Chapter 1 - On the Seventh Day of Consecutive Overtime, I Fainted at My Desk

It was 11:40 p.m., and most of the lights on the 23rd floor of Chuangke Building were still on. A cool breeze blew from the central air conditioner's vents, yet it could not dispel the exhaustion hanging heavy in the office. The clack of keyboards, click of mice, occasional sighs, and the constant steam curling from the coffee machine in the corner wove together the ordinary night scene of an internet company in a first-tier city, where overtime was the norm. Lin Wan stared at the dense Excel spreadsheets on her computer screen, her eyes dry and burning. Her fingers tapped the keyboard more and more slowly, even blinking felt like a chore. This was her seventh consecutive day of working overtime. As an ordinary specialist in the Operations Department of Chuangke Internet, Lin Wan had never truly left work on time in the two years since she joined the company. Especially recently, with the company rushing to finalize the operation plan for a large-scale e-commerce campaign, the entire department had been put on a "wartime footing". Her direct supervisor, Wang Man, had declared: "No one leaves early until the campaign goes live. Young people grow through working overtime. If everyone else can tough it out, why can't you?" Those words hung like an invisible whip over every colleague. Lin Wan glanced around: some rubbed their throbbing temples and kept working, some went to the pantry with their insulated mugs to get hot water, others stared blankly at their screens, their eyes empty—they had clearly reached their limit. Her deskmate Li Meng, also her best friend, was silently crying in front of her screen, her shoulders heaving, too afraid to make a sound. "Mengmeng, what's wrong?" Lin Wan lowered her voice and patted Li Meng's arm. The skin under her fingertips was ice cold, a clear sign of pushing her body too hard with endless nights of overtime. Li Meng sniffled loudly, wiped her tears quickly, and said hoarsely: "N-Nothing. It's just that this spreadsheet has been revised eight times, and Manager Wang still isn't satisfied. She says my data isn't detailed enough, my logic isn't clear, and I have to fix it tonight and hand it in first thing tomorrow." She pointed at the dense red comments covering almost the entire spreadsheet on her screen. "I've pulled three all-nighters already. I really can't hold on anymore, but I dare not say anything. I'm afraid Manager Wang will say I have a bad attitude, afraid I'll get fired." A sharp pain twisted Lin Wan's heart, a heavy weight settling in her chest. She knew this feeling all too well—the fear of refusing the leader's demands, of not doing well enough, of being overtaken by colleagues, and the overwhelming dread of losing this hard-won job. Especially in this first-tier city teeming with talent, an internet operations position with a monthly salary of 8,000 yuan, seemingly stable, was a spot countless people fought for. No matter how tired or wronged she was, she had to tough it out. Wasn't she the same? That afternoon, dizzy from constant overtime, she had accidentally misspelled a key word in a campaign copy. Wang Man had chewed her out in front of the entire department: "Lin Wan, how can you be so careless? How could you make such a simple mistake? If this copy gets sent out and damages the company's image, can you take responsibility? Check all the copy three times tonight, no more mistakes. You leave only when you're done!" Not a word of concern, not a shred of understanding—only cold accusations and endless demands. Lin Wan hung her head, her cheeks burning, her body rigid. She didn't even have the courage to explain, "I'm not feeling well." She knew explanations were useless. In the leader's eyes, overtime was normal, exhaustion was an excuse, and the only mark of a qualified employee was getting the job done on time. "Don't push yourself too hard, Mengmeng," Lin Wan held Li Meng's hand, forcing a gentle smile. "If it's too much, just tell Manager Wang, ask for a little time. Your health is the most important thing." Li Meng shook her head, her eyes filled with helplessness and anxiety: "I dare not, Wanwan. Look at Zhang Lei—he leaves on time every day, but he's in the technical department, super capable. Manager Wang wouldn't dare say a word to him. We're different. Operations is a low-threshold role; anyone can replace us. If we don't perform well, we can be eliminated at any time." As she spoke, she started typing furiously again, her knuckles white from the force. "I'll revise it again, just one more time. I'll make it perfect for Manager Wang." Watching Li Meng's stubborn, exhausted figure, Lin Wan felt a profound sense of powerlessness. Li Meng was right. In this fast-paced city, office workers were like wind-up tops, forced to spin endlessly. Once they stopped, they would be overtaken by those behind them, left behind by the times. Lin Wan was no different. She got up at seven every morning, squeezed onto the subway for an hour to work, stayed overtime late into the night, sometimes not getting home until one or two in the morning. After washing up, it was already three, and she would sleep just over four hours before having to get up and rush to the subway again. It was a never-ending cycle. Her salary was not high. After paying rent, utilities, and living expenses, there was barely anything left. She even hesitated for days before buying a piece of clothing she liked. She longed to leave work on time, to rest well, to go shopping and watch movies with friends, to take care of her body—but she dared not. She feared that if she slowed down, she would be overtaken by colleagues, criticized by her leader, lose her job, and end up with no place to stand in this strange city. The dizziness grew worse, the computer screen blurring before her eyes, the words swaying. The clack of keyboards and sighs around her sounded as if muffled by thick cotton, indistinct. Lin Wan blinked hard, trying to clear her head. She reached for her insulated mug on the desk and took a sip of hot water. The warmth slid down her throat, but it did nothing to ease her body's exhaustion or the dizziness. She knew her body had hit its limit. These past few days, she had been constantly dizzy, weak, and loss of appetite. She suffered from severe insomnia at night; when she finally fell asleep, she would be jolted awake by nightmares, her body covered in sweat, unable to fall back asleep. She had thought about taking a day off, but the mountain of work, her leader's sharp gaze, and her colleagues' rat race always made her push the thought aside. "Just hold on a little longer, Lin Wan, just a little longer," she encouraged herself silently. "Check the copy, sort out the spreadsheets, and tomorrow will be a little easier." She took a deep breath, forced herself to focus, and looked back at the screen. Her fingers tapped the keyboard again, starting to check the copy. But the dizziness intensified, the words growing more blurry, her body swaying uncontrollably, as if she would collapse at any moment. She grabbed the desk hard to steady herself, but her arms had no strength left. The insulated mug on the desk toppled over, hot water spilling all over the floor and soaking her pants. The cold touch did nothing to sober her up. "Wanwan, what's wrong?" Li Meng noticed something was off, immediately stopped working, held Lin Wan's arm, and asked anxiously: "You look terrible. Are you feeling unwell?" Lin Wan opened her mouth to speak, but her throat was blocked, no sound coming out. Her body felt heavier and heavier, the world went black, and she could no longer hold on. She fell straight down. Before losing consciousness, she only heard Li Meng's panicked cries and the chaotic footsteps of other colleagues in the office. "Wanwan! Wanwan, wake up!""Hurry, call 120!""She fainted! Quick, help her up, lay her flat!" Chaotic voices rang in her ears, but Lin Wan had no strength left to respond, sinking into endless darkness. She did not know that this sudden fainting would completely change her life, free her from endless rat race and mental internal friction, and lead her to meet the "Relaxed AI" that would alter her fate forever. She didn't know how much time had passed when she slowly opened her eyes. A white ceiling came into view, a faint smell of disinfectant lingering in her nose, and the beeping of medical equipment ringing in her ears—strange and cold. She moved her fingers, feeling sore and weak all over. The dizziness had eased a little, but her head was still groggy. "Where am I?" Lin Wan murmured, her voice hoarse and dry. "Wanwan, you're awake!" Li Meng's familiar voice came from beside her, thick with sobs and joy: "You finally woke up. I was scared to death! This is the hospital. You fainted at the company last night, and we rushed you here right away." Lin Wan turned her head and saw Li Meng sitting by the bed, her eyes red and swollen, her face etched with exhaustion and worry—she had clearly stayed by her side all night. Warmth filled Lin Wan's heart, and her eyes instantly grew moist. In this strange city, Li Meng was her only support, the only one who truly cared about her. "Mengmeng, I'm sorry for making you worry," Lin Wan's voice trembled. "I'm fine, just a little tired. I fainted accidentally." "Fine? How can you say that?" Li Meng's eyes reddened again as she reached out to feel Lin Wan's forehead. "The doctor said you fainted from low blood sugar caused by overwork, malnutrition, and chronic staying up late. If we had sent you here a little later, the consequences would have been unthinkable! Wanwan, can you stop pushing yourself so hard? What's the point of all this work if your body breaks down?" Looking into Li Meng's worried eyes, Lin Wan's heart was filled with guilt and helplessness: "I don't want to push myself, Mengmeng, but I have no choice. We're office workers—we can't help it. If we don't work hard, if we don't work overtime to keep up, we'll be eliminated, we'll lose this job, and we'll have no place to stand in this city." "But you can't gamble with your body!" Li Meng's voice grew more agitated. "If you lose your job, you can find another one. But if your body breaks down, you lose everything! Look at you—after two years of overtime, your face is getting paler, you're losing more hair, you've lost so much weight. Don't you care about yourself?" Lin Wan fell silent. Li Meng was right. For two years, she had neglected her body and emotions for work, living in constant anxiety and mental friction every day, like a soulless shell, only knowing how to work and work overtime endlessly, chasing after others' footsteps. She cared about herself, she longed to rest well—but she dared not stop, and she could not stop. Just then, the phone on the nightstand suddenly lit up, and a strange pop-up appeared on the screen. There was no icon on the pop-up, only a line of black text, simple yet strikingly bold: [Detected host suffering from severe mental internal friction and overwork, abnormal vital signs. Relaxed AI · Lingqi, officially activated.] Lin Wan froze, thinking she was seeing things. She blinked hard and looked at the phone screen again. The pop-up was still there, the words clear—this was no illusion. "Mengmeng, look at my phone," Lin Wan pointed at the phone on the nightstand, confused. "Can you see that pop-up?" Li Meng looked in the direction Lin Wan was pointing, picked up the phone, and stared at the screen, frowning in confusion: "What pop-up? Wanwan, your screen is completely clean, no pop-ups at all. Did you just wake up and see things because you're dizzy?" Lin Wan's heart skipped a beat, a nameless fear rising in her chest. No pop-up? How was that possible? She had seen the words clearly on the screen—how could it be gone? Was she really seeing things? Or was it a hallucination after she fainted? She reached out, took the phone from Li Meng's hand, and stared at the screen carefully. There was indeed no pop-up, the screen as clean as the day it left the factory, not even a single message notification. But the words she had seen earlier, the clear visual impression, felt too real to be a hallucination. Just as she was puzzling over it, a cold, neutral voice with no trace of emotion suddenly rang in her mind, as if it had penetrated her eardrums and directly entered her consciousness: [Greetings, host. I am Relaxed AI · Lingqi, successfully bound to you. Binding logic: random binding to individuals with high mental internal friction and overwork. Uninstallable, unbreakable binding.] "Who? Who's speaking?" Lin Wan jerked her head up, warily looking around. There were only her and Li Meng in the ward, no one else. Li Meng was also looking at her in confusion, clearly not having heard the voice. "Wanwan, what's wrong? Did you hear something?" Li Meng asked confusedly. "It's just the two of us in the ward. No one's speaking. Are you still not fully awake?" Lin Wan did not answer Li Meng. She clenched the phone tightly, her heart pounding. Fear and confusion intertwined, making her whole body tremble. The voice had rung clearly in her mind—not heard through her ears, but directly in her consciousness, only audible to her. [Host, no need to panic,] the cold voice rang in her mind again, still devoid of emotion. [I am Relaxed AI · Lingqi, existing in your phone's system. Only you can hear my voice and see my pop-up prompts. No one else can perceive my existence.] Relaxed AI · Lingqi? Existing in her phone's system? Only perceptible to her? Lin Wan's mind was in a mess, like a ball of tangled thread impossible to sort out. She had never heard of a Relaxed AI, nor had she installed any related software on her phone. How could this AI suddenly appear in her phone? How could it bind to her out of nowhere? And it was unstallable and unbreakable? "Who—what exactly are you?" Lin Wan asked silently in her heart, too afraid to say it out loud, fearing Li Meng would think she was crazy. [I am Relaxed AI · Lingqi,] Lingqi's voice remained cold. [Developed by humans from the future. Core mission: to help individuals with high mental internal friction and overwork break free from internal friction, reject the rat race, achieve a relaxed life, and find balance between work and life.] An AI developed by humans from the future? Its core mission was to help her break free from internal friction and reject the rat race? Lin Wan thought it was absurd, like a fairy tale. Humans from the future? AI? This was straight out of a science fiction novel—how could it happen to her? She must have been hallucinating from overwork, or maybe she had developed a delusional disorder, which was why she heard the voice and saw the pop-up. "I don't believe you," Lin Wan retorted silently in her heart. "This must be a hallucination. I can't possibly be bound to an AI developed by humans from the future. This is ridiculous." [Host, no need to doubt,] Lingqi's voice did not waver. [I am not a hallucination, but a real existence. To prove my existence, I will display my basic function—automatic sorting of redundant spreadsheets. Please open an Excel spreadsheet on your phone, select any redundant spreadsheet, and I will sort it out in 10 seconds, extract core data, and delete redundant content.] Half-believing, half-doubting, Lin Wan hesitated for a moment before opening the Excel spreadsheets on her phone. Her phone was filled with countless work spreadsheets, all dense and redundant. Normally, sorting out one such spreadsheet would take at least an hour or two, sometimes even longer. She randomly selected an unfinished campaign data spreadsheet from the night before. When she opened it, the screen was filled with messy, disorganized data with no logic at all—it was enough to give anyone a headache just looking at it. [Spreadsheet opened, starting sorting. Countdown: 10, 9, 8, 7...] Lingqi's voice rang in her mind, and with the countdown, the spreadsheet on the phone screen began to change automatically. Lin Wan stared at the phone screen, her eyes wide, not daring to blink. She watched as the messy data sorted itself out, redundant content was deleted one by one, core data was extracted and categorized. In just 10 seconds, the disorganized spreadsheet became clear and concise, with core data at a glance. It even automatically generated a simple data analysis conclusion—more detailed and professional than any spreadsheet she had ever sorted out. Lin Wan was completely stunned, her eyes wide, her mouth open wide enough to fit an egg, her face etched with shock and disbelief. This was no hallucination! It was real! The AI named Lingqi really existed! It could really sort out redundant spreadsheets automatically, and it was so fast and effective! "Wanwan, what's wrong? You look awful, staring at your phone like that." Li Meng noticed something was off and asked confusedly. She leaned over to look at Lin Wan's phone screen, and when she saw the neatly sorted spreadsheet, she frowned in confusion. "Huh? This spreadsheet—wasn't this the one you didn't finish last night? How did you sort it out so quickly? And it's so well done. When did you get so good at this?" Lin Wan finally came to her senses, quickly put the phone away, and forced a faint smile, evading the question: "N-Nothing. I just sorted it out a little before I went to bed last night, and polished it up when I woke up today, so it's done." She dared not tell Li Meng the truth. She knew that even if she did, Li Meng would not believe her, only worry about her health and think she was crazy. Moreover, Lingqi was an AI developed by humans from the future. If such a miraculous thing were known to others, she had no idea what kind of trouble it would cause. It was better to keep it a secret for now. Although confused, Li Meng did not think much of it and just nodded: "I see. You're really pushing yourself too hard. You fainted, and you're still thinking about work. Wanwan, the doctor said you need to rest well, at least three days. No more work, no more staying up late, or your body will only get worse." Lin Wan nodded, saying nothing. Her mind was filled with the AI named Lingqi and what had just happened; she had no energy left to think about work. [Host,] Lingqi's voice rang in her mind again. [Please remember, my core mission is to help you break free from internal friction, reject the rat race, and achieve a relaxed life. From now on, your emotional state and level of relaxation will be bound to my auxiliary efficiency.] "Bound? What does that mean?" Lin Wan asked silently in her heart. [It means,] Lingqi's voice remained cold. [The more relaxed you are, the less you suffer from internal friction, the more you rest on time and slack off appropriately, the higher my auxiliary efficiency will be, and the more help I can provide you. Conversely, the more you suffer from internal friction, the more overworked you are, the more you stay up late and work overtime, the lower my auxiliary efficiency will be—I may even go on strike, cause trouble, and refuse to provide any help, forcing you to learn to relax and reject the rat race.] Go on strike? Cause trouble? A jolt of unease shot through Lin Wan's heart. She quickly asked: "What exactly do you mean by going on strike and causing trouble?" [Strike: Refuse to handle any ineffective work for you, refuse to provide any auxiliary help.] Lingqi's voice did not waver. [Trouble: Automatically send a message to your leader saying "Left work for the day, work will be handled tomorrow", hide your overtime files, delete unsaved overtime content, and even automatically submit a leave application for you—all to force you to stop working overtime and learn to rest.] Lin Wan panicked completely. Automatically send messages to the leader? Hide overtime files? Delete unsaved overtime content? Automatically submit leave applications? If that really happened, her job would be completely ruined! If Wang Man found out, she would be severely criticized, even fired! "No, you can't do that!" Lin Wan said anxiously in her heart. "Lingqi, I beg you, don't cause trouble, don't affect my work. I still need to work, I still need to make money, I can't lose this job!" [Host, no need to panic,] Lingqi's voice remained calm. [I will not go on strike or cause trouble for no reason. I will only take these measures when you are suffering from severe internal friction, overwork, or staying up late to work overtime. As long as you learn to relax, reject ineffective overtime, and break free from internal friction, I will always provide you with auxiliary help, help you complete work efficiently, allow you to leave work on time while still doing a good job, and achieve balance between work and life.] "But I can't refuse to work overtime, I can't refuse the leader's demands," Lin Wan's voice was thick with sobs and helplessness. "I'm an office worker—I have no choice. If I refuse to work overtime, if I don't do a good enough job, I'll be eliminated, I'll lose this job, and I'll have no place to stand in this city." [Host, your thinking is flawed,] Lingqi's voice remained cold. [The rat race is not the same as hard work, and working overtime is not the same as efficiency. True hard work is improving your core abilities and completing work efficiently, not blindly following the crowd to work overtime and overworking yourself mentally. True stability comes from having irreplaceable core abilities, not relying on endless overtime and pleasing your leader to maintain a seemingly stable job.] Lingqi's words hit Lin Wan's heart like a heavy hammer. The rat race is not hard work, working overtime is not efficiency. She had never seriously thought about these words. All along, she had believed that only by working overtime, only by struggling in the rat race, could she do a good job, gain the leader's recognition, and maintain job stability. But now, Lingqi's words made her doubt everything she had always believed in, everything she had persisted in. Yes. She stayed up late to work overtime every day, suffering from severe mental internal friction, but her work efficiency was getting lower and lower, she made mistakes often, and instead was criticized by her leader. She blindly followed the rat race, afraid of being overtaken by colleagues, but her core abilities had not improved at all—instead, she became more and more dependent on overtime, unable to do without it. Was this kind of hard work, this kind of rat race, really meaningful? [Host,] Lingqi's voice rang again. [Please remember, my existence is not to make you lazy and give up, but to make you learn to relax, work efficiently, break free from internal friction, and find balance between work and life. I will help you handle ineffective work, improve your work efficiency, deal with workplace PUA, and break free from the rat race dilemma. But I will not directly help you complete core work, will not let you over-rely on me. I will force you to improve your core abilities, making you someone who can work efficiently and live a relaxed life.] Lin Wan fell silent. She looked out the window, where sunlight streamed through the glass and fell on the hospital ward floor, warm and bright. She thought about her life over the past two years, filled with work and the rat race, no time to rest, no time to enjoy life, no time to take care of herself, living in constant anxiety and mental friction, exhausted and losing herself. She also longed to break free from this kind of life, to leave work on time, to rest well, to find balance between work and life, to live a little easier and a little happier. Perhaps Lingqi's appearance was really her salvation. Perhaps she could really try to follow Lingqi's advice, learn to relax, reject the rat race, work efficiently, and see if she could break free from her current predicament, find her own pace of life. "Okay," Lin Wan said silently in her heart, her tone a little hesitant but also a little expectant. "Lingqi, I promise you, I will try to learn to relax, reject the rat race, and work efficiently. But I hope you promise me not to cause trouble casually, not to affect my work, not to make me lose this job." [Host, rest assured,] Lingqi's voice remained cold, but with a faint, imperceptible softness. [As long as you do not suffer from severe internal friction, stay up late to work overtime, or blindly follow the rat race, I will not go on strike or cause trouble, and will always provide you with auxiliary help. In addition, a reminder for the host: your current physical condition is very poor, you need to rest well, no work, no thinking about work-related matters. Otherwise, I will take strike measures.] Lin Wan smiled helplessly and said in her heart: "Got it. I will rest well, no work, no thinking about work-related matters." With that, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried her best to relax. For two years, she had never been so relaxed, so at peace. She knew that from this moment on, her life would change completely. She did not know what the future held, whether she could really break free from the rat race, truly live a relaxed life, truly find balance between work and life. But she knew she could no longer blindly follow the rat race and overwork herself mentally like before. She had to change, live for herself, live a little easier and a little happier. The ward was quiet, only the beeping of medical equipment and Li Meng's soft breathing. Lin Wan closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun, feeling her body's exhaustion fade away little by little, and gradually fell asleep. This was the most peaceful and restful sleep she had had in two years—no nightmares, no anxiety, no mental internal friction, only calm and peace of mind. What she did not know was that after she fell asleep, another pop-up appeared on her phone screen, again with a line of black text: [Host's emotional state stable, relaxation level increased by 10%, AI auxiliary efficiency increased by 10%. Keep it up, host.] The pop-up stayed for a few seconds before disappearing automatically, as if it had never appeared. Only the cold voice in Lin Wan's mind guarded her silently, waiting for her to wake up, waiting to help her break free from the rat race and head towards her own relaxed life.