"Pfft!"
A barely audible whoosh of wind swept past.
By the time the Receptionist's brain reacted, Pardofelis's pretty face, bearing a teasing smile, was already inches away!
Those brown cat eyes flickered with a cold and cruel light, as if admiring her prey's final struggle.
What frightened her out of her wits even more was that she could clearly feel the distinct, icy touch of metal against her neck!
She lowered her head slightly and shifted her gaze downward, only to see that the cat tail with a sharp curved blade, which had been swinging leisurely behind Pardofelis, was now lying silently against her fragile throat like a deadly venomous snake!
At this moment, the blade was pressed tightly against her skin. With just a light swipe...
"Gulp..." The Receptionist swallowed hard, her throat bobbing violently. An immense fear choked her breath, leaving her unable to even scream. She could only make meaningless swallowing sounds, her body as stiff as a stone statue.
"But," Pardofelis's voice was as gentle as a lover's whisper, yet it carried a bone-piercing chill. The tip of her tail even provocatively scraped lightly against that delicate skin. "After all, you've been recording my face for so long, and you even used my appearance to exchange for your future prospects... If I just let you walk away so easily without leaving you a little souvenir, wouldn't that be boring? If word got out, others would think I, Cifera, am easy to talk to."
At this moment, her smile grew even sweeter and more dangerous.
"So, I was thinking... if, at your happiest moment, when you feel the peak of your life is within reach, and your mind is full of promotions, raises, and bonuses..." Her voice was low akin to the whisper of a demon. "...suddenly, snap!"
Speaking of this, her empty left hand gently snapped its fingers.
"Everything is over. Your life is gone, and those promotion letters and bonus checks that haven't even warmed up yet... Tsk, they've all become bubbles. What would it feel like to plummet from heaven to hell in an instant? I'm... quite curious."
"No... don't!!" The Receptionist finally burst into a shrill scream from extreme fear, her survival instinct overwhelming everything! She suddenly turned around, using all her strength to escape this terrifying source!
However, at the exact moment she turned and exerted her strength—
Squelch.
A faint sound of a blade piercing flesh rang out.
The receptionist's movements came to an abrupt halt.
She lowered her head in disbelief.
In her line of sight, that sharp tail blade gleaming with a cold light had, at some unknown point, accurately and flawlessly... pierced through the position of her heart! It entered from her back and protruded from her chest!
Time seemed to freeze.
"Uh..." The Receptionist let out a short gasp. She didn't feel intense pain, only an indescribable coldness and a sense of detachment that instantly swept through her entire body, robbing her of all her strength.
"Thud."
At this moment, she fell limply forward onto the ground like a puppet with cut strings. The bright red liquid, like spilled paint, rapidly bloomed beneath her on the already bright red carpet, spreading into an even deeper, dark red stain.
In the final instant before her consciousness was completely swallowed by boundless darkness, her unfocused gaze settled on the pair of boots stained with specks of scarlet in front of her, as well as that slowly retracting, blood-dripping tail.
Endless remorse and an unwillingness so massive it threatened to tear her soul apart forced her to use the last trace of energy in her soul to squeeze out faintly audible, broken syllables from deep within her throat.
"My... my promotion... raise... bonus... I haven't... haven't gotten it yet... haven't... experienced it... I... I don't want... to die... ah..."
As the last syllable dissipated in the air, her pupils completely lost their focus, and her body fell into dead silence.
Only that expanding pool of dark red silently recounted the tragedy that had just occurred.
...
"Hehehe..."
Looking at the Receptionist who had breathed her last on the ground, the sliver of deliberately feigned viciousness on Pardofelis's face vanished without a trace in an instant, replaced by a radiant smile of satisfaction akin to a successful prank.
She even dusted off nonexistent dirt from her hands in a rather good mood, as if she had just finished a trivial matter.
"Done~" She spoke casually to the empty air, or rather, to Bartholos hiding on her person. "Let's go, Bartholos. That 'little' gift I prepared should let her fully experience the ultimate pain of counting your eggs too early. Tsk, if she dares to act so boldly in front of me next time, I'll let her die again, with a different method of death every time!"
After speaking, she didn't cast another glance at the Receptionist on the ground—whose body had no external injuries whatsoever and had merely fainted due to the illusion. She then turned around nimbly, humming an out-of-tune little ditty, and walked with brisk steps toward the stairs leading to the higher floors.
The empty hall was left with only a corpse trapped in a terrifying nightmare, whose body would occasionally twitch unconsciously.
Just as she walked up the stairs to the Customer Service Area on the second floor, even though the tightly shut metal doors blocked the sounds from inside, the keen cat ears atop Pardofelis's head twitched slightly.
Instantly, standardized customer service phrases drifted through the door crack and into her ears one after another like a tide:
"...Hello, this is Apex Entertainment customer service ID c-147, happy to serve you. How can I help you?"
"...We apologize for the inconvenience. We will verify and handle it for you as soon as possible..."
"...Yes sir, this feature requires a premium membership to use..."
Listening to the voices coming from inside, Pardofelis stood outside the door, a trace of helplessness and faint irritability flashing across her cat eyes.
That tone, that phrasing, that formulaic response... this feeling was exactly the same as those people from her previous company!
She couldn't help but complain inwardly.
These people were as cold as mass-produced goods manufactured in an automaton assembly line factory.
"Speaking of which, this time..." She stared at the heavy, tightly closed metal door in front of her and muttered softly, the tip of her tail swishing restlessly. "...I shouldn't be treated as air and completely ignored again, right?"
The suffocating feeling of being treated as a transparent person last time was still fresh in her memory. Whether it was the robots burying their heads in their work in the Customer Service Area or those guys in the security department who only stared at the surveillance screens, they all made her feel like a clown intruding into the background. This was the real reason she was so annoyed last time.
However... She pondered in her heart. This time, with President Wu's bounty for the first person to discover her offering exemption from KPIs, she couldn't possibly be ignored again, right?
But she didn't know if the fact that the Receptionist was the first to discover her had been spread by Lin Mingyu yet.
If it had been spread, then Pardofelis felt there was a high probability she would be ignored again, since the reward was already gone.
"Forget it, I'll go in and take a look first." Pardofelis took a deep breath and stopped thinking about it.
After all, who knew how the brains of the employees at Apex Entertainment were wired.
She reached out, placing her fair fingers on the cold metal door handle, and pushed gently inward.
"Click."
The faint mechanical unlocking sound was almost inaudible against the background of noise.
However, the moment the door cracked open—
It was as if some invisible pause button had been pressed.
Inside the door, the continuous customer service broadcasts, keyboard tapping, and phone ringtones... came to an abrupt halt!
The entire massive Customer Service Area seemed to freeze instantly!
The next second, hundreds of gazes focused from all directions like searchlights! They accurately pinned themselves onto Pardofelis, who had just pushed the door open and entered!
These gazes were cold and hollow, yet they carried a bizarre focus.
The scene looked exactly like the classic moment in a horror game where the protagonist steps into a hall, and all the NPCs instantly turn their heads to stare!
The air seemed to solidify, leaving only the substantial pressure brought by hundreds of stares.
Even though Pardofelis was used to seeing strong winds and high waves, facing this scene so abruptly, she couldn't help but gasp, her cat ears standing up alertly.
"Hiss..." She subconsciously took half a step back, a trace of astonishment flashing in her eyes. "...Good heavens, this reaction... it really is completely different from last time!"
But before this sigh could settle, a sudden change occurred.
The several rows of employees closest to the door abruptly shot up from their seats, as if struck by high-voltage electricity!
They didn't even bother to hang up their ongoing client calls. They reached back to grab the Personal Terminals on their desks, their eyes locked dead onto Pardofelis like starving wolves spotting plump prey, and they scrambled frantically to sprint toward her!
As they sprinted, they erupted into shouts so excited they bordered on fanatical:
"It's Cifera! It really is her!"
"I saw her! I'm the first! Don't fight me for it!"
"Bullshit! Light travels at a speed! I'm closest to the door, so theoretically I'm the first one to receive Cifera's image photons! I am the first discoverer!"
"Get out of the way! Nobody block my promotion, raise, and KPI exemption!"
Like a massive boulder dropped into a stagnant pool, ripples of commotion instantly swept across more than half of the Customer Service Area!
Even more people stood up and joined this chaotic sprint, forming a human tide mixed with fanaticism, greed, and hysteria, all aimed squarely at the petite figure by the door!
Pardofelis's eyes instantly widened, her brown pupils filled with disbelief!
"What the hell?!" She complained frantically in her heart. "Last time it was a room full of stubborn workaholic robots, and this time they directly evolved into a zombie horde from Resident Evil?! Is there a single normal person working at Apex Entertainment?!"
Seeing that the zombie tide mixed with sweat, perfume, and thick utilitarianism was about to drown her, Pardofelis did not hesitate and chanted in her heart:
Chrono surge!
The moment the thought flashed by, her figure vanished abruptly from the spot like a phantom.
In almost the same instant, she appeared securely in a relatively empty corner on the other side of the Customer Service Area.
"Phew..." She had just breathed a sigh of relief.
"Over there! Cifera is over there!" Sharp-eyed employees immediately spotted the new target, and excited screams tore through the air.
Instantly, the crowd that had just missed their pounce, like a shiver of sharks smelling blood, changed direction again. With an even more fanatical vigor, they swept toward her new position! Desks and chairs were knocked over, and documents flew everywhere.
Pardofelis looked at the chaotic human tide surging toward her once again, the corner of her mouth twitching uncontrollably. She rubbed her forehead helplessly and murmured in a low voice:
"I was wrong... I was truly wrong... I just hoped they could at least react somewhat like humans, instead of treating me like air like last time... rather than turning into this... a bunch of zombies thoroughly alienated by KPIs and bonuses, chasing after a wanted criminal... Looks like neither extreme at this trashy company is human!"
She completely lost the interest to entangle with these creatures, preparing to ignore this chaotic situation and head straight upstairs to a more valuable place.
However, just as the thought arose and she was about to move her feet—
"Bzzzt—!"
An ear-piercing broadcast buzzing sound violently echoed throughout the entire Customer Service Area. Immediately following, a clear, calm, and emotionless synthetic female voice poured down like ice water:
[Emergency notice to all employees: The L1 Front Desk Area officially confirmed the discovery and reported the whereabouts of the target figure Cifera 10 minutes and 32 seconds ago. The First Discoverer Reward Mechanism has taken effect, and the relevant reward points have now been distributed.]
[Repeat: The First Discoverer Reward Mechanism has been closed.]
[All regional employees are now required to strictly abide by their duties, remain calm, and avoid spectating and disruptive commotion. The Security Response Protocol has been activated. Repeat, the Security Response Protocol has been activated. All employees please return to your workstations immediately and focus on your designated work tasks. The company's professional team will take over the subsequent handling process.]
[Emergency notice to all employees: The L1 Front Desk Area officially confirmed the discovery and reported the whereabouts of the target figure Cifera 10 minutes and 32 seconds ago...]
The broadcast repeated this notice over and over again, the icy voice piercing through all the clamor.
And at the very moment the broadcast sounded.
A dramatic scene occurred.
The crowd that had been frantically chasing Pardofelis like bloodthirsty zombies just a second ago instantly slammed on their brakes, as if a collective pause button had been pressed.
Immediately after, that violent chasing momentum deflated completely like a punctured balloon. The fanatical, greedy, and excited expressions receded from their faces like an ebbing tide, replaced by an immense disappointment, bewilderment, and even... despair!
"Wh... what?! It's already been taken?!"
"Damn it! Why wasn't it broadcasted earlier!!!"
"Oh my god! My client! I just hung up on a major client to rush over! He's definitely going to complain about me! I'm doomed, I'm doomed!"
"My performance review!!! I just threw a nearly closed deal to the desk next to me! Just to free up my hands and run faster! What did I even do that for!"
"Wuwuwu... help... someone... pull me up..."