HLM – Chapter 3 Let’s Check Out the Territory

The office that morning was steeped in an eerie atmosphere.

Wang Bo ignored the stares and hushed discussions from his colleagues. He sat at his desk and experimented several more times until he figured out how this so-called Lord’s Heart worked: surprisingly, it was quite intelligent. When he wanted it to appear, the white, heart-shaped crystal would emerge from his chest and transform into the crystal sandbox. When he wanted it to go back, it would retreat into his chest and vanish.

Once he had grasped the rules for summoning and retracting the Lord’s Heart, Wang Bo forced himself to calm down and began organizing his thoughts about it.

After repeated testing, he was certain—this was not a hallucination. The Lord’s Heart was real. But only he could see it—no one else could.

By coincidence, he also discovered that the crystal sandbox could expand. As long as he willed it, it would scale up proportionally—like using a mouse wheel to zoom in on a map. However, it couldn’t shrink beyond its default size, which was about one square meter.

The big question was: Where did this thing come from?

Instinctively, he thought of the game development department. But after asking around, the team there adamantly denied having developed any such game.

They had no reason to lie about it, so Wang Bo returned to his seat, continuing to untangle the mystery of this bizarre game.

The devs said they hadn’t made it, but he had definitely played it—and the game was still on his phone! So, he took a leave of absence, went home to retrieve the test machine, and planned to track down the culprit behind all this.

While on the subway, as he sat down, a sudden thought struck him.

Yesterday, when he registered in the game, a popup window had indicated that the population of his territory was “1,” with a note saying this single person was Lord Wang Bo.

That’s where the problem lay. At the time, something had felt off, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Now he realized the issue was obvious—

He had never entered his name. So how the hell did the game know the registered lord was Wang Bo?!

A chill ran down his spine, and cold sweat broke out again. He felt like he was caught in some kind of event…

And it was a supernatural event.

Back at his rental apartment, Wang Bo searched for the black test device. He distinctly remembered leaving it on the table. But after turning the table upside down—he even found a sewing needle hidden in the corner—there was still no sign of that palm-sized phone!

Realizing the device had vanished without a trace, Wang Bo instinctively knew: to get to the bottom of this strange phenomenon, he had to visit that so-called territory.

He still remembered—during registration, he’d chosen a place in New Zealand, Otago and Canterbury region, Dominion of the Sun.

He’d picked it at random, mostly because he had zero knowledge of New Zealand, and had never even heard of Otago or Dominion of the Sun. But for some reason, the moment he glimpsed that name last night, it had burned into his brain—etched as clearly as if he’d memorized it tens of thousands of times.

That was already beyond normal.

And there were even more abnormal things happening!

After obtaining the Lord’s Heart, Wang Bo noticed a drastic change in his physical condition—he could run faster, jump higher, lift more, endure longer. Lately, he could climb stairs without getting winded or flushed, and when “exercising his wrist strength” while watching Japanese romantic action films, his stamina was… legendary.

Back when he’d read the game’s strategy guide, it had clearly stated: Once you gain the Lord’s Heart, even a weakling can turn into a tyrannosaurus. And now, Wang Bo felt like he was halfway there to being a humanoid T-Rex.

Wang Bo was a man of action. As soon as he made up his mind, he began researching everything needed for traveling to New Zealand—visa procedures, flight schedules, and so on. That night, when he went to bed, he once again dreamed of birds chirping, flowers blooming, misty mountains, and ancient castles… a dream that was strangely familiar yet alien.

At dawn, after waking up, he checked the status of the Lord’s Heart. It was still there—more obedient than a well-trained dog. The moment he summoned it in his mind, it appeared instantly, causing him no end of frustration.

What made him even more frustrated was that as soon as he arrived at work, the HR Director called him into the office. The old guy had his professional fake smile plastered on his face, and with some thinly veiled comments and indirect hints, he suggested that the company felt Wang Bo’s current mental state wasn’t suitable for work, and that he should “take a break” to rest.

Wang Bo understood what that meant. The company was planning to lay him off. All that talk about letting him rest and take time off was just a polite excuse. But he had been expecting this. Business hadn’t been going well for the company, and layoffs had already started before the New Year. Now that he was being labeled as mentally unstable, HR had found the perfect excuse to give him the boot.

Since he was already planning a trip to New Zealand, there was no reason to humble himself. He slammed his hand on the desk and said bluntly, “Alright, Director Cao. No need to worry yourself—I quit.”

Upon hearing that, the HR Director’s smile became noticeably more genuine. “Then go back and write a resignation letter. You’ll need three copies—one for the company, one for the general manager, and one for your department head, Director Huang.”

Wang Bo had long since grown fed up with this job—poor company prospects, chaotic team dynamics, incompetent leadership, and backstabbing colleagues. The appearance of the Lord’s Heart had only helped him make the final decision.

He pulled out some paper and began writing his resignation letters. Since he had to write three, he decided to get creative and use a three-part style:

• To the General Manager: Boss, if this company were a woman, the way you’ve treated her, she’d be dead by now.
  
• To his colleagues: Sorry, everyone—your bro is off to save the world.
  
• To Director Huang (nicknamed “the old hag”): Director Huang, your Aunt Flo’s been visiting way too long. Since she won’t leave, I will.
  

After checking over the three letters and making sure there were no issues, Wang Bo handed them over to the HR Director. The director had originally wanted to praise him for being efficient, but after reading the letters, his face turned green. Frowning, he scolded, “Wang, is this kind of letter appropriate?”

Wang Bo didn’t even look back. “If it’s not, you write one for me. What, the company lays off a loyal, hardworking employee like me, and I’m supposed to be grateful and thank you for your imperial grace?”

He packed up his belongings from the desk and returned to his rented apartment to prepare for the trip to New Zealand.

New Zealand was a major tourist destination and valued its relationship with China, so getting a tourist visa wasn’t difficult. While waiting for the paperwork, he took the opportunity to visit his parents and told them that things weren’t going well at work and that he wanted to travel to relax.

Since graduating, Wang Bo had thrown himself into his work—almost to a self-destructive degree. His aging parents had often told him to just do his best and not push himself so hard. So when they heard he wanted to take a trip abroad to unwind, they didn’t object. They only reminded him to call frequently.

Before leaving, Wang Bo also visited his close childhood friend Zhong Dabao, who had stayed behind in their hometown. Over drinks and heartfelt conversation, Wang Bo confided in him: “Old Zhong, I might run into something over in New Zealand. If anything happens to me, I’m counting on you to look after my folks.”

Zhong Dabao was around his age and known for being loyal. Upon hearing this, he patted his chest and said loudly, “Don’t worry, Old Wang. If anything happens to you, your parents are my parents. Your wife—wait, crap, you don’t even have a wife yet—hell, what I mean is, what could possibly happen to you while traveling? You sound like you’re making a deathbed confession!”

Though loyal, Zhong Dabao wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed—what people today might call a bit of an airhead. But he was warm-hearted and sincere, one of the few true friends Wang Bo had known since childhood.

Wang Bo could only smile bitterly at Zhong Dabao’s rambling. “It’s nothing. Just saying, you know how travel can be—you never know what might happen. Of course, maybe I’ll strike it rich. And if I do, I won’t forget you…”

“Strike it rich? How?” Zhong Dabao stared at him, then suddenly gasped. “Wait, Old Wang—are you going abroad to join a pyramid scheme?! Let me tell you, I might be dumb, but even I know pyramid schemes are a no-go!”

After hearing that, Wang Bo didn’t even have the strength to smile bitterly anymore.

To make things worse, one of Zhong Dabao’s neighbors had been hanging out at his house during this conversation. News of Wang Bo going abroad to join a pyramid scheme spread through the entire village in no time.

At that point, he had no choice but to cut his stay short and leave home early.