Excessive ferocity due to caution

Zhao Yi quickly summarized two new rules in his mind.

1. The building is not only haunted by ghosts who kill people.

2. The fate of a person killed by a ghost is different from that of a person killed by a mysterious being.

Or rather...

Zhao Yi seemed to suddenly realize something, and a special piece of information surfaced in his mind—

When Xiao Qi died, his body was twisted into a completely incomprehensible shape.

Under normal circumstances, it is absolutely impossible for a human arm to be stretched to more than ten meters...

Could that mysterious force, capable of causing Xiao Qi's body to deteriorate like this, also allow Xiao Qi to... survive under such circumstances?

Thinking of this, Zhao Yi immediately became alert.

This is...a terrible thing!

The resurrection items given to them by the system are consumed after a person dies and appear in the guild's headquarters.

But if he didn't die, he was transformed into that inhuman, ghostly form by the mysterious entity within the 2188 Building and sent to the Skull Church's containment facility...

Recalling his happy times at the church shelter, Zhao Yi couldn't help but grin.

The open world is different from the game's instance world.

Most game instances have time and space limitations.

Once the time limit expires or the player exceeds the space allotted by the system, the player will be considered dead.

But in this vast world, the life and death system has no say.

If that person is kept intact in the Church of the Skull's asylum, then he will never be able to return to the guild headquarters and will forever lose his freedom...

This is far more terrifying than death.

Although Zhao Yi was not afraid of or even opposed to this, he had more interesting things to do than being used as a guinea pig for research.

After discussing it, the group worked together to throw the six corpses out of the office.

They have no intention of leaving the office right now, so they can only deal with the body this way for now.

Otherwise, you'll have wasted a chance to leave the office.

After the first day, only the more astute actors remained in the office, knowing that every detail would affect their survival.

The thoughtful Liao Hongqiao closed the office door.

Under normal circumstances, a human corpse will start to smell within 3-6 hours.

However, at the temperature outside the corridor of Building 2188, the time would be shorter, and the stench would be more pronounced. If they didn't close the windows and doors, once air convection occurred, the stench of corpses would permeate the entire office...

Nobody wants to work in this kind of environment.

And so, the group began their day in an orderly fashion. Even after a whole day had passed, they had not found any way to escape Building 2188, which was quite different from the supernatural movies they had seen before.

Not only are there paranormal events in the 2188 Building, but the more serious problem is the time exploitation of the lower floors by the upper floors.

To comply with the rules, they need to work 16 hours a day for the company.

To avoid falling asleep during the day, they need at least six hours of basic sleep.

That means they only have two hours a day to explore the building!

Time is of the essence.

This is why the movie gives them 30 days to escape.

They actually only have 2 hours a day to use it themselves.

All told, 30 days is only 60 hours.

As the morning passed, Liao Hongqiao and Zong Haisheng secretly imitated Zhao Yi and adopted the bamboo-joint work method of working for 15 minutes and resting for 5 minutes. They were surprised to find that their mood was much more peaceful than before!

Around 11 a.m., some employees, unable to bear the monotony of their work, began to go out for lunch in groups.

Some of them experienced symptoms such as fatigue, anxiety, and chest tightness due to electrolyte imbalances. These physical discomforts led to significant depression, making them even less inclined to continue their monotonous and tedious work.

Zhao Yi maintained his routine from yesterday, with almost no changes. He finished his lunch in two minutes, then got up and went to the desks of the six colleagues who died last night, searching for clues under the pale white light.

There are no clues.

But Zhao Yibing was not discouraged. He went to the office door again and carefully examined the several rotting corpses.

Zhao Yi had already checked it once when he came in this morning.

He has already noticed that something is not quite right.

But there were many people at the time.

"Zhao Yi, do you need any help?"

Liao Hongqiao appeared beside Zhao Yi at some point, accompanied by Zong Haisheng.

Zhao Yi glanced at them, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes, and quickly said:

"Could you check the other bodies in the offices on other floors for me? See if there's anything unusual..."

Liao Hongqiao and Zong Haisheng exchanged a glance and quickly headed upstairs.

"I have a feeling he's trying to get us out of the way..."

After running a distance, Zong Haisheng turned back to look at Zhao Yi again and whispered to Liao Hongqiao.

The latter replied:

Not entirely.

"Perhaps this is a test he's giving us..."

"Even though only a day has passed, I'm certain this guy is an amazing actor!"

"It might... be a C-grade!"

Zong Haisheng was slightly jealous:

"This is the first time I've ever seen you praise someone like this."

Liao Hongqiao didn't mind Zong Haisheng's sarcastic remarks:

"Such people are mostly arrogant...and they won't easily cooperate with others."

"Only if we can actually discern something from the other corpses will we have completed his test and be qualified to cooperate with him."

She paused, then looked into Zong Haisheng's eyes:

"You can already sense how amazing he is, can't you?"

"Otherwise, you wouldn't have taken the initiative to learn his work rhythm."

Zong Haisheng was silent for a moment, then sighed:

"But your praise of him really hurts me."

Liao Hongqiao rolled her eyes and took his hand.

"Mr. Zong, remember rule number nine: always keep your mood in a comfortable state, avoid prolonged periods of depression or frustration, and prevent the growth of negative emotions such as anger and discouragement."

Zong Haisheng was slightly taken aback, a warm feeling washing over him:

"Understood, Miss Liao."

"I was just venting... I'll try my best to keep up with you."

The two arrived on the third floor and, from a distance, could see many rotting corpses piled up in the corridor.

There were many actors in the 2188 Building movie this time, maybe four or five hundred, so it's normal for a few brainless actors to die on each floor and in each office.

The two men endured the stench and examined several corpses.

Almost every corpse had no wounds.

Their ashen faces were etched with horror, as if they had all been scared to death. Apart from that, there seemed to be no other useful clues.

"Mr. Zong, have you discovered anything?"

Liao Hongqiao frowned, realizing she hadn't found any useful information.

At this moment, Zong Haisheng raised a question:

"Miss Liao...look quickly."

He pointed to several rotting corpses.

"The way they're holding their fingers is so weird..."

"It's like..."

Zong Haisheng mimicked the movements of the corpse's fingers and examined it carefully.

The index and middle fingers are bent and hooked together, while the thumb is raised, as if pressing on something...

The two looked at each other for a while, when suddenly Zong Haisheng had a flash of inspiration!

"This is... the action of picking up a cup!"

"What did they, these dead people, drink from their cups before they died?!"

After saying that, he immediately went to check the corner of the corpse's mouth.

There was nothing there.

Even if there were any, they would have already dried up.

But Zong Haisheng was not giving up. He endured the stench and pried open the mouth of a corpse to smell it.

I gagged.

He quickly stepped back a few paces and sat on the ground, panting heavily.

"Miss Liao...it's coffee..."

Liao Hongqiao blinked:

"You mean, these deceased people all drank coffee before they died?"

Zong Haisheng looked troubled, but looking at Liao Hongqiao's delicate and lovely face, he gritted his teeth and went to smell the mouths of several more stinking corpses.

"vomit--"

Zong Haisheng couldn't hold it in and vomited in the corridor.

Liao Hongqiao stepped forward and gently patted his back. The latter gripped her slender arm slightly, his voice weak:

"Ms. Liao..."

"It's coffee..."

"These victims...all drank coffee before they died!"

"And they're from the same brand!"

PS: Second update.

It's still disgusting.

Take a shower, goodnight, my darlings!!