"Oh no," said the infiltrator cheerfully. "My cover is blown."

The voice was clear and crisp, carrying a slightly rough, childlike quality.

She had a very pleasing appearance, fair skin, thick eyebrows, and bright eyes with no trace of artificial enhancement. Her figure was petite but well-developed where it mattered, though she wasn’t particularly tall.

But her voice, her looks, and her figure couldn’t move Don’s heart. He pinched her cheek hard anyway.

At first she was smiling at him, but after a while, realizing she was getting no warmth in return, that his expression had gone completely ashen, her smile froze. Then her throat trembled, her lips trembled, her eyes trembled, and even her small body trembled.

Don’s own voice came out slightly unsteady. "Are you stupid? Why would you give up a perfectly good management position to come here? Have you gone crazy? Have you forgotten your family’s situation?"

Two large, sparkling tears dripped from her eyes, landing on the beige floor and splashing up tiny bursts of droplets.

She murmured, her voice thick with emotion, "Brother Don, now that you’re gone, what’s the point of me staying?"

He let go of her cheek and noticed a small red mark on her fair skin, he’d pinched a little harder than intended. But he genuinely didn’t want this girl to be here. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

She was his Little Chili.

"Chili. I’m sorry."

"Brother Don, I told you that day, no matter which company you go to in the future, I’ll follow. Now that you’re working in Realms Online, I’m coming too. You’ll never get rid of me, your little shadow." She blinked desperately, trying to hold back the rest of her tears.

"You resigned?"

"Yes. I casually handed in my resignation the day after you left."

Don was taken aback. "That’s impossible. How could it have been that fast?"

Little Chili smiled playfully. "Anything is possible."

"Then how did you end up here for an interview? There’s no way you got here faster than me."

"Of course I was faster. I had the taxi driver take a shortcut."

Don was speechless. This little girl would go to any lengths to be his shadow. She really did go to extraordinary lengths.

He sighed, not knowing what to say.

Having known him for so long, Little Chili had a thorough grasp of his thoughts. She spoke immediately. "Brother Don, I’ve left the manager’s notes at the company, and all the handover procedures are complete. President Walsh has decided to promote Sunny to manager. He’s also given Wes and Brother Joe a raise. They haven’t wasted any of the connections we built up, they should have absorbed them all by now."

Don looked at her. "Chili, is it worth it? Do you understand how risky virtual gaming is? You might be throwing away your career and your youth."

As he spoke, he glanced at her eyes. They were as red as a little rabbit’s.

"Brother Don, I’ve already maxed out every life skill and combat skill I can currently learn, up to Level 27. My warehouse is packed full of leather, ores, and materials. I’ve discovered I’m actually quite good at this, I can do anything well. I noticed you’re playing a thief, so I learned jewelry crafting. I read in a forum post that thieves have incredibly high jewelry requirements in the later stages, the ideal pieces should have critical hit bonuses and attack bonuses stacked together." She talked on and on without pausing.

As Don listened, his chest filled with mixed feelings. Gratitude, guilt, relief, and somewhere beneath all of it, the last of his blame quietly dissolved. Looking into her eyes, he could see plainly how much hardship she’d put herself through these past few days.

"Silly girl, how many hours are you sleeping each day?"

"Hehe, six hours."

"Are you lying to me?"

"Hehe, five."

"Keep pretending..." Something caught in his throat, discomfort and conflict tangled together.

Her voice grew smaller. "Four and a half hours. Don, please don’t look at me like that. I’m telling the truth. It’s four hours..."

Don considered himself a strong person. After Uncle Owen’s passing, he’d believed he would never cry again. But at this moment, for reasons he couldn’t explain, tears flowed from his eyes like beads falling from a snapped string. These were the most genuine emotions he had, heartache, pure and uncomplicated.

Seeing him cry, the tough little girl in front of him, who had endured hardship and bullying and being dismissed by everyone who had ever underestimated her without ever breaking, also started crying.

Then he felt two warm forces settle on his shoulders. He turned. Lily and Kira were standing behind him.

Don quickly wiped his face and glared at them. "Why didn’t you two just keep killing monsters? What are you doing logged off?"

Lily smiled, barely containing herself. "Hehe, this is the first time I’ve ever seen Brother Don cry. So you really can cry."

Little Chili was startled by the two unexpected arrivals and quickly composed herself. "Brother Don, are these your good friends?"

"Yes. Comrades-in-arms from a few days ago. We’ve been running content together."

Lily looked at Little Chili with a peculiar expression, her voice carrying a hint of something pointed. "Brother Don, is this another one of your ’good friends?’"

Little Chili immediately clarified. "Don’t misunderstand, I used to be Don’s subordinate. He’s always taken very good care of me."

Don pinched Lily’s cheek and interrogated her. "You brat, what exactly are you implying?"

"Ow! Let go, you stinky big brother!"

"You little firecracker, your mouth gets you into trouble every time. Anything else you want to say?"

"Waaah, I give up! I surrender! No more!"

"That’s more like it."

Little Chili revealed a grin that looked suspiciously similar to Don’s own smirk. "Hehe, Brother Don’s cheek-pinching skills have improved. He can now grab a girl he just met without hesitation."

Lily glared at Little Chili. "Who are you calling a girl I just met? I’m nineteen years old. And you look like you’re only seventeen."

Little Chili fired back immediately. "Excuse me? I’m twenty. Call me ’big sister.’"

"Why would I do that? What’s in it for me?"

"Hmph. Of course there are benefits..." Little Chili grinned mischievously. "If you dare to say it, I dare to deliver."

Lily hesitated for half a second. "Big sister."

"Little Chili," said Little Chili cheerfully. "There’s your benefit, my name."

Lily turned to Don with teary eyes. "Brother Don, this little girl is bullying me."

Don was completely speechless. "Lily, I strongly suggest you stop arguing with that little firecracker. You cannot win. She was my top salesperson, she had major clients practically eating out of her hand."

"That’s right." Little Chili reached up and patted Lily’s head as though she were the older one. "Listen to your big sister from now on, and I’ll never treat you badly."

After that small farce, they went back online.

Don added Little Chili to his friends list. Her in-game ID was, naturally, Little Chili, easy to remember. He added her to the party and sent her their coordinates.

Less than five minutes later, a tiny figure barely 1.2 meters tall appeared before them. She was wearing gray chainmail with little luster and gripped a small blood-red hand axe tightly in her right hand. Little Chili looked exactly like her real-world self, only scaled down proportionally. Of course, she was a Nimi Dwarf.

Lily exclaimed immediately. "Oh my, what an adorable little girl! Come here and let your big sister give you a pinch!"

Little Chili waved the axe irritably. "You’re asking for it, aren’t you? Show some respect for your elders!"

Lily drew her crossbow. "Come on, then. Let me show you what I can do."

Don glanced at Little Chili’s HP bar and blinked. At Level 27, she already had 5,000 health points. "Chili, how did you allocate your attribute points?"

"I put everything into Strength. Is that right, Don?"

He nodded with satisfaction. "Correct. All your gear is bronze grade?"

"Yes, a Level 25 set. The weapon is a Level 20 silver piece, I traded for it with a weapon-crafting player a few days ago, using jewelry I made."

A pang of something hit Don’s chest. No wonder she’d been boastful about her progress. She really did excel at everything she touched. At her level, she could almost certainly rank in the top ten among all Dwarf players in the region.

But that wasn’t even the most surprising part. Little Chili reached into her backpack and pulled out two gleaming pieces of equipment that made Don’s eyes light up instantly.

A leather belt studded with gemstone fragments, and a metal ring inlaid with a black gemstone. Both had excellent stats.

[Rough Leather Belt, Bronze Grade]

Physical Belt | Level Req: 25 | Physical ATK +40 | PDEF +40 | Hit Rate +100

+10 STR | +10 AGI | +10 CON

Unsealed: Magic Defense +30

[Rhinoceros Horn Ring, Bronze Grade]

Metal Ring | Level Req: 25 | Physical ATK +40

+10 STR | +10 AGI | +10 CON

Unsealed: Critical Hit Rate +1%

Both were bronze-grade, but the attributes were genuinely substantial.

Little Chili looked apologetic. "Brother Don, my skills are still limited, and I don’t have many blueprints yet. These are the best two I can give you right now."

Don understood what she meant. What she called "slightly better" was her way of saying she’d saved her finest work for him.

He asked, "How many gold coins do you have left?"