No way—seriously, no way.
Faust, you thick-browed, honest-looking type… your Fortitude and Prudence are both level 2?!
No wonder Malkuth made you the Control Department team leader before work had even started.
If the Abnormalities don't pull any nonsense, then Day One should wrap up smoothly.
Zhou Zhuang stared at Faust's stats.
In this cold, heartless company, only Fufu could give him peace of mind while facing three Abnormalities.
Ah!
Praise be to Faust!
He pressed his palms together theatrically in mock prayer, then melted into the chair in a full-on Ge You slouch, waiting for work time to arrive.
"Hey, Angela… can we put on some music?"
Zhou Zhuang stared at the white ceiling and blurted it out without thinking.
"What would you like to hear?" Angela asked without turning around.
"No idea. Anything's fine. I don't care."
This ceiling really is… a ceiling.
"I'm just too idle right now."
He fished out his phone and checked the time.
"Only seven… still one whole hour. This is brutal."
Before he knew the exact time, he could at least trick himself into thinking work was about to start.
Now that he'd looked, the "pain mask" possessed his face instantly.
"Unbearable!" Zhou Zhuang groaned in misery.
"…Fine, Manager."
Angela sighed, shook her head, and tapped a few buttons on her own desktop.
Ding.
A notification chimed from the computer in front of Zhou Zhuang. He pushed himself upright and saw that beneath Faust's full-screen profile, a task window had appeared—most prominently, a music-note app icon.
He clicked it.
Yep. A broadcasting app.
"Woo! Nice!"
He stared at the search bar, hesitated, then decided to play something from his memory: classical music.
…
Down in the Control Department, under the Minister's direction, Lain and Sif fumbled clumsily as they carried items around.
With Malkuth's near-deranged standards, the two kept making mistakes: documents that should've been separated were lumped together; files that should've been destroyed were still sitting where they'd been for ages.
And the consequence was obvious—
The pressure behind them—an almost physical gaze—grew sharper by the second.
Just as the two were about to cry, Anna and Faust finished their own tasks and moved in to help them clear the backlog.
Watching the pile shrink rapidly, Lain and Sif shot grateful looks toward their big sis and Team Leader Faust.
And then, from the company-wide broadcast system overhead, a light, upbeat piece of music suddenly started playing—
Along with the Manager's voice, the same one they'd greeted at breakfast.
"Uh… ahem."
"My dear employees: to ease your pre-work tension and restlessness, and your panic at not knowing what your tasks will be, I—the Manager—have decided to play a short segment of music during your preparation time."
"The piece currently playing is: The Blue Danube. Please enjoy."
Malkuth listened to the broadcast and immediately developed a headache. She pinched the bridge of her nose.
Why didn't Angela stop him from doing something this weird?
…Or rather, this probably meant Angela had agreed, didn't it?
Otherwise, with the Manager's "brilliant intellect," he probably wouldn't have discovered this feature until about… Netzach.
More likely Netzach would've told him.
"In any case," Malkuth said, "since the Manager's playing music to help you relax… take a break."
"Five minutes."
Given the way she stared at her watch, those five minutes would be neither more nor less.
…
Mmm.
Zhou Zhuang listened to the familiar classical piece, and his mood slowly loosened.
But as he relaxed, his consciousness blurred too.
—!
Zhou Zhuang jolted awake.
And found himself once again inside that familiar sea of light.
Did he… get dragged back into the Library's light again?
"Ayin? You there?!"
He shouted into the brightness.
"We meet again," came a voice from behind him.
Zhou Zhuang jumped and spun around.
There he was—the familiar figure, expressionless as ever.
"You scared the hell out of me. You big shots—if you've got the conditions, do you all just love appearing behind people?"
"It's simply that your vigilance is too low," Ayin replied flatly.
"…Yeah, fair," Zhou Zhuang admitted without argument.
"Anyway—I'm starting work today."
"I'm kind of nervous. How about you tell me what your first day of work was like? If you don't want to, forget it."
"It isn't that I don't want to," Ayin said.
"There's nothing worth telling."
"The first time I encountered Abnormalities, I didn't understand them."
"What kind of work I should assign… depended entirely on intuition."
"So, in the early stages of the loop, I was already close to collapse."
"And if you want to use my first day as reference material… you'll only find failure in it."
Zhou Zhuang thought it over.
Yeah—Ayin's early-stage suffering made sense.
Just like when you first played the game: without a wiki, the only way to unlock a new Abnormality's info was basically to trial-and-error and reset the day over and over.
"I was just asking casually," Zhou Zhuang said, trying to wave it off.
But the silence that followed was still awkward.
"Ah!"
Zhou Zhuang snapped his fingers.
"Right—Ayin. How far along is your Angela's Library?"
Ayin glanced at him—he knew Zhou Zhuang was just trying to break the mood.
"I don't know."
"But judging by how quickly the light is decreasing… there are four days left."
"When the light here is exhausted, the Library should formally manifest in L Corp's Nest."
Zhou Zhuang wanted to ask more, but his body began to flicker with static again, just like last time.
With no choice, he waved goodbye to Ayin.
…
Reality.
Zhou Zhuang jerked awake at his desk, wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth, and checked the time in the bottom right of the screen.
Five minutes until work began.
…Huh.
This dream was pretty "smart," wasn't it?
He nodded to himself.
It lined up perfectly—he'd just finished Moonlight Sonata, Movement I, and the surveillance feed showed Faust and the others had completed Malkuth's prep tasks.
They were lined up neatly in the center of the Control Department, waiting for the final minutes to tick down.
With the elegant music still playing, time passed second by second.
Zhou Zhuang checked the clock, then switched on the microphone.
"Ahem. Dear employees—your first work day is about to begin."
"I won't lie to you: this is also my first time directing work."
"But don't worry. I can't guarantee much… but I can guarantee that on Day One, you will all clock out and return to your dorms in one piece."
As the work music kicked in, Zhou Zhuang looked at the three containment rooms—then blurted out in shock:
"…It's you three?!?!"
....
My Patreon : patreon/RuneA
If you want to read the novel in advance, you can subscribe for early access. I also have many more novels in my collection that you might be interested in
I upload ten novels a day, with 3 to 4 chapters per title depending on the length. If you're following a particular series, please wait your turn a little
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it