The Pressure Increases

Lisa barely had time to breathe.

The moment Felix pointed out the AI flaw, she realized how much work she had left.

Her brain was racing. If she failed this project, Felix would take away her position. And worse—she'd prove Leo right.

She wasn't going to let that happen.

Hours passed, and the office slowly emptied.

By 10 PM, only a few people were left. Lisa rubbed her tired eyes, staring at the endless lines of code on her screen.

Mei had already left, giving her an encouraging thumbs-up before disappearing.

Lisa sighed. I need a break.

She grabbed her phone and stepped out of the office, heading toward the break room.

But the moment she walked in, she froze.

Felix was there.

Sitting at a table.

Alone.

His sleeves were rolled up, and he was staring at his laptop with the same exhausted expression she probably had.

For a moment, Lisa hesitated. She wasn't sure if she should interrupt him.

But before she could turn away, Felix spoke.

"You're still working."

Lisa blinked. Was that a question or a statement?

She stepped inside. "Yeah. You too?"

Felix didn't answer. Instead, he glanced at her. "Are you struggling?"

Lisa sighed. "Kind of. It's a lot of pressure."

Felix leaned back. "Good."

Lisa frowned. "Good?"

Felix sipped his coffee. "If it's easy, it means you're not improving."

Lisa stared at him. "You really like making people suffer, don't you?"

Felix smirked. "It builds character."

Lisa rolled her eyes.

Felix closed his laptop. "How's the AI system?"

Lisa crossed her arms. "It's fine."

Felix raised an eyebrow. "Liar."

Lisa huffed. "Okay, it's almost fine."

Felix studied her for a moment. Then he stood up.

Lisa watched as he walked toward the coffee machine and casually poured another cup.

Then, without looking at her, he spoke.

"I'll give you a hint."

Lisa perked up. "A hint?"

Felix leaned against the counter, eyes still on his coffee. "Your NPC response time is too slow. You're prioritizing visual quality over efficiency."

Lisa blinked. How did he know that?

Felix finally glanced at her. "Fix it."

Lisa hesitated. "Why are you helping me?"

Felix took a sip of his coffee. "I'm not."

Lisa gave him a deadpan look. "Then what do you call this?"

Felix smirked. "Entertainment."

Lisa groaned. "You're impossible."

Felix chuckled and walked past her. "Get back to work, Lisa."

Lisa stood there for a moment, watching him leave.

Then, despite everything—

She smiled.

By the next morning, Lisa had fixed the AI lag thanks to Felix's unasked-for help.

She was feeling confident.

Until she walked into the office—

And found Leo Zhang waiting for her.

Lisa narrowed her eyes. "What do you want?"

Leo smiled, but it wasn't friendly. "Just checking on our new assistant project manager."

Lisa sighed. "I don't have time for this."

She tried to walk past him, but Leo suddenly spoke—

"You should check the server logs."

Lisa froze.

Slowly, she turned. "Why?"

Leo shrugged. "Just a friendly suggestion."

Something felt off.

Lisa quickly rushed to her computer and opened the server logs.

Her heart dropped.

Someone had corrupted the AI files.

The entire system was broken.

Lisa's fingers trembled on the keyboard. This wasn't a mistake—

It was sabotage.

And Lisa had a pretty good idea who was behind it.

She slowly turned back to Leo.

He was still smiling.

"Good luck fixing that," he said. Then he walked away.

Lisa gritted her teeth.

Leo wanted her to fail.

But if he thought she was going to give up—

He had another thing coming.