lerbook Chapter 712 The Great Purge
Chapter 712 The Great Purge
A new day has begun.
But for the employees in the Desire Factory, every day is actually no different.
They endlessly repeat the cycle of work, eating, and sleeping, without even a moment to relax. If it weren't for the fact that prolonged sleep deprivation would take a toll on their health and affect their work efficiency, many people would probably choose not to sleep.
As usual, the employees got up and started working after only a short nap, and were busy until lunchtime when they went to the cafeteria.
Before they could even begin their afternoon work, they received an unprecedented notification.
It's not just a broadcast, nor is it just a pop-up ad on the wristband.
Instead, all the screens in the factory simultaneously went out for three seconds—workstation computers, room TVs, floor guidance screens, and even the advertising screens in the elevators that were constantly playing promotional videos.
They displayed a shared notification after the lights went out—
To better improve work efficiency and promote factory development, our factory will launch an optimization plan involving all employees in one hour.
If some employees' wristband status is adjusted to "inefficient asset" during the optimization period, please do not panic. You will be sent to the talent incubation center for retraining. The factory is committed to building a positive corporate culture where every employee has a way to realize their self-worth.
Please prepare yourselves mentally.
There was no signature or further explanation.
There were no signs or notices such as "If you have any questions, please ask the nearest smiling person."
To those who knew the true situation of the talent incubation center, the black background and white lettering looked like a death notice nailed to their retina.
The employees on the fourth floor, who were heavily in debt and struggling to make monthly payments, began to feel short of breath.
A female employee covered her mouth with one hand to try to suppress her sobs, while continuing to work on her computer with the other, not daring to stop.
The so-called optimization plan did not release a specific list, which means that anyone could be selected, especially someone like me who already has a difficult job.
“I’m not inefficient… I won’t become inefficient… I even bought an emotional stability package yesterday!” she murmured, her voice trembling slightly.
Her emotions didn't seem as stable as she thought.
This scene was playing out on every floor, and it was more pronounced on the lower floors. On the fourth floor, more than half of the people were so nervous that they were frantically speeding up their work, hoping to finish even one more task before the optimization plan began!
Perhaps you'll be the one who completes this task better than others, and instead of yourself, you'll be the one rated as an inefficient asset?
The situation was slightly better in the office areas above the 20th floor. Apart from a very few employees who were not in good condition recently, almost no one took the notice seriously.
After all, in their view, their contribution to the factory and their work ability were at least higher than 90% of the people.
No matter how much you optimize them, you can't possibly classify them as inefficient assets, right?
Those who can work on this floor are all exceptional individuals, worlds apart from the useless bunch below!
While others struggled to avoid being laid off from the factory, they were all busy becoming managers.
Who knows, the next optimization plan might be devised by one of these people themselves, and sooner or later they will have the power of life and death over those lower-level employees!
What these so-called elites, mired in their predicament, can never imagine, or are unwilling to imagine, is that—
Within this factory of desires, the debts you incur will never be repaid, the wish points you accumulate will always fall short by a hair, and the promotion you await will always be next month...
On a floor somewhere in the middle, a former doctor stood at the entrance to the break room, holding a freshly poured cup of hot coffee, his fingers constantly rubbing the inside of the cup.
He had just finished a sales pitch for a wish loan, which, unsurprisingly, failed.
Since their previous breach of trust, no one has wanted to borrow money from these salespeople anymore.
His bracelet doesn't warn of inefficient assets, at least not yet.
After the hawksbill turtles and the others chose to accept the spread of the so-called waste virus, he fled from those mentally unstable individuals as if his life depended on it.
Aside from being shocked by the massive purge, what shocked him most was that they were actually willing to become inefficient assets!
These people are fucking insane!
I would never stoop to that level! I didn't come to the factory to admit I'm useless!
His expression turned somewhat ferocious, and he gripped the coffee cup even tighter, as if he wanted to crush it.
He was so unaware that a few drops of coffee spilled onto the back of his hand, burning his skin.
Are you alright?
A sales colleague who had also been struggling to sell loans on this floor walked over. They were now in the same boat, and a strange friendship developed between them.
The departing doctor shook his head.
He then put down the coffee he had just received but hadn't drunk, turned around and left, not intending to return to his workstation, but instead heading towards the restroom.
He needs to be alone for a while.
However, as soon as I stepped into the restroom sink, I saw a smiling person standing next to me, watching everyone's every move.
Suddenly, a nameless anger surged within him, but fearing that the smiling man would notice, the departing doctor quickly turned on the tap and splashed water on his face with his hands.
"I just... want to live..."
"I did nothing wrong..."
He stared at his disheveled reflection in the mirror and muttered to himself, as if trying to convince himself.
The others, including Tie Jian and Lao Fan, also regained their freedom after interacting with the players.
At this moment, Lao Fan was sitting at his workstation, and the computer screen only showed the word "Pending Processing," with no work tasks at all.
After all, they have been clearly marked as inefficient assets, so assigning them tasks or not makes no difference. It's better not to allow them to perform unnecessary operations.
This was one of the few times in his long career that he was able to calmly observe other employees.
"So everyone is this ugly," Old Fan couldn't help but sigh.
Of course, he wasn't referring to the appearance of other people, but rather to the pathetic state of things that were still barely surviving, the way they were struggling to avoid being classified as inefficient assets—everything looked so familiar.
Just like I used to be.
"Old Fan." The voice of Sun Wei, a widowed woman, came from behind, followed by greetings from Wen Xiaolou and others.
These employees, who were among the first to be infected by the waste virus and turned into inefficient assets, had no work tasks at hand.
This is the first time I've felt so relaxed, and the first time I've felt so at ease and comfortable.
In the past, when their work was stopped, it would have been a terrifying experience, like the sky falling down, just like how Wen Xiaolou had his computer shut down by Wu Wang several times.
Where else can we find the leisure to gather and chat like we do now?
"Are you scared?" Sun Wei asked.
Her tone was somewhat hesitant.
It wasn't just like asking Lao Fan; it was more like questioning herself.
However, Lao Fan simply took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and answered while puffing out smoke, "I don't know."
“I have nothing left to lose. I don’t know if I should be afraid. If I really die here, then my son’s leg will be beyond saving… No, maybe it was already beyond saving. I’m just chasing a hope that doesn’t exist.”
"But I know that if I can get out of here alive, I can spend more time with him, take care of his condition, and raise him to be a man who can stand tall even when he is in a wheelchair."
Hearing Lao Fan's words, the employees who had been laughing and chatting behind him fell silent. Wen Xiaolou looked at the elevator entrance with a melancholy expression and said, "Will all of this we've done really work? Can we really change all of this?"
The official notice came down, which was ostensibly an optimization plan but was actually a major purge.
Over the next hour, everyone's anxiety grew.
What if it fails?
The consequences would be unimaginably tragic.
Strangely enough, that strange guy with the cat on his head did a lot of things for everyone even though they had only known him for a few days and didn't even know his name at first.
What is it about him that makes everyone so obedient to his arrangements?
When facing death, a person's mind is always active. They can instantly recall all the things they have experienced in their life and completely let go of many things they were reluctant to part with.
So at this moment, everyone is filled with countless thoughts.
Before Lao Fan could say anything more, Tie Jian stepped forward and said firmly, "Whether we can change everything is hard to say, but at least we have changed ourselves."
"Since we've chosen to believe him, we can only go all the way down this dark path. If we want to turn back, we should talk to the factory and see if they'll agree or make us disappear forever."
He had already figured it out.
The charisma emanating from that guy named Wu Wang was never about conquering them with some kind of leadership ability or by displaying unparalleled skills.
Rather, he never truly ordered them to do anything; it was their own heartfelt desire to change that led them, and the other party simply gave them the opportunity.
Wu Wang would not make decisions for anyone.
He has always just been doing his own thing.
They chose to follow.
Because they saw in the other person a hope they had never known before, a hope called—freedom.
The employees gathered around chairs, overwhelmed with emotion.
Time passed by, second by second.
Until the rhythmic footsteps came from the elevator and walked to the center of the office area.
All the employees on the fourth floor stopped what they were doing and looked at the newcomer with a variety of complicated expressions.
They were a group of smiling people.
It's time to give the notification!
The one in the lead was a face that Wu would recognize if he were here; it was the smiling HR-0311 man who had interrogated him upstairs.
The other person's smile was the same as everyone else's, but it also had something slightly more to it.
It's not emotion, it's calculation.
He was calculating the time for each step, the location of each employee, and the route to retrieve them.
"Employees who have been notified as inefficient assets, please stand up." His voice wasn't loud, but it could be heard throughout the entire floor.
But no one responded to him.
“Inefficient asset employees, please stand up.” He repeated, “Cooperating with the factory’s retraining process is the duty of every employee. Those who refuse to cooperate will be deemed to have violated Article 89, Paragraph 3 of the employment contract.”
Upon hearing the contract figure, some people below began to casually pick up their wristbands and flip through previous contracts.
When employees refuse legal instructions from the factory, the factory has the right to take coercive measures.
There is no footnote below the words "coercive measures".
This means that the factory has the final say on all interpretations.
slam-la-
Old Fan stood up.
He slid the chair back half a foot, making a slight scraping sound, straightened up, and looked straight ahead, neither at the smiling man nor at his companion.
He just stood there, just like when Wu Wang had told him to stand up for five seconds.
The next second, Tie Jian also stood up.
As the two men acted, one employee after another stood up, far exceeding the number of people who had touched the grey orange.
The data models being built by the factory are classifying an increasing number of people in the fourth layer as inefficient assets.
They looked at the warnings on their wristbands; some had their heads down, some were trembling, and some had closed their eyes, resigned to their fate.
Looking at the inefficient employees standing like dominoes, HR-0311's smile remained unchanged. She simply turned her head slightly to disperse the smiling people behind her and guided those who had stood up to the elevator.
Even though the employees have walked this road countless times.
"Please follow us, keep quiet, and do not make noise or crowd. Thank you for your cooperation."
His voice was as gentle as an airport ground staff member guiding passengers to board.
This time, however, it was just that he was leading his employees to the end of their lives.
Tie Jian walked with a steady gait, his back straight, and his hands hanging naturally at his sides, as if he were going to carry out a mission rather than being escorted.
His gaze swept over every workstation he passed. Some of the employees who were still working were peeking, while others had already turned their faces away.
No one speaks.
No one stood up to say anything about it being unfair or why they were doing it that way.
Because everyone knows that standing up is useless; those who smile won't listen, the factory won't change, and the contract won't change.
Immediately afterwards, all the elevators opened at the same time, and a smiling person was already standing in each one, responsible for pressing the floor button.
"Please enter in an orderly manner."
Lao Fan stepped into the middle elevator, Tie Jian followed behind him, and Wen Xiaolou was assigned to the left...
Before entering the elevator, Wen Xiaolou glanced back at the fourth floor, the place where he had stayed for several months, the place he had wanted to escape from countless times but didn't know where he could escape to.
His workstation was in a corner barely visible from the elevator entrance, with a cup of coffee on the table that he hadn't finished.
The cup is printed with—
Every step is an effort towards a dream.
The elevator doors then closed.
Fourth floor, fifth floor, sixth floor...
Wen Xiaolou slowly closed her eyes as she watched the floors change.
He didn't know what the 49th floor looked like, but he knew that once he went in, he would never come back.
Oh, Wu Wang, we all trusted you so much, and now we are all standing at the gates of hell. When will you appear?
The freedom we crave...
And when will it appear...? (End of Chapter)