Soul Patch

Chapter 151: On which floor is Li Shiman?

Before Wenjie, the system interface flickered, and four blood-red characters appeared in the center, approaching him from a distance.

Soon, the four words filled the entire screen.

[Online Task]

The text that filled the screen continued to expand, and soon the characters overlapped with a soft popping sound.

Wenjie thought to himself that the sound was somewhat like lighting a lighter.

Unexpectedly, a cluster of flames actually appeared beneath the words.

As the flames blazed, Wenjie felt as if his entire body was getting warmer.

The randomly stacked words on the screen slowly melted away, the blood-red characters turning into drops of bright red liquid that rolled down.

The flames continued to burn, and the black background followed suit, peeling away piece by piece to reveal a portion of a line of text.

Wenjie tried hard to make out what was written, but because the burn marks were too mottled and scattered, he couldn't make out what was written.

He could only wait patiently. Finally, the black background was almost completely burned away, and Wenjie could finally see the pale white text:

Find the killer and rectify this murder case.

This line of text remained for about three seconds, followed by the following information scrolling across the system interface:

【时间：2019年7月7日 16:23分】

Location: Huahai International Technology Co., Ltd.

[Deceased: Li Shiman]

[Participating patch carriers: five]

[Participants can choose the type of patch to correct their life trajectory themselves.]

[Can rewards obtained from the personal panel be used: Yes]

[Can items be used: Yes]

As the case information was presented one by one, the system interface flickered and switched to the system scene.

Wenjie looked around and saw well-dressed social elites and white-collar workers rushing towards an office building as the sun rose.

He glanced down at his suit, his right hand clutching his briefcase. He pinched his arm, feeling a sharp pain. Still unwilling to give up, he stomped his foot, the gleaming building floor tiles vibrating and making his toes ache.

What happened? I was lying in my bed at home, how did I end up in front of Huahai Company?

看着一群人赶着进写字楼，那应该是早晨吧，他掏出手机看了一眼：2019年7月7日8：53。

The day the murder occurred!

He couldn't help but blurt out a curse: "Holy crap, system, you're awesome..."

Punishment! The harshest punishment in history!

Wenjie then realized the difference between the system's punishment mode and normal mode: one was a live online broadcast, and the other was a single-player simulation.

Single-player emulation, as the name suggests, means that you can start the system, you can exit the system, and you can try again and again.

Once you find a way to complete the task, you upload your own patch type and correct your life trajectory.

But live streaming online is different; it's practically a rehearsal for a murder case. Unlike the virtual scenes that appeared before my eyes before, I'm now standing in my flesh and blood outside the Huahai Technology Company building.

If anything goes wrong in the middle, I'll be finished right here!

The worst part is that you have to complete a task to exit the system and return to the real world.

The system is already activated, so there's no point in saying anything now. Let's focus on surviving the mission.

Wenjie looked ahead, and the system interface in front of him had returned to its original four-part layout.

The personal interface is located in the lower left corner. After bringing up the personal interface, the available rewards section is grayed out, and the item section is also grayed out. It seems that no cheats can be used, and you can only fight with your bare hands.

At this moment, a series of messages popped up in the upper right corner:

[Patch Carrier 1: Redeem Hidden Identity]

[Patch Carrier 2: Redeem Hidden Identity]

[Patch Carrier 4: Redeem Hidden Identity]

Wenjie rolled his eyes and muttered to himself: Heartless! Why don't you guys just fly to the moon?

He straightened his shirt collar, looked up at the towering office building of Huahai Technology Company, took a few deep breaths, and strode towards the lobby on the first floor.

Two uniformed security guards stood on either side of the glass revolving door. The sharp red suits, worn by young men at least 180 centimeters tall, made them look quite imposing and dashing.

Wenjie thought to himself, "Even the security guards are like those in a five-star hotel. Huahai really is a powerful company!"

On second thought, this... all of this was actually invested in by my own father!

"Phew!" Wenjie cheered himself up. This felt so good! Why did he need to hide his identity? As Young Master Wen, he could get away with anything in Huahai!

Upon thinking of this, Wenjie immediately perked up and even felt lightheaded as he walked.

When we were still a dozen steps away from the front desk, standing in front of the huge logo wall of Huahai, a girl in work clothes smiled brightly at Wenjie.

She hesitated for a moment, then immediately broke into an even warmer smile: "Good morning, Ms. Wen!"

Wenjie turned his head to the side, smiled and nodded at her.

Without stopping, they followed the crowd toward the elevator.

"Little Wen" is a good title, I like it! It seems the receptionist is indeed a clever girl!

If I'm not mistaken, I probably rarely come to my father's company. At least, he has no impression of the company at all; everything looks unfamiliar to him...

After the receptionist greeted him, the people around him began to huddle together in twos and threes, whispering among themselves.

This was even more obvious when they got to the elevator. When an elevator came in, those who had arrived before him stood still and gestured for Wenjie to enter.

Wenjie smiled faintly and stepped into the elevator.

Inside the elevator, the impeccably made-up ladies and distinguished gentlemen all kept a certain distance from him, leaving Wenjie standing alone in a corner of the elevator at the back...

Wenjie sighed inwardly: When did I become so relaxed when taking the elevator?

On the surface, he simply watched the numbers scrolling by indifferently. As the numbers 8, 9, and 10 flashed by, the number of people in the elevator dwindled, and the white-collar workers got off at their respective floors.

Wenjie realized he had overdone it by trying to appear cool and aloof, but he didn't know where to begin.

In the blink of an eye, only the tall lady remained in the elevator; if we didn't ask now, it would be too late.

Wenjie raised his wrist, and the shiny metal watch on his wrist flashed in the elevator, emitting a metallic luster.

Wow, when did I get such a high-end watch?

Wenjie glanced at the crown logo on the watch. This...this should be a Rolex.

The woman beside him had clearly noticed his gesture of raising his hand, and she smiled faintly with her lips slightly pursed.

"Good morning, Mr. Wen. What brings you to the company today?" A gentle voice called out.

Wenjie smiled and didn't answer the woman's question. Did he have time to gossip right now? No, the murder was about to happen in a few hours, and he didn't even know a single person here.

He cleared his throat, covered his face, and asked seemingly casually, "Excuse me, on which floor does Li Shiman work?"

The girl paused for a moment, then her smile deepened, her lips curving into a gentle curve, her eyes sparkling with delight, as if she had heard something amusing.

Wenjie was a little confused: "What? Did I ask the wrong question? Or do you not know either?"

The girl in front of him covered her mouth and giggled. "Ding!" The elevator arrived at the 16th floor. The doors slowly opened, and the girl stepped forward, placing one hand on the start button. She glanced at Wenjie and said:

"Mr. Wen, please, you weren't looking for me!"

(End of this chapter)