Chapter 14: Daytime

Zhou You’s memory was not quite photographic, but it certainly was not so poor that he would forget everything from a chapter ago.

Therefore, he quickly recalled the contents of those newspapers.

“Accidents... frequent.”

“Hiring... urgently needed, excellent benefits.”

“A street vendor died from overwork... his own family...”

This was it!

Zhou You raised his head and looked at the face that only had half of it remaining, a face clearly covered in deep furrows.

Although it had not named anyone directly, the man had worked himself into such a state that if he was not the one who died from overwork, then who else could it have been?

Seeing the face drawing closer and closer, and even the head in the pot beginning to rise out of the soup, Zhou You had no time to think further.

He coughed lightly and spoke in an extremely gentle tone.

“Sir... your line of work must be very hard, right?”

A few seconds later, the rotten face stopped less than five or six centimetres (~2 inches) from him.

Zhou You immediately let out a long sigh of relief.

It seemed he had guessed correctly.

The other party did not continue attacking.

Instead, he slowly withdrew his head and began sighing endlessly like an NPC whose dialogue had been triggered.

“Sigh... how could people in our line of work not suffer? Early in the morning we have to prepare ingredients and stay busy until afternoon. Before we can even catch our breath, we have to push the cart out and claim a spot, otherwise there won’t be any place left. Then we work from evening until dawn. By the time we get home, we’re so exhausted that we fall asleep the moment we touch the bed. Then we wake up and repeat it all over again. It was easier when I worked with my older brother, but now that I’m the only one left, I can barely keep going...”

“Uh, then may I ask, where is your older brother?”

The stall owner did not answer.

Instead, he glanced into the pot.

Vaguely, the floating head seemed somewhat similar to the remaining half of his face.

Two brothers making broth together. You really are capable of that.

Actually, forget I said anything.

During that brief pause, the man’s face seemed about to begin rotting again.

Zhou You hurriedly continued.

“Then what about your wife and child? Surely they can help out a little?”

Unexpectedly, upon hearing that, the stall owner sighed even more deeply.

“How could I rely on them? My wife has to go sweep the streets every day for work. She doesn’t earn much either. As for my son, he’s a good kid. Obedient, sensible, and excellent in school. But the better he is, the less I can afford to hold him back. So I have to shoulder everything myself. By the way, are you drinking that soup or not?”

Well then.

Looks like he could not stall any longer.

In the next instant, the stall owner received only a firmly pushed-back bowl in response.

“Ah, I’m not drinking the soup.”

That was what Zhou You said.

Then, before the other party could react, he directly grabbed the meat cleaver lying nearby.

At the sight of this, both the owner and the head in the pot froze momentarily.

Then they suddenly burst into laughter together.

“Customer, you don’t actually think you can kill us with that thing, do you? If so, your imagination is truly impressive.”

Unexpectedly, Zhou You nodded in agreement.

“True. I also don’t think this task could possibly be completed that easily. But I really don’t want to drink your lousy soup. So...”

He reversed the blade and smiled as he pointed it toward his own throat.

“This thing is for finishing myself off.”

The blade plunged down.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

“You died.”

“You died at the hands of an old rusty kitchen knife.”

“Your death was completely meaningless.”

“You did not uncover any Erosion Point, nor did you advance the plot in any way. Therefore, this death grants no rewards.”

“Remaining revival count: 14.”

“The player may spend 10 Soulstones to replay the ten seconds before and after death. Would you like to replay them?”

“Please note that because you have already left the beginner period and no longer receive special treatment, this ability may only be used once per scenario.”

Replay my ass.

Listening to the now familiar announcement, Zhou You rolled his eyes.

Yet when he looked at the re-entry options, he suddenly paused.

Beside the familiar re-enter button, a new button had appeared.

Enter Daytime.

Only now did he remember that this scenario seemed to alternate between day and night.

After thinking for a while, however, Zhou You did not choose Re-enter.

Instead, he shifted his finger and moved it to the other option.

Certainly, he still had plenty of revivals remaining.

He could completely afford to keep experimenting with the stall owner a few more times without wasting this precious daytime opportunity.

But based on his understanding of the system, he had a feeling something was suspicious here.

If Zhou You was correct, that stall could probably only be resolved during the daytime.

More importantly, this was also a good chance to familiarize himself with the scenario’s mechanics.

“The player has chosen to enter the daytime of Day Two.”

“Game progress will be automatically saved.”

When Zhou You opened his eyes again, the surroundings had completely changed.

It was still the same security office.

However, unlike the sinister atmosphere of the night, the place now felt peaceful and tranquil.

Bright sunlight streamed in through the windows, bringing a trace of warmth to the small room.

“Hello? Is anyone here?”

Zhou You called out several times.

When nobody answered, he raised his head and glanced at the clock.

Twelve noon.

Had everyone gone off for lunch break?

But just as he was wondering where the day-shift workers had gone, he suddenly noticed something strange.

His security uniform had somehow changed.

Compared to the previous one, this uniform was clean and tidy.

The material was also far superior.

Unfortunately, that alone was not much of a clue.

Unwilling to give up, Zhou You searched around again.

This time, he discovered a wallet hidden in a secluded corner.

It appeared to have been lost by someone.

Yet judging from its thickness, it clearly did not belong to a person whose wages were merely enough to survive.

So then...

Whose was it?

Well, whatever.

None of my business.

The one who lost money isn’t me.

With a completely clear conscience, Zhou You pocketed the money whose owner was unknown.

Only then did he walk to the door, carefully review the notices and calendar once more, and finally leave the small security office.

The sunlight outside was perfect.

Yet for some reason, wisps of mist lingered before his eyes.

The fog was not particularly dense overall.

Still, it clung around him like thin gauze.

Occasionally, a human figure would pass through the mist.

But before Zhou You could call out to them, they would vanish around a corner.

“Looks like this is some kind of restriction placed on me.”

Zhou You stretched out a hand and caught a strand of mist, feeling the dampness slip away through his fingers.

“The purpose is probably to prevent me from obtaining more information from passersby. As for entering buildings to find people...”

He suddenly grabbed a nearby door lock and pulled hard.

However, unlike the apartment doors at night that seemed ready to open with a simple tug, these doors were locked with extraordinary firmness.

Even tools would probably have difficulty forcing them open.

“Fine. You win.”

Seeing how thoroughly the system had covered every possibility, Zhou You could only shrug and continue onward.

Yet the farther he walked, the more wrong everything felt.

There were clearly voices and figures all around him.

Yet he was completely unable to interact with any of them.

As time passed, even the roadside stalls became increasingly hazy and indistinct.

Everything around him unconsciously ignored his existence.

The sensation was almost as if...

He was the dead person.

Zhou You shook his head and forced the chilling thought from his mind.

The main street was not long.

Besides, he had already walked it once before.

However, upon reaching the location of the food stall, he discovered that the fog suddenly became much thicker.

It even seemed to possess a disorienting effect.

No matter how many times he entered, he always emerged from the exact same exit.

Yet Zhou You showed no disappointment.

Following the guide map posted outside the security office, he turned around and headed down another road.

A little over twenty minutes later, a somewhat damaged signboard came into view.

Shanhe Environmental Services Co., Ltd.

Below it was a smaller line of text.

“Company Owner: Liu Shang. Company Responsibilities: Municipal road cleaning, garbage collection and disposal, urban landscaping and greening, and...”

“The recruitment and management of all local sanitation workers.”