RHWHEG -Chapter 43 Playing Games Like Going to Work

“Oh my god, those two bigshots who always act together aren’t together today?”

“Did they have a falling out? I knew it was only a matter of time, but I really hope they don’t start fighting… The construction of the community has just begun. If the strong ones split up, what’ll happen to us ordinary residents?”

Soon, voices began spreading through the neighborhood, all urging that “the two bosses should make up.”

Yu Qunqing wasn’t paying much attention to the gossip in the community. He just wanted to be an ordinary team leader. He kept Han Shuzhu’s matter in mind but firmly warned himself never to bring up that name in front of his deputy. As for what might have happened between She Lulang and Han Shuzhu before, Yu Qunqing intended to find that out himself.

Right now, he had to go to work.

That’s right—when a game is bound to your life, then playing it becomes your job. And when anything fun turns into “work,” all the joy instantly fades away. Ignoring the system’s protests, Yu Qunqing used his private stash to download a bunch of pre-apocalypse single-player games—perfect for slacking off during work hours.

He started by burning through the stamina in Mediterranean Butler: Match-3 Love Edition, playing the current event, “The Parrot’s Gift.” His pet parrot now had 128 bomb buffs and 66 shockwave buffs, with an attack range of 99×99 tiles—any enemy daring to enter would be blown to pieces. But since the community was currently safe, Yu Qunqing decided the little bird could just live peacefully as a bird.

The “Crocodile Season” event was already finished, and the next season hadn’t begun yet.

The hexagrams he collected that morning were used to renovate Building One, where he turned the air conditioning to full blast. Many people immediately came over to mooch off the cool air.

After yesterday’s renovation, people also noticed changes in the garden.

Each of the four plazas now had visitors. The most popular one was the “Da Huo Tong Station Plaza,” where trading was now open. People lined up in order to buy food. Some students were even selling rabbits. Others seized the business opportunity—buying vegetables, cooking them with their excellent skills, and selling the dishes for a profit.

While many ventured out for scavenging and exploration, plenty of others—those lacking combat ability—found ways to survive within the community.

Café 060 finally got some customers. With something sweet to eat, everyone’s moods improved. There were fewer people in the “Clinic Plaza,” which offered first aid and treatment for headaches or respiratory illnesses. Twenty-three doctors were stationed there, many still medical undergrads learning as they worked. Long-term patients were directed to the physical therapy room on the second floor.

The least crowded was the “Children’s Playground Plaza,” where only a handful of kids played. Their sharp laughter could be heard even from ten floors up. No one scolded them, because it had been so long since anyone heard children laugh freely.

A student from the University City said to his companion, “I’ve been thinking… The atmosphere here feels different from University City. It’s because both the elderly and the children can live well here—it feels like a real society again. Like we’ve gone back to the days before the apocalypse.”

“Before the apocalypse, we still had to write theses,” another student replied. “I prayed a thousand times before my defense that something would blow the school up… and well, it really did. Life is unpredictable.”

“Your school collapsed?” asked Anan in surprise, showing a hint of regret. “I still wanted to visit my alma mater once more, ride that ‘Climb-the-Three-Peaks’ route again…”

“We’d like to go back too,” said another. “There were still some seeds left behind. We left in a hurry and didn’t take them.”

The Agricultural University students exchanged looks, then suddenly sprinted to the property office, submitting an application: “Request mission—escort a small team to University City. Reward: 46 credits!”

Moments later, the application was stamped with the “Crocodile Seal,” pinned to the top of the board, and even came with bonus building materials. Yu Qunqing had already noticed it.

“The Crocodile approved us!” the students cheered.

“We’re expanding beyond the community!” their morale soared.

Meanwhile, Yu Qunqing was at his “Penguin Farm” job, watering the fields under a thick umbrella. Every click he made yielded over a million growth points. Penguin Farm claimed to be an idle game, but its online income was ten times higher than its offline rate—practically forcing players to stay logged in.

Still, players found ways to keep things interesting—like multitasking across games.

Yu Qunqing split his system screen and opened Traveling Meow Meow.

The beta version didn’t have much playable content. He explored until he found the “Cat Friends Encyclopedia.”

Inside were many cartoonish creatures:

The first was an eight-legged thing balancing a disk on its head. The note read, “My lifelong nemesis! One day I’ll overthrow you!”

The second was a chubby bee with the note: “Has a whole family, totally dishonorable!”

The third was a question mark. The fourth, a grinning frog with the note: “One kick, one down.”

It was less an encyclopedia and more a record of all the cats Meow Meow had provoked and fought…

Then, Yu Qunqing received the third letter from the Klein Bottle:

“Human, I bet you’re worried about me. To ease your longing, I decided to write to you. I’m traveling (your home is way too hard to enter). My goal is to bravely challenge a giant spider (very long legs). Along the way I met many humans—some fierce, some not. I guess that’s what humans are.”

On the back of the envelope was a photo.

The black cat lay obediently inside a glass dome, serene and detached from the world. Behind it stood a bronze statue of a crocodile topped by a fierce dog, with fully armed humans faintly visible in the distance. A speech bubble above the cat read: Sightseeing check-in! But I think something attacked me, meow.

From the bronze crocodile-and-dog statue, Yu Qunqing inferred the Klein Bottle’s location.

In ancient times, the Crocodile River often flooded, so people built three branch rivers and erected three statues to suppress the evil crocodile—“Guardian Ox,” “Guardian Horse,” and “Guardian Dog.”

Guardian Ox River was near the suburban shelter, Guardian Horse near University City, and Guardian Dog in Jiangbei City’s geographic center. Though commonly called the “city center,” it was really the financial district. The community was closer to University City.

That meant the Klein Bottle was now in Jiangbei’s geographic center—a place with a long history, the worst destruction, and the highest exploration difficulty.

It also happened to be near the awakening site of “Eight-Legged Frostfall,” the being Yu Qunqing remembered as the cause of the extreme heat.

He wasn’t strong enough yet to approach that area recklessly.

Thinking of his own LV1 status, Yu Qunqing hurriedly asked the system, “Is there really no way for me to level up?”

This was a critical weakness. In a few days, with ordinary humans’ exposure to radiation, a wave of LV2 ability users was bound to appear. Soon, his foresight and strategy alone might not be enough. He needed stronger lightning powers.

“Application received—processing—once you activate and download your fourth game, higher permissions will unlock. Thank you for supporting the system!”

Good grief. His current exploration points: 2799. He needed 201 more.

There were two ways to earn them: exploring new buildings or renovating new community zones.

The latest top-up hadn’t fully arrived yet, so Yu Qunqing checked the map and decided to spend the least hexagrams possible to unlock all the residential buildings, focusing mainly on improving the infrastructure of Buildings One and Three. Residents could only renovate indoors and update their own access cards—public facilities still depended on Yu Qunqing.

He started from Building Four, exploring the entire residential area.

The first floor housed the property office—where a spectacled crocodile waved him off. The second floor was crowded with gym-goers and people in the therapy room. The third was the recreation floor. Yu Qunqing walked along the fourth floor’s little garden toward Building Three. Few humans came here; it seemed to have developed its own mini ecosystem.

He spent two hexagrams waterproofing the whole floor and installing temperature control units.

Unlocking the first floor of Building Three, he set up another property office and assigned a small crocodile to staff it. The second floor, different from Building Four’s design, showed an option to “choose evolution path.”

So, he chose a Rehabilitation Room and a Combat Simulation Room.

Next, he connected the utilities, refurbished the elevator into an industrial-era design (fully automatic, thankfully), and made Building Three available for new tenants.

Building Two was his own residence—its first floor tightly sealed, with only the fourth connecting to other buildings. He refurbished the first and second floors but didn’t assign any crocodile staff; after all, the big crocodile lived on the third.

At Building One, he installed disinfection devices on the first floor, where residents also raised rabbits. He bought them a portable “Carrot Bunny Pen” furniture item—instantly refreshing the air.

The second floor was more leisure-focused. The massage parlor was upgraded into a public lounge, and the gym into a light recreation zone to help people relax after research or work.

The elevator became a “magical castle” style—transparent guardrails and a circular rotating platform that carried passengers upward. Fun, but dizzying.

After touring all four buildings, a familiar notification chimed:

“Ding! Area: Residential Zone A–C–D, exploration progress 100%. You’ve earned 70 exploration points. Current total: 3009/4000. A new game slot has been unlocked! Please choose a game seed to download.”

Yu Qunqing: “This time, I’ll pick a really fun one.”

No more working!

Yet, dutiful as ever, he still returned to Penguin Farm to water the crops and earn growth points.

On the way, he ran into She Lulang—followed by Lin Luyi, Sun Min, and Dong Changxin. Dong Changxin had volunteered to go with them, wanting to see more of the world.

She Lulang frowned slightly, quickly noticing the community’s changes. “You’re out,” he said.

Yu Qunqing nodded. “I think I’ve rested enough.”

The three teammates between them held their breath. Their eyes darted nervously between the two, more eager than anyone to know why they weren’t acting together today.

She Lulang stared deeply at Yu Qunqing, suddenly remembering a level-up potion—LV3 grade—that a researcher at the shelter had given him. He’d never considered taking shortcuts before, but now, facing Yu Qunqing, he felt an urge to grow stronger at any cost.

Lin Luyi blurted out, “I think She Lulang’s acting weird—something’s off with his fighting just now—”

Sun Min immediately clamped a hand over his mouth and dragged the gossip-hungry Dong Changxin away, mumbling that they’d go buy food.

“I’m fine,” She Lulang said calmly, denying the rumor.

“I believe you,” Yu Qunqing replied.

But when he looked at She Lulang again, there was a flicker of curiosity and suspicion in his eyes.