Chapter 1: Class B Yellow, Shopping Mall (1)

The bus swayed unsteadily, voices murmuring through the headphones, people getting on and off.

The drowsy girl tilted her head, leaning against the bus, caught between sleep and wakefulness.

Suddenly, the voice in her headphones sharply raised in volume:

“Xu Yiliu! Are you listening? Did you remember what I said?”

The sleepy girl frowned and replied perfunctorily, "Yes, yes, I got it."

“This young man you’re meeting this time is quite the catch. You’d have to be virtuous for several lifetimes to come across someone like him. If you don’t seize this chance, who else will want you...”

Xu Yiliu responded with absent-minded uh-huhs, mimicking the crackling buzz of electricity, then ended the call.

She sent a message saying, “Signal’s bad,” and ignored the flood of messages that followed from Ms. Xu, closing her phone and rubbing her eyes as she gazed out the window.

To set up a blind date for a just-turned-eighteen prospective college student didn’t strike Ms. Xu as ridiculous.

If it weren’t for Ms. Xu transferring the money, she wouldn’t have agreed to such an absurd match.

Money is hard to earn, and the tasks are unpleasant.

Xu Yiliu stared at the shifting scenery outside the window, bitterly muttering in her heart. She noticed the next stop was her destination, tidied her crossbody bag, and stood up to move toward the rear door.

As she stepped on the bumpy bus, reaching for the handrail to steady herself, a sudden chill coursed through her body, making her tremble uncontrollably. She failed to grab the rail.

Usually, losing balance on a bus isn’t a big deal. Xu Yiliu reacted quickly, apologizing as she reached out to grab the arm of the person beside her.

But somehow, she grabbed nothing.

Her body grew numb and cold as she collapsed near the rear door, her vision fading to black.

Her fingers twitched. The fear of sudden death triggered a strange excitement, and her thoughts raced.

She couldn’t see, but she could still think—so she probably wasn’t dead.

Her body was cold and numb; the pain from falling meant she hadn’t lost sensation.

Beyond these initial reactions, she realized she hadn’t lost her hearing, only that it was eerily quiet except for her own breathing.

The bus would never be this silent.

Where there are people, it wouldn’t be this quiet.

Suddenly, a crackling sound like electricity came through.

[System loading progress: 100%. Greetings, host Xu Yiliu.]

With the mechanical voice came a full restoration of sensation. The cold and numbness vanished. Xu Yiliu wiggled her fingers, then tried to stand up.

---

She was stunned—not only by the strange mechanical voice inside her head but by the bus before her eyes.

The bus she had boarded on Route 13 was new and spotless, with clean seats. Now, the bus in front of her was old and grimy, plastered with flyers, and completely empty.

The bus was stationary at an unfamiliar stop, completely still.

[Mission level assessed as Class B; mission area classified as yellow...]

Ignoring the system's words, Xu Yiliu scanned the bus interior and quickly noticed the electronic display counting down: “Five, four, three...”

Counting down to what?

Her mind went blank for a moment, but her body acted first. She grabbed the emergency hammer by the door and smashed the nearest window, then leapt out, stepping on the seats to vault out.

All this happened within seconds. As she landed, she heard the engine roar as the bus sped away like a rocket.

Not far off, a loud explosion echoed.

A cold wind blew, and she seemed to smell something burning.

The cuts from broken glass still stung faintly. Xu Yiliu called out to the system, which had been silent since the window break: “What exactly are you?”

[System full name: Cleaner Cultivation System. Friendly reminder: Mission level classified as Class B; mission area classified as yellow. Host must promptly complete cleaning tasks and ensure survival.]

Xu Yiliu tied her loose hair into a tight bun and took in the bus stop and the nearby mall building with a dazed expression.

What on earth was going on...

Suppressing her urge to rant, she quickly distilled her scattered thoughts into three questions: “What is the mission? Do I have companions? If I die here, can I revive?”

The system replied: [Mission: Locate and eliminate three pollutants (0/3).]

[Detected one other cleaner in the mission area.]

[No revival item available. Friendly reminder: The host can communicate with the system via neural control and view host panel data.]

As a newcomer, Xu Yiliu wanted to check that so-called panel data, but with the explosion just now, she didn’t know what strange things might be attracted here. Staying put to look at the panel wasn’t safe.

Better to get away quickly.

Before running, she tore off the scarf around her neck, ripped it into three strips, and tied them tightly around her three bleeding wounds on her legs and arms, knotting firmly to stop the bleeding.

A gray mist enveloped the surroundings. Only the bus stop and the mall building behind were clearly visible. Xu Yiliu had no choice.

She ran lightly and swiftly, the distance to the building shrinking rapidly.

She spotted four entrances at a glance: an external elevator and three doors facing different directions.

Notably, the external elevator was still operational.

---

If this were an ordinary part-time job, Xu Yiliu would have chosen the elevator straight to the hot pot restaurant on the second floor without hesitation. But she wasn’t in her usual workplace now.

If this so-called cleaning task even counted as work, that is.

The other three doors were brightly lit, and she vaguely saw people walking inside, as if it were a bustling place.

Xu Yiliu’s mouth twitched downward.

Enter from the middle and become the star of the show?

Left or right... she steeled herself and chose the left door without hesitation.

Approaching, she saw through the glass a smiling hostess and strolling guests.

The system had said there was only one other human host in this mission area besides her.

Then what were these people?

Xu Yiliu straightened her back, fixed her clothes, and when she pushed the door open, she noticed the “people” subtly all turned their gaze toward her.

These “people” chatted and laughed as if genuinely wandering and working, but their eyes flickered uncontrollably toward Xu Yiliu.

She fixed her gaze on the air ahead and asked the system silently: [Only the three pollutants can attack me, right?]

If these things could attack her, why assign such a dangerous task to a prospective college student?

Wouldn’t it be a death sentence?

The system responded: [Apart from pollutants, other beings are bound by mission area constraints and cannot attack the host unless certain conditions are triggered.]

That was reassuring—though it meant these “people” might still become hostile under some circumstances.

Xu Yiliu smiled faintly and faced the approaching hostess.

The hostess’s face was flawless, but her eyes twitched occasionally, reminding Xu Yiliu of the dolls she had seen at a classmate’s house when she was a child.

The hostess greeted warmly, “Welcome! How may I assist you today?”

Xu Yiliu, recalling the system’s mention of certain conditions, avoided answering directly. She stared blankly ahead and said timidly, “Hello... I’m blind...”

The lively mall seemed to quiet for a moment.