Chapter 252 I Picked Up Trash on the Battlefield of National Fortune 8
Zhou Jue continued scrolling through the posts, which contained all sorts of different kinds of content.
[Help Needed]: The cafeteria's nutritional paste has a new flavor today—vomit! Does anyone have a tube of yesterday's foot-skin flavor that I can trade? I'll trade two tubes for the vomit-flavored one!
[Casual Chat]: "Hey, when are we going to get a raise? It's so hard to accumulate points! I work myself to the bone every day, and I only get a few."
[Gossip]: "Have you heard? The 'Tyrant' NPC in the neighboring battlefield number two was reclaimed and permanently removed from the game yesterday because of his poor performance and failure to meet KPIs for three consecutive months!"
Upon seeing the last one, Zhou Jue's heart skipped a beat.
KPI? How come an NPC has to have performance evaluations? There's no indication of what the KPI is for this cleaner!
And then there was the word "formatting," which reminded her of her system and her "former colleague" who had been taken away and turned into an empty shell of the national destiny system.
It turns out that even these NPCs aren't completely safe.
If performance targets are not met, consciousness will be erased, and the individual will revert to being a mere tool.
This national system wasn't as friendly to its own employees as she had imagined.
She used to think that deducting 7 points to reissue items was humane, but now it seems more like a direct cost accounting.
She suddenly felt an even stronger urge to explore this NPC forum.
There must be many more rules she doesn't know about.
She returned to the forum homepage and began searching purposefully.
She entered several keywords: "player town", "merchant", "job change".
Soon, an official post that was highlighted and pinned to the top of the thread appeared.
[Official Announcement]: Instructions on the Application and Transfer Process for NPC Positions
Zhou Jue clicked on it and began to read it carefully.
The post is quite long, but it can be summarized into a few points.
First, if you want to change positions, you must submit an application report of at least 5,000 words, explaining in detail why you are not suitable for the current position and what "increased benefits" the new position can bring to the entire battlefield system.
Second, after submitting the report, a review period of 30 to 90 working days will begin, during which a dedicated "monitor" NPC will conduct a comprehensive behavioral assessment of the applicant.
Third, after the review is approved, a 15-day "pre-job training" period must be conducted, and only those who pass the exam can officially start working.
Fourth, if the application is rejected, the applicant may not submit another application within six months.
Zhou Jue looked at the rules and regulations, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.
This is too much trouble.
Not to mention the frighteningly long review period, the comprehensive evaluation by the "inspector" alone made her feel uneasy.
If I'm just a fake NPC, and the "observers" are watching me for three months, it's no wonder I'm exposed.
Revealing your hand to the national destiny system in exchange for an uncertain future? No, the risk is too high.
She clicked on the replies below the post, and sure enough, it was a chorus of lamentations.
[Original Poster] Gravedigger-49: "Any brothers who have successfully switched shifts? Come out and share your experiences! I'm staring at a bunch of broken tombstones every day, I'm practically growing mushrooms! I want to go to the player town and become a security guard, just to see if there are any living people!"
[1st Floor] Replying to the original poster: "Brother, don't even think about it. I submitted an application last year, stating that 'being in a dark environment for a long time has led to psychological depression, and I am applying to be transferred to a sunny position.' I attached a medical certificate from the medical station, but it was rejected last week. The reason given was 'unstable mental state, unsuitable for direct contact with players.' I'm so angry!"
[2nd Floor] Replying to the original poster: "I applied to work as a waiter at a tavern, but it was rejected because of 'insufficient physical coordination, posing a risk of breaking glasses and wasting resources.' I carry a stone coffin weighing over 100 pounds every day, and they're telling me I'm uncoordinated?"
[3rd Floor] Replying to the original poster: "Give up, this system is designed to keep everyone stuck in their current positions. Job transfer? That's out of the question. I heard that last year, no more than three people were successfully transferred across the entire battlefield."
Zhou Jue silently closed the post. It seemed that going to the player town through official channels was not an option.
But she was unwilling to give up.
While being a cleaner allows you to collect trash and find bargains, the information you gain access to is extremely limited, and whether you encounter other players is entirely a matter of probability.
Just as she was searching through the information, that familiar yet slightly smug voice rang in her mind.
"Host, you look so worried. Are you troubled by work?"
It's the system!
Zhou Jue perked up: "Brother Tongzi, are you done with your work? How did your 'communication' with your former colleague go?"
“Absolutely!” The system’s voice sounded like a child who had just gotten a perfect score and was waiting to be praised: “Not only did I thoroughly investigate its current data structure, but I also opened a little backdoor for myself in its ‘employee file database’.”
"Back door?" Zhou Jue's heart skipped a beat. "What back door?"
“Hehe,” the system cleared its throat and said in a boastful tone, “I’ve discovered that although this national destiny system has been formatted, its underlying architecture still uses the old version of our ‘Multiverse Coordinate Anchoring System,’ which has many vulnerabilities. I can exploit these vulnerabilities to create a brand new, legally registered second identity for you without triggering any alarms.”
Zhou Jue paused for a moment.
"A second identity?"
“That’s right!” the system continued smugly, “It has a completely independent file from your 'Battlefield Cleanup NPC-0714' file, and they do not interfere with each other. You will never be able to find any connection between them.”
"This new identity can be an NPC in the player town, or it can be an NPC in other roles. Host, the choice is yours!"
The immense surprise left Zhou Jue speechless for a long time.
"Player Town, NPC Merchant Position!" Without hesitation, Zhou Jue chose this role.
Having this means that she doesn't need to go through the application process or be monitored by any "observers," and she can have a legal identity that allows her to freely enter and exit player towns and trade with players!
During the day, she is a diligent battlefield cleanup worker, 0714, who picks up trash from the ruins.
At night, she can transform into a mysterious merchant who buys and sells in the player town!
This is absolutely perfect!
"OK, host. New identity: NPC - Itinerant Merchant - 1024"
"Brother Tongzi, you're simply my god!" Zhou Jue exclaimed sincerely.
"Ahem, keep it low-key, keep it low-key." The system said modestly, but the laughter in its voice couldn't be hidden: "These are just basic operations."
"However, there's a condition," the system added, changing the subject: "This identity of 'Traveling Merchant-1024' is just an empty shell; I've only added your file and number. The National Fortune System won't provide you with any goods. What you sell and at what price you can sell it all depends on you 'procuring' it on the battlefield yourself."
Zhou Jue laughed; she had thought it was some serious restriction.
"You don't need to worry about that."
A thought crossed her mind, and she looked at the black bracelet on her wrist.
In that newly appeared storage space, several items were lying quietly.
Three strands of black, almost tangible, "shadow essence".
Two black cores that still exude an ominous aura, "corrupted energy cores".
These were all "trophies" that she deliberately left behind, without breaking them down into spiritual energy.
She discovered that her two jobs were perfect partners; picking up trash during the day and selling it at night—what a perfect combination!
She could even sell food or other supplies from her own space, though it's unclear whether this player town is lacking in those things.
Without giving it much thought, Zhou Jue immediately switched to the identity of a traveling merchant. Sure enough, her clothes had changed, but the national fortune system hadn't teleported her away.
"Host, are you ready? If you are, I will teleport you to the player town."
"Ready."
The next second, a teleportation array pattern lit up on the ground beneath his feet, and Zhou Jue's figure disappeared from the spot.
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