Wan Jie Hospice Care Company

Chapter 1

The office was well-lit. Xiang Yu and the other person sat facing each other, separated by a desk. Sunlight streamed in from one side of the desk, forcing Xiang Yu to squint at the other person who was backlit.

"Welcome to 'All-World Hospice Care Company'."

The man speaking was dressed in a well-tailored dark suit and wore a silver half-face mask that covered his forehead and nose. The lower half of his face was visible, and he wore a polite yet distant smile, like Daniel Wu's character Ah Zu in "New Police Story".

Xiang Yu rubbed his slightly sore temples and went straight to the point:

"Are you a company that specializes in end-of-life care?"

"Yes."

"To make for others?"

"Make it for the world."

"..."

Xiang Yu raised an eyebrow after hearing the other person's words. Why did this person speak so strangely?

"Although I don't know what philosophical metaphors are hidden in your words," Xiang Yu pulled out an A4 sheet of paper from his backpack, which was densely printed with small print, "the situation is this: I don't have much time left to live. The doctor said at most three months. So I'm thinking of getting myself a hospice package, similar to those customized death travel plans for the wealthy."

He pushed the paper to the center of the table.

"These are my dying wishes. I spent several days writing them down. You can pick the ones you can do and help me make arrangements... Money is not a problem. I've saved up quite a bit over the years, and I'll soon be too old to spend them anyway."

Sunlight streamed in obliquely from the floor-to-ceiling window behind him, cutting a line of light and shadow across the table. The man in the suit simply smiled, his slender fingers taking the paper but not even glancing at it before casually placing it on the coffee table beside him.

"How's it going? What percentage have you completed?" Xiang Yu asked.

"hundred percent."

Xiang Yu, resting his chin on his hand, clicked his tongue and said, "Hey, why don't you take a look? What if there's something you guys can't do? Like getting my high school crush to kiss me?"

"There's nothing we can't do. Everything you've suggested is just... a piece of cake for us."

The masked man slowly stood up, and sunlight streamed in from the window behind him, making him appear as a shadow born from the sunlight.

For a moment, Xiang Yu even had the illusion that this man was a devil from a fairy tale who could grant wishes.

However, Xiang Yu's tone remained calm: "That's a pity, you can't do that. I didn't actually have a 'white moonlight' in high school, unless you can conjure one up for me."

"It's not difficult. We just need to go back in time and modify the past," the masked man said slowly.

"There's a goal in there, like going on a trip to the moon... Can they really do something like that?" Xiang Yu held his teacup, wondering whether he should splash the tea on the other person's face.

After all, if the other party is so confident, it's 100% nonsense; they might just be making fun of me.

"Moon landing?" the masked man repeated the word. "That's too easy. Mars, Jupiter, Saturn's rings, the Sun's corona... even the event horizon of the black hole at the galactic center—if you want, we can let you see them."

"Whoosh—"

Xiang Yu spilled the tea on the masked man.

"Alright, are you done joking?" Xiang Yu stood up, took back her wish list, and said, "Fine, don't accept it then. Making fun of someone who's about to die... you have no professional ethics whatsoever."

The man in the suit raised his hand and wiped the dampness from his collar with his fingertips, his voice still eerily calm: "Who said you were about to die?"

Xiang Yu turned around and said, "The doctor, a doctor from a top-tier hospital, said I only have three months to live."

"No, no, no, in my opinion, your lifespan is still very, very long... even endless, beyond the reach of the universe's heat death!!" The masked man's voice gradually rose in pitch, "As long as you're willing to join us."

Xiang Yu was taken aback. He clearly saw a virtual panel appear before him, with pale blue text slowly emerging in the air:

Hello, Mr. Xiangyu.

[Would you like to join the Universal Hospice Care Company?]

If you choose to become one of our employees, you can escape this world and travel freely throughout all realms.

Lifespan? Strength? Authority? Status? It has it all.

All you need to do is a small job—provide end-of-life care for some dying worlds.

After seeing this panel, Xiang Yu began to organize his thoughts, then turned to the masked man and asked:

"Wait a minute, your 'Multiverse Hospice Care Company,' isn't 'Multiverse' a prefix in the company name? Like 'Wanda' or 'Vanke'?"

"No, what 'Myriad Realms' means is naturally..."

He paused, his voice very low:

"It means countless worlds."

In that instant, Xiang Yu suddenly felt the temperature in the room drop a few degrees.

The masked man was still smiling, but his voice was becoming increasingly eerie to Xiang Yu.

"If I join you, can I survive?" Xiang Yu asked.

"That's right."

"..."

After a brief moment of thought, Xiang Yu raised her eyelids to look at the other person, a bright smile spreading across her face: "Great, there's actually such an opportunity."

"So you choose..."

"I refuse."

The masked man was clearly taken aback for a moment, then watched Xiang Yu pack his things before turning around and leaving the room.

"I hate the feeling of being controlled."

"Even if you really have some magical ability to change fate, even if you can really make me immortal..." Xiang Yu opened the door without turning around, "I don't want to hand my life over to someone else. Three months is fine, at least these three months are my own."

Xiang Yu left only these words and then departed.

The door closed gently behind me.

The corridor was quiet, with only the whirring of the central air conditioning.

In that room, the masked man stood with his outstretched hand for a long time, so long that the angle of the sunlight changed, and the shadow behind him slid off the wall and climbed back to his feet.

Then he laughed and muttered to himself in the empty room:

"Yes...you're right, you're living a very open-minded life."

"But can you really refuse?"

"My first job has begun."

……

He walked quickly, perhaps fleeing the eerie suggestion, his footsteps echoing in the empty lobby, the soles of his shoes striking the marble floor with a crisp sound.

The moment you push open the revolving door, a rush of fresh air hits you.

It's a bit cold.

The December wind is always like this, carrying a knife-like chill that stings your face.

Xiang Yu wrapped his coat tighter around himself and was about to hail a taxi when suddenly, an inexplicable sense of unease crept up his spine.

He stopped in his tracks.

Xiang Yu slowly turned around and glanced back at the building with the sign that read "Wanjie End-of-Life Care Company".

Then, his pupils suddenly contracted.

Everything around me... is wrong.

The weather was gloomy, and the hazy sunlight shone on the surrounding buildings, giving everything an old and worn feel.

The walls are covered with gray-white tiles with bluish spots.

The windows are made of coated, dark blue glass that is opaque and are densely packed on the building.

The whole world seems to be covered by an old filter.

Where is this...?

Several boxy Santanas slowly drove by, their bodies painted in typical 80s and 90s colors, mostly beige and light green, like ghosts slowly emerging from the depths of time.

The scene was both strange and familiar to him; it seemed as if he had seen it a long, long time ago.

Xiang Yu's thoughts seemed to drift back to his childhood, when he pestered his mother, pointing to the Xiali cars on the street, saying that he must buy one someday...

Back then, my grandfather's TV was a big, square-shaped machine with static always jumping around on the screen. To change the channel, you had to walk up to the TV and turn that clicking knob. Sometimes you'd turn it for ages and still not find the right channel, and the picture would just keep flickering amidst the buzzing noise.

The air smelled of boilers, and thick smoke from the central heating system billowed from the chimneys...

No.

Xiang Yu suddenly shuddered.

wrong.

No, this place feels even earlier than I remember. It's probably from a time before I even have any memories!

Congratulations on joining Universal Hospice Care Company.

Your employee ID: 999

[Current coordinates: World Cluster 8 - World Group 93 - World System 32 - Earth-like World 99]

World Ranking: D

[Calamity Level: D+]

[Mission Summary: This is a world where technology and culture are similar to Earth in 1999. In this world, China is in a preparatory stage for rapid development. The benefits of reform and opening up are becoming apparent, the economic growth curve is trending upwards, and the entire country is permeated with a vibrant and upward-looking atmosphere. People are eagerly preparing to welcome the new millennium, a moment symbolizing a new century and new hope.]

But almost no one in this world knows that calamity is about to strike, and the eerie and terrifying are taking root and growing, devouring the very foundations of this world.

[Calamity Name: ???]

Current date: June 12, 1999

【灾厄抵达时间：1999年12月31日 23:59:59】

When the catastrophe strikes, humanity will never reach the new millennium; instead, it will arrive on December 32, 1999.

Humanity will be trapped in time.

We can never reach tomorrow.

[This can never be changed.]

Every day I wake up, it's December 32, 1999.

Every time I fall asleep, I forget what happened on the previous December 32nd.

[This cycle will continue forever.]

Humanity in this world will slowly lose hope, lose reason, and lose everything that makes us "human" in an endless cycle.

Ultimately, it becomes nourishment for something.