Chapter 190: [Gold Medal Salesperson] Sorting Out the Thoughts
“It’s nothing, Mom. You don’t need to worry.”
Wearing an irreproachable smile, “Li Yun” walked over to her mother’s side and supported her once again.
Her body lacked even the slightest trace of a living person’s warmth.
Her mother leaned her full weight against her.
“Yun-yun, is everything really alright?”
Her voice slowed down, every step she took landing heavily on the floor.
Thump, thump…
The sound felt like it was reverberating directly against one’s heart, inducing a sense of deep discomfort.
Her murky eyes remained fixed on “Li Yun.” Inside those brownish irises, tiny entities seemed to be wriggling faintly.
“Yun-yun, how about you don’t go to work tomorrow?”
“Li Yun” acted as though she saw none of it.
She let out a soft sigh, appearing somewhat helpless at her mother’s concern.
“Mom, I have to go to work. Didn’t I tell you? We’re over a hundred thousand yuan in debt. You’re getting up there in age now, so I have to earn some money to pay it off and save a bit for your retirement, right?”
While speaking, she finally guided her mother back into her bedroom.
“Mom, don’t worry about me. Nothing will happen on my end. I’ll work hard to earn money. It’s getting late, and I have to wake up at six tomorrow morning because the boss wants us to arrive an hour early. I’m heading to sleep first. You should rest early too. You must take good care of your health so I can work with peace of mind, okay?”
Saying this, a hint of exhaustion flashed across “Li Yun’s” face. She shook her head, stepped out of the room, and gently pulled the door shut behind her.
Afterward, she entered her own bedroom, sat on the bed, and her expression gradually flattened into utter neutrality.
What on earth was going on?
It seemed things weren’t quite what she had initially thought.
In her mind, she silently mapped out the different factions.
First, herself—”Li Yun”—Faction A.
“Mom” didn’t seem to harbor good intentions, but as long as they didn’t tear off their disguises for now, no immediate harm would come. Categorized as Faction B.
The new colleagues—if their situation mirrored hers, then they all belonged to Faction A as well.
This, in turn, derived Faction C. It was likely Faction C that took away their memories and fabricated new identities for them.
Because if she were the only ghost, it might be her personal anomaly, but if there were ten ghosts, a far larger force had to be involved.
What was the purpose of taking their memories, fabricating new identities, and forcing them to work? Was it purely to make them work?
If so, she would need to give the boss a thorough probe tomorrow.
The boss couldn’t be equated directly with Faction C just yet.
However, it was highly probable that he occupied a subordinate position—merely an underling dispatched by Faction C.
Sent specifically to observe and record them as “test subjects.”
Hmm…
Looking at it this way, memories ought to be quite crucial.
She had just tapped into an extraordinary capability earlier, yet she herself struggled to explore it further due to her total ignorance regarding it.
This indicated that regaining her memories was necessary to restore her abilities—or at the very least, to realize what abilities she possessed.
Therefore, taking their memories away was likely aimed at stripping them of their power.
Where would those memories be stored, then?
If the boss held connections with Faction C, investigating him should yield clues.
All of this made logical sense.
The only piece that felt out of place was Faction B.
It felt as though it had materialized out of thin air, completely incongruous.
No—perhaps Faction B also fell under Faction C as another sub-faction, serving as subjects of observation just like them. However, owing to their differing factions, they didn’t share a team relationship.
Positioned as co-observed subjects, Faction C might be seeking to observe mutual slaughter between the two groups—or simply what would transpire when they collided.
All of the above deductions rested on a single prerequisite.
“Li Yun” raised her head to gaze at the sky brightening outside the window.
The prerequisite was that this world was real.
She possessed all of Li Yun’s life experiences.
Thinking through it carefully, she could recall numerous intricate details—the more she pondered them, the more authentic they felt.
Yet it also grew increasingly incomprehensible.
What kind of means could transplant memories directly into a human body?
High technology?
A paranormal phenomenon?
Or perhaps a combination of both.
A high-tech faction capable of manipulating paranormal entities at will.
Yet the technology of this world hadn’t developed to such an advanced degree, with people’s understanding of ghosts still lingering at the level of feudal superstition.
So… was this world even real?
If not, perhaps this was merely a… game?
A concept akin to a fully immersive virtual reality game.
Thus, if the prerequisite was false and the world was in fact virtual, she wasn’t a ghost at all.
She was a player in a virtual reality game.
An immersive experience game.
Perhaps as long as she located her memories, she could clear the game?
What if she couldn’t find them, though?
If the game failed, could she start over?
“Li Yun” tilted her head slightly, staring at the sky growing brighter outside the window.
Her room faced east, offering a breathtaking view of the morning sun—the pinkish-purple clouds and the rising golden light were exceptionally radiant.
And so vividly real.
In a world this real, death would be real as well, wouldn’t it?
It was hard to say for certain.
Regardless, staying alive and finding her memories should reveal the truth!
“Li Yun” glanced at the time—it was already 5:20 AM.
Abandoning any intention to sleep, she got up, changed her clothes, and headed to the bathroom to wash up.
After washing her face, “Li Yun” wiped her skin with a towel before the mirror.
The towel was somewhat tattered and had been used for a long time; out of sheer laziness to buy a new one, she hadn’t replaced it.
Mainly because the tiny bit of money saved on a towel could buy vegetables for two meals.
Making do with it was manageable enough.
Hence, holes had already worn through parts of the towel.
Through one of the holes, she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror.
She had the towel pressed against her face, yet the person in the mirror held no towel over her face at all.
The reflection stared straight back at her.
As if aware that she had noticed, the corners of the reflection’s lips gradually curled upward.
“Li Yun” finished wiping her face without a single flicker of emotion, setting the towel down.
The reflection in the mirror had returned to normal.
Oh, no…
Or rather, the reflection was mimicking her.
Except this time, it felt somewhat forced—its movements lagged by half a beat.
“Li Yun” leaned closer to the mirror, blowing a gentle breath of air onto its surface.
“Darling, is it painful being trapped inside the mirror?”
The face in the mirror contorted violently in an instant.
A pair of blood-stained hands slammed heavily against the glass surface.
“Hee-hee…”
“Li Yun” broke into a chuckle.
“Pity you’ll just have to keep suffering like this…”
The malice deep in her eyes blended with that innocent, pure smile, causing even the contorted face in the mirror to twitch uncontrollably.
Yet “Li Yun” appeared to pay it zero mind, even blowing a kiss before departing.
Leaving the bathroom, she set about preparing meals for her mother.
Speaking of which, if her mother was already dead, where did the food she prepared every day end up going?
Whatever, who cared!
Following her memory, “Li Yun” prepared a full day’s worth of dishes.
Along the way, she packed a bento box for herself as well.
That way, she wouldn’t need to spend money on lunch.
Once everything was done, she gathered her things, grabbed her keys, and prepared to head out.
Just as she pulled the door shut, her mother’s figure materialized once again in the middle of the living room.
