Li Rui sat in a small, private conference room. The blinds were drawn down to cover the transparent glass walls, blocking the inquisitive gazes from outside.
In less than half an hour, the entire Baili Association's Huangliang City branch had heard about the newcomer who broke records by obtaining twelve points of initial attributes, plus one skill, one talent, and even brought out a set of equipment!
In short, as a newly registered "new account," he had maxed out everything that could be obtained, making this a perfect start!
Currently, Leader Wang Ba couldn't manage anything else and immediately reported the matter to the Huangliang branch president of the Baili Association. Upon learning the news, the latter also took it very seriously and immediately expressed the desire to come personally, telling them to wait in the conference room.
"In the meantime, Xiaoli, I'll explain what you need to know to understand the current situation."
Wang Ba, whose demeanor had changed, became very serious.
"For all legal secret realm agents, the largest regulatory body nationwide is the National Anomaly Management Division, responsible for overseeing everything; however, at the provincial and city levels, the specific execution is by semi-autonomous organizations like our Baili Association."
"Even though our branch is called the Huangliang branch, our usual jurisdiction also includes three neighboring cities. All matters related to secret realm games and superpowers within this large area fall under our responsibility."
Li Rui asked, "You mean the president I'm going to meet later..."
"Exactly, the leader of all superpower users across our four cities. So don't say anything inappropriate." Wang Ba had already noticed this newcomer wasn't very formal, so he gave special instructions in advance.
"Don't worry, I've always been measured." Li Rui said seriously.
Wang Ba was skeptical about this.
Just then, the conference room door was pushed open unexpectedly. The president was a woman appearing to be around fifty years old. She couldn't be described as still charming, but her clean and neat attire gave off an impression of striking charisma.
"Please, sit down. You're Xiaoli, right? Don't be nervous. I was just in Huangliang and came by after hearing Leader Wang's report to see what kind of record-breaking newcomer this is."
She tried to appear more amiable, but the price of being competent is often reduced approachability, so she still didn't seem very congenial.
Luckily, Li Rui wasn't shy.
"Hello, President. May I know your name?"
"....."
Wang Ba regretted not informing him earlier.
Is this what you call being measured? A normal person would just ask for the last name, but you ask for her full name? And even say "name" like that!
The president paused for a moment, then smiled: "I'm Wu Mengying."
"Alright, Sister Meng, my name is Li Rui, you can just call me Xiaoli."
"..."
Wang Ba rested his head in his hands, staring blankly at the table, feeling his earlier words were in vain.
This kid truly lacks formality.
Besides, she's old enough to be your mother!
However, Wu Mengying continued to smile: "Xiaoli has a certain youthful vigor, which is exactly what our Baili Association needs. Leader Wang, you should organize everyone to learn from this spirit; our Superpower Division always believes everyone can be a teacher."
"Ah, yes." Wang Ba quickly nodded.
A few sentences later, a young woman looking like a secretary hurriedly entered from outside.
"President, the other team leaders have arrived. Shall I invite them in?"
"Hmm." Wu Mengying nodded.
Hearing this, Wang Ba's inner court battle instincts awakened.
He didn't need to think to know what those people want to do.
Snatch people!
A newcomer with record-breaking initial attributes surely has some skills. The priority is to get him on one's side first.
This is certainly the thought of every leader.
Soon, four men and one woman, all distinct in appearance, poured into the conference room, sitting near Wang Ba.
Because of Wu Mengying's presence, no one spoke.
"Everyone, be at ease. This isn't a formal meeting."
Clearly, Wu Mengying knew what everyone was thinking, "Since everyone's here, let Xiaoli explain what happened in the newbie space."
"Ahem."
Li Rui wasn't afraid of being the center of attention, cleared his throat, and began narrating how he beat up the puppet administrator.
"...You all know about the Baji Fist, right? It's about pulling the enemy in close and hitting them. I lacked experience and didn't finish the fight before executing an Iron Mountain Lean. Guess what? I hadn't gathered enough attribute points yet at that time, almost lost my grip, so I followed it up with a Fierce Tiger Climbing the Mountain, hitting it at the back of the neck."
"By then, I figured that guy was about done. I flipped it over with an over-the-shoulder throw and pinned it to the ground..."
Li Rui continued to vividly recount the face-sitting and threatening scene.
"In my opinion, that puppet wasn't as vicious as Brother Ba said, honestly quite a reasonable fellow."
If there was anything the attendees shared in common with that puppet administrator, it was having their heads buzzing alike.
A female leader, with a tuft of red hair, commented: "Old Wang, didn't you give him a few pointers before he went in?"
"I did talk to him, but who knew he could beat the administrator? That's not a normal thing to do."
Indeed.
The others nodded quietly.
Wu Mengying's expression became serious: "Xiaochen, check the intranet, globally, cases of conflicts with administrators."
Everyone found this unfamiliar territory since none of them knew anyone so daring.
The secretary typed away quickly on her laptop and said: "President, since records began, there have been five cases worldwide, with no shared data from abroad. Domestically, the only case is classified, but..."
"But what?" Wu Mengying hated beating around the bush.
The secretary hurriedly continued: "But it's certain that all these targets are currently deceased."
"..."
Everyone fell silent, except for Li Rui, who frowned: "Wait, I've been meaning to ask, isn't this a game? How come people die?"
The leaders, including Wang Ba, seemed absent-minded, but Wu Mengying, being a leader, was the first to regain composure: "Indeed, the global secret realm is a game, but a deadly one. Take the gear you brought out, for example. It contains 'Eternal,' right?"
"Yeah."
"Eternal gear is soul-bound to its owner, meaning others can't use it. However, if I coveted your set of gear, there's still a way to get it—just break the soul bond."
Wu Mengying explained sternly and calmly, "One way is for you to die in the secret realm, the penalty being the random loss of some gear and a deduction in secret realm experience, allowing others to obtain your bound equipment."
"The other way is you die in the real world, and through imprint connection, other secret realm agents can directly obtain the gear in your inventory."
Li Rui said blankly: "I understand, but we were talking about people who died offending that puppet, what does gear have to do with it?"
The crowd finally understood why he dared to beat up the administrator; he seemed truly fearless, even daring to retort in front of the president.
However, they didn't realize that having the unlucky fate of an orphan, if he always thought twice, he wouldn't have survived to this day.