The warmth of the blanket felt comfortable as Xuanling slept deeply, having dreams far sweeter than usual. Outside, the sun had already risen as its rays snaked through the narrow gaps of his window, lighting up his otherwise dark room. However, the sparse rays didn't reach his eyes, which were enveloped by the warm blanket, his sweet dream slowly approached its climax.
His phone, however, had its own opinions. It rang loudly at this exact moment, he startled awake sweet, eyes still hazy from sleep. Unfortunately for him, it was time to get up and prepare himself for his daily responsibilities. But like usual, he sunk back into the softness of his bed, pulling the blanket over.
Five more minutes!
The second alarm rang exactly five minutes later, making Xuanling feel anxious, as his heart didn't feel like going to work and instead wanted to sleep in some more. But his adult brain knew it was time to get up, or he wouldn't be able to get to work in time, he also wasn't particularly fan of hearing his friends grumbling early in the morning.
Thus, he woke up with a reluctant heart and began his morning routine: brushing his teeth and checking his social media as he ate his breakfast. After cleaning up the plates and cutlery, he locked the door and left for work.
The journey towards his office by car was smooth initially, but he soon stopped the car.The traffic lights had turned red. It was the usual terrible traffic those living in a big city experienced daily, especially during rush hours. He stared at the red lights emotionlessly, having experienced the same long queue of mornings too many times to care.
But one's heart sometimes couldn't help but get annoyed at things, even if it had experienced it repeatedly. His heart just didn't like those red lights,.
Soon, Xuanling arrived at the parking lot, taking his things out before locking the car. The corporate office was already teeming with activity when he entered. His colleague, and also crush, Chen Mei, entered almost at the same time.
"Good morning Xuanling." Chen Mei greeted Xuanling with a polite smile.
Xuanling returned her greetings as she walked up to her desk. She was sparkly as usual, exuding energy he couldn't imagine having this early in the morning. As she went over to her desk, before positioning her black hair in front of her as she began her work.
Xuanling didn't immediately go to the desk, instead, he went over to the coffee stand and took a cup. He felt too lazy without a cup of coffee, and he hadn't been able to brew one at home, as he left in a rush.
Soon, his other colleagues also came in one by one, some energetic and some still yawning. He looked up at the clock, as he swiftly finished his coffee before going over to his desk. The monitor's screen lit up, as he began his work.
The buzz in the office also quieted down as everyone got to their work. It was the usual work of checking and replying to emails and phone calls. He worked in the marketing department. It has been approximately five years since he started working here.
Except Chen Mei and his friend from college who worked in this same company, Xuanling didn't talk to many people in the office. It wasn't that he was an introvert, it was just that he preferred to keep his circle of friends small and tight. It was less of a hassle that way too. The time in his office went rather uneventfully most of the time unless some major ad campaign was going on, and the workload was illegally high. But otherwise it was a peaceful place, although that only applied to those who were decent at their work.
Xuanling at times caught glances of Chen Mei, she was very disciplined and punctual person. Which was completely opposite to his first girlfriend, also his childhood friend.
She was mostly the centerpiece during his school years that allowed him to connect with her large friend circle. Yet, he mostly interacted with her, but at times he couldn't help but get caught up in the drama of such social circles. The biggest of such drama was in fact his own break-up with her, it had happened abruptly, the reason? Growing up, if said in short.
She basically lost interest in him as a romantic partner. But her moving on did a lot of damage to Xuanling, while also teaching him the cons of being in such a large friend circle. As his break up became part of their new hot topic which led to a lot of heartaches.
This event single handedly worked to make him a lot more reserved, after entering college. Now he preferred these few, small circles of company at the office, or really anywhere.
It was better this way, as he didn't have to think too much about social dynamics, which he otherwise had to do when he was within a large group. In the office, he was barely known by anyone in particular. He mostly focused on his work, and left the moment the time was up.
"Xuanling, is the report done?" asked a well-built, tall guy with brown hair. He was Wang Jian, Xuanling's college friend and boss in this department.
Xuanling had completed the report the previous night, it wasn't big, but rather light allowing for him to complete it in a single day. Xuanling promptly gave him the report, as they had a light talk regarding its various details.
After their little chat, Wang Jian clasped his hands, as everyone looked up from their desk, "Everyone, today we're gonna get a visit from a company named nine-seven, it's a chocolate company. They're coming with some samples. So the lunch would begin earlier. We'd have to check out these samples as they're gonna be the products we base our future campaign over." said Wang Jian loudly while maintaining a gentle smile. Making sure everyone got the information. "Finish whatever work you guys currently have, and after lunch, come to the third floor." Wang Jian said, after bidding Xuanling farewell, he left for his cabin.
Xuanling admired Wang Jian a lot. The guy was a marketing genius, and also a good motivator, keeping the department of marketing excited and working. Even though he wasn't the oldest employee of this department, his father had a good relationship with the CEO of this company, so for him, promotion wasn't too much as he had climbed up the corporate ladder fast.
Xuanling promptly got back to work, the same boring work he always did. At first, it used to feel novel and exciting, but after years, that excitement had faded. This new chocolate company campaign and sample testing wasn't something exciting either, such companies came multiple times every month. It was even tedious since he had to say good things about the product samples even if they weren't good.
But that was marketing, sometimes he had to exaggerate the product's benefits and taste. But working here paid his bills, so he wasn't about to complain, unless it was straight up scammy products that they were told to promote. The company was reputable and didn't engage in such outright fake product promotion. He also earned a decent salary, which had allowed him to afford his own house and a car on loan, but overall his life was going well.
It wasn't spectacular, he still had several loans to pay up, but he was content with how things were going. He was the definition of an average individual one could find anywhere, Xuanling knew that well but that was good enough.
Lunch time quickly arrived, Xuanling stood up, stretching his tired and stiff muscles. And just when he was about to go towards the cafeteria, he saw from the corner of his eye, a small folded piece of paper flying towards him. He swiftly moved away from the object's path, as it hit the glass window behind him.
One of his colleagues, who was known for being a bit childish and impulsive even in his adulthood, walked up to him with a clearly apologetic expression.
"Sorry Xuanling, I was trying to give it to my friend over there, my hand slipped and it instead went towards you." Feng Liang apologized and went towards the glass window to pick up the folded paper.
"Sorry," he apologized again.
Xuanling gave him a smile, "No worries man, it happens."
Xuanling didn't pay any more attention as he walked on over to the elevator, then went to the fourth floor where the cafeteria was located. His heart was still racing from the sudden dodging of that paper object. Since his school days, he had good reflexes, it was something he was proud of, although it hadn't given him any large benefits.
But it did save him from sudden surprises that could actually hurt him, even if not badly. In the past, he had thought of making good use of it, like joining some eSports team and such, but his family's financial condition at that time hadn't allowed for such adventures.
As he reached the cafeteria, he saw something he rarely ever got to see. Two eggs! Two entire eggs were still available on the counter. It was a rare event, as they often sold out way too quickly. Thanking his lucky stars, Xuanling quickly bought them before getting the rest of the lunch.
Xuanling felt inwardly that this day was rather lucky, not only had he gotten eggs, but the first person he had met after arriving at the office was Chen Mei. It wasn't something that happened regularly, especially being greeted by his crush first thing in the morning after arriving.
As Xuanling looked around the cafeteria, he found an empty table. Sitting at the empty table, he started lunch with the sandwiches, saving the two eggs for last.
His superior, Wang Jian walked up to him right at this moment, and he also saw Chen Mei behind him, with another guy from the department, Feng Liang, walking behind them.
"Hey wanna share this seat buddy?" Wang Jian asked, but as typical of his friend outside of work hours, the dude ignored all mannerism as he sat down regardless of Xuanling's yes or no.
While Wang Jian sat beside Xuanling, Feng Liang and Chen Mei sat across from him. As they began their lunch while chatting with each other about various things. Chen Mei smiled as she talked with Feng Liang, who was full of enthusiasm as usual. He was always like that, Feng Liang was known for being enthusiastic and charismatic, although he lost in the charisma department to Wang Jian hard, he was still far above Xuanling when it came down to it. His impulsiveness has annoyed many men, but it has also charmed many women of the marketing department.
They talked about the usual stuff they always did: politics, relationships, sports and movies. It was basically a recipe for wasting time when it came to lunch, he didn't though. But he also felt somewhat bored, and uninterested at times, like today, so continued his lunch while listening to their chatter.
After finishing, the group parted as Xuanling went to the bathroom. He clicked on the switch to turn on the men's bathroom light, and almost immediately everything went dark.
"Huh, what happened?"
He tried to reach for the switch again, only to find that there was no switch, or even walls and gates. And right at this moment he heard a robotic voice in his head.
*Your World has been swallowed by the World Whale, initiating the system tutorial phase, please wait.*