The third copy

On the other hand, after seeing Cassia off, Du Ming went to work as usual.

Judging from the current plot progress, the people most likely to be the old demon king's subordinates are those in the company.

So as soon as he entered the company, Du Ming started the exploration mode.

He did not trigger them one by one, but just sat at his workstation and observed the employees in other positions.

Based on previous dungeon experience, Du Ming knew that any NPC within the player's sight must do things related to their identity, that is, they must play their role well.

In a quiet working environment, Du Ming suddenly noticed that a colleague went to the toilet frequently, and before going each time, he would glance in his direction subtly.

It's a bit strange...could this be the person?

But that was too obvious. Were all the old Demon Lord's subordinates so worthless? They were obvious at first glance.

What Du Ming didn't know was that the NPC, whom he regarded as a subordinate of the old demon king, was secretly disliking Du Ming's stupidity.

Other players would enter the game and frantically search for clues to trigger plot points, but this guy not only looked around but also remained motionless, looking completely clueless.

When the man got up from his workstation for the fifth time and went to the bathroom, Du Ming looked at his colleagues around him and found that everyone was working hard. He pretended not to care and got up to go to the bathroom.

As soon as he entered, he found that his colleague A had his back to him. Du Ming went up to him and hit him with a knife, knocking him unconscious to the ground. Then, when no one was paying attention, he moved the man to the unused 17th floor.

After tying the man's hands and feet with ropes, he patted the man's face and said, "Tell me, do you want to do something bad?" Du Ming acted like a novice.

"What bad thing could I do?! Are you sick?" Colleague A, who was successfully woken up by the slap, howled at the top of his lungs and almost hurt his heart, liver, spleen and lungs.

Du Ming looked puzzled: "?"

"Just tell me why you tied me up!" Colleague A complained, "You even used a knife!"

"Then you go to the bathroom now and then and give me eye signals."

Du Ming murmured, "It looks like he has bad intentions."

Colleague A, who suffered an injustice, wanted to bite him to death.

I've never seen such a stupid player. What could he do? Of course, I was telling him to follow the storyline, but what did he do? He actually tied himself up.

Trash! Scum!

Colleague A wanted to scold Du Ming a thousand times, but after realizing that he had made a mistake, someone quickly apologized to others.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I thought you were..." Du Ming smiled apologetically and hurriedly untied the man.

Colleague A cursed at me but no further action was taken and the matter was over.

However, it was obvious that a certain NPC was still angry and didn't want to take the same elevator with Du Ming at all. He snorted angrily and turned to walk towards the stairwell.

Du Ming, who was standing behind him, looked at the other person covering his neck, and a hint of doubt flashed through his mind.

Could it be that I really made a mistake?

Stairwell.

Colleague A walked up the stairs with a ruthless pace, and when he reached the corner, he met a man.

The man looked quite ordinary. Even the formal suit he wore couldn't hide his ordinary face. As the two passed by, the man seemed to mutter to himself, "Isn't it him?"

Colleague A paused, shook his head as if nothing had happened, and walked upstairs.

With that, Du Ming's typical day came to an end. With the exception of colleague A, who was acting a little strangely, everyone else was behaving normally.

The next day, Du Ming walked into the company as usual, and his eyes met with colleague A's as soon as he entered.

The latter blinked, and Du Ming immediately understood that he was being advised to follow the procedure. So as soon as A entered the bathroom, he followed.

As soon as he walked to the door, he heard people chatting inside. "It's really dangerous recently." Du Ming recognized the voice as that of colleague A.

Someone gossiped: "What?"

Colleague A: "I also heard it from the security guard downstairs. Please don't tell anyone."

"Okay, okay, I promise not to tell you. Now tell me what's going on."

"Don't worry! The security guard said that when he was on patrol these days, he kept seeing a dark figure near the elevator late at night, and there was often a clicking sound. He was afraid to work alone anymore."

"Really? That's really scary."

【You heard rumors of monsters.】

Sure enough... A hint of surprise flashed across Du Ming's face, but he felt a little disapproving in his heart.

If he was still in a state of amnesia at this time, according to the original plot of ordinary players, he was frightened by the rumor and was absent-minded when he returned to his workstation, so that his work efficiency was very low throughout the day, forcing him to stay and work overtime at night.

Working overtime alone in a building was naturally intimidating, and given the rumors from the day, ordinary players wouldn't dare take the elevator. So the only option left was to take the stairs.

On the way up the stairs, you will encounter monsters as expected, which will lead to a battle royale.

Since Cassia took over the game, NPCs are not allowed to kill players in dungeons, so the battle royale is nothing special except for being a little thrilling.

If you really fail, the most that will happen is that points will be deducted for the copy failure.

But now that the old demon king's subordinates have taken control of the game instance, the direction of the story is uncertain.

Perhaps the opponent will choose to attack during the battle royale, or he may want to find traces of Casillas on his own. All of these are unknown.

The uncertain plot direction is frustrating, and Du Ming is struggling over whether or not to participate in tonight's battle royale plot.

After all, the plot point has not been fully triggered at this time, and it can be avoided based on the last bug.

Should I avoid it myself?

Du Ming sat in the guild with a conflicted look on his face, which in the eyes of some people was just another testimony of being an ordinary player.

Du Ming was unaware of the secret encounter between their gazes. He thought for a while and decided to follow his own heart.

He knocked on his boss's office door during lunch break when his colleagues were away.

In the afternoon, the boss announced a piece of great news.

He decided to organize a team-building activity in the afternoon and go to the city’s most famous picnic spot for a barbecue.

When the news came out, all the NPCs were stunned.

Is this still their stingy boss? ! !

It turned out that Du Ming knocked on the boss's door at noon for no other reason than to discuss team-building matters.

He is not stupid. Why should he follow the dangerous plot when there are obviously bugs?

Naturally, the boss disagreed at first. After all, he was an excellent game NPC, so how could he not do his job properly?

It was Du Ming who appealed to his emotions and reasoned with him, and finally won him over with his skill of 'fishing'.

As an NPC in a game instance, even if you're the boss of a company, you're essentially working for the game. Is there anything more satisfying than slacking off during work hours? Of course not!

So this is what happened next.

Most of his colleagues were happy, with only one or two looking a little off. Du Ming stood nearby, taking in their expressions.

The picnic spot is not too far from the company, only a 40-minute drive away, but it happened suddenly and there was no bus booked at the moment.

The boss came up with an idea: all four of them drove their own cars and the gas costs would be reimbursed.

Du Ming was a new employee and was not familiar with most of his colleagues. Seeing that everyone had spontaneously formed teams, he couldn't help but turn his gaze to the other side.

The boss who was also selectively forgotten: "..." He has no respect for his face!

Just when the boss was about to save face and call Du Ming, he found that colleague A had come over.

"Why don't you join us?" Colleague A invited.

Du Ming glanced at the other two people behind him, and said with a slight smile, "Okay."

Boss: “…” So he is the only one who has been forgotten.

In the end, it was the human resources manager who noticed something was wrong and quickly coaxed the boss away, which prevented the team building from failing.

No one spoke in the car the entire way; the air was uncomfortably quiet. Du Ming sat in the passenger seat, his gaze scanning the two people in the back seat through the rearview mirror. Within seconds of looking up, his eyes met with one of them.

Du Ming smiled back and turned his eyes away as if nothing had happened.

His slender fingers tapped quickly on the phone, and soon a message was forwarded.

Cassia, who was far away in the NPC gathering place, was sitting aside listening to gossip. After receiving the text message, he avoided people and opened it to take a look. His eyes narrowed immediately, and when he looked carefully, he even saw a cold light flashing in it.

Although it was a last-minute picnic, the owner still contacted people in advance. When the group arrived, the food, tools, tents, etc. were already prepared.

They just need to have fun.

The picnic spot was beside a small river, with lush grass on the banks and a small boat in the lake. On the other side was a small forest, which looked a bit eerie from a distance.

If it were just that, Du Ming wouldn't care much, but as soon as he walked here, he heard the narration of the plot.

You feel a little eerie, as if someone is watching you.

How could that be?

He had clearly avoided the evening's plot, so how could this happen again?

Du Ming frowned, somewhat confused.

Unless... unless the person who controls the core of the copy is here right now.

He turned his head sharply, looking at everyone as suspicious.

The peeping from the woods was so obvious that the hairs on Du Ming's back stood up, reminding him that this place was dangerous.

Du Ming calmly withdrew his gaze and gradually moved away from the shore.

Chicken wings and other ingredients are placed on the grill, coated with honey and chili powder, and the aroma spreads continuously.

The boss experienced slacking off at work for the first time and was a little too excited. He carried a bottle of beer in one hand and three skewers of barbecue in the other, moving in and out of the crowd as nimble as a fish.

When he walked to Du Ming's side, he was already drunk, his cheeks were flushed, and the smell of alcohol was so strong when he opened his mouth that it made people feel uncomfortable.

He approached Du Ming with two bottles of beer and said with a thick tongue, "Come... Du Ming... come and have a drink."

"No thanks, boss. I'm not much of a drinker." Du Ming raised his hand to refuse.

But someone still insisted, "It's rare for me to come out, and besides..."

He sneaked up to Du Ming and said with a smile, "Didn't you come here on purpose? Now that you're here, you have to have fun."

Hearing this, Du Ming's heart skipped a beat. Looking at this face, he suddenly felt a chill in his heart.