Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 15 The Receptionist

Zhou You knocked on the door first.

But no one responded.

However, unlike all the units he had encountered before, this door was not locked, but only slightly ajar. He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to push the door open and enter.

The room inside wasn't large, not at all what you'd expect from a company that had contracted with the entire city's sanitation department. It seemed like space had been deliberately saved during construction, as the whole room appeared extremely cramped at first glance. The room also contained very few items, just a reception desk, a few chairs, and a staircase leading to the second floor.

And that's all.

There was no one at the reception desk at the moment; it seemed the other person was taking a nap on the second floor. However, Zhou You was in no hurry to greet them. Instead, he looked around and, seeing that there were no surveillance cameras or anything like that, he walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, went to the inside, and glanced around discreetly.

Unfortunately, the inside was just as simple as the outside, with only a few bottles of perfume that looked very expensive and a register.

Zhou You first picked up one of the perfume bottles, opened it and sniffed it, but immediately frowned.

The taste is wrong.

Although he had never been exposed to those expensive cosmetics, he at least knew that no perfume would have such an extremely pungent and cheap fragrance, let alone this bottle.
Zhou You rubbed it with his thumb, and some purple fragments immediately scattered like snowflakes.

"The bottles are also of inferior quality. Yiwu doesn't even bother producing these things anymore. Where did they get these counterfeit and shoddy goods from?"

Zhou You shook his head, put the perfume bottle down and straightened it. Then, after thinking for a moment, he moved the bottle slightly to make sure it was exactly the same as before, before opening the register again.

Compared to cheap perfume, this thing was quite normal. It only contained a list of sanitation workers and their assigned areas. However, Zhou You's eyebrows did not relax; instead, they furrowed even more deeply.

"There are too few people."

Normally, a neighborhood needs at least ten sanitation workers to be responsible for it, and various tools are also needed to assist. However, this roster only lists two people for one neighborhood—which means that these two people have to do the work of ten people.

Five times the workload, and judging from the payroll, this is also an increase in workload without an increase in pay.

"I thought I was miserable enough as the original owner's security guard, but I never expected there to be people more powerful than me. There are even more ruthless people in this story."

Before he could finish his admiring remarks, a slight noise came from the second floor.

—It seems someone is coming.

Zhou You quickly put the list back in its place, then walked to the reception desk, straightened his clothes, made sure there were no problems with him, and then put on a professional smile.
But the next second, his smiling face suddenly froze.

After all.

No one would have guessed that what walked out of the door was not human.

The wooden door on the second floor was suddenly kicked open, and the first thing that squeezed in was a clump of yellow clothing—which had been stretched to its deformity—followed by a clump of white fat that at first glance looked like a human belly. But before Zhou You could figure it out, more fat poured out of the door and together they formed a giant, worm-like body.

Then, dozens of thin, bony hands emerged from beneath the monster, like the limbs of an insect, supporting its heavy and enormous body. With great difficulty, they moved it to the reception desk.

Unfortunately, the cramped space was no match for such a massive body. The monster struggled to squeeze itself in, squeezing out a lot of fat. Then, its greasy body churned and squeezed out a woman's face.

The woman was about thirty years old and had a fairly attractive appearance, but she wore too much makeup, which completely covered up her natural beauty. Amidst the red and green colors, all that remained was a ridiculous face that looked like a clown.

The woman ignored Zhou You and instead stretched out two more arms—unlike the thin arms that supported them, these two arms were quite plump, and her nails were painted with cheap paint—she picked up the perfume bottles, sprayed them on herself a few times, and then turned her gaze to someone.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

The sound was like the buzzing of flies; just hearing it made one want to vomit.

Zhou You said with a bright smile, "Um, excuse me, I'm here to find someone."

But before he could finish speaking, an even sharper scream rang out.

"I'm asking you, who are you, and what are you doing here!"

Zhou You took a step back, frowned, but still answered in a friendly voice.

"Um, my name is Zhou You, and I'm here to find someone." "No, who are you? Who are you? I'm asking you who you really are!"

However, the monster didn't listen to Zhou You's words at all. It just kept screaming that one word, the powder on its face became more and more grotesque, and its white fat surged, and it looked like it was about to pounce on Zhou You!
"Seriously? At least the boss listened to me a few times before, but now he won't listen to me at all? And this is your so-called 'safer during the day'?!"

Zhou You's expression changed, and he was about to enter a state of selflessness and run away, but before he could move, he suddenly remembered something.

—Wait a minute, this kind of situation seems to have been reported in the newspapers as well?

There was no time to hesitate. He forced himself to stop and suddenly uttered a few words to the monster that seemed ready to devour him.

"Actually, I am a journalist."

Then, the surging fat suddenly stopped.

As if under some kind of spell, amidst the greasy white paint, the madness on that face was gone; all that could be seen was cautious timidity and fear.

—And this sentence was a passage from that newspaper.

"Corruption. Investigative Journalism. About to..."

At this moment, Zhou You was fully able to piece it together.

—An environmental company that has contracted government projects is suspected of embezzlement, and investigative reporters are about to go there to conduct interviews.

Thinking of this, he suddenly rubbed his chin slightly.

He initially thought the newspapers in the room were too scattered to find anything useful, but now it seems... this thing is the key clue to the world?
However, just as he was pondering this, the woman's head seemed to have discovered some flaw and suddenly questioned him loudly.

"Wait a minute, what makes you think you're a reporter? What reporter wears a security guard uniform?"

Oh right, I forgot about that.

Zhou You glanced casually at himself, but still spoke calmly.

“Miss, have you ever seen an investigative journalist write the word ‘journalist’ on their forehead? I just came back from investigating a company and haven’t even had time to change my clothes. If you have any doubts, you can ask your superiors. I’ll be waiting here. But if you get scolded, that’s none of my business.”

Zhou You, however, remained quite calm.
.
—He was loud but weak inside, using cheap perfume but pretending it was expensive. He appeared hysterical on the surface but was actually timid and uneasy inside. According to the psychological model, he was a typical bully who preyed on the weak. Therefore, he was certain that this monster would absolutely not dare to go to the higher-ups.

as predicted.

Just as he expected, the woman's head immediately fell silent upon hearing this, so Zhou You continued in his aggressive manner and spoke again.

"Since you think it's okay, then it's my turn—as I just told you, I need you to do me a small favor and help me find a sanitation worker here."

The woman's face froze for a moment, then she suddenly chuckled awkwardly.

"Well, according to regulations, we cannot disclose any employee information."

"Is that so? Then I won't force you."

Zhou You laughed, but before the woman could even catch her breath, he slowly continued, "I think I noticed you're facing a serious shortage of sanitation workers. Only two sanitation workers in an entire block. What's going on with the government's funding?"

"Just tell me what you need! I'll find it for you right away!"

—Words as clean and decisive as a vow or oath.

Zhou You then flashed a bright smile.

"The sanitation worker I'm looking for is very simple. You probably know that a street vendor died from overwork and made the news a while ago, right? I'm looking for his wife."

—Yes, this is the most crucial piece of information I had with that vendor earlier.

He has a wife who works here.

(End of this chapter)