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Chapter 4: Unfamiliar Message
Shi Rang opened his eyes.
Glancing at his phone, it was already past noon.
"Slept in again..."
He hurriedly got up and tidied himself. While washing his face, he stared at his sleepy reflection in the mirror for a few seconds, then casually wiped his head with a towel. His buzz cut from last month hadn’t grown much, which made grooming remarkably convenient. So, as he refreshed his mind, it could be as well treated as a quick hair wash.
He found the replay of the radio broadcast he missed on his phone and set it aside as he heated oil in a pan.
"Dear listeners of Yunling City, good morning, and welcome to the morning broadcast at 7 o'clock..."
The oil sizzled at the bottom of the pan. Shi Rang placed two slices of bread in the pan, which absorbed the butter and turned a slightly burnt golden color under the heat. Thus, breakfast and lunch were ready. The oil droplets gave the illusion of eating meat, allowing him to combine breakfast and lunch into one meal, a money-saving method for Shi Rang.
Living in District Ten for so many years, his tolerance for food had reached tear-inducing levels.
The bread was something he picked up from the near-expiry shelf; it had been expired for three days, but the expiration date was always just a reference number. Shi Rang trusted his fridge.
After eating bread rolls for so long, he dearly missed the food from his hometown.
Freshly cooked fried dough sticks, soy milk, sticky rice cakes... No, thinking about them would only make him hungry.
"Today is sunny and cloudless, perfect weather for an outing. We recommend Central Park as a bird-watching location..."
After breakfast, Shi Rang started mopping and tidying up the house along with the radio broadcast, striving to make his home spotless once more.
There are many ways to pass time in life, but in a place like District Ten with extremely poor security, it's best to reduce outdoor activities and stay indoors.
"Next, we will broadcast the characteristics of unidentified deceased individuals in District Ten recently. If you have missing relatives matching these characteristics, please proceed to the Yunling City Police Headquarters for further verification..."
Here it comes.
Shi Rang repeatedly mopped the same spot on the floor, listening attentively.
"Female, approximately 40 years old... Male, approximately 50 years old..."
"Female, approximately 20 years old, height between 160 to 170 centimeters—"
Shi Rang’s heart instantly tightened.
"—a purple tattoo on the right calf—"
Not her.
Not Yingshang.
Thankfully not.
None of the subsequent unidentified bodies matched the girl in his memory. Shi Rang finally relaxed and continued mopping.
"The presidential candidate stated that if elected, there are plans to revert District Ten back to its former name, the Tenth Nation, restoring the nickname from the last century... Haha, this isn’t a common campaign promise. It would require all eleven other districts on the continent to rename themselves accordingly...
"Breaking news: On the 27th of this month, the Green Island police discovered multiple illegal processing plants dealing with highly toxic substances in densely populated areas. They are currently urgently relocating over 1,700 households from the affected area. Testing for contamination levels in nearby regions is still ongoing.
"Relevant experts stated that the toxic substances have seeped into the local soil, potentially rendering the area uninhabitable for the next 50 years.
"The municipal government has just passed a resolution to accept some of the relocated residents from Green Island..."
Shi Rang quickly walked over to his phone, rewound a few seconds, and listened to the message again.
It was indeed Green Island.
He couldn't help but recall the archives site that caused him to oversleep.
Since discovering the website on Friday, he had spent the entire weekend immersed in it, revisiting entries with the same fervor as during his college entrance exam preparation, neglecting meals and sleep.
Although he didn't find another opportunity to collaborate on writing, he was already very satisfied.
The black boxes obscuring critical information appeared in every item document, masking detailed locations. However, when Shi Rang hovered his mouse over them, he could see the hidden information—the "Midnight Visitor" occurred in Green Island.
Was it a coincidence?
More likely, Kyle was someone working within the official system. Perhaps he had been busy investigating the illegal factories and drew inspiration directly from the real-life incident district to create that archive entry.
No one ever said you couldn't use real place names in fiction.
How could anomalies possibly be real? Only people who watched too many sci-fi movies would believe such things.
Shi Rang didn't dwell on it. He entered Yingshang's bedroom, neatly made the bed, pulled back the curtains, and let the sunlight stream in.
By one-thirty in the afternoon, his home was immaculately tidy.
If Yingshang were to suddenly appear at the door wanting to roll around on the bed like a child, she could do so happily.
"It's great having you, honey!"
The voice from his memories faded away, and Shi Rang realized he was staring blankly at the front door.
He had clearly rushed to make up for the lost morning time, but now he had nothing to do.
So, he looked towards his own bedroom.
He returned to his computer, accessed "The Management Bureau’s Archives" through his bookmarks, and escaped into the ocean of imagination.
["Private Channel" is now open]
A private channel?
In the corner of the page, Shi Rang noticed a button that hadn't existed before. Clicking it led him to a "private channel" styled similarly in black, white, and red. Its layout resembled a web chat room, but the main window was empty. The zoom bar on the edge only showed [Field Agent Kyle], indicating "last login three days ago."
Kyle must be busy investigating the factory. Shi Rang decided not to disturb him.
Was this akin to a friend function?
Just as he thought about it, the phone rang. Shi Rang glanced at the caller ID marked [Mushroom], answered, and put the phone aside to continue his research.
"Hey, Shi Rang, why didn’t you reply to the bunch of messages I sent you last night?"
Shi Rang then noticed the "99+" notifications in the corner of the app. Besides the usual harassment from the editor-in-chief and idle chatter from colleagues, Mushroom had also sent numerous messages.
"...I stayed up late last night and didn’t notice."
"No worries, I was just wondering why you haven’t checked your phone for so long." After awkwardly following up, Mushroom directly got to the point, which was the real reason for his call. "My company is pre-recruiting clerical staff for the branch office recently, with excellent benefits. Aren't you always complaining about being bullied by that dog of an editor-in-chief? How about switching jobs? The security in District Four is much better than in District Ten. I’ll be your immigration guarantor; there’s a favorable policy right now. Consider it? We can keep each other company! Yingshang’s matter—”
Shi Rang couldn’t focus on studying the private channel anymore. He retracted his hand, leaned back against the chair, and sighed deeply.
"I need time, Mushroom, give me a little more time..."
"Alright, I won’t bother you anymore. Feel free to call me if you need any help."
Mushroom hung up the call on his own.
Shi Rang rubbed his temples, feeling a pang of sadness.
...Never mind.
He didn’t want to linger on topics related to the past or future today.
With an escapist mindset, Shi Rang dove back into [Mud Truck]'s private channel, clicked the right mouse button, and began studying the complex functions that popped up.
Suddenly, a new message appeared at the top of the page.
The sender was shown as [Unknown Person], with a gray avatar.
Shi Rang’s eyebrows twitched, and he clicked into it.
[Hello?]
[Can anyone receive this message?]
[Is anyone in this channel?]
Thanks to the existence of the World Language, people around the globe shared a common primary language. Shi Rang’s finger hovered over the keyboard for a moment before typing a response.
"Who are you?"
[Oh thank goodness, this thing works!]
[Sorry, I’m so excited.]
[I’m Robin, a level 2 electronics engineer, currently still in my internship period.]
[...Or rather, I was originally interning.]
Was this a real name or another username?
Shi Rang pondered for a moment, feeling something ancient stir within him—similar to what welled up in his chest when he was compiling files last night or when he was engrossed in tabletop role-playing games years ago.
His curiosity reignited.
"You said ‘was’? What happened?"
[After the alarm went off, the door automatically locked. I’m trapped in this dusty server room. The landline isn’t being answered either. Are you in the control room? Can you unlock the door?]
[Or stop the alarm, please! I feel like I’m going deaf orz]
[Is this a fire drill bell? Why do I feel like the floor and walls are shaking?]
Robin typed at lightning speed.
"Where are you now?"
[In some underground facility where you need to sign a confidentiality agreement just to enter blindfolded?]
[As for the specific room... wait a sec!]
Seconds later, Robin replied.
[There’s a line on the access control screen. What is “Site-031, E-3”?]
Shi Rang suddenly understood.
He had seen similar entries in the website’s archives. Switching to the homepage, he noticed that a new “activity feed” had appeared, displaying the same content.
This Robin on the other side must be a real person, not some kind of program.
It turned out that this website didn’t just allow writing entries as a form of interaction? This netizen was engaging in a more direct form of role-playing with him.
Robin’s speech was clear, and his logic tight, obviously someone with higher education. Shi Rang had encountered too many players who stuttered and repeated themselves or spoke vaguely during tabletop role-playing games, making conversations with them torturous.
He returned to the archives page, opened the [Official Documents] section, and found the "Specific Code Identification List," discovering that "E-3" referred to "Level Three Emergency State."
Switching to the "Emergency Response Manual," he found the answer.
[Level One Emergency State: Risk of containment breach, full facility lockdown... Level Two Emergency State: Internal disorder, suppression forces about to intervene... Level Three...]
Shi Rang’s pupils contracted as he swiftly returned to the chat page.
"It means that Containment Facility 031 has experienced a containment failure and will initiate automated biological extermination."
"You need to get out of there quick, Robin!"
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