Chapter 140

The monster could split itself?!

The players exchanged stunned glances, momentarily frozen. Didn't that mean they'd soon be coming down to the tenth floor, or even the ninth?

Just as the thought crossed their minds, screams and the pounding of running feet erupted above them. At the same time, the floor beneath them vibrated faintly, as if some colossal being had stomped heavily and was now approaching.

Yi Ying was on the verge of collapse: "What do we do?!"

Lin Tu's mind raced. Fleeing back to the eighth floor was undoubtedly the stupidest thing anyone could do—that was exactly where the monster was headed. But staying put didn't seem wise either. So...

"The most dangerous place is the safest place," Lin Tu said quickly. "This monster is clever. It knows to eat the worst first and save the best for later. The worst has already been eaten through once, so it might not bother going back over the same ground. We need to go up to the eleventh floor and hide there."

And how were they supposed to get up?

The best way was obviously to circle around the monster and run up. But judging by its behavior, it wasn't stupid. So they couldn't treat it like a mere monster—they had to think of it as a cunning hunter.

Once it spotted them, a fight would likely break out.

"Thud... thud... thud..." The vibrations underfoot grew closer.

Yi Ying, Guan Suixing, and the other players quickly rifled through their inventory of props and coupons, only to find they had little to offer in this situation.

"I have an idea," Lin Tu said when she saw the others were silent. "We can lead it around like a dog on a leash. Here's the plan: you guys go first, and then I'll..."

About two minutes later, the monster that had just entered the Rest Area found a group of people standing deep inside, waving their arms and shouting at it, looking utterly disrespectful. The monster, which had been noisily crunching on bones, was instantly enraged.

"No employee can see me and not be afraid!" it bellowed, waddling its obese body forward. "Bad employees! Bad employees! Everyone who doesn't respect me is a bad employee!"

"We're bad! We're bad! So what?!" Lu Haima hopped around, twisting his hips at the leader in a flamboyant display.

His skill today granted him a steel body for ten seconds, so he wasn't about to die easily. Hence, he was especially cocky.

This only fanned the monster's fury, and it charged faster.

Meanwhile, Lin Tu slipped out from a corner it couldn't see and dashed toward the exit.

"Stop wiggling, it's coming!" Yi Ying yelled, aiming her magic flashlight at the monster. "You're in a disaster world where eating human flesh gives you a stomach ache! Now you've got a stomach ache! You have diarrhea! Your belly hurts so much! You can't run anymore!"

Sure enough, the monster slowed its pace—but only for a few seconds before snapping out of it. "I won't get a stomach ache! I am all-powerful!"

Guan Suixing had already activated her skill [Doomsday Failed Experiment], which increased her speed. She grabbed Yi Ying's arm in one hand and Kou Lin's in the other, planning to drag them both along when it was time to run.

But even as the monster drew near, the players didn't flee. They stayed put, as if waiting for something.

"Hey!" Sure enough, a moment later, Lin Tu's voice echoed from the exit of the Rest Area, her arm raised high. "Hey!"

The monster turned its head with difficulty, saw her waving alone, then turned back and resumed charging at Guan Suixing and the others—more precisely, at Lu Haima.

Lin Tu and the rest of the players: "...?" The aggro hadn't been pulled. This wasn't going according to plan at all.

Only Lu Haima, oblivious, kept wiggling his hips with gusto.

The players turned to look and nearly blacked out. Zhang Xingxing, getting anxious, smacked him.

Lu Haima finally turned around, startled: "You have a thing for my butt? Why'd you hit me?!"

Zhang Xingxing's face was blank as he pointed at the monster, now less than twenty meters away. "You're something else. It's got its eye on you, and it doesn't even care about Sister Lin's taunts. Good luck with that."

With that, he bolted backward. At the same time, Guan Suixing grabbed Yi Ying and Kou Lin and ran, shouting, "Sister Lin!"

Thankfully, Lin Tu had already pulled a megaphone from her backpack: "And you call yourself a leader? No morals, no ability, no work ethic, and all your accomplishments are stolen. Let's not even talk about your lifestyle—you're so fat you probably can't even be bothered to shit. A leader? You couldn't even get hired to mop floors in a public toilet."

When it came to insulting people, she only had a few choice words. But insulting a boss? Oh, she had plenty pent up.

The monster stopped in its tracks, turned around, and glared viciously at this employee who dared spout such nonsense.

Lin Tu pulled out a red warning tag and smiled. "I think you've got one of these on you too. Why don't you check for yourself? Bad employee—no wait, bad leader."

That was the last straw. The monster spun around and charged at Lin Tu with mad, twisted fury: "Bad employee! You're the worst employee! I'll kill you!"

Lin Tu didn't move. The red warning tag dangled from between her fingers, swaying slightly. Just as she'd said, it was like walking a dog.

Seeing this, the players quickly stopped retreating and followed behind the monster, heading for the exit.

"Sister Lin really comes through," Yi Ying said as she sprinted, casting an exasperated glance at Lu Haima. Their plan had nearly been ruined.

"Don't talk about it. I won't do it again." Lu Haima wished he could die on the spot.

Lin Tu waited until the monster was close before making a run for the elevator. She moved fast, glancing back at the monster from time to time and shaking the red warning tag to keep its aggro locked on her.

Only when she saw the players following the monster out of the Rest Area and heading for the stairwell did she speed up and dash to the elevator.

"Bad employee! Bad employee! I'll kill you, I swear I—"

The monster was mid-rant when, suddenly, Lin Tu slipped through the gap in the elevator doors like a wisp of smoke and vanished.

Its voice cut off abruptly—"Huh?"

It waddled its massive frame to the elevator doors, pried at them gently, and confirmed they were indeed the iron doors it remembered.

"Where'd they go? Did I imagine it?" It circled the spot twice more but still couldn't find that damnable employee. Furious, it tromped back to the Rest Area. "Then the other employees will suffer for your mistake!"

At the same time, Lin Tu, using [Lighthouse], had slipped into the elevator shaft. She swiftly grabbed hold of an iron rail on one side.

She'd never tried rock climbing, but she was strong. She climbed quickly past one set of elevator doors, heading for the next.

The phone in her pocket buzzed. Lin Tu ignored it at first, but soon the buzzing turned into a pattern of short and long vibrations—some kind of code. Which it was. The Butler was always monitoring her phone, and when there was urgent news she hadn't seen, it would send her a special signal through the Anju system.

Lin Tu paused her climb, pulled out her phone, and saw a message from Luo Yongzhi: "Two more split off! Heading for the exit! Watch out!"

Guan Suixing: "They're probably going downstairs. Which way are they going?"

Liu Sheng: "Luo Yongzhi and I are about to run! One of the split ones left, but the other's still on the eleventh floor. Looks like it's cleaning house!"

Luo Yongzhi: "They're out! Hide!"

And then, silence.

There were only two ways to move between floors in this building: the elevator or the stairwell. So if the monsters were heading down, they'd take either.

Which would it be?

How would a leader go up and down? Would they really use the stairs?

A bad feeling crept up Lin Tu's spine. She looked back and, sure enough, Guan Suixing said, "The stairwell's clear! Sister Lin, be careful!"

Seeing that Lin Tu hadn't replied, they'd sent her private messages too, full of warning words. That's why the Butler had flagged them.

There were three elevators. When Lin Tu had entered the shaft, one was on the tenth floor and one on the ninth—neither convenient for her to climb straight into the eleventh. So she'd chosen the third, the one stopped on the second floor.

Now, all she could do was pray this leader wasn't too stupid to take the elevator on the tenth floor. Two seconds and it'd be up top. Please, anything but this one.

But as the saying goes: fear something, and it will come.

A "ding" echoed from above. The iron rail in her hand began to vibrate, and the sound of rolling wheels came from below, growing closer.

Lin Tu scrambled upward, but the eleventh floor was the highest floor with an elevator. Above her head was nothing but concrete.

There was nowhere to go. In the narrow shaft, even the air seemed to compress. The thought of being crushed to death in this damned elevator shaft sent a primal panic through her.

She quickly jumped to the elevator doors. Using the agility from [Lighthouse], she braced herself with a splits position against the doors, then jammed her fingers into the gap and forced the two iron doors apart.

The sound of wheels was getting closer. Lin Tu dropped Little Black, letting it roll into a ball like a stone and wedge itself against the track.

This move successfully slowed the elevator's ascent. With a few "zzz..." sounds, the elevator ground to a halt.

"Bad elevator! How can it be broken!" A grumble came from beyond the doors, followed by a few more "ding ding dings." Under its urging, the elevator resumed its climb.

By then, Lin Tu had managed to pry the doors open. She hooked her hands over the top edge and swung herself out.

"So someone's causing trouble!" The monster spotted her, shouting with a mix of excitement and rage. "Damaging company property—you must be a bad employee! Time for me to clean house!"

A ridiculously difficult escape maneuver flashed through Lin Tu's mind, but she didn't run. Instead, she drew her long blade.

Little Black flew back to her hand from the elevator shaft like a wisp of smoke.

"Cornfield Effect!" Lin Tu hurled a corncob forward. At the same time, her body, hanging from the door, coiled like a taut bowstring. She kicked off hard with her legs and launched herself at the monster.

"Huh?" Disoriented by the cornfield, the monster spun in circles, unable to find its bearings.

Lin Tu's ready long blade struck its neck with precision.

Unfortunately, its neck was far too thick. Layers of fat, like powerful hands, stopped the blade from sinking deep, leaving only a shallow cut.

"Aaaaah!" The leader shrieked. "You arrogant fool! You have no respect for your superiors! You're fired! I forbid you from staying in my company!"

Her strike hadn't landed, but Lin Tu wasn't discouraged. She'd learned back in the [Plague Kingdom] that mutated monsters were far beyond what ordinary people could comprehend, and killing them was no easy feat.

The wounded leader dropped its playful demeanor and turned vicious. "This is my company! I won't allow anyone to block my view!"

The moment those words left its mouth, its entire body of flesh shrank a notch, and the cornfield's effect dissipated instantly.

"Is that all?" Lin Tu threw another corncob. "Cornfield Effect!"

She'd tossed it on a whim, but the instant it left her hand, the leader's eyes glazed over again.

Before Lin Tu could strike, it immediately said, "As the leader! I can't be unable to see things!"

Its seven-hundred-plus pounds of flesh shrank another notch.

—Tsk, the protective layer was getting thinner.

Having found the monster's weakness, Lin Tu quickly tossed three more corncobs at it.

After five corncobs total, the monster had shrunk five times over, and Lin Tu finally stopped.

When she reached for her waist again, the monster prepared itself, ready to say "I'm the leader, you can't—" when it realized what she'd pulled out wasn't a corncob.

Lin Tu didn't draw her blade. She pulled out a pistol, aimed at the leader's forehead—now thinner after five shrinkings—and fired.

A single "bang." The monster's eyes went wide in disbelief as it crashed heavily to the ground. Even in its final moment, it couldn't believe someone had killed it in such a shameless way.

A slightly faded coupon dropped to the floor, along with a dozen or so red warning tags.

Lin Tu stared at the corpse, still hoping for a badge to drop—based on past experience, killing one's superior should yield their badge. But this time, she'd be disappointed. Further promotions and raises had stricter requirements, seemingly tied to the promotional exams she'd seen in the rulebook.

But this wasn't the time to think about that. Lin Tu bent down and picked up the coupon and the red warning tags.

Meanwhile, the players in the stairwell had dealt with the employees blocking their path and were making their way over.

"First kill on a mutated monster drops an item?" Yi Ying said with some surprise.

"Looks like it."

Lin Tu looked it over—a decent, if damaged, A-rank coupon: [A Cat Grass (Damaged Cat Sprout State): A cat slept on a blade of grass for so long it became a blade of cat grass.]

[This grass can grow one cat at a time. The cat isn't a real cat, so it will naturally disappear within ten minutes of being summoned. It's so adorable that everyone—including monsters—will love it. Once you release this cat, everyone's attention will be drawn to it, and because it's so cute, their minds will be filled only with fluffy bubbles of affection. No other thoughts. Especially not thoughts of murder or arson. As the cat's owner, you'll be affected too, though to a lesser degree. Note: if you make an aggressive move during this time, the person you attack will snap out of it!]

This was a... Lin Tu mused... a peace cat. "How strange. Why do first-kill drops always end up being plant-type special items?"

"Congrats, Sister Lin!" Yi Ying trotted over happily. Hearing Lin Tu's remark, she explained, "I've noticed that too. I think it's because plants have the hardest time surviving after the apocalypse, so plant-type coupons get damaged the most. That's why damaged coupons are usually plant-type."

That made sense. Lin Tu tucked the cat grass into her backpack, deciding to plant it on the Back Mountain when she had the chance.

Lu Haima and the other players caught up too, staring at the fallen leader's corpse with silent awe. Good thing they'd stuck with her.

Yi Ying said, "We need to hurry and find Luo Yongzhi and the others. They seem to have been spotted by a monster."

Lin Tu nodded but didn't leave right away. She pulled out her blade, carved a large chunk of meat off the leader, and stuffed it into her backpack. Only then did she head inside with the rest.

The eleventh floor was eerily silent. Most of the employees had already been killed.

Luo Yongzhi and Liu Sheng sent a message in a spare moment: the original leader, having split off four monsters in succession, had shrunk considerably. It was still splitting now, but instead of emerging from its belly, it seemed to be splitting down the middle, dividing in half.

Lin Tu and the others cautiously poked their heads out and spotted the monster in the center.

As Luo Yongzhi had said, it had completely split into two. Since it had divided its main body directly, these two were larger than the one Lin Tu had just killed.

They circled aimlessly for a moment, then, finding no employees around, stomped their feet in frustration.

"We—"

"Cornfield Effect!" Without a word, Lin Tu tossed a corncob at their feet. Creatures in the cornfield that remained still and silent would be hidden from the field, vanishing from the sight of others.

Yi Ying and Guan Suixing, who'd used corncobs before, were familiar with this. They quickly held the other players down to keep them from yelping in fear.

With heavy "thud... thud..." footsteps, the leader—clearly fixated on the eighth floor—passed right by Lin Tu and the others without finding its prey, and lumbered toward the elevator.

About five minutes later, they vanished from sight.

At the same time, the players' phones buzzed. Lin Tu pulled hers out.

Yi Ying: "Luo Yongzhi and the others locked a monster in the bathroom... I can't believe it..."

But Lin Tu was focused on something else—

Luo Yongzhi: "After we touched the monster, we suddenly got a message. Turns out we're undercover cops?"

The two groups quickly regrouped.

Worried the monster might break out of the bathroom, they worked together to take it down first.

Since none of the players cared about the red warning tags, and Lin Tu had generously tossed out three more corncobs, all ten red tags on that monster went to her.

Only then did Luo Yongzhi show everyone the text message—

In it, the police first praised them effusively for getting close to the target so quickly, then rambled about irrelevant things: how much effort they'd put into investigating this company, that it was a shady operation, how many people had died or disappeared here, and how many major accidents had occurred.

Finally, it said that since Luo Yongzhi and the other had gone to such lengths to get inside, they must explore thoroughly. If they needed to leave, they should go to the eighteenth floor at night and activate the signal flare the police had hidden under Hu Lulu's coffin via a delivery driver. At that point, rescue would be dispatched immediately to help them escape.

Seeing this, Yi Ying looked confused: "Hu Lulu's coffin..."

"We checked," Liu Sheng said. "That flare was already burnt out. So we figured we'd have to get it during the day."

"But how?" Yi Ying was even more puzzled. Even in daylight, the flare was burnt!

"Hold on," Lin Tu said, pointing at the message. "Read the last part."

It read—

"If you fail to escape, don't be afraid or worry, because you must remember: you are in a nightmare right now, and this nightmare will loop infinitely."

The players suddenly understood: "So this is a loop game. We have to enter the second cycle to get that flare."

"Assuming we survive this cycle first."

The players decided to hole up on the eleventh floor and not go anywhere.

Having already killed two monsters and gotten dozens of red warning tags, Lin Tu—who felt she could make a run at becoming an Excellent Employee—was itching for more. Eventually, she decided to head downstairs and give it a try.

This time, she didn't go for quick kills or rely too heavily on corncobs. Instead, she treated them as a last-resort survival tool.

When she found a lone leader, Lin Tu would get into a prolonged fight, chipping away at its strength slice by slice with her blade. She had time to burn, and she could afford the grind. Clearly, compared to the bloated, sluggish leader, Lin Tu—with her props and her slippery agility—had the edge. As long as she kept at it, she'd eventually wear it down.

Over the course of an afternoon, Lin Tu killed six leaders. Why six? Because these monsters would split again after eating their fill. As long as there were enough people, they could keep splitting like cockroaches, endlessly.

In the end, only five remained, holed up on the eighth floor. The employees had almost all been devoured. Since it was one against many, Lin Tu lured one up and killed it before her final clock-in, then didn't push her luck any further.

At her final clock-in, Lin Tu won with six hundred red warning tags, securing the title of Excellent Employee.

The broadcast blared a hearty commendation for Lin Tu, who couldn't care less. What pleased her was the one hundred points that landed in her account.

So far, aside from not bothering to optimize employees for profit, she'd earned every point available.

Maybe in the next cycle, she could figure out how to make even more money.

The company at night was eerily quiet. With everyone dead, the players slept undisturbed.

The next morning, Lin Tu woke not naturally, but as she did when entering a disaster world: her body rotated ninety degrees, snapping her abruptly from sleep.

She found herself sitting at a workstation. Hmm... the Design Department head's workstation.