Chapter 130: Substitute
Arriving at the workstation, Yan Xiaoyu and the other two also heard about “Xiao Yue” from their colleagues, and a memory they had never had before similarly surfaced in their minds.
And Yan Xiaoyu, starting from this moment, became absent-minded.
Ever since “Xiao Yue” this person appeared in her memory, she felt that the woman she encountered in the elevator looked somewhat familiar.
She looks very much like Xiao Yue.
But she wasn’t sure; she had only glanced once and thought she looked like her, but that glance was very blurry. It felt very much like Xiao Yue, but upon carefully recalling the facial features, they didn’t match the Xiao Yue in her memory.
Yan Xiaoyu was no longer a newcomer, a second-class passenger. Whenever something felt off, she would wonder in her heart if it was encountering a ghost, and naturally, she did the same now.
But she didn’t dare to say it.
She slightly raised her head to look at Du Yu. The other woman seemed to have noticed nothing, so Yan Xiaoyu immediately lowered her head.
She couldn’t say it.
She had to figure out a method herself.
Yan Xiaoyu looked around but didn’t find that woman’s figure.
She felt a bit of unease in her heart, but it was still okay. Strange things like this always happened inside the platform. Next, she just needed to avoid panicking, carefully search for clues, find a method to cope, evade danger, and then survive.
“Perhaps I’ll encounter some fatal dangers, but I have fate, so I should be able to hold on.”
As long as she held on once, found the patterns and taboos, drew others into the ghost’s line of sight, she would be safe.
It would be best if Du Yu unknowingly took a loss.
It would be even better if she died here.
Yan Xiaoyu thought this way, but because of this thought, a bit of unease surfaced in her heart. But at this moment, a colleague suddenly walked in holding a box.
“Hey, Xiao Yu, you bought milk tea but didn’t bring it up? The delivery person is waiting for you outside.”
“I brought it up for you.”
Other colleagues heard this message and came over one after another to thank Yan Xiaoyu. The box of milk tea was gradually distributed, but Yan Xiaoyu didn’t take any.
This wasn’t the milk tea she bought.
In her memory, “employee Yan Xiaoyu” hadn’t bought milk tea either.
Who bought this box of milk tea in her name?
Du Yu stood beside her, also holding a cup of milk tea, watching her.
Yan Xiaoyu’s breathing hitched slightly, and she explained, “This seems to be my habit, but I didn’t notice just now.”
Du Yu seemed to believe it. After all, inside the platform, everyone’s memories were generally the same, but different “experiences” would arise due to personality differences.
She returned to her own workstation, and Yan Xiaoyu’s heart relaxed. She turned around, opened the computer, thinking to first complete today’s work mission. After all, with her current identity as an “employee,” she had to do what an employee should do.
After working for about half an hour, a colleague returned from the restroom. She saw Yan Xiaoyu and was surprised: “Huh, you were so fast? I just saw you in the restroom. Where did you run back from?”
Hearing this, Yan Xiaoyu’s heart skipped a beat. She hadn’t been to the restroom.
She looked at Du Yu, who was talking to another colleague and hadn’t noticed the commotion here, so she said calmly, “I walked pretty fast; I was in a hurry to come back for something.”
That colleague didn’t pay it any mind and just nodded before walking away.
Something was wrong.
Yan Xiaoyu immediately realized that even if she was just sitting at her seat doing nothing, the anomaly seemed to be happening.
She thought of this platform’s name: substitute.
Don’t let it see her.
But she seemed to already have been seen.
Just these two unusual things made Yan Xiaoyu realize that inside the company, there seemed to exist two of her.
One who ordered milk tea and went to the restroom.
But she hadn’t noticed the other’s existence at all.
Undoubtedly, that “Yan Xiaoyu” was definitely a ghost.
But where was she?
Yan Xiaoyu stood up, deciding to head to the restroom.
A colleague had seen another Yan Xiaoyu in the restroom; she had to go check. She couldn’t sit idly by.
Actively encountering a ghost was very dangerous, but being discovered by Du Yu would be even more dangerous!
Du Yu plus the ghost—then she would definitely die without a doubt.
Having made up her mind, Yan Xiaoyu stood up from her seat.
Du Yu, who had been talking to others, immediately cast her gaze over. Her face showed no particular expression, but looking at those slightly reddened eyes, Yan Xiaoyu felt a chill.
Sometimes, she felt Du Yu was even more terrifying than a ghost.
Yan Xiaoyu somewhat timidly pointed toward the restroom direction. Seeing Du Yu expressionlessly shift her gaze away, she hurriedly headed toward the restroom.
“Where is she?”
She was already prepared; her only supernatural item was clutched in her palm.
Originally, she should have had three supernatural items, but she hadn’t been able to keep them.
If not for her luck in obtaining fate, she would probably already be dead without a trace by now.
Yan Xiaoyu squeezed her palm; the hard texture of the coin gave her a bit of sense of security.
She arrived at the restroom. It was working hours, so there weren’t many people inside. She circled around twice but didn’t see any strange figures.
Yan Xiaoyu didn’t give up; she even checked the smoking area, but there were no anomalies.
She felt a bit unwilling but knew she couldn’t leave for too long, lest she arouse Du Yu’s suspicion.
On the way back, Yan Xiaoyu was still thinking about what to do next, but soon, she could no longer think.
Because she saw that at her workstation, a person was sitting.
A woman dressed in the exact same clothes as her, with hair of the same length.
That back view was both familiar and strange.
Familiar, because that person’s build was almost identical to hers; strange, because she couldn’t often see her own back view.
Who was that?
With this doubt, the next second, Yan Xiaoyu gave herself the answer.
That was Yan Xiaoyu.
The other her that she couldn’t see, but other colleagues could discover.
That substitute.
That ghost.
It had only been about an hour since the train arrived at the station, yet Yan Xiaoyu felt the situation was already serious enough.
She couldn’t hide it anymore. She was just about to step forward into the office to remind the others when she was stopped by someone.
The one stopping her was a colleague. In her memory, this colleague was very upright and loved meddling, with a personality that wasn’t likable.
Now, she frowned, looking at Yan Xiaoyu, and asked, “Who are you? We don’t have any visitors today.”
Yan Xiaoyu was slightly stunned. “What? I am—”
As she spoke, she tried to take out her work badge, but upon lowering her head, she discovered that the work badge hanging on her chest was gone.
She could only say, “I am Yan Xiaoyu.”
But the colleague in front of her looked at her with a strange, rejecting gaze, like looking at a mentally ill person: “I’m not blind yet; I know what Xiao Yu looks like. If you’re going to lie, at least use a name of someone who looks a bit like you, right?”
“Get out of here quick, or I’m calling security!”
The colleague scolded her, and this commotion drew the attention of the others. They looked over, but every face showed unfamiliarity toward her.
Her schedule had become so messed up to the point of day and night reversal; today she would stay up during the day to fix her schedule!
