Chapter 14
Happy Supermarket
Over the next few hours, all sorts of "customers" entered the supermarket, testing the survivors' fragile nerves.
A customer, a water ghost, whose feet were constantly dripping water and left a trail of wet footprints, asked Ah Jie, who was closest to him, to wipe clean all the ground he had walked on.
Ah Jie dared not utter a single complaint. He knelt on the ground and frantically wiped the wound until his fingernails were cracked. Only after the water ghost left satisfied did he feel utterly exhausted. Looking at his bloodied and mangled fingers, he was on the verge of tears.
A customer whose neck could rotate 360 degrees repeatedly tested Manager Sun's patience, constantly messing up the shelves he had just tidied up and then asking him to rearrange them.
Manager Sun's fake smile was almost frozen. While mechanically repeating "Okay, I'll serve you right away" and tidying up, she felt her rationality crumbling little by little.
Another customer was pushing a cart full of "goods." Upon closer inspection, the "goods" turned out to be blurry, struggling human-shaped objects. He asked Sister Zhao, who was closest to him, to help him put price tags on these "goods."
Sister Zhao was so frightened that her fat trembled and she almost fainted. Only after Liu Wei urged her in a low voice did she shakily pick up the label. The faint groans made by the "products" when they touched the label almost made her collapse.
Because Zhang Hao was still grieving the death of his girlfriend, he was a beat slow to react and failed to restock a customer who had bought a large quantity of "Happiness Brand" canned goods in time. He exceeded the five-minute limit and was suddenly dragged away by a security guard who emerged from the shadows, covering his mouth and nose. He didn't even have time to scream.
Now, only eight people remain. Everyone is exhausted, under immense stress, their faces are ashen, and their eyes are unfocused.
Shi Mo was also called upon several times, for simple requests such as helping to find goods or giving directions.
He followed the rules, saying "Okay, I'll serve you right away" in a flat tone, and then mechanically completed the task. His calmness contrasted sharply with the panic of the others, drawing frequent glances from Wang Hu, Manager Sun, and others, their eyes filled with complex emotions.
"That...that white-haired kid...how come he's not afraid at all?" Ah Jie panted and whispered to Liu Wei next to him.
"A monster...he must be a monster too!" Sister Zhao glanced at Shi Mo furtively with fear in her eyes.
Just then, Liu Wei suddenly stared intently at the grain and oil section, his face deathly pale, his lips trembling, and he forced out a low voice, almost squeezing it out between his teeth: "Red...red!"
Following his gaze, everyone saw a "staff member" in a bright red uniform standing among the shelves in the grain and oil section.
He stood with his back to everyone, head down, motionless, his red standing out starkly in the dimly lit supermarket.
Rule 4: Only employees wearing blue uniforms are allowed in the supermarket. If you see an employee wearing a red uniform, please ignore them and do not engage in any form of communication with them!
"Don't look! Don't look at him! Pretend he doesn't exist!" Manager Sun almost screamed, turning his head away first, his body trembling like a leaf.
Everyone immediately looked away, their hearts pounding, desperately trying to convince themselves it was just a hallucination. Ah Jie even covered his eyes with his hands.
Time seemed to stand still. Every second felt incredibly long.
The employee in the red uniform stood there quietly, with his back to everyone, making no move, yet he brought immense psychological pressure.
Suddenly, a low, indistinct humming sound drifted over intermittently.
It was that employee in the red uniform humming a song. The tune was strange, melodyless, as if it came from another world.
Sister Zhao shuddered and subconsciously muttered, "W-what an awful sound..."
As soon as she finished speaking, the humming stopped abruptly.
The employee in the red uniform suddenly turned around!
His face—had no features. Only a patch of dark red flesh that constantly writhes and flows, as if the skin had just been peeled off. That "face" was facing Sister Zhao's direction.
"Are you... talking to me?" A sound mixed with friction and the churning of liquid resounded directly in everyone's mind.
Sister Zhao was terrified; the immense fear made her lose her mind, and she screamed, "No! I didn't! Don't come any closer!"
It’s over.
Everyone's heart sank.
The red-uniformed employee appeared as if by teleportation, standing right next to Sister Zhao in the next instant. He was a head taller than Sister Zhao, and his writhing flesh was almost touching her face.
"You saw me...you even commented on my singing..." The employee in the red uniform reached out a hand covered with the same writhing flesh and gently stroked Sister Zhao's fat cheek.
Sister Zhao made a hoarse sound, her eyes bulged out, and her body shrank at a visible speed, as if all the blood and fat in her body had been sucked away by that hand.
A few seconds later, she turned into a skinned skeleton and collapsed limply to the ground. The employee in the red uniform licked her fingers (if they could even be called fingers), and her figure slowly faded and disappeared.
Another one dies. All because of a subconscious remark.
Seven survivors.