Nan Yue lay on the bed, exhausted both physically and mentally, wondering when the clues for this mission would finally surface.
In her dazed state, she drifted off to sleep, but with worries weighing on her mind, her slumber remained light.
In the middle of the night, she was suddenly jolted awake by the distant sound of a heavy object hitting the ground.
It took only a few seconds for her to regain her senses and move to the window to look down.
She couldn't be mistaken; it was likely the sound of someone jumping from the building.
It was too dark below to see anything, and Nan Yue wasn't sure about the death rules of this mission—was it safe to go out at night?
She slowly sat back down on the bed, deciding it was better to be cautious just in case.
Could the company's treatment of its employees really drive someone to a breakdown?
Nan Yue had a gut feeling that this company was hiding a secret.
It was a pure intuition, and she didn't ignore it.
She returned to her bed and went back to sleep.
However, some people were not so lucky.
Li Da had also heard the commotion.
To be precise, after hearing it the previous night, he had intentionally stayed awake today to wait for it.
So, he didn't just hear it; he saw a dark shadow leap from the top floor.
Li Da had only been in this mission for two days, but he was already at his breaking point.
He was assigned to the Technical Department, but he knew absolutely nothing about the field.
He had studied the basics in school, but it was all general knowledge, completely inadequate for this job.
As a result, he was bullied at work every day.
He had to bow and scrape like a servant, and the sheer volume of things to learn and the workload were overwhelming.
For two consecutive days, he had to arrive at the Technical Department by 6:00 AM to clean and serve tea to everyone.
He couldn't get off work until after 2:00 AM, and he felt like he was on the verge of dropping dead from exhaustion.
So, when he realized someone had actually jumped, his intuition told him this was a clue he couldn't afford to miss.
It was 3:00 AM, and Li Da knew many employees worked through the night, so there shouldn't be a rule against being out.
He turned the doorknob and rushed out.
Li Da lived on the 5th floor, so it only took him a few minutes to run down.
When he stood in the garden, everything was silent and dark.
No lights were on, and he belatedly began to feel a sense of fear.
The feng shui of this place was very strange.
With the four buildings surrounding it, just standing in the central garden felt suffocating, let alone knowing a corpse might be there with him.
He turned on his flashlight and searched the ground for traces of the victim.
Sure enough, not far away, there was a pool of blood on the ground, emitting a powerful, putrid stench.
He found it!
Li Da took a few quick steps forward, but in the next moment, he realized something was wrong.
Why was there only blood... and no body?!
What made the hair on his neck stand up was that the blood smelled rotten; it wasn't the scent of fresh blood.
It was clearly the stench of a corpse that had been dead for a long time!
Li Da took two steps back, his flashlight scanning the surroundings.
Finding nothing, his tense nerves relaxed slightly.
It wasn't a person; it was a ghost!
Though Li Da was afraid, he was even more excited.
If it were a person, it might be nothing, but if it were a ghost, there had to be a clue.
He planned to find a place to hide and observe from the shadows.
Just as he was about to move, he suddenly heard the sound of rushing wind.
He instinctively dodged backward, narrowly avoiding a person falling from above.
The soft body slammed heavily onto the concrete, flesh and blood spraying in every direction.
Some of the gore even splashed onto Li Da's face.
He was stunned into silence for a moment before the intense, putrid smell hit him.
This was bad!
Before he could turn and run, he saw the corpse move.
First, a mangled right hand propped the body up, followed by a left leg that was snapped, exposing the white bone...
Li Da watched with wide eyes as the corpse, which had been shattered into pieces, stood up unsteadily in a bizarre posture.
The aftermath of a fall from such a height was usually gruesome, with bodies often breaking into fragments.
The corpse before him wasn't quite that mangled, but it was close.
As the corpse stood up, chunks of rotten flesh fell to the ground with a wet thud.
From the silhouette, it appeared to be a man.
His suit was so covered in red and white matter that its original color was unrecognizable.
His facial features were destroyed; one eyeball had burst, and the other had been knocked out of its socket.
His nose was a mass of mangled flesh, and his mouth was deformed beyond recognition.
His body made a slimy, squelching sound as he moved.
Li Da was frozen in place by the horrific sight.
The corpse tilted its neck, a white bone protruding from its throat, and twisted its body as it walked toward Li Da...
It had discovered him!
...
Nan Yue slept until her alarm went off.
When she left her room, she encountered Zhu Xi Ning arrogantly telling Gu Xiang Kai to wait so they could walk together.
The people around them looked on with envy; being favored by someone in a secretary post meant, at the very least, one didn't have to worry about being at the bottom of the evaluation.
Seeing Nan Yue appear looking refreshed, both of them felt a subtle sense of relief.
On the way to work, Zhu Xi Ning took the opportunity to share her discovery with Nan Yue.
"I saw that Zhao Mingran resigned yesterday."
Nan Yue sneered inwardly. Resigned? They were scavengers; where would they go after resigning?
Yesterday, when Gu Xiang Kai said he hadn't seen Zhao Mingran, there were other possibilities.
After all, the company was huge, and they didn't remember the names of every scavenger.
It was perfectly normal not to find someone for a day.
Moreover, everyone's workload was saturated, leaving little time to look for companions.
One could say this mission was very unfriendly, separating the scavengers and filling their time completely.
"I handled his resignation procedures,"
Zhu Xi Ning whispered. "The head of the Logistics Department came to me to process it, saying he wasn't used to the work here."
The three were silent for a moment.
If they weren't sure about other employees resigning, the resignation of a scavenger was a different story.
In all likelihood, he had met with an accident.
"...Don't act rashly for now,"
Nan Yue analyzed. "This company has a strict hierarchy, and everyone has a clear role. Doing something that doesn't fit your role could lead to trouble."
"We've only been here for two days, so some things are hard to access. But if we have enough power..."
Nan Yue's meaning was clear. It wasn't certain which part of the company handled "resigning" employees, but they would surely find out if they climbed high enough.
"Just focus on finding clues."
"And... keep an eye on the other scavengers."
When they reached the canteen, Nan Yue saw Wen Xiang Yuan eating alone, though many men were quietly glancing at her.
She gave Gu Xiang Kai and Zhu Xi Ning a look, then took her tray and sat across from Wen Xiang Yuan.
Wen Xiang Yuan was startled, her eyes appearing somewhat vacant as she looked up.
Nan Yue realized she truly had no idea why she was being approached.
"Scavenger?"
Wen Xiang Yuan paused, then let out a soft "Ah" and said somewhat sheepishly, "I didn't recognize you, I'm sorry."
Nan Yue didn't mind. "I saw you were alone. Do you want to cooperate?"
Rate on N.U.
