The depths of winter, the north wind biting cold.
Li Xiang wrapped in a heavy police cotton coat, stands against the wind at Times Square in Jinghai City, maintaining public order.
The icy cold wind blows on his face, making his sturdy nose turn red from the cold.
And next to him is the guardhouse, but he can't go in to take shelter, because the task doesn't allow it; resting time inside is not counted toward the task completion time.
Some well-meaning people suggest he go inside the guardhouse to take shelter from the wind, since no leaders are watching, is it really worth being this stubborn?
Worth it!
Although no leaders are watching him, there is a 'Celestial Eye' monitoring him.
Li Xiang rubs his frozen hands together, takes out his phone, and glances at the taskbar:
[Task Name: Police Duty]
[Task Description: Patrol duties in Times Square, Jinghai City, monitoring and preventing suspected criminal activities, suspicious vehicles, and behavior, and taking appropriate measures to address any issues discovered.]
[Task Time: 4 hours (In Progress 181:51/240:00)]
[Task Rewards: Experience +50, Diamonds +100]
"It's so cold, there's just an hour left to finish the task; tonight I must eat some hot pot to warm up."
His phone had mutated ever since last month when he downloaded a game called [Police Simulator] out of boredom, and since then, every time the station assigns him a duty, his phone would synchronously update with the task details.
At first, he thought his phone had been tapped, but when he showed the phone content to others, they couldn't see these task details, which made him realize that the information on the phone could only be seen by him.
As long as the station assigns him a task, the phone would synchronously give him rewards.
Braving the cold wind for another hour, Li Xiang's phone emits a "ding" sound; the task is finally completed.
He stretches his stiff legs, leans on the guardhouse door, and steps inside; the warm air from the heater hits his face, making his nose tingle. He quickly grabs a tissue to wipe his nose.
Then he takes out his phone to look, tapping on the Police Simulator game icon.
"Check Attributes."
The phone immediately displays his full attributes:
[Player Name: Li Xiang]
[Identity: Auxiliary Police, Hongqiao Police Station]
[Level: lv.2 (150/200)]
[Strength: 10]
[Agility: 10]
[Constitution: 10]
[Intelligence: 10]
[Free Attribute Points: 1]
[Skills: None]
[Skill Points: 0]
[Diamonds: 500]
...
"Just 500 more diamonds to unlock the first dungeon."
Revived in the guardhouse, Li Xiang turns off the phone, removes his utility belt, and hangs it up, saying, "Off duty, let's have hot pot."
Times Square is the most famous street for food and entertainment in Jinghai City; after a tiring day at work, the most leisurely thing to do after work is to eat, drink, and unwind here before heading home.
After every duty, Li Xiang would come here for some hot pot.
Hot Pot Thread is a rotating hot pot restaurant where all the dishes revolve in the center, and guests sit around it, grabbing skewers from the conveyor belt in front of them.
"Boss lady, one spicy pot base, please."
"Alright, sit anywhere."
Li Xiang goes to the condiment area to prepare his sauce, then sits down, selecting skewers he likes to eat, and as he fills his stomach with food, his body gradually warms up.
"Auntie, can I have a spicy pot base too?"
While burying his head in his meal, Li Xiang suddenly hears a soft, sweet voice. He looks up to see a girl in a long white down jacket sitting across from him, taking off her hat to reveal long, silky black hair.
The oval face wears sunglasses that cover half of her face, looking playful and cute.
Li Xiang merely glances at her upon hearing the voice and resumes eating, but occasionally sees her while picking dishes.
It's these occasional glances that make him notice something unusual — there's a man beside her, frequently moving back and forth behind her and constantly staring at her pocket.
This guy is suspicious!
While Li Xiang was thinking there was something off about this man, the man acted — taking advantage of the girl's focus on skewers, he swiftly snatches her phone from her pocket and quickly heads towards the store exit.
[Ding, random task triggered!]
[Task Name: Catch the Thief]
[Task Description: Encountering a thief even after work hours, of course, choose to catch him.]
[Task Requirement: Catch him.]
[Task Reward: Experience +200, Diamonds +600]
[Accept/Decline?]
"600 diamonds? Thief, don't run!"
Everything happened too fast, so fast that Li Xiang only had time to accept the task before charging out, not even having the chance to warn the girl that her phone was stolen.
The thief, realizing he's been exposed, runs even faster, weaving through the crowd trying to shake off Li Xiang.
And the hot pot restaurant's patrons only start discussing it after Li Xiang dashes out.
"What happened? Was there a thief just now?"
"Quick, see if anything's missing?"
"Thankfully, I have all my stuff."
The slow-reacting Lin Feifei, hearing the commotion, swallows her last bite of meat, leisurely wipes her mouth with a napkin: "Was there a thief just now?"
She instinctively looks around, then pats her pocket and comes up empty: "Ah? My phone got stolen!"
This time Lin Feifei panics; she can afford to lose anything but this phone!
Her phone holds too many secrets, including her debut new single at the concert. If it leaks early, it will surely impact concert ticket sales.
Furthermore, for pre-event publicity, she had already teased on Weibo that a new song would be released at the concert. The fans are eagerly anticipating it, and any performance mishap would mean a significant loss; first, the investors, then the agency would hold her accountable, and most crucially, her fans would be disappointed with her.
Thinking of the consequences of losing her phone, Lin Feifei anxiously runs out.
"Wait, young lady, you haven't paid yet!"
Just as she reaches the door, Lin Feifei is stopped by the hot pot restaurant owner asking for the payment.
"Ah, sorry, how much is it?"
"I'll count your skewers."
The owner counts the skewers while Lin Feifei anxiously waits, but she still waits for the owner to finish calculating.
"It's 82 in total, just make it 80."
"Okay, I'll scan you."
Just as Lin Feifei thinks about paying, she suddenly remembers her phone was just stolen, how would she scan?
"Auntie, I'm sorry, my phone got stolen just now."
Growing up, Lin Feifei never encountered such an embarrassing situation, eating without paying, isn't that dining and dashing?
"So the thief just stole your phone!"
Lin Feifei: "..."