Working Records in a Weird World - 31

 

| WRIAWW | The First ?-Mission is Launched | 31

Recently, survivors have been preoccupied with the ultimate dungeon and various other matters, causing many to forget about the "Talented Newcomer" who dominated the forum for an entire page not long ago.

After all, the Survivor Forum is never short of news. Without fresh updates, the buzz and attention quickly fade. Moreover, the Infinite Space is never lacking in geniuses. 

What’s rare are the top-tier geniuses and those who can laugh all the way to the end.

But then again, there are very few newcomers who start with C-level missions.

Otherwise, the incident with the Talented Newcomer wouldn’t have caused such a stir.

So, when this new post was published, it rocketed to the top at lightning speed, soon marked with a "hot" tag.

The thread starter clearly had some insider information and immediately set the stage with suspense.

OP: Remember that Talented Newcomer from before? The entire forum spent three days racking their brains but couldn’t find a single clue about them. However, I’ve recently caught wind that someone encountered this newcomer during a mission and even managed to get their contact information. Unfortunately, the information was bought out and sealed by the Merchant Guild, so I can only share some known details. Let’s see if any of you can run into this rising newcomer during your missions.

However, this little trick was quickly exposed by sharp-eyed netizens before the tenth reply.

[OP, stop pretending. You lost in the guild bidding, so now you’re just broadcasting the info, right?]

[Exactly, don’t treat us like fools. We all know about your little games.]

[Just be honest, OP. Which guild sent you as a spy?]

[Hurry up, I want to know the newcomer’s info and traits. Get to the point already!]

Faced with these blunt accusations, the OP remained unshaken, as if they hadn’t seen them.

OP’s reply: First piece of info—the newcomer has black hair and dark eyes.

[......]

[Wait, isn’t 99% of the Infinite Space population have black-hair and dark-eyes?]

[OP, are you okay???]

OP’s reply: Second piece of info—the newcomer is male.

[Lol, these two pieces of info instantly eliminate 50% of survivors.]

[Not to be rude, but I could’ve come up with that too. If it’s not female, it’s male. The Infinite Space hasn’t advanced enough to develop a third gender yet.]

OP’s reply: Third piece of info—the newcomer likes to wear a white shirt, black pants, and occasionally a jacket.

[???]

[Got it. I’m also D-level, so I’ll dress like that tomorrow in the dungeon and pretend to be the Talented Newcomer to scam some money.]

[Let’s just leave. OP clearly has nothing useful to share today.]

[Ugh, OP, if you’re just here to troll, just say so. You’re wasting my time.]

The once rapidly growing thread suddenly slowed down, no longer occupying the top spot on the homepage. Survivors shifted their attention to the new dishes recently introduced by several restaurants in the Infinite Space, debating which place had the best desserts, and scattered like birds and beasts.

Han Yueyue happened to be dining at the restaurant, scrolling through posts on her phone. Just as she reached the bottom of the thread, her food arrived.

"Thank you."

She politely thanked the NPC, snapped apart a pair of disposable bamboo chopsticks, and took a bite of rice before reopening her phone. Coincidentally, she came across the latest reply from the thread's original poster.

OP replied: The fourth piece of information, and the most significant one.

OP replied: The newcomer's surname is Zong.

Seeing that character, Han Yueyue was momentarily stunned, her eyes widening in surprise.

To be fair, the surname Zong is quite uncommon.

If you add the previous limiting conditions, along with the appearance and attire, and finally the D-level...

There really is someone in Han Yueyue's friend list who perfectly matches all these criteria.

She finished her meal with a sense of unease, pondering over it repeatedly, and eventually decided to send a message to Wang Lin.

[Wang Lin]: Huh? You're saying that Zong guy we met during the courier mission might be a talented newcomer?

[Wang Lin]: How could that be? He was clearly just an ordinary person. If he were the talented newcomer, he would have already been recruited by those major guilds and secretly protected and taken on missions like a baby. How could we have run into him?

[Wang Lin]: Stop overthinking it. I've got another group together planning to do a D-level mission for the minimum reward. Are you in?

After reading Wang Lin's messages, Han Yueyue bit her lower lip.

She typed "I'm in" and hit send.

Exiting the chat interface, she stared at the name [Zong Le] in her friend list.

For some reason, Han Yueyue couldn't help but recall the scene she had witnessed at the villa that day.

The black-haired young man stood amidst the scattered wood shavings, casually waving his hand.

Outside, the eerie light of the blood moon poured through the shattered window, casting a crimson outline around his tall figure. Tiny specks of dust floated in the beam of light, like countless spirits dancing around a deity.

He looked aloof and unapproachable, making it impossible to look directly at him.

But in the next moment, the young man instantly reverted to his usual shy, harmless, and smiling self. If Han Yueyue hadn't coincidentally seen that scene, she would have never believed it.

"So... was it really just a coincidence?"

Han Yueyue muttered to herself, eventually getting up and leaving the restaurant.

......

Very few people knew that just yesterday, the Merchant Guild had approached the three major guilds,

Unexpectedly, this time the one who truly seized the opportunity was not the long-standing rivals, the Watchtower Guild and the Spiritual Guild, but the relatively laid-back Moon Guild, which had always maintained a stable position.

Regarding this matter, the representatives from both guilds who were responsible for the auction negotiations were questioned upon their return.

At that time, they were only focused on outbidding each other, resulting in a mutually destructive battle, which allowed the Moon Guild to take advantage of the situation.

Because of this, the two guilds decided to lay all their cards on the table and let the game play out.

Among them, the most distressed was Wen Pushi, who was sent by the Spiritual Guild to deceive the Watchtower Guild.

He had already received a message from the Watchtower Guild, which contained clear accusations and threats. It was evident that after a week, the Watchtower Guild had finally realized that Wen Pushi might just be a decoy.

They would naturally not show any mercy.

Reluctantly, Wen Pushi had to go back to Liu Jianhua, who had initially contacted him, to seek protection from the Spiritual Guild.

But how could the Spiritual Guild allow such a low-level and incompetent person to join?

Thus, they gave him the necessary survival points but refused to provide any protection, clearly showing their intention to discard him after use.

However, all this undercurrent of tension did not affect the core individuals involved in the incident.

In fact, the main person involved even had a good night's sleep after returning from a mission at the funeral home.

The next day, Zong Le was surprised to discover that he had gained a new title—Warden.

The origin of this title came from the Weird Corpse.

Zong Le thought this title was quite good, very cool, and it clearly represented what he was currently doing.

At least it was better than being called "Boss." Zong Le had always felt that the title "Boss" was quite annoying.

"We are different from those gangs in Guiyi City. They are always out there collecting protection money, doing bad things, and gathering for fights. How can we be the same as them? We must separate ourselves from them."

Fortunately, the neighbors sincerely followed his advice (actually, they succumbed to his authority), and now they unanimously label the Ankang Community as a "White Society," claiming to be the beacon of justice in Guiyi City, which has made various forces tremble at the mention of it.

Guiyi City has always been a place where filth and evil are the norm.

What Zong Le didn't know was that his ideal of building a harmonious society, in this twisted city full of desires, had become the most terrifying existence. This slogan was more horrifying than any curse in the eyes of the weirds, this news spread like a plague and even made it to the prime-time news on Guiyi City TV.

During a special report on the renewed gang wars between two major gangs, the host took ten seconds to make a statement.

"Recently, the Ankang Community in the east of Guiyi City elected a 'Warden.' This leader has turned his territory into a private prison and proposed a 'Build a Peaceful Guiyi City' declaration, which has sparked a strong reaction throughout the city."

Television is an essential means for the residents of Guiyi City to obtain information, especially when it comes to important news like gang wars.

Coincidentally, the higher-ups of the Night Owl Group were gathered in a bar when they heard the host's brief news update, and they immediately erupted in uproar.

"That brat really dares to do it!"

"Terrifying, absolutely terrifying! How could there be such a vicious person!"

In short, Zong Le's dream was so sinister that even a gang leader would call it vicious.

It was precisely because of this absurd reason that he managed to catch the attention of the mainstream weirds in Guiyi City. Although they didn’t take him too seriously yet, at least when his name came up, the weirds would remember: "Oh, there’s indeed someone like that."

But all of this, along with the rumors on the survivor forums, never reached Zong Le’s ears.

"You go find Xiao Fu. He’s the person I’ve appointed to handle this. Let him arrange your specific living arrangements."

Considering the other party’s relatively young age, Zong Le didn’t impose strict restrictions on personal freedom like he did with others. On weekdays, he allowed the weird corpse to move freely within the community, even letting it walk his dog, Lai Cai.

The weird corpse was quite clever.

It wasn’t a particularly powerful weird, only a C-level after its transformation. In contrast, the weirds in Building 4 of Ankang Community were B-level, and there were also scattered C-level and D-level weird in other buildings. So, it had no choice but to keep its head down.

However, it still harbored ambitions, looking for opportunities to gain some benefits and climb the ranks.

"Brother, you’d better not try anything."

The strategist weird child of Ankang Community saw through the weird corpse's plans immediately and called in Liu Rouya and the Butcher. The trio teamed up for a three-way beating, leaving the weird corpse thoroughly subdued and obedient.

Ankang Community was unprecedentedly peaceful, and Zong Le was very satisfied.

With some free time on his hands, he decided to start investigating the organ trafficking incident at "Taikang Yongle Hospital," which the weird corpse had previously mentioned.

This crime was heinous and had far-reaching consequences. Zong Le couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

However, before he could even begin, that very night, all survivors received a unified notification from the main system.

【Guiyi City East District mission completion rate has met the standard】

【First ?-level mission of the ultimate dungeon, countdown begins: 72:00:00】

【?-level mission: Taikang Yongle Hospital】

【Mission participants: All survivors】

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