From the start, I drew a horror-story dungeon, and the whole world tuned in to watch me die.
Instead, I talked the BOSS into joining my side.
The entire world has been covered by the horror-story System. Those chosen enter dungeons and face challenges. Fail, and a city in their country becomes a dead zone.
A year has passed. Fewer than 3% of people have survived.
The day it was my turn, I was haggling over three cents at the market.
The comments wailed, “Our country is doomed.”
They didn’t know that I, Chen Nian, a contract worker at the Bureau of Public Complaints, had been recognized by the System as the only one with an SSS-rank talent:
Negotiation Expert.
Vengeful ghosts want their names remembered. Rules want to be followed. Dungeon wills want their stories completed.
Anything that exists has needs.
And anything with needs can be negotiated with.
In the first dungeon, “Midnight Hospital,” I talked the night nurse into becoming my teammate. Her condition was that I put up a memorial for her and clear her name once we got out.
In the third dungeon, “School Without Students,” I talked the dungeon’s will into becoming my sidekick. She now refuses to leave my rented apartment and complains that my Wi-Fi is slow.
A challenger from Sakura Nation mocked me for relying on luck. In a cross-server dungeon, I used my Bureau of Public Complaints ID badge to mediate on the spot, and all his vengeful spirits switched sides.
The Lighthouse Nation studied me for three months. Their conclusion: impossible to replicate. The key is that Chen Nian really treats ghosts like people.
The day the national war dungeon opened, challengers from fifteen countries came fully armed.
I went in empty-handed, with a whole crew of ghostly friends and relatives behind me.
They said I was the last hope of the Dragon Nation.
I just want to ask: Does this count as overtime?
