Xu Dengming stared at the weapon that had appeared out of thin air in her hand, feeling as though she wasn’t holding a mere pipe but her own crumbling worldview.
Her eyes were bloodshot, the muscles in her cheeks involuntarily tensed, and her temples throbbed incessantly.
Amid the chaos, a long-ignored thought began to bubble up from the depths of her mind.
Xu Dengming slowly closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, the confusion in her gaze had dissipated like morning fog by the seaside.
At the same time, a system panel, visible only to her, appeared before her eyes.
Recalling the moment she had obtained the game panel and her past experiences, Xu Dengming finally realized what that lingering sense of dissonance had been.
-Perhaps it was because those who could see fate were always tripped up by it.
Not long after leaving the elevator instance, Xu Dengming had once again encountered an abnormal event.
Just like the game test she had participated in at the abandoned office building, the Nest Park also had the ability to influence the participants’ perception and cognition.
At first, Xu Dengming had completely overlooked the illogical aspects of her surroundings.
If not for her previous experiences, she might not have even noticed her current state.
A strange smile crept onto Xu Dengming’s face she had entered a total of three instances, two of which had revolved around employment.
It seemed as though some mystical force was trying to strangle the lifeline of fresh graduates at its source…
Moreover, far too many people had been dragged into this instance.
Just a few feet away, on the neighboring bed, slept her university classmate, who had been lured into the instance alongside her.
In the quiet of the night, Xu Dengming could hear Wang Yanxing’s breathing gradually quicken.
Having shared classes and dorm life, Xu Dengming knew that Wang had always slept soundly and had never experienced nightmares before.
Xu Dengming reached out and shook Wang Yanxing awake. “What’s wrong?”
Wang Yanxing let out a hoarse cry as she woke abruptly.
She sat up, dazed for a moment, before murmuring, “…Where am I?”
Wang wasn’t really expecting an answer.
After muttering to herself, she frowned as she became more alert and said, “I just had a really unsettling dream.”
Xu Dengming’s voice was soft, carrying a soothing tone. “What did you dream about?”
She had also dreamed but had forgotten the content upon waking.
Wang Yanxing tried to recall but eventually shook her head. “I can’t remember.”
The moment she opened her eyes, the details of the dream had evaporated like exam scores at the end of a semester.
All that remained in Wang’s heart was a lingering sense of terror and unease.
In the silence, a familiar, chilling thud echoed from downstairs.
Without needing to look, both Xu Dengming and Wang Yanxing could recall the sound of a body shattering against the concrete ground.
Wang Yanxing felt a chill. “Why again…?”
Xu Dengming jumped off the bed and walked to the window, gently pulling the curtain aside to peek through the gap.
The expected horror didn’t appear.
Outside was pure darkness, but with her special vision, Xu Dengming could still vaguely make out the scene on the ground.
The same scene from earlier in the evening had been replicated in the dead of night.
“Click.”
A faint sound of a window closing came from nearby.
If it weren’t for the dead of night, when the surroundings were so quiet that even the drop of a pin could be heard, Xu Dengming might not have noticed the noise.
She wasn’t the only one who noticed the unusual activity outside the window.
The horrifying scene on the ground seemed to possess a peculiar allure, making it impossible for Xu Dengming to look away.
Yet, the longer she stared, the more she felt as though her mind was being eroded and tainted.
Slowly, Xu Dengming averted her gaze.
She thought to herself that if she had regained her memories earlier in the afternoon, she might have been able to detect the abnormality in the falling incident sooner.
-Because the body on the ground was shattered far too thoroughly.
The residential building wasn’t particularly tall.
Even if someone had fallen from the rooftop, they shouldn’t have turned into a pile of minced flesh.
The shattered remains, the vanished traces-every detail defied Xu Dengming’s understanding of what was normal.
When she last signed a confidentiality agreement, the person in the white T-shirt had told her that the more one knew, the easier it was to be ensnared by anomalies.
Now, Xu Dengming stood with one foot already on the line of no return.
She remained motionless by the window for a long time, until Wang Yanxing called out to her.
Only then did she close the window and crawl back into bed, preparing to sleep.
Though nightmares could affect her mental state, Xu Dengming had no better way to conserve her energy at the moment.
She wrapped herself in the blanket and asked, “Shall we continue resting?”
Wang Yanxing yawned and lay down as well. “Yeah.”
Xu Dengming looked at her companion.
Wang Yanxing’s perception had clearly been greatly influenced by the anomaly.
Even though they had just witnessed someone falling from the building minutes ago, after the initial fear, Wang Yanxing didn’t seem to have the urge to flee immediately.
Her companion in the neighboring bed soon fell asleep, and Xu Dengming also closed her eyes, sinking deeper into the dry, soft bedding.
The thick night enveloped the people on the beds layer by layer.
For some reason, Xu Dengming, who had already broken free from the mental influence of the Nest Park, didn’t suffer from insomnia after witnessing the death scene, just like her companion.
After she fell asleep, the strange dreams returned once more.
Darkness, stickiness, oppression-various intangible entities surrounded her.
During the night, Xu Dengming woke up several times due to an inexplicable intuition.
Yet, no matter how hard she tried to recall, she couldn’t confirm the details of her dreams.
Outside the dormitory, the muffled sound of bodies hitting the concrete ground continued to echo faintly.
In the neighboring bed, Wang Yanxing turned over in her sleep, pressing a pillow tightly over her ears.
—
7:30 in the morning.
The sunlight that disturbed their slumber was blocked by the curtains, and the lingering terror seemed to have evaporated along with the night.
Xu Dengming hadn’t slept well, and even though she realized it was already morning, she didn’t get up.
However, the Nest Park had no intention of letting the new students off so easily.
Right at 7:30, an emotionless broadcast echoed through the residential area, reminding everyone of the day’s schedule-
“The horn of awakening has sounded. Today marks the first day of your internship as prospective employees…”
The cold, piercing voice of the broadcast drilled into Xu Dengming’s skull like an electric drill as she lay in bed with her eyes closed.
Suddenly, she felt a wetness beneath her nose.
She reached up to touch it and realized she was bleeding.
The headache was getting worse, but when Xu Dengming got up from bed with a gloomy expression, all the negative sensations began to rapidly diminish, eventually stabilizing at a level that didn’t hinder her movements.
-It seemed that as long as she followed the instructions, the damage caused by the scenario could be greatly reduced.
Wang Yanxing, who had gotten up earlier, had perfectly avoided the morning “wake-up kill” by habitually adhering to the broadcast.
Although she had endured a night of nightmares, her complexion after waking up was quite good-rosy cheeks and bright eyes-making her perfectly suited to dive into the intense and thrilling work right away.
In contrast, the dark circles under Xu Dengming’s eyes were far too noticeable.
If her current appearance were showcased at Nest Company’s recruitment fair, it would undoubtedly have an excellent deterrent effect.
The broadcast continued: “…The designated dining area for probationary employees is Canteen No. 3. Canteen No. 3 is open from 7:30 to 9:00 in the morning, 11:00 to 14:00 at noon, and 17:00 to 19:00 in the evening. To ensure health, all employees are required to dine at the canteen during the designated times.”
“All probationary employees must complete their visit to Cleaning Workshop No. 1 before lunch begins.”
As Xu Dengming dressed, she listened to the broadcast and extracted the key information: they had two tasks in the morning eating and visiting the workshop.
If it weren’t for the knowledge that the scenario was inherently malicious, Nest Company’s schedule for the students could almost be considered considerate, filled with a humane care that didn’t overexploit them.
Wang Yanxing asked, “Shall we go for breakfast?”
Xu Dengming replied, “Let’s go.”
After her recent experience, Xu Dengming, who had already stopped her nosebleed, had no intention of defying the broadcast for now.
Before brushing her teeth, Xu Dengming specifically checked the time-it was 7:35.
Canteen No. 3 would remain open until 9:00 in the morning.
Normally, an hour and a half would be more than enough for two college students, well-versed in racing against deadlines, to complete their morning routine and have breakfast.
However, they weren’t sure how long it would take to get from the dormitory area to the dining area, so they had to hurry.
At the same time, the other surviving probationary employees were also pouring out of their rooms.
The probationary employees were like worker ants, swarming toward their destination as soon as they received the command.
The dormitory area in this building consisted of double rooms, but Xu Dengming noticed that many rooms had only one person emerging.
Probationary employees, unlike full-time members, weren’t familiar with the layout of the compound, so they tended to move in groups when going out.
Combined with the muffled sounds she had heard the night before, Xu Dengming had reason to believe that the rooms with only one person were because only one person remained.
The intern who walked out alone lifted her head, her dark eyes slowly moving as she silently watched the probationary employees passing by her door.
Their different faces seemed to share the same expression.
Before making eye contact with any of them, Xu Dengming deliberately averted her gaze, pulling Wang Yanxing through the corridor and quickly descending the stairs.
Xu Dengming was sensitive to the gazes of others, and she could feel someone watching her from behind.
The probationary employees moved in an orderly fashion down the dormitory corridor, as if everyone was certain of their direction.
As Xu Dengming followed, she kept an eye on the signs at each intersection, ensuring that she was indeed on the path to finding food.
However, perhaps due to the wind last night or because the sign was not securely installed in the first place, Xu Dengming kept seeing several wooden signs lying on the ground along the way.
The two girls walking ahead of Xu Dengming noticed the fallen sign and casually picked it up, reinserting it into the ground.
Xu Dengming initially didn’t pay much attention to others maintaining the park’s environment, but as she passed the sign, she suddenly stopped in her tracks.
This sign pointed to the life supermarket.
Based on last night’s experience, the location written on the sign was correct, but the note at the bottom was noticeably different from what she had seen yesterday-
“If there is no light inside the life supermarket, you may enter.”
Xu Dengming, who had already activated her brain’s alert mode, froze for a moment.
This line of text wasn’t hidden; the girl who had picked up the sign must have seen it.
Yet, the two ahead showed no unusual reaction to it.
Wang Yanxing followed Xu Dengming’s gaze and also looked surprised, then whispered,
“What’s going on? I remember the note we saw yesterday wasn’t like this.”
Two completely contradictory instructions-unless it was a prank, one of them was almost certainly a trap.
Xu Dengming and Wang Yanxing exchanged a glance but said nothing.
After a moment, the former chose to set the question aside for now: “Forget it, let’s head to the cafeteria first.”
Wang Yanxing responded with a casual “Alright.”
Just a minute ago, she had been puzzled, but now she could easily toss aside things she couldn’t figure out.
The park had dulled the vigilance of the prospective employees.
The straight-line distance between the third cafeteria and the residential area was less than 500 meters, but with so many trees and winding paths, Xu Dengming and Wang Yanxing spent a quarter of an hour navigating through the bushes before finally finding their destination.
By the time they arrived at the third cafeteria, there were already quite a few people eating inside.
Xu Dengming also spotted five male classmates who looked somewhat familiar.
They were likely fellow soon-to-be graduates from E University, having crossed paths with Xu Dengming on campus before, though they had never spoken and didn’t know each other’s names.
Just like the E University cafeteria, Nest Corporation had posted the food price list on the wall.
The prices for all types of food were extremely low, with a standard meal costing only one transaction point.
Xu Dengming raised an eyebrow slightly.
Having applied for various student aid subsidies, she knew that the school would provide free meals for students like her those with good grades but tight budgets-so she was well aware that cheap food often came with a catch.
The line at the food window moved quickly, and Xu Dengming only waited two minutes before it was her turn to order.
There were no staff at the window, only several steel machines that resembled giant tardigrades standing behind it.
Each time they detected a hungry intern waiting for food, they would spit out a breakfast from a mouth-like dispensing area.
Xu Dengming stared at the food spat out by the machine and suddenly felt the urge to slam the tray onto the “tardigrade’s” face.
“Please pay for your meal-“
The mechanical voice, indifferent to the harm the meal’s quality might inflict on the eater, dutifully reminded her.
Xu Dengming paused for a second before placing her temporary employee card on the card reader.
“Beep, payment complete.”
For some reason, as the mechanical voice sounded, Xu Dengming, who was about to take her meal and leave, once again felt that slight sense of weakness.
It felt like staying up all night for too long not only did my body become stiff, but my mind also showed clear signs of exhaustion.
Tftc!