On the screen, Faust and the others were in the middle of the Control Department, making preparations before work. Malkuth stood among the people coming and going, directing their movements.
Watching the busy scene, Zhou Zhuang suddenly remembered the "young master" type he hadn't seen at all this morning.
So Malkuth must've assigned him to deliver the invitation to Sound Alley.
Which made sense—rich boys probably had experience with that sort of thing.
Zhou Zhuang stared at the screen, lost in thought, then blinked and snapped back to reality.
He pulled out his phone to check the time.
Still almost an hour to go.
He sighed.
Why did waiting for work to officially start feel so unbearable? There was still so much time left—if he'd known, he would've wandered around the company longer and only come here when it was closer.
So this was the joy of being the boss class, huh?
No wonder bosses always wanted employees to arrive early and leave late—while they themselves sat around in the office with nothing to do, unable to stand how empty the company felt.
Damn it, capitalists really are scum!
…Oh. Right. He was one of them now.
Never mind.
Zhou Zhuang leaned back in his chair, mentally roasting those "kindhearted big bosses" from his previous life. Then his peripheral vision caught the old-fashioned computer on his desk—one that looked like it might be older than he was.
He sat up straight and started feeling around for a power button while asking Angela, who was organizing documents at her seat:
"Hey, Angela. What is this computer for? It's not for me to mess around on during work hours, right?"
"Manager, the computer automatically powered on when you pressed the button earlier. There's no need to look for a power switch."
"This computer is assigned to you for reviewing personnel changes for today and tomorrow, as well as viewing detailed documentation on the Abnormalities you'll be working with."
After Angela's explanation, Zhou Zhuang found the mouse and clicked to wake the screen. The familiar Lobotomy Corporation logo appeared in the center, and then the desktop loaded.
No password. Civilized.
On the empty desktop, there were only two clickable apps.
He opened them both.
So it really was a work-only machine.
While it was "responding," Zhou Zhuang stared at the screen.
Wait—if it's dedicated work equipment, why is it still so slow to open apps?!
…Oh, it loaded.
He perked up, rubbing his hands together like an eager little fly.
And there it was—an all-too-familiar Qliphoth tree interface.
Unlike the game, every node on the screen was already lit.
The difference was that only the Control Department, which had officially opened today, was highlighted brightly in its position. The paths extending out from it were dimmed so much they were almost invisible.
So those paths would probably become visible only after other departments opened.
While he was still guessing how the interface would change later, the screen automatically switched to the deployment layout from the game.
No character-creation option.
And the employee cards showed only Faust and the Anna trio.
Kim Se-young's card said he was currently out on duty.
So today, only four employees could enjoy the "overtime training."
What a shame for that young master.
Inside the Control Department, Faust's group, still sorting and filing records, all felt a sudden chill run down their spines at the same moment. None of them knew where it came from, but it was probably related to today's work.
Zhou Zhuang moved the mouse around randomly, trying to see if there were any other differences from the game.
And then he noticed something.
The department's employee slots weren't capped at five like in the game.
He kept scrolling and scrolling and still couldn't find the end of the employee grid.
Wait… does that mean there's no limit?
Can he assign as many as he wants?
His hand started to ache from scrolling as he speculated.
But then another issue hit him.
Why were there three Abnormality slots already filled in on Day One?
Sure, it meant he didn't have to squeeze the "old bones" for energy as hard, but this was obviously not normal.
The more Zhou Zhuang stared at the three unknown Abnormalities, the more his head hurt. He turned to Angela and voiced his confusion.
"Angela, why are there three Abnormalities on the first day?"
"I know this sounds weird, but shouldn't Day One just be that One Sin grandpa?"
"Manager," Angela said, "I believe you already have the answer in your heart. Since you're having trouble accepting reality, I'll explain."
"Our company's Abnormality selection—no, it should be called Abnormality extraction—is determined by you."
"Do you remember your dive in the R&D Department?"
"Manager, your extraction during that dive was an overwhelming success. I don't know what occurred down in the well, but without question you extracted Abnormalities extremely successfully."
"That means the company begins from a very high starting point."
"Huh?"
Zhou Zhuang's imagination immediately ran wild.
"Then… does that mean we'll add three every day?"
Three a day, three a day—before the company even finished opening departments, his goldfish-brain Manager self would probably be driven insane by some rotating-mechanic Abnormality.
Angela shook her head.
"Of course not, Manager. First, the initial extraction was special because you personally dove to prepare the channel and guide the flow. That first-time special case cannot be treated as part of the standard extraction process."
"Second, the first extraction only indicates the future quality of Abnormalities and the company's screening mechanism."
"For example: if the company extracts an Abnormality too difficult to work with at the current stage, you may choose to send it back into the 'well' through the channel."
"However, sending it back does not mean you can rest easy."
"A returned Abnormality does not revert to a 'pristine' state. It will linger near the channel entrance."
"If too many are sent back, the channel may become clogged."
"Manager, my recommendation is that once you open a channel, it is best not to allow it to become blocked."
She paused, then added calmly:
"As for today's three Abnormalities, you do not need to worry that their work requirements will be too high. Since Binah chose to release all three at once, they should be quite simple for you."
"…So the three were released by Binah?"
Zhou Zhuang was genuinely shocked.
But after thinking for a moment, he figured Binah probably wouldn't indulge her "for the lulz" personality in something like this.
Probably.
In the end, he accepted the reality of having to "pet three Abnormalities" on Day One.
"Whatever. Three it is."
"Don't tell me the Day One energy requirement got multiplied too?"
Zhou Zhuang looked at Angela's gentle smile.
"…Yeah. It definitely got multiplied."
With a heavy heart, he could only check his employees' stats, hoping to find some comfort in this disaster.
Hmm—Anna's Courage was already Level 2. Not bad.
He just didn't know whether that was due to Malkuth's training, or Anna's own potential.
Unfortunately, in the backstreet trio, only Anna's stats were presentable.
For Lain and Sif, one of their attributes wasn't even counted in the evaluation.
And this was after Malkuth's brutal training.
Zhou Zhuang gained an even deeper understanding of just how third-rate the employees he'd recruited were.
Sigh.
Might as well look at "Fufu" in the distance.
…Whoa.
A golden pull. A legendary drop.
....
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