An Ordinary Job

It was still that same temple.

Incense candles burned brightly, and smoke curled through the air.

The only thing that could be said to be different was that the page floating above the altar had changed, though it looked just as withered and yellow as before.

But the moment Zhou You touched it, a prompt appeared before his eyes.

"Detected that the player possesses the item: Corpse Inside the Door. The player may choose to replace this instance with a special instance. Please note, the difficulty of this instance may be relatively high for your current level, but there is a chance for extremely rare rewards to appear, and it will provide a decoction capable of effectively targeting your illness."

"Do you wish to enter?"

Zhou You did not choose immediately; he carefully studied that last sentence for a moment before reaching out and pressing it with firm resolve.

I didn't come to this hellhole just to find a chance to cure myself, did I? Although it's only a decoction that can target the illness rather than a full recovery, how does that saying go?

Something is better than nothing, right?

The moment Zhou You made his choice, the book page seemed to glitch, flickering rapidly in mid-air. Then, the entire thing began to transform; the paper gradually became tattered, much like those old books from the eighties, and even the text on it began to shift from standard print to the early Song-style typeface—

"Detected intervention of unknown special item: Corpse Inside the Door."

"Script is changing..."

"Script change complete."

"Special Instance: Night Watchman."

"Type: Calamity Spirit."

"Corruption level: Low-Medium."

"Resurrection count: 10+5 (additional provided by Corpse Inside the Door)."

"Background: Like many young people of the same age, you were full of dreams, hoping to make a name for yourself. Because of this, you left your hometown and came to this coastal city... However, unfortunately, things did not develop as beautifully as you imagined. Lacking any academic qualifications, you struggled through great hardship to find a job as a night street patrolman—though the pay was meager, it was just enough to keep you from starving."

"But what you don't know is that this job is not simple at all."

"Because before you, in this same position, 5 people have already gone missing, and 3 have died tragically."

"And you are very likely the 9th."

"Requirement: Survive for five days and patrol the entire district at least once."

"Please note, time in this script is divided into 'Day' and 'Night'. When you actively choose in the game space, complete certain specific conditions, or die more than a certain number of times, time will immediately revert to day. Daytime is relatively safer, but your range of movement will be restricted, and you will be unable to complete patrol tasks."

"This script can only be saved automatically."

"Reward one: 500 Soul Stones, one random purple-tier special item."

(Item and talent tiers from low to high are: White, Green, Blue, Purple, Orange, Silver, Red, Gold, Dark Gold.)

"Reward two: Extend your lifespan by one and a half months, and receive one portion of Sanchu Decoction capable of suppressing the worsening of your illness."

"Do you wish to enter?"

Great, now there isn't even an exit option.

Zhou You curled his lip, then chose to enter.

"Hey..."

Vaguely, he heard a sound.

"Hey... kid..."

The voice grew louder and increasingly irritable.

"Hey... kid... I... I'm fucking talking to you!"

A sudden, loud bang jolted Zhou You's consciousness from its haze.

Opening his slightly heavy eyelids, the first thing he saw was a face full of rage.

At first glance, the man appeared to be thirty-six or thirty-seven, bald, wearing a green security uniform common around the year 2000, with a particularly conspicuous red armband on his arm.

At this moment, he was looking at Zhou You with a face full of displeasure, appearing... quite hostile.

Since he had just entered the script and was not yet familiar with his surroundings, Zhou You decided to respond cautiously.

"Um, may I ask who you are..."

Who would have thought.

Such a simple and polite sentence was like a match lighting a firecracker, instantly infuriating the other man.

"Who am I??? Are you fucking sleeping your brains out? You don't even recognize your own boss's face? You were the one crying and begging me to help you out, and it was only because we were from the same hometown that I gave you a hand and a job to feed yourself. Is this how you repay my kindness? It's only your first day on the job, and you're already dozing off on me?"

"Uh, I know you're in a hurry, but don't be in a hurry..."

While casually brushing off the middle-aged man who looked ready to bite, Zhou You used his peripheral vision to glance at himself.

A green uniform identical to the man's, only slightly more worn, and much dirtier, with dark black stains visible in some places...

It looks... it looks a bit like blood.

Before Zhou You could investigate further, the middle-aged man suddenly slammed his hand onto the table.

Accompanied by a loud "bang," Zhou You finally realized what had startled him awake just a moment ago.

"I'm fucking talking to you! Are you even listening to me?"

Hearing this, Zhou You quickly gave a light cough, then put on an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, sorry, I was just a bit dazed and wasn't paying attention. May I ask what you need?"

As the saying goes, one does not strike a smiling face. Seeing such a harmless and incredibly friendly expression, the middle-aged man found it difficult to remain angry and could only say in a deep voice, "I came here specifically to remind you that it's time for work. Today is your first day on duty. Due to a shortage of manpower, you'll be the only one on night patrol for the next few days, so keep your eyes peeled and don't you dare screw anything up..."

"Um, sorry to interrupt."

"What?"

"I seem to have forgotten—could you remind me what my job is again?"

"--You don't even know what your own job is!" The middle-aged man immediately wanted to erupt in a string of curses, but he seemed to recall something, ultimately suppressing his temper and explaining with forced patience.

"I'll tell you one more time, and this is the last time. Your task is simply to patrol all the main streets of Qinghe District between 11 PM and 4 AM—including Chang Song Slope, where the park is about to be built—record any issues you see, and submit them to me during the shift change every day..."

"--Uh, then may I ask, if I encounter something along the way, like thugs causing trouble, a burglar 'helping' someone move their belongings for free, or perhaps... something particularly strange, what should I do?"

"...You don't need to worry about that." The middle-aged man waved his hand. "All you need to do is walk the route, come back, and write the report. That's it, simple, right?"

No, it probably wasn't simple at all.

Zhou You stared at the middle-aged man, keenly catching a trace of deeply hidden terror and fear in the other's eyes.

But in the end, he just grinned, revealing a calm smile.

"Yes, I understand everything now. I'll go prepare for work."