Chapter 3: This Easy Life? Biting Back
A rat.
Chen Mo's heart did a quick calculation. Big companies like this? The water ran deep. But he didn't have the luxury of choice.
"Where do I start? And I'll need access."
Li Bingyan slid him an encrypted USB drive and a temporary security card. "Three months of financial and marketing data. Background files on a few suspicious employees. Your cover is an external consultant brought in for a special project. You have access to non-core systems. Don't tip anyone off."
[Ding! New mission issued: Assist Creditor Li Bingyan in Exposing the Corporate Mole. Mission Rewards: Debt Reduction ¥1,000,000, System Points +500, Random Skill Chest x1.]
One million!
Chen Mo's pulse spiked. This easy living thing might be dangerous—but damn, it paid well.
He was assigned a cramped temporary office—a far cry from Li Bingyan's penthouse, but it had a desk and a computer. He plugged in the USB and got to work.
[Temporary skills granted: [Data Analysis (Basic)], [Detail Insight (Basic)].]
With the system's boost, the endless spreadsheets started making sense. Patterns emerged. Something was off in Director Wang's reimbursement records—the same guy he'd called out in the meeting. And a Deputy Finance Director had some suspicious inflows to a personal account. A sales manager's numbers were too clean, too perfect.
But none of them felt like the big fish. They felt like decoys.
Three days into the investigation, Chen Mo was in the break room grabbing coffee when Li Bingyan's executive assistant—a sharp-looking woman named Amy—walked in.
"Busy days, huh, Consultant Chen?" She smiled, making small talk.
"Just getting up to speed." He played it cool.
Amy leaned in, lowering her voice like she was sharing gossip. "Between you and me? Director Wang's been seen having dinner with people from our biggest competitor. More than once."
A lead.
Chen Mo filed it away, thanked her, and headed back to his office to dig deeper into Wang's connections.
That night, as he left the office and headed toward the subway, his phone buzzed with a call from an unknown number.
He answered.
"Mr. Chen." The voice was low, calm. Threatening. "Some things are better left alone. Whatever Ms. Li is paying you, we'll double it. Otherwise… accidents happen in this city. Even in the nice parts."
Click.
The line went dead.
Chen Mo stood there for a second, pulse hammering. They knew his number. They knew what he was working on. He'd been made.
[Warning! Host is under threat. Mission risk level elevated. Emergency protocol recommended.]
"Emergency protocol? What the hell is that?" he demanded silently.
[Emergency skill exchange available: [Danger Sense (Weak)]—consumes 100 points. Grants limited ability to detect immediate physical threats. Duration: passive, always active at low level.]
"Give it to me. Now."
[Exchange complete. Remaining points: 0.]
A faint hum settled at the back of his mind. Nothing dramatic. Just a low-level awareness. He could feel the street around him differently now—the shadows, the blind spots, the strangers lingering a little too long.
He changed his route home. Took three different turns. Doubled back twice. By the time he reached his tiny rental apartment, his nerves were shot.
Lying in bed, staring at the cracked ceiling, he replayed the call.
They wanted him to back off. Which meant he was getting close.
"Fuck that." His jaw tightened. "You want to play hardball? Let's play."
He wasn't going to run. And he wasn't going to let them win.
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Chapter 4: Turning the Tables, First Blood
The next morning, Chen Mo walked into Qingcheng International like nothing had happened. But inside? His mind was running three steps ahead.
The mole knew he was investigating. That meant going quiet wasn't an option. He needed to shake the tree—see what fell out.
He made a show of it. Loudly "discussing" suspicious data patterns with a junior analyst while Director Wang walked by. He saw Wang's face twitch. Good.
Later, he cornered the Deputy Finance Director with a few pointed questions about certain "irregular transactions." The man's smile didn't reach his eyes.
By afternoon, Chen Mo's little performance had made its way up the chain. Exactly as planned.
That evening, he took a different route home. Through a less crowded street. A bit darker. A bit more secluded.
[Danger Sense] flickered.
Two men stepped out from behind a parked van. Baseball bats in hand. Cheap leather jackets. Crooked grins.
"You the consultant making trouble for people?" The one with a gold chain stepped forward, swinging his bat lazily. "Word is you don't know when to quit."
Chen Mo's heart hammered, but he kept his voice steady. "Who sent you? Wang? Or someone higher up?"
"Doesn't matter." The second man moved to block his escape. "What matters is you wake up tomorrow with a good reason to find a new job."
He swung.
[Emergency combat protocol activated! Temporary skill granted: [Basic Combat], duration: 3 minutes.]
Heat flooded Chen Mo's limbs. His body moved before his brain caught up.
He sidestepped the bat—barely—and slammed his elbow into the guy's ribs. The man gasped, stumbled. Chen Mo followed through with a kick to the back of his knee. The guy went down hard.
Gold Chain stared, eyes wide. "What the—"
Chen Mo grabbed the fallen bat, swung it in a tight arc, and cracked it across Gold Chain's forearm. Bone met metal. The man screamed.
Chen Mo stood over them, chest heaving, bat held loose at his side. "You tell whoever sent you that if they want to play games? I play for keeps. Next time, I don't pull punches."
The two men scrambled to their feet and ran, limping into the darkness.
The moment they were gone, Chen Mo's legs nearly gave out. He leaned against the wall, gulping air.
Holy shit. He'd just fought off two guys with baseball bats.
[Temporary combat skill deactivated. Host status: Mild physical strain. No serious injuries detected.]
He barely heard the system. His mind was already racing ahead.
They'd tried to scare him. They'd failed. And now—now he had leverage.
He pulled out his phone, dialed.
Li Bingyan picked up on the second ring. "It's late."
"I had visitors tonight." He kept his voice calm, professional. "Baseball bats. Friendly chat about quitting. I think we're getting close to something."
A long pause. When Li Bingyan spoke again, her voice was quieter. "Are you hurt?"
"No. But they showed their hand." He straightened up. "I need you to play along with something tomorrow."
"What do you need?"
"To smoke out the real rat."
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Chapter 5: The Trap Springs
The next morning, Chen Mo walked into Li Bingyan's office—unannounced, without knocking—and slapped a folder on her desk.
"I've got him." His voice was loud enough to carry into the hallway. "Director Wang. He's been skimming from marketing budgets, selling data to competitors, the whole package. I've got the proof right here."
Director Wang happened to be walking past. He stopped dead.
Li Bingyan's expression didn't flicker. She opened the folder, flipped through it slowly. Pages of "evidence" Chen Mo had fabricated—convincingly, with the system's help—pointing directly at Wang.
"Director Wang." Her voice was ice. "My office. Now."
Wang stumbled in, face pale as paper. "Ms. Li, I—this is—I've never—"
"Then explain this." She slid the folder toward him.
He grabbed it, hands shaking. Read through. His face went from pale to ash gray. "These numbers… these aren't mine! Someone's setting me up!"
"Internal audit will investigate." Li Bingyan's tone was final. "You're suspended, effective immediately. Security will escort you out."
Two security guards appeared at the door. Wang looked between them, then at Chen Mo, then at Li Bingyan. His expression shifted from panic to something else—realization.
"Wait," he said suddenly. "Wait, I know who did this. It wasn't me. It was—"
"Escort him out." Li Bingyan waved a hand.
Wang was dragged away, still protesting, but his eyes kept darting toward the Deputy Finance Director's office down the hall.
The floor went quiet. Employees pretended to work, but everyone was watching.
Chen Mo lingered by the door, scanning faces.
The Deputy Finance Director—Liu—was at his desk, head down, working. But Chen Mo caught it. A tiny smile. Just a flicker at the corner of his lips.
Satisfaction.
The trap was set. The bait was taken. And now the real rat thought he was safe.
Chen Mo stepped back into Li Bingyan's office and closed the door.
She was looking at him with something new in her eyes. Not quite warmth, but close. "That was a risk. If he'd called your bluff—"
"He didn't. Because he's not the real target." Chen Mo leaned against the wall. "Director Liu, on the other hand? He smiled when Wang got dragged out. And he's your uncle's man, isn't he?"
Li Bingyan's expression sharpened. "You're sure."
"Not yet. But he's the one who sent the muscle after me. I'd bet on it." Chen Mo met her gaze. "One more week. I'll give you everything you need to take him down."
Li Bingyan studied him for a long moment. Then she reached into her desk, pulled out another certificate, and filled it out without a word.
[Debt Reduction Certificate: Amount—¥1,000,000. Reason—Special Investigation. Creditor Signature—Li Bingyan.]
She slid it across the desk. "You earned this. But the bigger prize comes when Liu falls."
Chen Mo looked at the certificate. A million. Already. He picked it up, folded it carefully, and tucked it into his jacket.
[Ding! Mission "Assist Creditor Li Bingyan in Exposing the Corporate Mole (Phase 1)" complete! Rewards distributed: Debt Reduction ¥1,000,000 applied, System Points +500, Random Skill Chest deposited in system inventory.]
[Host's current total debt: ¥98,950,000. Remaining points: 500.]
He was still doing the mental math when the system chimed again.
[Ding! Second Creditor—Su Mengli—detected in vicinity. Her team is struggling with creative block for her upcoming album. Opportunity detected.]
[Ding! Third Creditor—Qin Qing—facing imminent professional crisis. International evaluation of her surgical technique approaching. Opposition forces mobilizing.]
Chen Mo's eyes widened.
Both of them? Already?
Li Bingyan noticed his expression. "Something wrong?"
He shook his head, a slow grin spreading across his face. "No. Nothing wrong at all."
He tucked the certificate away and headed for the door. He had work to do. A lot of it.
And for the first time since this nightmare started?
He was looking forward to it.
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End of Chapters 3-5