Wang Yiyang stared blankly at the lower right corner of his vision as lines of text scrolled past like programming code.
Characters of data flashed quickly, appearing and disappearing.
Soon, after a barrage of incomprehensible technical jargon kept jumping and vanishing, another line of text appeared - something Wang Yiyang could actually understand.
'Initialization complete. Bronze tier identity generation beginning...'
Not even two seconds passed.
'Identity generation complete. Loading begins...'
Then all the characters in the lower right corner of his vision suddenly vanished.
Wang Yiyang stood rooted in place, almost wondering if his eyes had deceived him.
But before self-doubt could take root, a mysterious mechanical synthetic voice cold and clear penetrated directly into his mind rather than his ears.
"Outwardly, you appear to be nothing more than an ordinary office worker. But your true identity is a shadow executive director of the multinational pharmaceutical corporation Myst Pharmaceuticals.
You oversee the security department. However, the intense internal power struggles within the organization have left you physically and mentally exhausted.
You've returned to your hometown, hoping to give your weary spirit some much-needed rest.
But unfortunately, the corporation's internal troubles follow you like a shadow. Greater dangers have arrived in this peaceful city alongside you."
"Primary identity objective: Resolve the approaching crisis. (You may reasonably utilize your substantial corporate resources)."
"Objective completion reward: Randomly gain one of the following from this identity - abilities, talents, or attributes."
"Warning: Once an identity is generated, it remains permanently active."
"Warning: The benefits provided by an identity scale equally with its accompanying risks."
"Warning: You have one month to prepare. Immense danger will follow."
Behind the wooden door, Wang Yiyang stood motionless.
In his mind, information about Myst Pharmaceuticals flooded in - details about the corporation, specifics of his director position - all streaming into his memory at incredible speed.
"What is this? Is this the legendary system cheat code from novels?"
Wang Yiyang had read his share of cultivation novels. Many protagonists had their own system cheats, their own golden fingers.
He'd encountered many different types of cheats, but never one quite like this.
He took a deep breath, making sure all the information had fully transferred into his memory.
While his mind churned in chaos, he quickly walked into his room, closed the door, and sat down to rest.
He grabbed a disposable plastic cup and poured himself some warm water, draining it in one gulp.
He leaned his back against the chair, letting its weight support him entirely.
After sitting for a good while, he finally sorted through everything in his mind.
Based on the information in his memory:
He, Wang Yiyang, was outwardly an ordinary, unremarkable office worker.
But secretly, he was one of Myst Pharmaceuticals' shadow executive directors. Within the massive board of directors, he occupied a key position as head of security.
According to the memory data, during the years he'd commanded the security department, his methods had been ruthless. He'd successfully suppressed several internal power struggles within the corporation. And in the shadows, he'd accumulated considerable personal wealth through illicit dealings.
Currently, with the corporation's board chairman succession underway, factional conflicts and power struggles had escalated to brutal extremes.
He'd fled to the countryside specifically to avoid the most intense period of conflict.
Sitting in his room, Wang Yiyang pulled out his phone. His contact list inexplicably contained numerous numbers from Myst Pharmaceuticals personnel.
Moreover, his phone had mysteriously transformed into a satellite phone constructed from high-intensity materials.
The phone's exterior looked the same as before, but its internals were completely different.
"This is insane!" Wang Yiyang stared wide-eyed as he examined the phone. The various cutting-edge technological functions made him feel like a complete country bumpkin.
And he'd always considered himself a tech enthusiast with comprehensive knowledge of high-end digital products.
He opened the phone specifications.
The outrageous data displayed there genuinely startled him.
Drop-resistant up to a thousand meters, waterproof to ten thousand meters, resistant to various kinds of interference, signal amplification. Battery life over ten times that of a normal phone. More than a dozen encrypted communication modes. Remote system operation functions and more.
Just glancing at the hardware specifications, this phone's performance exceeded even the best computers on the market by a significant margin.
"Impressive!" After examining all the phone's functions, Wang Yiyang quickly inspected his own body.
According to the memory data, as a Myst Pharmaceuticals shadow director, he should have a biometric identification chip implanted in him.
Soon, he lifted his right arm and felt the skin just above his forearm. There - a slightly hard circular object embedded beneath the surface.
He pressed the chip and, following the instructions in his memory, quietly recited the activation password.
"Open Myst System."
Whoosh!
A wave of warmth spread across his forearm. A half-dome-shaped blue holographic screen materialized before him, hovering in mid-air.
The screen displayed four major options.
Weapons. Personnel. Intelligence. Upload.
"Amazing!" Wang Yiyang enthusiastically reached out and tapped the personnel section.
The screen immediately expanded the 'Personnel' option.
Row after row of information with personnel photos cascaded across the screen.
'Henry Kashi: Thirty-one years old, former Federal Special Forces Unit One, tactical commander, expert in position command, infiltration, assassination.'
'Honli Becklame: Thirty years old, former Federal Airborne Corps Tenth Regiment reconnaissance soldier, expert in covert assassination, intelligence reconnaissance.'
'Harvel Carn: Twenty-eight years old, former Federal Fifteenth Armored Division lieutenant, expert in remote fire control, close quarters combat.'
'Quan Herla: Thirty years old, former Elrican Republic Defense Force soldier, expert in extreme-distance assassination. Intelligence reconnaissance.'
...
...
Dense rows of personnel photos occupied every position on the screen.
Wang Yiyang's throat convulsed. His mouth felt completely dry.
He'd never heard of Myst Pharmaceuticals, but if the information on the screen were genuine...
Then the corporation's true nature far exceeded his imagination...
"According to the system's data, as head of security, I have authority to freely deploy these security department members.
That means I could use their resources to investigate what's happening with my grandfather?"
Wang Yiyang's thoughts shifted, and he immediately connected this to his current predicament.
In a direct confrontation, ten of him wouldn't stand a chance against Zhong Can.
But if he switched to his Myst Pharmaceuticals director identity, the forces he could mobilize would far exceed his imagination.
"Though I'll probably face even greater dangers down the road, let me solve the immediate crisis first!"
Wang Yiyang steeled his resolve.
He'd already died once anyway. What was the point in hesitating now?
Following the memory data in his mind, he quickly selected twenty security personnel - the closest available operatives.
At the same time, he requisitioned various powerful weapons and tools he deemed necessary from the weapons arsenal.
After careful confirmation, he pressed the confirmation button on the screen.
Myst Pharmaceuticals' power was terrifying. Even just nearby, they had armed forces available for deployment - and not just one unit.
The more Wang Yiyang reviewed the data, the more his heart shook.
The reason his director identity provoked such hatred was that he'd proposed a dangerous scheme within the corporation: using biometric chips to control security department subordinates and their forces.
And he'd already implemented this plan, controlling a considerable portion of the forces through this method.
This trampling of human dignity and disregard for life had made him one of the corporation's most feared dark hands.
"In other words, looking at the forces I can now control, even if I, as head of security, find a threat dangerous and troubling, it must be a genuinely serious enemy."
Wang Yiyang's mouth twitched as he closed the holographic screen. The momentary relief he'd felt plummeted back into the depths.
"Forget it. I still have a month anyway. We'll handle this when the time comes. Let me just get through the present."
He picked up his phone and saw a newly received text message.
'Jane Safitte: Very pleased to be of service, Director.'
Wang Yiyang thought for a moment, then quickly typed a response.
This Jane Safitte was the squad leader he'd designated when selecting personnel. He was also Myst Pharmaceuticals' strongest close-quarters combatant.
Jane would be responsible for assembling and coordinating this temporary team.
After making arrangements, Jane quickly confirmed their arrival time. This gave Wang Yiyang a bit more sense of security.
Setting down his phone, he was about to turn off the screen when another message suddenly appeared.
'You there?' - Wang Dongning.
Wang Yiyang's brow furrowed. He suddenly felt like he'd jumped out of the martial hall and back into reality.
Wang Dongning was a colleague at the company where he currently worked, and they had a decent relationship.
'Yeah, what's up? Something happened at the company?' - Wang Yiyang.
He quickly typed a response.
Though the phone had been upgraded, its feel was genuinely smooth. It actually made him type faster.
'Things are getting messy. There's some talk in your department that you should be aware of. Be careful when you get back. That kid Zhao Huai seems to have gotten on someone's bad side. Watch out you don't get dragged into it.' - Wang Dongning.
'Zhao Huai? Someone's targeting him?' - Wang Yiyang.
'Something about him conflicting with a supervisor. Anyway, just watch yourself.' - Wang Dongning.
Soon the other person cautiously deleted the message thread.
Wang Yiyang set his phone down, feeling an inexplicable sense of strangeness.
Suddenly reborn. Suddenly awakened to a system. And now looking back at his company's petty affairs.
He actually felt like life had become more real.
'Tomorrow I'll go back. Once I'm there, I can remotely investigate the situation from here. Using the power of my new system identity, investigating a small martial hall case would be absolutely simple.
Then I'll see who's been scheming in the shadows.'
Wang Yiyang's mind gradually settled.
Jane and the others arrived faster than he'd expected.
The first to arrive were two of the closest operatives: Catherine and Willie. Both specialized in close-quarters indoor combat and were elite operators.
Most importantly, they came fully armed, which gave Wang Yiyang much more confidence.
While the other people at the martial hall were busy with boxing practice and sparring, he went outside and made brief, discreet contact with his two subordinates.
It was only a cursory introduction, but it gave him an initial understanding of these security department members.