"Oh, that's great."

The girl's face was always flushed, her cheeks never hiding her joy. She turned her head slightly, nibbling a faint smile.

"You know, your emotions are written all over your face," Xu Xiaoyou said. "Be careful next time, don't hurt your hand again."

She obviously noticed the little pig band-aid stuck next to the girl's thumb, exactly the same as the one on her own index finger.

"Because this kind of thing is really reason to be happy, to have your efforts recognized by others, at least you know you're not just doing useless work," Tang Xin said. "This feeling makes my heart not so uneasy..."

She seemed to have something more to say, but her thoughts drifted away with the aroma of the meal.

Xu Xiaoyou observed the girl's little expressions, nodding thoughtfully, "In that case, you can become a chef at a restaurant; if the base is big enough, there will always be customers who will appreciate you."

Tang Xin's face fell: "I cooked, I'm not doing the dishes. Also, it's your turn to clean the room today, no more excuses."

After eating, Tang Xin lay on the sofa watching TV. Xu Xiaoyou helplessly washed the dishes in front of the kitchen faucet, the water splashing over the ceramic bowls, listening to the girl's silver bell-like laughter in the living room; presumably, the other side had seen something amusing, this sense of little peace she actually quite enjoyed.

It's just that washing dishes in this weather made her hands ache with cold.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

She put down the bowl in her hand, walked to the door, and was somewhat surprised by the person she saw when she opened it.

The young man wore a courteous smile, just like the one she had seen on the screen before, dressed in a black trench coat with white speckles melting on his shoulders, and a plaid scarf around his neck.

The most distinctive feature was the tear mole at the corner of his eye and those heavy, weary dark circles that seemed to drain your energy just by looking at them.

"Miss Xu, I didn't expect you to live in a place like this."

Jian Liu hesitated for a moment, his tone calm: "I prepared myself mentally before ringing the doorbell, afraid I'd gotten the wrong place and disturbed someone."

"Don't tell me the company sent you."

Jian Liu's face stiffened, slightly embarrassed: "Miss Xu, you truly have foresight."

The young man's gaze was uncharacteristically serious: "It's Diamond 9."

"I owe him a favor, and he hopes you can attend this afternoon's..."

"S-Level Agent Exchange Meeting," Xu Xiaoyou filled in.

"Yes, that's the one."

"Such a trivial matter, for the director of Dawn Office to make a personal visit, that Diamond 9 certainly overestimates my importance," Xu Xiaoyou said.

"Maybe, but for the company, every S-Level agent is an irreplaceable strategic asset."

As he said this, Jian Liu looked up at the security booth's sign again.

"The company might as well send me a secret martial arts manual directly, along with an apartment in the Black Swan District, rather than sending deceptive harassment messages asking me to attend some exchange meeting," Xu Xiaoyou said coldly.

Jian Liu: "They place great importance on the growth of an S-Level agent."

"In any case, that Diamond 9 hopes you'll reconsider."

"How am I supposed to get there, surely they're not going to send me a ticket now?"

At this, Jian Liu handed over the bag he was holding.

"Use this."

"The Oasis consciousness immersion helmet?" Xu Xiaoyou blurted out when she saw the 'Nighttime Dreams' logo on the bag's packaging.

"The latest model of the Neuro-Wanderer, worth tens of thousands of inspirations, this is that Diamond 9's sincerity towards you."

Xu Xiaoyou pondered for a moment but eventually accepted the bag handed over by Jian Liu.

"If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave, Miss Xu."

After watching the young man walk away, Xu Xiaoyou returned to the house, where Tang Xin on the sofa cast a curious glance: "What was that?"

After a simple explanation, the girl showed a look of realization, nodding her head.

"Oasis, that Virtual Nest City? I've only ever learned about such things in textbooks."

"Keep an eye on things outside, inform me of any anomalies."

With that, Xu Xiaoyou went into her room and sat on the bed's edge.

The Oasis immersion device, like the screen, is typically linked to a personal identity, equipped with a tech lock. The company most likely bound it with her information when they sent this device.

Removing the packaging from the bag, a black head-mounted consciousness immersion device appeared before her, similar to those she had seen in anime films.

She picked it up and examined it, finding it not particularly intricate, looking just like an unremarkable black helmet.

However, considering even the technology for spatial transmission could be packed into a small ticket, Xu Xiaoyou stopped thinking too much about it, choosing instead to put on the helmet and lay flat on the bed.

After the countdown ended, as a burst of colorful lights flashed before her eyes, her consciousness seemed to momentarily plunge into a deep, dark ocean, slowly sinking.

...

The world rebuilt itself before her eyes.

As she slowly opened her eyes, an entirely different scene emerged before her.

She seemed to be in an alley, one so dark it seemed endless, where she could only faintly discern her fingers.

Looking up, the magnificent golden city hung upside down in the sky, each towering structure resembling stars in the shimmering night sky, the entire golden firmament seemingly pressing down, the stars in the Cosmos either dimming or rising brightly, enticing one into a beautiful dream they wouldn't want to awaken from.

It wasn't the city in the sky; she was in this alley thousands of meters above that city in deep space.

The world she was in was upside down, but she wasn't affected by gravity, not falling towards the city below.

Xu Xiaoyou wasn't surprised, for in the Oasis, anything is possible; there's nothing that can't happen in the Oasis.

She tried moving her body, walking and jumping a bit. All her senses matched reality; she could smell the rust in the alley and feel the cold, desolate wind blowing through its dark corners.

Just when she decided to explore the alley further, to see if she could find some artifact like in a game, a grid-like air wall gradually appeared before her, blocking her path.

"You lack permission to enter the Oasis."

Xu Xiaoyou summoned the Oasis system panel and, sure enough, most of the permissions were locked.

Anything like Guilds, Personal Information, Honor, Arena, Assets were all locked, gray and unclickable.

Even the character she was currently controlling was just temporarily registered, skipping the face-crafting and naming process, with the birthplace directly set to this place called 'Abandoned Alley.'

As for why this Abandoned Alley was located above the Oasis, it was obvious the modeler was lazy, too hesitant to delete the model of the abandoned scene, and not knowing where else to place it, simply threw it above Oasis City.

In that city where everyone was immersed in golden dreams, everything in the city was so radiant and dazzling; gold and jewels were everywhere, and no one would look up at the dull sky above.

The company was indeed not so kind, giving her an unpurchased Oasis pass for a consciousness transmission device.

Using the water gathered on a nearby trash can lid, Xu Xiaoyou could vaguely make out her current appearance, a faceless and blurred out visage, with dim golden hair draped over her shoulders; her entire lower body floated like a ghost. She felt she looked frightening enough to easily scare children.

Sighing helplessly, Xu Xiaoyou opened the only available map.

"Oasis City: Insufficient permission, unable to transport."

"Eternal Tower: Insufficient permission, unable to transport."

"Sin Capital: Insufficient permission, unable to transport."

"..."

All iconic zones were non-transferable, leaving only the least conspicuous at the bottom of the transport list - "S-Level Agent Exchange Room: Transport allowed."

Reluctantly, Xu Xiaoyou selected and confirmed it.

Her body disassembled into ethereal blue particles, dispersing in the dark alley.

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