chapter 5

Jiang Ning received an invitation.

[Congratulations. Your questionnaire performance surpassed 99.9% of users.]

[You may skip Entry-Level and Junior administrative access and apply directly to become an Intermediate Administrator.]

[Once access is activated, mysterious gifts and generous compensation await.]

[Apply to become a Bright administrator? Yes/No.]

[…]

My feelings were complicated.

Exactly how deranged had my answers been? Not only had they marked me as a potential customer, they thought I had the makings of an “administrator.”

Jiang Ning stared at the [Yes/No] buttons for a long time.

She was an ordinary young woman. No normal person could easily accept something like this.

These people treated human lives as a game, and they had been operating from the shadows for at least ten years.

The power behind them was unimaginable.

An ordinary person who became entangled with them could be crushed to pieces.

Jiang Ning looked at me.

“Give it to me,” I began.

Before I could finish, she tapped [Yes].

I was surprised.

“I want to see what kind of demons are devouring the minds and bodies of all those children,” she said.

I smiled. “Then let’s take a look.”

The other side was extremely cautious.

After she confirmed the application, they sent another link.

System: [Complete the operation to receive Intermediate Administrator access. You have three attempts.]

“I’ll do it.”

I followed the instructions and selected my answers. The small traps were obvious to me, and I passed on the first attempt.

[Ding! Congratulations. Challenge completed!]

This time, it was not the system but a real person who sent us a private message.

ID Deep Sea: [For real? Someone cleared everything in one try?]

So this was how people who incited suicide talked these days?

I smiled and handed the phone to Jiang Ning.

She took it and began chatting.

I glanced at the screen.

ID Custom Baby Food Orders Online: [Hehe.]

ID Deep Sea: [That username of yours…]

Jiang Ning panicked. “Ahhh! Yingying, what do I do? Am I about to blow our cover?”

It was hardly my fault that she was a hardworking little chef.

She tried to change the username. I saw her type in “Slay All Day”…

Before I could say anything, a new message appeared.

ID Deep Sea: [We noticed you during the challenge. Damn, you were good—friendly, natural, and incredibly convincing.]

Jiang Ning: “…”