I really don't want to work in the world of weird rules!

Composing himself, Gu Changyuan pulled out a utility knife and cut open the tape. The first thing he saw was the "Alice Picnic Set," a worn tin box with retro fairytale illustrations.

Lifting the lid, inside lay a flat, aluminum can of beverage and a biscuit wrapped in oil paper, with "Drink Me" and "Eat Me" printed on the packaging respectively.

Gu Changyuan nodded in satisfaction. This thing is like the "smile stickers". You just need to carry one or two sets with you in case you need them.

After taking out the tin box, a round, silver object was found lying at the bottom of the cardboard box. He reached out and picked it up.

It was a silver coin that had been polished to a high shine.

The cold metallic touch from his fingertips gave Gu Changyuan a secret thrill. The silver coin had a face value of 500 and was engraved with an ouroboros with its head and tail intertwined. It was quite heavy.

Gu Changyuan was already planning which high-end ghost stories he could visit, making sure his money was spent wisely.

Although it was painful to see over 800,000 yuan go down the drain, he quickly came to terms with it. After all, as long as he could return to the real world alive, the money would be worthless anyway. Restrain your material desires, absolutely restrain them.

My wildly beating heart gradually calmed down, and I finally felt a little more confident in protecting myself.

Gu Changyuan took stock of all his current assets.

Memory Frame

【Smile Sticker :)】

Alice Picnic Set

Silver Coin Snake

Next, we will use these trump cards to tackle higher-level anomalies as quickly as possible.

We must take the initiative.

Running away will only lead to a worse end; cowards don't last long in this company.

After tidying everything up, Gu Changyuan turned off the light and lay back down on the bed.

He wanted to close his eyes and count sheep, but all he could think about was that wicked demon smashing the cash register in the convenience store. This lousy job had completely ruined his sleep quality.

......

The next morning.

"The company owns several ghost stories that require regular maintenance. Let's check out one of them today."

"OK."

Gu Changyuan had only slept for a total of three hours, and his eyes were covered in dark circles. He felt like he could suddenly die at any moment.

The supervisor probably mistook his dark circles for fear and casually patted him on the shoulder: "Don't be too nervous, this time it's a D grade."

A veteran employee chimed in, "That's right! It's pretty much the same ordeal you went through on your first day!"

Saying this to a newcomer who has just survived a life-or-death escape and is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder? These old guys in the on-site investigation team have probably long lost the ability to empathize like normal people.

They're still there, happily spouting toxic positivity.

"You were able to solo it without any preparation, so now that we have the strategy guide, are you still worried about not being able to do it?" the veteran employee said with a smile.

"As long as you don't act on your own, there won't be any problems, understand?"

Gu Changyuan nodded blankly, as long as he wasn't made to play hide-and-seek with the evil spirits alone again.

He desperately prayed that this time it would be a mystery-solving ghost story with an eerie atmosphere but without any direct confrontations.

A senior employee handed over a tablet computer: "Here, take a look at the data."

Gu Changyuan took the tablet and glanced at the screen.

[Tuesday Quiz Show / Level D]

Gu Changyuan was slightly taken aback.

"See, Xiao Gu? We're going to be contestants in this quiz game," the veteran employee explained with a grin. "If you answer wrong, you'll be punished, and the punishments are rather brutal."

"But don't panic, we have the standard answers in our hands, so don't worry!" The veteran employee continued, looking completely unperturbed.

It certainly sounded much milder than directly encountering a ghost, and his intuition told him that this kind of encounter would be much less terrifying.

The problem is, Gu Changyuan had never heard of this name before.

"Tuesday Quiz Show"? This D-level ghost story was never included in "The Haunted Stories Exploration Record".

Although he couldn't take out the "memory scaffold" to check because his boss was present, he was 100% certain that he hadn't seen it before.

Even though online forums produce new urban legends every day, and there are bound to be some that I haven't seen, the accuracy rate is just too high.

The company's bizarre inventory levels far exceeded his expectations.

The supervisor, however, seemed relaxed: "Our group has been assigned a lot of radio and television ghost stories, and each group has its own unique characteristics."

The supervisor casually sent a PDF strategy document to Gu Changyuan's internal account: "Take a look at the strategy first, and review the field investigation manual while you're at it. We'll set off when the manager comes back this afternoon."

Gu Changyuan readily agreed.

A senior employee chimed in enthusiastically, "By the way, just in case, would you like me to print out a paper copy? You'll need to take notes when you go in."

"No need, I've already memorized it." Gu Changyuan said without any guilt. With the "memory scaffold" in hand, carrying paper and pen was just a burden.

"You memorized it all?" The veteran employee's eyes widened.

"right."

"No wonder you didn't take notes before!" The veteran employee nodded repeatedly with a look of sudden realization. "It would have made things much easier for the manager."

Who cares? It sounds like a compliment, so Gu Changyuan pretended not to hear it.

By the way, the manager of Group D is currently out on fieldwork and is said to be returning this afternoon.

However, an hour later.

"Wait a minute. Our manager isn't back yet... What? No way?" The supervisor, who was on the phone, suddenly frowned and hung up the phone in an annoyed tone.

"Are these people crazy? They actually said that since they added a new person, they'd make up the three-person team requirement and just let us in?"

Gu Changyuan's heart skipped a beat: "Really?"

"Hmm, probably the end of the month." The supervisor glanced at him, then hesitated.

Gu Changyuan immediately grasped the key point: the department's performance was below target, and they needed to force a surge in KPIs before lunch break, and he just happened to be the one pulled in to make up the numbers.

It was definitely because of that convenience store incident that he used bizarre methods to quickly complete the F-level ghost story, leaving the higher-ups with the illusion that "this newcomer is as good as a skilled worker."

The retribution for keeping that 500,000 for himself is finally here.

The supervisor hesitated briefly. "Gu, you said you memorized it all, right?"

It probably refers to the answers to that question and answer set. Gu Changyuan was just about to pretend to be sick or something.

The veteran employee effectively blocked his escape route: "That's right, Xiao Gu already knows it by heart! He can even recite that thick investigation manual backwards!"

"Okay." The supervisor made the final decision. "Then the three of us will go in today."

The supervisor was still grumbling on and on, explaining that although the rule was that three people should be in a group, sometimes someone would play duos when they were on leave, and that applying for outside help was too troublesome, etc.

Gu Changyuan listened blankly. This company's way of doing things was really cold-blooded, trying every means to squeeze the value out of its employees.

Well, at least the equipment was complete, so this ghost story wasn't too scary.

If I drag this out any longer, I'll be scared to death by the terrifying scenes I'm imagining.

A short, sharp pain is worse than a long, drawn-out one; it's better to go now than to go in this afternoon.

Just as Gu Changyuan was undergoing a painful mental transformation, people from other departments brought him an entry medium.

It was an old postcard with yellowed edges, and the "Recipient" field on the back was filled with a dense array of strange characters.

At the very top, in extremely small print, like some kind of vicious curse letter, the words "Application Form" were densely printed.

This is most likely the import setting for ghost stories:

Someone found a strange postcard in an old magazine, along with a recruitment poster for an unprecedented quiz show. Out of curiosity, the person filled in their name as the sender and was subsequently drawn into a terrifying death quiz.

"Just sign here." The supervisor handed over a pen. "If you don't feel comfortable with it, just write down any animal code."

Gu Changyuan nodded. He was determined to give it his all for the points.

He watched as his two predecessors wrote "badger" and "falcon" respectively, and then he picked up a pen and wrote his own code name, "deer," in the sender's field.

The instant the pen tip leaves the paper.

Gu Changyuan's consciousness seemed to be violently torn apart by an invisible hand and forcibly dragged into that tattered postcard.

Ah, they've finally arrived! Our esteemed contestant!

A blinding, stark white spotlight instantly filled my retina, and through my blurred vision, a voice, excited to the point of near madness, exploded in my ears.

A hand dressed in a sharp suit was extended in front of me, making a handshake gesture.

[Welcome, a warm welcome... Alright, the cameras are about to start. Everyone, please show the camera your most charming smiles!]

Gu Changyuan gripped that hand using muscle memory and slowly raised his head.

What appeared on the neck was not a human head, but an old-fashioned spherical television set.

In the center of the screen, which is covered in static, a pixelated smiley face is displayed.

【：）】