Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan
He Gu was hit hard, his consciousness beginning to fray at the edges.
If not for the adrenaline kicking in, he might have passed out by now.
It took him a few seconds to regain his bearings.
Looking up, he saw Old Ma staring at him with a mix of shock and rage, fear barely concealed in his eyes.
He Gu paused, noticing the red towel in his hand.
Old Ma seemed… afraid of the towel?
With that thought, He Gu struggled to his feet and tentatively advanced a couple of steps with the towel raised.
Old Ma immediately stepped back in panic, his eyes wide with alarm. "You… how do you have that?!"
He Gu's heart skipped a beat, but he replied coolly, "It was prepared just for you."
Old Ma was taken aback, then a creepy smile spread across his face. "Hahaha…"
After his laughter, Old Ma suddenly looked exhausted. "I'm so tired…"
"Well, that's fine… I'll go inside and wait for you then…"
With that, Old Ma gave He Gu a meaningful glance and moved to the delivery entrance with an unnatural speed.
He Gu watched as Old Ma climbed onto the conveyor belt, entering the delivery entrance backwards in an odd posture.
It took a moment for He Gu to process as Old Ma's figure vanished into the dark entrance.
What did he mean by that?
Just crawling into the delivery entrance like that?
Is this considered suicide?
Did he give up after seeing the red towel, thinking there was no hope of devouring himself?
But what about that "I'll wait for you inside"?
Staring at the dark entrance, He Gu felt as if invisible eyes were watching him, unsettling him completely.
While he was lost in thought, a sharp, unpleasant voice rang out: "Hey, I've done what you asked, it's time for you to keep your promise."
The sudden voice startled He Gu, reminding him of the dark shadow in the box.
He Gu didn't respond but checked his pockets, only to realize he had thrown everything at Old Ma earlier.
After searching the ground, he quickly picked up half a pill wrapper and the black bean sprout-like right eye, dusted them off symbolically, and looked around the storeroom for the shadow.
The sharp voice spoke again: "Just place the items at the entrance of the delivery port."
Hearing this, He Gu glanced warily at the dark entrance.
Hesitating for a moment, he carefully placed the half pill wrapper and the right eye on the conveyor belt at the entrance.
After setting them down, he quickly stepped back.
Then, he saw a pair of grayish-green hands reach out from the entrance, snatch the items, and retract swiftly.
Soon after, He Gu heard the sound of chewing from within the entrance, as if it was eating the pill wrapper.
Seconds later, the voice came again: "Hey… pleasure doing business."
"I'm going in now. Hopefully, when you come in, we'll have another chance to work together…"
***
The voice faded, followed by a series of footsteps that gradually receded into silence.
He Gu looked at the dark entrance, a sense of unease rising within him.
After standing guard for a while, his tense nerves finally relaxed.
The adrenaline's effects were wearing off, and He Gu realized every part of his body ached, barely able to stand.
Limping, he collected the items he had thrown earlier and pocketed them before collapsing back into the chair.
Exhausted.
That was the only thing He Gu felt.
The events of the evening had drained him physically and mentally.
He had been running on adrenaline, but now that he sat down, he didn't want to move a finger.
He glanced at the supervisor's body on the floor and, too weary to care, slumped over the desk, motionless.
It was a state of world-weariness that comes with extreme fatigue; at this point, even if the supervisor's corpse stood up, He Gu might not bother to resist.
And so, the storeroom fell silent once more.
No movement, no talking or coughing, not even the security guard at the door.
He Gu lay there, utterly spent, his thoughts scattering.
Time passed, and he was on the verge of sleep when a voice suddenly broke the silence:
"Shh… 411… 411, do you copy? Over!"
The abrupt sound startled He Gu, who lifted his head with difficulty. The voice was coming from the supervisor's walkie-talkie.
"Shh… 411, if you hear me, respond!"
"411… 411…"
***
The walkie-talkie's calls grew more urgent, continuing for nearly a minute before stopping.
He Gu, listlessly, looked towards the door, wondering what had happened.
As he pondered, his own walkie-talkie crackled to life: "444, are you there? Respond if you hear me!"
It sounded like the same person who had been calling the supervisor.
He Gu frowned slightly. They couldn't find the supervisor and now they were looking for him.
What now?
Though he had no desire to move, after some hesitation, he responded wearily on the third call: "I'm here."
There was silence on the other end for a moment.
Then the voice asked, "444, are you still in the storeroom?"
"In," He Gu replied weakly.
***
The walkie-talkie fell silent, the other party saying no more.
Five minutes later.
He Gu heard a series of hurried footsteps outside.
Then, he saw a tall, thin man in a purple uniform leading a group of four or five people in white hazmat suits rushing into the storeroom.
He Gu was startled by the commotion, forcing himself to stand despite the soreness.
To avoid breaking any rules, he deliberately ignored the people in hazmat suits and focused on the man in purple.
However, upon entering, the man in purple and the others glanced at He Gu before turning their attention to the supervisor's body nearby.
The man in purple quickly went over, examined the supervisor's condition, then stood up, turned to He Gu, and said, "444, your work tonight is done. Leave the storeroom immediately!"
"Go get some rest, and report to the HR department at 1:30 pm tomorrow!"