Chapter 185

Chapter 185

Shen Si suddenly found it hard to breathe. She wanted to throw the phone away. She wanted to scream.

But fear had enveloped her entire body, leaving her as motionless as an ice sculpture.

Ding.

Another message arrived. Because Shen Si was still on the same screen, she saw it immediately.

Unknown: Why aren’t you answering me?

Unknown: Why aren’t you answering me?

Unknown messages flooded in like spam, drawing Shen Si’s already fraying nerves taut. One last straw would make her lose control completely.

Now that straw arrived.

Unknown: Why aren’t you answering me?

Unknown: Weren’t you waiting for me?

…

Unknown: I’m coming to find you.

…

The next day, Cheng Miao was woken by the damned alarm. While she was washing up, she heard a young woman scream softly outside.

Her head was still foggy, but she had developed muscle memory inside instances. By the time she became aware of herself, she had already darted outside.

A young woman had screamed, but the sound drew no crowd.

Many veteran employees glanced over and walked away as though nothing had happened.

Cheng Miao hurried over. The young woman had recovered and was about to leave when Cheng Miao stopped her to ask what happened.

The young woman blushed, somewhat embarrassed. “It was nothing. I just saw blood covering the floor inside this person’s room.”

Cheng Miao looked toward the room, and her heart sank. It belonged to Shen Si.

“Then Logistics arrived and said it was scrap. I haven’t been here very long, so I’m not used to scrap appearing all the time. That’s why I screamed.”

Cheng Miao did not make things difficult for her. She let the woman leave and stood outside Shen Si’s room in thought.

Qiudong, Lin Zhu, and the others arrived later and had already learned what happened.

They knew the company was absurd, but they still found it difficult to accept how casually dead employees were treated as scrap.

And were none of these people curious about why someone had died?

Cheng Miao led everyone toward the cafeteria, her mood already restored. “There’s nothing we can do. This company has brainwashed its employees so thoroughly that their views of the world, life, and death are completely warped.”

While eating, Cheng Miao counted the players again. Fortunately, Shen Si was the only casualty. Qian Miao had not arrived yet, but everyone else was present.

To Cheng Miao’s surprise, the delicate-looking An Xin had continued following Elder Yan closely and remained safe.

Then there was Yun Su, drinking porridge alone. Her personality seemed unchanged. She neither formed teams nor shared clues with anyone.

As Cheng Miao drank her porridge, Qin Musong lowered his voice. “I asked around earlier. A company this large needs people to leave for business trips, deals, taxes, and other work that can’t be done inside.”

“Later, I learned that only the chairman and a few key employees are allowed out. In short, anyone in any section could become a key employee and leave the company.”

Cheng Miao nodded. That fit the logic of an instance.

Every instance had to be understood within its setting. If an instance centered on a backward Village Head, its escape method would never be something as advanced as leaving by helicopter.

Conversely, if an instance possessed an extremely technological setting, the solution could not rely on feudal superstition.

The name of this instance was [Work! Work!], and every taboo revolved around employees failing to work properly.
Therefore, working hard, becoming a key employee, and leaving the company should indeed be the correct method.

But that meant…

Cheng Miao dragged her hands down her face in despair. They would have to remain here for a very, very long time.

Without breaking any regulations, and while their lives and health remained threatened, they had to compete to become key employees…

The more Cheng Miao thought about it, the more miserable she felt. Lin Zhu felt the same, and the two sat facing each other, pulling their faces down with both hands.

Qiudong frowned slightly. He reached over, pulled Cheng Miao’s hands away, then added some white sugar to the millet porridge she had left.

“Stop making faces. You’ll get wrinkles.”

Cheng Miao reluctantly lowered her hands. She took a sip of the faintly sweet porridge and narrowed her eyes in pleasure.

Across from her, Lin Zhu looked at Cheng Miao’s porridge, then lowered his head and tasted his own bland bowl. He felt even sadder.

Cheng Miao kept nothing to herself. They verbally shared the discovery with every player and received a great deal of gratitude.

Cheng Miao did not care about gratitude. She simply hoped everyone would leave alive.

But Qian Miao had not arrived, so Cheng Miao could only ask Liu Chi from the same section to tell him.

Liu Chi thumped his chest and said there would be no problem. He had deliberately knocked on Qian Miao’s door that morning, and someone had answered.

Qian Miao probably wanted to sleep a little longer, then take breakfast straight to his workstation. Liu Chi would tell him as soon as he arrived.

Liu Chi’s guess was correct. That was exactly what Qian Miao planned.

As someone who had spent years slacking off at work, he had mastered its essence: handle as many personal matters as possible while on the clock.

He had checked two days earlier and learned the cafeteria closed at 5:55. He only needed to buy breakfast before then and take it to his workstation.

Everyone ate lunch at their workstations too, which meant eating during work hours was allowed.

But he overlooked one fact. Time often passed between closing and opening one’s eyes.

The shared alarm rang at 5:30. His original plan was to doze for another twenty minutes, then rise at 5:50 and wash his face quickly.

But he had not considered how different this was from dozing after a full night’s sleep.

After resting only ten hours across two days, his body was already exhausted and had lost all sense of time.

Thus, when he woke groggily and saw that his phone said seven o’clock, he was so frightened he sat bolt upright.

Cold sweat streamed down his forehead. He blinked repeatedly, hoping it was an illusion.

But every time he opened his eyes with renewed hope, he saw the same time.

The time proving he was already late.

After staring blankly for a minute, Qian Miao abruptly came to his senses. Since he was still alive, he still had a chance.

He jumped up to wash while reassuring himself amid the frantic movements. Employees were late sometimes. That was normal.

Once he reached his workstation, he would tell his superior he had suddenly suffered diarrhea that morning.

No one could control illness. He refused to believe no employee in this company had ever taken sick leave.

Having calmed himself, he hurried out of his room and pressed the button for the company’s floors.

He was the only person left on this floor. Everything around him was silent, but his anxiety over being late left no room for fear.

Until… the elevator doors refused to close.

What was going on?

When it rained, it poured. Was the elevator broken too?

Qian Miao was about to leave the elevator and take the stairs when all the previously lit fluorescent lights in the corridor plunged into darkness at once.