Tu Zheng, thirty years old, had spent eight years at a major corporation, rising from intern to project director.
Then an AI-driven round of layoffs branded him a "cost" to be cut.
He went abroad for a "high-paying job overseas," only to be sold as soon as he landed to a telecom fraud compound in northern Myanmar. Beatings and water torture were commonplace, and human lives had a price tag.
Just as he was pinned to an electric chair, his consciousness on the verge of fading, the birthmark on the back of his neck suddenly burned hot. Something that had lain dormant in his mind for twenty years finally awakened...
[Survival Evolution System successfully bound.]
[Beginner Mission: Survive the next 24 hours. Reward: Emotion Perception.]
[Warning: System energy is insufficient. If exposed, the Host will die immediately.]
From then on, the compound gained a taciturn "useless loser" whose performance ranked at the bottom.
No one knew that this seemingly meek man was turning the entire compound into his chessboard, one move at a time.
The people who conned him, the people who laid him off, the people who treated others like piglets to be sold: he would let not one of them get away.
(A story about combating telecom fraud. All depictions of darkness are intended as a warning: there are no high-paying jobs overseas. Your homeland is the safest place.)
