Chapter 1 This Work Involves Some Risks_1

Lincheng City, North Ancient Estate, Unit 7, Floor 6.

A warehouse manager with an annual salary of ten million?

Fu Qian looked at the letter on the table, expressionless.

[Urgently Hiring Warehouse Manager for Daily Management Tasks]

[If Mr. Fu is interested in accepting this job, please sign the work badge and wear it to start working from home immediately]

[Note, this job involves certain risks]

After reading the contents of the letter, Fu Qian shook the envelope, and sure enough, a black work badge fell out.

Huh?

Ten million a year, and I can do it from home?

What kind of magical warehouse is this!

Receiving this first thing in the morning made Fu Qian feel utterly annoyed.

But then again, how great it would be if it was true.

Being a warehouse manager shouldn't be too busy.

Good pay, light work, close to home—it's the ideal of ideals!

Money isn't easy to come by these days, and with his poor financial situation, he was about to face the destiny of eating dirt.

However, Fu Qian was always good at finding joy in suffering.

Thinking that he had nothing better to do, he got an itchy hand and signed his name on the work badge, then hung it around his neck with exaggerated seriousness.

The next moment, everything went dark before his eyes.

When his vision returned, the computer desk in front of him was nowhere to be seen, and Fu Qian found himself standing in a place resembling a warehouse.

The colossal space, the dim lighting, and the absence of windows made it impossible to tell whether it was day or night.

A row of tall shelves stretching to the ceiling extended neatly into the distance.

The shelves were evenly spaced with variously sized silver-white boxes.

This... is actually an online job?

Is the work badge some kind of VR device?

Fu Qian felt his imagination was under attack as he tried his best to understand what was happening before his eyes.

[Identity Verification Successful]

[Name: Fu Qian]

[Age: 20]

[Today's Work Begins]

[Job Responsibility: Daily warehouse management and maintenance, ensure items are correctly contained]

[Note: Due to the special nature of the stored items, if you see any illusions during work, including but not limited to tentacles, eyeballs, patterns, steles, etc., consider them as routine leaks, do not panic, follow the instructions to re-contain the items]

A series of emotionless voices sounded beside his ear.

Tentacles, eyeballs... something's not right with this picture!

Fu Qian looked at the boxes on the shelves.

What the hell is inside them?

And no matter what, the packaging seems pretty tight, how could anything leak out?

Beep—

It was as if his question had been heard.

In the next moment, the space nearby twisted, and a giant blood-red eyeball slowly emerged.

[Warning! Leak Incident]

[Item Number: 3-2048; Name: Blood Haze]

[Today's Work Updated: Enter the containment scene of 3-2048, complete re-containment]

In the upper left corner of his field of view, a string of small text popped up continuously.

Is this what they call a leak?

Before Fu Qian had time to comment, the blood-red eyeball slowly turned its direction and fixed its gaze on him.

Almost instantly, Fu Qian felt his brain was hit by a tremendous shock, and his consciousness was rapidly pulled away.

[Entering Containment Scene: Full Moon Garden]

[Containment Achievement Condition: Survive for one hour]

[Each entry into the containment scene will consume one SAN Point, current SAN Points: 20]

[If SAN Points drop to zero, you will permanently lose your sanity]

…

I knew ten million wouldn't be so easy to earn!

Zero SAN Points means irreversibly losing my mind, so does that mean if I fail 20 times, I become an idiot?

That seems like a rather severe work-related injury!

[...1%...5%...50%...98%...100%...Full Moon Garden load complete]

[For a long time, you've been tormented by an increasingly severe pain. Just as you made up your mind to travel to a distant land in search of a cure, you found yourself trapped in an even more terrifying predicament.]

[Identity: Patient]

[Skill: None]

[Weapon: None]

"You're awake?"

As he regained control of his body, someone spoke nearby.

Fu Qian tried to turn his head and found that he was lying in bed.

At the bedside was a wizened old man, hunched over, with an inexplicably sleazy expression.

"Don't worry, you'll be well soon... After all, our medical skills here are unique, hehehehe..."

If you hadn't added that string of laughter, it would've been more convincing!

Fu Qian squinted his eyes and didn't speak.

And what do you mean 'ill'? I'm perfectly fine and bouncy—ouch! Ouch! OUCH!

The moment the thought arose, an indescribable pain swept over him, nearly rolling him off the bed.

Is this the pain mentioned before?

If the way to complete the task is to endure this pain for an hour, that's just inhuman!

Barely resisting the urge to curl up into a ball, Fu Qian followed the old man's pointed direction and spotted a long infusion tube.

The tube trailed down from a stand nearby, with the needle inserted in the back of his hand.

Are they actually treating my disease?

But isn't your equipment a bit too simple? What the hell is all that yellow stuff on the outside of the infusion bottle, human oil?

Wait, the color inside isn't right either!

The scary red couldn't possibly be blood, could it?

"So... let's begin."

Before he could say anything else, the old man turned the valve of the infusion tube on.

Fu Qian's vision instantly darkened.

[Containment Failed, Survival Time: 1 minute]

[Evaluation: Useless person, your performance fully illustrates what it means to hesitate and be defeated]

[Reward: None]

I died just like that? There was definitely something wrong with the stuff in the drip!

Returning to the warehouse, Fu Qian was in a less than pleasant mood.

That evaluation was a bit insulting.

In front of him at that moment, a misty fog formed a portal in the shape of an eyeball, which he tried to touch.

[Would you like to spend one SAN Point to attempt containment again? Current SAN Points: 19]

So I only have 19 chances left?

[Yes]

Fu Qian was not someone who gave up easily.

...

[SAN Points reduced by 1, entering containment scene]

[Current Identity: Patient]

[Skill: None]

[Weapon: None]

"Are you awake?"

The kindly voice of the old man came again, sending a shiver through Fu Qian.

Awake your head!

Enduring the severe pain, Fu Qian leapt up from the bed with a carp's strength and swiftly reached for the infusion tube.

Crack!

The carp only managed half a flip.

An unimaginable force surged through him, and like a noodle, Fu Qian was slapped back onto the bed from midair.

Lying in bed, Fu Qian grunted twice, feeling as if his spine had shattered into pieces.

"Lie down nicely..."

The old man's voice was unwavering, and Fu Qian's sight darkened once more.

[Containment Failed, Survival Time: 1 and a half minutes]

[Evaluation: Useless person, it is well known that to hesitate is to be defeated, to act hastily is to fail outright.]

[Reward: None]

This old geezer is seriously unfair!

He can barely stand straight, and yet he's so strong!

Returning to the warehouse once again, Fu Qian expressed sincere admiration.

...

[SAN Points reduced by 1, entering containment scene]

"Actually, I feel a lot better now."

The third time entering, Fu Qian deeply realized he couldn't overpower the situation and decided to try reasoning instead.

"Oh?"

The old man paused his movements, scrutinizing Fu Qian carefully.

"Does it not hurt anymore on your body?"

"It... doesn't... hurt... anymore!"

Uttering this lie, Fu Qian felt his eyelids twitch.

Ha! Ha!

Half a minute later, the old man shook his head, looking at Fu Qian with eyes full of care for the mentally challenged.

"Your expression has betrayed you..."

"Young man, do not hide your sickness."

As the hand holding the valve moved, Fu Qian's vision went dark once more.

[Containment Failed]