Chapter 1 The Beginning

Hao Ren walked home, clutching a stack of cheap printed papers in his hand, feeling particularly overwhelmed.

And also a little teary-eyed.

From today onwards, he was an employee of some inter-dimensional super-civilization, a human who could directly talk to gods. Behind him was the Time-Space Administration, a behemoth that sounded terrifying just by its name. He held a divine contract in his hands, and his employee number could even be found in the heavenly attendance register—if he were thrown into a world where divine power reigned supreme, he could even proudly declare himself a candidate for the Holy Son, and as long as he passed the internship test, he could go from being a contract Holy Son to a lifetime Holy Son…

Wouldn't that make anyone feel overwhelmed and teary-eyed?

Why were divine matters different from what he used to see in television and novels!

But no matter what, Hao Ren had registered for employment in a pretty amazing place. No matter how strange that Raven 12345 and the Time-Space Administration behind her, and the entire "Xi Ling Empire" were, they were, in any case, more incredible than anything Hao Ren had ever seen before.

Hao Ren looked down at the contract in his hand, recalling the last thing Raven 12345 had said to him: "From today onwards, you are a probationary inspector. Taking care of the tenants in your house is your only task at the moment. Our Xi Ling God-System isn't used to managing its direct subordinates in the form of a church like ordinary divine religions, so our unit assesses employees based on attendance and merit. You better not mess around with those religious legends and church pamphlets on Earth. I've encountered such mischievous kids in other worlds… Don't bother, just do your job properly."

Silently sighing, and reconfirming that he had boarded a pirate ship, Hao Ren folded the few tattered sheets of paper and stuffed them into his pocket, preparing to lock them away in a safe place to prevent "Gun" from tearing them up and eating them. To be honest, Hao Ren didn't completely believe his experiences today, and he was full of doubts about that Raven 12345, especially when he held these few sheets of paper in his hand, he was even more suspicious of the whole thing (nonsense, when have you ever seen a divine contract printed out by a printer? And there are typos on it!). But as mentioned before, Hao Ren was a person who could recognize the situation very well. No matter what Raven 12345's background was, at least in terms of ability, the difference between her and Hao Ren was like the difference between a god and a human. Even if she wrote typos, liked to pick her nails, eat jianbing guozi (Chinese crepe) with scallions, and spoke incoherently… that was still not something ordinary people could deal with.

So, if Hao Ren wanted to ensure his comfortable life, he had to cooperate properly.

Walking on the desolate highway under the scorching sun, Hao Ren took out his mobile phone to check the time, and looked at the empty road in front and behind, with not even a ghost in sight. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart: working for a god was too unreliable. Why didn't they even provide a means of transportation? His identity, thrown into a theocratic society, would at least be a prophet. Why did he have to take the bus home after receiving the call from God (that is, signing the contract)? And he hadn't even caught a bus after waiting for so long!

He couldn't help but think of the myths and legends on Earth, trying hard to find out how those Holy Sons and prophets in history went home after comprehending the Great Dao. Did they squeeze into a carriage with others, or did they run back on foot? But after thinking for a long time, he came to no conclusion: which Bible would write about this!

Just as he was thinking wildly in his heart, a ringtone suddenly entered his ears. Hao Ren grabbed his phone and saw that it was an unfamiliar number—thankfully, not an ominous number like 00000012345.

"Hello, who are you looking for?" Hao Ren answered the phone and asked very politely—from today onwards, he was someone with an identity, and he had to pay attention to his words and deeds at all times. Although the goddess above him was not very reliable, he decided to make himself seem more reliable.

As a result, Lily's voice came from the receiver, with a little anxiety: "Landlord! It's me! It's Lily!"

"Two… Lily?" Hao Ren almost blurted out the words "idiot werewolf," but fortunately, he controlled himself in time. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, I suddenly remembered that the rental advertisement had your phone number on it. I looked for the address all day yesterday. It would have been great if I had called you directly…"

Sweat dripped down Hao Ren's forehead: "...You're calling me so urgently just to say this?"

Lily's voice suddenly became excited: "Ah, no! Vivian's situation is a little wrong. She suddenly flew out just now, opening the window and flying out in broad daylight! I tried my best to chase her, but I couldn't catch up!"

Hao Ren really wanted to roar: This is the main point, okay! Why are you talking so incoherently on the phone, you idiot?

"Vivian flew out? Did she fly out as a bat?" Hao Ren didn't know why he was still paying attention to this strange thing at this time, because he was already a little dazed: he had just patted his chest a few minutes ago in front of a woman who claimed to be a god, guaranteeing that the strange creatures in his house would live in peace, but it had only been a few minutes since he left her place, and something had happened at home!

"She flew out as a pile of bats," Lily corrected very seriously, and then said hurriedly, "She also said that this place is not safe when she flew away… I didn't know who to turn to, so I called you."

"Wait at home, don't run around, I'll be back soon," Hao Ren said hurriedly. At the same time, he saw a dilapidated bus coming from not far away. He flagged down the bus while telling Lily what to do, then hung up the phone in a hurry, squeezed onto the bus, and began to think wildly: What the hell is Vivian up to?

Although Hao Ren knew very little about the alien creatures, and his only knowledge came from those unreliable TV novels and urban legends (the facts had proved that these things were not reliable at all), he was at least sure that vampires would indeed feel uncomfortable in the sunlight, and Vivian had personally admitted this. So he was sure that the vampire flying out as a pile of bats in broad daylight was definitely not because she woke up and wanted to take a walk—there must be some emergency! And what did Vivian mean by saying "this place is not safe"? Was she referring to his home?

Hao Ren knew that the creatures with the highest combat power in his home, apart from the vampire, were the idiot werewolf. And Vivian basically looked down on Lily, so he could completely rule out the scenario of "the vampire being driven out by the werewolf's aura." Then what was unsafe about his home?

Hao Ren suddenly felt that the task Raven 12345 had given him… probably had a pitfall.

By the time Hao Ren returned to the old city in the southern suburbs, half an hour had passed. As soon as he got off the bus, he saw several people in work clothes walking towards him, and his heart tightened: Had he been exposed so quickly? What were these people doing? Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences? Setting traps to capture vampires? Installing surveillance equipment near his home? Special forces disguised as Netcom employees?

But when the people got closer, Hao Ren breathed a sigh of relief: It turned out to be a group of maintenance workers…

When several maintenance workers walked past him, Hao Ren vaguely heard their conversation:

"...It's the first time I've encountered this kind of situation after working for so many years. How did that brick fly up there?"

"Who knows, it can't be that someone threw it up there, right? The TV tower is so high, who has such strength. But it's really strange, that brick almost broke three steel bars…"

"Who says it isn't? Today, they said that the TV signal in the southern suburbs was interrupted, and we thought something was wrong. As a result, half a brick was smashed into the signal tower. How are we going to write this work report?"

The maintenance team gradually walked away, and Hao Ren listened in a daze, understanding two things:

First of all, he knew what was wrong with the TV signal at home.

Secondly, he knew where one of the bricks Lily threw out when she was fighting with Vivian last night had flown to…

What's the use of knowing this!

Hao Ren ran to the door of his house, first cautiously confirming that there were no lurking special forces or suspicious people in black suits around, then stepped forward to take out his key to open the door. But before he could insert the key into the lock, the door opened by itself.

Vivian was standing in front of him safe and sound, with a smile on her face: "Landlord, you're back?"

Hao Ren almost didn't catch his breath. After finally breathing evenly, he stared blankly at the vampire girl in front of him who was said to have "flown away," his face changing uncertainly: "Vivian, you… didn't you fly away?"

Vivian chuckled dryly: "Um, there was indeed a bit of a situation, so I went out for a bit, but I'm back now."

Hao Ren: "..."

Is this how the days to come will be?!