than two weeks before I get my next pay, and I'm already left with this little money. Gotta make every penny count.

Later on, he once again thought of that "Virtual Dream Gear". He was hesitant in his heart. Should I go in?

After fumbling about for half a day with this product of some Black Technology, system, or whatnot that appeared inexplicably, he still couldn't find a manual book.

Normally, this gear would not appear on his retina on its own. It would only appear after he "awakened" it. There was only one icon on it, displaying "Enter dream 'The Apocalypse'. Y/N?"

When his attention was focused on these words, he could see a short tip saying that he could choose an item or a companion in the dream. Quite a number of items and character templates were provided above. Moreover, he also attentively discovered a hidden option. Instead of selecting the items provided by the dream, he could replicate an item from real life or a real person into the dream.