With the sound of a door opening, Zhou Zhuang and Angela returned to the company.
But the Zhou Zhuang who came back looked like an eggplant left out in winter—completely wilted.
"If I'd known, I would've come back first and rested. So my overtime was literally me 'volunteering' to work during my own break time… Sigh. Well, I already did the overtime. Complaining now won't change anything."
He stared at the familiar interior, then looked to Angela.
"Angela—what's my next assignment?"
Walking ahead, Angela turned back and answered.
"Manager, your next task is to go to the depths of the 'Well' located in the Extraction Department, and begin salvaging the Abnormality that will be used to produce tomorrow's energy."
Zhou Zhuang froze.
"What? I have to go into the 'Well' and salvage an Abnormality? But isn't the Well built using Carmen's nervous system as its core?"
"Don't tell me our company also has a Carmen nervous system… as the Well used to fish up Abnormalities?"
"No, Manager." Angela's tone was crisp and absolute. "Our Lobotomy Corporation does not possess such an inhumane, cruel system."
"Our principle is a cleaner, safer, and more convenient energy production plan."
"As for the Well used to salvage Abnormalities—this company can dive directly into the ocean of human consciousness without relying on external forces, and capture Abnormalities."
"While the company can allow anyone to dive… the privilege of safely returning is something only you, Manager, can do."
Zhou Zhuang blinked.
"So… because I wasn't born in this world, I can just swim around in City people's consciousness without worry?"
"Manager," Angela said, "the company has tested this previously."
"For other isekai individuals aside from you, entering the sea of consciousness results in partial loss of personality to varying degrees."
"In severe cases, they become a puddle of encephalin peptides under the impact of the consciousness sea."
Zhou Zhuang stared at her, suddenly uneasy.
"I won't be fine, right? Angela… This is my first time doing something this… supernatural."
"Rest assured, Manager. You are different."
"Yeah, well… if you look at my twenty-plus years of life, I don't feel different at all."
He sighed, but then forced himself to accept it.
At this point, he'd already transmigrated. If he kept insisting he was still some useless nobody, he'd never move forward. Better to believe he had been "specialized" in something.
"Alright then. How do we get to the Extraction Department?"
"Of course—by elevator, Manager."
They walked for a while.
And then Zhou Zhuang saw the familiar, life-saving tool: the elevator.
Once they stepped inside and stood steady, the elevator began a smooth descent.
From outside, Zhou Zhuang had thought it was just a plain metal box.
But inside, you could clearly see the scenery outside the elevator.
If this elevator can dodge certain damage like in the game, he thought, then this is truly the Manager's dream.
While he was still thinking, Zhou Zhuang noticed something else.
The Control Team, which had been pitch-black when he left, was now brightly lit—standing out in a company otherwise drenched in darkness.
And in the center hall, the four employees he'd recruited were fighting the game's infamous Tutorial Rabbit.
"Angela—if the Control Team lights are on, does that mean the Control Team Captain has awakened from dormancy?"
Angela stepped to his side.
"Yes, Manager."
"Three Captains have awakened so far: Control Team's Malkuth, Training Team's Hod, and the one we are heading to now in the Extraction Department—Binah."
"However, because Abnormalities have not met the unlock conditions for other departments, only the Control Team is currently operating."
"Even so, Hod and Binah can still assist you with routine matters."
"For example: the four employees are undergoing capability training under Malkuth and Hod, to reach the minimum requirements for tomorrow's work."
"And Miss Binah is preparing in the Extraction Department for your first dive into the Well."
"…I see."
Zhou Zhuang watched the four recruits scramble under the Tutorial Rabbit's attacks, darting around in panic.
For no reason at all, an image flashed in his mind—some classic "training from hell" scene.
"Don't run—charge the tutorial rabbit head-on!"
The absurdity of his own thought made Zhou Zhuang chuckle out loud.
Angela glanced at him, puzzled.
"Manager? What is it?"
"Nothing. I just remembered a famous scene."
"Hey, Angela… if I could somehow turn the anime music in my head into audio and play it during work hours, would that help relieve employees' suppressed stress?"
"Manager," Angela replied, "work is work. Any distraction during work can cause chain reactions."
"However, the company can consider providing entertainment after employees' shifts end."
"Okay, that works too. After-hours entertainment is still entertainment."
As the Control Team disappeared above them, only the elevator's light remained.
Outside, the lower departments became hazy silhouettes in the darkness.
Ding.
Angela spoke.
"Manager. We've arrived."
"Mm."
Zhou Zhuang looked out.
A long corridor stretched ahead—only a few dim ceiling bulbs fighting to cast any light at all.
"When I played the game I already wanted to complain—why is the Extraction Department so dark?"
"It's not like the company doesn't have money for lighting."
"Or do all researchers just love making breakthroughs in the dark?"
He was still muttering when—
"You're finally back, Manager."
A voice that wasn't Angela's.
Zhou Zhuang turned toward it—and froze.
Binah had appeared directly in front of him, sometime without him noticing.
"Uh… hello."
Binah's eyes were flat and emotionless.
Zhou Zhuang instinctively shrank his neck.
"While we were in dormancy… it seems you were having quite a good time."
"Oh, don't worry. We aren't angry."
"For the company, the correct time should be used to do the correct thing—should it not?"
Zhou Zhuang turned to Angela with his eyes, silently asking what riddle Binah was speaking.
But before he could, Angela's voice cut in—sharp and urgent.
"I know what you want to say."
"But right now, do your job and assist the Manager."
"Of course, Angela." Binah's tone turned almost… amused.
"No one understands the importance of work better than I do."
"Ah. After so many years… I begin my work once more."
Then Binah looked at Zhou Zhuang.
"Manager. Follow me to the Extraction Department. We will complete the Abnormality extraction."
"Oh—okay."
Zhou Zhuang followed behind her.
And he noticed Angela had gone silent, trailing behind him without another word since that exchange.
As he watched Binah's back, Zhou Zhuang cautiously asked:
"Um… should I call you Garion, or Binah?"
"Call me Binah," she said.
"Though if you wish, you may call me Garion as well."
"It is your choice."
"…Then I'll call you Binah."
"Binah, I want to—"
"Stop, Manager." Binah cut him off immediately.
"I know what you wish to ask."
"In the not-too-distant future, you will see with your own eyes, and hear with your own ears, everything that confuses you."
Binah pushed open the Extraction Department's door, then looked back at him.
"Now—you must keep the company running… until the day arrives when you pry open the cycle."
Her words fell like a verdict.
And as they landed—
Zhou Zhuang's body went slack.
His vision went black.
And he collapsed.
-------
Promotion Valentine's Month Sale: 20% off for 7 days. Apply now!
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (400 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (140 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (158 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (400 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (172 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (200 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (200 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (96 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (140 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (160 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (165 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (180 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (160 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (130 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (90 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (160 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (130 Chapter)
I Just Want to Live a Normal (50 Chapter).
Genshin Impact: A Hundred Confessions? It's Just a System Task (70 Chapter)
OnePiece : Starting as a Veteran of the Roger Pirates (60 Chapter)
Uma Musume : I Have Special Horse Taming Techniques (190 Chapter)
Uma Musume : My other self is a Horse Girl (130 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen : All Affection Stats Maxed Out (200 Chapter)
Satou Kazuma's Decision to Live by Swindling, Starting from Re:Zero (60 Chapter)
Bleach : Ichigo! Take Over the Soul Society (89 Chapter)
Crossover Anime: The Master of Plagiarism with a 'Love Obstacle (140 Chapter)
Arknights Succubus Nurturing System, But I'm a Quiet Office Worker (90 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: Using My Personas to Break the Hearts of Players (50 Chapter)
One Punch Man : i am King? (150 Chapter)
Genshin: My Stats Are Irresistible (70 Chapter)
Naruto: Master of Dream Fulfillment! (70 Chapter)
Why Are All My Chat Group Friends Spin-Off Characters? (123 Chapter)
Arknights : Batman System (30 Chapter)
Chat Group: Swapping Bodies with the Bad-Ending Herta from the Start (72 Chapter)
DanMachi: Why Did My Dungeon Turn Into a Soulslike Game? (92 Chapter)
Losing Money on Uma Musume...What Do You Mean You Actually Won? (93 Chapter)
I'm Gotou Hitori—Who Are You? (40 Chapter)
Were You Ever Even a Uma Musume? Stop Making Things Up! (75 Chapter)
Moon Project: A Full-Time Love Adventure for the Lobotomy Corporation (75 Chapter)
The Leisurely Days of the Hyuga Main House (65 Chapter)
Arknights : A Draco Surviving in a Matriarchal Terra (115 Chapter)
Arknights: What if My Luck Is Too Good? (105 Chapter)
Honkai: The Romance System Only Shows Up After I Marry Mei (55 Chapter)
Arknights: Who Are You Calling Repressed, X?! (105 Chapter)
The Chat Group Only Arrived After I'd Cleared the Game (42 Chapter)
Gojo Satoru Flat-Out Refuses to Admit He's a Supporting Character (40 Chapter)
Chat Group Isn't Supposed to Be Like This! (30 Chapter)
If You're Moriarty…then Who Am I? (50 Chapter)
Uma Musume: Since I "Can't See," They Take Turns Stealing My Underwear (50 Chapter)
Arknights: Why Are All My "Brothers" Girls? (47 Chapter)
Danmachi: Start Training Haki (30 Chapter)
Emiya Shirou's Rebirth (30 Chapter)
I Can Get Stronger Just by AFK'ing—So I Joined a Chat Group (50 Chapter)
Endfield: I Can Always Pull Out One Yuan (40 Chapter)
Limbus Company : I Started a Company in Project Moon (50 Chapter)
Lobotomy: Do Cooks of Alley 23 Dream of Bloodfiend Knights? (50 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it