As they walked toward the town's recruitment market, Li Yichen suddenly spoke up, asking Lu Yunfei, "What did you do before?"
Lu Yunfei casually answered, "I worked in programming, mainly in technical management and project management. I'm a science guy, I like logic."
Li Yichen nodded, seemingly not surprised, and then continued, "I served in a special forces unit. I first entered the military academy and was selected for a special forces squad that carried out peacekeeping missions for the United Nations."
"That's impressive," Lu Yunfei commented, feeling that Li Yichen gave off a unique aura.
Li Yichen spoke in a slightly thoughtful tone, "But this mission was strange. I had always been vigilant, but during the mission, a strong light flashed, and by the time I reacted, I had been shot."
Lu Yunfei furrowed his brows, unable to help saying, "I had something similar. When the accident happened, I also saw a bright light right before everything went wrong."
Both fell into silence, each feeling an unspoken confusion. The strong light, the unexpected event, seemed like an inexplicable coincidence.
In any case, they still had no answers about all of this.
As the conversation halted, they quickly arrived at the recruitment market.
This was the only small market in the town, where stall vendors were talking to the residents looking for work.
Lu Yunfei and Li Yichen wandered through the market. It was small, with stalls offering jobs like manual laborers, shop assistants, and supermarket workers.
The jobs seemed ordinary, but they noticed that no matter which stall they approached, the shopkeepers gave them the same look—no one seemed willing to hire them.
Li Yichen furrowed his brows and stepped up to a stall, asking tentatively, "I'm strong, lifting cargo shouldn't be a problem, right?"
The stall owner looked up at him and answered flatly, "We don't need anyone." With that, the stall owner turned back to his tasks, as though their conversation had been a fleeting interruption.
Li Yichen was a bit puzzled and glanced back at Lu Yunfei. They both felt confused. No one seemed willing to hire them here. Just as they were about to leave, a middle-aged man in a suit approached them.
"You seem to be looking for work?" The man looked at them with a sharp gaze.
Lu Yunfei nodded, and Li Yichen replied, "Yes, we're looking for some jobs."
The man smiled slightly. "You could try the town government. I heard they're hiring recently." He gestured toward a modest building in the distance. "They might have something that interests you."
Both of them were intrigued and headed toward the town government.
The town government's entrance was smaller than they had expected, fitting in with the surrounding town atmosphere. Two staff members who didn't seem busy were standing at the door. When they saw Lu Yunfei and Li Yichen, they simply nodded and gestured for them to enter. Inside the hall, it was empty, with only a few people around.
A female staff member in uniform approached and asked, "Are you here to apply for a job?"
"Yes, we heard you have positions available," Lu Yunfei replied.
The female staff member nodded and opened a folder. "We have two positions you might consider. The first is responsible for managing emergency plans for the town's infrastructure—mainly handling urgent issues like lighting, electricity, and plumbing. You'll need some programming skills and quick thinking. The second is a firefighting position, mainly for disaster rescue work. You can choose which one interests you."
Lu Yunfei and Li Yichen exchanged a glance, clearly surprised by this unexpected opportunity.
"What are the requirements?" Li Yichen asked.
The female staff member hesitated for a moment. "The first job requires certain technical skills, especially in dealing with system failures where you need to respond quickly and propose solutions. The second position is more physical labor and emergency rescue work, which suits someone like you, who's physically strong," she said, pointing to Li Yichen.
Lu Yunfei thought for a moment and said, "We both have some emergency response experience. I could handle the position related to the emergency plan management."
Li Yichen nodded as well. "I can do the firefighting work. I'm no stranger to rescue missions."
"Alright, then. You can fill out some basic registration forms. Afterward, there will be training, and specific arrangements will be notified later." The staff member smiled and handed them two registration forms.
After they filled out the forms, the town government staff told them, "Starting tomorrow, you can begin work according to your respective positions."
Li Yichen and Lu Yunfei exchanged a glance, both with a hint of suspicion in their eyes. The two positions seemed ordinary but strangely aligned with their backgrounds.
Li Yichen quietly asked, "Do you think these jobs were specifically arranged for us?"
Lu Yunfei remained silent for a moment, his brow furrowed. "No matter what, we need to be cautious."
The next day, Li Yichen and Lu Yunfei arrived at their respective work locations as instructed. Li Yichen's first task was at the fire station, while Lu Yunfei headed to the town's emergency response center.
Li Yichen's job began with a briefing on the current infrastructure and rescue operations, focusing on training that would allow him to respond quickly in case of an emergency. Despite his previous experience, the training felt strangely detached, as if it were too basic or prepared for someone with far less capability.
At the fire station, the staff seemed unusually serious. They gave him minimal instructions, and whenever he asked a question, they gave vague responses. It didn't take long for Li Yichen to realize that something felt off—like they were testing him, or perhaps waiting for something specific from him.
Meanwhile, at the emergency response center, Lu Yunfei found himself poring over blueprints and emergency plans for the town's infrastructure. While the work was intellectually stimulating, the more he dug into the files, the more questions he had. Many of the plans seemed outdated, and the data about the town's utility systems appeared to be incomplete or missing altogether.
The more they engaged with their work, the more the two of them began to feel a mounting sense of unease. It wasn't just the nature of the tasks, but the strange precision with which they had been selected for these positions.
That evening, after work, they met up at the local tavern. Li Yichen ordered a drink, his brow furrowed in deep thought.
"So, what do you think?" Li Yichen asked, leaning back in his chair.
Lu Yunfei took a moment before answering, his voice quiet but firm, "There's something not right. This town… It's too controlled. The people here, the jobs… even the way things are organized. It's like we're part of some kind of experiment."
Li Yichen nodded, his expression darkening. "I've been getting the same feeling. They're watching us. Maybe testing us, or waiting for us to do something."
Lu Yunfei took a deep breath, "I don't like how everything feels prearranged. They knew exactly what we could do before we even arrived."
Both of them fell silent, the weight of their suspicions hanging in the air.
As they sat in the dimly lit tavern, the unease between them deepened. Despite their experiences, neither of them could figure out exactly what was going on in the town. The strange selection of their jobs, the odd reactions from the townspeople, and the sense that they were being watched—it all pointed toward something larger, something they couldn't yet comprehend.
"Tomorrow, we need to dig deeper," Lu Yunfei said, breaking the silence. "We'll find out what's really going on here."
Li Yichen agreed, his gaze hardening with determination. "We'll figure it out. But we need to stay sharp. Whoever's behind this… they're watching us."
The next few days passed in a blur. Both Li Yichen and Lu Yunfei continued their work, but now they were on high alert, looking for anything unusual that could give them more answers. The work itself was easy for them—too easy, almost. It felt like they were being fed information, rather than figuring things out on their own.
One afternoon, while checking a utility system in the emergency response center, Lu Yunfei stumbled upon a hidden compartment in the back of a filing cabinet. Inside was a small, unmarked folder. When he opened it, his heart skipped a beat.
The folder contained detailed files on both him and Li Yichen—information that they hadn't shared with anyone in the town. Personal details, their pasts, their strengths, and even their weaknesses. It was like someone had been watching them long before they had arrived.
The discovery shook him to his core. He immediately closed the folder and slipped it into his bag, vowing to confront Li Yichen about it later.
That night, as they sat together in the tavern, Lu Yunfei pulled out the folder.
"This is it," he said, his voice tense. "Someone's been watching us… for a long time."
Li Yichen took the folder from him, flipping through it quickly. "Who the hell could have gotten all this information on us?" he muttered under his breath.
"It's like we were selected for something," Lu Yunfei said, his voice low. "Like we were… chosen."
Li Yichen's eyes hardened. "I think we've been part of an experiment. This whole town, the work, the people—it's all part of something much bigger than we thought."
The realization hit them both hard. They weren't just randomly placed in this town—they were part of something orchestrated. And whatever it was, it was just beginning to unfold.
They knew they had to act fast. The more they learned, the more dangerous this whole situation seemed.
The next morning, they made a pact: they would dig deeper into the town's secrets and uncover the truth, no matter what it took.
But as they left the tavern, a chilling feeling washed over them. They were no longer just trying to survive—they were now trying to escape something that had been watching their every move.