Midsummer. The sun blazed down relentlessly.
Inside an office at the Tianhe Building.
Jiang Zuo sat at his desk, looking around in a daze. He could barely process what was happening.
In just a few moments, countless questions flashed through his mind. 'Where am I? What is this place? And why does it look so familiar?'
'Shouldn't I be in the middle of courting death?'
'Did I actually succeed in getting myself killed?'
Jiang Zuo then scanned through his memories, finally finding one that matched his current surroundings.
Next, Jiang Zuo glanced at the bottom right corner of his computer screen: September 1, 2018.
That settled it. Jiang Zuo was certain now—he had been reborn, sent back to the time when he had just started his career.
It seemed his last little experiment had truly been the death of him.
As the Unparalleled Demon Monarch, Jiang Zuo had long since become an invincible master across the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands. It was lonely at the top, a master's solitude that no one could possibly understand.
After eons of solitude, unable to bear the endless boredom, he had finally begun to study the fundamental laws of the world. 'Who knows,' he'd thought, 'I might discover something unexpected.'
Each study was an experiment, a way of courting death, all driven by boredom. He did as he pleased, playing with forces that were sure to bring about his end.
'So, I guess I really did die.'
'So, what should I do now?'
'Get a job? Work in an office? I might as well go out and rob people.'
But Jiang Zuo didn't move. He wasn't *that* bored. Besides, with his current frail body, trying something like that would be suicide.
Just then, Jiang Zuo felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out and saw a message from someone in the company's logistics department.
The message was simple:
Su Qi encountered an issue at work. Her business trip will be delayed. Return date undetermined.
Su Qi. If Jiang Zuo recalled correctly, that was his wife. Come to think of it, Su Qi was a pretty good catch. She had married him right after graduation.
The kind who asked for nothing in return, at that.
Su Qi was beautiful and had a lively personality. Thinking back, he had been incredibly lucky that someone like her would marry the man he was back then.
As for how he and Su Qi got together, that story went all the way back to middle school.
There's that old story about a girl who has an accident, leaving a wet spot on her seat. Her male deskmate, without a word, grabs a cup of water from the teacher's desk and "accidentally" spills it on her to cover it up.
Well, that was how they met.
They got together soon after and had been together ever since.
Though, they probably wouldn't be for much longer. At this point in time, their relationship was already at a breaking point.
The reason was none other than her business trips. She was away on business constantly, which would make anyone's mind wander. To make matters worse, she never answered his calls when she was gone.
The Jiang Zuo of this era had reached the end of his rope.
The plan had been for Jiang Zuo to divorce Su Qi the moment she returned from this trip.
Still, the present Jiang Zuo was quite curious. What exactly was Su Qi up to?
In his previous life, he had been just an ordinary person at this point. His journey of Cultivation had only begun after the divorce.
He remembered quitting his job at Tianhe Company right after the divorce. That was the day his string of fortuitous encounters began.
He had stumbled into an Immortal Spirit Cave Mansion, then entered an Ancient Battlefield. He first obtained an Immortal Mansion, then seized the Heavenly Tower. He found an Enlightenment Stone, ate an Enlightenment Fruit, and finally took his first steps on the Great Dao.
In short, after leaving this place, it was as if he had been transported to another world. He had little contact with his former life, which seemed far too mundane and comfortable in comparison.
He never had a chance to return and investigate, as he was unable to leave his new world until he had achieved the Dao. By the time he did, the mortal world had changed beyond recognition, and the people he knew were long gone.
He never found out what Su Qi was really doing, or if she eventually remarried. In fact, Jiang Zuo had long since forgotten she even existed.
Even if he were to see Su Qi now, he probably wouldn't feel a thing.
But his curiosity about her business trips remained.
Over the endless eons, the only things that had kept him from falling into eternal slumber were his curiosity and his penchant for courting death.
Jiang Zuo worked in the Marketing Department One. He'd forgotten what they actually did; it probably wasn't a fond memory.
After a moment's thought, Jiang Zuo stood up and left the office. It was still the middle of the workday, so his abrupt departure was rather surprising.
But no one said a word, not even the department head.
This was because Jiang Zuo had already submitted his letter of resignation. People on their way out usually aren't afraid of causing a little trouble.
'If I remember correctly, Su Qi will be back in three days. My string of fortuitous encounters began on the fourth day, marking my complete departure from the normal world.
After that, I reached the pinnacle of my existence.
But I've already had those encounters and I've already been to the summit. Why would I want to do it all over again?'
Jiang Zuo hadn't become the Demon Monarch overnight. Was there anything he didn't know?
He didn't need any lucky breaks now. He himself *was* the ultimate lucky break.
Jiang Zuo walked down the hallway. He was going to find the girl from logistics. Since she had sent the text, she probably knew what Su Qi was really up to.
The Tianhe Group had a Department One and a Department Two. Jiang Zuo had never been to Department Two, which was where the girl from logistics worked.
A long corridor separated Department One from Department Two. As he walked, a smile crept onto Jiang Zuo's face.
'A Barrier. There's actually a Barrier here.' It was a simple one, but more than enough to keep ordinary people away.
Anyone who got close to this Barrier would feel a sudden urge to turn back, causing them to walk away without ever realizing it was there.
'Interesting. Now *this* is interesting. So, this company isn't as simple as it seems on the surface.'
Of course, a simple Barrier based on psychological suggestion was completely useless against Jiang Zuo.
Even as a "normal" person, he was far from ordinary.
With a little training, he could take on ten men at once without breaking a sweat.
When he arrived at Department Two, Jiang Zuo noticed how few people were around.
Jiang Zuo specifically peeked into the office for Marketing Department Two, but there wasn't a soul in sight. 'Are they on holiday today? Or do they just have different work hours?'
"We're screwed, we're screwed! We're dead! The perception equipment is malfunctioning. This is going to get people killed!"
"Keep your voice down! How many people do you want hearing this? If you guys hadn't been messing around, would the equipment have failed in the first place?"
"Just fix it, quickly! You're from the tech department, aren't you? This should be no problem for you, right?"
"It's a huge problem! I'm in the tech department, but I'm in R&D, not maintenance!"
"All of you, shut up! We need to figure out a solution, now! They're still waiting for our signal. A failed mission is one thing, but if people die because of this, it'll be a catastrophe. We'll all be held responsible."
From outside, Jiang Zuo could hear three different voices. The last one belonged to a woman.
From the sound of it, they were in some kind of trouble.
Jiang Zuo located the source of the voices: the Perception Department.
The Perception Department was a large area, or more accurately, a space with many small rooms. The voices were coming from the first room near the entrance.
The door to this room was wide open.
Jiang Zuo walked to the doorway and glanced inside. There were four people in the room: three men and a woman. The woman was seated, while one of the men fiddled with some sort of connector. 'He must be the one from the tech department,' Jiang Zuo figured.
As Jiang Zuo looked at them, they looked back at him.
They stared at him, completely dumbfounded, especially when they saw the name on his ID badge: Marketing Department One.
It was like they were seeing a ghost.