Chapter 4

After descending from the fifteenth floor, You Xing began brainstorming suitable tasks for the apartment residents, preferably ones that would leave them no time to craft curse dolls or stuff "sh*t" under her pillow.

Though she had many questions after first meeting the Apartment Manager, she knew dwelling on them wouldn't help her current situation, so she set them aside and focused on the task at hand.

Being a dorm manager was truly a job suited for lying flat and retiring, especially in a strange apartment building untainted by human culture. There were no cumbersome interpersonal relationships or harsh rules and regulations. Sitting in the office day after day was actually quite boring, and once she cast aside her various concerns, You Xing found she was quite willing to try drafting this spontaneously received proposal.

Back in her room, You Xing first changed the bed sheets and quilt cover. This was the third time she had done so in her three days on the job. The room looked perfectly normal after she cleaned it, but she had developed a psychological shadow; she couldn't sleep without changing the linens. If conditions allowed, she would have even liked to replace the bed itself.

It was past nine-thirty by the time she finished. You Xing showered, put on loungewear, and sat on her bed. She needed to organize her thoughts regarding the resident placement project, but with no leads, she lay down to browse the Star-Net.

She was browsing a forum for paranormal sightings when her old work-related social media accounts began receiving a barrage of messages.

[Logistics Team 3, Bai Yin: Come to 58 Golden Laurel Street to pick us up. Bring twenty special soy milk buns. We just got out of a paranormal zone; several team members are in bad shape and need their mental stability restored.]

[Logistics Director, Duan Qiming: You Xing, come to the south gate of the Blood Pool Bar immediately. We just got out of a zone and need mental stabilizers.]

You Xing toggled between the dialogue boxes, staring at the two messages for a long time. In the past, she would likely have been working overtime at the office at this hour. Because of her low mental stability rating, she was rarely tasked with picking people up near zone exits. However, she had performed such last-minute pickups many times. When the exploration teams emerged from zones at odd hours and other logistics staff didn't want to go, it was always You Xing who drove through the night or braved the rain to fetch them.

She could ignore Bai Yin, but the Logistics Director—he knew she had submitted her resignation and hadn't said a word. Given his sharp and meticulous nature, he shouldn't have forgotten, even if it was just such a trivial matter.

You Xing pondered for a moment, left the messages unread, closed the dialogue boxes, logged out of her old account, and signed into the one she had registered after joining the apartment. Her new account currently only had one contact: Yan Zhen, her new colleague.

You Xing continued browsing the forum, but found it dull. She shut off her Star-Ring and lay down to sleep.

The next day, You Xing clocked in on time. Not long after she sat down, Resident 103, who was carrying his own head in one hand, walked over swaying. He propped one hand on the glass window ledge, leaned down, and tapped the glass lightly: "Have you... seen my head?"

You Xing struggled to hide her surprise. Before she could answer, Yan Zhen entered from the front door, holding a stack of packages, and said coldly, "103, I’ve told you many times, don’t scare her."

Resident 103 looked flustered. His head dropped to the floor with a thud, and his two long, thin hands twisted together: "The Apartment Manager... allows... us to interact with the new manager."

Yan Zhen glanced at You Xing, said nothing more, and glided away on his rollers to take the elevator. Just as 103 turned his neck, You Xing said, "If I'm not mistaken, your head is right there at the base of the wall, by your feet."

Resident 103 stooped down at the consultation window, reached out to grope around, picked up his head, and turned to leave.

*

Second Sector, Central City.
White Iris Paranormal Exploration Institute, Logistics Department.

Early in the morning, most employees had just arrived. Xie Xu, captain of Exploration Team 2, gave a polite knock on the door of the logistics office. His tall figure loomed in the doorway, his expression carrying a hint of frost: "Exploration Team 2 needs special soy milk buns. Who do I get them from?"

The logistics staff and data clerks in the office looked up, bewildered. What soy milk buns? Did the logistics department provide such supplies? Food, tools, and equipment were usually collected directly from the warehouse, and the logistics officer in charge of the team's outing preparations would have them ready in advance. Why was he acting crazy in the office?

No one answered, and Xie Xu’s already poor mood instantly worsened. He changed his question: "Where is You Xing?"

The office fell silent for a brief moment before someone replied, "She resigned."

Xie Xu couldn't hide his surprise: "When?"

"Several days ago."
"It's been a week, hasn't it?"

Xie Xu finally understood why he couldn't reach You Xing last night. Before coming to the logistics office, he had gone to the warehouse to get the buns, but they only had the ordinary kind, not the special ones Bai Yin had brought out of the zone. Ordinary buns restored physical stamina, but the special ones restored mental stability.

Bai Yin had said the special buns were snacks she had grabbed from You Xing’s desk while asking for data, never realizing they would save the lives of several team members inside the zone. Last night, when You Xing didn't come to pick them up, they had waited until midnight, only for a newly hired logistics officer to arrive in a rush. That officer knew nothing and had a bad temper, dropping them off at the medical department before leaving, yawning.

Xie Xu had originally come with the intention of holding someone accountable, but upon learning of You Xing's resignation, he lost his target; he didn't know where to vent his anger. Thinking of Bai Yin lying in a treatment pod, desperately waiting for You Xing's buns, Xie Xu turned back toward the warehouse to grab some ordinary ones instead.

*

Not long after Xie Xu left, Logistics Director Duan Qiming, who had accompanied Exploration Team 1 into the zone and also returned last night, came to the main office. He scanned the room, didn't see the person he was looking for, and returned to his private office. Checking the personnel movement notices for the past week, he saw that You Xing really had resigned.

Duan Qiming had worked with You Xing for five years; they had joined White Iris at the same time. Five years was enough for Duan Qiming to climb from a lowly errand-runner to the position of Director, while You Xing remained the most ordinary clerk in the department. No one knew You Xing’s capability and diligence better than him, but she was merely a C-rank mental power, non-mutated "native" human. No matter how excellent her character or ability, she was destined never to rise to the top in the dangerous, eerie world of paranormal zones.

Still, Duan Qiming hadn't expected You Xing to be so decisive. He had watched from the sidelines as she suffered through countless losses and indignities, always thinking she wouldn't be able to take it anymore, only for her to suppress her emotions and digest it all. To stay at White Iris, You Xing had spent years acting like a human punching bag; her sharp edges had been worn smooth, and her beautiful eyes had gradually become as stagnant as an ancient well.

But one could not deny that she remained beautifully dazzling. He had assumed her resignation would never be approved; he didn't know which idiot in HR had actually let her go without flagging the application.

Duan Qiming sat behind his desk, silent for half a day, his frustration still unspent. He opened his Star-Ring and clicked on her social media account. The dialogue box still showed only the message he had sent last night.

*

After the Apartment Manager returned, the residents began to grow active. There was an embedded, antique Star-Brain next to the manager’s consultation window. Only today did You Xing realize its purpose.

Before ten o'clock, You Xing saw over a dozen residents she had never met appearing in the lobby. They lined up in front of the Star-Brain, waiting to shop or order deliveries. Once finished, they would bring their receipts to the manager’s window and ask You Xing to retrieve their food or packages.

Opposite the manager’s consultation window was an operations area that took up the entire wall, featuring hundreds of laser buttons arranged by floor and room number. The buttons glowing white indicated an occupied room; gray buttons meant the room was temporarily vacant. When the manager needed to notify a resident, they would press the button corresponding to the room, and the resident would soon descend.

You Xing had faced that operations area for days, but only now did she feel a sense of reality in her job. Outside, two residents were discussing what to eat for lunch, and You Xing habitually pricked up her ears.

"What should we order?"
"I want pork trotter rice, but after paying the management fees, I don't have much money left."
"Management fees are due next month too. I think I'll just buy a case of nutrient solution."
"If we eat the manager, wouldn't we stop having to pay management fees?"
"It’s useless. The Apartment Manager would just hire a new one. This one is already the cheapest we've had in a while. Just endure it."
"Sigh... why must we hire a manager anyway?"

You Xing, who had just been branded the cheapest manager, thought: "..."

The fact that paranormal monsters were interested in human food was surprising enough, but You Xing also noted that these monster residents seemed short on cash. The reason was that they had to regularly pool money for the manager’s salary, employee insurance, and meal subsidies. Some residents were already seeing their quality of life decline due to the crowdfunding, leading to thoughts of doing away with the manager.

You Xing felt a chill on her scalp, but her ideas for placing the residents began to take shape. If even paranormal monsters had to worry about making a living, the world suddenly seemed fair.

With a world-weary face, You Xing thought: "Busy, it's good to be busy!"

Inspired, You Xing banged out a proposal that afternoon, writing over a dozen pages. It took only two days to write the draft, and another four or five days to polish it. A week later, You Xing submitted the complete proposal to her boss—the Apartment Manager.

The Manager spent an entire day reading and studying it, and after work that day, called You Xing to his fifteenth-floor office for a talk.

"Your proposal surprises me," the Manager said.

You Xing noted the word choice—"surprises," not "delights." That slight difference suggested he wasn't entirely satisfied. She kept her expression neutral and asked, "You don't think it's feasible?"

The Manager shook his head. "I'm curious, how did you think to open shops inside the domains?"

You Xing thought, *You can open an apartment building in a domain, why is a shop so strange?* But aloud, she remained steady and professional: "Your request was to set up an activity suitable for long-term study and universal appeal, meant to kill the long time and infinite energy of the domain lords. While working, I noticed that some residents have economic issues."

"Domain lords have their own paranormal domains; those are their best workplaces. There is no need to struggle to open new markets—any humans entering the zones are potential customers. The conditions are superior enough; if proper shops are set up inside, it can, to a certain extent, alleviate the residents' economic pressure."

"From choosing a location to decorating, determining merchandise, pricing, restocking, developing new products, and maintaining the customer base—the process is cumbersome. The domain lords would inevitably have to divert their attention and energy to handle it, perfectly solving your dilemma."

"Setting up shops in paranormal domains can also enrich the internal rules of the zones. Three birds with one stone. Don't you think this is a suitable plan?"

The Manager listened in silence. After a long while, he slowly looked up; his crimson eyes had no irises, appearing only as balls of fire. "You Xing, as far as I know, you have never entered a paranormal zone."

You Xing nodded. "My professional resume is clear to you."

"This proposal is very interesting," the Manager said. "Not just the paranormal entities, but even those greedy humans probably never imagined that shops would one day appear within the domains."

You Xing’s hands, resting on her lap, tightened slightly.

"I like this proposal very much," the Manager continued. "However, opening a shop in a domain is not an easy task. It requires at least two conditions: first, exploring the target zone and obtaining a business license from the domain lord; second, selecting a business model that matches the zone and establishing appropriate operating rules. I want to entrust these matters entirely to you."

You Xing frowned slightly and said naturally, "As you know, I am only a B-rank..."

Before she could finish, the Manager interrupted: "As a paranormal domain shop manager, you will receive a separate salary, with a base of five thousand star-credits."

You Xing’s gaze remained calm. "The dorm manager position is quite good. At my age, I’m not as young as I used to be; I can’t push myself like that anymore."

"Five percent of the shop’s operating revenue," the Manager added.

You Xing calculated silently, then asked cautiously, "Five percent for every shop?"

"Five percent for every shop," the Manager replied. "But only if you have the ability to open the first one."

You Xing adapted instantly. "At my age, this is the golden period for hard work. Please, by all means, entrust the construction of the Paranormal Shop Street to me."