Chapter 4: The First Guest

Chapter 4: The First Guest

Ethan returned to his room.

The familiar walls, the familiar desk.

The familiar computer, the familiar web pages.

The familiar self sitting in the familiar chair.

Except for the absence of that peculiar questionnaire, everything remained unchanged, as if everything that had just happened was merely an illusion.

But at this moment, Ethan could confirm that he was not dreaming, because he could distinctly feel his body, especially the changes in his spirit.

An invisible force linked him to the "Trans-Dimensional Office," allowing him to vaguely sense the condition of the office. For instance, Orochimaru was the only one in the office now, and he had turned off the lights, leaving only a flickering oil lamp.

However, this time, he didn't find it strange. Since snakes naturally prefer dark environments, it was normal for Orochimaru, who had extracted snake elements, to exhibit such habits.

Thinking of Orochimaru gave Ethan a headache again.

This guy was not an easy one to deal with; a slip-up might lead to being completely devoured.

"Snakes swallow their food whole... okay, that joke isn't funny at all."

Self-mockery did not alleviate his anxiety. His only hope lay in the additional memories in his brain, which, according to the former director, contained important information about the office, including Orochimaru's contract.

Of course, the possibility of Orochimaru causing mischief couldn't be ruled out. With illusion techniques in ninjutsu, tampering with an ordinary person's memory wasn't difficult.

But these memories were now Ethan's last hope.

It's either a blessing or a curse, and if it's a curse, it can't be avoided. Time to gamble!

The "memory" was designed humanely; it didn't irrationally assault his consciousness but was layered with a seal that wouldn't unlock unless actively touched, allowing Ethan to converse normally with Orochimaru.

The importation of the memory was also measured, not flooding in all at once but gradually releasing, giving him enough time to accept and adjust.

The memory was mainly divided into three parts.

The first part was about the operational mechanism of the office and how to open portals to various worlds.

The second part detailed the office's business processes, how to undertake tasks, how to evaluate them, and how to collect fees.

The third part, which Ethan cared about the most, was the contracts.

As long as an agreement was reached, a contract would be formed, enforced by a compulsion acting directly on the soul. It was either impossible to violate or would result in backlash.

Currently, two contracts were visible: one was Ethan's own, and the other was Orochimaru's.

Ethan's was simple: the transfer of the director's position, with no other restrictions or penalties except that he must receive guests when they arrive.

Orochimaru's was much more complex. The main item of his contract, as he described, involved being employed by the office to step out of his original world and interact with other worlds.

There were also numerous sub-items detailing the obligations of both parties, including restrictions on harming others and limits on movement, which somewhat reassured Ethan.

It seemed there was no immediate need to worry about safety.

As for other contracts signed by the former director, their whereabouts were unknown. It might be that Ethan's current permissions were insufficient to view them, or the former director might have taken them, intending for Ethan to start afresh.

Since he was an ordinary person incapable of handling the bizarre requests from various worlds, he had been left with an assistant.

But—ah, why did the assistant have to be Orochimaru?

He didn't expect a cute girl or someone with immense power, but at least someone with normal values, like Iruka.

Even without life-threatening dangers, how was an ordinary person living in peaceful times supposed to manage a smart, capable, ambitious, villainous big shot without any coercive power?

Ah, this was going to kill a lot of brain cells, possibly more than during the college entrance exams.

No, he couldn't just sit and wait for doom; he had to do something!

Right, it was time to replenish his brain!

What else could it be? Figure out how to manage Orochimaru? What a joke, that wasn't possible in the short term, and might not be in the long term either.

This was destined to be a prolonged battle, to ensure his brain cells didn't die prematurely, he had to replenish his brain.

He opened the browser, launched Baidu.

In the search bar, he typed—what to eat for brain health.

Answer one: Walnuts.

Answer two: Fish and seafood.

Answer three: BrainX Gold.

Answer four: ...

No need to look further; starting from the third, it was all ads and scams, consuming which could not only fail to replenish the brain but might even damage it. Tsk tsk, Baidu was as unscrupulous as rogue software.

While criticizing, he still deliciously used their product, picked up his phone, changed his shoes, and went out.

Destination: the supermarket. Tonight's dinner would be walnut-crusted fish!

After eating, he would sleep well; the previous experiences had truly exhausted him.

Tomorrow there was a comic convention, where many of Ethan's friends, including some who were experts on "Naruto," would be present. Perhaps he could gather some useful information.

He hadn't thought about what to do after that. The office didn't require clocking in; if no clients visited, there was no need to go. There seemed to be a home service too, but he currently couldn't manage it, so there was no need to rush; rushing was useless anyway.

This was another of Ethan's traits—being easy-going.

The supermarket was not far from the residential area, just across the street, a large comprehensive supermarket selling everything from snacks and beverages to fresh produce. Ethan often shopped there.

He picked a green fish and a bag of plain walnut kernels, along with some other snacks, and returned home, ready to cook and comfort himself.

Due to the unconventional nature of his job, after graduating from college, he had moved out from his family home and lived alone, which had honed his self-sufficiency quite well.

However, just as he reached into the plastic bag to pull out the fish in the kitchen, Orochimaru's voice suddenly rang in his ear.

"Director, there's a guest."

"Hey, you can't do this—"

He had barely started speaking when the familiar sensation of the world spinning occurred, and space shifted.

But this time, there wasn't an intense feeling of dizziness, and the office wasn't dark; Orochimaru had turned on the light beforehand.

Only then did Ethan finish his sentence:

"—wait a minute!"

"Wait for what?" Orochimaru asked.

"Nothing, the teleportation was just too sudden, I didn't react in time." Ethan shook his head.

The office's workflow was clear: as soon as a guest arrived, no matter where he was, he would be forcibly transported to the office. He hadn't expected it to happen so soon.

"Understood. Director... were you cooking?"

"Yes, it's almost dinner time, I was planning to make some fish. By the way, how do you usually solve your dinner?"

"I'll talk about that later, the guest has arrived."

Ethan quickly stuffed the fish back into the plastic bag and turned to look in the direction Orochimaru was pointing.

Then, he saw a gun.

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(End of Chapter)