After failing the civil service exam three times in a row, Chen Yan received an anonymous text: "Congratulations, you have passed the political background check. Please report to the Municipal Center for Cultural Relics Protection and Folk Affairs tomorrow at the Mao hour."
He thought it was a scam, but when he got there, he discovered that the place presented itself to the public as a government institution, while on the inside it was called the Office of Suppression, tasked with suppressing evil spirits and strange entities that had "awakened" throughout history. His coworkers carried peachwood swords and risked their lives on field assignments. Chen Yan's desk drawer held only three things: an electronic time clock, an old ledger from the Tang dynasty, and a note left by his predecessor:
"Clock in at the Mao hour, clock out at the You hour. No overtime."
He followed the instructions on his first day. The time clock went "ding," and he gained 10 merit points. When he clocked out the next day, his merit points doubled. By his third month, he treated the rules and regulations like imperial edicts: eat on time, refuse overtime, and never overstep his authority. His merit points shot straight to the max, and with a single shout, he crushed every evil thing in an entire paper effigy shop.
Chen Yan finally figured out the unspoken rules of the place: others relied on magic to exorcise demons, but he relied on following the rules. The more punctually he clocked out, the more merit points he earned; the more overtime he worked to compete, the faster he'd die.
But his predecessor's disappearance, the fate of the workaholics, and an old page in the Tang dynasty ledger bearing his name all pointed to something even more absurd: he had written his own name down for this job three hundred years ago.
When the city's "old rules" began to loosen and all the strange entities were celebrating, Chen Yan silently opened the time clock and set a new rule: "Everyone at the Office of Suppression must clock out on time."
Then three words appeared after the name at the top of the merit leaderboard: Clocked out
1. When reporting in the first chapter, clicking Mao will gain +10 merit, and finishing get off work will gain +10 merit, totaling 20. The next day, I received a reminder that failure to register would be considered absenteeism. 10 Is deducted, but the deduction is for punching in at work later. The 20 on the first day is gone. 2. When the director issued the mission in Chapter 3, he already said that Lao Song took over the mission and disappeared on the third day, and no one dared to look for it. In Chapter 4, he was surprised again, "Old Song also took over!?" The left and right brains interacted with each other. 3. After receiving the file, there was a reminder from a former colleague in the file, but the reminder contained his own name, and the protagonist was not surprised. Without any preparation, I went straight to the scene of the accident after get off work.