Chapter 2

Morning.

It's already August, and the air is still so hot and restless.

Wait, no, no, I just used that environmental description.

It's already August, and the air is still so... so restless and hot, yes, that part hasn't been used.

A few years ago, the capital city's radio station merged with the capital city's television station, but although the organizations merged, their office locations did not. At the foot of the radio station building, Zhang Ye tightened his suit and walked in with a semblance of formality. Most of the regular employees had already started work by this time, and many of those entering now, like Zhang Ye, were here for job interviews.

There's still some time, might as well study the ring again.

Zhang Ye looked down at the strange game ring on his left hand. The virtual screen, so flashy, was visible only to him, and all the people around him seemed completely unaware. Zhang Ye always had a chilling feeling, it was too eerie. Could it be a problem with his brain nerves, causing such a severe hallucination? For a second, he thought he might be dependent on Brain Gold for the rest of his life.

There were several options on the virtual screen.

【Reputation】: 199,983.

【Items】: Empty.

【Mall】: Not activated.

【Lottery】: Draw a prize from the treasure chest.

(Note: The increase in reputation is related to the player's fame, exposure, achievements, respect, trust, and reputation. Items in the mall and lottery can be purchased with reputation points. The initial reputation is calculated from the player's birth up to today.)

Over 190,000 reputation points?

Zhang Ye thought about it. He had won a few essay awards in elementary school, did well in middle and high school, and often received praise from teachers. Oh, and he had one TV appearance, during his college years when he and his dorm mates were shopping at Xidan and were interviewed by a CCTV reporter. The reporter had just handed him the microphone and hadn't even asked a question when Zhang Ye blurted out, "I am very happy." The CCTV reporter was speechless and said, "We didn't ask that, we asked if you think..." Before he could finish, Zhang Ye, looking thoughtful, loudly shouted, "Socialism is good!" He wasn't sure if it was broadcasted.

Is this how the reputation points came? Over 190,000 points in 23 years? It didn't seem too bad, but Zhang Ye soon didn't think so. When he clicked on the options on the virtual screen to see what he could buy with the reputation points, he was speechless for a long time.

The mall wasn't activated, only the lottery could be clicked.

【Lottery】: Requires 100,000 reputation points, and after purchase, the game will randomly draw a treasure chest.

So, all the reputation points from the first half of his life could only be used for one lottery draw? Two draws were just a bit short? With a try-it-out attitude, Zhang Ye clicked on the lottery. His hand touched the screen, which had a tactile sensation. Following the prompt, he confirmed and spent 100,000 points, and his reputation immediately dropped to 99,983. The lottery interface flashed, and a virtual roulette wheel appeared, with a needle and a button. The wheel was labeled with 【Consumables】, 【Attributes】, 【Skills】, and 【Specials】, each corresponding to different colors and areas. The sizes of the areas were different, with the consumables area being the largest, almost half, followed by the attributes and skills areas, which each took up a smaller half, and the smallest area was the specials, barely visible.

The game screen provided an introduction!

Category descriptions:

【Consumables】: One-time use items.

【Attributes】: Permanent attribute items.

【Skills】: Skill experience items.

【Specials】: Increases the purchase permission for certain items.

Note: The final category of the prize is determined by where the needle stops.

Zhang Ye, completely puzzled, tried clicking the start button. The needle on the small wheel snapped and began to spin rapidly in a clockwise direction. After a few seconds, it gradually slowed down, becoming slower and slower, and finally stopped on the largest area of the wheel, the consumables section. It had stopped and selected—consumables!

The lottery was complete!

A golden small treasure chest appeared, and the prize was automatically added to the items section. The items section in the options now had an icon for a "Golden Small Treasure Chest"! How to use it? Zhang Ye tried reaching his hand into the items section on the screen, and his hand actually went in. It seemed there was a space inside, and he touched the light, floating treasure chest (small), grabbed it, and opened it with both hands on the street, a treasure chest that no one else could see. Golden light flashed, and something came out of the treasure chest!

It was a small crystal!

Item displayed: 【Save】.

Item description: A one-time use consumable item, a storage record. This save can retain the record for half an hour.

Save? Zhang Ye was very familiar with this. Anyone who played games knew that this was to save the current progress, either to close the game or to reload in case of a mistake later, retaining it for 30 minutes? That means if it's not used within 30 minutes, the save will expire? As for the lottery and treasure chest, he wasn't unfamiliar with them either. Many games had lottery systems, with different levels of treasure chests containing items of different qualities and probabilities. Zhang Ye took out the save crystal, and the golden treasure chest immediately dissipated into the air and disappeared. After fiddling with it for a moment, he accidentally crushed the crystal.

Saving...

Save complete!

At that moment, time seemed to pause for a second, everything was still!

After everything resumed, a 【Load】 option appeared in the ring's interface.

So, the record was saved? Zhang Ye rubbed his nose, feeling lost. Newbie reward? Background modification? Treasure chest lottery? Item opening? Save? This is really a game?

"Interview at ten, let's go."

"Brother Sun, why are you in a hurry? You'll definitely be accepted."

"Not necessarily. This time, they're only hiring two for broadcasting and hosting. I heard over twenty passed the written test, and the competition is fierce."

"True, hosting is the most popular. Zhou and I have less pressure. I applied for editing, and Zhou applied for operations. The competition is less, and they're hiring more people."

A few people entered as they spoke.

Zhang Ye checked the time and couldn't afford to study the game ring anymore. He hurried upstairs. This interview was too important to him. He had carefully considered his career path. Given his conditions and appearance, TV host? Singer? Film and TV star? Even as a villain or a clown, he didn't have the qualifications. He was too unremarkable and couldn't become famous. After much thought, he decided that starting as a radio host was the most suitable. The requirements for appearance were relatively lower, and the audience would only hear his voice, making it the best starting point for his future comprehensive development, and he couldn't afford to fail!

Second floor.

Broadcasting and hosting interview location.

In the corridor, about twenty people had gathered, all competitors, and the atmosphere was silent.

Zhang Ye took a quick look and felt a bit discouraged. Among the twenty-odd people, all were handsome men and beautiful women... except for him. All were between 25 and 30 years old with professional experience... except for him. Zhang Ye's only advantage was his formal education; he graduated from the Broadcasting and Hosting program at the Communication University. Apart from that, he had no other advantages. In the past few days, he had interviewed at two or three radio stations, but was eliminated in each interview. Zhang Ye knew it was mainly because of his average looks and lack of experience.

"Sun Hongwei."

"I'm here."

"Come in."

The first person called entered the room and was done in just five minutes. As the next person was called, someone immediately asked about the interview content. After a few times, no one asked anymore because the content varied for each person. Some were asked to communicate with a difficult listener, others to demonstrate a debate, to assess the candidate's overall qualities.

"Fifth, Zhang Ye." The female assistant called out, holding the resume.

Zhang Ye took a deep breath and stood up. It was impossible not to be nervous.

Inside the room, there were about seven or eight interviewers, men and women, with serious expressions.

Upon seeing Zhang Ye, at least two of them subtly frowned, seemingly dissatisfied with something.

Zhang Ye bowed slightly, handed over some pre-recorded materials and recitations to the interviewers, and sat down, starting his self-introduction, "Hello, teachers. My name is Zhang Ye. I am 23 years old and graduated from the Broadcasting and Hosting program at the Communication University. I..."

A middle-aged man rudely interrupted, "We have your resume, no need to repeat it." He glanced at the materials in his hand, "Hmm, your written test score is barely acceptable."

The middle-aged woman exchanged a glance with him, took out a script, placed it on the table, and said coldly, "The interview has two questions. The first one, read the script as quickly as possible, then recite it without the script."

Recite without the script?

That simple?

Zhang Ye felt relieved. Although reciting without the script wasn't his strong point, it wasn't difficult for him. He had been trained systematically in university, and it was a basic skill. He walked up, picked up the script, and started reading. It was about a thousand words, quite long. Just as Zhang Ye was confidently memorizing the text, the middle-aged woman reached out and took the script back from him after only ten seconds.

"Huh? I haven't finished reading it yet," Zhang Ye was stunned.

"Alright, recite it," the middle-aged woman said indifferently.

The other interviewers didn't react much, as if it was normal.

Zhang Ye was taken aback, "Teacher, it's only been ten seconds, and there are a thousand words..."

The middle-aged man loudly and unhappily said, "If you need a day to memorize, anyone on the street could do it. Why have an interview? Recite it now! No more nonsense!"

Zhang Ye was a bit angry, "But..."

"Recite as much as you can," the middle-aged woman said impatiently, "Hurry up! There are still a dozen people waiting!"

Zhang Ye suppressed his anger and recited, "Notarization is a special judicial activity that ensures the implementation of our country's laws and maintains social order. Notarization is conducted by notary institutions based on natural persons, legal entities, or... or..." He had only read that much in ten seconds.

The interviewers wrote notes in their books.

Then the middle-aged man waved his hand, "That's enough, no need for the second question. Next."

Zhang Ye understood that he had failed the interview again. He was very不服气 (unconvinced). This is too unreasonable! You didn't even tell me how much time I had to recite without the script, and you made me start after just ten seconds? Forget memorizing, try reading a thousand words in ten seconds! If you can read it from start to finish, I'll eat the Chang'e-3! Well, never mind, the country doesn't allow it.

As he walked out of the interview room, he faintly heard one of the interviewers say, "Don't interview people with such appearance conditions in the future, it's a waste of our time!"

Zhang Ye heard it and realized that the moment he entered, they had already decided to reject him, so they deliberately gave him an impossible task!

So frustrating!

I'm wasting their time?

Not even giving me a chance to answer? I don't believe it!

Zhang Ye, standing in the corridor, thought of the save. It had been less than thirty minutes since he saved, so it was still within the valid range. He pulled out the game interface of the ring, looked at the load option, and pressed it, hoping it would work.

Loading...

Load complete!

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