Once again he stood at the beginning of the alley, where it all began. He remembered how he promised himself to only dive ones and yet here he stood for the third time in a week, his body still trembling under the pressing pain of the last dive. It would be a lie to say that, that was the only reason for his shaking since it was the day of his job interview. Cramps in his stomach area screamed at him to just turn back and go home, to leave that place immediately and to not step down the alley any further. But, what about his parents? Their smiles that shone as bright as the sun when he told them that he received a job interview, were engraved deep into his mind. How could he even think about betraying their trust? And what about the trouble he and his sister went through just to buy the shirt he was wearing right now? No. Turning back now was not an option.

This time he was not gonna run away, this time everything would be different, he promised to himself with his look fixed on the cafe in front of him.

The same receptionist to whom he had spoken last time greeted him and brought Bao into a sparsely furnished room. In the middle stood a simple wooden table with two folding chairs on each side, which looked like they would break as soon as someone sat down on them. A row of lockers, large enough to cover the whole wall stood on his right side but most of them seemed empty o unlocked. The receptionist placed a jug of water and two glasses on the table.

"The boss should be coming soon, so feel free to sit down while you wait." The receptionist showed with his hand in the direction of one of the folding chairs. "Now I should excuse myself as there is no one at the reception. I wish you the best of luck!" With that being said the man left him alone.

Only now Bao noticed the clock pinned on the wall behind him, rather, he heard it. Like waterdrops dripping down a leaking faucet, it filled the room with the ticking sound, making him unconsciously tap with his finger against the table at the same pace. A door on the other side of the room opened, going through it a man in a black suit, the boss, Bao presumed. A dark green tie around his neck matched the colour of his eyes, both comparable to a deep jungle area. The absence of any hair on the men's head let Bao change his age estimation from the early thirties towards the late forties. Following right after Boss was a maid in a respective uniform with long black hair which reached down to her waist.

"Good morning...," the man thought for a brief moment, "Bao right?" He reached out his hand which Bao immediately grabbed after standing up.

"Good morning Sir. Yes, Bao my name."

"A pleasure to meet you. My name is Bing and I'm the owner of this net caf, in which you want to start working part-time as I heard. Is that correct?" They both sat down on the respective chairs.

Bao's hands started to tremble and in search of distraction, his eyes strived to the corner of the room where the maid placed herself without moving.

"Eeehm, yes, yes that's right, I asked for a job interview."

"Now then, I'll go straight to the point since we probably both don't want to waste our time chitchatting." Bing laid his head on his interlinked hands. "Why should I hire you?"

Bao took a deep breath.

"I have a diploma in informatics and have therefore perfect knowledge to assist customers with technical difficulties. Additionally..." He continued explaining his competencies for about five minutes before taking another deep breath. "And as the last point, I would like to add that I am well aware of the other business you are running here."

"Aha, so what? You are not the only one who uses VR in my shops. Oh, wait. Do you perhaps think you can threaten me? Are you gonna say something like: 'You either employ me or I am gonna tell the cops'?" Bing smirked and left him no time to answer the rhetorical questions. "There were enough people like you who tried to extort money from me with such demand and yet I still didn't see my face on any newspaper. Why do you think that is?" - Another rhetorical question- "You got it! I have enough power to let you simply disappear from the face of the earth but that would be too much effort. In reality, I would let you go to the nearest police station let you say everything you want to say and then observe your desperation as nothing happens." Bing took a short pause from his monologue, looking satisfied in the wide-open eyes of a shocked Bao. "Now," -he adjusted his necktie- "if you want to get the job, for which we definitely need employees, you better come up with something new, not like your predecessors."

Cold drops of sweat formed on Bao's forehead and the trembling hand with which he held the glass of water didn't exactly hide his anxiety. He mustered every drop of courage in his body and took a deep breath once again.

"I... I never had the intention of blackmail you." His voice shook with every spoken word. "What I wanted to say was that I have enough experience with VR systems and know how to repair, maintain and use them." He forced himself to smile.

The boss stood up and reached out his hand.

"Perfect, come back next week to finish the formalities and sign the contract."

Bao's jaw dropped. "Just like that?"

"Just like that," Bing confirmed. "Most candidates ran away in tears, back to their mommies chests, after hearing my threats. So no, maybe not just like that."

Bao stood up and grabbed the opportunity given to him with both of his hands, literally. It was too late now to go back on his promise and probably also from the grip of this lunatic, or so he thought.

"Thank you, Sir. I'll make sure not to disappoint you." With that, he left the room with a much lighter footstep than when he entered.

"You could've just employed him without this whole charade, after all, you would've done it anyway."

"Maybe. Yes, maybe I would've done it. But I wanted to see with my own eyes if he is an adequate candidate."

The maid and the boss also left the room.

- END OF VOLUME/SEASON 1 -