"You have no other choice," the other party made no attempt to hide it.
Just as she said, Sun Hang had no other choice. He mustered the strength to sit up, took the tablet, and glanced at the document on the screen.
The document's header read "Temporary Investigator Employment Contract" in large letters.
Sun Hang's name was already filled in on the party B section, as for party A, it was a unit called "Junshi Human Resources Company."
"A labor dispatch company? So... am I just an outsourced temp?" Sun Hang asked.
"Investigators are officially employed staff. If you clear your debts and gain citizenship, you can participate in the relevant selection exams," the other party replied. "But for now, you can only work for the Investigation Bureau as a temporary investigator."
"..." Sun Hang fell into silence.
Although he had amnesia, he still knew what kind of work investigators did.
Two hundred or maybe three hundred years ago, something called "mysterious entities" appeared without warning on the Xiazhou Continent. They were like unstoppable calamities, devouring a vast space for human survival, compressing human activity areas to about a third of what they were before these entities appeared.
Not only that, but this ratio has continued to shrink every year—nowadays, less than two-tenths of the Xiazhou Continent remain under human control.
Although they are known as "entities," they do not have fixed forms—they could be biological, a "non-living object," or even a "phenomenon" ... but in any form, they are extremely dangerous to ordinary people.
In addition, these "mysterious entities" can infect the things they come into contact with. People call this ability the "Deceit Virus," and most people infected with this "virus" eventually turn into a "mysterious entity"... or a part of one.
Before the appearance of a special drug to suppress "deceit," this "virus" ravaged like a plague, causing many deaths.
Investigators, as the name implies, are people who specialize in investigating these mysterious entities.
The danger level of this job can be imagined.
Sun Hang felt that those who signed this "selling contract" were unlikely to pay off the debt before they died.
But for the Investigation Bureau, that's already enough... After all, if a formal investigator dies in the line of duty, the bureau must pay significant compensations. In comparison, temps like him offer much higher cost-performance.
"If I don't want to do this, what will you do with me?" Sun Hang asked. "Throw me out of the hospital or directly out of the city?"
"No, without clearing your debts, you cannot gain freedom," the other party handed over a stylus pen, "The only choice you have now is which font to use when signing."
Sun Hang took the stylus and pondered for a moment.
From the "remaining" knowledge in his mind, he presumably was just an ordinary person before his amnesia.
As an ordinary person, he knew of the existence of "mysterious entities" and "investigators," but had little detailed knowledge—in this era, anything related to mysterious entities is almost a taboo topic; hardly anyone would take the initiative to understand these things, except for a few with special interests.
Most people just wish these matters would stay as far away as possible, ideally never intersecting with them.
"If I become a temporary investigator, what will you provide me with? Information, equipment, or training maybe?" Sun Hang looked at the other party and asked, "Even if a temporary investigator is just cannon fodder sent to die, at least they need to contribute some value; after all, you wouldn't want taxpayers' money to be wasted, right?"
"You'll have all of those," the other party nodded, glanced at her watch, "It's getting late, sign quickly."
Sun Hang let out a long sigh and signed his name at the bottom of the contract.
The woman in the black suit put away the tablet, took out two documents from her pocket, and tossed them to Sun Hang.
One was a temporary citizen identification card of the Xiazhou Federation, with Sun Hang's photo pasted on it and his name printed. But aside from these, all other information, including gender, was left blank.
Sun Hang glanced at the issuing authority, which was the Population Management Bureau of Celestial City.
"So I'm in Celestial City now..." Sun Hang muttered to himself.
Celestial City is located in the southwestern region of the Xiazhou Federation, right on the border of the human activity area, a standard "front-line area."
The other document was a "Temporary Investigator ID" issued by the "Celestial City Anomaly Investigation Bureau," also with Sun Hang's photo but no name—replaced instead with the code "Temporary Investigator 0420."
"Your future code name is 0420," the woman in the black suit said. "Investigators refer to each other by their numbers."
"And your number?" Sun Hang glanced at her and asked.
"I'm not an investigator," she stood up, leaving the final remark, "You will be discharged in three days, and someone will come to pick you up."
The woman in the black suit left, while Sun Hang stared at the ID documents in his hand, lost in thought.
This is a death sentence job, with a mortality rate much higher than those extreme athletes who dance around the gates of hell every day.
He had considered running away... but the problem was that he had nothing now, and lost his past memories. In this unfamiliar place, even if he managed to escape the hospital, he had nowhere to go.
Although the laws of various city-states within the Xiazhou Federation are not entirely the same, as a special department against "mysterious entities," the authority of the investigation bureaus in each city is quite high. They can even mobilize the military at will... going against the Investigation Bureau is suicidal.
The woman was right; he really had no other choice.
According to the contract, Sun Hang needs to complete one C-level task, or four D-level tasks, or sixteen E-level tasks to pay off all his debts. However, Sun Hang had no idea what these ABCD task grades represented in terms of difficulty and danger.
He reached out and pressed the call button by the bed.
Before long, the nurse in a pink uniform walked into the hospital room.
"Nurse, can you do me a favor?" Sun Hang asked.
"Go ahead," the nurse's attitude was significantly better compared to the previously cold-faced staff member.
"Can you lend me a device that can access the internet, like a phone or tablet, so I can look something up?" Sun Hang asked.
The nurse didn't immediately agree, a hint of difficulty on her face.
"... Do I not even have internet access privileges?" Sun Hang frowned slightly.
"Mr. Sun, you've just woken up from a coma. It would be better to rest more during this period..." The nurse's tone carried a hint of apology and embarrassment, "Besides, if not necessary, please try not to leave this room."
"Alright." Sun Hang nodded, lying back down again.
This was not just a ward but also a cell.
Sun Hang lay on the pillow that emitted a faint smell of disinfectant, his eyes fixated on the ceiling light above, silently thinking, "…Change for me."
Nothing happened.
The lighting remained a ghostly white, and the unbearable sting deep in his brain didn't occur.
"Could it really just be a coincidence?"