Chapter 1 The Start

The roads in the small town were paved with pebbles and sand, but they were generally flat. For Brother Jue, who was wearing sneakers, walking on such roads didn't require too much physical effort.

However, distance was an objective reality, and Brother Jue's conjecture that "the character's physical sensation reduces physical energy" was correct. Therefore, he still had to allocate his physical energy reasonably to avoid unnecessary waste.

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

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz...

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

Moreover, the sound was approaching quickly from far away.

"What the hell is that?" Hearing the sound, Brother Jue stopped alertly, and without thinking, he reached into his pocket with his right hand, grasped his phone tightly, and prepared to face the monster.

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

Ding-a-ling-ling—

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

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

He moved his gaze down to the ground, and after two seconds, he squinted and muttered, "Damn... it really is a bicycle..."

Ding-a-ling-ling—

Before he finished speaking, the bell rang again. This time the sound was closer, almost pressing against him.

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

Then, he saw a trace of a bicycle tire rolling past the spot where he had just been standing.

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

Out of the instinct of a detective (okay, I know he's a mystery writer), he immediately stepped forward, squatted down to check the tire tracks, and muttered to himself, "The patterns on the tire tracks have been worn flat, indicating that it has been used for a long time... Judging from the depth of the tire tracks and the sound of the bike, it should be an old-fashioned curved-handle bicycle made of metal with a chain, with a relatively heavy person riding on it... Hmm... or a ghost..." He lightly 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 is 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. "Tsk... I won't make it if I don't hurry."

According to the voice claiming to be the post office director in the opening CG, the player needs to arrive at "his" office before "9:00 AM." And now, it was already 8:52 AM... Brother Jue hadn't even seen the shadow of the post office yet.

"Looks like I still have to run..." He quickly stood up and ran away. Anyway, there was no one on the street, and no vehicles. Apart from the "invisible bicycle" he encountered just now, 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 'Post Office Director' told me to arrive before nine o'clock... In other words, even if I arrive after nine o'clock, the main quest may not fail. It's just that... the subsequent plot development and script difficulty may change as a result."

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

............

Four minutes later...

"Finally here..." After running a considerable distance, a circular square appeared in front of Feng Bujue.

The road surface of "Otaku Square" was paved with cement, and only a small part of the area was paved with stone bricks. There was a simple fountain in the center of the square, but... the water in the fountain had dried up. The buildings surrounding the square 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 saw the sign of the post office.

"Two stories, occupying about 300 square meters..." Feng Bujue thought as he rushed towards the post office door, "The worst possibility is... there is no floor plan inside, and there is no one to ask for directions... I have to find the location of the director's office by myself within three minutes."

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

"Very good..." Brother Jue said as soon as he entered the door. Because he found that... the first floor of the post office was just a lobby. Apart from a service desk on the right side of the entrance, there was only a row of windows for handling various businesses.

"Is it there..." His eyes quickly scanned around, and instantly stopped at the entrance to the stairs leading to the second floor. Next to the stairs stood a sign that said [Office Area, No Unauthorized Personnel Allowed], which was a relatively obvious hint.

While running towards the stairs, Feng Bujue took the time to look at the time.

[8:58 AM]

"Lounge, security room, finance room, toilet..." Feng Bujue ran all the way after going up to the second floor. Finally, at 8:59:40, he came to the last room at the end of the corridor, "Director's Office..." He looked at the sign on the door and muttered, then looked down at his watch and said, "Phew... there are still a dozen seconds left... that was close."

Knock knock knock—

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

"Come in." The voice coming 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. In addition to the desk and chairs for office work, there were also several file cabinets, a glass cabinet, two potted plants, and two flags. Brother Jue could recognize that the one with the star pattern was the American flag, but he didn't know what the other one was... However, generally speaking, that should be the town flag of the small town or the state flag of the state it was in.

"I have to 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 in a checkered suit and black-rimmed round glasses. He looked to be over sixty years old, but his eyes were still piercing and his back was straight.

"Do you have any opinions about my clothes or hairstyle, sir?" Feng Bujue was naturally not the kind of person who would panic when encountering unexpected situations. After hearing the other party's inexplicable criticism, he calmly asked a question and closed the door behind him.

"No, I'm very tolerant of employees' appearance." The director replied, "I only have requirements for one thing... and that is 'punctuality'." When he said the last two words, he emphasized his tone.

"The moment I knocked on your door was 8:59:45." Feng Bujue met the other party's gaze without fear and replied, "That's not beyond the time you specified, is it?"

"I see..." The director 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 have the same time, both are..."

"...both are three minutes slow." The director interrupted Brother Jue.

"Uh..." Feng Bujue squinted and looked at the old man in front of him and said, "Is it possible that your watch, Director..."

"Impossible." The director directly denied his assumption before Brother Jue could say "is 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 situations, the truth didn't matter, attitude did.

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

"No, you're not wrong."

Unexpectedly, the next second, the director's attitude changed 180 degrees.

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

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

"Don't elevate it to that level..." Feng Bujue stared with dead fish eyes and replied, "Just treat it as me respecting the elderly... can't I just let you win?"

"Do you think I'm old?" The director followed Brother Jue's words and threw another difficult question.

"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 was another matter. "I think if I seriously argued with you, you might have a blood vessel burst and die suddenly, so I admitted my mistake."

"Very good!" The director slammed the table and stood up.

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

"Let me formally introduce myself." The director straightened his back and extended his right hand forward. "I am Norman Nelson, the director of the 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, Nelson's face showed a kind smile.

"Nice to meet you, Norman." Feng Bujue also smiled back.

Although the surface was all harmony, Brother Jue did not stop observing and analyzing this NPC: "A man who is very good at using language and demeanor. He is very powerful when he is serious, and very infectious when he is kind. The strength of his handshake is greater than mine... um... all are typical politician characteristics." His gaze moved over the other party. "The collar, cuffs, and hands all show that he has a military background." The longer he looked, the more detailed he knew. "His hair is meticulous and his beard is well-trimmed, indicating that he cares about his appearance; the third button on his jacket has been sewn, and there are traces of patching on the elbows, indicating that he is a frugal person; there are traces of a ring on the ring finger of his left hand, but it is 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 had already sat down again and raised his hand to signal Brother Jue to sit on a chair on the other side of the desk. "Here with me, you don't have to be afraid of offending people with your words, and you don't have to worry about your appearance..." He paused. "You just need to remember two words... First, punctuality, second, firmness."

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

"Heh... passed? Hahaha..." Nelson laughed, "Far from it, Mr. Dave." As he said this, he opened a drawer in front of him and took out a stack of envelopes. "My office's philosophy 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 my 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.

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

"Since it's a side quest, that means it's okay not to do it..." Brother Jue thought to himself, "Simply put, there will be extra rewards for finishing before midnight, but if I don't finish... it won't cause a game over."