Chapter 26: The Narrow Gate

The company was massive.

Its primary business was investment, and the game development department sat somewhere in the middle.

They hadn’t produced any massive hits or trending titles, but they maintained a steady output of games.

Gu Yu planned to finish her current workload so she could play with An’an.

There were still several achievements in Game Mode that could only be unlocked within the virtual game.

“Thank you!”

Su An said, pressing her palms together solemnly as she thanked Jing Jing.

‘She must have bought it for me after weighing the pros and cons,’ she thought.

She sat on the sofa, scrolling through videos about the Narrow Gate while waiting for the delivery to arrive.

“Carnation! Carnation!”

Hannah first nudged Carnation, who was lying unconscious on the ground.

With fury written across her face, she quickly chambered a round and aimed her gun at Lin Yanan, who wore a smile as if ready for a glorious death.

“Go ahead! Shoot! I will be reborn in the Eden of the New World!”

“If anything happens to her, I swear I will make you suffer a fate worse than death,” Hannah snarled.

She holstered her weapon and lifted Carnation, preparing to find an android doctor.

“I am ready whenever you are—you desecrator, you traitor, and you, the sinner.”

Bang!

Hannah slammed the door shut.

“What happened? Was she contaminated?”

Liu Rui stepped forward.

“Yes, that person is definitely not right! They aren’t just some ordinary Deviant Android.”

Hannah frowned.

“Did Carnation say what she saw?”

“No, she was already unconscious when I went in.”

“Whew, why does it feel like Deviant Android incidents have been exploding over the last two days?”

Liu Rui sighed, complaining.

“Deviant Androids…”

“Sigh, Deviant Androids.”

Security Officer Jiang Yiyun let out several sighs in a row.

A Deviant Android had appeared in the company, and he had failed to detect it.

It was truly his failure.

“Sigh.”

Sighing, Jiang Yiyun began scrolling through videos on his Optical Computer.

Because he was in the same city, he quickly found a viral video.

“Executioner!”

the android screamed at the top of its lungs in the video.

“…God will not let you off! You will go to hell!”

‘Holy crap! It’s President Gu!’

‘The good news: President Gu is fine. The bad news: President Gu seems to be getting cursed out.’

“Mistakenly entering the heavenly home~”

“Look, she’s singing again.”

“Killing thirty a day? What kind of concept is that? Voldemort: ‘I killed dozens of people.’ President Gu: ‘That’s nice, but what about yesterday?'”

“It’s not the same. Androids don’t have human rights; you don’t go to jail for it.”

“No human rights? Last time I found my android had gone deviant, I acted in self-defense. I accidentally carved a few extra wounds into it, and they still detained me for fifteen days. They say they have no rights, but in reality, people love them more than anything!”

Jiang Yiyun rubbed his hands together, wanting to explain things for his boss, but he ultimately sighed.

With this comment atmosphere, he would be drowned alive if he jumped in.

However, a new wave of comments soon began to replace the ones venting grievances.

“Good kill. I’m a fan now.”

Cough, cough.

Ignore that one.

“Who is that little girl? This one right here, screenshot.JPG. The one in President Gu’s arms, curled up with only her profile visible. She looks so shy.”

“Wow, so well-behaved. The baby is so cute. Even just a side profile is adorable.”

“Are there any other photos? Why are there only a few side profiles? Everything else is blocked. I want to see her face.”

“No Blue Ring. Is she a real person?”

“If that’s a real person, I’ll eat dirt. She’s definitely an android.”

“Interesting. Does President Gu think killing is boring now and plans to toy with an android girl?”

“An android? (Eyes shining) Does anyone have a link?”

“@Xingyu Fantasy, my big sister is asking you. Answer us!”

“Don’t be so impatient. What if she only looks good from the side?”

“Impossible. You might not trust President Gu’s taste, but you have to trust her wealth.”

“Ahhh, can anyone show me the baby’s face? There were so many Camera Spheres—not a single one caught her? I’m putting out a bounty.”

“Still starting with a battle cry.”

“I see the ‘wanted’ post, but where’s the bounty? You’re posting the request without the reward?”

“The comment section is interesting. Three groups have arrived: the android lovers, the witnesses, and… what the hell is this? What do you mean you were led astray by a cute creature? I don’t believe it. I’ve seen so many high-quality—”

“I believe it. Where’s the face? I’m freaking asking you, where is the face? Are you all useless?”

“I have it. I wanted to keep it for my private collection, but after thinking about it, I’ll do everyone a favor. One Credit Point per photo. DM me.”

“DMed you.”

“+1”

“+1”

Jiang Yiyun had actually caught a few glimpses earlier, but he hadn’t dared to look closely at the time.

He was curious about how the photos turned out, so he sent over one Credit Point.

The person was quick to take the money, but it took a while for the image to be sent—likely due to the high volume of messages.

Then, Jiang Yiyun’s face darkened.

‘Is this not just a screenshot from the video?’

‘I’ll be damned!’

Jiang Yiyun was just about to erupt in anger when he realized he had been blocked.

His expression grew even darker.

Looking back at the comments, he saw numerous posts from others who had been blocked and were now denouncing the scammer.

“It’s one thing to sell photos, but the photos you’re selling aren’t even authentic! I hope you ascend to heaven, I mean it!”

“You should have said so earlier X﹏X. If you had said you were sending fakes, I would have just given you the money directly. I wouldn’t have had to waste my time waiting like an idiot, X﹏X.”

“Oh, look, a pathetic version.”

“Tsk tsk. I did the math. Just in his sub-thread alone, there are over 1,000 replies from idiots who sent DMs. The actual number of messages probably broke 10,000.”

“Crap, is money this easy to make?”

“It’s not that it’s easy; it’s that this girl is too cute. She triggered the lechers’ desire to investigate. Plus, one Credit Point isn’t expensive to satisfy one’s curiosity.”

“First of all, I’m not old. Thank you.”

“Old man, the fact that you know this meme means you’re old!”

Hiss.

Jiang Yiyun sucked in a breath of dusty air.

He was currently in the warehouse, responsible for guarding the first android corpse.

‘Is money really this easy to make? Even fakes reached the tens of thousands. Then a real photo would…’

Jiang Yiyun recalled the surveillance he had seen earlier.

There were ultra-high-definition recordings from every angle.

Guaranteed authentic.

After thinking for a moment, he dismissed the idea.

That person only made money because they preyed on people’s curiosity.

There were so many Camera Balls on the scene; someone must have caught a real shot.

Once it was posted, no one would care anymore.

Furthermore, profiting from someone else’s likeness was illegal.

‘No, I can’t keep scrolling. I need to work.’

Jiang Yiyun closed his Optical Computer and looked around.

The warehouse door was halfway open, surrounded by various pieces of discarded equipment.

In front of him lay a corpse, its skin layer flickering unsteadily.

“Eek, it’s quite creepy,” Jiang Yiyun muttered, rubbing his arms.

“Especially with that constant flickering.”

He stepped forward and stared at the android corpse.

Suddenly, his eyebrows shot up.

‘Is there a pattern to this flickering?’

With that thought, he used his Optical Computer to record the timing of the intervals.

“It’s periodic!”

Jiang Yiyun suddenly exclaimed in shock.

“It’s been repeating from this point to that point. Why? This shouldn’t be right. Let me try to decode it. If I use time as a number corresponding to the alphabet, then the final conclusion is…”

“ZHAIMEN?”

Just as he uttered those letters, a shadow suddenly loomed over him.

Thud!