Zhang Anzai paced back and forth, finding that his mental space was pitifully empty. Apart from himself, perfectly clear, there was nothing at all.
But before long, just as Yu Xian had said, a flash of rippling light like an electronic signal spread through the space, and a corridor in an office building suddenly appeared.
"This is a method we commonly use to investigate contamination from instances. We load simulated scenes into your mental space..." Yu Xian continued his commentary from outside:
"Your mind seems a little stronger than most people's, but you're still at a normal beginner's level. Moving around in the scene may cause skipped frames or jerky movements. That's normal."
Zhang Anzai more or less understood what he meant. Curses and contamination affected the mind and consciousness, so they were letting his consciousness temporarily leave his body and move around on its own. He could search for anything abnormal in his mental space and deal with it there.
"So what I need to do is look for anything that seems out of place?" Zhang Anzai asked as he walked through the seemingly boundless, endlessly looping office corridor, looking around.
"Exactly. It could be something wrong with your senses or perception, or something strange in the scene. Particularly powerful curses might even spawn an evil entity in your mental space to hunt you down, because the curse mistakes that space for reality.
"But don't worry. You probably aren't dealing with that. If you'd been hit by a curse like that, it would be easy to notice."
As Yu Xian spoke, Zhang Anzai continued listening to his explanation while walking down the corridor. He tried pushing open the door to an office beside him.
This space really was different from reality. As he walked, his movements felt awkward and out of sync, and it was like his vision lagged behind.
Whatever he touched immediately produced a glowing effect, which was rather surreal.
"Click!" Zhang Anzai pushed the door open and found that on the other side was another identical office corridor.
But that wasn't abnormal. That was simply how this scene was set up.
The problem came when Zhang Anzai tried to walk over there.
He thought he'd walked into the other corridor and even closed the door behind him as he went.
But just then, Yu Xian's voice came through. "Stop a moment. Turn around."
Zhang Anzai stopped where he was and turned around.
Yu Xian said, "Open the door."
Zhang Anzai opened it, and at once spotted a small clump of black mist sneaking through the gap beneath the door and slipping behind it.
"!" Zhang Anzai hurriedly backed away two steps. "Road-Blocking Demon?"
The office door remained open. For a moment, nothing happened.
Yu Xian's voice came through. "Don't worry. Close your eyes and wait a moment."
Still shaken by what had happened last night, Zhang Anzai felt a little panicked, but he followed the doctor's instructions and closed his eyes.
"Bzz!" A mysterious hum rang out.
"All done. Open your eyes," Yu Xian said.
Zhang Anzai opened his eyes. Beneath the still-open office door, a small fragment of black mist flowed out from behind it and slowly faded away.
"You were affected, all right. A small part of that ghost escaped the instance through you. It must have been hiding on you the whole time. Your mental space felt safe to it, so it came out to move around.
"You came in at the right time," Yu Xian continued. "For now, it can only make you perceive spatial distortions within a small area. But given time to grow, it could become a major ghost in an instance.
"Of course, there's no need to worry now. I've performed a virus scan and removal. Your mental space should be completely clean."
Zhang Anzai thought, I knew it. I'd dug up someone's bones while turning over the soil. How could that not affect me?
Good thing he'd come in time. Otherwise, the problem wouldn't have been limited to wandering around the office while it grew into a major ghost.
Next time he entered an instance, the curse could suddenly spring up at a dangerous moment. One spatial distortion could cost him his life.
"You can walk around a bit more and check whether there's anything else out of the ordinary. If you don't find any problems, you can leave," Yu Xian said.
Zhang Anzai explored a little more, and after confirming that nothing else was wrong, Yu Xian helped him exit his mental space.
"You're very alert. If everyone in the Administrator Department had the sense to think, 'Something might be wrong, so I should get checked out,' the company probably wouldn't have so many attacks," Yu Xian added as he filled out the medical record.
That was right. The company wasn't safe, either. The evil entities, ghosts, and anomalies in instances had so many tricks. There was no way some of them couldn't come through the screens and kill people over the internet.
Zhang Anzai hadn't seen anything like that himself, but last week he'd heard about a senior from Team Five who had mutated into an evil entity after being exposed to a text in an ancient book contaminated by an instance.
Administrators might seem safe, but between the death countdown during work hours and the mental strain of exploring instances, the job was a disaster waiting to happen.
"This is a recovery supplement. Being infected by a ghost's curse can affect your physical condition. You were infected for a short time, so a few of these should help you recover." Yu Xian placed a small medicine box with several pills on the armrest.
"If you're still worried, you can come back when you have time for a follow-up," Yu Xian added.
Zhang Anzai took the pills. "Thanks."
Yu Xian gave him a polite smile and tore off the medical form. "Pay at the front desk. You're welcome."
Zhang Anzai's smile immediately turned into a grimace. "I almost forgot I was still at that company..."
He took the medicine and the medical form to the front desk to pay. A full examination, curse removal, and supplements had cost him 150 points. He'd made a decent amount from the report, and after deducting this expense, he had 880 left.
"Not bad. I'm still pretty well-off." Zhang Anzai walked into the elevator and took one of the supplements.
He still had some free time at noon, enough to make a trip to the training room.
Zhang Anzai stretched in the elevator. The weakness from the Ox-Horse Pill was almost over, and after taking the supplement, he immediately felt himself recovering much faster.
Before long, the elevator doors opened. The screen displayed: "Logistics Department, Training Division."
Zhang Anzai stepped out into a large space stretching along a glass exterior wall.
At a glance, it looked just like a modern gym.
Of course, it was more professional than an ordinary commercial gym, where half the space was taken up by treadmills. It had a full range of equipment, as well as a dedicated combat training area and a small dojo.
Naturally, none of that had much to do with him. He wasn't the sort of sunny employee who planned to work out here and maintain a disciplined, healthy lifestyle at the company.
"All done? Did they find anything wrong?" Lin Zhao approached, her hair loose and her short-sleeved shirt fairly baggy.
She was wiping her hair with a towel and seemed to have just finished exercising and showering. "The time on the private training room I booked hasn't run out yet. You can go use it."
Before you continue