Chapter 6: Clearing the Tutorial, Leveling Up

You open your eyes: your house, staff calling, Thirteenth Brother bustling in, eager as ever, hopping over the threshold.

You sigh. How can something as trivial as the Carl Zimmerman case, barely a blip in TV dramas, be so hard to handle? Still, after two restarts, you’ve finally learned something.

The Mayor, as Ethan said, prides himself on being a benevolent, enlightened leader—so you have to play along.

If you go on a firing spree, you’re not benevolent. If you go too easy, you’re not enlightened.

Only by being both benevolent and enlightened can you meet the Mayor’s standard for an heir.

This time, you’re confident. You pat Thirteenth Brother on the shoulder and go to see Carl Zimmerman.

Before Carl can confess, before you even need to threaten him, you rattle off the names of every Public Works official he’s colluded with, when they started, how much they embezzled—everything, down to the last detail.

Carl is stunned.

He and the city attorney’s staff all stare while you stand with your hands clasped behind your back, unreadable. To them, you’re like a mind reader.

With your uncanny foresight, you shock everyone. Before they can turn on each other, you swiftly deal with only those directly involved with Carl Zimmerman.

And then you stop.

Afterward, you realize you never needed to go to extremes—the only opponent you needed to outdo was Ethan.

Sure enough, this time, when the Mayor returns, he doesn’t scold you.

You look at the Mayor—tired, weathered, but faintly relieved—and your eyes fill with tears. You nearly cry for real.

Three times. Three times! This damn tutorial almost killed me!

The Mayor, seeing your tears, asks, “Harrison, what’s wrong?”

You, eyes red: “I haven’t seen you in so long, Dad. I lost my composure—please forgive me.”

Of course the Mayor forgives you. After so much scheming between the First Son and the Mayor’s son, seeing genuine emotion moves him deeply.

He tells his aide: “Harrison used to be moody, but he hasn’t been for years—strike that from his record.”

Your heart pounds—so this is the reward for clearing the tutorial: no more debuff!

With that weight gone, you can finally make your move.

The Mayor, not one to disappoint, immediately assigns you to help the First Son watch over the Mayor’s son.

Your heart skips a beat. You know: this is level two.

Last time, Fifth Son and First Son watched over the Mayor’s son. Why does the Mayor always pick someone to accompany the First Son?

You figure it out quickly.