Chapter 39.1 Big Factory
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It was just a lost love, was it really that serious?
Wen Shi thought Overseer Zhao was making a fuss over nothing, but on the other hand, he was surprised that the teenager actually run to the sixth floor.
The dorm supervisor had mentioned before that impressive people lived from the sixth floor onwards. Wen Shi couldn’t help but question if he had underestimated the teenager’s abilities. After all, knowing Overseer Zhao’s temperament, if he took a liking to someone and they left midway, he would get angry first and then seek revenge, not cry like this.
“My little brother is actually quite kind,” Wen Shi reassured patiently. “You see, he has the ability to move on to something better and didn’t let the next person come to fix things after you.”
Overseer Zhao opened his swollen eyes wide. “Is that true? So he still had some friendship towards me, right?”
Wen Shi nodded, “Yes, yes.”
Overseer Zhao asked, “So, did you think we still had a chance?”
Wen Shi nodded, “Yes, yes.”
A gust of wind blew, causing a tear that had broken free to almost splash onto Wen Shi’s collar. Stepping back, Wen Shi reached out to help Overseer Zhao put on his sunglasses.
“Take care,” Wen Shi offered.
He couldn’t think of any other words to console the other person.
“Keep up with me!”
Concealing his teary eyes, not wanting to become a spectacle, Overseer Zhao resumed his fierceness and led the remaining group towards Workshop Two. The cafeteria only provided one meal a day for interns. New employees had no breakfast–they had to head straight into work after an early rise.
In the passing moment, the employees heading to Workshop Two cast intriguing glances in Wen Shi’s direction.
Wen Shi thought, “What are they looking at me for? It’s not like I’m the one who pushed someone to the brink.”
As Tu Bianxi passed by, he remained rather composed. He looked around at the others, especially when he saw Ji Yuanzhi, he said with meaning, “You must be quite pleased now.”
Ji Yuanzhi smiled, “Congratulations to you as well, for putting together an ideal team.”
This should have been a commendable achievement, but when compared, the results of Tu Bianxi’s all-out effort appeared somewhat inferior.
Zhou Xiaochun was still amazed by the previous event. “Your little brother is quite wild, huh.”
Moreover, this Overseer Zhao turned out to be quite the romantic-minded individual.
Wen Shi and he weren’t on the same wavelength. Understanding how Tu Bianxi manipulated the team formation, Wen Shi explained, “IOU.”
Zhou Xiaochun asked unconsciously, “What IOU?”
Wen Shi explained, “You didn’t go ask Hai Sheng for some Beautiful Soul Elixir, right?”
At that time, two players were confident enough to survive the night and did not follow everyone into the factory for the second time.
Zhou Xiaochun nodded. “Before going, I did a divination. The result showed that even if I didn’t borrow the ‘high-interest loan,’ I still had a ninety percent survival rate for the first night.”
He openly shared his personal skill. In the virtual world, players almost always hid their skills, like Wen Shi and Ji Yuanzhi. So far, they belonged to the very few who remained completely unpredictable.
“Impressive,” Wen Shi praised his skill, then continued, “That’s the issue here. The high-interest loan project was a collaboration between Overseer Zhao and Hai Sheng. Workshop Two had better benefits, so they must have prioritized offering it to new employees with more debts.”
This way, they could ensure those new employees repaid the Beautiful Soul Elixir as quickly as possible. After all, there was some profit for Overseer Zhao in this lend-one-repay-three business. Talking about tactics, Tu Bianxi might be arrogant, but he was indeed strong. He would willingly accumulate debt, probably foreseeing this situation.
It was likely not just the Seventh Commandment member. Tu Bianxi privately suggested to several individuals heading to Workshop Two that they should borrow more. In other words, although the game claimed that NPC would assign teams, Tu Bianxi was personally selecting his team members. As for Wen Shi, Tu Bianxi did consider bringing him into the team for some gradual torment, but both sides were cautious. Tu Bianxi knew it would be difficult to convince Wen Shi to accumulate more debt.
Zhou Xiaochun’s expression became complicated. “No wonder we formed the most speechless team in history.”
The most speechless?
Wen Shi raised an eyebrow, wondering where this was coming from.
Zhou Xiaochun sighed and glanced at the player with a perpetually vacant look, “That Zhang Suihe, his skill is【Slack Off】. This skill is quite suitable for this instance. When multiple people are performing the same task, if a player slacks off or doesn’t meet the task’s standards, there’s a certain probability that the NPC will overlook them, sparing them from punishment. But on the other hand…”
Wen Shi wore a “I understand” expression, realizing that this skill contributed almost nothing to the team.
Zhou Xiaochun continued, “Lv Tang is said to have an attack skill.”
Wen Shi looked at him, noting the unmentioned twin sisters, Big Sis and Lil Sis.
“My sister and I have the skill【Bubble】.” Their gazes met, and Liu Yun straightforwardly explained, “As the name suggests, when facing danger, we can hide inside a bubble. As long as we don’t encounter enemies stronger than demon beasts, we’re invulnerable for thirty seconds.”
Wen Shi: “Can others enter the bubble?”
Liu Yun shook her head.
Wen Shi: “……” Very well, adding skills that were useless for the team.
Liu Yuan stood behind her dear Big Sis, curiously asking Wen Shi, “What’s your skill?”
Everyone looked towards him, even Ji Yuanzhi turned his gaze to Wen Shi. Clearly, they were all quite curious about this question.
“Lucky Star,” Wen Shi’s tone remained unchanged. “The more challenging the task, the higher the activation success rate of the skill.”
Liu Yun questioned skeptically, “As far as I know, the game doesn’t have this skill.”
Wen Shi’s expression didn’t change as he replied, “You just haven’t seen it. How else do you think I successfully refined a Wandering Corpse?”
Some of Liu Yun’s doubts faded away. The presence of the Wandering Corpse had a convincing weight. The success rate of refining a【Spirit Coffin】was only thirty percent, and those who weren’t very lucky wouldn’t succeed at all.
Ji Yuanzhi pushed his glasses but didn’t speak. Having successfully survived a 3S instance and several S-class instances, Ji Yuanzhi had no intention of sharing. No one dared to demand it from him.
With some time before work, after exchanging phone numbers, Ji Yuanzhi suggested, “Let’s choose a leader first.”
The group fell into silence, knowing that being a leader had its perks, which tempted everyone.
Liu Yun and Liu Yuan exchanged a glance. They didn’t need to speak. If they couldn’t reach a consensus in the end, they would each vote for themselves a sure win for the twin sisters.
Knowing he had a weaker ability and unable to compete, Zhang Suihe continued to space out.
Lv Tang chimed in, “Whoever gives me the most points, I’ll pick them.”
The special rewards from the A+ instance were surely impressive. If he didn’t vie for the captain position, at least he had to get some points.
Ji Yuanzhi had long anticipated such a situation. Players were driven by their interests, and temporary teams inevitably lacked unity.
His tone was calm yet forceful, “Allow me to remind everyone: Having some wealth brings fortune, but without life, one cannot enjoy it.”
In team battles, it was either survival or death–everyone shared the glory and the loss.
Lv Tang retorted, “This won’t scare us. Even if we all vote for you, you might not put your heart and soul into leading the team to victory.”
【Exemption】and【Inheritance】were practically encouraging leaders to lure and kill their own members.
This was also the reason why Zhou Xiaochun had previously considered the team combination the most speechless, as it included Pei Wenwei. In order to obtain all the clues about the 3S instance from the other side, Ji Yuanzhi, who was most capable of leading the team to victory, might intentionally let the team battle fail.
Lv Tang continued, “I suspect your skill is similar to Zhou Xiaochun’s, something like clairvoyance. Otherwise, why would you spend a fortune to auction off team slots?”
Even though Tu Bianxi had deliberately provoked before leaving, he had indeed planted a thorn in everyone’s hearts.
When the atmosphere grew tense, an untimely voice rang out, “Why are you talking to my dad?”
Ji Yuanzhi nodded in satisfaction. Yes, it hadn’t been in vain.
“……” Lv Tang’s mouth twitched, addressing Wen Shi, “You’re quite optimistic.”
Shouldn’t the person most in need of worrying be Pei Wenwei himself?
With enthusiasm rising, Wen Shi was certain everyone had shared their opinions and that it was now his turn. He raised his arm and suddenly began to speak, “Have you all gone crazy? You actually want to work honestly for this unscrupulous factory? How much work, how much effort do we need to put in, just to earn a spot!”
“I believe you’ve already witnessed the substantial strength of my younger brother and me. On our very first day here, we almost had two men brawl right outside the dormitory door. If we continue to perform steadily, it’s just a matter of the judges’ decision as to who the outstanding employees are and what the promotion path will be!”
Wen Shi’s voice intensified, “You all better think carefully. Do you want to work until you drop, or do you want to rely on my connections?”
His unexpected speech left everyone in stunned silence.
Liu Yun’s expression was hard to describe. “It’s like he’s living in a different world from us.”
Liu Yuan agreed deeply, “I feel the same way.”
While everyone worried about the infighting caused by the【Inheritance】, this newbie was the only one earnestly giving a speech.
In the suffocating seconds that followed, Liu Yun rubbed her temple. “You’re quite good-looking.”
“Just good-looking?”
“… Alright, you’re the most handsome among all the people I’ve seen.”
Liu Yun didn’t mention Wen Shi’s little brother. To her, he was an NPC.
“However, an instance won’t provide an easier passage just based on looks,” Liu Yun spoke objectively. “Being invited by NPCs and being chosen as an outstanding new employee can’t be generalized.”
Overseer Zhao’s greed and lust might make it easy for him to invite people into the dorms, but this was a horror game–becoming an outstanding employee wasn’t a simple transaction of power and influence.
“You’re still too young. You don’t yet understand shortcuts,” Wen Shi said.
Liu Yuan couldn’t hold back, “You’re the youngest.”
“That’s why you all benefit from my youth,” Wen Shi replied. One person puts in effort, the whole team gains. How could they not see this?
“……”
Of course, Wen Shi didn’t expect his absurd words to sway them directly. “Let’s wait until the end of the day’s work and then vote together.”
He only aimed to stall, seeking another solution.
Big Factory was the precursor to the special 3S instance. Holding the World Shard, he would eventually descend into the 3S instance. Therefore, he must grasp any potential rewards that might appear in this instance.
Ji Yuanzhi glanced at his watch. “Let’s go to the workshop.”
In his words, he agreed to the proposal.
Wen Shi gave a thumbs-up. “Golden Dad.”
The structure of Workshop One was quite different from Workshop Three. Upon entering, they first encountered an abandoned office area, cluttered with discarded items like cardboard boxes. Then came a narrow corridor, leading to a door that required a keycard for access. At the moment, all they could do was wait for the senior employees to arrive.
Despite the 8 AM start time, it wasn’t until 7:45 AM that the first employee showed up. His face was bruised and swollen, with his nose looking a bit crooked. One of his arms was in a cast, as if he’d taken quite a beating.
“Hai Sheng.”
Everyone except Zhou Xiaochun and Zhang Suihe, who hadn’t gone to get an IOU, had seen him before.
“I’ll be the one guiding you during your probation period.” Hai Sheng’s injured mouth twitched slightly as he tried to suppress a hiss, his hand covering his cheek.
Normally, after working a night shift, one would get a day off. However, he had voluntarily chosen to come and guide the interns this time.
First, he wanted to earn more money–Hai Sheng urgently needed funds to buy Beautiful Soul Elixir. He couldn’t wait for these interns to repay their debts. Secondly, he wanted to find the person who had beaten him up yesterday. His swollen eyes squinted as he tried hard to see the face of every new employee, especially the two women.
He remembered the person who had beaten him yesterday was a woman, with a very sweet and coquettish voice.
“You, say something.”
Liu Yun and Liu Yuan exchanged a glance. When they had entered the warehouse yesterday, Hai Sheng had already been beaten, looking dazed and confused.
“Say what?” Both said in unison.
Hai Sheng covered his mouth. “Not sweet or charming enough, it’s not you.”
“……”
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