"Brother Hao, what time did you finish deliveries yesterday?"
"Hmm~~, around half past one, I think."
"Wow, are you Superman?"
At eight in the morning, Wang Hao walked into the company with dark circles under his eyes.
He had just sat down at his desk when a colleague came over, curiously striking up a conversation.
"You know, pressure can push people to greatness that you'd never know otherwise."
Wang Hao yawned, pinched his philtrum, and found that the drowsiness just wouldn't go away, so he got up and headed to the restroom.
He needed to wash his face, and maybe splash some cold water on his head!!!
"This Wang Hao must be crazy in the head. I'm thinking of switching departments."
"Yeah! I'm really afraid he'll suddenly jump up and bite me."
"He was quite normal before! What happened to him?"
"Okay, okay, stop talking. If he hears this and goes crazy, he really might bite you guys."
After Wang Hao left, his colleagues were abuzz with chatter.
Everyone agreed that Wang Hao wasn't right in the head.
He's been with the company for a year and a half.
He was quite normal for the first six months, getting along well with everyone. But gradually, something changed.
He started delivering takeout after work, initially until about nine, but gradually extending it to ten, eleven, and even into the early hours.
That would be fine, but he even pushed himself hard at work.
As a result, they all had to push themselves too.
Of course, if it were just that, nobody would think much of it.
After all, making money isn't shameful.
But then he moved houses several times, first leaving his shared apartment to rent a high-end flat.
Then, last month, he actually rented a standalone villa with a courtyard.
Oh my God!
The rent alone is fifty thousand a month!
Not to mention maintenance fees and utilities.
With his salary and the extra he makes from delivering takeout, he doesn't make even twenty thousand a month.
What kind of madness is that?
Others work to make money; he works to lose money.
The craziest part is, the villa is far from the company, and he jogs an hour to work every day.
What kind of strategy is that?
Oh, and I heard he's crazily DK and even mortgaged his rural family home.
If you said he's doing all this to chase a girl, play sugar daddy even, people might get it.
But he has no time to date, no girlfriend, not even time for hookups.
Whenever he has a moment, he's out doing deliveries.
He only sleeps four or five hours, tops, a day.
If he isn't crazy, what is he?
Lately, I hear he's up to something even stranger.
A "helpful colleague" found out he's renovating the villa.
Apparently, he's hired an expensive professional team.
The courtyard gate has been replaced with a special steel gate, and electric fences have been set up along the walls; God knows what other major changes he's made inside.
Insane!
Simply insane; that villa doesn't even belong to him!
Spending a fortune on renovations is one thing, but going to these lengths?
When the villa owner finds out, not only will he lose money, but he might get sued for damages.
Now, apart from a few bold male colleagues who dare to joke around with him, everyone else keeps their distance.
Even the supervisor is a bit on edge when he sees him, fearful he might suddenly go berserk and attack.
Some well-informed people are already saying the department manager is considering firing him.
In the restroom, Wang Hao washed his head.
Looking at his exhausted face in the mirror, his eyes were full of helplessness.
What has he gone through this past year?
Is he crazy?
No!
He's not!
But he feels he's being driven insane.
He's a kid from the countryside.
He's had a rather sad past.
His parents went missing during a trip when he was in elementary school.
He was raised by his grandfather.
While he was in college, his grandfather also passed away.
After graduating from university, he interned at this company.
Though the salary wasn't high, he was content with the nine-to-five and weekends off.
He planned to find a decent girlfriend once his job was stable, date for a couple of years, then sell his family home in the countryside and make a down payment in the city, living a simple life.
But one morning a year ago, his ordinary life was completely disrupted by the words that appeared on the back of his hand when he woke up.
[You have a secret crush on Chen Lingxue]
That was the first prompt!
Chen Lingxue was his college girlfriend's best friend, a classic rich and beautiful girl, recognized as the most beautiful girl on campus.
Because she was too exceptional, from such an illustrious family, Wang Hao didn't dare to pursue her, but he couldn't suppress his feelings.
To see her often, and even get close to her, Wang Hao approached through a roundabout way and successfully courted her best friend.
This was a secret buried in his heart, one he planned to keep for a lifetime.
How did it get exposed?
And who, unbeknownst to everyone, wrote it on his hand?
At that moment, Wang Hao felt terrified.
This must be haunted!
Without a second of hesitation, he washed off the writing as quickly as possible, immediately decided to move, and then spent a lot of money to rent an apartment with excellent security.
Additionally, he set up a lot of surveillance cameras inside.
For a month, nothing happened and he thought he was safe, but on the eighth of that month, some words appeared again on the back of his hand.
The same mysterious secret, appearing again without anyone knowing.
Wang Hao felt a chill on his scalp, and when he checked the room's surveillance footage, he found the words had somehow appeared by themselves.
At that moment, he felt like his entire being fell apart.
His heart rate instantly shot up to 180.
He was so frightened he nearly fainted.
Who wouldn't be scared to death by such a supernatural event happening to them?
He didn't dare to call the police, or even mention it to anyone.
First, he didn't want anyone to know about his secret, too embarrassing.
Second, he didn't want people to think he was crazy and lock him up.
No one would believe something so bizarre.
He went to temples and Taoist monasteries to pray, bought a pile of talismans online, peach wood swords, and anything he could think of to ward off evil.
He even spent money to have an exorcism performed.
A month went by with these haphazard attempts, and again on the eighth, words appeared on the back of his hand.
[Trust me! Go all out to make money]
At that moment, Wang Hao suddenly calmed down.
The unknown is the scariest.
Once their intention is revealed, there's a way to deal with it.
Go all out to make money?
If these words had appeared the first time, Wang Hao would have ignored them.
But with the lead-up from the previous two incidents, he could no longer disregard it.
This mysterious person seemed to know his character well, as well as the secret hidden in his heart, but appeared to have no malice towards him.
The first two incidents weren't pranks but set-ups to gain his trust, leading him to follow the third instruction.
Based on the current situation, Wang Hao analyzed.
It seemed to be unable to display words at any time.
It only happened once a month, and the words were limited, minimal whenever possible, suggesting it required a cost.
Using such eerie means to urge him to make money must signal something big was about to happen.
Wang Hao didn't hesitate much; he chose to execute it!
From that day, he started delivering food part-time.
Another month passed, and unsurprisingly, words appeared again on the back of his hand.
[Not enough]
So Wang Hao delivered food even more diligently.
To avoid having money deducted, he fulfilled customers' requests if possible, and even if not, he'd find a way to do so.
He also took on errands and mascot gigs.
He worked tirelessly to earn more.
In the following months, every eighth day, a hint appeared on his hand.
[Surgery to correct vision]
[Strengthen the body]
[Read doomsday novels]
[Learn wilderness survival]
[Mortgage house for a loan]
[Rent Blue Sky Villa, Building 12]
.....
One task led to another, and once Wang Hao was on the hook, he couldn't turn back and could only follow orders.
He began eating healthily, listening to doomsday novels and survival knowledge while delivering food.
He ran most deliveries if they weren't far, to balance exercising his body.
....
Forget others thinking he was crazy, he himself felt he was going insane.
The day before the last hint appeared.
He had already prepared to give up.
If the mysterious entity kept exploiting him like before, he was done with it.
Who cares anymore!
At that time, he still had a chance to turn things around.
He could still return to his normal life.
If it dragged on, he might fall into a black hole without escape.
However, words surfaced on his hand:
[The apocalypse will descend in a month]