Chapter 40.1 Big Factory
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After a series of beeping sounds, everyone fell silent, one after another.
Zhou Xiaochun was the first to speak, “Actually, I thought just doing the work honestly is not bad.”
The punishment rule was really nasty. If the initial Soul Purity wasn’t high, ten points would quickly put a player into a contaminated state.
Wen Shi asked a seemingly naive question, “What would be the fate of the members who got kicked out?”
He knew he had never been in a team battle before, so Ji Yuanzhi answered, “Getting eliminated.”
Inside the game, getting eliminated meant dying.
Nobody could be sure that their team would win. If they got stuck with a teammate who slowed things down, even doing really well didn’t help. To stay in the game, players would work hard to get the highest slacking-off score–meaning they’d go for the riskiest tasks.
Liu Yun gave a bitter smile and joked, “It’s really testing our creativity.”
The most dangerous thing had to be figured out on one’s own. Who knew if triggering the death rule would happen during the process.
Even Zhang Suihe, who had a slight advantage with the【Slack Off】skill, furrowed his brow. It was the first time he had seen such a tormenting way of stealing a moment of leisure.
Each player picked up a freezer and placed it on the nearby shelf. From the recent demonstration by Hai Sheng, the difficulty didn’t seem high, similar to cleaning pig hearts. Just wash it and place it on the conveyor belt.
When Liu Yuan picked up the heart, her brow twitched, “Could this possibly be a human heart?”
Although Hai Sheng kept emphasizing about the Pure-Hearted Beast’s heart, NPC’s words never held much conviction.
Liu Yuan comforted her sister, “Probably not. The color of fat varies.”
She skillfully used a small blade along the major blood vessels. “Overseer Zhao mentioned that the most distinctive feature of the enhanced Beautiful Soul Elixir is its edibility.”
Thinking this way, using flesh and blood as ingredients wasn’t all that strange.
Just as she finished dealing with a heart, a prompt sound came through:
“Your Soul Purity has decreased by 0.1.”
Liu Yuan placed the heart on the conveyor belt. Processing a hundred hearts a day would lead to a ten-point drop in Soul Purity.
Who could withstand such a thing?
In the time it took for her to lift her eyes, she saw a copper coin materialize out of thin air in Zhou Xiaochun’s hand. This coin wasn’t tangible. It appeared semi-illusory. The blood and water from the heart’s veins merged silently at the bottom of the water tank, forming a character guided by the transparent coin. However, the surface of the character was veiled in mist, concealing the answer beneath for everyone except Zhou Xiaochun.
On the other side, Ji Yuanzhi’s pace of cleaning hearts was exceptionally swift, as if he was completely undisturbed. Liu Yun suspected he possessed an item to resist contamination.
…The world of the big shots was truly satisfying.
Liu Yun and Liu Yuan could make it into the top one thousand of the player leaderboard. They were naturally not weak. Unfortunately, this instance didn’t allow them to leverage their strengths. At least in this matter, they had no advantage.
Items to resist contamination that appeared in the in-game store were immediately sold out every time, so buying them now certainly wouldn’t yield any available stock.
As if sensing someone watching, Ji Yuanzhi raised his head. “I can handle half the workload for both of you, Big Sis and Lil Sis.”
This responsibility naturally had to be exchanged for benefits, such as the team leader spot they had discussed earlier.
Liu Yun fell silent for a moment, pointing toward the gathering of senior employees, “But I want to choose him.”
Zhao Ze, the resident of Room 406, dragged over a few unused boxes and pieced them into a makeshift bench, wiping it with his sleeve before gesturing for Wen Shi to sit.
Li Nantian and Sun Cheng, residents of Room 404, offered a shoulder squeeze and a leg pat respectively, quite eager. “Is this amount of force okay?”
Wen Shi nodded with restraint. “It’s okay.”
He stifled a yawn, not having slept well last night. His eyelids drooped quickly, fully closing as he playfully hooked his slender pinky finger. “Lull me to sleep.”
Li Nantian obediently began narrating a bedtime story, “A long, long time ago, they say the air was still fresh, and the four seasons changed distinctly…”
The pauses and phrasing were spot on, his voice full of emotion. Listening to the story, Wen Shi crossed his arms and was about to tilt his head down into a deep slumber.
Sun Cheng fetched a makeshift screen, shielding him from the overhead light.
The remaining ten or so residents swiftly worked on the hearts, helping to boost his performance.
Everyone from the same team halted their actions, turning their attention this way.
Under the weight of so many intense gazes, even trying to ignore it was difficult. Wen Shi reluctantly opened his eyes, “Last night, using my exceptional charisma, I did a small deed, and they chose me as the fourth floor’s dormitory supervisor.”
He hinted that he had passed a certain side quest to become the dormitory supervisor.
Wen Shi shrugged, continuing. “Just to clarify, I’m not slacking off. I’m still pondering how to goof off in a big way.”
So, this was not considered goofing off yet?
Zhou Xiaochun swallowed and turned to Ji Yuanzhi, “Is Young Master planning something really big?”
Ji Yuanzhi understood Wen Shi quite well. He wouldn’t exert ten times the effort for something that could be done with just three.
“Perhaps the game system doesn’t recognize this kind of slacking off method.”
He wasn’t wrong. Wen Shi hadn’t received the notification sound from the system. The latter proved a point through personal experience: slacking off referred to things other than the assigned tasks. Subcontracting didn’t count.
Private discussions among players about game content were ignored by NPCs. However, speaking about such matters in their presence would affect the role-playing aspect. Clearly, no one cared about this at the moment. Normally, unless it was a hundred percent certain, the bonus from the settlement module could be disregarded.
Suppressing the urge to delve into Wen Shi’s secret, Lv Tang looked around. He noticed there were no surveillance cameras above his head, only a smart panel standing at a distance by the end of the water tank. It displayed factors like temperature and time, its purpose unclear.
Hai Sheng was currently in the rest area, a prime opportunity for slacking off. Lv Tang immediately thought about taking out his phone from his pocket.
Ji Yuanzhi: “Step away a bit.”
Lv Tang didn’t catch on immediately.
“Make sure your blood doesn’t splatter onto the freezer when you die. Don’t contaminate the raw materials.”
Lv Tang hesitated for a moment, but Liu Yun quickly understood. Recalling Zhou Xiaochun’s use of a half-illusory copper coin for his skill, they had also gone through a series of disinfection procedures when they entered. Players were most likely only allowed to interact with the work area or items necessary for their tasks. Using a phone directly was obviously a violation.
Lv Tang understood the joints of the situation and felt a shiver down his spine. Gratefully, he said to Ji Yuanzhi, “You saved my life. I won’t forget this great favor.”
Then he hurried over to Wen Shi, who could assign tasks to others. “I choose you as the team leader.”
Ji Yuanzhi: “……”
Wen Shi almost nodded off. Everyone was frighteningly practical.
Lv Tang’s reason for approaching Wen Shi was straightforward: he wanted to use someone else’s hand to complete the cleaning work. In the system prompt, the emphasis was on completing the workload.
Even senior employees had their own set amount of work to finish. Wen Shi didn’t make any concrete promises. “If there’s extra, I’ll distribute it among everyone.”
This time it was about total points. Each person’s presence contributed to the team. That was why Ji Yuanzhi had reminded Lv Tang earlier, otherwise, in a normal team battle instance, he might not have bothered. Someone who couldn’t even grasp a simple death rule could easily become a liability.
Lv Tang knew his weaknesses well. He had survived till now because his damage output was truly strong. Strong enough to survive being surrounded by monsters last night, and with a stroke of luck, he hadn’t encountered any particularly malicious players.
He asked, “Is anyone willing to team up with me to go to the bathroom? Just need someone to think, I’ll handle any monsters.”
Just as Lv Tang was looking for a companion, Wen Shi bounced back to his workstation. “Hai Sheng’s here.”
Everyone immediately lowered their heads, pretending to be busy
Hai Sheng shielded the intense overhead light with a partition, his tone dripping with venom, “Have you all been slacking off?”
He circled around the players’ freezers, “Lazy trash, deduct twenty…”
He became slightly more satisfied upon seeing the freezers belonging to Wen Shi, Ji Yuanzhi, and Zhou Xiaochun, “You three are spared, but barely up to standard.”
Suddenly, the smart panel in the distance started flashing red, “Warning! Trainee workers Yu Wen, Yu Shi, and Feng Shizhuang slacking off during cleaning. A fine of twenty.”
These were the character names for the twins, Big Sister and Sister, and Lv Tang in this instance. As for Zhang Suihe, he managed to escape a scrape using his【Slack Off】skill.
The senior employees escaped criticism, while Hai Sheng roamed around the new employees. An itch from his skin made him move back and forth, occasionally bumping into people. The technique of cutting blood vessels was also important. Some players came close to puncturing the wriggling white worms.
Hai Sheng accused Lv Tang again, “Six minutes! You haven’t finished cleaning a single heart. Deduct ten yuan.”
“Warning! Trainee worker Feng Shizhuang slacking off during cleaning. A fine of ten yuan.” The smart panel would notify everyone when it approved the superior’s deduction.
Even Wen Shi couldn’t slack off under his watchful eyes. He was forced to handle hearts, aiming for a pace of around five minutes per heart.
“Your Soul Purity has decreased by 0.1.”
“Your Soul Purity has decreased by 0.1.”
One reminder after another, creating a subtle psychological pressure.
Close to half an hour passed before Hai Sheng left.
Everyone collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
Ji Yuanzhi: “Finish slacking off as quickly as possible. Following the game’s twisted sense of humor, Hai Sheng’s next visits might likely be longer each time.”
Work couldn’t come to a halt. Hai Sheng would inspect periodically, doling out fines upon speaking.
“I have a safe method, no need to leave or touch anything outside the work area.” Since Liu Yun spoke up, it meant she had a solution to share.
Wen Shi felt immensely gratified. This team was finally showing some cohesion.
The next moment, Liu Yun and Liu Yuan exchanged a glance. Astonishingly, one of them deliberately pierced the cyst of a wriggling white worm. The fibrous material inside immediately wriggled outward, and the nearby fibers crawled toward Liu Yuan’s palm, fiercely gnawing at her gloves, attempting to break down and burrow deeper into her flesh. Liu Yuan squeezed compressed【Bubble】 between the glove and the insects, then ignited the bubbles using an item. She took a small risk. This workshop, which only brought in hearts during the day, probably didn’t have any specific rules against open flames, especially since there were no warning signs on the walls.
Insects generally feared fire, and these small flesh worms were no exception. Accompanied by crackling sounds, Liu Yuan gave them a strong pinch, reducing the insects to a small pile of powder. She removed her mask and expressionlessly swallowed it.
The rule was not to eat hearts. It didn’t say anything about not eating insects. It was worth a try.
“Congratulations, you’ve experienced one of the C-tier joys of slacking off at work – snacking! Deduct six points.”
Liu Yun: “Does it work?”
Liu Yuan nodded. “Six points.”
“Not bad,” Liu Yun said, “Make more, let everyone have a taste. At least that way, each person gets a guaranteed score.”
Based on a few examples given before the game, six points barely made the cut.
Liu Yun burned some more, “Here.”
Several players present took a step back.
“Come on.” Liu Yun repeated.
Everyone shook their heads like they were playing a tambourine.
Liu Yun looked disgusted. “It’s just eating an insect. What are you big guys afraid of? Overreacting.”
Wen Shi directly stood behind Ji Yuanzhi, forfeiting his dignity, “I’m a little guy.”
The corner of Liu Yun’s mouth twitched.
Lv Tang, who had been contemplating if using the restroom was risky, no longer hesitated, “I’ll go to the restroom.”
Zhou Xiaochun spread his feet and caught up with him, “Let’s take a paid restroom break together!”
Ji Yuanzhi seemed to have another plan but didn’t act immediately. He focused on the resting area. Hai Sheng was in a convulsive state as if undergoing withdrawal. He twitched and curled up on the bench. After about a quarter of an hour, he eased slightly and seemed to be heading in their direction.
Once he approached, there was a high likelihood he’d categorize the two going to the restroom as slacking off, rendering their trip pointless.
Ji Yuanzhi prepared to use a skill to slow down Hai Sheng’s pace.
Skills directly correlated with a player’s strength.
After advanced skill quests, players gained unique advantages. One kind, like Wen Shi, had derivative skills. The other type was dual-skill players.
Ji Yuanzhi was one of the few dual-skill players, one of them being【Fleeting Illusion】, possessing a potent hallucinogenic effect.
Just as he was about to act, Wen Shi preemptively walked toward Hai Sheng.
Scratching could no longer quell the itching sensation on his skin. Hai Sheng kept drinking cold water to alleviate the discomfort, imagining himself standing in the cutting area of Workshop Two. He visualized workers skillfully manipulating machines to precisely dissect hearts. The moment the blades sheared through the heart valves, Hai Sheng felt as if a layer of his skin had been peeled away, taking the itching sensation with it.
The feeling of relief hadn’t lasted three seconds when a figure approached from directly ahead.
“Cut me.” Under the aura of【Cutting Princess】, Hai Sheng murmured involuntarily, his eyes carrying a hint of daze, “I feel like you’re really skilled at cutting.”
Wen Shi’s smile froze for a moment. He wasn’t showcasing any talents or offering himself.
Struggling to maintain a smile, Wen Shi leaned down and whispered a few words in Hai Sheng’s ear.
During that brief glance, he vaguely noticed large areas of blue patches on the other person’s skin, now covered with a nauseating layer of yellow-green fuzz, resembling moss in damp regions. The skin around his neck had already been scratched raw by Hai Sheng, with the blood blisters in the middle acting as spores, aiding the moss in its propagation.
No wonder the other person wanted to experience the sensation of being cut.
Wen Shi’s words brought Hai Sheng back to his senses, and he skeptically asked, “Do you really have that confidence?”
Wen Shi nodded, revealing his dormitory supervisor badge. “Coincidentally, I need to submit an application form. The factory manager insisted on it being delivered today, so I’m also going to talk to Jian Qingrong.”
The best way to sway Hai Sheng was through money. He was currently in dire need of Beautiful Soul Elixir, and his salary couldn’t support his demand for it.
Wen Shi seized the opportunity to influence Hai Sheng.
Hai Sheng was unaware that the factory manager had instructed the interviewer to have Jian Qingrong support him. Upon hearing Wen Shi mentioning seeing a passbook at Jian Qingrong’s house yesterday, he immediately started calculating.
Hearing Wen Shi suggest taking the initiative to persuade Jian Qingrong filled him with instant elation.
“Alright, alright, as long as you can persuade Jian Qingrong to voluntarily support me this time, I’ll give you a set of protective suits.”
【Solo Side Quest 2: Jian Qingrong’s passbook
Quest Objective: Jian Qingrong has worked hard to save up some money, and now Hai Sheng wants it. Please help Hai Sheng obtain Jian Qingrong’s passbook and passcode.
Quest Reward: Soul Purity +5; Makeshift Protective Suit*1】
“……” You really are quite stingy.
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