Chapter 9: Don't Want Overtime (Part 4)
Countless black tentacles hung down from the ceiling, slimy and writhing, weaving through the gaps in the keyboard, messing up the text she had just typed on the screen, and flowing into her water cup, transforming it into a full cup of wriggling black liquid.
If anyone were to look closely at Liu Sheng's eyes at that moment, they would see that her irises were completely filled with a dense black, and her whites were covered with fine black tentacles.
But Liu Sheng seemed oblivious, even picking up the water cup and taking a sip, the black liquid wriggling as it slid down her throat.
At noon, Liu Sheng just wanted to go downstairs to buy a sandwich to quickly settle her lunch.
Lunch break was from twelve to two, and it was impossible to produce a plan for her Manager, for which she had no experience, by two o'clock without sacrificing her rest time.
At two o'clock, she handed the slightly hot, freshly printed plan to her Manager, who had just gotten up from his nap with sleepy eyes.
He flipped through a few pages and casually set it aside.
Liu Sheng was about to go back to work on other things when he called out to her, "You tidy yourself up this afternoon, put on some light makeup, and accompany a client to dinner tonight."
"I still have several plans to make, I'm afraid I don't have time."
But the Manager gave Liu Sheng no room to refuse: "That's why you always do a poor job at work, you can't distinguish between priorities! What does our department do? We provide solutions based on client needs. How can you not interact more with clients and build good relationships with them? Where do you think all these projects come from? Haven't I gotten them back by having dinner after dinner with clients?"
"Anyway, this is also the project team leader's intention. In our team, your education and image are quite good. Now we need you to represent our company's professional image."
Liu Sheng remained silent, knowing she couldn't refuse. In her memory, "Yi Yu" had also attended several such dinners, and the thought of it made her feel nauseous.
"Alright, that's enough talk, you go get busy. Remember to dress up. Good girls always go around with a bare face, they don't know how to find a boyfriend." The Manager scanned Liu Sheng up and down, pursed his lips, and waved her back.
Liu Sheng secretly clenched her fists, her lowered bangs obscuring her increasingly dark eyes.
...
The dinner party arrived as scheduled, at a nice Western restaurant.
Liu Sheng, as per her Manager's request, put on light makeup and changed into a formal dress.
She wasn't the only one accompanying the project team leader and her Manager; there were also several other young female colleagues, all wearing heavy foundation and bright blush to hide their fatigue.
"Your company is truly amazing, so many beauties!" The client's boss glanced around and joked.
"Hahaha, they are not just beautiful, they are also our professional talents!" The project team leader responded with a laugh.
"This one, she's a graduate student from Qing University, computer science major!" He pointed to Liu Sheng and introduced her, then pointed to the next person, "This little beauty studied abroad in the Third Empire of the Federation, and the one next to her is a great talent, not only good at school but also skilled in dancing and calligraphy..."
"They are all good girls with both talent and beauty! It seems we'll have to chat more today and have a few drinks together!" The clients all clapped and laughed.
Truly, how annoying.
Liu Sheng thought silently.
Suddenly, the lights in the private room dimmed considerably. The leader called the waiter and asked for a long time, but there was no solution. They just laughed and said that dimmer lights created a better atmosphere.
Only Liu Sheng could see many tiny black tentacles wriggling and crawling on the walls, even drilling into the lampshades and coiling around the light.
Soon, the dinner table was filled with the smell of alcohol, and laughter echoed incessantly.
Liu Sheng quietly opened her phone and saw a message from her mother: 【I left you some soup tonight, it's in the rice cooker.】
The next line: 【Learn more from your Manager how to socialize, remember to smile more, your face has been too grim lately, no one will deal with someone who doesn't like to smile.】
She turned off the screen, looked up, and smiled at the people at the table.
One female colleague was awkwardly being held by the shoulder, while another was covering her mouth to avoid throwing up after being forced to drink several cups.
The man next to her, seeing the beauty revealed by her smile, his eyes lit up: "Do you want me to teach you how to use a knife and fork? I've been in the Western Empire of the Federation for over twenty years."
As he spoke, his hand touched Liu Sheng's hand.
Liu Sheng smiled slightly, tightened her grip on the knife and fork in her hand, and said, "How do you know I don't know how?"
...
Under the moonlight, Liu Sheng sat on the windowsill, her legs dangling gently outside.
The private room behind her was pitch black, completely occupied by wriggling, viscous black tentacles as thick as a bowl. Through the twisting gaps of the tentacles, several broken and distorted bodies could be seen, with fatal wounds mostly being knife cuts on their necks.
Several female colleagues huddled in the corner, trembling, their bodies splattered with hot, crimson blood.
Liu Sheng played with the dinner knife in her hand and said without turning her head, "You all can leave."
Upon hearing this, they scrambled out of the private room.
The restlessness in Liu Sheng's heart seemed to be slowly calming down. She lifted her face, enjoying the rare summer night breeze.
A tentacle snaked over and gently touched her earlobe.
【Do you know what 'I' am?】
Liu Sheng thought for a while, then shook her head.
Some tentacles reached for her phone, turned on the screen, and swiped a few times. A long text appeared in Liu Sheng's eyes.
As Liu Sheng read the article, the blackness in her eyes grew denser, and the black tentacles inside and outside her body began to merge with her, passing through her blood vessels. Her pale blue blood vessels swelled and blackened, filled with black tentacles. The skin on the surface of her blood vessels became somewhat transparent, as if about to burst.
Finally, these tentacles reached her brain.
The black tentacles, like a fine net, wove themselves deep into her thoughts, attempting to control her every idea. Her consciousness began to blur.
In this desperate abyss, a faint voice emerged from the depths of her heart: It shouldn't be like this, this isn't her.
But this voice was too weak and was quickly drowned out by the dense blackness, leaving only eternal despair.
...
When Liu Sheng regained consciousness, she was back in the small room in the Imperial Storage.
This time, the text displayed on the Analyzer was:
【Item Name: 34576】
【Analysis Completion: 36.74%】
【Effect Description: Unknown】
【Influence Rank: D】
【Analysis Evaluation: Do you think this is the whole truth?】
【Points Gained: 1 (Current: 1)】
【Analysis Reward: One dinner knife sticker】
【high dimension Analysis Count: -1 (Remaining: 1)】
"I seem to have failed again..."
Liu Sheng clutched the reward, a small, hand-drawn style dinner knife sticker no bigger than her thumb, crying inwardly.
She put the small sticker into the Analyzer to see if there was anything special about it.
This small sticker did not trigger high dimension Analysis:
【Item Name: Dinner Knife Sticker】
【Analysis Completion: 100%】
【Influence Rank: None】
【Effect Description: A souvenir from Mango Western Restaurant's 1998 yuan/person premium set meal. Can be stuck on backpacks, phone cases, toilets, anywhere you like, it will make them beautiful!】
【Analysis Evaluation: It really is just a normal sticker】