"What's going on? Where are we?"
"Who are you?! Why are you leaning on me!"
"Everyone shut up. We're all staff."
"..."
Darkness, noise, confusion...
Ji Li woke from unconsciousness. His cane had been tossed aside and lay across a middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man was still asleep. His deeply lined face twitched slightly, sorrow etched between his brows, as though he were enduring a nightmare.
As Ji Li slowly came to, he heard people talking. He propped himself halfway up and turned toward the voices.
There were several figures, most unfamiliar, a few vaguely recognizable. Men and women, young and old, but he could tell at a glance from their condition that they were Tianhai Staff.
None were anyone notable. They were all ordinary staff.
Ji Li grabbed the bottom of his cane and pulled it out from under the middle-aged man with a grunt. Only then did he have a chance to examine his surroundings.
Just as his first waking impression had suggested, this was an exceedingly dark space.
There was no sound of wind. It seemed to be enclosed.
It was a fan-shaped area of roughly fifty square meters. Ahead lay a stretch of darkness, with nothing in it.
The seven staff members were at the curved edge of the fan. At its pointed end, nothing was visible; that seemed to be where the darkness originated.
"Ji Li? Manager Ji? Is that you?"
The removal of the cane had also woken the middle-aged man. His weathered face was dazed at first, then lit up with delight at the sight of Ji Li.
The moment he spoke, he drew the attention of the noisy group on the other side. All five came over to Ji Li.
Their expressions and moods varied, but every one of them looked at