Neville arrived at the company precisely three minutes earlier than he planned.

"Hope." Bryan, who looked like he was waiting for him at the private lift entrance, greeted him.

Neville nodded and looked at Bryan. He looked more tired than usual. He had dark circles under his eyes, suggesting late nights spent in preparation for his upcoming off-world trip.

As they moved through the corridor toward Grayson’s office, Bryan suddenly said, "I’m sure you have questions about this assignment."

"A few," Neville admitted carefully.

"Good. Ask them now. Once I leave, you won’t even have time to ask one."

"Why me?" Neville quickly asked.

Bryan smiled slightly, devoid of mirth, "Funny you asked. Several others who saw my announcement asked the same the moment I came into the office."

"And?"

Bryan paused at a junction in the corridor, turning to face Neville directly.

"If any of them could work as efficiently as you, they would have been promoted a long time ago. Maxwell Corporation doesn’t discriminate against those who were capable, and you’ve proved yourself capable of handling complex situations with minimal supervision. That’s exactly what this position requires. Some who wouldn’t be influenced easily just because the work was overwhelming."

Bryan continued, resuming their walk.

"Mr. Maxwell’s schedule for the next two weeks is in your light brain." Neville opened his light brain and read the list as Bryan told him some key schedules. "Standard protocols apply. Morning briefings at 0800, afternoon status updates at 1400, evening reports by 1900 unless otherwise specified. Lunch orders should be placed by 1100 to allow for delivery timing. Any deviations from the schedule must be documented and justified."

"Understood," Neville said as he put a memo on the schedule.

"One more thing." Bryan stopped outside Grayson’s office door, his expression unreadable. "Mr. Maxwell may seem... stable. But he was still someone who had just been hospitalized not long ago. Part of your job is to ensure he doesn’t work himself to the point that he needs to be admitted to the hospital again. Understood?"

Was Grayson that weak? Neville thought skeptically, but outwardly he nodded obediently.

"Good." Bryan reached for the door, the scanner, and the door opened with a hiss.

Grayson sat behind his massive desk, busy reviewing the backlogged files. Morning light streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows behind him, casting his dark hair in a subtle halo that did nothing to soften his intimidating presence.

"Mr. Maxwell," Bryan announced. "Your Temporary Secretary has arrived."

"I can see that." Grayson’s gaze stopped at Neville, which made him a little conscious of his appearance. "Thank you, Bryan. Safe travels."

Bryan executed a precise bow before departing, leaving Neville alone, standing foolishly in front of Grayson. Neville panicked a little but mustered the courage to smile a little.

"Mr. Maxwell." He said after taking a deep breath. He stepped forward, maintaining professional distance. "I’m honored by this opportunity. I’ll do my best to maintain Chief Secretary Stewart’s standards during his absence."

Grayson gestured to the chair across from his desk. "Sit. We have matters to discuss before the day begins."

Uhm, should he sit? He hadn’t seen Bryan sitting and doing work here before. Neville thought in a panic while taking a seat in the chair Grayson pointed at.

Grayson reached for a microchip on his desk. "I have a board meeting at 0900, followed by..."

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥

The first day passed in a blur of activity that would have overwhelmed anyone less prepared.

They were completely swamped with work that stacked high because of the extra unexpected days, so Neville and Grayson didn’t have the time to care whether they were in close contact or attempt to get distracted for even a second.

With their high tacit understanding and dedication to the point of living in the company for a whole day, they managed to finish half of the backlog.

However, problems arose when Grayson didn’t show up the next day.

"Strange," Neville muttered, pulling up the CEO’s schedule on his personal terminal.

He had been working on the files for three hours now, and by all means, Grayson should’ve arrived by now. When he checked on the messages, Grayson didn’t leave a single message to inform him.

Did something happen?

He was about to dismiss it as one of the rare whims of humans who didn’t want to work after having spent the day before. Grayson must’ve slept too deeply to wake up in time.

Giggling at this thought, Neville decided to fulfill half of Grayson’s work for the day as a freebie. This was his ticket to be able to tease Grayson freely in the future.

But then an ominous chime was heard, and a holographic screen appeared in his peripheral vision.

[NEW SIDE QUEST DETECTED!]

Neville’s fingers froze mid-keystroke. He unconsciously glanced around and realized that he was the only one inside Grayson’s office. The system interface expanded before his eyes, glowing brightly.

[NEW SIDE QUEST: Keep Your Chastity!

Current Favorability: 16%

Target: Grayson Maxwell

Reward: ???

Penalty: DEATH]

Neville stared at the notification for a full ten seconds, his brain short-circuiting as it tried to process what he was seeing.

"Shelly." His voice came out flat, carefully controlled.

[Yes, dearest host? ☆*:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:*☆] Shelly’s avatar bounced into view, her pearly shell body practically vibrating in excitement.

"Keep my chastity?" He enunciated each word slowly, as if speaking to a particularly dense child. "What exactly do you mean by ’keep my chastity’?"

[Exactly what it says, host! (●’◡’●)]

"I have been a virgin for my entire life!" Neville hissed, whipping his head around in panic to make sure no one would suddenly appear inside this empty office, and saw him talking to himself. "Before and after transmigration! Where exactly would my chastity have gone?"

Shelly’s shell-body tilted in what might have been a shrug.

[The system doesn’t make the quests, host. The system just delivers them! Think of me as the messenger! ✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧] Shelly whipped out a Hermes the Greek God outfit in pink color. She was bouncing around, shaking her ’booty’ singing, ’it’s gonna be dangerous, my friend~.’