Angela gave the Manager a small bow, then turned and left the room.
After the door closed, Zhou Zhuang stared at the phone and laptop on the desk. He thought for a moment—then, without hesitation, picked up the phone and pressed the power button.
As the screen lit up, the striking Lobotomy Corporation logo appeared first.
While it booted, Zhou Zhuang's fingers traced along the back, feeling the texture. He gradually leaned back toward the bed, his free left hand tugging at his jacket.
Once his body fully sank under the blanket, a smile he couldn't suppress spread across his face.
Yep. A blanket wrapped around my whole body… this is my true hometown, he thought.
When he looked back at the phone, there were only three apps on the screen: Phone, Photos, and a mysterious app that was literally just the Lobotomy logo.
Since Angela said this phone could connect to information from other worlds, the first two obviously weren't it.
So Zhou Zhuang tapped the logo.
A vast, overwhelming torrent of information surged straight into his mind.
His head swelled as if he'd been binge-reading for days without food or water.
But the discomfort came fast and vanished just as quickly. Aside from his eyes feeling dry—like he hadn't blinked in ages—the unpleasant sensation disappeared as if it had never happened.
Zhou Zhuang stared at the transformed screen.
It looked exactly like his phone layout from before he transmigrated.
No—"looked like" wasn't accurate.
It was identical.
He opened the pink app, ready to decompress and vent today's stress.
…
…
Light.
There was nothing but light in every direction.
He couldn't tell where it came from, and he didn't want to chase the source.
All he knew was that he felt… deeply relaxed.
Ugh. My body's so lazy. I don't want to move at all.
Where even is this?
Zhou Zhuang lay on the ground, staring up at the gentle, non-blinding brightness.
The light made his thoughts sluggish.
The light made it hard to see anything clearly.
He forced himself to recall what happened before his memory snapped.
Right—he'd been wrapped in blankets, in bed, opening the pink app to relax.
A faint sense of social-death panic rose in his chest… but under this light, even that felt strangely unimportant.
Whatever. I'll just let it go.
He closed his eyes, letting the warmth soak in.
Then—
A half-familiar "paused" image and a stranger's awkward gaze slapped him in the face inside his mind like a loud, humiliating wake-up call.
Zhou Zhuang jolted upright like a man resurrected from a sickbed, shouting at full volume:
"NO—getting seen down there by a stranger, absolutely not!"
His terror-driven awakening made him immediately check his lower body.
His pants were still on, perfectly normal—proving the whole scenario was just his own horrific imagination.
He let out a long breath.
With his mind clear again, he finally started observing his surroundings.
Unfortunately… after turning around four full times, he learned absolutely nothing.
There was only light.
Only white.
No shadows—even beneath his feet.
So… am I in heaven?
Unable to come up with any better explanation, Zhou Zhuang decided he must be.
Then a voice spoke from behind him.
"I didn't expect you to wake up like that."
Zhou Zhuang turned around.
A man stood there in a clean white lab coat over a black shirt. His face was expressionless, but his golden eyes stood out sharply.
Zhou Zhuang felt the man was very familiar.
But… who was he?
Zhou Zhuang was pretty sure he'd never met anyone who radiated this kind of "big-shot" aura.
The man introduced himself plainly.
"My name is Ayin."
Zhou Zhuang nodded reflexively.
"Oh. So you're Ayin."
Then the meaning of that sentence finally hit his brain a second later.
"Wait—you're Ayin?! As in… the Ayin who founded Lobotomy Corporation?!"
"If there isn't another Ayin in this City who founded Lobotomy Corporation," the man replied, "then yes. I'm the one you mean."
Zhou Zhuang struggled to accept it, even after hearing it confirmed.
"Then… Mr. Ayin, do you know where this is?"
"And wasn't I in my company? Why did I suddenly end up here?"
Ayin closed his eyes and shook his head slightly.
"Your first question: we are inside that Light."
"Based on a fragment of information you've revealed from your mind… more precisely, we're inside the cocoon Angela forged for herself—four days of light, in pursuit of freedom."
"The cocoon's name is the Library."
"As for your other two questions, they're essentially the same."
"You haven't left the company. What's here is only your consciousness."
"You're like someone having an unusually lucid dream."
Listening to this, Zhou Zhuang finally understood the situation.
"So I'm… asleep in the company."
"But why would my dream take me to a place like this?"
Ayin answered after a brief pause.
"Possibly because of Carmen."
"Carmen?" Zhou Zhuang was even more confused. "But I don't see your… old flame anywhere."
"And shouldn't she be out in the City right now, spreading her 'voice'?"
Ayin looked at him.
"Maybe it isn't that you haven't seen her."
"Maybe you simply don't possess the memories necessary to meet her."
Then he shifted the "blame" onto the fact that Zhou Zhuang had once gazed upon the Tree of Light.
Zhou Zhuang found that… uncomfortably plausible, and accepted it as the consequence of having eyes that didn't know when to behave.
Once he'd sorted that out, he stared at Ayin—and a thought rose in his mind.
Right now, Zhou Zhuang had zero real experience managing a company.
But the man in front of him did.
And as the saying goes: if you don't have a cheat-code old master, then you make yourself one.
Whether it was intelligence or connections, this man was basically flawless—perfect "mentor material."
Having made up his mind, Zhou Zhuang spoke at once.
"Ayin… we've only just met, but I feel like we're brothers at first sight."
"Could you use your wisdom… to be the cheat code behind me?"
Ayin frowned slightly.
"Cheat code? What is that?"
Zhou Zhuang immediately corrected himself when he realized the term didn't translate.
"Uh—sorry. I mean… could you help me?"
"Teach me how I'm supposed to run this company."
Ayin looked genuinely puzzled.
"But I don't think you need my help."
"Judging from the company behind you… becoming something on the level of the Lobotomy Corporation I once ran is only a matter of time."
"In fact, once you become proficient, surpassing me wouldn't be impossible."
"What you need is time."
Zhou Zhuang shook his head hard.
"No. I need it."
"Whoever says I don't need help, I'll kick them twice on sight."
Seeing Zhou Zhuang's stubborn certainty, Ayin explained calmly:
"The company behind you is already your cheat code."
"Even without my guidance, you only need a little more time to grow."
Zhou Zhuang's voice softened, and the bravado slipped away.
"But I still want someone who can walk with me for a while. Someone to guide me."
"For me, everything is unfamiliar."
"The people around me, the things around me… even this job."
"I know what the future endpoint looks like."
"But there's that saying, right?"
"Enormous power and authority won't bring you trouble—someone else will bear the consequences."
"I don't remember the exact wording, but that's the idea."
"I'm just an ordinary person who was handed this power."
Ayin stared into Zhou Zhuang's eyes—serious and unflinching.
And Zhou Zhuang met Ayin's golden gaze without looking away.
....
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