Deep Pit
After getting off the subway, the memory master kept the money first. She was not going to touch the 1,000 yuan deposit because it was the life-saving money at the critical moment.
The balance in Ren Shanshan's card plus the 16 yuan red envelope given by her mother left a total of 35 yuan.
She first spent 15 to buy a flashlight. The Universal Building had been abandoned for several years and the circuit system had long been paralyzed. Ren Shanshan's mobile phone had poor performance and was likely to fail at the critical moment.
With 20 yuan left in his WeChat wallet, the Memory Master looked towards a roadside restaurant and happily decided to eat first before anything else.
The hotel is very close to the Universal Building, so close that you can see the mottled words on the top of the building from afar. After entering the store, the illusionist walked inside habitually and sat in the innermost corner.
The shop owner looked up at her but didn't greet her. The Memory Master scanned the code to order food and unceremoniously chose a bowl of pork chop rice for 20 yuan.
When the meal was served and she started to eat the ribs, two more people came into the restaurant.
It's almost 11 o'clock and the restaurant is about to close. The owner looks hesitant to speak, as if he doesn't want to do business with them.
The young man in a white shirt and tie said quickly: "Boss, two bottles of wine first! Do you have barbecue here?"
The boss said nothing more and opened two bottles of beer for them. Another middle-aged man in security uniform said awkwardly: "Manager, I have to go back soon. It's not good to drink."
"Oh, just one bottle. Old Wu, you don't even have enough for one bottle, do you? I'll treat you. What are you going to eat?"
The two people were sitting very close to the door, and the illusionist couldn't see their faces clearly, he could only see their backs.
They pushed each other around for a while, and halfway through the meal, the male manager received a phone call: "Lao Zhang, it's me, what's wrong?"
Mr. Zhang on the other end of the phone seemed to say something important, and the male manager replied:
"Oh, then go quickly. It's okay. I'll talk to Old Wu for you. I'm here with him."
After answering the phone, the male manager said to Lao Wu: "It's Lao Zhang. He has to accompany his wife to see a doctor tomorrow and wants to work the night shift tonight. Lao Wu, can you switch shifts with him?"
Everyone would like to not have to work the night shift, so Old Wu agreed immediately and started drinking.
The illusionist suddenly sped up her eating speed. After finishing her meal quickly, she stood up slowly, pretended to reply to messages on her phone as she walked, and took a secret photo of the two people as she passed by.
Quickening their pace, they found the Aijia Hotel. The illusionist showed the photo to the front desk: "Have you seen this man in a white shirt?"
“I’ve never seen him before. Why are you looking for him?” the receptionist said without even raising her head.
The illusionist smiled and showed the room card to the front desk: "I am his girlfriend. He just gave me the room card and then disappeared. Please take a closer look. You should have seen him."
The receptionist finally looked up at the photo and said, "He checked in and left at around 7 o'clock."
“A few rooms have been opened”
"You only have this one room. How many more can you open?" The receptionist looked at her strangely.
The male manager and the part-time publisher were definitely in cahoots. He was cunning and cautious, and directed the people participating in the test to different hotels to change clothes.
The old Wu who had dinner with him was most likely the security guard at the Universal Building, who was lured away by the male manager.
The illusionist swiped his card to enter the room, picked up his clothes and left.
She went to a public toilet that she had found in advance and opened her clothes to take a closer look.
It was a loose-fitting, all-black outfit, with black gloves, a black hat, and a facekini sun mask that completely covered the face.
They even thoughtfully prepared a pair of black swimming goggles that can completely cover the only part of the facekini that is exposed, the eyes, and there is no need to worry about the swimming goggles slipping off the face like sunglasses.
The illusionist changed into black clothes, hid Ren Shanshan's clothes, and looked at himself in the mirror through the glass of the shop next to the public toilet. He felt like an ancient killer.
Fortunately, it was late at night and the part-time guide had given her narrow routes to avoid surveillance, otherwise strangers on the street would have been scared and screamed when they saw her dressed like this.
The illusionist walked to the main entrance of the Universal Building following the shadow of the building. She stopped in front of the door and looked up at the building.
The exterior walls of the building are made of blue glass, which was very popular a few years ago. I guess when the Universal Group was still around, every piece of glass would be carefully cleaned by someone, but now it is covered with a thick layer of dust.
On the top stood four large red characters "Huanyu Group", with half of the character "tuan" missing, revealing the criss-crossing steel bars inside.
Suddenly, a strong wind blew up, dark clouds covered the moon, and the roof of the Chinese character "宇" was blown with a clanging sound, as if it would fall off at any time.
The illusionist wrapped his clothes tightly and climbed over the wall.
She first went to the security room and took a look. Sure enough, there was no one inside, which confirmed her guess.
The memory artist guessed that he would meet the manager at the test site later.
She called up the memories of the small restaurant from her mind, clearly reviewing the manager's every move, then estimated his height based on his sitting height, trying to recognize him at a glance after the part-time job began.
After climbing up to the 13th floor in one breath, the illusionist turned on the flashlight and prepared to inspect the entire venue by himself.
After exiting the stairwell, there is a large open office area in front of you. The computers and monitors on the tables have basically been taken away and sold, leaving only a few broken machines.
Several windows of tempered glass on this floor were broken, and glass fragments were piled under the windows. Cold wind blew into the house.
The Memory Master walked through the open area and suddenly stopped.
Fortunately, she bought a flashlight. In front of her was a huge pit, and on the other side of the pit were offices and conference rooms.
She walked over to the pit and shone her flashlight downward, but the small beam of light could not reach the bottom of the pit.
There seemed to be some monster in the dark pit.
The illusionist rotated the flashlight and could barely see the hole on the next level. The hole on the 12th level was much larger than the one on the 13th level.
From the 1st floor to the 13th floor, there is a hole at the same position on each floor. The hole gets bigger as you go down. Standing on the 13th floor and looking down, it looks like a bottomless abyss with many layers.
The weirdest thing was that there was something faintly lit at the bottom of the pit, emitting a dim yellow light.
The illusionist walked closer, trying to see what was underneath more clearly.
"Be careful, don't fall."
A strange deep male voice suddenly sounded, startling the illusionist.
She suddenly raised her flashlight and used it to illuminate the person who was talking to her.
The man was actually on the other side of the pit. There was a half-open door behind him, as if he had just walked out of the door.
The strange man blocked the dazzling light with his hands: "I'm sorry, did I scare you?"
He was wearing the same black clothes as the Memory Master, carrying a backpack, about 1.85 meters tall and thin.
The memory master was slightly disappointed because the man was not the manager he had met before.
The manager sat down at a height of less than 90 centimeters, and his height was definitely no more than 1.75 meters, which did not match the height of a man.
The Memory Master moved the flashlight away and apologized: "I was really startled. I'm sorry I shone it into your eyes."
The man waved his hands and said it was okay. The illusionist asked: "How do you get to the other side?"
The man showed her the way.
It turned out that there was a small mesh of exposed steel bars on the far right side of the pit, connecting the open office area and the small offices opposite.
The Memory Master stepped on the steel bars to make sure they were strong enough.
The man came forward and stretched out his arms: "Don't be afraid, I'll help you."
The Memory Master is not afraid of walking on steel bars. In comparison, she is more afraid of strangers suddenly extending a helping hand.
She declined: "Thank you, but no, I'm nervous if you stand opposite me."
The man was as embarrassed as a crab and moved sideways back to his original position.
Good, keep a safe distance.
The Memory Master held the flashlight in his mouth, opened his arms, and walked over quickly as if he were walking on a balance beam.
"You are here to do a part-time job as well." The illusionist took the flashlight out of his mouth and walked towards the room where the man appeared. On the door of the room was a sign for the First Meeting Room.
"Oh, yes." The man was stunned for a moment before answering the illusionist's question.
They entered the meeting room one after another.
The meeting room was in a state of disrepair, with broken tiles exposing the concrete floor.
Two entire walls were filled with solid wooden cabinets. The trophies and photo frames on them were smashed to pieces, and even some of the wooden boards that were easy to dismantle were removed.
Perhaps because solid wood was too heavy, the cabinet was not moved. The Memory Master guessed that the things in the cabinet door had been taken away long ago.
There were six office chairs in front of the table. The chairs and table had just been wiped clean, and balls of paper towels were thrown beside them.
"We just moved the chairs in. We haven't had time to clean them up after wiping them." The man gathered the tissues together awkwardly. "This place is too dirty, but it has a good atmosphere."
He looked at the Memory Master curiously: "I thought this was a horror show and I could host it alone, but I didn't expect it to be hosted by two people. Have you read the host manual?"
"Ah" This time it was the Memory Master who was confused.
But she soon realized that he was the host mentioned in the part-time job guide.
The illusionist previously thought that the host was sent by the part-time job publisher, and that he could find out the details of the part-time job through the host.
But the host in front of him was obviously not related to the mysterious publisher. He was also here as a part-time worker and mistakenly thought that the memory master was a colleague.
Just go with the flow, the Memory Master pretended to just realize it: "Yes, I am also a host. After taking the part-time job, I was wondering why I didn't get a script. It turns out there is another host."
The Memory Master had never played a script-killing game before, so she only knew the general format and didn't know what it was like to have two hosts. She quickly asked before she was exposed: "My name is A Ren, what should I call you?"
"Call me Jing Ke."
"Jing Ke" Jing Ke assassinates the King of Qin, a text that everyone has learned. This is definitely not the real name, but there is no need to report the real name for a gray part-time job.
"Haha, that's the flower name I used in the last store."
"Then you are my senior." The illusionist immediately made an excuse for his lack of experience, which would inevitably be exposed, "I have just entered the industry not long ago."
"Senior, should we look at the host manual first?"
"Actually, I want to see it too. I can't just open it blindly after receiving so much money from others." Jing Ke took off his heavy backpack and took out a locked box from it.
"But the part-time guide given to me said that the box can only be unlocked after the players have finished playing the game. The script and the host manual are in the box."
No wonder he just wiped the table when he entered the room and did nothing else. He couldn't read and there was nothing else for him to do.
The Memory Master asked: "Did the boss stipulate that we must play in this meeting room?"
Jing Ke asked back: "Doesn't it say in the part-time job guide that this conference room has the best atmosphere? That's why we chose this place."
The illusionist quickly explained: "What I mean is, there may be players who dare not cross a pit that deep with steel bars. It's very dangerous."
There are no protective measures around the grid-like steel bars, so those with a faint heart would definitely not dare to walk there.
"The part-time job guide doesn't really tell me what to do." Jing Ke scratched his hair out of habit, but only scratched the black hat.
"I'm here for the money, and the players who are testing the game should also be here for the money. I hope the money can help them overcome their fear."
"I hope so." The Memory Master echoed, "What is that glowing thing in the pit?"
"What glows?"
"At the bottom of the pit, there is a faint yellow light. Can't you see it?"
Jing Ke looked at her strangely, pushed open the door of the conference room, and looked down.
There was nothing in the pit but a black abyss.
"Ah Ren." Jing Ke said nervously, "The players haven't arrived yet, don't start creating an atmosphere now."
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