The Road-Blocking Demon's Curse: Virus Scan

Zhang Anzai walked left and right, only to find that his consciousness space was pitifully empty; apart from a very clear image of himself, there was nothing else.

However, soon enough, just as Yu Xian had said, a shimmering ripple like an electronic signal pulsed through the surroundings, and the corridor of a corporate office building suddenly manifested.

"This is our standard method for investigating dungeon contamination—loading simulated environments into your consciousness space..." Yu Xian continued his commentary from outside the simulation.

"Your consciousness seems a bit stronger than the average person's, but it's still at a normal level for a newcomer. You might experience frame drops or disjointed movements while moving through the scene. This is normal."

Zhang Anzai roughly understood what he meant. Since curses and contamination act upon the spirit and consciousness, the solution was to let his consciousness temporarily leave his body to move independently, locate the anomaly within the consciousness space, and resolve it there.

"So, all I have to do is look for things that don't feel right here?" Zhang Anzai observed his surroundings as he walked through the seemingly infinite, looping office corridor.

"Yes, it could be an abnormality in your senses or cognition, or something out of place in the environment. Some powerful curses can even manifest evil spirits to hunt you down within your consciousness space because the curse mistakes the consciousness space for reality.

But don't worry, that shouldn't be your case. If you were truly hit by a curse like that, it would be very easy to detect."

As Yu Xian spoke, Zhang Anzai listened to the explanation while walking down the hall, attempting to reach out and push open a nearby office door.

This space was indeed different from reality; he felt that his movements weren't very fluid, and there was a sense of lag when looking at things.

Furthermore, whenever he touched anything, the object would immediately emit a glowing effect, which felt quite magical.

"Click!" After Zhang Anzai pushed the door open, he discovered that the space on the other side was actually an identical office corridor.

However, this wasn't an anomaly; the scene was designed that way.

The problem arose after Zhang Anzai attempted to walk over to that side.

He believed he had walked into that corridor and even closed the door behind him.

However, Yu Xian's voice came through at that moment: "Stop for a second, turn back."

Zhang Anzai stopped in his tracks and turned around.

Yu Xian: "Open the door."

Zhang Anzai opened the door, and his eyes immediately landed on a small cluster of black mist that had quietly slipped behind the door from the gap at the bottom.

"!" Zhang Anzai quickly retreated two steps: "Road-Blocking Demon?"

After the office door remained open, there was a moment of silence.

Yu Xian's voice came through: "Don't worry, close your eyes and wait a moment."

Zhang Anzai was still a bit shaken by the trauma from last night, but he followed the doctor's orders and closed his eyes.

"Hum!" A mysterious ringing sound echoed.

"Alright, you can open your eyes now," Yu Xian said.

Zhang Anzai opened his eyes. Under the office door that was still standing open, a small fragment of black mist was flowing out from behind the door, slowly dissipating.

"You were indeed affected. A small part of this entity escaped the dungeon through you. It must have been hiding on you the whole time. Because the consciousness space makes ghosts feel safe, it came out to move around."

Yu Xian continued: "You came just in time. Right now, it could only cause spatial illusions within a very small range, but if it were allowed to grow, it wouldn't be impossible for it to become a major entity within the dungeon.

Of course, you don't need to worry now. I've performed a purge. Your consciousness space should be perfectly clean."

Zhang Anzai thought to himself that it was just as he expected; he had dug up the creature's bones while excavating the soil, so how could he not be affected?

It was fortunate he came in time; otherwise, it wouldn't have just been a matter of staying in the office until it grew into a major threat.

The next time he entered a dungeon, if this curse had popped up at a critical moment, a single spatial distortion could have cost him his life.

"You can walk around a bit more to confirm there are no other anomalies. If you don't find any issues, you can log out," Yu Xian said.

Zhang Anzai explored a bit more, and after confirming there were no other problems, he exited the consciousness space under Yu Xian's guidance.

"Your vigilance is quite good. If everyone in the Administrator Department had your mindset—that if something feels off, they should come in for a check-up—there wouldn't be many attack incidents in the company," Yu Xian added while updating the medical chart.

Indeed, the company wasn't actually safe. With the evil spirits, ghosts, and anomalous entities in the dungeons having so many methods, how could there not be some capable of killing them through the screen and along the network cables?

Zhang Anzai hadn't seen it with his own eyes, but last week, he heard about a senior from Group 5 who had mutated into an evil spirit due to an ancient text contaminated by a dungeon.

Administrators might seem safe, but in reality, aside from the countdown to death during work hours, exploring dungeons wasn't just about mental pressure; it was truly a profession plagued by disasters.

"This is a recovery supplement. Being parasitized by a ghost's curse affects your physical state. Your exposure time was short, so taking these will help you recover," Yu Xian placed a small medicine box on the armrest, containing a few tablets.

"If you're still worried, you can find time to come back to me for a follow-up check," Yu Xian added.

Zhang Anzai took the pills and said, "Thank you."

Yu Xian gave him a polite smile and tore off the medical report: "Pay at the front desk, you're welcome."

Zhang Anzai's smile immediately turned into a wry one: "Almost forgot this is still that same company..."

He took the medicine and the report to the front desk to pay. A full check-up, plus the curse purge and supplements, cost 150 points. He had earned some from the report, and after deducting this expense, he still had 880 left.

"Not bad, still relatively wealthy." Zhang Anzai turned and walked into the elevator, taking one of the supplements.

There was still some free time left at noon, enough to make a trip to the training room.

Zhang Anzai stretched his body in the elevator; the weakness from the Ox-Horse Pill was almost over. At the same time, after swallowing the supplement, he immediately felt his recovery speed accelerate significantly.

Before long, the elevator doors opened, and the screen displayed: "Logistics Department, Training Division."

Zhang Anzai walked out into a large, open space adjacent to the glass exterior wall.

A single glance revealed it was structured exactly like a modern gym.

Of course, it was relatively more professional—not the kind of commercial gym where treadmills take up half the space. The equipment was very complete, and there were dedicated combat training areas and a small dojo.

Naturally, that didn't have much to do with him; he wasn't the type of sunny employee who planned to work out here and maintain a disciplined, healthy life at the company.

"Done. Did you find any problems?" Lin Zhao walked over, her hair loose, wearing a relatively loose short-sleeved shirt.

She was wiping her hair with a towel, looking as if she had just finished exercising and had taken a shower: "The time for the personal training room I booked isn't up yet. You go ahead and use it."