Chapter 127-I Clean Up Garbage in a Wasteland World
Chapter 127 The Company You Can't Leave (V)
When you stand somewhere high, have you ever imagined what it would look like if you hit the ground?
Most people have had that thought. Even watching it in movies adds some imagination, but human imagination has limits—you can only picture a bloody mess, with no details on what kind of mess.
Now Zhu Ning saw it. An identical face. The "Zhu Ning" who'd slammed into the ground wore a full Cleaner black Protective Suit. The black helmet was cracked, sparks sputtering from the edges. Zhu Ning's features were twisted, a pool of red-and-white liquid oozing out.
Helmet shards had pierced the left eye. The bridge of the nose was completely shattered. Thanks to the helmet's protection, her appearance wasn't too gruesome.
But that was you—every identical detail of her features confirmed it was you.
[Sanity decreased by 3%]
Zhu Ning heard the System prompt in her mind. In this Contamination Zone, ghosts weren't frightening—seeing yourself was.
Was that body really her?
A Zhu Ning who'd experienced something in the future?
The dead post's author had said they saw someone jump from the building every day after work. Had they been seeing their own corpse too?
But what was possible for an ordinary person was extremely difficult for Zhu Ning.
Zhu Ning had so many talents. From any angle, it was hard to imagine her being smashed to death without doing anything.
Only two possibilities. First—she'd been thrown off, drained of all her health, completely unable to activate her abilities.
Second—she really had jumped. A person who chooses suicide abandons all resistance, and naturally wouldn't activate any talents either.
So what desperate situation had she encountered that drove her to suicide? Even in the most hopeless scenarios, Zhu Ning's choice would be more like Shengxin—that fierce old lady—burning herself to test her limits rather than choosing suicide.
Even if she were suicidal, shooting herself would make more sense than jumping. With weapons at hand, jumping was the worst option.
It went completely against Zhu Ning's nature.
After the body hit the ground, screams erupted. Other Sheep-Heads recoiled in terror.
Zhu Ning calmed herself and approached the body instead. "Zhu Ning" wasn't fully dead yet. Blood choked up from her throat. When she saw Zhu Ning, her one intact right eye's pupil contracted violently.
She tried to move her fingers but had no strength left. She tried to speak but found her throat full of blood.
She opened her mouth at Zhu Ning.
Run...
Zhu Ning read her lips. One word: Run!
She was warning herself again, telling Zhu Ning to run. After "Zhu Ning" said that word, she stopped breathing entirely—dead for good.
"Zhu Ning's" right hand was clenched tight, as if gripping something. A slip of paper.
She was passing information to herself?
"Hey! Move aside!" someone shouted at her.
"Ambulance!" someone else yelled. "Call a doctor!"
Zhu Ning silently pried open the corpse's hand, palmed the note, and was immediately shoved aside. Security guards in uniform swarmed in, setting up a cordon.
The guards communicated among themselves, apparently calling someone in. The onlooking Sheep-Heads were terrified, glancing at each other and shaking their heads.
Then they noticed Zhu Ning—and then the corpse. They recoiled further, muttering something unintelligible under their breath.
Zhu Ning and the body on the ground looked exactly alike. Anyone would feel fear.
What a strange reaction. By normal logic, a public incident like this should involve calling the relevant authorities. But they seemed to have no such protocol—were they planning to handle it internally?
Zhu Ning looked up at the building. Building 3, over two hundred stories. Her own vision was decent, and the helmet had a telescope function.
Zooming in, she spotted a figure on the rooftop of Building 3. The figure seemed to notice Zhu Ning and quickly ducked back out of sight.
Zhu Ning only caught a black shadow flashing past. She couldn't make out any details.
There was someone else on the rooftop.
The moment she spotted the figure, Zhu Ning rushed back into the building. This company truly couldn't be escaped—entering a Contamination Zone meant you couldn't leave without finding the Contamination Source. But this time was different. She suspected she was trapped in some kind of loop.
The wheels were already turning. The train was barreling forward. Zhu Ning could no longer escape.
If the dead body really was her future self, then her current objective wasn't to leave the Contamination Zone—it was to prevent that death.
On her way back in, she ran into people getting off work. They saw Zhu Ning charging back like her life depended on it and reluctantly stepped aside, grumbling that she was disrupting their commute.
Zhu Ning swiped the elevator. Her Employee Card only granted access up to the 19th floor—nothing above.
If she moved fast enough, she might intercept whoever was on the rooftop. The elevator display showed no one was riding down.
Without hesitation, she chose the emergency stairwell. Regardless of whether that person was still there, she had to see the rooftop—it was the primary scene of her own death. There had to be clues.
The stairwell door was locked. Normal enough—the Employee Handbook prohibited unauthorized access to the rooftop. Locking the door effectively prevented employees from wandering in.
This completely sacrificed employee safety. In a fire or earthquake, they'd have nowhere to evacuate.
Zhu Ning had the Universal Key. She was about to activate it.
"Hello there." A voice suddenly came from behind her.
Zhu Ning's hand froze on the door handle. She turned slowly. Hope stood right behind her, clipboard in hand, wearing a textbook-perfect smile.
When had he appeared?
"What are you doing?" Hope leaned forward, curious about her actions.
As he spoke, the elevator doors opened. Employees filed out, their faces smoothed of all edges by life, filing past in orderly fashion.
Sheep-Heads swiped through the office entrance, queuing neatly at the door to clock in.
Wait—hadn't they just gotten off work? Why were they back?
Zhu Ning released the door handle. Her tone was perfectly flat: "Just curious."
Hope: "Best not to be too curious."
Zhu Ning remembered—the Employee Handbook said no going to the rooftop. She couldn't go in front of Hope.
Hope pushed open the office door and said: "Good Monday morning. You're the new hire here for onboarding?"
Good Monday morning. The new loop had already begun?
It was still Monday?
Zhu Ning looked down. At some point, a bag had appeared on her shoulder again, filled with resumes and documents.
She was onboarding again.
Hope seemed to find Zhu Ning's reaction very odd. "Aren't you the new mechanical designer?"
Only then did Zhu Ning realize something was truly wrong. Hope didn't recognize her.
Zhu Ning had no choice but to forge ahead. The instant she stepped into the office, over a hundred Sheep-Heads simultaneously stopped typing and raised their heads to look at her.
On her first day, all the Sheep-Heads had looked identical. Stare too long and your vision blurred. This time she could tell them apart at a glance.
In the back-row corner, a Sheep-Head also looked up. She wore black-framed glasses and a plain black suit.
Cardboard Box.
Zhu Ning had personally closed her eyes. Personally taken her body away. Yet on this day, Cardboard Box was still alive.
Cardboard Box was genuinely busy—she glanced at Zhu Ning, then went right back to organizing her blueprints.
Hope led Zhu Ning to a Workstation. By the window. A potted spider plant beside it. Same process as before.
Hope produced the roster: "The company requires aliases. Pick one you like."
Zhu Ning answered absentmindedly: "Toilet Paper."
Hope: "Hello, Toilet Paper. Let's get your face registered."
Zhu Ning gazed at the woman in the scanner—black helmet, looking like a mugshot.
She received a new ID Badge and Door Card, signed a new employment agreement, and got a new Steel Pen.
Back at her Workstation, Zhu Ning felt as though she'd crossed a lifetime. She was reliving yesterday.
How long had she been in the Contamination Zone? Had it even been an hour? Yet in this world, she'd already gone through a second day.
Zhu Ning sat at her Workstation. Only now did she unfold the note—taken from her own corpse's hand.
She'd glimpsed it earlier. The writing was strange. This wasn't blank paper—it was a corner torn from an Outstanding Employee certificate.
Written on it: Find Future.
What did that mean? Why had the dead version of herself been clutching this note?
Who was Future?
Judging by the name, this person definitely belonged to management. Ordinary Sheep-Heads were all named after objects.
Zhu Ning initially wanted to look up the organizational chart, but then discovered this company didn't have one. Management could see their information, but employees knew nothing about the leadership structure.
Sheep-Heads only needed to be good little cogs in the machine.
The Company You Can't Leave. Based on a one-year commitment, if Zhu Ning had to work here for a full year, she'd witness herself jumping from the building every single day after work.
Did that mean she'd have to jump three hundred and sixty-five times?
Zhu Ning gazed out the window. Outside was pitch-black, with a spiral-shaped cloud in the sky.
"Toilet Paper?" A Sheep-Head's reflection appeared in the window glass. Rectangular eyes were staring at her.
This time Zhu Ning wasn't startled at all. She quickly tucked away the note and said her line with practiced ease: "Supervisor?"
Pot-bellied Brightness stood right behind her. His next words would have been about not calling him Supervisor, but calling him Brightness instead.
This time, before Brightness could open his mouth, Zhu Ning spoke first: "Got it, Brightness. I'll start going through the project files right away to get familiar with the work, integrate with the team as soon as possible, and try not to slow anyone down."
Zhu Ning placed both hands on the keyboard and began typing furiously. Clack clack clack clack clack. A string of meaningless symbols.
Brightness blinked, then broke into a smile. His fat, oily hand came down heavily on Zhu Ning's shoulder. Unlike the oppressive pressure from before, this felt more like... approval.
"Not bad for a newcomer," Brightness told the colleague next to her. "Look after Toilet Paper."
The colleague nodded hastily.
Brightness added: "If you have questions, ask Chair. He's very skilled. Learn from your senior."
So her desk neighbor was called Chair. Zhu Ning said: "Thank you, Brightness."
Brightness was especially pleased. Before leaving, he even told Chair: "I'm entrusting Toilet Paper to you. Mentor her well."
Things had changed. Last time, Brightness had only given verbal praise without introducing her to any colleagues.
Workplace dynamics had unspoken rules. Some pleasantries were tedious but necessary—saying them yielded more benefits. This was how leaders confirmed their authority.
Put simply, it was a test of obedience. This time, Zhu Ning had proactively demonstrated her compliance.
Chair said: "If you have questions, just ask me."
Zhu Ning genuinely had things to ask, but was afraid the questions would scare him to death. She simply said: "Your tie looks great."
"Really?" Chair seemed somewhat bewildered. He glanced down at his red tie. He didn't say anything else, but he was clearly pleased.
Good. In this loop, Zhu Ning still had plenty of chances to change things. For instance, Brightness's attitude toward her had improved, and she'd made a new acquaintance.
Brightness's approval rating and colleague rapport could be raised with effort.
This time she hadn't yet been assigned that difficult client. As long as Cardboard Box didn't die, that troublesome project wouldn't land on her.
Zhu Ning tucked the note away and looked at her reflection in the window—a woman in a black helmet stared back.
She could change today. She could change the future.
She would become an Outstanding Employee—in her own way.
Author's Note
I've been in really poor health lately, so today's update is shorter. Sorry! I've already taken the comments section's advice and made a doctor's appointment. If you're having stomach issues, please see a doctor early...
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