GHG: Chapter 162 Part 1 – Rose Factory

Tang Erda opened his eyes in the game.

Overwhelming rose petals swept from the sky and a large field of bright flowers filled the horizon. The sky was as dark as night and as one moved deeper in the rose fields, there was an out of place modern factory against the backdrop of a country town.

A huge brass distilling apparatus was placed in front of the factory as a decoration. A white painted wooden plaque was hanging next to it with the words ‘Rose Dry Leaf Factory’ written in both Chinese and English.

Tang Erda’s breathing stopped for a moment and he subconsciously looked at the top of the factory. There was nothing there, only some fresh roses basking in the moonlight. Dew appeared on the fleshy petals and it gave off an addictive and fascinating aroma.

This was the factory where Bai Liu (6) stood at the top and asked him, “Do the roses smell good?”

In all the timelines he experienced, Tang Erda had never seen this level three game.

He knew that the solution to the Rose Dry Leaf Gas must come from a certain game in the system but no matter how frantically Tang Erda played the game, he had never come across this game.

It was as if there was an existence blocking his access to the game while teasing him. This made Tang Erda long lose hope that he could play the game related to the Rose Dry Leaf Gas.

Yet this time, after Tang Erda’s complete despair, he actually chased Bai Liu into the game by accident.

[System notification: Player Tang Erda has seen the factory door and triggered the main quest of the game.]

[System notification: The player’s identity is the lowest rose picker in the Rose Dry Leaf Factory. You need to work hard in the factory and be promoted to the top perfumer based on performance. After becoming the perfumer, you can kick out the previous factory manager and become the new factory manager.]

[Once a new perfume factory manager is born, the player who becomes the factory manager will pass the level and the game is terminated.]

[Now, please enter the factory and start working today!]

At the same time, Bai Liu was hiding behind the factory. He once again determined the main mission in a depressed manner. Meanwhile, Liu Jiayi was drinking an antidote to heal herself. She still had blood on her body but her face was much better. The gunshot wound was no longer bleeding.

After Liu Jiayi confirmed the main mission, she glanced at Bai Liu’s bad expression and turned around a bit awkwardly, whispering, “…I told you not to enter a level three game. I had a hard time saving you back then but now you entered yourself. Give me some face…”

Bai Liu sent Liu Jiayi a gloomy expression. “It isn’t because of you. It is because of this mission.”

“What is wrong with this mission? The mortality rate of a level three game limits the number of people who can clear the game. I reminded you before coming in…” Liu Jiayi quickly entered a thinking state. She put away the antidote bottle and frowned. “The mortality rate of level three games is between 80-90%. It is normal that only one person survives. Still, a level three game isn’t without loopholes.”

“However, this game limits it so that only players who have become the factory manager can clear the level. We saw it when we came in. There is only this Dry Rose Leaf Gas factory nearby so the clearance condition is stuck to a certain extent. We can only take it step by step. It is understandable if you don’t like the main mission of the level three game. The flexibility is reduced and the difficulty is increased…”

Bai Liu was in a rare state of absence and his gaze was a bit distracted. “…It is a part time job again. Why am I still working as a corporate drone in the game? I don’t like being exploited.”

Liu Jiayi, “…….”

He was lost because of this?!

Liu Jiayi blankly climbed onto the brass distillery used as a decoration and hit the back of Bai Liu’s head. “Troublemaker, regain your spirit first! Take care of your pursuer. He will definitely chase you into this game. That man has a strong fighting power. You had better think of a way to get us through this level three game.”

Bai Liu was hit against the wall by Liu Jiayi and remained motionless.

Liu Jiayi, “…….”

Liu Jiayi grabbed Bai Liu’s head and pulled him, roaring angrily, “Don’t pretend to be dead to avoid a part time job! You brought me into this game so you have the responsibility to take me out of here! Give me a bit of an adult man’s responsibility, Bai Liu!”

Bai Liu slowly lifted his head from the wall and looked at Liu Jiayi with a very sullen expression. “Is there anyone who will give me money for working here?”

“…Of course, there isn’t anyone. What are you thinking?”

“Oh.” Bai Liu slowly lowered his head again and exclaimed angrily, “Then I quit. I have been forced to do very bad business for 10 years. Now I have to work for nothing. I can’t do it.”

Bai Liu was like a contemporary Grandet who was forced to hand over his legacy to his son, only to find that he wasn’t dead yet. He had an expression of loss. It was obvious that he hadn’t recovered from his 10 years of hot pot transactions with Lu Yizhan.

Liu Jiayi stepped on Bai Liu’s shoulder and pulled out the corporate drone trying to escape from working. She scolded him. “You can’t just say you won’t do it. Hurry up and work!”

After discovering that nothing could make this corporate drone immersed in loss and depression recover, Liu Jiayi had to resort to the ultimate move. “You work and I’ll pay you. How about 100 yuan an hour?”

Bai Liu, who had buried his head in the wall, turned without hesitation. He stared at Liu Jiayi, reaching out his hand to her. He wasn’t ashamed at all. “Deal. Pay first and then work.”

Liu Jiayi, “…….”

D*mn, this Bai Liu was just waiting for her to pay money, calculating her feelings…

Was this man so stingy? Even calculating the money of an eight year old girl?

Liu Jiayi scolded in her heart but on the surface, she gave Bai Liu the money without moving. Bai Liu took the money, tidied up his clothes and returned to being a part-time worker. “Let’s go to the factory to check it first.”

“Wait!” Liu Jiayi grabbed Bai Liu in a slightly helpless manner. “Weren’t you listening to what I just told you? That Captain Tang is chasing you into the game. If you go directly into the factory to find the NPC and receive a quest, you might bump into him. His gun, the skill weapon, is very powerful and it can even be used in reality. If you bump into him, he will kill you without saying a word!”

Bai Liu removed Liu Jiayi’s hand with a casual expression. “The moment he entered this game, he won’t kill me.”

Liu Jiayi was stunned. “Why?”

“Rose Factory is a game stage specially presented by someone for Tang Erda and I. Of course, it also might not be a human.” Bai Liu lowered his eyes and they darkened. “In this game called Rose Factory, there must be a secret that can save all those polluted by the perfume. This is the same as the reward of the Love Welfare Institute monster book, where it provided me with an item that can save a child from the blood ganoderma lucidum poisoning.”

“Tang Erda thinks that the core of the game that hides this secret is in my hands. He thinks I know how to clear the game so he rushed to this point. Before the game is cleared and before Tang Erda gets what he wants, he won’t be able to bear to kill me.”

“The antidote to save the people he wants to save is right around the corner. I believe that the righteous Captain Tang won’t have the same madness as before or the courage to die with me.”

Bai Liu commented in an unhurried manner and there was a slightly teasing manner to his tone. “After all, in the eyes of Captain Tang, my life shouldn’t be as precious as his Vice-captain Su.”

He held Liu Jiayi’s hand and walked next to the rose field of this rural town. After going around the distiller placed in the factory, he could see the opened wrought iron front doors.

There was a wooden plaque hanging from the main entrance that read: Welcome to Rose Factory.

Bai Liu held Liu Jiayi’s hand and went in. After entering, there was a huge, open air workshop with fresh roses just picked from the fields scattered on the ground. Some people were squatting on the ground and separating the stems, leaves and petals of the roses into a pile. Then they were sorted into categories.

Both sides of the venue had huge copper furnaces that were working. Hot and colorful steam was continuously coming out. Beside the copper furnaces, there were people constantly stirring the rose petals into a ball with steel shovels. It looked like a thriving work scene but the people working were a bit strange in appearance. Their working hours were also out of place because it was late at night looking at the sky.

These workers wore black protective clothing with elastic bandages around their wrists. In addition, they were gloves, black rubber boots and black hats. They didn’t look like they were dealing with roses. Instead, they looked like virus researchers in a dangerous laboratory or beekeepers.

Bai Liu was stopped by these people as he led Liu Jiayi in.

The workers handed Bai Liu and Liu Jiayi two sets of protective suits that seemed tailor-made. They raised their heads and spoke with hoarse and cracked voices. They stared at these two uninvited guests with hatred and vigilance. “You have to wear protective clothing when entering this place. You can’t let the smell of your body contaminate the smell of the roses, understood?”

At such a close distance, Bai Liu could clearly see under the black veil. The face of the person who handed it to him, or the employee who could no longer be regarded as a human being, had some deep and huge cracks on his face. Black, rotten and bulging flesh appeared along the cracks and it was like a rose was blooming under his eyes.

In the eye of the worker staring straight at Bai Liu, there was a crimson rose with black edges that was about to wither—much like the one on his face.

Proofreader: Purichan