From the start, Carmen thought that Xu Feng was going against the Reaver Guild on behalf of her.
However, the situation had long gone out of control, especially with how Xu Feng was essentially cutting off Reaver Guild's development.
If it was just to divert their attention to him, then Xu Feng had already achieved the method.
Yet he went above and beyond to ruin the Reaver Guild further.
"Did the Reaver Guild offend the Guild Leader before we even met?" Carmen murmured, finding this possibility to be fairly high.
After all, it would explain why Xu Feng would suddenly appear in front of her and assist her in the mission. By following her, it was almost a guarantee that those from the Reaver Guild would show up.
Nevertheless, before she let her wild thoughts ponder further, she halted herself and shook her head.
Subsequently, she closed the game forum and rubbed her temples. "Is it because I lack sleep and now my brain is in hyper mode?"
For her to think so badly for someone who had been nothing but helpful to her, Carmen found herself ridiculous.
Without further ado, Carmen decided to send a message to Xu Feng, letting him know that she was logging out to rest.
A few seconds later, her vision blurred as the virtual world faded away.
When her sight cleared, Carmen found herself back in her room. She lifted the virtual helmet off her head, feeling the cool air of her bedroom against her skin. The room was softly lit by the morning daylight streaming through the curtains, casting a gentle glow around her.
Still clad in her cozy pajamas, Carmen's expression was somewhat complicated. Had it not been for the fact that she learned a day had already gone by, then she would have believed she still had time left to rush to the company.
"Is this what people tend to say, gaming makes them lose track of time?" Carmen muttered, extending her hand near the desk to reach for her phone.
As she glanced at her phone, Carmen nearly got frightened by the number of missed calls and messages, particularly those coworkers that she had somewhat of a close relationship with.
'This is probably worse than a nightmare.' Carmen smiled bitterly, her fingers trembling somewhat.
It was never a good thing to wake up to see so many red icons or notifications on the phone.
"Veronica?" Carmen was stunned that the woman who usually types very little, actually spammed her the most.
Veronica: Where are you, Carmen? Almost everyone has arrived and only you are missing. I told the boss that you are probably experiencing some trouble. Respond ASAP!
Veronica: Are you ghosting me right now? Or are you afraid of others seeing your beauty? The boss is a woman, so you don't have to worry about perverted uncle creeps.
These were the first messages, and upon scrolling even further down, Carmen could sense the frustration behind the screen.
After all, she usually replied fairly fast, albeit not instantaneously. However, the longest time it took her to reply to a message was only four hours.
Her lowest record time was 10 seconds, having been broken just earlier when she responded to Xu Feng's message.
Having seen most of the messages were either urging her or asking her whereabouts, Carmen decided to click the down arrow to see the most recent one. And without any surprise, she was defaulted to resignation and her remaining salary would be paid at the end of the month.
Veronica: Congrats on self-resigning. At least give me a heads-up and not ghost me .
Reading this, she felt bad and quickly tapped on the phone, typing out messages.
Carmen: Sorry, but I was occupied with the Divine World and missed the appointed date.
Veronica: Look who decided to show up. And did you say the Divine World?
A few seconds later, Carmen's phone started buzzing and it was a video call from Veronica. Accepting the call, Carmen kept a calm composure, trying to act normal.
"Our boss said we are going to be marketing things for the Divine World given its current hype. If you can bring up some good ideas, I think the Boss will hire you back." Veronica's face showed up right away as she went on rambling.
It was clear that she was quite saddened by Carmen's departure from the company without a word until now.
"It's fine, Veronica." Carmen shook her head. "Honestly, I plan on quitting if they decide to change to in-person work anyway. I don't like to interact much with people."
"So you really ghosted me to escape eh." Veronica frowned slightly. "But I guessed it can't be helped either. I might quit soon as well."
Astonished, Carmen raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
Didn't she just try to urge and persuade her to come back to the company?
So why did she suddenly mention she wanted to quit as well?
"Um, if you wanted to quit as well, then why did you want me to get hired back?" Carmen asked in a dazed tone, clearly unable to comprehend her actions. She also found it hard to believe she was talking to the real Veronica, who was always decisive and assertive.
Veronica remained silent briefly before sighing. "The company not only wanted us to do some marketing for guilds within the Divine World, but they also wanted us to join their guild."
Hearing that, Carmen knitted her brows, seemingly understanding the crux.
'Forceful joining of a guild and signing a ridiculous contract eh.' She had seen the methods of Reaver Guild, so there was already some prejudice in her mind.
Sure enough, Veronica's next words confirmed her deduction.
"The guild that we have to join wanted us to sign a contract, stating that we are not allowed to quit unless providing sufficient contribution or risk paying a fixed compensation amount. But in return, our salary will be tripled." Veronica said solemnly.
"Originally, I wanted to talk to you about it, and if you are going to join me. Then I suppose I can still handle the contract and continue working. It's just another form of employment after all."