For some reason, the livestream interface was floating above, aimed directly at the office door.
But yang chaoyu's phone was clearly in her hand, pointed at the empty desk...
Yang Chaoyu suddenly realized something, retreated sharply, and backed up to the windowsill.
A blurry human silhouette appeared in the doorway. Its head seemed to turn slightly, looking toward Yang Chaoyu. It clearly had no facial features—just a pitch-black lump in the shape of a person—but Yang Chaoyu could sense that it was looking at her, filled with malice and killing intent.
Behind it, something seemed to be dragging an iron hammer.
The instant Yang Chaoyu saw it, her heart turned cold. This black shadow seemed to be the same one she had accidentally seen when Qi Yang's leg was broken.
It was incredibly fast!
But Yang Chaoyu had only just graduated and was something of a frail scholar—the kind of “frail” person who had to walk three-quarters of the way even when running four hundred meters.
She did not think she could withstand a direct blow from it.
At that moment, she somehow became distracted. She did not know where she had read it, but apparently, when facing danger, a person's ability to track movement became heightened, as though everything were moving in slow motion. Yet although she could clearly see the iron hammer smashing toward her, it did not make her movements any faster.
Moreover, her body simply refused to obey her. She could not move!
Seeing the phantom image of the iron hammer crash toward her face, she subconsciously shut her eyes and raised her hands to shield her head.
A chill brushed against her ankle, and then she was violently yanked to the ground. Her heart pounded fiercely, loud enough to be astonishing. A tremendous cracking sound rang out above her head as the stone shattered, sending countless fragments and bits of rubble flying into her head and back.
It felt as if countless tiny needles were stabbing her at once. Gasping, she endured the pain in her ankle, rolled over, and moved away from the windowsill.
No matter what, she had survived the previous blow. This time, she had to do her best to evade it.
But the next strike did not come.
She cautiously stuck her head out and looked. The room was empty; no one was there.
Ke Xingyun's voice came from far away: “big sis, are you all right?”
That shout made the breath Yang Chaoyu had been holding escape all at once. Limp-limbed, she staggered toward the doorway, wanting to say she was fine, but her palpitations had not yet stopped. Her entire body was weak, and her voice was no louder than a mosquito's hum.
The old man sat with his head bowed in the living room. When he saw her come out, he revealed a mouthful of yellow teeth.
“Little girl, you have pretty good luck. You actually escaped a blow from the overseer.”
Yang Chaoyu did not feel like speaking. In all her more than twenty years, she had never experienced anything as dangerous as what had just happened. Even breathing made her tremble now, and her whole body shook as if a motor had been installed inside it.
“Your aptitude isn't bad.” The baseball cap's voice came from the bathroom, tinged with surprise.
“You actually dared to come back!”
Yang Chaoyu's anger flared instantly. She sprang up and charged toward him, intending to punch him. But reality was harsh: after running a few steps, Yang Chaoyu dropped to one knee—her legs were still weak, and her body simply refused to obey!
“Oh, there's no need to be so polite.” He laughed loudly behind his mask. “Such a grand gesture is more than this humble student can accept, truly more than I can accept.”
Yang Chaoyu was practically furious enough to explode.
“Just you wait!”
He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe. “Mm, am I not waiting right here?”
She could not see his expression very clearly, but his entire body radiated the provocative message, “Come hit me.” Yang Chaoyu rolled her eyes and decided not to stoop to his level.
Ignoring him, Yang Chaoyu slapped and patted her legs, feet, and arms, hoping to quickly recover her ability to move.
He, however, could not stay idle. “Don't blame me, either. I never told you to ask the livestream viewers for help.”
Yang Chaoyu thought about it. What he had said at the time was: Pay attention to your livestream interface.
But honestly, what normal person, trapped here under circumstances where leaving meant having their leg broken, would not subconsciously ask for help after learning that people were watching?
Anyone would ask for help, all right?
Yang Chaoyu shot him a contemptuous look.
She felt that her emotions were quite expressive, but the baseball cap's eyes curved, and he smiled.
“Look. Apart from you, there are three other newcomers who started livestreams, right? One has no ability to move, one has gone mad, and there is clearly one more. Why hasn't he triggered his death condition?” He crouched in front of Yang Chaoyu and asked.
Those eyes were hazy yet distinct, and still beautiful.
Yang Chaoyu resisted the temptation of his looks and sent him a disdainful glance.
“Don't try to drive a wedge between us.”
“As you wish.” His patience seemed to have run out. He stood and walked outside. “I only came to give you a reminder. After a death condition is triggered, if the overseer's strike misses, it will not come a second time. Your life is safe. But there is only half an hour left before the next time period begins. If no one is injured and the overseer appears again, you will be its primary target. You had better pray that your luck continues.”
Yang Chaoyu's relaxed nerves snapped taut.
The baseball cap was right.
Earlier, she had seen someone say that Ke Xingyun was telling jokes. But when a normal person was trapped in this otherworld, their first reaction should be the same as hers: ask for help first. And if they asked for help, that would definitely trigger the overseer. Yet Ke Xingyun was telling jokes?!
Was that normal?
Yang Chaoyu wanted to find Ke Xingyun immediately, but she held herself back.
The enemy was hidden while she was exposed; it was unwise to act.
She looked at the baseball cap. “Aside from being unable to ask the livestream viewers for help, what other death conditions are there?”
The baseball cap showed a moment of astonishment.
“I almost got you killed just now.”
Yang Chaoyu said calmly, “That only proves that you truly know more than we do.”
As she spoke, her gaze swept over the old man, who was looking at a picture frame.
The old man grinned, but kept staring at the picture frame, as though he had not noticed her gaze.
“Then we're back to the previous question. What are you planning to trade for the information this time?” There was a hint of malice in his voice.
Yang Chaoyu thought for a moment, then mentioned what Ke Xingyun had noticed earlier.
She added, “The property management of an upscale residential complex should be on standby twenty-four hours a day. But the property management lobby at the entrance is unlit, which means this residential complex has not only no residents, but no property staff either.”
The baseball cap nodded but said, “Anyone with eyes could notice that. It doesn't count as information.”
Yang Chaoyu: ...But I didn't notice it at first.
She pressed her lips together and decided to reveal her trump card. “In the second message MN sent us, it said, ‘Apart from the HR assessment, you will begin Livestreaming.’ In other words, one of the six of us is HR.”
The baseball cap became interested. “What makes you say that?”
“Those participating in the interview aren't only the job applicants. There should also be an assessment officer. Since I did not understand the situation and was attacked by the overseer, I can be ruled out as the assessment officer. You and Ke Xingyun are also cleared of suspicion.”
“Me? You trust me that much?”
“Because you had me look at the livestream in order to test whether I was the assessment officer,” Yang Chaoyu explained. “You tried to drive a wedge between Ke Xingyun and me so that I would verify whether Ke Xingyun had started a livestream. Most importantly, you gathered the clues but had no intention of sharing them with me.”
“The chief examiner's duty should be to test the job applicants. Surely he wouldn't seize the job applicants' clues, right?” she concluded.
The baseball cap fell silent for a while.
“You only graduated recently, didn't you?”
Yang Chaoyu did not understand why the subject had suddenly changed. “?”
“You make things too simple.” He patted her shoulder. “If the chief examiner's only role were to watch us search, why would I work so hard to find him? Your reasoning contradicts itself, sweetheart. Besides, strictly speaking, if we are being tested, wouldn't participating in the competition for the clues be the best test?”
Yang Chaoyu was stunned.
She truly was not suited to analysis and deduction... Perhaps it was just as Ke Xingyun had said: she acted on instinct.
And her instincts told her that this HR was important.
“Still, since you've worked so hard to cooperate, I'll tell you some of the rules.” He said, “MN has only three rules: 1. You cannot ask the livestream viewers for help; 2. You cannot mention the MN company to anyone in the present world; 3. After joining the MN company, you may not quit.”
“The present world?” Yang Chaoyu seized on a key term.
The baseball cap patted her shoulder, then said nothing more and brushed past her.
Yang Chaoyu knew he would not say anything else, but the term “present world” made her uneasy. Since there was a present world, there had to be a corresponding opposite term—that is, the place they were currently in, or the place they might be in the future...
The otherworld?
She felt herself beginning to grow irritable.
Beside them, the old man finally returned the picture frame to the small cabinet beside the sofa and muttered, “This family is truly strange.”
Yang Chaoyu steadied herself.
The most important thing now was to find the clues, then get out of here.