The System Keeps Making Me Do Indecent Missions [BL, R18]

Chapter 125: Chapter 125: Office Politics

Hearing this, Lucien could not help but pout, his disdain completely obvious. He just did not say anything, silently watching the elevator’s floor indicator. With a ding, the doors opened.

This was the seventh floor, the graphic design department area.

Lucien also did not understand why the design team’s specialized area had a director’s office added to it, but he guessed it was definitely to serve the plot. Truly, every world of this system was built in an absurd manner.

Lucien clicked his tongue. Just as he stepped out of the elevator, he saw a man in a black suit walk out of that office, carrying a thick stack of documents. The man turned his head, his gaze sweeping across the corridor, exactly catching Lucien as he walked out of the elevator.

Ethan Lee paused for a second, then broke into a friendly smile and walked quickly toward him.

"Lucien! Why are you at work so early today? How are you? You have been looking a bit pale lately."

Lucien looked at that smile, and 000’s voice suddenly echoed in his head: [Congratulations on starting your new day by communicating with the villain. I mean your personal villain, host. Friendly reminder: this guy’s acting is very good. Do not be fooled by his smiles; you never know when he will stab you in the back.]

Hearing that, Lucien almost let out a scoff, but luckily he managed to hold it back. Having already gained acting experience from a previous world, chatting and playing along with a two-faced best friend was nothing difficult for Lucien.

"I am doing great." Lucien gave a slight smile and deliberately relaxed his shoulders, acting a bit tired to match the original host. "I just have not been sleeping much lately, thanks for caring."

He intentionally used the familiar tone that the original host and Ethan had used with each other since college. Even though he had secretly cursed an unknown number of times in his heart, his face still wore the gentle, slightly shy smile of a naive junior who just started working.

Ethan seemed a bit surprised by this calm attitude. He blinked rapidly, then instantly restored his concerned expression, stepping forward to pat Lucien on the shoulder.

"Do not stay up too late, health is more important. By the way, is the intern work putting any pressure on you lately? If you need my help with anything, just let me know." Ethan said, his voice full of sincerity.

If it were the original host, he would probably be moved to tears. But Lucien only found it amusing. He nodded, replying in a grateful tone: "No, it is fine, I am used to it. The trivial chores in the design department are not too difficult."

"Hmph, son of a bitch." Lucien thought to himself, but outwardly maintained his smile.

Ethan patted his shoulder again, then said, "I will head up to the meeting room first. Let us grab lunch together later", before turning and walking away, his back straight, his steps filled with the confidence of someone on the rise.

Lucien stood watching until Ethan’s figure completely disappeared behind the meeting room doors. The smile on his face slowly vanished, replaced by an icy gaze.

"000." He called softly.

[What is it?]

"How does this company operate, letting a guy who is an official employee, about to be promoted to Chief Assistant, get kicked straight down to an intern position?" Lucien took wide strides toward the design department, speaking in a voice only 000 could hear. "There is no way someone gets demoted without a clear disciplinary record or passing through a review board, based purely on some baseless accusations. It is just a formalized way to suppress Lucien Sinclair."

[Oh, you figured it out?]

"Need you ask." Lucien gave a cold snort. "The original host’s direct manager is definitely backing Ethan, or at least on the same side. Otherwise, how could a guy who just joined the company not long ago have enough power to manipulate human resources?"

[More accurately, the current manager of the design department is Howard Quan, a lecherous middle-aged man who, after being gifted and invited out for drinks a few times by Ethan, treats him like a biological son. Moreover, Howard and the HR manager are close drinking buddies, so signing the demotion papers for the original host only cost a hotpot meal and two bottles of liquor.]

Lucien was silent for a moment. Then he suddenly laughed, a laugh that held no joy at all.

"Truly capitalism."

He pushed the door and stepped into the design department. It was a large space with neat rows of desks, massive computer monitors, and studio lights hanging from the ceiling. A few colleagues had arrived, buried in their drafts or clicking their mice rapidly. No one looked up at him, nor did anyone say hello. What was there to care about a demoted intern?

Lucien headed toward the corner of the room, where there was a tiny desk obscured by a stack of documents and some cardboard boxes of office supplies. That was his seat. A peeling swivel chair, an old computer, lacking even a secondary monitor like his other colleagues.

He pulled the chair out and sat down, reaching to turn on the computer, then took another look around. Hanging on the walls of the design department were some of the company’s latest advertising posters. Among them was a design for a perfume launch campaign last month, a project that once belonged to the original host before it was stolen by Ethan.

Lucien stared at that poster for a long time. The layout was beautiful, the colors harmonious, the idea creative. It was indeed the original host’s work. But the credit line at the bottom corner read: "Design by: Ethan Lee".

He let out a breath, starting to clear away the pile of documents on the desk and rearrange his workspace. His hand brushed over an old stack of scratch paper, which still held the hasty sketches of the original host. The strokes were elegant, the concepts bold. For such a talented person to now sit in the corner doing trivial chores like printing documents, cutting mockups, and making coffee for the whole room.

[Hey, what do you plan to do next?] 000 flapped its wings again, landing on the edge of the computer monitor. [Or should I lend you a hand, hack into the system, and fix your profile to look impressive?]

"No need." Lucien reached for a pencil on the desk, twirling it in his hand. "Since I have real skills in my hands, there is no need to take shortcuts. Let me see how rotten this company really is."

He paused for a beat, looking out the design department door. Out there, the corridor was still bustling with people. And somewhere on the highest floor of this building was a man named Damian Thorne, the person he had to capture.

"But since this is capitalism, I have to play by capitalist rules." Lucien smacked his lips, opening the design software to prepare for a new workday.

Just as Lucien opened the design software, while the screen was still loading the familiar Adobe Illustrator logo, a shrill voice echoed from the door.

"Lucien Sinclair! Come out here and make me a cup of coffee. Black, no sugar, and do not make it as diluted as last time."

Without even turning his head, Lucien knew who it was. Howard Quan, the design department manager, the lecherous middle-aged man 000 had just mentioned. His voice was as shrill as nails scratching a chalkboard; just hearing it made one want to grimace. But Lucien did not grimace. He took a deep breath, then stood up, turning around with a perfectly polite smile.

"Yes, I will make it right away."

Howard stood at the doorway of the design department, holding a white porcelain mug in his hand, precisely the sort of personalized mug that pompous bosses loved to brandish to throw their weight around. He was dressed in a pale gray suit with a slightly protruding paunch, and his hair was slicked back with an obnoxious amount of glossy gel. His gaze swept dismissively over Lucien for a fleeting moment before looking away, acting as though sparing Lucien even a single second longer would be a tremendous waste of his precious time.

"The interns nowadays possess absolutely zero sense of initiative. They stubbornly refuse to lift a single finger until they are explicitly ordered to do so." Howard muttered under his breath, deliberately speaking just loud enough for the entire room to catch his thinly veiled insult, before he spun on his heels and marched straight back to his own office situated at the very end of the corridor.

Inside the expansive design department, a few colleagues briefly glanced up to look at Lucien with eyes full of profound pity, but their sympathetic gazes only lingered for a mere second or two before they quickly lowered their heads to resume their demanding work. Everyone was exceptionally well aware of how difficult and notoriously temperamental Howard could be, yet absolutely no one wanted to entangle themselves in unnecessary trouble merely for the sake of a newly demoted intern.

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