Taking advantage of this, the ever-helpful Xu Dengming successfully found a compatible roommate for the girl who was searching for a new place to live.
After entering room 304, the girl, who had lost her reason to interact with Xu and Wang, didn’t go to room 307 to continue her harassment.
She was likely still adjusting to her new living situation.
Xu Dengming leaned against the window, her fingers twitching unconsciously-she could now vaguely decipher the garbled content on the attendance machine.
Following the message “After inspection, only one resident remains in B-304 dormitory,” the next line should have been, “You may move into a new dormitory.”
As long as only one person remains in a dormitory, that individual is free to leave their original living space and seek a new, more suitable area to settle.
The girl they encountered on the stairs had already lost her roommate, and room 304, where Xu Dengming had just picked up the card and key, also lacked a second occupant.
In the dormitory area, those with zero roommates seemed to share a certain commonality-they were more numb to death, more assimilated into the Nest Park than the outsiders.
To Xu Dengming, they exuded a distinct sense of foreboding.
What puzzled Xu Dengming, however, was that these lone residents clearly didn’t want to live with others like themselves.
Instead, after losing their roommates, they would continue searching for new dormitories where both occupants were still alive.
Xu Dengming lowered her gaze, her expression turning slightly stern, like a thin frost in autumn.
To her, the oppressive atmosphere of Nest Park felt heavier than the elevator scenario.
It was like a tightly guarded prison, trapping the innocent job seekers who had stumbled into it.
Their movements were restricted, and so were their cognitive abilities.
Xu Dengming couldn’t share her speculations with anyone, silently organizing all the information she had gathered in her mind.
Now, there were two people in room 304, sharing the same corridor.
They were each other’s roommates, and neither could move out.
If moving into a new dormitory where both occupants were alive was important to them, then it had to be-
“Bang!”
A figure plummeted from a great height, then blossomed into a new pool of crimson on the concrete ground.
Xu Dengming’s attention was drawn to the sound outside the building.
She couldn’t actually identify the remains on the ground, but she had been standing by the window the entire time.
During the figure’s fall, she had caught a brief glimpse of their face.
The deceased was the girl who had just entered room 304.
Having lost her newly acquired roommate, the original resident of room 304 had now regained the qualification to move to a new dormitory.
Xu Dengming crossed her arms, calmly observing the concrete ground below.
What she saw wasn’t just the face of the falling figure, but also the state of their descent.
In the moment of their plummet, the girl’s eyeballs had completely protruded from their sockets, held only by a few blood vessels.
Red and white brain matter oozed from the gaping wound in her skull, smearing across her face.
Before she even hit the ground, the girl had already become a corpse.
Xu Dengming lightly tapped her temple twice, then turned to Wang Yanxing and said,
“There’s something I need your help with.”
Wang Yanxing: “What is it?”
Xu Dengming: “I need to take a look at your temporary employee card.”
Hearing her roommate’s words, Wang Yanxing reached into her pocket, then paused.
Wang Yanxing’s current feelings were indescribable.
As an inner-city resident who had willingly studied in the outer city until nearly graduating from university, she had always been easygoing.
Xu Dengming, her long-time classmate, was someone she trusted deeply.
If Xu had asked for her bank card, Wang would have handed it over without a second thought.
But now, Wang hesitated.
In less than two days, Wang had grown attached to her new job, which provided both meals and accommodation.
She was reluctant to part with the item that proved her employee status.
Xu Dengming observed her classmate as if watching a sleepwalker, not wanting to disturb her.
Wang’s movements were slow and hesitant as she retrieved her temporary employee card, as if invisible glue held it to her pocket.
Eventually, she reluctantly placed the card in Xu’s hand.
Xu examined the card.
Based on her previous autopsy results, the temporary employee cards only differed in information, while their designs remained consistent.
This was precisely what puzzled Xu.
When she first picked up the card from the bag, Xu felt a raised area near the code at the bottom.
Yet, the broken cards she had found were as smooth as a mirror’s surface.
Xu reached out to confirm the position of the code on her roommate’s card.
To her touch, it was equally smooth.
There were no raised areas on either side.
Questions flooded Xu’s mind: What exactly was the difference in the bottom details of the two cards?
Was her employee card special?
Was she special?
Or-
As a new thought quietly emerged, Xu grabbed Wang and returned the card to her.
Xu: “Try feeling if you can detect any raised areas at the bottom of the card.”
Her voice was soft, almost casual.
Perhaps influenced by Xu’s demeanor, Wang replied in an equally soft and indifferent tone:
“I can feel it. These represent the employee information codes, right?”
With the answer, Xu looked at Wang, a slight smile forming at the corner of her lips, her voice gentle: “Perhaps.”
She had realized that it wasn’t a particular card that was special, but the card’s owner.
Each card bore a “hidden code” that only the owner could feel.
Xu held both cards again, carefully distinguishing them by touch.
Since the employee numbers were all digits, she had assumed the raised text at the bottom was also composed of numbers.
But upon closer examination, she found the markings were finer and conveyed more information than she had imagined.
“Proceed to the abandoned factory area No. 17 upon sensing danger.”
A brief message, so simple it seemed almost nonsensical.
It resembled less a formal notice and more a life-saving note passed during a critical exam.
Xu had never experienced anything like this in school, but she knew such notes must not be discovered by the examiners.
As time passed, people who had finished lunch returned to the dormitory area one after another to rest.
Xu carefully placed the employee card back into Wang’s pocket, packed useful items from the dorm and her system backpack, and then called her classmate to leave.
After lunch, the park didn’t assign any new tasks to the temporary employees.
Without a clear objective, Wang Yanxing followed Xu Dengming around freely until now, which somewhat slowed the decline in her rationality, making her appear relatively normal for the time being.
However, even so, Xu Dengming didn’t think keeping someone in the dormitory was particularly safe.
Too many reserve employees had died in the residential area, and there were many people looking for new dormitories.
Xu Dengming couldn’t be sure who might become prey to those people.
As for Wang Yanxing, she had even temporarily handed over her precious employee card to a classmate, clearly not opposed to being taken for a walk around the park.
Wang Yanxing: “So where are we going?”
Xu Dengming replied: “One of the company’s factory areas.”
She smiled slightly, “But given our current situation, we don’t really need to put much effort into confirming our destination.”
Wang Yanxing: “…………”
Although she had already developed a sufficient sense of belonging to the Nest Park, she still felt that her classmate was hinting that they shouldn’t have appeared in their current workplace from the beginning.
Xu Dengming hurried downstairs while there were few people outside.
She had never seen a place called “Abandoned Factory Area No. 17” on any signs before, but now things had changed.
At this moment, Xu Dengming had already learned the name of the new location.
Just like how they could only find the supermarket after knowing of its existence, employees could only go to “Abandoned Factory Area No. 17” after knowing about it.
Every instance had its own hidden logic, and Xu Dengming strongly suspected that in Nest Park, one of the logics was “all exploration must be known; employees cannot reach areas beyond their cognition.”
Xu Dengming’s eyes scanned the signs along the way, trying not to miss any details.
Finally, she discovered a narrow path almost completely hidden by grass in the woods.
She pulled Wang Yanxing onto the path.
Wang Yanxing hesitated.
Xu Dengming: “What’s wrong?”
Wang Yanxing hesitated: “To walk through here, we’d have to trample the company’s lawn.”
From Wang Yanxing’s current behavior, it seemed that the erosion of rationality by the instance probably didn’t include “environmental protection.”
Xu Dengming smiled: “Just think of this as school.”
In some areas of their school, the miscellaneous vegetation had grown so thick that students had to manually create paths.
Wang Yanxing:”…..”
She always felt that in Xu Dengming’s words, E University had a richer meaning than an ordinary campus.
Words contained the power to influence the mind.
Wang Yanxing suppressed her anxiety about damaging the environment, and when she stepped on it, the sole of her shoe felt solid, as if there really was a path here.
Wang Yanxing’s reaction confirmed one thing for Xu Dengming: there was indeed a hidden rule in the current instance that “cognition affects observation results.”
For example, now, Wang Yanxing didn’t know about the existence of “Abandoned Factory Area No. 17,” so she couldn’t see this special path and could only be led by Xu Dengming.
The winding path, detectable by only one person, was completely inconsiderate of the walker’s comfort.
Xu Dengming sometimes even had to climb over rocks or bushes.
The thorns on the plant leaves scratched both of their skin.
Forty-seven minutes later, Xu Dengming stopped in her tracks, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and surveyed the building before her.
What had been a blank space before the turn was now unexpectedly covered by an old, rust-covered square factory complex.
Xu Dengming had no idea that the moment she saw the factory, cold announcements echoed throughout the area—
“Attention all staff, attention all staff, an unauthorized [beep—] has been detected entering a restricted zone. Please intercept immediately.”
“I repeat=…………”
After the announcement, faint rustling sounds emerged from behind the empty supermarket counters and the cafeteria windows.
Formless shadows began to stir.
Around the dormitory area, residents with pale faces and pitch-black eyes silently stood up, resembling coral swaying with the waves.
They clustered densely together, winding their way toward a specific direction.
Outside the abandoned Factory No. 17, Xu Dengming suddenly turned around and looked behind her.
For some reason, an intense sense of unease rose in her heart.
The abandoned factory before her was eerily silent, as if it hadn’t been visited in a long time.
Lush grass grew wildly around it, making the old factory blend completely into the background of the area.
Even the path leading to it was nearly completely overgrown with weeds.
Xu Dengming led her classmate, who was almost losing their sense of direction, to the crumbling entrance of the factory.
The card had told her to head to the abandoned Factory No. 17 when she sensed danger.
Indeed, the old building before her bore the number “17,” but there was more information beyond just the factory number.
Factory No. 17 had two entrances.
The overgrown path connected to the entrance, forming a “T”-shaped fork.
According to the rules of the area, each fork would have a signpost, and this was no exception.
At both entrances of the abandoned factory stood weathered signs.
The sign on the left read, “To Factory No. 17, please take the right path,” with a note in light blue text below:
“Those heading to the factory must follow the guidance of the signs. Due to special circumstances, other paths pose unpredictable dangers.”
Xu Dengming then looked at the sign on the right, which read, “To Factory No. 17, please take the left path.”
The note below was identical to the other sign.
After reading the information on both signs, even though Xu Dengming was filled with caution about the situation, she couldn’t help but smile.
Although she had followed the instructions on her employee card to get here, the information she had just received inevitably gave her the feeling that even if she had come to the abandoned Factory No. 17 out of a sense of danger, the person who left the instructions likely wasn’t doing so to save her from peril.
Xu Dengming suppressed her smile and looked up, quietly staring at the factory for a while.
Wang Yanxing turned to look at her roommate, sensing a familiar hint of mockery and provocation in her gaze.
After about a minute, Xu Dengming tilted her head and said to her roommate, “Packing our bags before leaving was definitely the right choice.”
As she spoke, she deftly took off her backpack and pulled out a hammer from inside.
It was a hammer obtained from a 100-point daily necessities kit, but it had been left unused for a long time due to the lack of opportunities to use it.