Chapter 1 The Beginning

The roads in the small town were paved with pebbles and sand, but they were generally flat, so walking on them in sneakers didn't require too much effort for Brother Jue.

However, distance was an objective reality, and Brother Jue's speculation that "the character's perception reduces stamina" was correct, so he still had to allocate his stamina reasonably to avoid unnecessary waste.

"Hmm... the actual distance is farther than I thought..." Feng Bujue had been walking for nearly twenty minutes and still hadn't reached the town square, which forced him to speed up his pace. "Besides, there's not a single person in sight along the way, and all the shops along the street are closed..." he couldn't help but think, "This... couldn't be a 'ghost town,' could it..."

Zzzzzzzzzzz...

Just as Brother Jue was thinking, a rhythmic buzzing sound suddenly came from the fog ahead.

Moreover, the sound was approaching from far away at a rather fast speed.

"What the hell?" Brother Jue stopped warily upon hearing the sound and instinctively reached into his pocket, grabbed his phone, and prepared to face a monster.

Zzzzzzzz... The sound was getting closer and closer, but there was still no one in sight.

Ding-a-ling—

Suddenly, several crisp bell sounds entered Brother Jue's ears, and the direction of the sound was consistent with the "buzzing" sound.

"Eh?" At that moment, Feng Bujue seemed to have discovered something.

He lowered his gaze and looked at the ground. Two seconds later, he narrowed his eyes and muttered, "I'll be damned... it really is a bicycle..."

Ding-a-ling—

Before he finished speaking, the bell rang again. This time the sound was even closer, almost right in front of him.

Brother Jue's reaction was also timely. He immediately flashed to the side and jumped back a few steps.

Then, he saw a trace made by bicycle tires "passing by" where he had just been standing.

"What's going on..." Feng Bujue turned his head and stared at the air, saying in a deep voice, "Invisible?"

Out of a detective's instinct (okay, I know he's a mystery writer), he immediately took a few steps forward, squatted down to check the tire tracks, and muttered to himself, "The tread pattern on the tire tracks has been worn smooth, which means it's been used for a long time... Judging from the depth of the tire tracks and the sound of the bike, it should be a metal, chain-driven, old-fashioned drop-handlebar bicycle, with a rather heavy person riding on it... Hmm... or a ghost..." He gently stroked his lower lip and said slowly, "The sound of the chain rolling sounds very smooth, and no other parts of the bike are making noise, which means... although the bike is used frequently, it's well-maintained."

"Ah!" Thinking about it, Feng Bujue suddenly slapped his forehead. "I got carried away without realizing it..." He raised his wrist and looked at his watch. "Damn... I'm not going to make it if I don't hurry."

According to the voice of the self-proclaimed postmaster in the opening CG, players needed to arrive at "his" office before "nine o'clock in the morning." And now, it was already eight fifty-two... Brother Jue hadn't even seen the shadow of the post office yet.

"So I really have to run..." He quickly stood up and took off running. Anyway, there wasn't a single person on the street, and there weren't any vehicles, so apart from the "invisible bicycle" he'd just encountered, he wasn't afraid of bumping into anything.

"Speaking of which... the current main quest [Gain the approval of the Ghost Postman and become the new postman of Otaku Town]... doesn't specify any 'time' requirements." Feng Bujue thought to himself as he ran, "It's just that the 'Postmaster' told me to be sure to arrive before nine o'clock... In other words, even if I arrive after nine o'clock, the main quest might not necessarily fail. It's just that... the subsequent plot development and the difficulty of the script might change as a result."

The more clearly he thought, the more he felt... it was best not to be late.

…………

Four minutes later...

"Finally here..." After running for quite a while, a circular plaza appeared before Feng Bujue's eyes.

The "Otaku Plaza" was paved with cement, with only a small area using stone bricks; in the center of the plaza was a simple-looking fountain, but... the water in the fountain had already dried up; the buildings surrounding the plaza were relatively tall, and most of them were public facilities, such as the police station, fire station, hospital, and so on.

Brother Jue ran non-stop towards the north side (he could still find north), and soon he saw the post office sign.

"Two stories, covering about three hundred square meters..." Feng Bujue thought as he rushed towards the post office door, "The worst possibility is... there's no floor plan inside, and there's no one I can ask for directions... I have to find the location of the postmaster's office on my own in three minutes."

With that in mind, he pushed open the thick glass door in front of him.

"Good..." As soon as Brother Jue entered, he said this. Because he found that... the first floor of the post office was just a lobby. Besides a service desk on the right side of the entrance, there was only a row of windows for handling various services.

"Is it there..." His gaze quickly swept around and instantly stopped at the stairwell leading to the second floor. There was a sign next to the stairs that read [Office Area, No Admittance to Unauthorized Personnel], which was a relatively obvious hint.

As he ran towards the stairs, Feng Bujue took the time to glance at the time.

[8:58]

"Lounge, security room, finance office, restroom..." Feng Bujue ran wildly all the way on the second floor. Finally, at eight fifty-nine and forty seconds, he arrived at the last room at the end of the corridor. "Postmaster's Office..." He looked at the sign on the door and muttered, then looked down at his watch. "Phew... there are only a dozen seconds left... that was close."

Knock, knock, knock—

While looking at his watch, his left hand had already begun knocking on the door.

"Come in." The voice from inside the door was exactly the same as the narration in the opening CG.

Hearing this, Feng Bujue took a breath, wiped his sweat, then grabbed the doorknob and pushed open the door in front of him.

The furnishings in the room were very ordinary. Besides the desk and chairs for office work, there were also several filing cabinets, a glass cabinet, two potted plants, and two flags. Brother Jue could recognize the one with the stars and stripes as the American flag, but he didn't know what the other one was... But, generally speaking, it should be the town flag of the small town or the state flag of the state it was located in.

"I must say... you've left me with a very bad impression from the start, Mr. Dave." Before Brother Jue could speak, the man sitting behind the desk said a very ominous line.

That was an old man wearing a checkered suit and black-rimmed round glasses. He looked to be over sixty years old, but his eyes were still bright and piercing, and his back was straight.

"Do you have some objection to my clothing or hairstyle, sir?" Feng Bujue was naturally not the kind of person who would be at a loss when faced with a sudden situation. After hearing the other party's inexplicable criticism, he calmly asked a question and closed the door behind him.

"No, I am very tolerant of employees' appearance." The postmaster replied, "I only have one requirement... and that is 'punctuality.'" When he said the last two words, he emphasized them.

"The moment I knocked on your door was eight fifty-nine and forty-five seconds." Feng Bujue met the other party's gaze without fear and replied, "That didn't exceed the time you specified, did it?"

"I see..." The postmaster said, raising one hand and showing his watch to Brother Jue. "Your watch is three minutes slow."

"Huh?" Feng Bujue's eyes changed slightly. "No way..." He immediately took out his phone from his pocket and pressed it. "That's right... my watch and phone time are the same, they're both..."

"...both three minutes slow." The postmaster interrupted Brother Jue.

"Uh..." Feng Bujue narrowed his eyes, looked at the old man in front of him, and said, "Is it possible that your watch is..."

"Impossible." The postmaster directly denied his assumption before Brother Jue could say "three minutes fast."

"Okay." Two seconds later, Feng Bujue straightened his expression. "I was wrong."

Brother Jue was also a reasonable person. He knew that in some cases, the truth didn't matter, attitude did.

A leader is a leader, even if he doesn't know anything, or calls a deer a horse, you should try not to correct or contradict him, otherwise... you'll just be asking for trouble. Of course, there are also good leaders who "promote you because you made it impossible for him to save face"... If you guys think you'll be lucky enough to meet one, you might as well try it. Just don't blame me if you get screwed to death...

"No, you're not wrong."

Unexpectedly, in the next second, the postmaster's attitude took a one hundred and eighty degree turn.

"Ah?" This time, Feng Bujue was really stunned.

"My watch is indeed three minutes fast, and I know that." The postmaster continued, "The reason I wronged you was to see... in the face of pressure, would you compromise with power, or would you stick to the truth."

"You don't need to raise it to that level..." Feng Bujue stared at the other party with dead fish eyes and replied, "Just think of it as me respecting the elderly... can't I just let you win?"

"Do you think I'm very old?" Following Brother Jue's words, the postmaster threw out another difficult question to answer.

"Yes." Feng Bujue replied very simply. Since the other party wanted to hear the truth, he would tell the truth to the end. Whether it was unpleasant to hear or not was another matter. "I think if I seriously argued with you, you might have a stroke and die suddenly, so I admitted I was wrong."

"Very good!" The postmaster slapped the table and stood up.

His action... made Feng Bujue instinctively take a half-step back. For a moment, Brother Jue felt that this old man wanted to flip over the table and beat him up.

"Let me formally introduce myself." The postmaster straightened his back and extended his right hand forward. "I am Norman Nelson, the postmaster of Otaku Town Post Office."

"Um... Hello, Mr. Nelson." Feng Bujue hesitated for half a second and extended his hand.

"Call me Norman, thank you." At this time, an amiable smile appeared on Nelson's face.

"Nice to meet you, Norman." Feng Bujue also replied with a smile.

Although the surface was all smiles, Brother Jue didn't stop observing and analyzing this NPC: "A man who is very good at using language and expressions. He's very imposing when he's serious, and very contagious when he's friendly. His handshake is stronger than mine... Hmm... these are all typical political characteristics." His gaze moved over the other party's body. "The collar, cuffs, and hands all show that he has a military background." The longer he looked, the more he knew. "His hair is meticulous and his beard is trimmed neatly, which shows that he cares about his appearance; the third button on his jacket has been sewn back on, and there are also traces of patching on the elbows, which shows that he is a frugal person; there are traces of a ring on the ring finger of his left hand, but it's gone now... Divorced? Or a widower?"

A series of thoughts flashed through his mind, taking only a few seconds.

After the two shook hands, Nelson said again, "Mr. Dave, as you can see, I like straightforward people." As he spoke, he sat down again and gestured for Brother Jue to sit on a chair on the other side of the desk. "With me, you don't have to be afraid of offending people with your words, and you don't have to worry about appearances..." He paused for a moment. "You just need to remember two words... First, punctuality, and second, firmness."

"Sounds like... I've already passed the interview?" Feng Bujue tentatively asked.

"Heh... passed? Hahaha..." Nelson laughed. "Far from it, Mr. Dave." As he said that, he opened a drawer in front of him, took out a stack of envelopes, and said, "The philosophy of our office is—practice is the only standard for testing employees."

"That sounds familiar..." Feng Bujue muttered in a low voice.

Nelson ignored him and continued, "Whether you can be formally hired by our office depends on your performance today." He pushed the stack of envelopes in front of Brother Jue and said, "This is your task for today."

[Side Quest Triggered] As soon as Nelson finished speaking, the system voice rang out.

Feng Bujue immediately opened the game menu, glanced at the quest bar, and saw the new quest [Deliver all the letters before midnight, current progress 0/13].

"Since it's a side quest, that means it's optional..." Brother Jue thought to himself, "Simply put, there's an extra reward for finishing before midnight, and if I don't finish... it won't cause me to fail the game."