Li Xiangnan is a foreign correspondent, constantly traveling for work, working only one day off each weekend, and pulling late-night shifts.
His colleagues are miserable, but he thinks labor is glorious
Constant business trips = company-paid vacations. One day off each weekend = paid leave. Late-night shifts = quality sleep.
As a fake human, all he wants is to keep his secure job, stay with his partner, and enjoy a cold beer with fried skewers after work, before retiring honorably like a human. That's his entire motivation for working.
But now, his partner has broken up with him, his salary hasn't been paid, he sleeps at the office every day, and retirement is nowhere in sight.
Li Xiangnan is utterly disheartened, until he returns to his old home in a dungeon: the Daily News Building, polluted by urban legends and the birthplace of fake humans.
The elevator doors open, and sobbing comes from behind the blood-soaked walls.
His colleague's legs go weak. "Is... is this any place for a person to be?"
Li Xiangnan's eyes grow misty. "It smells like home."
The players are forcibly quarantined. Fake humans lure people into opening the door, and everyone must carefully figure out whether the person knocking outside is human or monster.
But Li Xiangnan stares at the fake human boss, half person and half tentacles, tears streaming uncontrollably from the corners of his mouth.
It's been ages since he had grilled squid.
His colleague sees him gazing at the monster with shining eyes and asks, trembling, "H-have you gone crazy from working too much?!"
Li Xiangnan waves a hand and tosses him a book he once wrote for fake humans, A Beginner's Guide to Fake Humans:
· How to get humans to invite you inside
· How many steps does it take to remove a brain perfectly?
· The art of shifting blame when people watch you eat
· How to stir up conflict so humans turn on one another
"Follow the guide to identify fake humans, and you can clock out and go home sooner." He chews on squid and speaks indistinctly.
While other players struggle to survive, Li Xiangnan lies flat and gives up.
When fake humans turn on one another, he teaches the boss to play both sides and reap the benefits.
When his colleagues stab him in the back, Li Xiangnan simply stops pretending.
The boss everyone is terrified of gets grabbed by the nape and slammed to the ground.
"Want to live?" Li Xiangnan asks with a false smile.
The boss nods through its tears.
He pulls out a photo and shoves it in the boss's face. "Have you seen him? Qiao Song, my partner."
The boss's pupils widen in shock. "A former colonel in the Human Capture Bureau?! Your partner?!"
Li Xiangnan says nothing, tightening his grip a little as he gives a gentle warning:
"If you want to live, help me find him. And don't go tattling to your boss."
After all, the last mission Qiao Song took before disappearing was to kill an S-class fake human codenamed Zero.
Later, he let that fake human go, defected from the Bureau, and vanished without a trace.
And that fake human's current identity is Li Xiangnan.
[Reading Guide]
1. A fake-human office worker who wants nothing but to retire x a former Bureau colonel who specializes in hunting fake humans [Infinite flow + fake humans + an office worker resisting hustle culture]
2. The dungeons are based on urban legends, and their difficulty will increase accordingly. The protagonist is powerful but not omnipotent. There is an ensemble cast, so proceed with caution if that's not your thing.
3. Plot-driven! Slow-burn romance! Not a long novel! The love interest won't appear directly at first, and the protagonist pursues love. Rest assured, this is a pure-love pairing with one-to-one romance.
4. Manuscript in progress. The novel will launch in late October. Comments are welcome once it starts. No spoilers, no fighting. Let's all get along.
5. Thanks to Guimi Yoyo for making the cover by hand ^O^
Theme: Humanity's victory is a hymn to courage
