If anyone had seen the expressions currently adorning the faces of the Suit Squad, they would have surely erupted in unrestrained laughter.

Each and every one of their reactions was a masterpiece of bewildered incredulity, bordering on absurdity.

0723, poor soul, was once again teetering on the precipice of complete petrification.

How could this unfolding scene deviate so wildly from his meticulously constructed expectations?

0695, his face a mask of utter confusion, muttered under his breath, “What in the blazes is going on? Didn’t you clearly state that the boss would orchestrate some grand spectacle for this woman?”

0723, his voice a strangled whisper, replied, “I have no earthly idea! Within the instance, he practically pulverized those poor NPCs into a fine paste, all for her sake!”

0695 rolled his eyes heavenward. “Are you consistently operating at a lower intellectual capacity? When does he not engage in the complete annihilation of NPCs upon entering an instance? However,” he conceded, a note of bewildered surprise in his voice, “having served under the boss for this considerable duration, this is the very first occasion I have witnessed him… smile like that.”

Suit Squad, murmuring in awestruck agreement: “Right, right! Absolutely! Me too, a genuine first!”

Qin Yuan, utterly oblivious to the internal turmoil of his subordinates, reached out and smoothly plucked the light screen from Ding Yi’s hand. With a few swift swipes, he scanned its contents and then stated, his voice surprisingly gentle, “Let’s go. I’ll personally escort you to your destination.”

“Hello? Excuse me.” Ding Yi, unfazed by the tense standoff, politely bypassed the two suit-clad figures who had been attempting to block her path and slowly fell into step beside Qin Yuan, who had deliberately slowed his usually brisk pace.

Qin Yuan turned his head slightly, a knowing glint in his eyes. “You knew all along, didn’t you?”

Ding Yi tilted her head, a picture of innocent confusion. “Knew what?”

“You’re not even remotely surprised by any of this.”

Ding Yi was momentarily at a loss for words, but gamely played along. “Wow! Look who it is! You’re here too!”

“Considering the sheer volume of rule-breaking activities you and I engaged in, are you also destined for a cozy stay in the small black room?”

The Suit Squad trailing behind them exchanged uneasy glances, their collective thoughts a jumbled mess of ellipses.

“No,” Qin Yuan replied, a genuine smile gracing his lips, “My time of reflection is now finished.”

He paused, his smile widening into something almost mischievous. “Now, it’s time for my reward.”

Ding Yi’s brow furrowed in genuine incomprehension. The Suit Squad behind her understood his words perfectly, but his underlying intentions remained an even greater mystery.

Passing through another shimmering gate of light, the sterile white of the corridor began to shift subtly. The seemingly finite space began to stretch and expand infinitely, the end receding into an unknowable distance.

Equidistantly spaced along both sides of this endless corridor were rows upon rows of individual wooden doors. There was nothing particularly remarkable about them, just ordinary, unassuming wooden doors that could be found in any mundane setting.

Ordinary to the point of feeling strangely out of place within this technologically advanced and seemingly boundless space.

Qin Yuan led her directly to one of these unassuming wooden doors, marked with a simple sign bearing Ding Yi’s name, and stopped.

Ding Yi saw her name neatly inscribed on the small wooden plaque affixed to the door, followed by a depiction of a delicate blue hourglass.

She tilted her head, her gaze questioning as she looked at Qin Yuan, pointed at the ordinary wooden door before her, and asked, “Just… here?”

“Indeed.” Qin Yuan seemed not only to be in an exceptionally good mood but also possessed a hint of barely suppressed anticipation. “Don’t say I didn’t offer fair warning.”

With a casual flick of his wrist, his hand merely gesturing in the empty air, a point of concentrated light twisted and coalesced from his fingertip. Instantly, a massive tool rack, laden with an improbable assortment of weaponry, materialized beside the unassuming wooden door.

“Wow.” Ding Yi exclaimed, unable to contain her reaction as she surveyed the array of destruction tools on the rack. If her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her, was that really a cannon barrel?

They had an authentic cannon barrel, but they decided against bringing a tank for good measure. The reasoning behind this place still eludes her.

“Pick one.” Qin Yuan gestured towards the formidable array. “All wishers who are about to experience the unique ambiance of the small black room are permitted to select some means of self-defense before they enter.”

Ding Yi frowned, her eyes darting back and forth between Qin Yuan’s enigmatic smile and the daunting selection of weapons. “What exactly is inside?”

Qin Yuan merely raised the corners of his mouth in a cryptic smile and offered a casual shrug. “Who truly knows the delightful surprises that await?”

“How many am I allowed to choose?” Ding Yi inquired, her skepticism palpable.

“If you possess the physical capacity to carry them all, then by all means, be my guest.”

Ding Yi narrowed her eyes, sizing him up with a thoughtful gaze. Her fingertips lightly brushed over the cold metal surfaces of various weapons before finally settling on a small, wickedly sharp dagger. She picked it up, its weight surprisingly substantial in her hand.

“Just this?” Qin Yuan’s expression was unreadable, neither overtly pleased nor obviously disappointed. He simply reiterated his question. “Are you absolutely certain you wouldn’t care to select another weapon?”

“Just this one will suffice.” Ding Yi said decisively.

“Alright then.” Qin Yuan didn’t linger, raising his hand to dismiss the imposing tool rack, which vanished as abruptly as it had appeared. He then offered a polite gesture, subtly indicating that Ding Yi should open the unassuming wooden door.

Ding Yi, equally unhesitant, raised her hand and grasped the simple doorknob. Beyond the threshold lay a dense, impenetrable darkness. She couldn’t discern even the faintest hint of what awaited her on the other side.

Ding Yi frowned slightly, her gaze flicking back to Qin Yuan. He maintained his enigmatic smile, and upon seeing her questioning expression, his smile only widened, accompanied by a reassuring nod.

Fleeing had never been Ding Yi’s preferred course of action.

By all logical estimations, this wasn’t a situation from which she could realistically escape on her own. Instead of potentially creating more complex and unforeseen complications, it seemed far more prudent to confront the immediate problem and then attempt to resolve it.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, Ding Yi placed one foot across the threshold.

Almost instantaneously, the doorknob she was still gripping and the light source behind her abruptly vanished, plunging her into absolute darkness. With her vision completely obstructed, her other senses seemed to heighten in the sudden void.

She felt as though she had entered a confined space. There was no discernible breeze, and the air felt strangely heavy, almost oppressive.

She waited in the silence and darkness for approximately thirty seconds, but nothing at all happened.

Just as she began to wonder if the infamous “small black room” was merely a literal, unadorned black room, and Qin Yuan’s earlier pronouncements had been nothing more than an elaborate attempt to intimidate her, a tiny, flickering point of candlelight suddenly appeared in her line of sight.

As her eyes adjusted, she saw that the faint light source emanated from a small, pink candle, identical in every detail to the one she had personally placed on her birthday cake before her inexplicable arrival in this bizarre new world.

And this familiar pink candle was indeed stuck into a small, frosted cake.

With the emergence of this unexpected light source, she could also clearly discern her immediate surroundings. A small, square table stood directly before her, and she was indeed in a cramped, windowless little room.

Ding Yi: …

Ding Yi: …Um…

Ding Yi, her voice laced with profound doubt, hesitation, and a distinct off-key quality, tentatively sang, “Happy birthday to you?”

The Suit Squad clustered outside the now-closed door erupted in a silent cacophony of bewildered and utterly nonsensical internal exclamations: !?!?!?!?!?!#&%￥#@￥&*??

Ding Yi cautiously observed her immediate surroundings. Nothing had changed, but being in such close proximity to the flickering flame, her own breath caused the originally steady candlelight to waver violently.

Ding Yi: …Um.

She cleared her throat and tried again, her voice gaining a minuscule amount of confidence. “Happy birthday to you→”

Emboldened slightly, she continued, “Happy birthday to you↗”

Finally, with a surge of slightly manic energy, she finished the verse, “Happy~ birthday↗to↗you”

And then, with a final, surprisingly confident flourish, she belted out the last line, “Happy↗birth↗day↗to↗you↗↗↗!”

Having completed her impromptu birthday serenade, she clapped her hands together with a decisive smack and blew out the tiny pink candle.

The instant the flame was extinguished, a single, stark white light bulb flickered to life directly above her head, bathing the small room in a harsh, unwavering light.

This time, she could see the entirety of the space more clearly. It was, as she had initially suspected, just an unremarkable little room. Even a soft-looking, surprisingly comfortable single sofa had been thoughtfully placed behind her.

Ding Yi tentatively sat down on the unexpectedly plush sofa, and after confirming that it was indeed just an ordinary piece of furniture, her gaze returned to the strawberry cake sitting invitingly on the small table, exuding a tantalizingly sweet strawberry aroma.

Her fingertip gently touched the fluffy white cream on top, and the texture was undeniably ordinary whipped cream.

She cautiously inhaled, and the scent was equally ordinary – sweet cream with a distinct, pleasant hint of ripe strawberries.

She picked up the small plastic fork provided and took a tentative bite.

Um… well, might as well eat it.

The burst of sweet flavor instantly lifted Ding Yi’s spirits.

She used the small, sharp dagger that Qin Yuan had so insistently told her to bring to carefully cut a slice of the cake, muttering under her breath about Qin Yuan’s strangely considerate act of reminding her to bring a knife for… cake?

Speaking of which, what kind of punishment was this supposed to be?

Wasn’t this, by all accounts, a rather pleasant reward?

Could it be that they had surreptitiously laced the cake with some insidious poison?

Her stomach, which had been subsisting on a monotonous diet of plain steamed buns for several consecutive days, responded to the sudden influx of sugar with a contented gurgle. The creamy texture, the soft sweetness of the cake, the burst of ripe, juicy strawberries – it was a symphony of simple pleasures.

The unexpected wave of happiness that washed over her made Ding Yi unable to help but let out a small sigh of genuine satisfaction.

In this moment of simple contentment, she suddenly understood the “reward” that Qin Yuan had alluded to. That seemingly innocuous sentence had been a subtle, almost cryptic hint.

He was actually… quite nice.

Qin Yuan, the purveyor of unexpected niceties, wore a thunderous expression on his face from the precise moment that damnably cheerful cake had appeared on the display screen outside the door. The oppressive aura emanating from him caused the hearts of the Suit Squad standing nearby to pound in their chests with a mixture of fear and utter bewilderment.

The Suit Squad was simultaneously terrified and utterly dumbfounded.

This woman was proving to be truly extraordinary.

They had witnessed hundreds, if not thousands, of wishers of every conceivable shape and temperament enter the infamous small black room.

This was unequivocally the first time they had encountered someone who didn’t wail like a banshee, didn’t have limbs flailing and blood spraying everywhere, didn’t descend into gibbering madness, but instead… serenaded the empty room and ate cake with evident relish.