Chapter 2132: Confinement (1)

You really shouldn't speak carelessly. Was this the legendary case where a casual remark proves prophetic?

A sudden anomaly had occurred, yet the situation felt incredibly familiar.

Recognizing what had happened in an instant, Fu Qian sighed to himself.

The situation was quite simple. After he had completed his first mission of the week, had the Warehouse waited too long for its Administrator to clock in again?

Since he was required to maintain full attendance for the remaining days, it had simply dragged him in to work.

It even looked like a major job.

1-008. It was hard to say whether this assignment was deliberately targeting his passive attitude.

Fair enough. Fu Qian had no complaints.

If the system hadn't done anything under these circumstances, wouldn't his trip here have been half pointless?

Exactly. He had tracked his way here primarily to bring the hard-working Pope over for a cup of tea.

But Fu Qian had never forgotten this place's other major significance—it was his former mailing address.

So far this week, he had only completed a single task on a vehicle during his commute. Given the time that had passed, it was indeed about that time again.

Because of that, Fu Qian had been quite curious about whether the Warehouse would forcefully arrange another assignment for him, much like the anonymous letter he had just thought of.

Looking back on it, that was truly an interesting method.

So, while drinking tea, Fu Qian had actually been looking forward to seeing whether Mrs. Harper would pull out another letter in some unusual way.

As it turned out, the Warehouse really didn't disappoint. Even while he was inside a picture within a picture, his work notice had still been delivered. In fact, the delivery method was even more forceful this time.

The previous letter had arrived much more tactfully. It had even explicitly stated that the mission could be abandoned without any negative consequences.

This time, however, the situation felt much more like the mandatory midnight clock-in triggered by a Reassignment.

There was no talk of giving up, nor was there even a confirmation prompt to begin.

[Current SAN Value: 149]

[Select the skill you wish to equip]

As he pondered this, a slightly comforting prompt appeared—at least it wasn't making him enter with a blank slate.

Unsurprisingly, the previous incident hadn't been an exception. There was still only one skill available for selection: King of the Abandoned Prison.

[Due to load restrictions, you cannot equip any additional Items]

[Due to load restrictions, most damage will no longer be repaired upon mission completion]

The two penalty notifications arrived right on schedule.

...

It seemed much more active. Had the Warehouse's condition recovered, or was there another reason?

Fu Qian didn't mind. He casually selected the skill, focusing his thoughts on what might have caused this situation.

Theoretically, he was hidden much deeper this time than before. Yet, the system had not only found him but forcibly pulled him in, fully displaying its overbearing nature.

Honestly, if it really had recovered a bit, that would make sense.

As its latest Administrator, his methods were sometimes a bit uninhibited, but the dozens of things he had successfully brought under Containment had to hold some significance for the Warehouse.

Of course, everyone was just trying to get by. Fu Qian never expected any emotional validation like gratitude; he was simply looking forward to seeing how the Warehouse would change.

So, did this count as a change?

It was hard to say for now. But compared to that, another point was far more important: once this mission was over, would he be sent straight back to drink tea like last time, or would he appear in the Warehouse to claim his reward?

If it were the latter, the implications would be vast.

Not only would he be able to try taking things out from inside, but he could also test if taking off the Emissary mask would allow him to travel back and forth from the Warehouse at will.

[...8%... 13%... 21%... 34%... 55%... 89%... 100%, Containment Scenario loading complete]

Amidst his beautiful visions of the future, this top-ranked, number one mission officially began.

[Walking a distance, finding a door, and then choosing whether to open it or not—this can almost be used to describe the lives of most people.

In fact, for the mediocre, this model is far too complex, because they possess neither the ability to actively seek out a door, nor the opportunity to make a choice.

Fortunately, you do not seem to be one of them.

One day in your adulthood, you went to great lengths to travel from afar, choosing to seek peace in this place. This is your second week here.

You are not entirely satisfied with the scenery you saw after pushing open that door, but you are determined to hold on to your original intention and continue forward.

Meanwhile, your partner is hardly a good role model.

He is so old that everything he does is painfully slow, yet he seems to have no wisdom to share.

On the contrary, he is growing increasingly convinced that he understands absolutely nothing about you young people.

Happy hunting.]

...

Oh? He was even assigned a partner right from the start this time?

It had even offered him a blessing at the very end. Such treatment was incredibly rare.

Although the mission brief suggested that this partner wouldn't be very reliable, that was just a minor detail.

After all, in his past work experiences, the ratio of reliable team members had never been high anyway.

With no major complaints about the mission introduction, Fu Qian's five senses rapidly returned to him. The very first thing to hit him was a stiff numbness radiating from his neck and shoulders.

Oh?

This physical sensation made him decide against rushing to move. He simply opened his eyes slowly.

A high plaster ceiling loomed above him, completely unadorned save for a few dark, diamond-shaped patterns.

It looked quite old and had gathered a fair amount of dust, but it was still brightly lit by a long, slender fluorescent tube, washing it in a sickly white glare.

As Fu Qian shifted his gaze toward the light source, his view was obstructed.

A highly transparent glass bottle hung upside down in the way, distorting the image of the light into a bent arc.

This familiar sense of déjà vu...

Opening his eyes to this scene undoubtedly made him recall childhood memories of running a fever and being hooked up to an IV drip.

He was sure many people had stared up at a scene just like this, realizing for the very first time in their lives that they weren't actually very patient.

But for Fu Qian, it also brought a much fresher memory to mind—the very beginning of his career as a Warehouse Manager.

Back then, he had also opened his eyes just like this, staring up at an IV bottle hanging above him.

Compared to that, however, this setup looked much cleaner.

There were no grease stains, and there was no red liquid being pumped into his body—but there was red liquid flowing out.

Following the plastic tubing all the way down, Fu Qian quickly noticed a streak of bright red at its end, leading right to where the needle pierced the back of his left hand.

Was this truly a case of Yesterday Once More?

It wasn't a blood transfusion, just blood backing up into the tube. Based on the residual clear liquid in the line, Fu Qian could easily confirm this much.

But the sight alone triggered a hair-raising sense of déjà vu, even if it lacked the familiar, friendly greeting of "You're awake"—

"What time is it?"

Right on cue, a voice broke through his reminiscence, sounding soft and lethargic from somewhere beside him.

Of course, it wasn't the Old Man who had acted as his doctor back then.

Fu Qian turned his head and looked at the figure lifting a head from the adjacent mattress. Was this... a nurse?