Schicksal Headquarters, Floating Island.
One late night...
"Aaaahhh, I can't take it anymore!"
Theresa, worn down to a shadow of her former self by endless work, finally snapped. Her nerves, stretched taut, broke with a "twang." She screamed hysterically in the empty Overseer's office.
"So much work, all dumped on me alone? This is too much!"
After calming down, she looked at the empty Overseer's desk at the head of the room, her teeth grinding in anger.
"Lin Wei, you bastard! I quit!"
The next morning.
"Good morning, Lord Overseer!"
"Morning!"
Lin Wei, well-rested and refreshed, smiled and greeted everyone he met along the way. He then strolled leisurely to a magnificent, golden building—his office.
Standing before the technologically advanced doors, Lin Wei paused, looking up with a pained expression.
"Another busy day of work is about to begin. When will these days ever end?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the doors flew open with a loud "bang!" Lin Wei, startled, narrowly dodged to the side. Another second slower, and he might have been crushed under the heavy doors.
"You still dare to say that?!"
A white-haired loli with disheveled hair, lifeless eyes, and dark circles rushed out from inside. With a "splat," she pinned Lin Wei to the ground, her small hands gripping his collar tightly. Face to face, she roared at him, full of anger.
"Say what you just said again!"
Theresa felt so wronged she wanted to cry. I did all the work, and you're complaining?
Have you no shame!
Thinking of this, her anger flared even more. She couldn't help but pull Lin Wei's upper body up and start shaking him, repeating through gritted teeth:
"Say it again!"
"Stop!"
Lin Wei pressed one hand against Theresa's small face, which was originally chubby but now somewhat thin, and unceremoniously pushed her far away. He took the opportunity to stand up, patting the dust off his clothes, then asked with a look of surprise,
"Theresa, why are you here so early?"
As he spoke, he inwardly rejoiced. If his physique hadn't been vastly improved, that series of close-range attacks just now might have cost him his life.
"Huh? Early? Me?"
Theresa had just removed Lin Wei's annoying hand from her face when she heard his clueless words. She was instantly dumbfounded, pointing a slender finger at her own small face, so angry she could barely speak.
"You're asking me?!"
How dare you even open your mouth!
The usually very civilized Ms. Theresa couldn't help but curse inwardly at this moment.
"Beep! Beep! Beep!"
Alarms suddenly blared around them. Lin Wei looked towards the sound. The entire floating island began to descend into noisy chaos because of this sound.
"Di di di..."
Lin Wei's communicator rang. As soon as he answered, Durandal's somewhat urgent voice came through.
"Lord Overseer, are you alright? The system just showed that your office was suddenly severely damaged. We suspect it might be an attack on you by remnants of hostile forces..."
Remnants of hostile forces?
Lin Wei looked down at the somewhat embarrassed Theresa, a strange thought crossing his mind:
Strictly speaking, that's not entirely wrong?
"Don't worry, I'm fine. Perhaps the Overseer's office door is just old and in disrepair."
Lin Wei chuckled lightly, giving Durandal on the other end of the communicator a made-up excuse.
"We'll have someone come and repair it later. It's nothing major, just an accident. Cancel the alarm, let everyone go back to what they should be doing."
"As you command."
Durandal hung up the communication. The alarm was subsequently canceled, and Schicksal Headquarters returned to its usual order and liveliness.
"Alright, I've handled it for you."
Lin Wei shot Theresa an irritated look, kicked the fallen door, and calmly walked into the wide-open Overseer's office.
"Don't just stand there at the door, come in."
Theresa also knew her actions just now had caused a bit of a commotion. Her previously imposing aura had now deflated by more than half. She lowered her small head and obediently followed Lin Wei inside, still muttering complaints under her breath.
Lin Wei nonchalantly walked to his workstation, which was as clean and new as ever, and sat down lightly. Then he asked his assistant—Theresa—somewhat strangely,
"What happened that got you so worked up? Come, sit down and tell me slowly."
As he spoke, he gently pointed to her workstation, where files were piled higher than a mountain. That was Theresa's spot.
"Lin Wei, you bastard! You exploit your subordinates, you've done all sorts of bad things!"
Now that they were back on topic, Theresa's long-suppressed grievances and anger instantly flared up again. She jumped up and down, cursing incoherently.
"I don't care! I want to protest! I want to complain! I want to resign!"
"Protest? Complain? Alright, tell me all about the unfair treatment you've encountered."
Lin Wei nodded with a serious expression.
"I, the dignified Overseer of Schicksal, will definitely uphold justice for you!"
"You... you're shameless!"
Theresa was so angry she was about to cry.
"I don't care, I want to resign! I quit!"
Hearing Theresa was actually threatening to resign, Lin Wei finally took it seriously. That wouldn't do. If Theresa left, who would do his work?
He walked over to the refrigerator in the corner, pinched his nose, and took out a glass of chilled, freshly squeezed bitter melon juice. Pinching his nose again, he handed it to the resentful Theresa and said patiently,
"Why are you suddenly talking about resigning? Is there something we can't discuss properly?"
"Isn't it because you, the Overseer, don't do your job seriously!"
Theresa stood on her tiptoes, took the bitter melon juice, and drank it all in one gulp, but she didn't appreciate it at all. She still said angrily,
"You dump all the work on me alone. You get to be idle, but what about me?!"
As she spoke, she pointed to their vastly different desks—one was piled high with various documents, while the other, much larger desk, was empty except for a computer screen.
Theresa stood on her tiptoes and peeked. There was even a game controller behind it!
"Is this how an Overseer behaves?"
Theresa trembled with anger. She had endured it for a long time, and now she couldn't bear it anymore!
"Mm, you have a point..."
Lin Wei nodded agreeably, then asked with a strange expression,
"But I never wanted to be this Overseer in the first place, did I? Weren't you all the ones who pushed me into this position?"
Lin Wei stated, I'm not being very modest either. You say, I, an ordinary transmigrator, was just planning to muddle through and wait for death. How did I suddenly become the Overseer of Schicksal?
Theresa froze, then shrieked, flailing her arms.
"Aaaahhh, I don't care! It's just not okay!"
Merely shouting wasn't enough to vent her anger. She quickly scurried on her short legs to her workstation and, with considerable effort, picked up a huge stack of documents, taller than two of her combined.
Then, Theresa, struggling with this mountain-high pile of documents, huffed and puffed her way to Lin Wei and slammed it heavily on his Overseer's desk with a "bang!" The impact was like a giant hammer falling, making even Lin Wei jump.
"Today, either I leave, or you properly fulfill your duties as Overseer and finish all this work you've dumped on me!"
Theresa, having thrown caution to the wind, puffed out her small, flat chest and angrily pointed at the pile of documents.
"Slacking off all day, shifting blame, exploiting subordinates... Today, I'm going to cure you of your bad habits!"
What does this mean? A rebellion?
Lin Wei muttered to himself while picking up a document from the top. He opened it and saw it was a feasibility report on providing new treatment plans for the still numerous Honkai disease patients worldwide. The dry, professional text gave Lin Wei a headache.
"Don't get too excited, my dear little Theresa..."
Lin Wei intended to find a way to fob her off, but he was interrupted as soon as he opened his mouth.
"Don't call me that! You're less than half my age!"
Speaking of age, Theresa became even more furious.
"Also, don't talk like my grandpa, hey! It gives me goosebumps!"
"Ahem, sorry. I was just flustered and said it subconsciously."
Lin Wei cleared his throat agreeably, tapped his foot lightly, and turned his entire chair to face Theresa. He stared at her intently and said seriously,
"Then, esteemed Ms. Theresa, do you understand what you are doing?"
"I'm warning you, don't get any funny ideas! Even if you talk a flower into bloom, it's useless!"
Theresa, who had suffered at Lin Wei's hands and was now afraid of him, felt a pang of guilt when he looked at her. She shouted, trying to sound fierce but actually feeling timid,
"If you don't finish this work on time today, don't even think about leaving this room!"
"Sigh, alright, since you insist..."
Lin Wei sighed slightly. While dutifully reading through the document, he kept complaining under his breath,
"Clearly an Overseer's assistant, why does it feel like I've become a supervisor? Am I the Overseer, or are you the Overseer..."
"You still have the nerve to say that!"
How could Theresa tolerate this? She immediately retorted,
"Where can you find an Overseer like you who does nothing proper and is idle all day?"
"Oh? Is that so?"
Lin Wei's interest was piqued.
"Then what do you think a qualified Overseer is like?"
"Uh..."
Theresa was stumped. What did she know about these things?
After an awkward moment, feeling she couldn't lose her imposing manner, she simply started being unreasonable.
"Anyway, definitely not like you!"
"Mm, you have a point. I should listen humbly."
Lin Wei nodded in deep agreement, then seriously criticized Theresa.
"But I'm also very disappointed in you, my lovely assistant..."
"Me? What did I do wrong?"
Theresa retorted, quite unconvinced.
"I work from dawn till dusk, tirelessly. I don't even know how long it's been since I had a good night's sleep!"
She hadn't really felt it before, but saying it now, Theresa suddenly felt aggrieved.
She sniffled, forcibly holding back the urge to cry, and glared fiercely at the detestable Lin Wei.
"I'm giving you more responsibilities on your shoulders to train your abilities!"
Lin Wei said earnestly.
"You see, I, this Overseer, was appointed in a crisis, temporarily pushed up by all of you to tide everyone over. Now the crisis has passed, the Honkai is over, and the world is gradually becoming peaceful. My duties can be considered fulfilled."
Lin Wei waved the document in his hand and said with a pained tone,
"Look, I can't even understand it. Can someone like me still be an Overseer? It's not appropriate!"
"What do you mean, you want to leave?"
Theresa flared up again.
"No!"
"Sigh, don't get excited, don't get excited. Let me explain slowly..."
Lin Wei quickly tried to soothe her, then continued,
"Theresa, you're an Apocalypse. According to tradition, you should be the Overseer of Schicksal. Besides, you've also served as the head of the Far East Branch and the principal of St. Freya Academy, and you did a pretty good job~"
Lin Wei said without blushing or panting.
"Now you've been training in the assistant position for so long, everyone can see your abilities. It's time for an unlearned fellow like me to abdicate and make way for someone more virtuous~"
"...Really?"
Theresa, seeing how sincere he sounded, couldn't help but want to believe him. Yet, she still instinctively felt there was something hidden in his words.
"If you're not the Overseer, what do you want to do?"
"I can be your assistant!"
Lin Wei perked up and said excitedly.
"Look, I'm a parachuted-in Overseer, right? Never dealt with Schicksal's grassroots affairs, right? My resume has serious gaps, right?"
As Theresa listened, she slowly began to nod, feeling that what he said seemed to make sense.
"So, what I need more is a job that involves executing specific tasks, to enrich my resume and train my practical work abilities."
Lin Wei continued, pointing to Theresa's workstation.
"I think the job of Overseer's assistant is very suitable for me right now. What do you think?"
The reasons were sufficient, well-organized, and convincing...
"So... I become the Overseer, and you become my assistant?"
Happiness came too suddenly. Theresa was dazed by this pie falling from the sky.
"So, in the future, I can sit here doing nothing, and you'll be responsible for carrying out specific tasks for me?"
"Of course. Assisting the Overseer is inherently the duty of an assistant."
Lin Wei said seriously.
"Making things up about such matters wouldn't fool you anyway!"
"Then it's settled!"
Theresa thought about it and indeed, it made sense. She immediately became excited.
"Alright, then I will issue my final Overseer's order."
Lin Wei cleared his throat, then pressed a button next to the computer and began to broadcast to all of Schicksal.
"I, Lin Wei, hereby formally resign from the position of Schicksal Overseer, effective immediately, and pass the title to Theresa Apocalypse. This order takes effect upon its issuance!"
After the brief announcement, the broadcast ended.
Then the office descended into chaos, with everyone coming to inquire about the authenticity of the news.
Lin Wei gestured to Theresa with his eyes: You're the Overseer now, it's your turn to reassure everyone.
Theresa, still dazed, explained the cause and effect to everyone. Because the reasons were indeed sufficient, after thinking about it, everyone accepted it.
Of course, the main reason was that it was peaceful times now, and the importance of the "Overseer" was not as urgent as it had been when the Honkai was rampant. Keeping a mascot wasn't unacceptable.
"Phew... Now I'm the Overseer, right?"
Lin Wei stood up and moved aside. Theresa sat in the Overseer's chair, wiggling her bottom quite contentedly, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sudden happiness.
"Yes, esteemed Overseer Theresa..."
Lin Wei smiled faintly and said cooperatively.
"From now on, you are the true Overseer of Schicksal."
"Hehe..."
Theresa chuckled, then her tone became solemn as she asked seriously,
"So, now you're the Overseer's assistant, right?"
"Yes, Lord Overseer."
Lin Wei nodded quite humbly.
"So, now, you should be assisting me, right?"
"Yes, Lord Overseer."
Lin Wei remained humble.
"Alright then!"
Theresa instantly became excited, pointing at the pile of documents in front of her.
"Then take all these back, and you can only get off work after finishing all the work today!"
She had endured this for a long time, and today she could finally hold her head high!
"Overseer Theresa, I have a small question..."
Lin Wei said softly.
"Now that I'm the assistant and no longer the Overseer, I don't need to bear so much responsibility, right?"
"...That's right, but you have to finish your work properly for me!"
Theresa instinctively felt something wasn't right.
"Phew, finally, today has come..."
Lin Wei, who had been holding it in for a long time, finally revealed a smile of a successful conspiracy.
"Then, I resign."
"Lord Overseer, please find another suitable person to take on the assistant's duties~"
"Farewell!"
After saying that, he turned and left sarcastically, leaving behind a voice jumping up and down, cursing angrily,
"Lin Wei! You bastard!"