The cafeteria during lunchtime was filled with most of the hungry and idle reserve employees, which meant there weren’t many people around the residential area.
Xu Dengming walked to the door and said to her classmate,
“Wait a bit before going upstairs.”
Wang Yanxing blinked slowly, her stiff expression softening slightly at her classmate’s words.
It was as if she had just woken up from a dream, needing a moment to process before giving her usual response: “Okay.”
Xu Dengming’s gaze lingered on Wang Yanxing for a moment.
If one looked closely, they would notice that Wang Yanxing’s current demeanor was somewhat similar to that of the other reserve employees earlier.
The erosion of the dungeon on the cognitive abilities of those trapped within it was continuous.
Even though Xu Dengming had consciously tried to limit their compliance with the broadcast’s demands, she couldn’t reverse the trend of her companion’s mental confusion.
After Wang Yanxing agreed, she obediently stood beside Xu Dengming, both of them looking through the transparent window at the concrete ground outside.
The gray concrete path was lined with soft, lush green grass, the blades of which were still dotted with glistening dewdrops.
If one ignored the strange red flowers scattered among the soil, everything appeared vibrant and lively.
A gentle breeze stirred the tips of the grass, causing them to sway unknowingly.
The colorless dewdrops rolled off the leaves, and as they fell, they rapidly expanded, turning into a thick, viscous crimson-
“Thud!”
A corpse fell from above, right in front of Xu Dengming and Wang Yanxing, splattering into a gruesome mess on the concrete.
Several drops of blood mixed with bits of flesh splattered onto the glass, directly in front of Xu Dengming’s eyes.
Her vision was tinted with a layer of red.
Although the flesh didn’t directly touch her due to the glass barrier, she still felt a faint, unsettling sensation beneath her eyelids.
She reached out a finger and lightly touched her eyeball.
The bits of flesh on the glass slowly slid downward, leaving a transparent trail of blood.
Xu Dengming felt her arm being tightly gripped.
-At the moment of the accident, Wang Yanxing had instinctively taken a step back, grabbing her companion and using body language to urge her to leave with her.
But she couldn’t pull her classmate away.
Xu Dengming seemed rooted in front of the glass, her gaze fixed on the corpse with an uncharacteristic coldness.
The influence of the environment made her forget to mask her true nature, and her inherent personality inadvertently surfaced from her usually gentle and amiable demeanor: “Wait here for me.”
Her voice carried a sharp edge, her tone so firm that Wang Yanxing forgot to object.
Xu Dengming patted her companion’s shoulder reassuringly, then turned and rushed out the door.
The wind brushed past her ears as she breathed heavily, running at her fastest speed toward the concrete ground behind the residential building the corpse she had seen through the glass was still there.
Xu Dengming hadn’t overlooked the fact that all previous handling of corpses in the dungeon had been done out of sight of the employees.
Thus, she couldn’t help but form a speculation-the dungeon didn’t want to reveal too much abnormality in front of the reserve employees.
As long as she kept watching, the scene of the corpse would temporarily remain unchanged.
As Xu Dengming headed towards the back of the dormitory building, Wang Yanxing stood dazed on the other side of the glass window.
The remnants of rationality in her mind kept her from immediately leaving, and she continued to stare at the bright red chunks of flesh on the ground.
Though filled with fear and confusion, she never looked away.
Xu Dengming walked over to the corpse and looked up.
At this moment, all the dormitory windows remained closed, making it impossible to determine the original position of the body.
She crouched beside the corpse and began a simple examination.
There wasn’t much left on the shattered body.
The only items that could help identify the person were an employee card and a key marked with “B-304.”
When Xu Dengming carefully retrieved the employee card from the minced flesh, it had already split into two halves of similar size, both smooth to the touch.
Xu Dengming stored the key and the broken card, then nodded to Wang Yanxing behind the glass window, signaling her to stop looking.
She then quickly walked back to the first-floor lobby.
Next to the dormitory manager’s office on the first floor was a card reader.
Xu Dengming, not holding much hope, pieced together the broken card and placed it on the machine to try and read the information.
To her surprise, the card reader actually gave a response-
A prompt appeared on the screen:
“User’s accommodation information is as follows:”
“Assigned dormitory is B-304.”
“The key has been collected.”
“Press the blue button below to reissue the key.”
Xu Dengming stared at the screen.
After a moment, the screen flickered, and the original information disappeared, replaced by new text— “After inspection, B-304 dormitory has only one remaining resident, *Â¥#Â¥@.”
This time, the information wasn’t fully displayed.
The content after the comma abruptly turned into a string of garbled characters, followed by a series of rapid red flashes on the screen, which then turned into a black brick.
Xu Dengming poked at it a few more times, but no matter what she did, the card reader responded like a piece of stone.
Wang Yanxing: “. ……….Did the card reader break?”
She was a bit worried that the company might blame Xu Dengming for “improper operation causing machine malfunction” and demand compensation.
Xu Dengming pondered: “Most likely a quality issue. This machine is too old and lacks regular maintenance, so it’s not very durable.”
Listening to Xu Dengming’s words, Wang Yanxing felt that the other person remained as unbothered as ever.
Xu Dengming glanced at the indifferent square machine and swapped in her own intact employee card for testing.
This time, the machine didn’t go black but instead displayed her accommodation information normally.
Wang Yanxing breathed a sigh of relief.
Though she was willing to be a witness if her companion needed to shift blame, it was still a cause for celebration that no serious consequences had arisen.
After understanding the key issue, Xu Dengming put the card away and looked out the window again.
The cement path behind the glass window was now empty.
In the time it took to turn her head, the large pool of body fragments on the ground had disappeared.
The lush green grass returned to its peaceful state, as if nothing had ever happened.
Wang Yanxing: “Shall we go back to the dorm now?”
Xu Dengming: “Let’s wait another half an hour.”
The influence of the broadcast made Wang Yanxing more accustomed to following others’ arrangements.
She agreed with Xu Dengming’s suggestion and stayed in the dormitory area.
They spent a deeply unsettling half-hour.
Within thirty minutes, they witnessed three bodies plummeting from the sky, transforming into bursts of blood upon impact with the ground.
According to Xu Dengming’s examination, these bodies originated from C-310, B-206, and A-404.
The temporary employee cards found amidst the mangled flesh were all damaged.
However, the card reader on the first floor seemed to have taken precautions, preventing Xu Dengming from piecing together the shattered cards to extract relevant information.
The continuous exposure to scenes of death visibly affected Wang Yanxing.
She felt her skin swelling, and the blood vessels throughout her body seemed to be crawling outward, causing both pain and itchiness.
Her heartbeat pounded loudly in her ears.
Xu Dengming shared the same sensation.
Her movements were too conspicuous, drawing the disdain of the scenario.
Xu Dengming nodded to Wang Yanxing, indicating that they had seen enough and could return to their dormitory.
“Two students.”
Just as they reached the middle of the staircase, a polite and sweet female voice unexpectedly called out from behind.
Xu Dengming’s body momentarily froze.
Although hearing wasn’t her strong suit, she truly hadn’t sensed anyone behind her until the voice spoke.
She was usually sensitive to gazes, but the scenario had suppressed her perception.
In that instant, Xu Dengming felt as if a cold, slimy worm was crawling up her spine.
“Two students.”
The female voice repeated the same words, this time from a position half the distance closer than before.
Xu Dengming turned around.
As she turned, her frozen expression gradually softened frame by frame, as if soaked in hot water, returning to its usual natural state.
Standing just four steps away was an unfamiliar girl.
She carried a backpack, appeared healthy, with fair skin tinged with red, and her face was adorned with a pair of pitch-black eyes.
The girl smiled at Xu Dengming, the curve of her lips seemingly deliberately drawn, stiff yet perfect.
Xu Dengming lowered her gaze: “What do you want?”
The girl tilted her head back: “Which dormitory do you live in? My roommate is gone, and I want to find a place with more people to stay together.”
Xu Dengming’s gaze lingered on the girl’s face: “We live in the third floor, B area.”
The girl made a request: “Let me go to the third floor too, okay?”
Xu Dengming looked at her and suddenly smiled: “Then follow us first.”
The number of people walking side by side increased from two to three.
Wang Yanxing wasn’t the type to instantly warm up to strangers, yet she didn’t refuse or show displeasure at the girl’s abrupt request to stay together.
It seemed that the scenario’s deprivation of common sense for temporary employees also included “maintaining basic caution towards strangers.”
Wang Yanxing had only considered the feasibility of the situation.
The dormitory rooms in the residential area were originally six-person rooms, then reduced to four-person rooms, and finally to double rooms.
This meant that as long as the girl in front of them could bring her own bedding, their dormitory could accommodate an extra person.
Having figured this out, Wang Yanxing thought it was acceptable.
She glanced at Xu Dengming, who also didn’t voice any objections.
Seeing that both had tacitly agreed, the girl’s smile widened.
Third floor, B area.
Xu Dengming walked in the middle of the trio, actively leading the girl and Wang Yanxing toward Area B.
When they reached Room 304, she stopped, turned around naturally, and pulled a key from her pocket.
Wang Yanxing:”….”
It took her just a second to figure out the origin of the extra key.
The thought that Xu Dengming had not only examined the body but also kept related items made Wang Yanxing feel slightly complicated.
If the latter’s common sense hadn’t been eroded by the instance, she might have dragged Xu Dengming to the E University Psychological Counseling Center for a colorful day trip.
After understanding the key’s origin, Wang Yanxing was still somewhat puzzled by Xu Dengming’s act of opening someone else’s door.
However, Xu Dengming moved too quickly, leaving no time for Wang Yanxing to voice her questions.
“Click”
Xu Dengming had already unlocked the door.
The moment the door opened, the girl behind Xu Dengming instinctively took a step forward.
Her black eyes widened, and if viewed from the side, one could notice her eyeballs slightly protruding.
As she approached the threshold, a hint of barely concealed longing finally surfaced on her mask-like face.
-She was very eager to enter the new residence.
Xu Dengming didn’t stop her.
She maintained a friendly smile and even slightly stepped aside, politely making way for the girl to enter.
Then, she reached out and gave the girl’s back a well-timed push.
Losing her balance, the girl stumbled into Room 304.
At the same time, Xu Dengming swiftly closed the door and hurriedly uttered a single word to her companion: “Go.”
For Wang Yanxing, everything happened too quickly and was utterly baffling.
Even with most of her common sense stripped away, Wang Yanxing’s face still showed a hint of existential doubt.
She watched as her companion stopped in front of another dorm room, efficiently pushed the girl they had just met inside, then grabbed her and sprinted back to B-307.
Wang Yanxing, nearly tripping over her shoes: “You—”
Xu Dengming: “It’s fine. There were just some things I needed to confirm.”
Wang Yanxing looked at her roommate, and a thought inexplicably surfaced in her mind—with Xu Dengming’s impulsive and decisive nature, the only reason she hadn’t found a suitable job yet was because the corporate world was too conservative.
After the two quickly left, the girl pushed into B-304 also realized something was wrong.
Room 304 wasn’t empty.
Another girl stood by the window, expressionlessly staring at the intruder in her residence.
Both had black eyes, healthy bodies, and equally stiff expressions.
They stood face to face, as if gazing at their own reflections.
Xu Dengming and Wang Yanxing safely returned to their own dorm area.
Once inside, Xu Dengming immediately began inspecting the room.
After confirming there were no signs of intrusion, she gestured for Wang Yanxing to stand by the window and keep an eye on the cement ground outside.
Meanwhile, she walked to the door and cracked it open slightly.
Room 304 wasn’t far from 307.
If anyone came or went, Xu Dengming would surely see them.
Three minutes later.
A faint trace of black appeared at the doorframe of Room 304, followed by a tilted, round head poking out.
The owner of the head was the girl she had seen on the steps.
She stared at Xu Dengming with an expressionless face, her eyes as dark as overly dyed glass marbles.
With Xu Dengming’s now exceptional visual acuity, she could even see her own reflection in the other’s eyes.
The friendly politeness on Xu Dengming’s face had vanished like dust swept away by the wind, replaced by a cold, scrutinizing gaze.
She stared unblinkingly at the other person, her lips moving silently to form four words:
“Welcome to stay.”
The girl slowly retracted her head, and Xu Dengming closed the door.
From the girl’s behavior, Xu Dengming concluded that her guess was correct.
The dungeon operated under a set of rules distinct from the real world.
So, after the girl expressed her desire to move in, Xu Dengming began to consider the proper way to relocate to a new dorm.
She had initially obtained her living quarters from the card reader on the first floor.
Normally, changing rooms would require going through the same process on the card reader.
But this girl had directly approached Xu Dengming and Wang Yanxing.
Refusal.
Possible.
In fact, judging from the conversation, neither Xu Dengming nor Wang Yanxing had explicitly agreed to the girl’s request to move in.
Yet, the girl didn’t seem to think she had been rejected.
From this, Xu Dengming drew another conclusion-moving into a new dorm didn’t require the consent of the current residents, as long as they didn’t actively resist.
She thought, if that was the case, then with her reaction speed, she could bring about a sufficiently efficient resolution to this matter before the residents of Room 304 could respond.
Tftc!