Working Records in a Weird World - 34

 

| WRIAWW | Fooling Yourself | 34

Despite the daunting nature of the question mark mission, the sheer number of participants fostered a somewhat absurd optimism. Some cracked jokes, while others chatted and laughed as if this hellish challenge were nothing more than a group outing.

However, no matter how lively the atmosphere, the mountains of corpses and rivers of blood left behind by previous question mark missions served as a constant reminder. 

No matter how easy the mission task might appear, the actual difficulty was like fangs hidden in the dark, ready to deliver a fatal blow at any moment.

Seeing the assigned tasks, Zong Le scratched his head.

He politely tapped the shoulder of the girl in front of him: "Hi, I was wondering, what’s your task?"

The girl, named Wu Qin, was also a C-level survivor and answered his question readily.

"I’ve been assigned to the obstetrics department. My task is to assist the head doctor of obstetrics in delivering babies and gain their approval to get their signature."

Zong Le wanted to ask a few more questions when the hospital’s broadcast interrupted.

"The consultation time at this hospital is extremely valuable—time is money. Those who have received their number card must find the guiding doctors in their respective departments and leave the hospital lobby within ten minutes. Failure to do so will result in disqualification and immediate expulsion from the hospital."

The broadcast said "expulsion," but in reality, it meant mission failure.

As everyone knew, failure in a ?-level mission only led to one outcome: being erased by the main system.

Hearing this, the survivors stopped wasting time and began moving, following the signs to their destinations.

Taking advantage of his height, Zong Le stood on his tiptoes and quickly spotted the red "Morgue" sign in a corner. He squeezed through the crowd toward it.

A group of people had already gathered there, all looking up expectantly.

The leading A-level survivor, upon seeing the black-haired young man approaching, initially showed an excited smile. After all, when Zong Le wasn’t smiling, his handsome face had an intimidating effect, making him seem like a cool, aloof boss.

However, that smile quickly faded when he noticed the "C-level" above Zong Le’s head, replaced by a look of disappointment.

"Why is it another C-level?" Xue Heguang couldn’t help but complain. "Being assigned to the morgue is bad enough. Couldn’t they at least give us an S-level boss?"

"Exactly! There are a hundred S-level bosses in the infinite space. Why couldn’t they spare one for our morgue?!"

Unfortunately, such complaints didn’t have much effect.

Even as the ten-minute assembly time ended, not a single S-level survivor appeared in the morgue group.

"We’re doomed," the other survivors in the team lamented. "The mission is already hard enough, and without an S-level boss to lead us, are we going to be wiped out?"

The main system didn’t prohibit survivors from using the forum during the mission period.

For such a large-scale collective task, exchanging information is essential. For instance, someone just posted excitedly about being assigned to the operating room, which not only has the 1st Sant but also two S-level members of the Temple: S-level Bai Shao and S-level Tao Buxin.

The post’s title was enviously titled, [It seems like I’ve been assigned to with elite guards. The entire operating room has three S-levels and over a dozen A-levels survivors. Damn, brothers, can I just sit back through this question-level mission?]

Of course, with the random assignment system, some are thrilled while others were in despair.

The morgue group, for example, ended up with not a single S-level, leaving everyone disheartened.

Zong Le quickly tried to boost morale: "Don’t say that! If we unite and work together as one, even without a S-level survivor, we can definitely complete the mission!"

"Save that pep talk for yourself, don’t try to fool us," Xue Heguang retorted with a glare. "You’re just a C-level nobody. Who are you to say that?"

Although Xue Heguang is a A-level, even he wouldn’t dare to act tough in a question-level mission.

And as for the morgue group he were assigned to...

Looking at the lineup of B-level, C-level, and D-level members, with him being the only A-level, Xue Heguang couldn’t help but pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration.

With this team composition, forget the question-level mission, even a regular S-level mission would likely end in disaster.

"Fuck! What is the main system thinking?"

Normally, the system wouldn’t deliberately ramp up the difficulty in such high-level missions, essentially sending them to their deaths. Instead, it would allocate survivors of appropriate levels based on the mission’s difficulty.

The assignments for other departments made sense, but the operating room’s group configuration was unusually high, indicating its extreme danger. Meanwhile, their morgue group, whose name alone sends chills down the spine, was assigned a bunch of low-level survivors. Does that make any sense?

"Maybe our mission’s difficulty is lower than everyone else’s?" someone speculated.

"That would be best. What I’m afraid of is that the difficulty isn’t low at all."

But looking at the sea of low-level survivors in front of him, Xue Heguang couldn’t imagine anyone capable of elevating the team’s strength.

Level can intuitively show the strength of the survivors.

The kind of "low-level underdog defeating S-level elites" scenario only exists in forum entertainment posts, hastily written wish-fulfillment fantasies caused by the cruel reality.

"Let’s go," After the NPC in charge of leading the group started moving, he turned toward the fire escape.

Most groups only take the stairs for lower floors.

Many groups were heading upstairs, but only a few were descending. Apart from their unlucky morgue group , there were only a handful from the disinfection supply center, Radiology, and Internal Medicine. 

By the time they reached the third basement level, they had bid farewell to the Internal Medicine team, leaving only their group.

Yet, the NPC leading them didn’t stop there. They continued all the way down to the seventh basement level before finally halting.

The intermediate floors were sealed off with thick concrete walls, marked with bold, blood-red characters: "Decommissioned."

The leading NPC seemed to be quite talkative and continued to intimidate them without mercy: "These floors were originally part of the nuclear medicine department, but there was a leak incident later, which seemed to affect the morgue downstairs. During that time, many deformed corpses appeared, and I heard there were even a few zombies. There was no choice but to seal it off and abandon it."

Of course, this level of horror was nothing more than a drizzle for those who had survived multiple terrifying instances. Everyone listened without changing their expressions. Seeing that no one showed any signs of fear, the NPC lost interest and didn’t bother to continue.

Soon, they arrived at the entrance of the morgue.

The entrance was a long, narrow, and dimly lit passage, lined with old, cold-colored tiles. The floor was stained with foul-smelling water, faintly tinged with a deep black hue.

At this point, a few of the lower-level survivors finally showed signs of unease.

Passing through the iron door, they saw a man in a white lab coat with a director's badge hanging on his chest. He stood there with a cigarette in one hand, his face full of impatience.

"Are they all here?"

"Yes, they are. These are the ones recruited today and assigned to the morgue."

The NPC quickly added, "Director Yang, take your time to handle them and give them a good training. I’ll be on my way now."

From his demeanor, it was clear that Director Yang enjoyed a relatively high status at Taikang Yongle Hospital.

While Zong Le was still lost in thought, he suddenly heard Director Yang sneer.

"Since you’ve come to the morgue and are working under me, you’d better be quick and efficient. I’m not someone who’s easy to talk to, and I won’t tolerate lazy social parasites. If I catch anyone slacking off... you wouldn’t want to experience the feeling of being alone in the deformed corpse storage, would you? Last week, there was a temporary worker who claimed to hear continuous knocking sounds... The next day, his body was found lying intimately with those deformed corpses."

"Let me remind you, our hospital is a legitimate institution in Guiyi City, registered with the city’s commerce bureau. If you get injured or die during work, the hospital won’t compensate you. However, we will take care of recycling and properly disposing of your bodies. You don’t have to pay for that, so the treatment isn’t bad, right?"

Xue Heguang’s face showed a displeased expression.

As a member of the Spiritual Guild, he could use his medium abilities to sense that this Director Yang was just an ordinary NPC, not even a weird. If it weren’t for the hospital’s anti-violence domain, given the survivors’ straightforward nature, they would have already rushed up and beaten him. 

How could a mere NPC dare to boss them around like this?

"Alright, I won’t waste any more words. You, you, and you, step forward."

The named survivors stepped out of the line, their faces full of question marks.

Whether by coincidence or not, the ones called out were all B-level survivors, including Xue Heguang, a A-level survivor. They represented the strongest combat force assigned to the morgue.

"You guys seem a bit sharper. You can be team leaders."

After the brief appointment, Director Yang began assigning tasks: "First team, you’re responsible for the deep cleaning of the mortuary cabinets, autopsy tables, and other medical equipment. Especially the mortuary cabinets—inside, outside, and every corner and crevice. I want to see them so clean they can be used as mirrors. If I find even a single strand of hair during inspection, you’ll be the ones lying inside instead of the corpses."

"Second team, you will handle the corpses currently in the morgue. Ensure proper disinfection, preservation, and bagging. Classify them according to the degree of deformity. Remember to place the hands and feet separately, they are to be stored in the deformed corpse repository."

"Third team, you are responsible for transporting the bodies. Whenever a department upstairs reports a new death, take the morgue elevator to receive the body and bring it down. If family members or others submit a request to claim a body through the back window, you must also be responsible for retrieving the frozen body from the cabinet."

The survivors appointed as team leaders nodded in acknowledgment.

Seeing Director Yang about to leave, Xue Heguang, who had rich task experience, quickly spoke up, "Director Yang, according to the recruitment notice, we need your signature before the work is completed to receive our wages and settle the task."

The others looked at him with admiration.

In such a situation, he could remain calm and think methodically, even casually fabricating a plausible lie to complete the main task. Truly, an A-level survivor was an A-level survivor, he had his ways.

However, Director Yang didn’t fall for it.

He gave them a sinister look and said, "We’ll talk about it after you finish your work. Only if you do well will you have the right to discuss payment with me. If you don’t do well..."

He didn’t finish the sentence, but everyone understood the implication.

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