Chapter 6: Start with a Can of Zero-Degree Coke
"Working on a business trip on your first day?" Li Yu furrowed his brow.
"That's right, but it's just to meet the client and understand the situation there. Don't worry, you'll still be able to clock out on time at 5 PM."
"So soon, is the business trip location in the neighboring city?"
Xu Mengyuan smiled without responding.
"I just left a message for a friend and set up a code word. If I don't contact him within two days or if I give the wrong code word when I do, he will call the police for me," Li Yu reminded.
"Very sensible," Xu Mengyuan nodded, took a paper cup from the water dispenser nearby, then opened a can of mini Coke in front of her.
After pouring about a third into the cup, she tilted her neck back, drank it all in one gulp, showed Li Yu the empty bottom of the cup, and pushed the remaining more than half of the can towards him.
Li Yu caught the half-can of Coke but didn't drink, "I'm not thirsty, thank you."
"This isn't for quenching your thirst but to help ease the stress of traveling. Although it hasn't been rigorously scientifically proven, according to predecessors' feedback, Coke indeed helps alleviate the misalignment between the vestibular and visual systems when descending."
Xu Mengyuan continued to speak in terms that were difficult for Li Yu to understand.
Seeing that Li Yu had no reaction, Xu Mengyuan didn't insist, stood up from her seat, "Come, I'll take you to see your workstation first."
Li Yu followed Xu Mengyuan through the long corridor.
It must be said, the Third Era's interior decoration style was quite distinctive.
With white as the primary tone, complemented by marble floors and streamlined ceilings, both walls and floors were as reflective as mirrors; the walls even had embedded light strips extending forward, emitting pure light, creating a unique atmosphere that was both technologically and sacredly evocative.
However, Li Yu noticed that the doors on both sides of the corridor were closed, marked only with numbers and nothing else, making it hard for outsiders to guess what departments were inside, and each door had an independent password lock.
Including the time for the written exam, this was Li Yu's second visit to the Third Era, yet apart from the receptionist who had led him into the meeting room and Xu Mengyuan, he had not seen any other employees of the Third Era.
The only sounds echoing in the empty corridor were their footsteps.
Eventually, Xu Mengyuan stopped in front of room number 8 at the end of the corridor. Apparently recalling something, she didn't hurry to open the door but turned to ask Li Yu, "Do you have a watch?"
"No, I usually use my phone to check the time."
"The phone's standby time might not be enough. You need a watch; use mine for now. When you're back from your trip, I'll have the Equipment Department send you a new one for free, as part of your joining benefits."
After speaking, Xu Mengyuan, without waiting for Li Yu's response, took off the Tissot mechanical watch she was wearing on her left hand and personally put it on Li Yu's wrist, the pin just fitting through the last hole on the strap.
Then she unlocked room 8's door with her fingerprint, pushed the door open, and gestured for Li Yu to enter.
Li Yu walked into the room, looked around, and found it to be a small room about thirty square meters, decorated in the same pure white style as the outside, with nothing in the room except for a chair in the center.
Just as Li Yu was about to ask Xu Mengyuan what was going on, a soft click sounded behind him—the noise of the door closing.
—Alice has entered the Rabbit Hole.
After closing the door, Xu Mengyuan sent this message to the work group.
Soon, an ID named "Eat Chicken Tonight" replied, "Received, interference detected, bubbles beginning to converge."
Li Yu's first reaction when he found himself inexplicably locked in Room 8 was to pull out his phone to call for help, but the next moment his attention was captured by the changes happening around him, and his action was momentarily paused.
Li Yu noticed that the previously smooth walls had started to sprout green vines and leaves.
Soon, those vines and leaves became denser and denser.
At first, Li Yu thought it was some kind of 3D imaging technology, like what he had seen in those technology museums, but when grass began to grow from the floor, the feel beneath his feet told him that this was no visual trick.
Soon after, the lower half of the chair in the center of the room also vanished into thin air.
Only the back of the chair remained, oddly floating in the air.
Li Yu's palm could easily pass through the vanished part.
What the hell?!
This bizarre scene shook Li Yu deeply.
He did not hesitate, he quickly entered "110" on his phone, but the moment Li Yu hit the call button, a powerful wave of dizziness swept through his brain.
The LED lights overhead flashed wildly; Li Yu felt as if he had been stuffed into a fully powered spinning washing machine, his head spinning wildly, yet despite this, he still managed to make the call through the discomfort.
The phone screen paused for about half a second, a half second that felt like a century to Li Yu, then a white popup appeared below — Network unreachable/OK.
Beyond that, Li Yu also noticed that the full-strength 5G signal at the top left of his phone had changed to no service.
A signal blocker?
No, that's not right! Li Yu's gaze shifted from the phone screen, only to realize that he had somehow left Room 8 and was now standing in a small courtyard.
The vines and tree shadows he had seen earlier now clearly manifested before him as part of the courtyard, and on a stone bench directly in front of him sat a teenage girl with a blank expression.
The girl looked about sixteen or seventeen years old, still showing signs of youth. She wore a large shirt that reached down to her ankles, covered with a red cloak on her shoulders, embroidered with a gray rabbit on the right shoulder, distinctively dressed like something out of the medieval era.
However, most eye-catching were the fluffy long ears on her head, what were commonly called… rabbit ears.
COSPLAY?
Li Yu's gaze continued downward, moving past the rabbit-eared girl's bun, her pointed nose, and elongated neck, finally resting on her chest, where he paused slightly.
The girl looked slightly annoyed, about to say something, but Li Yu, feeling queasy, spoke first and threw up.
???!
Xu Mengyuan had previously told him that arriving could cause a disruption to the vestibular and visual systems, and she wasn't just making it up, even though Li Yu's dizziness had lessened considerably, his stomach was still in turmoil.
He couldn't hold it in any longer and ended up vomiting into the bushes at his feet.
Li Yu vomited for about half a minute before he started feeling a bit better. Then, he reached into his pocket, hoping to find something to wipe his mouth with.
Li Yu clearly remembered putting a small pack of tissues in his right trouser pocket when he left home in the morning, but now there was nothing there. He felt his left pocket where his wallet should be, but it too was gone.
Just as Li Yu was about to use his bare hand, a handkerchief was handed to him.