| WRIAWW | Enthusiastic Citizen | 12
After completing two tasks, Zong Le had completely shaken off his previous poverty.
With over a thousand points in hand, he now stood tall and finally didn’t have to go to the night market to buy wilted discounted vegetables. While shopping at the market, he could even afford to buy a couple of extra pieces of fresh pork.
He also took it upon himself to repair the door of his neighbor, Sister Liu, and bought a new set of pots, pans, and utensils for his home, replacing the rusty ones that had been unused for years.
Thanks to his improved financial situation, Zong Le was able to rest at home for a few days, feeling refreshed and energized. He started waking up early every day, even before dawn, to jog around the neighborhood, building up his stamina and staying fit.
However, the past couple of days had been unusually eventful.
For instance, yesterday, during his morning jog, he happened to stop a motorcycle robbery.
The thief on the back of the motorcycle was quick and snatched a passerby’s bag before speeding off, hitting the throttle to the max.
Just as the thief grinned and prepared to check his loot, he suddenly noticed a figure relentlessly chasing them from behind, moving even faster than their motorcycle. The sight nearly made the thief’s eyes pop out of his head.
Zong Le, who had witnessed the scene and started chasing from where he stood, had sharp eyes. With a swift step forward, he leaped onto the motorcycle, grabbing the handlebars with his bare hands and forcefully changing its direction.
Screech—
With a piercing screech of the brakes, the motorcycle, which had been speeding at full throttle, was abruptly forced to a halt, its tires leaving long skid marks on the ground and emitting a foul burning smell.
The panicked thief was knocked unconscious by a precise strike to the back of his neck from Zong Le, who then grabbed him by the collar and pulled him off the bike in one fluid motion.
The sheer intensity of the scene even made the usually indifferent passersby in Guiyi City stop and stare.
After a while, someone hesitantly remarked, "Are they... filming a movie?"
"I’m not sure, maybe it’s a stunt actor."
"I didn’t see any cameras. Has movie technology gotten that advanced?"
Zong Le, focused on his task, had the ability to block out all distractions. Ignoring the whispers, he placed the two men by the roadside and dialed the police station.
Just like last time, the operator’s attitude was dismissive. This time, upon hearing that the thieves were still alive, the operator hung up before Zong Le could even describe the location of the incident.
It seemed the police weren’t planning to handle this.
"Sigh."
Feeling the harsh reality of the world, Zong Le decided to take matters into his own hands. He found a piece of rope on the motorcycle, which had clearly been used for criminal purposes before, and tied the two unconscious thieves to a lamppost.
To avoid misunderstandings, he even used a black marker to write on their clothes: "On [date], robbed on Guiyi Avenue, captured by a concerned citizen."
After finishing all this, Zong Le followed the clues left in the bag and called the owner, then stood quietly by the roadside, waiting for them to arrive.
Just then, a man walked over.
"Hello, I’ve been observing you for a while."
"Huh?"
At first, Zong Le thought the man might also be a survivor, but upon seeing the man’s pitch-black eyes, he dismissed the idea.
He suddenly remembered that the forum had mentioned that survivors entering a mission instance were confined to the location of the current task and couldn’t leave to go elsewhere.
So, logically speaking, it was impossible for him to be walking down the street and see survivors casually strolling around unless there happened to be a mission taking place nearby.
"Hello, is there something wrong?"
Realizing that this person was a native, or what survivors referred to as an NPC, Zong Le was quite surprised.
Based on his life experience over the past few months, most residents of Guiyi City were indifferent to things outside their own lives—except, of course, when it came to gloating in others' misfortunes or taking pleasure in their downfalls.
"Here’s the thing. I’m a director from an entertainment company under the Taikang Yongle Group."
The man straightened his suit collar and pulled out a gold-embossed business card from his inner pocket: "You must have heard of the Taikang Yongle Group, right? It’s the largest group in Guiyi City, with industries spanning healthcare, biotech, real estate, entertainment, and more. For example, Taikang Yongle Hospital and Taikang Yongle Biotech are among our group’s enterprises."
"Ah? Oh... I think I’ve heard of it."
The doctor had mentioned the name before.
Zong Le took the business card and noticed a black equilateral cross printed on it, which he assumed was the emblem of the Taikang Yongle Group that Li Ming had mentioned.
It then occurred to him that the hospital building where he had previously received treatment also bore this symbol. In fact, many public facilities in Guiyi City displayed the words "Taikang Yongle" or its logo, though he had rarely paid attention to such details.
"That’s good." Having established his identity, the director’s demeanor became noticeably more dignified: "Here’s the situation. Our company is currently preparing a police-and-gangster-themed thriller. I just witnessed you subduing that criminal—your movements were highly professional and visually striking. I believe that with your skills, you could shine brightly in the film industry."
"If you’re interested, feel free to call the number on the card anytime."
"Uh, sure." Out of politeness, Zong Le nodded and accepted the card.
However, he didn’t have much interest in becoming an actor. For one, being an actor wouldn’t help save the people of Guiyi City. Secondly, the way the director was sizing him up made him feel uncomfortable.
His intuition told him that what the director truly wanted might not be related to the movie at all.
Of course, this incident was just a small episode in his daily life. After returning the bag to its owner, he quickly forgot about it.
But the next morning, during his jog, Zong Le encountered another unexpected event.
This time, the troublemakers were a group of teenagers who had just come out of a bar after an all-nighter. Their leather jackets reeked of cigarette smoke, and they were heavily drunk, leaning against the street corner and talking loudly.
It was unclear who started complaining first, but they grumbled about spending too much money on drinks the night before, leaving them with barely enough to buy cigarettes. Naturally, they began scheming to make some quick cash through petty theft.
The area around Ankang Community was mostly residential. It was early in the morning, so there weren’t many people on the streets, and even fewer shops were open. In the end, the unlucky target became the courier station at the corner of the street.
Early morning was the perfect time for couriers to deliver packages, and all the staff at the courier station had come out to lend a hand. This inadvertently gave the teenagers an opportunity.
They stationed three lookouts at the entrance, using various excuses to distract and delay, while the others sneaked into the station. They searched for valuable packages by the labels on them, used a paper cutter to open them, and stuffed the contents into their pockets.
Because of the nearby upscale residential area, the courier station indeed had quite a few valuable items.
Zong Le happened to have just finished his three laps and came to pick up the frying pan he had ordered a couple of days ago. As soon as he entered, he noticed the suspicious figures lurking behind the shelves. Feeling wary, he deliberately stayed longer, using the cover to open his phone's camera and observe their actions.
After confirming that these teenagers were indeed up to no good, Zong Le decisively kicked over a shelf, trapping them inside, and then loudly alerted the staff outside that there were thieves inside.
"Hey, what are you doing!"
Hearing the commotion, the lookouts outside rushed in first.
Clearly, this wasn’t their first time doing something like this. They knew the tactic of the guilty party playing the victim and immediately turned the tables.
"Why did you kick over the stuff on the shelves!"
"Yeah, you got caught stealing and now you’re blaming us?"
"Whether you stole or not, you know it in your hearts."
Zong Le knew full well that arguing was pointless given the disparity in numbers. He had always disdained wasting words on society’s parasites. Swiftly and decisively, he subdued all of them, then turned to the stunned station employees.
Calmly, he showed them the video evidence he had just recorded, reminding them that the police station probably wouldn’t bother with this and to remember to claim compensation once the culprits woke up.
"Uh... okay, got it."
The turn of events left the employees completely bewildered. Although they knew this black-haired young man was helping them, the brutal scene they had just witnessed still left them with a lingering sense of fear when they looked at him.
Zong Le didn’t stay long. After copying the video and sending it to the station, he picked up his package and headed home.
Through the events of the past two days, he had come to a profound realization.
—The sickness of this city was far worse than he had imagined.
In just two days, in such a small neighborhood, so many illegal activities had occurred. If this were scaled up to the entire city of Guiyi, it was almost unthinkable.
No wonder, when browsing the forum the day before, Zong Le had seen survivors nicknaming Guiyi "Gotham." If crime rate was the norm, it wasn’t entirely unfounded.
"No, I can’t keep resting. This city needs me, justice needs me!"
Realizing this, Zong Le immediately decided to take action.
Guiyi City didn’t have Batman, but it had kind-hearted survivors and him!
He rolled up his sleeves, made himself breakfast, and then picked up his phone again to browse through the task listings.
Strangely enough, ever since completing the novice's task, the task list on the recruitment app seemed to have been activated, with the number of tasks suddenly skyrocketing.
From the lowest D-level to the highest S-level, there was a dazzling array of tasks. Zong Le casually refreshed the page, only to find that it was impossible to scroll through them all.
Those S-level tasks, marked with the words "Extremely Dangerous" and ranked at the top of the mission list, were all displayed on his interface as available for acceptance at any time, with no restrictions whatsoever.
"The seniors on the forum said that each survivor can only receive five tasks at a time, and only S-level survivors can freely choose tasks. Why can I pick tasks freely like an S-level survivor? Is it because I'm a local? I really don’t get it."
Zong Le, who had only completed two tasks, was still at D-level. Although his last mission was highly difficult, his overall evaluation was unfortunately not high.
Worried that the low system evaluation might be due to his meddling in matchmaking and helping people rebuild families, which could have left the neighbors dissatisfied but too polite to speak up, Zong Le feared that the happiness index hadn’t fully improved.
So, over the past two days, he made time to observe his neighbors.
During these two days of observation, the sound of bouncing balls upstairs stopped, the chopping of meat downstairs ceased, and the scratching noises next door disappeared.
He even took the opportunity to buy some fruit and visit a few times, personally witnessing the harmonious and friendly interactions among the neighbors, who seemed to be filled with love for their new lives. Only then did Zong Le finally feel at ease.
This scene couldn’t help but remind Zong Le of the time he had just moved back after being discharged from the hospital.
The psychiatric treatment had caused him to forget many things, and he could only rely on the file bag he received upon discharge, which contained necessary information from his hospitalization.
Fortunately, the file bag included a letter he had written to himself upon admission, detailing his family situation—how his parents were researchers who rarely saw him—the severity of his condition, and words of encouragement to himself.
In the letter, he had written, "Because I feel my condition worsening and my mental state deteriorating, I’ve decided to admit myself to avoid affecting others and becoming a destabilizing factor in society. I am willing to bear all consequences of this decision." He had also left behind a set of keys, a phone, and a small amount of cash.
Following the address in the file bag, Zong Le returned to Ankang Community.
Although the house was old and carried the musty smell of long disuse, the rusted or dust-covered objects in the corners still held faint traces of memory, giving him a sense of long-lost familiarity.
He should... indeed have lived here for a long time.
However, too much time had passed, and just like the community, which once housed prominent figures but was now filled with the elderly, weak, and sick, the neighbors had also changed.
On his first day entering Building 4, Zong Le sensed the prying eyes and unfriendliness from all directions. But being naturally thick-skinned, he didn’t pay it much mind and continued to approach them with kindness.
Sure enough, in less than two months, the initial hostility and malice had completely disappeared. Even when he walked through Ankang Community, the residents would occasionally greet him, creating a harmonious and respectful atmosphere.
Given the current state of harmony, Zong Le felt that if Guiyi City were to hold a contest for the most beautiful neighborly relationships, Ankang Community would surely make the list.
"My guess was right—everyone is just sick, but sickness can be cured."
Zong Le knew that his desire to cure everyone was somewhat arrogant and overambitious. But a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. With him and the survivors working together, they could definitely create a better Guiyi City!
Thinking this, he flipped to the back of the mission list.
"Hmm... This time, I won't take on a mission that's too difficult. I'll pick one that matches my level!"
Although he had been pondering along the way, Zong Le didn't forget to browse the mission details.
He didn't have much mission experience yet, so rather than taking on unfamiliar high-level missions, he preferred to keep his feet on the ground and start from his actual level. After all, aiming too high without the skills to back it up was a bad habit to avoid.
Soon, he locked onto a target amidst the dense text.
【Anfu Road Courier Station】
【Mission Level: D】
【Description: The Anfu Road Courier Station has recently been frequently targeted by thefts. The owner fired a batch of station employees, leading to a shortage of manpower. They are now recruiting temporary couriers from the public to help with unloading and delivery services. As a newly appointed courier, you are responsible for delivering the backlog of goods accumulated over the past few days.】
【Main Mission: Deliver five packages】
【Side Mission: Achieve an 80% customer satisfaction rate】
Zong Le carefully read the mission description and realized that this was the same station he had helped out at earlier that morning.
"So today's theft wasn't the first one? That's really unlucky."
He sighed, swiped his finger across the screen, and finally decided to accept the mission.
Ankang Community was located in the suburbs of Guiyi City, the kind of place you'd have to take the subway to the last stop to reach. Besides the old resettlement community, there was only an upscale residential area halfway up the mountain and a scenic tourist area at the summit.
The upscale residential area was filled with single-family villas, each with security guards and multiple access gates. Their packages were also stored at the courier station at the foot of the mountain, and every day, the butlers and servants from each villa would personally transport them up.
Thinking about it, the packages these wealthy people bought daily must be quite expensive, which explained why the station was frequently targeted by thieves.
After finishing breakfast, Zong Le took a quick shower.
Although the distance he ran every morning didn't even make him break a sweat—it barely counted as a warm-up—since this was a part-time job, he needed to be in good spirits.
Six minutes later, the young man stepped out of the bathroom, his body still damp and his black hair wet.
As he moved, the towel wrapped around his waist slipped down slightly, revealing a cross-shaped birthmark.
In the steam-filled mirror, his moistened features appeared exceptionally striking, giving him an innocent and pure look.
After drying his hair and tidying up, Zong Le put on the temporary courier cap issued by the system and headed out, feeling refreshed.
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