Chapter 77, Chapter Twenty-Four: The Fantasy Mansion
The assessment two days ago changed many things, the most serious variable being the loss of 17 lives.
The number was already heavy, but when they woke up the next morning, an even greater shadow loomed over them—
No, it's not in the room.
Have you checked the toilet?
"No, not at all..."
Observing the hurried crowd, Wen Ting walked over to the fourth group leader: "What happened, Fourth Brother?"
The elder brother frowned, his expression grave: "Several people have gone missing." After saying that, he nodded to Gong Baidie, who was standing next to Wen Ting.
Within a day, everyone knew that Wen Ting was with the new director.
This gossip, which would normally cause a huge uproar, is now ignored by everyone.
"Missing?" Chaochao asked in surprise. "Who is it?"
The older brother named a few people, "Five in total."
Five people disappeared at the same time?
DD looked down and pondered the five names. They had nothing in common in terms of gender, age, or department, and their rankings were also different, ranging from third to sixtieth.
"Max is missing too?" Chaochao exclaimed in surprise. "He was being sarcastic yesterday, and now he's gone?"
“He’s the only one with skills among the missing,” DD said. “Without him, our next assessment day will be difficult.”
Wen Ting pondered, "Besides Max, the remaining four not only lack skills, but they are also the type that are the hardest to acquire skills for."
A hint of sorrow lingered between her brows.
“You’re overthinking it, sis,” Chaochao comforted her, hugging her. “Most people don’t have skills, that doesn’t mean anything.”
However, the next day, seven more people went missing.
Different genders, different ages, the only thing they have in common is that they lack skills, and these skills are very difficult to acquire.
Meanwhile, the food reserves, which were on the verge of running out the day before yesterday, have taken a turn for the better.
This morning, someone discovered that there was half a bag of rice in the cafeteria.
With 63 people remaining, this half-bag of rice is barely enough to feed them.
Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief that they wouldn't starve, a rumor began to circulate:
Those who had their work badges removed received extra food, regardless of their skills.
What does this mean?
"What exactly is this ghost story trying to achieve?!"
"Was it founded by anti-capitalist bastards? Are they forcing us to take off our employee badges?"
"Are you crazy? It has the ability to directly lock up unscrupulous bosses into ghost stories."
Wen Ting listened to these discussions.
"Sister." Chaochao held out a box of cookies.
Wen Ting shook her head.
"Eat it." Chaochao forcefully stuffed it into her hand.
The rumor that there would be a reward for removing one's employee badge was true. When she came to the office today, she and DD had two bags of cookies in their drawers, but Wen Ting did not.
"It might be poisonous." DD remained unmoved, his eyes cold.
Chaochao thought for a moment, then rummaged through the drawer and pulled out a silver bracelet, tossing it into the cookies. After a while, she took it out to show them, "It didn't turn black!"
"Silver can only be used to treat sulfides."
"It could have just starved me to death, why would it need to poison me?" Chaochao pouted, then shoved another piece into Wenting's hand. "Let's eat!"
DD stood up and walked out.
"Where are you going?" Chaochao asked.
“I want to see the missing person’s workstation and room.” He picked up his katana.
"Didn't they already check?" Chaochao crunched on a biscuit. "They said all those people's personal belongings were gone, except for their work badges, which were left in the drawers. That's all."
“Let me look at it again.” DD frowned. “They didn’t check the missing persons’ OA.”
Wen Ting raised her eyes and looked at him.
“I’ll go with you,” she said.
"Then I'll go too." Chaochao licked the cookie crumbs off her hands, picked up the long gun, and locked the remaining half pack in the drawer.
The three left the office and locked the door behind them.
Wen Ting followed behind DD.
The most recent missing person was the leader of Character Design Group 3, one of the three giants of Green Forest Character Design, and ranked fifth in OA.
Wen Ting explained her purpose to the deputy leader of Group Three, who agreed to let DD inspect the area.
Compared to the other people's workstations, the missing person's workstation was empty, with no personal belongings left behind.
DD opened the drawer, inside which were only an employee handbook and the missing person's ID card.
The computer starts up, and DD asks, "What's the password?"
"His son's birthday." The deputy team leader recited eight numbers, adding with a touch of sarcasm, "All his passwords are his son's birthday."
DD successfully unlocked the computer, but got stuck after opening OA. "Isn't OA his son's birthday?"
"Huh?" The deputy team leader peeked over. "No way, I helped him log into the OA system to clock in a while ago, it was that password. Did he change it?"
DD tried again, and as the "username or password incorrect" message popped up, a soft hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.
He turned around and looked at Wen Ting, who had her arm around his shoulder. Wen Ting asked the deputy team leader hesitantly, "He must have changed the password. Didn't you... um, didn't he tell you when he changed it?"
The deputy team leader looked bewildered: "What did you say? You didn't tell me."
DD saw that Wen Ting's expression was one of shock and confusion.
“He didn’t remind you to change your password…” he began, when Wen Ting suddenly pinched his shoulder and interrupted, “Why don’t you try his own and his wife’s birthdays? I’ll give them to you.”
DD didn't understand why Wen Ting had interrupted him.
She said she would remind each group leader to change their passwords, but the group leader of Group 3 did not remind their group members. When they discovered this, they should have immediately reminded these people to change their passwords to prevent others from logging into their accounts.
Why interrupt him?
"Sister Windy, you even know the birthdays of the group leader and his wife?" Chaochao exclaimed in surprise.
Wen Ting didn't need to answer the question. The deputy leader of Group Three said, "You don't know? Windy was in our Group Three before she became the leader. This is her hometown."
Wen Ting smiled and said, "Yes, my workstation used to be right there."
DD entered Wen Tingbao's password while glancing at the smile on her face.
The two passwords Wen Ting provided were both incorrect, and I was unable to log in to OA.
Without external network access or the other party's mobile phone, forgetting the password is useless; the administration department is not within the scope of these strange tales, and they also do not have the internal authority to change passwords.
DD checked the personal emails of the three group leaders. The passwords were correct, but there was no useful information in them.
"It's not necessarily a bad thing." After the investigation yielded no results, Wen Ting said goodbye to the members of Group Three. "Since no bodies were found, maybe they found a way to leave and escape from the ghost story."
The deputy team leader sighed and nodded: "Yes."
After leaving the third group, DD asked, "Why didn't you remind them about changing their passwords?"
“Their fate is uncertain, what’s the point of talking to them about this now?” Wen Ting sighed. “Let’s wait and see. What if the group leader comes back? I’ll ask him why he didn’t tell us.”
DD felt it was inappropriate, and Chaochao also disagreed. "Although I don't think anyone would do something so despicable, sis, changing the password is indeed very important, and we can't delay it for too long."
Wen Ting weighed the options for a moment. “You’re right, we should remind them of the password… My intention was not to make everyone suspicious of each other, but I didn’t expect that the group leader of Group Three would not notify the group members. Now that I’m saying it, it seems like I deliberately kept it from them.”
"So, you two go and say it, okay? Just pretend it was discovered recently."
Chaochao nodded, "No problem, sister."
DD looked at Wen Ting: "If the group leader of Group Three kept it from his group members, then other group leaders may also be in the same situation. I think it's necessary to announce it directly in the group chat."
Wen Ting's eyes darkened slightly.
She sighed worriedly, "You're right. I'll just post the announcement in the group chat."
DD nodded and went back to Group 3 with Chaochao to remind them to change their passwords.
The two left, and a wisp of gray smoke fell, condensing into a human shape, appearing behind Wen Ting.
“He ruined your plan.” Gong Baidie whispered close to her, “You shouldn’t have reminded those two to change the password.”
Wen Ting shook her head. "Even if it happened again, I would still make them change their passwords."
A slightly cool voice asked, "You like them?"
“Chao Chao DD trusts me wholeheartedly and follows me. I want to protect them.” Wen Ting turned around and buried herself in Gong Baidie’s arms. “But they are not you after all. Xiao Bai, I’m only telling you the secret… Do you hate me now?”
Gong Baidie's heart skipped a beat.
He put his arm around Wen Ting's waist and stared intently as DD entered the third group's office.
“You did the right thing.” He had been with Wen Ting for so long that he was used to her way of doing things.
She was just helping someone apply for resignation; compared to how she treats game characters, she's been far more merciful to living people.
Wen Ting smiled bitterly: "I knew that only you could understand me and support me unconditionally."
"Xiaobai, I only love you too." She took his hand and kissed his knuckles. "I only want to open your program."
Gong Baidie looked away.
Her laughter made him feel completely confused.
"Your ears are red?" Wen Ting noticed something amusing and laughed even harder. "How can you be so cute? Don't let them get red, or I won't be able to resist kissing you."
Gong Baidie immediately withdrew his hand and stepped back, creating distance between them. His ears became increasingly flushed and burning hot, completely beyond his control.
"Oh my god, oh dear—" Wen Ting grabbed his sleeve and stood on tiptoe.
She gave him a light kiss on the earlobe. "So cute. I love you."
The sound, carried by her breath, entered her ear canal, causing Gong Baidie to tremble all over.
Looking at the redness spreading from his ears to his neck, Wen Ting thought that he was easier to fool than DD.
During the two days of testing, every intimate interaction she made left Gong Baidie flustered and at a loss.
He not only did not stand idly by when she was in danger, but even showed anger;
He comforted her and stayed by her side. From the moment he stopped Max, all the signs made Wen Ting certain of one thing—
Gong Baidie is not a complete madman or monster; he still craves love, even more so than the average man.
Wen Ting calculated that the food in his warehouse could last at least two months, provided that people didn't starve; if the mortality rate was higher than she expected, it could last even longer.
Wen Ting edited a message reminding everyone to change their passwords and sent it to the group.
Ten days have passed, and no one has discovered the password vulnerability. Wen Ting reflected on her actions and realized that she was the person in the entire company who trusted her colleagues the least.
Her plans were disrupted.
That doesn't matter; the number of missing persons is already shocking enough.
From then on, all we had to do was put food in the drawers of people who had removed their work badges each night.
Driven by the dual stimulation of fear of disappearance and food rewards, more and more people will remove their work badges, leading to the development of more skills that can better cope with assessment days.
It doesn't matter if Gong Baidie doesn't give her special treatment; she will mobilize resources and manpower to protect herself.
After sending the password reminder, Wen Ting typed the following in the input box:
"I have an idea you might want to consider: before taking off your employee badge, take a look at your favorite characters..."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gong Baidie walking beside her. Wen Ting's thumb pressed on the input box, and after a moment, she deleted all the content.
It's better to rely on yourself than on others.
It's best not to alert them.
She returned to her workstation, turned on her computer, and began completing her OA tasks for the day.
Gong Baidie glanced around the entire office of the Character Design Group 9, and Wen Ting pulled a chair up to him. "Sit down."
“You can come to my office to draw,” Gong Baidie said.
“I’m worried about the two younger ones,” Wen Ting said. “The atmosphere will change after the assessment day, and I’ll have to stay by their side.”
She used her romantic advances to keep Gong Baidie in check; her real goal was to kill him and leave.
Chaochao DD are her two best cards right now, and she can't let them become independent of her.
"What's wrong? What's with that expression?" She grabbed Gong Baidie's hand and blinked. "Shouldn't you praise me by saying, 'You'll be a very caring and loving mother to your child in the future'?"
"You..." Gong Baidie moved her lips, "You... want a child?"
Realizing that Gong Baidie was not human, Wen Ting reacted: "We can't have a child together?"
Gong Baidie remained silent, which Wen Ting took as tacit agreement.
“Oh dear,” she laughed, “that’s great, it saves a lot of money and can make our house twenty square meters bigger.”
Gong Baidie was taken aback.
He saw no regret or reluctance in Wen Ting's expression. She wasn't trying to comfort him; she genuinely felt it was okay.
“But you just talked about children,” he said. “You want children.”
Wen Ting didn't want her answer to sound like a fake DINK (double income, no kids) guy pretending to be considerate—she pondered her own persona: "A little bit, because I think you would care about children."
She smiled wryly, "I'm just an ordinary human being, while you have supernatural powers, you're immortal, and you have no reason to stay by my side forever. Having a child will make me feel a little more at ease."
There was silence for a long time.
Wen Ting's hand was grasped by Gong Baidie, who said, "It has nothing to do with the child. I will always stay by your side."
She's not going anywhere.
“I don’t believe it,” Wen Ting smiled. “That’s what all men say.”
"I'm serious." Who else has ever said that to her?
"Then let me ask you, when I'm seventy or eighty years old, covered in wrinkles, and smelling like an old person, will you still want to kiss me?"
"I can become an old person too." What was he saying...?
"And what if I die?" Wen Ting squeezed the back of his hand. "Then, you'll bring a young wife, about the age of my granddaughter, to my grave?"
Gong Baidie suddenly smiled.
He leaned down, close to Wen Ting, and whispered, "Wen Ting, you know me too little."
His thick eyelashes cast a small shadow, and the faint scent of snow orchids brushed against her cheek, making Wen Ting feel a little itchy. She looked up at him and asked, "Do you think you can destroy the program and die with me?"
Gong Baidie did not answer immediately.
His thumb pressed against the back of her hand, leaving the slightly rough texture of the glove fabric.
"Does the wife wish for Bai Die to be buried alive with her?"
Wen Ting lowered her eyes and kissed his lips: "I want you to be free."
Gong Baidie felt the softness on her lips.
She was a top-notch character designer. He had clearly erased her memories in the dream. At this moment, Wen Ting did not know that Gong Baidie, who was bound hand and foot and crawling in a sorry state, had spoken the word "freedom" for him.
She knew, she knew everything, she was just heartless.
When she wants to, she can easily evoke the emotions of the character.
Gong Baidie closed her eyes and parted her lips, letting her deepen the kiss.
As their lips intertwined, her fragrant breath covered his, and her body was also imbued with the pure scent of snow orchids.
She nuzzled against his neck and asked, "Should we get a cat or a dog?"
Her neck itched from the friction of her hair, and Gong Baidie hugged her, saying, "Anything is fine."
She smiled and said, "Then let's have both a cat and a dog, to make a perfect family."
Gong Baidie hummed in agreement.
After a while, he added, "Okay."
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