Li Juan was among the top tier on the list of people who died from 996 work schedules. When he woke up, he had landed in the “New Era Dragon Kingdom.”
A free house, a monthly stipend, AI taking care of every task. There was only one KPI: raise his “composure score.”
When the score hit zero, he would be reclaimed on the spot, his consciousness shattered into fragments of computing power.
While everyone else lay flat and cultivated immortality, he was forced to work himself to the bone just to stay alive.
Hell-level mindfulness meditation, the underworld dungeon for office drones, the abyss of childhood cram school... Every one was a “mandatory overtime package” tailor-made by the System.
Li Juan turned the package right around and made it a “layoff package” instead:
He made the central AI pay him for workplace injuries, emotional distress, and “lack-of-meaning compensation.”
When the whole world lay flat, he was the only one at his desk, pounding the keyboard like a war drum:
“If working overtime is unavoidable, then I’ll work until heaven and earth turn upside down!”
But as he kept pushing himself, he suddenly realized:
After he worked the System into bankruptcy, what would be left for humanity?
This time, he wasn’t trying to boost his performance. He was searching for the answer to what it meant to be alive.
