The Eldritch Files

’My first mission is over just like that?’

At first glance, the night’s experience felt a bit bizarre, but on second thought, it made sense.

Back during the assessment, the squad leader Little Fatty had said that a mission consisting of a bowl of instant noodles, a pack of cigarettes, and watching an elevator all day was actually the norm.

Although a problem had quickly arisen back then, leading to a bloody ordeal.

But that was part of the assessment specially arranged by the Disaster Management Bureau. On a normal day, tediously guarding an elevator all night was what was truly normal.

’Hoping for something to happen is my own damn fault!’

Sure enough, after he adjusted his expectations, everything seemed to go smoothly. The days passed one by one, and Han Su took on several more similar missions.

One was to patrol a certain street, using a full-length mirror set up on the curb to look for people who didn’t cast a reflection.

Another was to enter a certain building and count the steps between the third and fourth floors over and over. As long as there were thirteen steps, it was normal. If there were fewer or more, he had to report it immediately.

Sometimes, he had to go to customs, show his credentials, and assist the staff in inspecting a group of passengers arriving by sea. The hidden part of the task, which only the Executioners themselves knew, was to check if these people were growing gills under their jaws.

The missions were strange and boring, but thinking about the details could occasionally be terrifying.

If it were just one, that would be fine. But after several in a row, Han Su couldn’t help but wonder if he was being targeted.

After all, hadn’t Zhang Chiguo said that after joining the Disaster Management Bureau, he should be aware of invisible enemies everywhere?

He asked Secretary Cui Qiao about it in private, and she seemed rather speechless.

"The D1 and D2 work groups operate independently. This is to train you Investigators to face the grotesque ahead of time."

"As for the missions, you have no reason to be suspicious. It’s like this for all new recruits. Besides, your current missions are all assigned personally by Miss Ai. There’s absolutely no room for error."

"..."

Han Su was curious. "How can you be so sure? Isn’t this Miss Ai just an intelligent program from the Disaster Management Bureau?"

"A program?"

Hearing this, Secretary Cui Qiao let out a cold laugh and shook her head. "Miss Ai is not a program. The concept of her existence is difficult for you to understand right now, but you can try to think of her as a kind of mysterious machine."

"Anything she’s involved in is handled with the utmost fairness and logic."

"As for now, the only thing you need to do is complete more missions and raise your evaluation with Miss Ai. And don’t complain that the missions are too dull or boring. You should know that among the trainees from your cohort, four have already died."

"..."

"Four?"

Han Su was shocked. "How did they die?"

"They inexplicably lost their heads while recording the phenomenon of flickering streetlights."

Secretary Cui Qiao said flatly, "As for the reason, it’s still under investigation. And because they were with the Disaster Management Bureau, this kind of incident won’t even make the papers."

Her words put Han Su on high alert. He had done the flickering streetlight mission too. ’Was the risk really that high?’

He vaguely felt that he needed to adjust his attitude. At the same time, his interest in this "Miss Ai" was piqued.

’She didn’t call her some intelligent program, but a "mysterious machine"?’

He looked down at the icon on his phone. Compared to the popular commercial apps on the market, the Disaster Management Bureau’s dedicated application looked very simple. He could just faintly make out a snake coiled around a tree.

After tapping it, it looked more like a chat window.

A thought stirred. Accustomed to passively receiving missions, he typed a message into the program: [Hello.]

The reply was almost instantaneous: [Respected Executor Mr. Butcher, what can I do for you?]

Han Su thought for a moment and replied: [What can you do for me?]

Miss Ai: [I can issue commissions suitable for your current work Level and validate mission completion. I can also provide rapid navigation to designated mission locations, as well as offer information searches and technical support within your authorized access.]

[If you are feeling empty, bored, or experiencing abnormal emotional lows, I can also provide emotional comfort and psychological analysis.]

’?’

Han Su found this a bit strange. ’Isn’t this just a normal intelligent program?’

He didn’t overthink it, and he certainly wasn’t going to chat with this strange machine that seemed simple on the surface but held some secrets. He just focused on quickly adapting to the work rhythm of the Disaster Management Bureau.

Although the few missions he had carried out were all dull and tedious, the good thing was that a commission was deposited into his account after each completion.

The commissions were even quite generous—a full 10,000 yuan each time.

Han Su didn’t pay too much attention to this, not even bothering to click on the commission calculation details.

Only at Cui Qiao’s reminder did he start paying attention to his evaluation in the Disaster Management Bureau’s program. He had now gone from a C+ at the end of the assessment to a B-.

He didn’t know the specific criteria, but he assumed that in addition to the corresponding commission, his evaluation improved with each completed mission.

Once this B- became an A+, he would be eligible for a promotion.

He didn’t need to think about anything else for the time being. He just braced himself to deal with these missions. When he didn’t have a mission, he still went to school as usual. It felt as though his life hadn’t changed much at all.

The only thing he couldn’t get used to was the disappearance of Xu Ji, who had always been pestering him.

Rumor had it that he was under house arrest by his family after causing a fatal accident while street racing.

This struck Han Su as odd. It was understandable that Xu Ji was under house arrest, but given the Xu Family’s way of doing things, why hadn’t anyone come looking for him by now?

Of course, after some thought, he temporarily dismissed the idea of buying a few pounds of apples and visiting Xu Ji at the Xu Family Mansion.

He was already starting to get anxious about something else.

It had been a full ten days since he was last kidnapped at the Disaster Management Bureau for listening to the whispered Spell.

Han Su had no idea when the next kidnapping would occur.

According to the previous interval, he should be kidnapped again in about fourteen days. But since there had been an unscheduled kidnapping in between, did the original interval still count?

He didn’t know the answer, but an intangible sense of urgency was already hanging over his head.

These repetitive missions finally saw a change when Han Su was carrying out his fourth one. The content was:

[E4 Level Commission: Proceed to the Earth Cinema at No. 31 Daochun Street, East City District. Between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m., select an empty screening and watch the entire film alone. If you encounter any clear anomaly, immediately send an alert through this program.]

[...]

Han Su, already used to these nonsensical missions, arrived at the cinema as usual.

The cinema was small, so small that it made one wonder how it could survive in such a huge city. But Han Su had a mission to complete, so he picked a movie that no one had bought tickets for—one they were even considering canceling—and went inside.

The movie was boring. Han Su didn’t know what the "clear anomaly" mentioned in the mission referred to, so he could only wait patiently for the film to end.

Initially, Han Su would have found similar missions unreasonable. If this cinema truly had something grotesque about it, wouldn’t it be better to just seal it off?

At the very least, they should evacuate the audiences in the other theaters, right?

But the fact was, many of the missions the Disaster Management Bureau assigned them were like this: strange, low-key, and unknown to the public.

The movie was more than halfway through. Just as he thought this would be another incredibly boring mission, Han Su was ready to write the two words "No anomalies" in his black notebook.

But then he froze. A chilling sensation crept up his spine.

He quietly took the Mysterious Sword in his hand and inconspicuously looked up. The movie on the screen seemed to have turned into multiple shadows.

It was as if a blurry shadow behind the screen was walking along with the characters in the film.

Han Su narrowed his eyes slightly. He first calmly pressed an alert button in the phone application, then crept forward, intending to observe a bit more.

But the slight movement of his body seemed to have startled something.

Suddenly, a rustling sound filled the air, like a large flock of invisible sparrows fluttering past overhead.

The strange sound made his scalp tingle instinctively.

He immediately tightened his grip on his electric baton, only to find that everything around him had returned to normal.

His phone chimed with a DING. A message came back: [Mission feedback recorded. The Executioner is to exit the theater immediately. The remainder of the mission will be handled by a designated Investigator.]

Han Su didn’t understand why, but he followed the instructions, took his briefcase, and left. As he exited the cinema, he could see police cars approaching in the distance.

By the time he was three hundred meters away from the cinema, the area behind him had been cordoned off in layers.

Rows upon rows of police cars, armed personnel, firefighters, and even people in black trench coats carrying briefcases who flashed past, had surrounded the cinema, making it impenetrable. It looked like a war being waged under the cover of night.

’So, we Executioners are just being used as anomaly detectors?’

Han Su grumbled to himself, finally understanding. It seemed not every mission was this boring; it was just that only someone at his current level was assigned the boring work.

He accepted this role quite easily. He took a taxi back to his apartment, but on the side of the road, he heard a gentle voice call out:

"Mr. Han, have you been busy lately?"

Han Su turned around in surprise. He saw a high-end black sedan parked by the roadside, and a man in a white shirt with a suit jacket draped over his arm was looking at him with a smile.

He froze for a moment. The Xu Family had finally come for him.

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