The Tide of Ambition [Mystery]

You work overtime on a 996 schedule, and all your effort earns you is a salary barely enough to keep you from starving. Every night, as you make your way home beneath the darkening sky, you curse your boss, Mr. Olay, under your breath. [Mr. Olay watches me like a dog. If he goes crazy or dies, I can take his place.] The next day, you feel that something incomprehensible has changed around you. Your coworkers huddle together and whisper, every pale face turning toward you with a stiff smile. Old Mr. Olay pats you on the shoulder. [Olay is dead. Get ready to take over his job.] This story is also known as "Will the Heretical Fish Sauce Love a 996 Overtime Worker?" and "What Have I Been Through as I Gradually Stop Being Human?" Content warnings: 1. Plot-driven, set in a fictionalized modern Western world. The heroine isn't a good person. 2. Supernatural elements. 3. First-person narration. 4. There may be nonhumans. The male lead appears late and has a very minor presence. Finally, if you clicked in, it must be fate. Honey, add it to your favorites to make the author happy [puppy-dog eyes.jpg] Please add my new story to your favorites: [Infinite Flow] Rebirth At the end of the century, I crawled out of a box in the attic. A rat that had been dangling from a rope for ages hung limp in its skin and said to me, "Don't go downstairs. You're not welcome at the dinner party." Through the cracks between the floorboards, I saw warm yellow lamplight. An unfamiliar couple was having dinner with their young son. Suddenly, the glass shattered. A blood-soaked hand grabbed the woman's neck and snapped it like a chicken's. The floor below fell silent for a moment, then screams and sobs erupted. A gang of thugs stormed into my house, murdered the unfamiliar family of three downstairs, and wrote on the wall: Welcome home, Ovelia of the attic. The next day, I met them again in my house. I dreamed that I snapped the necks of an entire nest of rats. Third-person narration. Infinite Flow. The heroine grows into a major villain. I've written too many heroines who are persecuted, so I wanted to try one who fights back. Theme: Be independent and self-reliant, and save yourself through your own efforts.