Su Mo had always been a very hardworking person; from childhood to adulthood, his grades consistently remained in the top five of his class.
He studied diligently and worked part-time during his spare time. Su Mo didn't harbor grand ambitions; he just wanted to join a good company after graduation to earn money and alleviate his family's financial burden as soon as possible.
Although Su Mo hadn't graduated yet, he occasionally fantasized about his future work life…
"I'm asking you a question. What did you hear?"
Gao Ming's tone turned cold, startling Su Mo so much that he shivered, his mind flashing through his life as if watching a highlight reel.
"Nothing." Su Mo immediately shook his head. "I didn't hear anything!"
"Don't be curious about things you shouldn't be." Gao Ming blocked the door with his body. "The world is more complicated than you think. Go home early in the evening; don't work too late outside."
"Understood, understood." Su Mo grabbed his electric scooter helmet and turned to run, moving even faster than before.
Gasping for breath as he rushed into the elevator, Su Mo frantically pressed the close button. Not until the silver-gray doors of the elevator had shut did he heave a sigh of relief.
"The workplace is too scary."
The building's air conditioning was cranked up high. Su Mo, standing in the corner of the elevator and wiping sweat off his forehead, overheard two men, one tall and one short, whispering to each other.
"The night before last, a programmer working overtime on the eleventh floor died suddenly. His colleagues thought he had fallen asleep and worked next to the body for quite some time before they realized something was off."
"That's creepy. The gaming industry is too competitive nowadays. The meager earnings aren't even enough to pay medical bills."
"Do you know what's even more terrifying?" The shorter man gestured closer, lowering his voice. "My friend told me that last night, as he was leaving the office, he saw someone still working inside. So he didn't turn off the light. At that moment, the person, with his back to him, said—'It's alright, I can see without the light.'"
"Damn, was it that programmer who died suddenly?"
"Don't know! Anyway, my friend was also stunned at the time. Later he found that person sitting at the deceased's workstation, and the computer screen seemed to be filled with gibberish!"
The elevator jolted, and the two men walked out, leaving Su Mo alone inside.
He stared at the elevator display, feeling somewhat afraid as the story recounted by the two male employees echoed in his ears.
The blood-red numbers on the display kept changing until they reached 11.
The elevator doors slowly opened to an empty corridor. The chill from the air conditioning streamed down his neck, and Su Mo, looking out into the deserted hallway, felt as if several small hands were clawing at his heart, growing increasingly uneasy.
A few seconds before the elevator doors were about to close, a male employee carrying a laptop bag hurriedly ran in.
Relieved to have company, Su Mo hugged his helmet tighter and took out his phone to continue picking up orders.
Fixated on the phone screen, Su Mo suddenly felt something was off. He tilted his phone's screen to selfie mode and discovered that the male employee who had just entered had been staring at him ever since he got on.
His Adam's apple bobbed as Su Mo stole a glance at the male employee, whose eyes were fixed intently on him.
Backing away, Su Mo leaned against the elevator wall, but the male employee maintained the same expression, his mouth slowly opening.
"So you really can see me."
…
Gao Ming didn't chase after Su Mo; he stood at the storeroom door, quietly sipping his milk tea.
As the download numbers for "To Our Love That Will Eventually Perish" kept rising, Xuan Wen's condition worsened. Her self-will grew quickly, becoming crazed as it consumed too many emotions.
At 9:30 p.m., many rooms in the office building had their lights turned off, and the last employee shuttle bus had already departed.
Apart from Night Lamp Studio, only Unicorn Game Studio, ranked fifth under Motu Technology, was still working overtime.
Night Lamp Studio had few people, and the overtime was because they usually had no work at all. Finally, there was a project, so everyone was working extremely hard.
Unicorn Game Studio had several times the number of employees as Night Lamp Studio, occupying three floors. They were the most competitive studio at Motu Technology, with employees who worked immensely hard; their normal clock-out time was nine at night.
"Working yourselves to death for money? Even the inmates at Henshan Felon Prison have finished their labor reform and gone back to their cells by this hour." Gao Ming, worried that Xuan Wen might lose control and go on a killing spree, hoped everyone would leave quickly, but contrary to his wishes, tonight, everyone was particularly fired up.
"Gao Ming! The download number for our demo version has already broken fifteen thousand!" Wei Dayou was excited and had specifically run to the storeroom's door, wanting to share the good news with Gao Ming, "Without any significant advertising, players are spontaneously inviting their friends to play. Our game might be able to break out of its circle!"
"That's great."
"You were right to stick with it! Our Night Lamp Studio should be able to sustain itself longer with this game!" Wei Dayou brewed a cup of coffee, "Our studio hasn't seen any game revenue share for a full seven months, and now everyone's passion has been aroused again!"
"They don't say much, but they actually have quite an affection for Night Lamp." Gao Ming himself had collaborated with Night Lamp for a long time and knew the studio had its moments of glory.
"This time we must fight a beautiful battle to turn things around!" Wei Dayou had no intention of leaving, which gave Gao Ming a bit of a headache.
"You, let everyone leave and rest for now; it's getting too late."
"Not going back today! The guys are up for a fight!" Wei Dayou took a sip of his coffee and manly returned to his workstation.
"Such a rebellious streak." Gao Ming glanced at the increasing download numbers for the demo and knocked on the storeroom's door, "Xuan Wen, are you feeling better?"
No response. Gao Ming was somewhat worried, so he cracked the door open a sliver.
The light was twisted; there wasn't a trace of illumination in the storeroom, only large swathes of shadows flickering like ghostly flames.
"Xuan Wen?"
The woman dressed in business attire was enveloped in layers of shadow. Her eyes were tightly closed, and tiny, pitch-black veins emerged on the surface of her skin. One end of those veins connected to the shadows, the other converged and tangled inside her.
"This looks a bit like the chains between Zhao Xi and me."
Zhao Xi had turned into something monstrous by an unknown world, all his abnormal and terrifying abilities originated from another world. His own memories, regrets, and tenacity turned into chain-like black veins that wrapped around his and Gao Ming's wrists.
Zhao Xi was a person from the real world, but Xuan Wen was a creation of Gao Ming's design; she had no real connection to the actual world. However, when more than ten thousand people learned of her existence through the game, she also developed those tiny black veins within her body.
"Belief brings existence, disbelief leads to oblivion. Strong emotional stimuli might make a ghost story exist forever in people's hearts; no wonder those creatures like to spread horror."
Gao Ming stepped into the shadows, his gaze fixed on Xuan Wen's pale neck.
All the newly appeared tiny veins were converging toward that spot, eventually forming a chain-like entity, which seemed to be the core of Xuan Wen's tenacity and memories.
"Destroying the chain might send Xuan Wen back to the Shadow World in a coma, or she could collapse and lose control altogether; if I connect the chain to myself, I might steal her abilities."
The opportunity to "kill" or "dominate" Xuan Wen was right before him, Gao Ming's hand slowly raised, but in the end, he only picked up the unopened milk tea next to Xuan Wen.
"It's been hard to develop a will of her own; it would indeed be too cruel to leave without experiencing anything good." Gao Ming opened the milk tea lid and started gulping it down, "Room temperature, tastier without ice."
Gao Ming left the storeroom holding the milk tea. After he closed the door and walked away, Xuan Wen's tightly shut eyes slowly opened.
"I gave you a chance, is it for you to drink milk tea?"