A Wage Slave Dies of Overwork, Only to Clock In Again After Transmigrating?

The moment the pickaxe was shoved into his hands, Lu Ping knew he was finished.

Its iron head was chipped, its wooden handle bent, and it was so heavy it seemed ready to drag him underground.

"Dig!"

The overseer let out a furious bellow.

His oil-soaked leather whip cracked through the air, its tip grazing the base of Lu Ping's ear.

Lu Ping instinctively ducked his head.

Clutching the pickaxe and facing the pitch-black rock wall, Lu Ping had only one thought.

How had he ended up like this?

Not long ago, he had been a wage slave who had worked overtime until he dropped dead.

When he opened his eyes again, he was in hell on earth.

Blood had flowed like a river through Sunset Glow Village. Corpses lay everywhere, and not a soul had survived.

No, he was the sole survivor.

Lu Ping had dazedly pushed himself up, and before he could figure out whether he was dead or alive, a pack of jackals had barged in.

They were the Black Tiger Gang, a gang that had come to the site of the village massacre to "pick up leftovers."

As the only "living thing," he had naturally become the most conspicuous prey.

A burly man with a scar running across his face had grabbed him by the back of the neck and looked him up and down.

His eyes were those of a man sizing up livestock.

"He's a bit skinny, but he's still breathing. Throw him in the mine."

Just like that, with a single sentence,

Lu Ping had gone straight from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood into another living hell.

Now he stood in Mine Tunnel No. 3, deep in the Black Tiger Gang's mine.

Damp, moldy rock walls surrounded him, and the air reeked of rust and some kind of rotting flesh.

Dozens of sallow, emaciated slaves with sunken eyes mechanically swung pickaxes against the rock walls, hoping in vain to dig out the priceless "Companion Spirit Ore" within.

No one spoke. No one looked up.

Everyone's back was covered in crisscrossing whip scars.

A ninety percent death rate was an understatement for this place.

An old slave, so thin that every rib could be counted, passed by him and forced out a whisper with barely a movement of his lips.

"Don't talk back."

Lu Ping didn't dare respond.

The triangular-eyed overseer stood just three paces away, leisurely wiping the blood from his whip with a dirty rag.

He looked pleased, like a man tending to a prized collectible.

He was a pervert who took pleasure in torturing people.

Lu Ping couldn't afford to provoke him.

Lu Ping took a deep breath, pushed aside all distracting thoughts, gripped the pickaxe in both hands, and raised it with all his strength toward the rock wall in front of him.

Just as the pick's point was about to strike the rock wall,

a cold electronic voice exploded in his mind without warning.

[Ding—]

[Host detected to have been forcibly hired: Black Tiger Gang Mine (Sweatshop Branch).]

[Onboarding process confirmed: labor tool received (pickaxe ×1).]

[Congratulations on your new job! Office Survival Simulator officially activated!]

[Newcomer benefit: initial free simulation attempt unlocked.]

"Office... Survival Simulator?"

Lu Ping nearly lost his breath, and the pickaxe almost slipped from his hands.

He looked around at the overseer's vicious face, the slaves' numb eyes, and the air thick with the stench of blood and rot.

In this hell on earth, where human lives are worth less than blades of grass and I could be whipped to death at any moment, you activate an office system for me?

Are you kidding me?!

While Lu Ping was lost in a daze, the sound of a whip slicing through the air behind him made him instinctively bring the pickaxe down.

The iron head struck the rock wall, sending sparks flying and numbing the web of his hand.

But Lu Ping couldn't spare it any attention.

A translucent blue panel, as cheap-looking as a popup from a shoddy browser game, was floating brazenly in the very center of his vision.

[Office Survival Simulator ready.]

[Simulation rules: a complete life will be simulated based on the host's current real-world circumstances. Time in reality will stand still during the simulation. For each full year of work in the simulation, one office-related trait will be generated.]

[Initial free simulation attempts unlocked: 1.]

[Begin the first life simulation now?]

[Yes] / [No]

Lu Ping's pickaxe mechanically struck the rock wall again and again, but his mind was churning like rivers and seas.

This lousy system was practically mocking him.

I died of overwork in an office in my last life, and now I still have to keep going to work and clocking in inside a simulator?

Just then, the triangular-eyed overseer's whip cracked through the air again.

This time, it struck the rock wall less than a foot away from him, spraying his face with stone chips.

"What are you spacing out for?! Keep dawdling and I'll whip your backbone to pieces!"

A cold killing intent swept over him.

Lu Ping jolted, and his instinct to survive instantly suppressed all his complaints and hesitation.

What was there to consider?

The greatest risk right now was that he could die the very next second!

In his current situation, did he have any choice?

This inexplicable lousy system was the only straw he could clutch at to save his life.

Even if a hanged man's noose was tied to it, he had to grab hold!

Just do it!

Gripping the pickaxe, Lu Ping took advantage of the moment he bent down with another swing to focus all his attention on the blue [Yes].

The words on the panel flashed.

[Simulation beginning.]

[Loading...]

The damp smell of the mine tunnel, the overseer's curses, the aching web of his hand—all his sensations were drained away in the same instant.

The world went dark.

Then an entirely new expanse of white light came crashing down over his head and face.