I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 30

Time passes by leisurely, as do people.

As Pipi continued promoting in the group, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., over the course of more than three hours, several authors arrived at Mingzhu Garden intermittently.

Some of these people traveled from afar, either taking the train or a flight to reach Shenzhen City, while others lived nearby and rushed over after brushing their teeth and having breakfast in the morning.

In the end, out of the initially over a hundred people in the rights protection group, more than thirty showed up.

It’s said that there were seven or eight people who had no intention of fighting for their rights; they were simply taking advantage of the website’s closure to unwind and enjoy a vacation in Shenzhen City. They said they wouldn’t participate in the rights protection efforts, but if there were any results, someone could notify them in the group.

In the words of Jiang Wei and his friends, they were “a group of timid and cowardly folks who only think about enjoying the fruits of victory.”

However, it must be said that Yae-Do Novel Network was originally such a big website, with not just thousands, but several thousand signed authors. Yet, after the site closed and delayed payments for a month or two, the establishment of a rights protection group led by popular authors only attracted a little over a hundred people, and out of those, only more than thirty joined the offline activities.

“You know, those people, they’re always mumbling about updates and whatnot, but how can they swallow their owed payments?”

At noon, under the blazing sun, Apatea, who specialized in writing urban fiction, complained on the grass, “Even girls in their teens have shown up. Why are these grown men accepting their unpaid fees?”

“Speaking of which, we really don’t have any female authors among us…”

Cockroach Bullies also chimed in, saying, “Except for Nuo’er, there isn’t a single woman.”

“It’s correct that there are no female authors here. This was originally a male-oriented novel website. There were few female readers, and even fewer female authors. Female authors who earn so much that they need to fight for their rights are extremely rare. And others have to worry about encountering weirdos like you.”

Jiang Wei shot this guy a glance and said, “If I had known that ‘Uncle loves loli’ was a little sister like Nuo’er, I would have advised her not to come. Then, our group of brothers could have helped her get her unpaid fees.”

“Why? What’s wrong with female authors? Can’t they come and fight for their rights?”

“It’s not that they can’t come, it’s just better if they don’t, unless they have a boyfriend accompanying them. Otherwise, it’s really too dangerous for a woman to come alone to an unfamiliar big city. I don’t recommend it…”

“Okay, it’s about time.”

At this point, Pipi, who had apparently written several chapters of a novel on his phone, stood up and said, “Let’s take attendance. How many people do we have here?”

“Thirty-four people.”

Jituto also removed his headphones and said, “Thirty-three guys and one girl.”

“Alright, it’s 12:10. We won’t wait any longer. Everyone, grab your things, and let’s go.”

Pipi waved his hand, and then he turned to me and said, “Nuo’er, stick close to me. Don’t get lost.”

“Huh?”

I was dumbfounded, feeling a moment of confusion in my brain. “Have I given you the impression that I’m so clumsy I might get lost?”

“Uh…”

After I pointed it out, Pipi snapped back to reality and quickly scratched his head while offering an apologetic smile, saying, “I’m sorry, I thought you were my daughter. I haven’t quite adjusted yet. My daughter is a little over three years old, and she doesn’t like being held. Whenever we go out, I’m worried she might get lost.”

“Haha, it’s understandable, old man.”

“Marisa’s Iron Butt” also joked, “So, Nuo’er, did you often get lost when you were a kid?”

“Absolutely not!”

I instinctively retorted, “Just treat me as a middle-aged guy, okay?”

“Well, based on your appearance, Nuo’er, you really give off the vibe of the type who might be easily lured away with just a cup of bubble tea…”

Jiang Wei teased, “Maybe you wouldn’t even need a cup of bubble tea, just a bottle of cola or some cotton candy.”

“Cotton candy…”

As soon as that word was mentioned, I couldn’t help but recall the middle-aged guy who had a breakdown and cried in front of the vegetable market not too long ago. At the time, I kindly treated him to cotton candy. I lost out on that one.

“Alright, enough joking around. The editor-in-chief messaged me. He’s in Mingzhu Tower. He’s asking us to come over now.”

Pipi walked over and signaled for the people who were still playing mobile games to stand up, saying, “Mingzhu Tower, 10th floor.”

“…”

As far as I remembered, Mingzhu Tower was one of the “Twelve Legends” of Shenzhen. It was an 11-story building with the top floor sealed off. It was said that over a decade ago, a girl who was troubled by love took a taxi to Mingzhu Tower at 4 in the morning. She used the elevator to reach the 11th floor and then disappeared without a trace.

Up to the present day, the Shenzhen government has not been able to locate the whereabouts of this girl. The last surveillance footage of her showed nothing unusual – she simply entered the elevator, pressed the button for the 11th floor, and walked out after reaching her destination.

Since then, the 11th floor of Mingzhu Tower was sealed off, and they hired a Taoist priest to perform rituals. Tens of thousands of dollars were spent to install two stone lions on the first floor to suppress negative energy and evil spirits. They also implemented rules: all companies and businesses in Mingzhu Tower were not allowed to work overtime. They had to finish work by 8 p.m. At 8:30 p.m., security personnel would come and turn off the power, locking the doors. If someone was still inside at that time, they had to either pay 500 yuan to have a security guard come back and unlock the door, or stay in the building overnight in the dark.

However, this legend attracted many thrill-seeking internet celebrities and live streamers who liked to hide inside the building before the doors were locked. They would stay hidden until 8:30 p.m. when the entire building went dark, and the doors were locked, and only then would they start their live broadcasts.

As time went on, to attract more viewers, many of these streamers brought portable blankets with them. They would go live for an entire night, waiting until the security guards opened the doors at 6 a.m. the next day to exit the building.

Because of these streamers’ promotions, the “rumors” about Mingzhu Tower became more and more exaggerated. Some said they heard a girl crying during their late-night broadcasts, some claimed to have seen ghostly figures in the hallways, and others created a plethora of paranormal videos using special effects to ride the wave of internet traffic.

Speaking of which, now that I’ve already met that grim reaper, can I directly ask her about these rumors and what’s going on?

“Do you think there are really supernatural events here?”

While riding the elevator, the man who used the pen name “Apatea” and whom I remembered as “Apatea” asked curiously, “Shenzhen City, the mysterious city, the Twelve Legends… It feels like a great source of inspiration for authors here.”

“Urban supernatural authors might find it suitable, but not so much for fantasy and martial arts.”

Jiang Wei yawned, saying, “I’d welcome encountering ghosts, especially female ghosts. Earth Online is too despairing, full of grinding and spending money. I’m at level 100 but can’t beat the level 20 daily monsters. The designers keep introducing new player activities every day, squeezing the old players. If there’s no supernatural stuff happening, I feel like I can see the end of my life in one glance.”

Considering that there were quite a few of us and only three elevators, we decided to ride in separate groups to blend in with the office workers going out for lunch. This way, it wouldn’t attract much attention. We chose to come for “salary negotiation” at noon precisely for this reason. Inside Mingzhu Tower were mostly small and medium-sized enterprises. During lunchtime, people either ordered takeout or went downstairs to eat fast food. This time had the highest flow of people in the elevators. Otherwise, if dozens of people suddenly stormed in during working hours when the first floor was empty, the security guards might think there was a rebellion.

*Ding dong! You’ve arrived on the 10th floor.*

In a series of emotionless mechanical chimes, the elevator door in front of us opened. After stepping out of the elevator, Pipi immediately took out his phone and made a call. Not long after, a ringing phone sounded from his left.

“Over here!”

As the ringing got closer, I saw a middle-aged bald man walking towards us.

“We have some bad news, we’re a step late.”

The bald man walked over to us, pointing not far away to the large office with the doorplate “1002,” his face filled with helplessness.

“The company also filed for bankruptcy… the owner has fled.”