Receptionist

Zhou You knocked on the door first.

But no one answered.

Unlike all the other units he'd encountered, though, this door wasn't locked. It was only slightly ajar. He hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he pushed it open and went inside.

The room wasn't large. It looked nothing like the office of a company contracted to handle sanitation across the whole city. Perhaps they'd saved space when constructing the building; at a glance, the entire room felt cramped. There was just as little inside: a reception desk, a few chairs, and a staircase leading to the second floor.

And that was all.

There was no one behind the reception desk at the moment. The person was probably taking a lunch break upstairs, but Zhou You didn't hurry to call out. Instead, he looked around, saw no cameras or anything of the sort, then clasped his hands behind his back and strolled over to the inner side of the desk, sneaking a glance inside.

Unfortunately, it was just as bare as the rest of the room. There were only a few bottles of what looked like very expensive perfume and a ledger.

Zhou You picked up one of the perfume bottles, opened it, and sniffed. His brow immediately furrowed.

The scent was wrong.

He'd never used expensive cosmetics, but he knew that no perfume should smell so overwhelmingly of cheap fragrance. Besides, this bottle...

He rubbed it with his thumb, and tiny purple flakes immediately drifted down like snow.

"The bottle's cheap too. Even Yiwu wouldn't bother making junk like this anymore. Where did they even get such a shoddy counterfeit?"

Shaking his head, Zhou You set the perfume down and straightened it. Then, after a moment's thought, he shifted the bottle slightly and made sure it was positioned exactly as before. Only then did he open the ledger.

Compared to the cheap perfume, the ledger seemed perfectly normal. It listed the sanitation workers and the areas they were responsible for. But Zhou You's brows didn't relax—instead, they drew together even more tightly.

"There are too few people."

Normally, a single neighborhood needed at least ten sanitation workers, along with all kinds of tools to help them do their jobs. Yet the ledger listed only two workers for each neighborhood. That meant those two people had to do the work of ten.

Five times the workload, and judging by the pay sheet, no extra pay for the extra work.

"...I thought my original character, the security guard, had it bad. But there's always someone worse off. This story's got an even more ruthless exploiter than Huang Shiren."

He hadn't even finished his admiring remark when a sound came from upstairs.

Someone seemed to be coming down.

Zhou You quickly put the ledger back where it belonged, went to the reception desk, and straightened his clothes. Once he was sure everything was in order, he put on a professional smile.

But in the next second, that smile froze on his face.

After all...

Who would have expected that what came through the door... wasn't human?

The wooden door upstairs burst open. The first thing to squeeze through was a mass of yellow clothing, stretched completely out of shape. Right behind it came a lump of pale, jiggling flesh. At first glance, it looked like a human belly, but before Zhou You could make sense of it, more fat poured through the doorway, merging into a giant, wormlike body.

Then dozens of thin, withered arms sprouted from beneath the monster. Like an insect's jointed legs, they supported its heavy, enormous body. It struggled forward, laboriously carrying itself over to the reception desk.

The cramped space could hardly contain such a massive body. The monster struggled for a long while, squeezing out even more fat before it finally managed to cram itself behind the desk. Its greasy body heaved, forcing a woman's face out of the flesh.

The woman looked to be in her thirties and was fairly attractive, but she'd applied so much makeup that it completely obscured what little beauty she had. Amid the garish red and green, all that remained was a comical, clownlike face.

The woman ignored Zhou You. Instead, she squeezed out two more arms. Unlike the withered limbs supporting her body, these were plump, with cheap paint smeared over the fingernails. She picked up the perfume bottles, sprayed herself several times with each, and only then turned her gaze toward him.

"Who are you, and what are you here for?"

Her voice buzzed like a fly. Just hearing it made a person feel like throwing up.

With a bright smile, Zhou You said, "Um, sorry to trouble you, but I'm here to find someone..."

Before he could finish, an even shriller cry cut him off.

"I asked who you are and what you're here for!"

Zhou You took a step back and furrowed his brow, but he still answered in a friendly voice.

"Uh, my name is Zhou You. I came here to find someone..."

"No! Who are you? Who are you really? I'm asking who you are!"

The monster didn't listen to a word he said. It just kept shrieking the same question. The makeup on its face grew more and more grotesque, and the pale, jiggling mass of fat began to churn. It looked ready to lunge at Zhou You at any moment!

"Seriously? At least that boss let me say a few words. But this one won't even listen to me? And this is what you call 'safer during the day'?!"

Zhou You's expression changed. He was about to activate Wuwo Ruding and bolt, but before he could move, he suddenly remembered something.

Wait—wasn't this sort of situation mentioned in the newspaper?

There was no time to hesitate. He forced himself to stand his ground and suddenly spoke a few words to the monster, which looked ready to devour him whole.

"Actually, I'm a journalist."

The mass of fat, undulating like waves, abruptly went still.

It was as if a spell had been cast. Between the glistening folds of flesh, every trace of madness vanished from the woman's pale, made-up face. All that remained was timid, fearful caution.

That line had appeared in the newspaper.

"Embezzlement... investigative journalist... about to..."

Now Zhou You could piece the whole thing together.

A company contracted for government projects was suspected of embezzlement, and an investigative journalist was going to interview them.

Thinking of this, he rubbed his chin.

At first, he'd thought the newspapers scattered around the room were too disorganized to offer any useful clues. But now... maybe they were the key to this world?

As he pondered, the woman's head seemed to spot a flaw in his story. She suddenly challenged him in a loud voice.

"Wait. What makes you think you can call yourself a journalist? What journalist walks around dressed as a security guard?"

...Oh, right. I forgot about that.

Zhou You glanced casually at his clothes, then answered without a hint of panic.

"Miss, have you ever seen an investigative journalist with the word 'journalist' written on his forehead? I just got back from gathering evidence at a company and haven't even had time to change. If you have any doubts, you can ask your superiors. I'll wait right here. But if you get chewed out, that won't be my problem."

Zhou You was perfectly calm.

A loud bark to hide a weak bite, using cheap perfume while pretending it was expensive, outwardly hysterical but inwardly timid and uneasy. According to the character model constructed through psychology, this was a classic bully. So he was absolutely certain the monster wouldn't dare check with her superiors.

And, sure enough.

Just as he'd expected, the woman's head fell silent as soon as she heard that. Zhou You maintained his aggressive attitude and continued.

"Since you're satisfied, then it's my turn. As I already told you, I need a small favor. Help me find one of your sanitation workers."

The woman's face froze for a moment, then broke into an awkward smile.

"Um... according to regulations, we can't disclose any employee information."

"Is that so? Then I won't press you."

Zhou You smiled. But before the woman could breathe a sigh of relief, he continued in an unhurried voice. "I thought I saw that you were seriously short-staffed. Only two sanitation workers for an entire neighborhood. So, what happened to the government funding you received...?"

"What do you need? Just tell me! I'll find them right away!"

She swore it as cleanly and decisively as if taking an oath.

Zhou You gave her a radiant smile.

"The sanitation worker I'm looking for should be easy to find. You know how, some time ago, a street vendor made the news after dying from overwork? I'm looking for his wife."

Yes, that was the crucial detail he'd learned from the street-vendor boss earlier.

The man had a wife, and... she worked here.