pappabearbooks Chapter 672 First Encounter with the Smiler
Chapter 672 First Encounter with the Smiler
A total of six prospective employees will undergo a wish experience.
Apart from Lu Renjia, after everyone else finished expressing their wishes, Wu Wang followed suit and chatted with them, but did not choose any of the projects recommended by the factory.
Instead, he would rummage through the workbench and select what he deemed suitable, then instill in them ideas that were not part of the desire factory.
This practice almost made him pay overtime wages for working beyond his regular working hours.
That's right, each task in the Desire Factory actually has a built-in working time.
For example, Wu Wang's task of appeasing Zhou Ping can't be left to drag on forever, can it?
In reality, the built-in time for these newbie tasks is about 24 hours, and employees are only reminded when the time limit is approaching.
Wu Wang's current role as the substitute advisor has a built-in time limit of 4 hours.
Just over three hours later, he heard an expiration reminder on his electronic bracelet, which also warned him that if he exceeded the deadline, he would have to pay the factory 1 wish point per minute to extend his overtime hours.
Regarding the loan for work.
Fortunately, Wu Wang managed to complete the wish experience for all the prospective employees at the final time of three hours and fifty-nine minutes.
And most importantly, he used this opportunity to allow [Bai] to hack into this thing called the [Desire Bracelet].
Now, what appears on Wu Wang's bracelet is no longer the unfamiliar factory woman, but the familiar face of the artificial intelligence [Bai].
The permissions window closed precisely when Wu Wang left the workbench.
The system strangely and automatically erased the background search records, leaving only a lonely question mark.
No one knows what kind of projects Wu offered to those prospective employees.
This is all thanks to [Bai].
[Dear prospective employees, your first experience of fulfilling your aspirations has concluded. We hope this experience has provided you with clear direction for your career.]
If you are satisfied with the experience, you can go to the Wish Planning Center on the second floor of the factory to sign an employment contract. After activating the Wish Bracelet, the Wish Shop welcomes your return visit at any time.
"Heh, gracious again." Wu Wang sneered, "Your tone is no different from that of an insurance salesman."
Just as all the prospective employees were about to leave the wish exhibition hall, the public address system in the lobby announced their departure.
Each of them entered the elevator with a complicated expression, not knowing how many people would go to the second floor to go through the same onboarding process as Wu Wang and his colleagues.
However, the pace of these prospective employees was noticeably heavier than when they first arrived, when they were filled with curiosity.
It wasn't because of disappointment, but because the thirty minutes of the experience were so realistic that everyone briefly had what they wanted.
Being forcibly dragged back to reality now feels more disheartening than seeing any sanctimonious propaganda.
The Desire Factory clearly understands this principle well.
A free trial isn't a surprise gift, but rather the shiniest bait on the hook.
However, Wu Wang also mixed some new ideas into the bait at the factory, ideas that belonged to him.
After all the prospective employees had entered the elevator, he pressed the elevator button and casually took out a piece of candy from his pocket, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth.
Sweet moments are meant to be cherished forever – Desire Factory Food Division
The contents on this candy wrapper are different from before.
"To own forever, in this context, is roughly the same as the contract expiring."
He crumpled the candy wrapper into a ball and accurately tossed it into the trash can next to the elevator.
After entering the elevator, he returned to the fourth floor, intending to carry Zhou Ping's wife back to his home from her workstation.
Now that [White] has won the Octagon, the wristband can now locate the residences of its employees.
Upon reaching the fourth floor, Wu Wang saw a familiar face with a sullen expression in the corridor.
It was that man, who seemed to be from the police station, whom I chatted with on the second floor when we first entered the instance and who said he was mean.
The other person was not wearing the uniform white work clothes as before, but had changed into dark casual clothes that were closer to his original professional habits.
His expression was unusually serious, as if he was pondering something.
"Hey, recycling guy, how's work going?" Wu Wang asked jokingly.
The other person stopped and looked at Wu Wang, seemingly hesitant about whether to answer.
Finally, he sighed and said, "Not very good."
"My mission objective is a mother who died suddenly, leaving behind two daughters. She currently has zero wish points and owes more than 500 maintenance fees."
"When I knocked on the door, my youngest daughter was lying on her motionless lap, saying she wanted to talk to her dad for another three minutes."
"This mother's wish points are basically used to temporarily wake up her husband, who is in a vegetative state in the hospital, and then take advantage of this time to let her daughter have a video chat with him."
The police officer's breathing became slightly heavier, and after a pause, he continued, "After I retrieved the bracelet, my daughter asked if she would ever see her father again..."
"I didn't dare answer her, so I could only leave in silence and embarrassment..."
After he finished speaking, the corridor fell into a deathly silence.
All that remained was the sound of Wu Wang chewing candy and smacking his lips.
The police officer leaned against the corridor wall, looking up at the pristine white ceiling, and his lips moved slightly as he spoke:
“I once handled a fraud case where the suspect was in the insurance business. He would say things like ‘This is for your own good’ to every client.”
"I feel like... I was a bit like that fraudster just now."
Upon hearing this, Wu Wang shrugged and mumbled, "Be more confident. Remove the word 'like,' and we are."
The police officers at the station had mixed feelings as they looked at Wu Wang, who seemed to be making sarcastic remarks.
He lifted his leg, intending to get away from this sarcastic and mean-spirited guy.
Unexpectedly, after swallowing the candy, Wu Wang said something that made him stop in his tracks.
"Have you checked your Wish Shop since then? Have you received any limited-time wish requests?"
The other person immediately turned to look at Wu Wang, a hint of wariness flashing in their eyes.
This time it wasn't because of his sharp tongue, but because—he was right.
At this moment, the item on the top shelf of the wish shop in the police officer's bracelet is called "Absolute Justice".
[Absolute Justice (Full Version): Enables users within the factory to judge right and wrong in every instance, and ensures that violators receive immediate and due punishment.]
[Original price 8888 Wish Points, now 8000 Wish Points]
[Today Only]
Even more outrageous than what Wu Wang said, this product wasn't something he saw by chance during his inspection.
Instead, it automatically pops up recommended products from the bracelet after you complete your work tasks.
It's like a pop-up ad.
He was pacing in the corridor just now, hesitating about whether to buy this item.
Seeing his expression, Wu Wang grinned and said, "Looks like I guessed right?"
"How did you know?" the police officer asked with a dark expression.
In response, Wu Wang jokingly said, "Because if it were me, I would do the same thing."
"When someone wants something the most, show them the hope that they can achieve it, and then put a price tag on that hope that is absolutely impossible to fulfill."
"In that case, if you don't want to miss out on this product, there's only one way to go—go to the loan wish point."
"What you're getting back isn't your colleague's bracelet, but rather the loan deposit it wants you to pay."
"Think about it carefully yourself." After saying that, Wu Wang turned around and walked towards his workstation, humming an unknown tune.
The police officer watched his retreating figure thoughtfully, then leaned back against the wall, lost in thought.
Not long after he left, Wu Wang returned to his workstation.
Zhou Ping's wife was still lying motionless in the chair, while the hawksbill turtle was nowhere to be seen, presumably having gone to work as well.
[Bai] Tell him that the factory assigned him a residence on the 30th floor.
Just as Wu Wang was about to finish inspecting the workstations and go up to take a look...
His gaze suddenly caught sight of a strange person walking towards him.
That guy had a gentle face and regular features, but nothing particularly memorable.
They are the kind of people that even if a normal person has seen them a few times, they would not recognize them in a crowd.
What was unsettling was that he always had a smile on his face.
It was a rather deliberate smile, with the upward curve of the corners of the mouth and the proportion of the teeth showing remaining unchanged no matter how much the person moved.
His eyes were also quite empty.
It wasn't the kind of emptiness that comes from indifference or weariness, but rather a hollowness that seemed to have no soul at all; looking into it was like looking into the eyes of a rag doll.
The man stopped in front of Wu Wang's workstation; his name tag had a string of symbols printed on it.
【HR-2714】
Wu Wang raised an eyebrow slightly.
HR? This guy must be the "smiling one" that the veteran employees were talking about, the so-called outstanding employee who came out of the talent incubation center on the 49th floor.
“Hello employee #00000, congratulations on completing your onboarding and first task. Your excellent performance has been closely watched by the factory.”
"To help you better integrate into our team's work culture, we sincerely invite you to attend a new employee experience sharing session."
His voice was quite gentle, and his words were very polite.
Every word seemed to have been copied from a manual called "How to Make Employees Feel Respected".
Wu Wang looked at the other person with a very strange expression.
He chuckled and said, "You want me to go to an experience-sharing session? My experience is—all wish-fulfillment products are scams. Are you sure you want me to share that?"
The other person's smile remained unchanged.
He said gently, "The factory encourages employees to share constructive opinions in appropriate settings. Would you like to participate in this sharing session?"
"Are you a real person?" Wu Wang suddenly asked a completely unrelated question.
The person smiling tilted their head slightly, a very natural movement.
The very nature of it made Wu Wang certain of one thing—that he was designed to be this way.
The angle of the head tilt is about fifteen degrees, and the momentary blankness in the eyes can evoke a sense of confusion in most people.
This isn't instinct, it's a pre-set condition!
"I am a member of the Human Resources Department of Desire Factory, dedicated to providing the most professional service to every employee."
Wu Wang pressed on, asking, "You still haven't answered my question: Are you a human, or were you once a human?"
The person smiling paused for two seconds.
He continued with the same tilted head in thought, then said, "Every HR person at Desire Factory undergoes rigorous training to ensure consistently high-quality service for employees. My personal identity is not within the scope of this experience-sharing session."
Wu Wang did not ask any further questions about this.
He knew there was no point in asking any further questions.
He simply waved his hand and said, "Okay, I'll go."
After receiving an affirmative answer, the smiling person bowed slightly and said, "Okay, you will receive an invitation email shortly. Please attend on time."
After saying that, he turned and left the way he came.
Looking at the guy's back, whose every step was almost the same distance, Wu Wang had a different idea in his mind.
As that unfortunate old employee once said, only outstanding employees will go to the 49th floor for training to become a "smiling person".
First, since he was a former employee, it proves that his colleagues must have seen his face before.
The smiling person is definitely not a simple commodity like Zhou Ping's wife, but rather someone who has undergone genuine employee training or transformation.
That's why he asked the other person earlier if they had ever been human.
Second, what constitutes excellence in the factory of desire?
Naturally, being able to provide more points of desire for the factory and bring more desires and benefits is what makes a factory excellent!
It is clear that the smiling person's job is more service-oriented, and their desire for release is significantly lower than that of a normal employee or a normal human being.
Would a factory really allow an employee who can provide a lot of desires and wish points to be transformed into a smiling person who can hardly bring any benefits?
Isn't this putting the cart before the horse?
Unless the Smiler is changed to its current form, there are other ways to make it provide more wish points.
Otherwise, Wu Wang would judge according to the factory's logic.
The ones who are truly suitable to be transformed into smileers to serve other employees are low-level employees like Zhou Ping, who have already developed various problems and are unable to generate wish points normally.
"Therefore, the talent incubation center is not a path to promotion for outstanding employees." Wu Wang narrowed his eyes and said, "It is a graveyard for those employees who have been squeezed dry of their value and are left with only their bodies and almost empty souls that can be recycled."
Simply put, it's a waste recycling center.
If that's the case, then is the place where memories need to be extracted, like Zhou Ping's wife's, also located there?
Because only in such places can a large number of useless employee bodies be modified and turned into products.
In other words, if he wanted to find a place to store Zhou Ping's wife's memories, he might try his luck at the talent incubation center.
Ding Dong!
At this moment, the bracelet vibrated slightly.
The white projection popped up and said, "Sir, we have received a message informing you to attend an experience-sharing session on the 20th floor in half an hour."
Wu Wang nodded, then picked up Xiao Qiu, who was lazily lying on his head, and tossed him next to Zhou Ping's wife.
"Let's carry her and put her inside first. If we leave her at her workstation, someone might take her away."
"Meow……"
Boss, I'm a cat, not a horse or a donkey.
[You will be sued by the Passenger Protection Association for doing this.]
In response, Wu Wang said seriously, "You mean horses and donkeys must be used to carry things? Cats must enjoy special privileges? You're being speciesist! Think carefully about whether either of us will be sued by the animal rights association."
"Meow……"
[Wrong, meow. It's one thing for the boss to practice male and female boxing, but why is he also practicing animal boxing...?]
Xiao Qiu reluctantly crawled under the body, lifted it up, and followed Wu Wang little by little toward the elevator.
This was a burden his small body shouldn't have had to bear.
Unfortunately, who can blame him for having such a shameless boss... (End of Chapter)