Chapter 54: Su Weiyu's Concerns

"Just kidding, since this is your first time entering the Containment Bureau," Shangguan Yan sneered, seeming rather pleased with her own prank.

Xia Shou felt as though he had just been fed a mouthful of excrement.

"...Director, that wasn't funny at all."

"My department's operational guideline is a balance between work and rest, so I just let you relax for a moment. Now, the pleasant chatting time is over. Get to work. If you don't finish today, you'll be working overtime with me," Shangguan Yan smiled.

Relax?

You fucking call this relaxation time?

And a balance between work and rest?

To hell with work and rest! I quit!

Xia Shou instantly formulated a wildly satisfying scenario in his mind—furious, he would flip the table, smash the computer, and curse out Shangguan Yan, leaving the wicked woman staring in absolute shock.

Everyone in the external Intelligence Department and Administrative Department would be struck dumb with astonishment on the spot.

Then, he would swagger out, leaving behind a decisive silhouette for all of them to admire.

A day later, the Director of the Containment Bureau would accidentally hear about this super talent who had solved both the House of Blood and a closed domain after joining for only two days. The Director would immediately summon Shangguan Yan, give the wicked woman a severe dressing down, and order her to retrieve this genius by any means necessary, or else pack her bags and get lost!

After that, this demonic boss would have to swallow her pride, chase him all the way to his rented apartment, and repeatedly promise him that there would be no more labor exploitation, completely shedding her current lofty and condescending attitude.

And then, what would happen?

Well... after being invited back to the department, he would become the only employee in this hellish workplace to receive special treatment from Shangguan Yan—skipping work and playing on his phone during office hours while still receiving his full salary.

Thinking about it this way, his mood improved immensely.

"Much better," Xia Shou let out a long, comfortable sigh of relief.

"What did you say?"

"Oh, I said I'm starting work now."

"Don't talk to yourself while you're on the clock; I'll worry about you," Shangguan Yan said flatly.

Holy crap, that kind of worry is terrifying. I'd better stop talking to myself casually from now on.

Xia Shou took a deep breath to steady his emotions and opened the office software on his computer.

...

...

"He skipped a few more pages. But before he had even finished the final sentence, he understood that he would never leave this room again, for this city of mirrors—or city of mirages—would be swept away by the hurricane at the exact moment Aureliano Babilonia finished reading the parchment in its entirety, and would be completely erased from the memory of men.

Everything written on these manuscripts was unrepeatable since time immemorial and forevermore, because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth."

Su Weiyu finished reading the final sentence of the book and closed the cover.

The giant lizard before her crouched silently in the white room, looking as though it had been listening all along, or perhaps as though it had never been listening at all.

"Finished. That's the third time. I really want to ask, you aren't even human, so why do you want to read books written by humans? Is it interesting?" Su Weiyu placed the book into her backpack, pulled the zipper shut, and prepared to leave.

678 raised its eyes to glance at her, speaking with a voice like grinding iron: "Read with a bit more emotion tomorrow. Even though I'm not human, I can understand the profound feelings contained within this book. As a human being, you at least shouldn't be numb to this degree."

"Hey, reading is exhausting. It's already a favor that I'm reading to you, and yet you're still picking and choosing! I've been reading all morning," Su Weiyu took a sip of water from her thermos.

"You're the one who agreed to this in the first place."

"And that's why I'm keeping my word. I'm not coming in this afternoon, see you tomorrow." Su Weiyu waved her hand impatiently.

"Heh, do you know how to get along with a man?" 678 suddenly asked.

Su Weiyu, who was about to leave, paused in her tracks and turned back to look at the creature, her expression guarded and tense.

"What do you mean?"

678 shifted its body, bringing up another topic entirely: "Idris must have insisted on curing you, didn't it? It must have said that being invisible is a disease. Why did you refuse it back then?"

Su Weiyu opened her eyes wide in shock: "How do you know that! Who told you?"

"Those bastards threw the dead bodies from that hospital to me for food, and I tasted Idris's handiwork.

When those people were dumping the corpses, they were talking about a newcomer who had only been on the job for two days but made it out alive from a closed domain, so I knew it was him.

Since it was him, you must have gone along too. Being able to come out alive means Idris is either dead or has met the same fate as me."

"You know quite a lot of people, don't you? Too bad it seems no one is coming to save you," Su Weiyu said sarcastically.

678 was unfazed, continuing unhurriedly: "Why did you refuse Idris? Compared to only being seen by one person, isn't it better to be seen by more? And how can you be certain that kid is even human? Maybe he just looks exceptionally human."

"Intuition!"

"Heh, heh, heh, intuition~ If human intuition were reliable, humans wouldn't have repeated the same mistakes so many times. As an old friend, I want to remind you: when getting along with him, it's best not to be overly eager. Human nature is uniform; everyone is the same, without exception.

Once he gets used to you treating him well, and is certain that you only treat him well, and that he can obtain all your value effortlessly or without any effort at all, he will no longer care about you."

Su Weiyu clicked her tongue lightly, staring at the creature with a look of utter contempt.

Are you kidding me? How could Xia Shou possibly be that kind of person?

678 opened its mouth and yawned: "Haven't you observed this many times over the years? I'm sick of hearing about it. Men straying, women cheating, sweet talk face-to-face while nagging wives and greasy husbands wait behind their backs. You should know that humans are animals."

"Xia Shou is different," Su Weiyu said without a moment's hesitation.

"Foolish," 678 closed its eyes and dozed off.

Su Weiyu left the containment zone, returned to her dormitory, and took out her diary, intending to write down her thoughts on what had just transpired.

Yes, she also had the habit of keeping a diary.

However, unlike those whose minds were affected by mysterious forces, she wrote her diary to serve as a genuine record. Precisely because no one could see her, she hoped that one day, someone would come to understand her.

There was a period when she frequently contemplated what would happen after her death, terrified that not a single person would remember her, and afraid of leaving no trace of her existence in the world.

That was why she started writing a diary, thinking that perhaps after her death, this power that rendered her imperceptible would also vanish.

Then someone would know she existed, someone would find her diary, understand the person she was, and see the traces of her life... even if it was after she died.

Yet the situation was completely different now. Xia Shou could see her, which made keeping the diary very troublesome.

Looking at the thick stack of diaries beside her, Su Weiyu frowned. She couldn't bear to imagine what thoughts would cross Xia Shou's mind if he were to read their contents.

Because everything she wrote in her diaries was entirely heartfelt.