Chapter 103: The Beginning (Releasing this Friday, your support is greatly appreciated!)

“Let me introduce myself first. My name is Liu Nian. I’m a game designer. Of course, that’s just my side job. My main occupation is sending people through time and space.”

Liu Nian, the man with silver-rimmed glasses, smiled at Chen Ou.

“Nonsense. What do you gain from sending others through time and space?” Chen Ou said coldly.

“Ah, such a narrow mindset!” Liu Nian flashed a cheeky grin. “I’m just that great a person—I love fulfilling other people’s wishes. Seeing others happy makes me happier than anything else!”

Chen Ou: (╯‵□′)╯︵┴─┴ Can’t you use a more elegant metaphor?

“I’m not joking. I don’t know what purpose a person of your stature has in coming to me, but I hope you’ll be honest with me,” Chen Ou suppressed the anger welling inside him. Honestly, it was hard not to be furious—someone who’d altered the course of his entire future suddenly showed up, and with a smirking, flippant attitude no less. It was nearly impossible to stay calm.

“I think I’m pretty straightforward,” Liu Nian chuckled awkwardly, then said, “But the one who actually sent you to the Pokémon world wasn’t me—it was an intern.”

[Intern? Again with the intern? What did the intern ever do wrong? Damn it!]

Chen Ou cursed silently in his mind and rolled his eyes right in front of Liu Nian. It was clear he had zero interest in that explanation.

Seeing Chen Ou’s expression, a glint of something sharp flickered in Liu Nian’s eyes as he smiled: “I wasn’t trying to deceive you earlier. My job is to help people travel through time and space, then give them a boost. The payoff? You can think of it this way: every world people travel to carries the risk of destruction. Your mission is to help maintain stability in that world, thereby preserving the relative balance of the multiverse.”

Chen Ou was momentarily stunned by the grand scale of the claim, but quickly grasped the key point.

“Are you saying the Pokémon world is going to be destroyed?”

His tone was calm, but anyone could detect the storm raging beneath the surface.

“Emmm, yes. But it’s not really related to you,” Liu Nian said with a smile.

Chen Ou furrowed his brows but refrained from making any rash moves. Having already punched Liu Nian once, he had cooled down. Or rather, when faced with someone who could crush him with a single finger, Chen Ou wisely chose to position himself as a reasonable victim rather than a hostile adversary.

I want compensation! Give me compensation, and I won’t make things difficult for anyone!

“This isn’t really connected to you. Like I said, your travel was a mistake made by an intern. He didn’t even figure out which world to send you to. That’s also why you ended up with the Blaze Fruit in the Pokémon world,” Liu Nian shrugged.

Chen Ou was still frowning, waiting for Liu Nian to continue.

“The intern broke a slew of regulations: the ‘Non-Interference in Civilizations Code,’ the ‘Time-Space Traveler Selection Guidelines,’ the ‘Maintainers’ Basic Regulations,’ among others. He was dealt with by the Civilization Recovery and Management Bureau, the Time-Space Management Agency, and the Universe Maintainers’ Guild jointly. He’s facing many charges, and his fate won’t be good.”

Liu Nian spoke with a tone of helplessness. Honestly, that was why Liu Nian himself, as the boss, had tried to say a good word for the intern—otherwise, the intern’s fate wouldn’t just be bad; it would already be over. Such a mistake usually meant instant termination by the Civil Management Bureau, and no one would argue.

“And you,” Liu Nian looked at Chen Ou, “are the product of that mistake. I’m here this time to deal with the fallout. As long as you don’t press charges, the intern’s punishment will be lighter, and our company’s mistake can be kept under wraps.”

The room fell silent.

Chen Ou didn’t answer immediately. Liu Nian didn’t rush either. Instead, after saying these heavy words, he relaxed and slumped into the sofa, as if he were at home, showing no trace of formality.

After a long moment, Chen Ou spoke, asking a question that seemed to lack significance.

“The time-space changes I made in Grandma Juzi’s dream—was that your doing?”

Liu Nian looked puzzled, then replied, “Yes, that was me. I just used the Dream Law and Time-Space Law. Once you reach a certain level, these become normal operations.”

In truth, “normal” my foot… fewer than ten people in the entire universe can pull that off, and only four or five publicly.

“So, is this place now reality or a dream?”

Chen Ou asked in a low voice.

Liu Nian burst out laughing, then said, “As long as you want, this place can become reality! I just reversed the outcome of your disappearance, calculated what your current state should be, and copied some of your friends from the Pokémon world into your life here.”

That’s an atrocious thing to do...

“Why would a company boss suddenly show up to deal with a minor mistake?” Chen Ou asked skeptically.

It didn’t make sense. When had bosses ever done after-sales service?

Liu Nian’s smile stiffened. After a long pause, he explained, “First, you’ve already made a name for yourself in this world. Even if the original ‘savior’ appeared, they might not do better than you. That shows you have great talent. Also, achieving what you have despite the glitch speaks to your impressive potential.”

“Secondly, this matter isn’t as small as you think. It actually involves the company’s reputation. Though our tasks are usually assigned by major organizations and we hold a near-monopoly, if these organizations handled it themselves, they’d suffer significant losses, though not devastating ones.”

“Lastly, I personally feel very sorry about this. That’s why I came to apologize and offer compensation in person.”

Liu Nian’s smile was sincere, but Chen Ou knew better than to believe half of what he said.

However, the current priority wasn’t Liu Nian’s intentions.

“Then let’s talk about compensation,” Chen Ou said, shifting his posture and changing his expression. He leaned back on the sofa, smiling at Liu Nian.

Liu Nian adjusted his demeanor as well, sitting up eagerly like a subcontractor who just landed a contract—no trace of the big boss aura.

“I have two proposals for you. Please listen!”