Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 360 Do not click on the semi-transparent folder

I went to bed very early that day.

After waking up on the other side, Winter automatically changed into the clothes that had been specially chosen for her the day before. Before going out, Ethan felt it was necessary to teach Winter some skills for living in the real world. From Winter's views and reactions to "dreams," it was not difficult to judge that her memory had also been damaged to some extent, to the point that she had completely forgotten that she had once been a member of the modern world.

However, this is understandable. According to Scarlet's memories, Winter fell into a coma due to an accident when she was very young, and after that, she was immersed in her subconscious.

“Starting today, I will go to work every day. I will leave at 7 a.m. and if all goes well, I will be home around 6:30 p.m.”

Ethan picked up the cuckoo alarm clock from the bedroom table and tucked it into the curious black cat's arms. The black cat lazily lay on the bed, raised its left paw, and gently patted the cuckoo's head a few times. When the alarm clock made a "cuckoo" sound, its ears suddenly perked up, and its beautiful heterochromatic eyes widened in surprise.

A harmonious and peaceful scene—this was the life Ethan had always dreamed of.

Of course, the appearance of Winter was already an extra fantasy. At that time, he was overwhelmed by his busy work and the frequent occurrence of bad women online made him hesitant to pursue a sweet romance. Therefore, in his initial ideal life, the best state of life was to keep a small pet at home, have some savings, and be able to support himself every day.

"When I'm not home, you'll be in charge of looking after Xiao An. Don't let her go out and bite people."

Ethan gave him a concerned reminder.

He was genuinely worried about the personal safety of the cat thieves in the neighborhood.

Xiao An has soft, shiny black fur, and with her heterochromatic eyes, she is an extremely rare breed in the cat world. If a cat thief sees her, he might very well try to take advantage of her.

That would mean one or more more murders in the city.

"I don't bite."

"I love watching them tear each other apart," the black cat said, its eyes gleaming with a bloodthirsty light.

Ethan sighed.

Xiao An's personality flaws are too great. Not only does she have yandere tendencies, but she is also a potential criminal. If she is not restrained, she will probably become the leader of the city's underground criminal gang in no time.

"What if it doesn't go smoothly?"

Winter nodded and then asked.

Working from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. is considered a moderately demanding job in today's empire.

"It's possible to work overtime until the early hours of the morning during special periods."

Ethan's highest work record was staying at the company until 2 a.m., getting home at 3 a.m., and feeling like he had just closed his eyes when it was time to go back to work.

Why do we work?

Xiao An didn't understand.

As early as last night, when Ethan claimed to be poor, she put her clever little brain to work, saying, "I heard that you have a place called 'bank' here, where there is a lot of money. If we go there and take some home, it might not even take an hour."

She has at least a hundred ways to avoid being discovered by anyone, and another hundred ways to eliminate all pursuers even if she is discovered.

“This has nothing to do with money.” Ethan never imagined he would say something like that. “It’s about intelligence gathering.”

He has an interview today, and if he passes, he will go to Pioneer Technology Report.

This time, he wanted to see what was going on with this mysterious company and its boss, and why they were suddenly bringing up the "end of the world."

"Next is the issue of diet."

Ethan turned on his computer and patiently demonstrated the user guide for the food delivery page to Winter. "Choose what you like to eat, then click this button, and someone will deliver the food to your door in no time."

"how about you?"

Winter nodded blankly, "Want me to order some?"

"No need, there's a cafeteria in the company."

"So, should I pick you up after get off work?"

"……No."

Ethan admitted that for a moment he was a little tempted. Imagine, after a busy day, the first thing you see when you walk out of the company building is your gentle girlfriend waiting at the door. All the fatigue accumulated throughout the day would probably disappear instantly. But then he thought about it. It seemed that Winter had reserved all her gentleness for him. When dealing with other people, she was usually indifferent and even occasionally showed violent tendencies.

Her striking features, with white hair and red eyes, would undoubtedly attract many people trying to strike up a conversation with her if she walked down the street.

Ethan didn't want Winter to get into those troublesome situations.

"If you're bored at home, there are games in this folder. By the way, look at this kind of folder, it looks semi-transparent, right?"

"Ah."

"This is an important system file. If you find this type of file on your hard drive, do not click on it. It will bring unimaginable disaster."

Ethan issued the warning in a serious tone.

Having spent so much time with Xiao An, he had learned to speak as he thought. "Disaster?"

"The worst-case scenario could be that the computer explodes."

Ethan said, "This computer was bought with my first paycheck after I started working, and it has great sentimental value. I would be very sad if it exploded."

"Okay, I won't order."

Winter obediently moved the mouse elsewhere.

Ethan then led Winter to the living room, saying, "This little white control panel corresponds to the set-top box; there are many movies on it."

"A movie? Like 'Heisenberg and the Book of Sorcerers'?"

"The filming techniques are more sophisticated than those used in JK Forest."

Ethan demonstrated how to operate the set-top box to Winter. He selected the "Family Heroes" series. Winter finished watching the series and was almost home from get off work. "There are snacks here, tomato-flavored potato chips."

He checked the production date and only after confirming that it hadn't expired did he feel relieved enough to hand it over to Winter.

Winter was quickly drawn to the images on the TV screen. She let the black cat lie on her lap and watched intently, chewing on tomato-flavored potato chips and occasionally feeding the cat one.

So far, everything seems to be in good order.

The ideal life seemed to have arrived, but Ethan knew very well that under the calm surface, undercurrents were surging. Before leaving, he took one last deep look at the black cat who was attracted by the movie. Her appearance was obviously that of a small and cute black cat, but it gave Ethan the complicated feelings of a husky owner.

He couldn't be sure that his living room would still be the same when he returned.

He had great respect for the husky's owners.

Who knows, when he gets home, there might be two ghouls lying on the floor in his living room, with red eyes and drooling.

Almost the instant the door closed, a message from Zhuang Xiao, the HR manager of Pioneer Technology, was sent to his phone. Although Ethan was very interested in the "world destruction" theory proposed by the company boss and immediately accepted the invitation, the onboarding procedures and labor contract process still had to be followed normally. A big boss like him naturally couldn't handle these trivial matters personally.

However, he should have already informed the HR department, so this interview is probably just a formality.

On the other side, Zhuang Xiao felt uneasy.

It's clear that Ethan is a polite person; he replies to messages quickly, and she'll see him in the office soon.

But before that, she received a warning from the shelter's higher-ups.

Somehow, one of Chen Qi's subordinates became the boss of Pioneer Technology. She guessed that the entire Pioneer Technology was controlled by them, and as the human resources manager and a staff member of Chen Qi's department, she naturally had to follow all the instructions given to her by the organization.

The department allowed her to be here only because the sudden change of personnel manager might arouse Ethan's suspicion.

She was warned that during her contact with Ethan, she was not allowed to reveal anything about the shelter, nor could she mention her identity as "Scarlet" or anything that happened in the "other world." She was now to play the role of an ordinary human resources manager, meeting Ethan for the first time and knowing nothing about the research being conducted by Pioneer Technology.

Chen Qi originally requested that she implant a new chip before entering the "dream" to ensure everything went smoothly, but Merlin somehow contacted the higher-ups and rejected the order. Chen Qi was furious about this and didn't give them a good look all day.

In addition, another important piece of information lingered in Zhuang Xiao's mind.

In Xicheng District, a clothing store, the store manager is a man in his fifties.

The distinguishing features are that he is thin and has a mole on the back of his neck.

Zhuang Xiao guessed Merlin's intention, which was also what she was eager to confirm—was the city in this "dream" the world they lived in before their destruction?
If the same clothing store appears in the western part of the city, and there is the thin old man that Merlin mentioned, it would confirm their suspicions.

Thus, a new problem emerged that they had to face.

Why is Ethan able to recreate their world before its destruction?
Such meticulous composition cannot be achieved simply by implanting ideas. Furthermore, his self-awareness and extremely realistic experiences also come from this.

Could it have been made by Winter?
but……

Merlin, however, was almost convinced that Winter had betrayed the Sanctuary.

Time ticked by, until a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

"Boom boom boom——"

"Please come in."

The face that entered the office was familiar, almost unchanged since their meeting at Treehouse, except that he had changed into a formal suit and white shirt. This "dream" seemed to have some kind of cognitive interference, so that he wouldn't be mistaken for a foreigner when he walked down the street.

Zhuang Xiao guessed that perhaps only the people in the shelter could detect something was amiss.

"Welcome, Mr. Ethan."

Zhuang Xiao stood up, revealing a formulaic smile, and extended her right hand to Ethan, "I am Zhuang Xiao, the manager of the human resources department of Pioneer Technology."

(End of this chapter)