Seduced the Obsessive NPC and Ran - chapter 16

Even after Yan Jinge had left with Su Liang and the others, Bai Wei remained frozen in place, looking as if he hadn’t yet come to his senses.

Beside him, his secretary felt a wave of embarrassment.

Bai Wei currently looked like a lunatic who wouldn’t let go… Even someone like Yan Jinge had already moved on from their relationship, so why was Bai Wei still trapped in it? Why did he look so hopelessly stuck?

He had even lost his composure in front of the new employees.

He was acting like a green, impulsive boy; if word got out, people would laugh at him.

Though she felt a bit resentful, she remained professional. Stepping forward under the watchful eyes of Lin Xiaoxu and the others, she said softly, “President Bai, the private room is ready. Let’s head over.”

“…”

It took a long moment before Bai Wei finally grunted in response. He turned around, his expression still incredibly grim.

On the way to the private room, Sister Wang and the others instinctively slowed their pace to keep their distance from Bai Wei.

To say they felt awkward seeing Yan Jinge and his group would be an understatement-after all, the Yan Corporation was where they had been trained. Now, Rongding and the Yan Group were competitors, yet they had resigned en masse from the Yan Corporation to join Rongding.

It was one thing as long as it wasn’t brought out into the open, but they had just run right into them. Furthermore, Bai Wei’s aggressive pursuit of Yan Jinge stood in stark contrast to the latter’s attitude. Yan Jinge’s subsequent response left them with a subtle feeling that they had somehow “lost.”

Sister Wang, who tended to overthink things, instinctively glanced at the manager beside her, only to find him frowning deeply, seemingly preoccupied.

“Manager?”

Sister Wang had been interviewed by this manager and had even treated him to dinner afterward, so she considered their relationship to be decent. She couldn’t help but whisper, “Is something wrong? You don’t look very well.”

The manager didn’t say anything, merely waving her off.

Sister Wang tactfully stopped asking. At that moment, someone tugged at her sleeve.

She turned to see Lin Xiaoxu. His face was also pale, as if he knew something. The two exchanged a look and, with a silent understanding, slowed their pace even further.

Recalling the scene from moments ago, Lin Xiaoxu was still struggling to process it. He whispered, “Sister Wang… I was the first one to join the company. Actually, there’s something I never told you all…”

Sister Wang was startled. For some reason, she felt nervous.

Lin Xiaoxu took a deep breath and said, “Right after I started, I realized things were a bit messy inside Rongding. It wasn’t what I expected. I didn’t see any of those ‘god-tier’ experts we used to talk about. I didn’t think much of it at the time, assuming we were just in different groups. But later, I found out that the entire technical department of Rongding had resigned en masse.”

Resigned en masse?

How familiar that phrase sounded.

Sister Wang’s heart skipped a beat as she suddenly remembered the people who had rushed forward to surround Yan Jinge when Bai Wei tried to grab him.

…It couldn’t be, could it?

No. She must be overthinking.

What kind of ability could Yan Jinge possibly have to poach Rongding’s technical staff? Back then, so many companies had offered them olive branches with incredible benefits, yet that group had never left, remaining fiercely loyal.

However, in the next second, Lin Xiaoxu’s dry voice shattered Sister Wang’s illusions. “I never knew where they had gone before, and I didn’t go out of my way to ask. But then…”

“Did you see those new employees next to Manager Yan? The ones we didn’t recognize? They… they’re the ones from Rongding’s technical department. I saw those two managers when I was handling the handovers…”

!!!

How could this be!!!

Sister Wang looked at Lin Xiaoxu in shock and disbelief, but she knew he had no reason to lie to her about this.

But-

Sister Wang felt dazed.

Those god-tier figures from Rongding were the very people many programmers dreamed of working with. Part of the reason Sister Wang had jumped ship was the prospect of working with such people; she thought she could learn something and that it would look good on her resume.

Yet, after all her scheming and busywork to finally get into Rongding, those legends had packed up and gone to the Yan Corporation??

In other words, if she had just stayed put at the Yan Corporation, she would have been working under a group of industry giants!

Thinking of how Liu Tian had been led away, seemingly on good terms with those experts, and how Manager Yan had carried himself with such poise while their President Bai acted hysterically, Sister Wang was filled with bitter regret.
If only they hadn’t jumped ship.

This thought surfaced in several people’s minds simultaneously.

But even if they regretted it now, there was no longer a chance to turn back.

…

Yan Jinge sat inside the private KTV booth. The surroundings were dim, with only the colorful disco lights spinning incessantly.

He stared ahead with a numb expression.

“I love you! But you don’t love me! I’m crying like a child! Like a fool! Ahhh-”

Su Liang’s caterwauling was like a demonic assault on the ears, enough to snap anyone wide awake.

The people from the department had long known he was tone-deaf. They had tried to stop him from grabbing the mic earlier, but they couldn’t hold him back. Now, they listened with cold indifference, wishing they could just fast-forward through life.

Liu Tian and the other five weren’t very close to Su Liang yet; their relationship was purely that of superficial colleagues. When the song finally ended, they breathed a collective sigh of relief, only to look up and see Su Liang’s expectant gaze.

Keeping in mind Su Liang’s position as the Technical Manager of Rongding, everyone forced a smile and squeezed out some praise.

“That was great!”

“Ahem, it was actually very… unique. Not bad.”

Seeing that people were actually clapping, Su Liang’s excitement spiked. “Then I’ll do another one!” As he spoke, he refused to let go of the microphone for dear life.

Hou Fang was so annoyed she went up to smack him, and the scene instantly devolved into chaos.

It was at that moment that Yan Jinge’s phone began to vibrate.

It was an unknown number.

Yan Jinge hung up immediately, but the number called back persistently. Every time he rejected it, it rang again.

He couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

Usually, spam callers wouldn’t call back after being hung up on, let alone engage in this kind of harassment.

Perhaps there really was an emergency.

The booth was too noisy, so Yan Jinge simply stood up. “I’m going out to take a call.”

Strangely enough, the moment Yan Jinge stepped out of the room and prepared to answer, the call was disconnected. Yan Jinge’s finger hovered for a moment before he called back. As he happened to look up, he saw a man and a woman locked in an embrace at the end of the hallway, kissing passionately.

It was Bai Wei and his secretary.

Yan Jinge: “…”

Yan Jinge looked down at his phone.

The person who had called him three times in a row to lure him out of the booth to watch this show had already turned off their phone.

He couldn’t get through.

Yan Jinge turned back toward the booth, lowering his head to send a text to that number.

Yan Jinge: [I don’t know what your motive is for sending me this, but thank you for everything over this period of time. However, I no longer need these reminders.]

The team-building event unknowingly dragged on until past eleven o’clock. It was already quite late.

Yan Jinge called for designated drivers and sent the few people who had been drinking back first. Then, along with Su Liang, he escorted the two ladies home.

The two of them first dropped off Hou Fang before taking Liu Tian home.

The ride wasn’t awkward at all. Su Liang, the resident joker, couldn’t stop sentimentalizing. “I’m so happy to have met you guys. People who still clap after hearing me sing are practically extinct these days. I’m touched to death.”

His words had Liu Tian in stitches.

By the time they finished the rounds, it was past midnight.

When Yan Jinge arrived home, the house was already dark.

He entered quietly. After washing up and lying down in bed, his phone vibrated again.

The unknown number had replied to Yan Jinge’s message with just one short sentence.

[You aren’t Yan Jinge.]

Yan Jinge froze.

…Who exactly was this person?

Why would they ask such a thing?

Since entering this world, Yan Jinge hadn’t deliberately imitated the Original Host’s personality. In fact, he had made a complete 180-degree turn, dumping the scumbag and acting entirely as he pleased. Yet, no one had ever questioned his identity; they simply assumed he had finally come to his senses.

Even the Original Host’s family hadn’t realized he had been replaced.

Yan Jinge suspected this was likely due to the power of the System.

He hadn’t expected this person to actually notice something was wrong.

Yan Jinge felt a sense of wonder, but he didn’t feel afraid or worried.

He was here to complete a mission; once it was done, he would leave. He would have no further connection to this place. As for something like soul-swapping-as long as he didn’t admit to it, no one would believe it even if an outsider spoke of it. Naturally, he had nothing to fear.

Yan Jinge simply replied: [Are you crazy?]

He was just about to turn off his phone when he was suddenly caught by a new message.

Unknown Number: [Didn’t you know long ago?]