Although Bai Liu had told the other refugees that he knew how to end all of this, in reality, at this very moment, he had not yet obtained enough information about the specific solution to the Dried Rose Leaf Gas.

At present, Bai Liu did not know how to resolve the problem of the dried rose leaves.

To put it simply, Bai Liu had used his own life as collateral to write the refugees an “empty check” promising to solve the rose perfume problem, thereby getting them to work for him first.

However, this “check” was not entirely without foundation. There had to be a solution to the Dried Rose Leaf Gas, and there was a very high probability that he could obtain it. This could be inferred from what Tang Erda had said about the Bai Sixes in other timelines being able to acquire it.

Since the Bai Sixes in other timelines could obtain it, Bai Liu’s evaluation of his own probability of completing this task exceeded fifty percent.

As a player who dared to bet his entire hand as long as the success rate exceeded ten percent, Bai Liu had already begun treating [being able to solve the Dried Rose Leaf Gas] as a prerequisite for his actions, using it to deceive others.

It was not until Tawil reminded Bai Liu of the oracle again that he confirmed what the specific solution to the [Dried Rose Leaf Gas] was.

It was a specific [antidote].

If the rose perfume was the [poison], then the substance corresponding to this [antidote] should be something capable of diluting or neutralizing the toxicity and addictive properties of the dried rose leaves.

But in the game, up until now, Bai Liu had not received any hints or information about this [antidote], nor had the system issued any related tasks. From this, Bai Liu deduced that the game-clearance path related to this [antidote] was most likely not a conventional one. In other words, it had no connection to the main mission of [Becoming the Factory Manager].

Horror or plot-driven games usually had three kinds of endings: [Good], [Normal], and [True].

The first two were relatively easy and simple. They did not require the player to uncover every hidden piece of information in the game in order to clear it; they were the clearance methods ordinary players usually took. However, game designers usually hid a very deep ending in which the story of the game world was more complete and contained more information—the so-called [True Ending].

To reach the [True Ending], the game path was more dangerous. Sometimes, it even required the player to do things completely contrary to the main mission in order to trigger special plot points and obtain more information.

Clearly, “Rose Factory” was this kind of game.

Bai Liu had already been following this line of thought before, but he had made preparations on both fronts: while secretly preparing the [poison] and his own Rose Factory, he was also searching for traces of the [antidote] inside the real Rose Factory.

To obtain this potion, he needed more information.

But that would depend on Liu Jiayi, who was being continuously promoted inside the factory. Bai Liu had delegated this part of the task to the little girl.

Bai Liu gathered his focus and closed his eyes, suppressing all emotion.

After he had completely transformed into Liu Jiayi’s appearance, he lifted the curtain of the tent and walked out.

Standing in front of the tent was Qi Yifang, who was staring in amazement at the mountain-like pile of roses.

Seeing him come out, Qi Yifang scratched his head somewhat sheepishly.

“I thought you might need some help over here...”

He was also carrying a small bag of dried rose leaves, most likely brought because Qi Yifang had been afraid that [Liu Jiayi] would not have enough to meet the quota. But looking at the current situation, it was hard to say who needed support from whom.

Bai Liu shook his head, declining the roses Qi Yifang handed over.

Through Liu Jiayi’s gray eyes, he looked toward the Rose Factory. It resembled a heavy industrial processing base, with thick smoke billowing from its chimneys. His gaze was dark and unreadable.

—

Inside the Rose Factory.

The new processors’ dormitory was on the first floor of the Rose Factory.

It was not separated by gender. Several dozen people lived together in a large shared bunkroom. There was no sour stench of sweat inside. Instead, there was an inescapable smell of rotting meat, and within that rot drifted an extremely faint scent of roses.

These two smells mixed together into an odor that was both fragrant and foul, nauseating enough to make one want to vomit. Anyone walking in for the first time would find the intense stench unbearable and would have to stand outside taking several deep breaths before daring to enter.

Liu Jiayi, the two members of the Kings’ Guild, Tang Erda, and the other processors all slept in this shared bunkroom.

After an entire day of hard labor, the new processors had rested for less than three hours before the sky began to brighten again.

Inside the dormitory, Liu Jiayi was the first to open her eyes.

She had left those [Blizzard Goggles] with Bai Liu to make it easier for him to disguise himself. That had been her last visualization item, which meant that yesterday, she had been operating “blind.”

Fortunately, the two Kings’ Guild members following her had brought visualization items that she often used. Liu Jiayi took them and politely thanked them. In return, she poured each of them a small cup of antidote to stabilize their health points.

The two of them originally wanted to refuse, because these items had been prepared for the Little Witch anyway. But under Liu Jiayi’s persistent gaze, they eventually drank the antidote with complicated feelings.

They all understood that this was the Little Witch’s habit.

She never owed anything to any teammate.

Over the past few days, Liu Jiayi had been protected by Bai Liu and had rested well. In addition, she had not done much physical labor yesterday, since the other two had helped her. Compared with these processors who had truly sweated through an entire day, Liu Jiayi’s physical and mental condition was the best.

Therefore, at present, she was the only person awake in the shared bunkroom.

The others, including Tang Erda, whose sensitivity was higher than ordinary people’s, were all in deep sleep under the dual effects of physical exhaustion and the thick, hypnotic rose fragrance in the air.

But Liu Jiayi was a player who, on the very first day, had been dragged by that unlucky bastard Bai Liu into taking a large mouthful of the original rose fragrance—the scent on Tawil’s hand. Because of that, the rose fragrance inside the factory affected her far less.

Although she had visualization items, Liu Jiayi did not want to waste them.

Since she could rely on her hearing to move normally, she had not used any visualization items from yesterday through this morning. However, just as she got out of bed, Liu Jiayi suddenly heard an abnormal sound.

It sounded like a massive eight-legged spider constantly spinning silk, weaving a web, and crawling across the ceiling.

A rustling sound darted back and forth above Liu Jiayi’s head. The movement was small, but Liu Jiayi still heard it.

There was the rhythmic breathing and snoring of the processors lying on the narrow beds, the pitter-patter of wall paint occasionally peeling off and falling to the floor, and that faint dragging, wandering sound.

She put on a visualization item and looked up at the ceiling, but she saw nothing. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

On the old, mottled, pale-yellow wall, there was only paint constantly flaking off, along with several deep rose-colored marks that looked as though they had been smoked or stained there. They resembled dried bloodstains.

Liu Jiayi frowned.

As someone who had survived for a long time by relying on her hearing, she trusted her ears more than her eyes. Especially on such a quiet morning, her hearing should not have been wrong.

Unless that thing existed, but she could not see it.

Thinking of this, Liu Jiayi immediately shook awake a Kings’ Guild member sleeping beside her.

While the other person was still dazed and half-asleep, she leaned close to his ear and whispered, “Shh. Look up right now. Can you see anything?”

Although he was not fully awake, obeying the Witch’s orders had already become second nature to these teammates who had once been saved by her.

Without hesitation, he looked up.

A moment later, he turned to Liu Jiayi in confusion.

“...There’s nothing there...”

This teammate could not see it either, so the problem was not with her eyes.

Liu Jiayi’s mind raced as she coolly and rapidly considered where the issue lay.

There had to be some kind of monster on the ceiling, but it could not be seen with the naked eye or with visualization items.

In this game, this monster likely required a certain condition to be fulfilled before it could be seen.

But what was that condition?

Liu Jiayi’s thoughts moved extremely quickly.

They had only been inside this factory for one day, and they had been working the entire time. The amount of information they had obtained was fundamentally insufficient. Trying to deduce the condition for seeing the monster from clues inside the factory seemed impossible to Liu Jiayi right now.

Normally, Liu Jiayi would definitely take a step back and act conservatively. She would leave the dormitory first and return to unlock this monster after obtaining enough information.

But now—

She had another channel through which she could obtain information.

Bai Liu.

When they entered the game, Bai Liu had told her about Tawil’s oracle.

Although she was not clear on what kind of strange relationship those two had—sticking together in every game and giving her goosebumps—if Bai Liu was right, and Tawil was the core monster of the game “Rose Factory,” and had even come to find him the night before last, then the oracle Tawil had given Bai Liu before they entered the game was very likely a set of hints for this game.

Liu Jiayi closed her eyes and recalled the oracle Bai Liu had told her.

She searched through the useful information word by word while murmuring to herself:

“...Do not use the right eye to contain desire...”

Bai Liu’s right eye had been eroded by the roses, but that guy’s left eye was fine!

This was a hint!

Tawil was hinting for Bai Liu to look at things with only one eye!

When Liu Jiayi reached this line of thought, her eyes snapped open.

She moved swiftly, covering the right eye of the still-bewildered Kings’ Guild member. With her other hand, she propped up his chin and tilted his head upward, aiming his gaze toward the corner where she had heard the sound.

In a cold voice, she questioned him:

“Can you see anything now?”

The Kings’ Guild member’s originally sleepy expression instantly tightened.

His pupils contracted sharply, and the loose skin on his face twitched to one side from time to time. He looked as though he were seeing something extraordinarily terrifying. He did not even dare to breathe as he trembled.

The color drained from his face in an instant. His limbs went weak, leaving him unable to sit up properly.

“I... I see a lot.”

His voice shook. His neck jerked as he turned to look at Liu Jiayi, and he spoke in an extremely hollow voice.

“Little Witch, the whole room is full of... monsters.”

—

Author’s Note:

My best friend: I think Bai Liu would dare to gamble even with only a one-percent chance of winning.

Me: That’s right. In this person’s eyes, ten percent already counts as a sure win.

My best friend: Bai Liu, you’re so ordinary yet so confident. You’re just a laid-off worker—where does all this gambling confidence come from?!