Doomsday Wonderland Vol. 12: New Game Launch [Complete]

1471: The Person Behind the Corner

With a lack of Higher Consciousness, Lin Sanjiu couldn't mimic Ji Shanqing to verify if her assumptions were correct. Like everyone else, she could only proceed through trial and error. After a brief consideration, she changed her direction, planning to return to her office.

If her guess was correct, wandering around outside would be useless. It would be better to discuss it it with the Life Coach. Lin Sanjiu lightened her steps, wondering which Special Item she should offer him.

"Feed him [Time Rewind]," Mrs. Manas said, acting as the spokesperson for Lin Sanjiu's subconscious from the depths of her mind.

Lin Sanjiu gave a bitter smile. The idea was tempting; imagining the expression on Gong Daoyi's face when he found out she was not cooperating, rendering all his plans void, would be satisfying. However, she also realized that she couldn't take that risk.

She was half a minute from her office when she noticed a silhouette on the glass.

A tall, narrow window was at the corner of the corridor leading to Lin Sanjiu's office. Half of it faced the wall and the other half the corridor around the bend. As she abruptly halted, a vague human shadow faintly moved on the window glass—only fragments of light and shadow, subtly fluctuating with the silent steps of the approaching person.

Could it be a client?

Lin Sanjiu held her breath. If it was a client, this was the perfect opportunity to confirm her guess. Even if she was wrong, she could rush out and grab the client later.

She quickly retreated a few steps, ducking behind another corner. From here, it would only take half a minute to rush back to her office. Besides, she had a Level 4 defense employee in her office... No, if the visitor was another player, she shouldn't return to her office. Instead, she should try to lead them away to keep her office location hidden.

As soon as the card was activated, it transformed into Caster. She took one look at the cautious Lin Sanjiu and promptly closed her mouth.

Lin Sanjiu gestured towards Caster, indicating that she should check the corridor.

Caster grasped Lin Sanjiu's intentions, and her shoulders drooped; humanoid Special Items always eagerly tried to serve their primary function, and they often felt disappointed when summoned for "non-essential" tasks. Holding the gold pieces wrapped around her head to prevent noise, she quietly moved beside Lin Sanjiu and peeked out.

Lin Sanjiu nudged her and mouthed, "Is there someone?"

Caster nodded. The person should have rounded the corner and entered the same corridor by now.

Lin Sanjiu strained her ears, catching only the faintest of footsteps. She mouthed silently, "Is it a client?"

The lip movements for these words might have been hard to decipher. Caster, pressing both hands to her head, looked even more perplexed. Lin Sanjiu slowed down and repeated her silent question. Caster squinted, trying to understand, leaning in so close that her face almost touched Lin Sanjiu's. Before Caster could figure it out, the light and swift footsteps had already approached the middle of the corridor, merely a few steps away from her.

'What an unreliable creature,' Lin Sanjiu thought, quickly summoning a small mirror from her card inventory. Since obtaining this mirror, it was never used for grooming. She placed it low, just a few centimeters off the ground, and extended it slightly.

The mirror reflected only a small angled portion of the floor. Holding her breath, Lin Sanjiu adjusted the angle and finally saw clearly—there were two pairs of feet. Though she quickly withdrew the mirror after a fleeting glimpse, those feet still left an unmistakably male impression.

Two pairs of feet, yet only one set of footsteps. She abruptly stood up from behind the wall. The person wasn't a client; clients wouldn't wander the halls in groups. Moreover, in that brief glance, she recognized a pair of black shoes that were very similar to the ones her two employees wore.

It must be a player accompanied by an employee.

Only one type of employee would need to appear outside the office with a player—it was a Level 5 offensive employee, currently searching for nearby targets.

Suppressing her pounding heart, Lin Sanjiu closed her eyes in thought.

Currently, both Lily and Whit E. had low funds. Lily had only twenty left, effectively eliminating her from consideration. Whit E., having rented two offices and a level 1 employee, had at most fifty funds left. It was unlikely he'd gamble all his money on a Level 5 offensive employee. After all, given that everyone might have 2 defensive points, the attack might not even make a splash before it's neutralized. With funds reduced to zero, even finding a client wouldn't enable hiring an employee, inevitably leading to bankruptcy.

In that case, only Qian Dao remained.

Qian Dao couldn't possibly not hire defense. If he still had enough funds to hire a level 5 offensive employee after that, Whit E. lied—he never killed Qian Dao's level 3 search employee. But what's the point of lying in such a situation? To deceive Lin Sanjiu into thinking Qian Dao was broke?

Even if she was led to believe that, just one look at the level 5 employee behind Qian Dao would reveal that Whit E. was fabricating the story. This lie wouldn't benefit Whit E. in any way; on the contrary, it might expose him. Moreover, the level 3 employee detail aligned perfectly with Lin Sanjiu's assumptions about the client. No matter how she thought about it, she felt Whit E. might have killed Qian Dao's level 3 employee.

There were only four of them, to begin with, and with three of them ruled out, who else could it be?

No matter who it was, she needed to divert them quickly—they were about to turn her corner.

Lin Sanjiu glanced at Caster and leaped towards the ceiling. Her boots pushed off the wall, allowing her to fold in mid-air and grab onto the fan blade with a soft "thud." She curled her body to hang flush against the ceiling. She heard the footsteps in the corridor pause—the person had clearly heard the noise.

Caster looked up at her, mouth agape.

Lin Sanjiu grabbed a pen from her card inventory and tossed it down the corridor. As it hit the ground with a "snap," she turned to Caster and mouthed, "Run!"

That was easy to understand, and Caster immediately began to panic and run forward. The moment her footsteps sounded, the person in the corridor also moved. Whoever it was, it certainly wasn't Lily. Upon seeing Caster's figure from afar, either of the remaining two would assume she was a client and give chase.

As long as Caster could lead them away for a bit, Lin Sanjiu was confident in her speed to overtake and retrieve Caster—all she needed was to touch the hem of Caster's clothing.

She had already played out the next steps in her mind when the approaching footsteps paused at the corridor entrance. By now, Lin Sanjiu, with the help of [The Power Of Word Picture], had changed the color of her clothes, skin, and hair to match the ceiling, looking like a giant chameleon clinging to the ventilation fan. She waited for two seconds before hearing the footsteps again.

But they weren't chasing after Caster. They were headed in the direction of her office.