Only Six Survived

Wei Yanchi slipped away from the cluster of ghosts, moving so lightly that not even the hem of his clothes brushed against the vengeful spirits.

He returned to Xie De's side and whispered, "These workers have small frames. I'd guess they were only fifteen or sixteen, not adults yet. They probably entered the factory after finishing compulsory education. This boss was employing child labor."

Child labor, withheld wages, embezzlement and corruption, nepotism, forced overtime.

This boss really was guilty of every sin in the book.

That supervisor hadn't been wrong earlier. This place really was like a high school. The workers were all minors, and teenage dating was forbidden?

But after committing so many crimes, why would this boss forbid teenage dating? Could he really have been looking out for these workers? Or was he actually trying to stop them from banding together for comfort?

That explanation was far too much of a stretch.

Beiwei spoke coldly. "At fifteen or sixteen, high school isn't their only option. They could also be attending a vocational school. Private vocational schools in particular partner with factories like these. Officially, the students come here to learn technical skills. In reality, they're exploited as factory workers, then paid less than a third of what regular workers earn."

Wei Yanchi considered this carefully. "So this factory was actually partnered with a school. Could the ban on teenage dating have come from the school?"

"Still, we currently know that six workers went missing here, and all of them had ties to the boss. We don't know how those two things are connected, or what story lies behind all this."

As the two of them analyzed the situation, Xie De listened in silence, feeling like an idiot.

This is so complicated. Turns out I actually need to use my brain.

Beiwei continued, "There's another thing. We don't know where those six missing people's dorm rooms were, or whether that dried-up flower is directly connected to them. And I don't understand this: if those six were the boss's relatives and friends, they should have held fairly high positions in the factory. So why were those six the ones who went missing? Why would the boss do that?"

Faced with so many questions at once, Wei Yanchi lowered his head without a word.

"Maybe the boss wasn't responsible," Xie De said. Recalling the fragmentary plot that 455 had provided at the start, he offered a hint, his voice still husky and resonant. "People have legs. It's hardly surprising if they chose to disappear."

Wei Yanchi immediately raised his head to look at Xie De. "Chose to disappear?"

Their thinking had gone down the wrong path. They had assumed the boss was the culprit without considering that the workers might have fought back.

Beiwei looked lost for a moment. "So going missing doesn't mean they died? Are those six still alive?"

Don't ask me that.

Feeling the chill brought by the surrounding ghosts and smelling the blood of the person who had just died, Xie De's heart began racing uncontrollably again.

Both people in front of him were staring straight at him.

Uh, why are they looking at me? They don't seriously expect me to give them an answer, do they?

Xie De took a wild guess, offering an absurd answer he didn't even believe himself. "Maybe only six people survived."

The factory was full of ghosts, after all. At the very least, people had to die before they became ghosts, right? With so many spirits around, the dead probably numbered an entire factory's worth. Of course, there was a fifty-percent chance this was simply part of the instance's setting, but this was already the most reliable of Xie De's unreliable guesses.

The moment he finished speaking-

The two experts' eyes widened slightly, and they looked around, deep in thought.

The ghosts surrounding them were earthbound spirits, repeating what they had done in life. Even without looking closely, they could see that every workstation was occupied.

If this wasn't merely part of the instance's setting-or rather, if the instance's setting had been built around these ghosts-then perhaps only six people really had survived in this factory!

455 was astonished. "Host, I didn't realize you had such a wild imagination. You actually guessed it."

Xie De: ...

Wei Yanchi, however, showed no surprise. After all, the first time he saw Mr. 39, he had known that Mr. 39 was no ordinary man. It was only natural for him to be a little more capable.

Wei Yanchi said quietly, "Maybe that's the truth. I'll go find clues that can prove it. See you later."

In the blink of an eye, Wei Yanchi vanished into the darkness like a phantom, just as elusive in his departure as he had been in his arrival.

455 brimmed with determination. "Now that we have the protagonist carrying us, we can get on with our revenge plan! Come on, host. Bring Beiwei along, and let's launch our counterattack."

Xie De quipped, "She's the one carrying us, you know."

The climate here was damp, and moss grew everywhere. Moving a flower vase revealed woodlice crawling all over the dirt stuck beneath it.

Inside the factory cafeteria, rotting food gave off waves of foul stench.

The Headless Ghost drifted about, laughing shrilly.

"Have you seen my head?"

Li Luohan's palms were slick with cold sweat as he hid beneath a dining table, not daring to make a sound.

Once the Headless Ghost drifted away, he breathed a sigh of relief and crawled out from under the table. Feeling the precious item in his pocket, he forced out a smile, greed gleaming in his eyes.

Bang, bang.

The sound came from the doorway. Li Luohan looked up to see Beiwei standing there expressionlessly, her gaze as cold as if she were looking at a corpse.

Li Luohan's heart lurched. But when he looked more closely and realized Beiwei was alone, he sneered. "What, did they abandon you?"

Beiwei let his words go in one ear and out the other. Naturally, she answered him with a sneer of her own, full of contempt.

The sight made Li Luohan seethe, but behind him, the Headless Ghost's figure began to reappear.

Li Luohan's heart tightened, and he hurried toward the door.

Beiwei didn't stop him. She simply stood on the left side of the corridor and watched in silence. As Li Luohan fled frantically to the right, she calmly locked the cafeteria door, trapping the Headless Ghost inside and cutting off Li Luohan's escape route.

At first, Li Luohan merely thought Beiwei was acting strangely. Then he spotted a red ember in the shadows. A mysterious, dangerous man leaned against the wall, idly swinging a long stick in his hand.

It's him!

He understood their intentions in an instant. They had come for revenge!

Li Luohan stopped short, warily looking the man up and down. Unease churned inside him, but he put on a show of bravado and scoffed. "You think you can kill me with a stick? You're just a newbie. You don't even have any items! And you dare block my way? Get lost!"

Beiwei approached from the corridor behind him. The Headless Ghost's shrieks scraped against the cafeteria windows, trailing along them and piercing their eardrums.

Both Li Luohan and Xie De shuddered inwardly.

Gritting his teeth, Li Luohan reached for the item he had received as a reward in the previous instance-the Revolver. It held only five bullets, and every shot meant one fewer left, but in this situation, it seemed he had no choice.

But before he could draw the gun-

455's cold, melodramatic voice rang out. "I sentence you to death."

In a single instant, an electric current at over thirty-six volts passed straight through Li Luohan's heart.

He didn't even scream. Caught completely off guard, Li Luohan died on the spot and fell stiffly to the floor with a thud.

The surrounding lights were dim and yellow, and Xie De stood in too deep a blind spot for anyone to see how he had killed him.

Beiwei's attention slipped for only a moment. Then she saw Li Luohan lying dead with his eyes still open, while Xie De casually flicked the ash from the cigarette in his hand.