When a normal person realized their company was dead and their skin started to decay and their face literally melted off, it should be a terrifying discovery. Based on a normal horror movie trope, Bai Sinian would lose control and then start to attack the living humans around him. He would lose his mind after killing his victim and then in his loss and confusion return to the fourth floor basement and reinitiate a new cycle. This would have happened many times already but this time things were different. Bai Sinian, who was literally decaying, had his hand held tightly by Han Fei. He noted with surprise that the man wasn’t that friendly before he found out he was a ghost.
“Based on the surveillance tapes on that computer, you’ve been wandering around this place for a long time already. After discovering the truth, you’d work to avoid it every time and thus got stuck in an endless loop. Brother, you’re trapped inside a maze made by your own memory.” Han Fei told Bai Sinian kindly. He started to persuade Bai Sinian to join him. With the training from the cryptic world, Han Fei was more professional than most psychiatrists on the market, it couldn’t be helped, he had too much clinical experience. Looking at the computer screen, as the truth entered his mind, Bai Sinian should go berserk but he was both mentally and physically suppressed by Han Fei. “I know this will be hard to stomach for now but you can’t change what happened.” Through Soul-depth Touch, Han Fei realized Bai Sinian was not an evil spirit. His soul was like a balled-up twine, the threads which were truly malicious were extremely little.
After Bai Sinian calmed down, Han Fei asked. “Now you should remember many things already, can you tell me what exactly happened here?”
“Dead, everyone’s dead. Only the dead will be taken away. You’ll have to die before you can become a security guard. They came from different places but all had horrible deaths. Then they were sent to different places.” Bai Sinian mumbled incoherently. “No one ever returned, they will never return.”
Seeing the state Bai Sinian was in, Han Fei wanted to crack open the young man’s brain and used a more ‘hands on’ approach to his treatment. Resisting the urge, Han Fei made his tone as gentle as possible, “What do you mean by they have to die to become a security guard? Didn’t you say that you’ve seen other guards in the same uniform as I do? Does this mean those guards were given some kind of special training before they were sent to the neighbourhood?”
“All the guards assigned to that place were handpicked by the boss. I was selected once in the past. We needed to go up to the 4th floor to claim a form and then conduct the last step in the 4th floor basement.”
“Last step? What is the last step?”
“I don’t know. Before it happened, my senior told me to find a place to hide because I was shaking too hard from fear…” Bai Sinian held his head in pain like his head was about to explode. Noting this, Han Fei stopped his questioning. He turned to the computer and checked the surveillance videos again. He noticed that these video files were copies. They were purposely left there inside the recycle bin. “Where are the other surveillance recordings?”
“They’re on the 4th floor. Both the main surveillance room and the boss’ office are on the 4th floor, he likes to observe us work.” They didn’t stay much longer. Han Fei led Bai Sinian to the 4th floor using the elevator.
The 4th floor looked similar to the 2nd floor. Everything looked normal and nothing was out of place. The only change was the smell of charring was heavier in the air. ‘This building looks so normal, it’s hard to imagine a Grade F Mission would be hidden here.’ After playing this game for so long, Han Fei had noticed some habits of the system. For example, the naming of the mission was not random, sometimes, the name of the mission was itself a hint. ‘Why would the system deem this place as related to Yi Ming Street’s Guardian Spirit? Will Yi Ming Street be destroyed without this security company?’ While Han Fei processed the question in his mind, Bai Sinian led him to the door which was the most luxurious they had ever encountered at the company. The bad memory in Bai Sinian’s head was triggered again. His pale fingers started to twitch. His hands closed over the handle but he couldn’t find the courage to push.
“Is your boss very scary?” Han Fei took out Rest in Peace from his inventory.
“Yes, in my remaining memory, the only impression I have of him is fear.”
“That’s because you’re still too young. Soon, you’ll realize there are more people scarier than him.” With that Han Fei kicked down the door and entered the office. The office used gold as the main color scheme, the place breathed of wealth. In the 50 cubic metres office, there was a glass cupboard on the left which showcased many arts and golden items; on the right was a bookshelf but most of the books appeared untouched. Before them was an impossibly large office table. Various documents were placed on the table. Picking up a random document to read, Han Fei noticed it contained the information and training record of one of their employees. Based on this document, the feeling gave off by this company was absolute professionalism. They not only provided training for their security guards, they also picked the job postings based on the individual guard’s personality to ensure that each guard would get their most suitable posting.
“Employee information, training grading, career planning, work feedback…” Han Fei couldn’t find any problem. This security company in hell was a lot more professional than many companies in real life.
“No, it’s not like that!” Bai Sinian originally only dared to stand outside the door but after seeing nothing happened to Han Fei, he also gained some courage. He stood beside the table and scanned the documents. “The real forms have been hidden away!” Bai Sinian looked through the office while Han Fei stood quietly to the side. Soon Bai Sinian found a torn form inside the trash can. Spreading it open, the form had no name or picture, just a number. This looked more like a delivery manifest, but the description of the item was quite strange. “No. 69, average rating, barely fits the requirement. The cargo itself is not flawed; the surface pattern showed no sign of ruination. The internal cavity is well-preserved. The cargo is stable, will make a good vessel.” This cargo appeared to be some kind of container but why would that be found inside a security company?
Han Fei reached out his hand and used hide-and-seek’s passive to investigate every corner of the office. When he passed the bookshelf, the landlord’s ring chilled slightly. Han Fei stopped and had Weep and Lee Zai move the bookshelf away. To everyone’s surprise, there was an elevator hidden behind it. The elevator appeared to be a cargo elevator, it was connected directly to the 4th floor basement. Pressing the button, the elevator door slowly opened. Instantly they were hit by the smell of blood. The elevator booth was practically slathered in blood.
“The cargo on the delivery manifest actually refers to the security guard here? The boss has been sending his employees to different places as cargo?” Han Fei thought this was just a normal security company but it was actually a ‘processing’ plant. From available information, this company was in a lot of different businesses. They offered security services and sold cargo that featured ‘humans’.
Just as Han Fei hesitated whether to enter the cargo elevator, the elevator door suddenly closed on its own. The number on the panel changed as the elevator descended. “Someone has summoned the elevator on the 4th floor?”
The elevator stopped at the 4th floor basement for a while before it started to rise again. Seeing this, Han Fei opened the urn and called out all of his neighbours. “Be prepared! Something is coming up!”
