Shirogane Miyuki had envisioned his role as a supervisor in an idealized way.
Every day, he completed tasks to ensure the survival of his employees. With the assistance of Angela and the department heads, everything was straightforward.
However, when it came time to execute these tasks, he quickly realized that this game was far more brutal than he had anticipated.
If the Punishment Bird and the Fairy Festival could still be described as cute, what he encountered next made him feel deeply uneasy.
T-09-85, "We Can Change Everything."
On the surface, it looked like a humanoid machine. The introduction claimed it could solve various problems: a child who misbehaves and constantly cries, dissatisfaction with one's figure, or financial struggles—this machine could supposedly fix it all.
At first, Shirogane Miyuki wondered how it could deliver these promises, but when he discovered the truth, his heart raced.
Once an employee entered the machine, it began to operate. The employee's cries and screams gradually faded until they ceased altogether. When the device finally opened, revealing spikes drenched in blood, the horrifying reality became clear.
Another employee had died. And it was Shirogane Miyuki who had ordered them into this killing machine.
"Director, our company possesses singularity technology. If you want to change history, you can use it to restart the day. Those who died will be resurrected through this process," Angela informed him.
"Really?" he asked, a glimmer of hope in his voice.
"Yes, I wouldn't lie to you."
With Angela's help, Shirogane Miyuki chose to restart. Unlike the original game, where restarting would erase information about anomalies, in the Realism, Angela would record all this data. This allowed Shirogane Miyuki to ensure his employees' survival through countless loads.
Additionally, he could pause the company's internal time, giving him more time to think. Though he couldn't personally investigate as a director, he could observe through surveillance and the reactions of the surrounding staff. By doing so, he could deduce the properties of these anomalies and offer the most appropriate advice.
With this technology, he managed to handle most anomalies and successfully opened the Intelligence and Training Departments within just a few days. But on the sixteenth day, when he unlocked the Welfare Team, he encountered an anomaly that appeared deceptively benevolent.
O-01-45, the Plague Doctor.
The introduction was intriguing: "I will cure all diseases; you will be reborn."
This was the first time Shirogane Miyuki had encountered an anomaly that presented itself in such a reassuring manner. Previous anomalies had objective descriptions, but this one was different.
Even in realism mode, Lobotomy Corporation was still a game.
Using a gamer's mindset, a special entity like that would typically be avoided by many gamers in the early stages. However, Shirogane Miyuki had not played many games, so subconsciously treated it as reality.
In real life, how do you make choices? First, by relying on experience, and second, by intuition.
Unfortunately, Shirogane Miyuki lacked experience.
He had never encountered even a few H-level anomalies, let alone A-level ones. But his intuition told him this anomaly could be very useful.
His intuition wasn't entirely wrong. The Plague Doctor is indeed useful in the later stages of the game.
But early on, it's a nightmare.
Unaware of the nightmare he had chosen, Shirogane Miyuki continued his game. He didn't realize that while he was refreshing the memory bank's date and trying to reset it, he couldn't completely erase White Night.
Worse still, because this was a beta version, there was no option to delete the save file completely and start over. The beta version's purpose was to test the player's reactions and decisions to adjust the game accordingly.
On the surface, the Plague Doctor was a Z-level anomaly, the weakest in Lobotomy Corporation. Even at work, all employees who dealt with these anomalies considered them friendly and not overly threatening.
However, anyone who had played the game knew that no Z-level anomaly should be underestimated. Whether it's the skull at the beginning, the Plague Doctor, or the seemingly harmless fairies, these entities are serious threats. Regardless of your level or strength, they could lead to your demise. The only difference is that Z-level anomalies appear more friendly.
Have you ever seen the Plague Doctor? With twelve apostles, he directly ascends to an A-level anomaly. Without elite employees and special equipment, this entity can annihilate the entire company.
In reality, Shirogane Miyuki's game progressed smoothly until the sixteenth day, when two civilians became agents. On the seventeenth day, four civilians and one combatant followed suit. By the eighteenth day, five more civilians had joined.
On the nineteenth day, just as he thought he could complete the day successfully, he heard the bell ring.
As the bell tolled, White Night massacred everyone.
Shirogane Miyuki sighed, "Another wasted day."
No one died? He knew that was impossible. The civilians would record combatants' information and document the changes in the anomalies every day.
These employees lacked combat experience or skills. Not only could they not handle an anomaly breaking containment, but even the impact of a combatant could prove fatal.
In reality, Shirogane Miyuki might have considered how to protect the civilians. But now? Civilians were expendable; the combatants—who cost real money—were the priority.
So what did Shirogane Miyuki witness? Apostles appeared in the company. He initially thought they were weak and could be killed. But when he attempted to act, he discovered they were far from weak—they were invincible.
Especially White Night's shockwave, which could instantly kill all civilians with soul damage. Thankfully, there were no Civilian Protection Association anomalies in the company, or else a chain reaction could have resulted in mass casualties.
As he watched the last employee die, Angela reminded him, "Look at those corpses. There's nothing we can do."
There was only one option left: restart the day.
Shirogane Miyuki didn't hesitate and restarted the day, but when he saw White Night appear in the Control department and swap places with the Skull anomaly, he felt his heart sink.
No matter how many times he loaded his save, White Night always managed to break containment and slaughter all the employees just as Shirogane Miyuki was about to collect enough resources.
Once, twice, three times.
It wasn't until the closing reminder appeared that he realized the day was finally over.
"Why is this happening..."
Shirogane Miyuki tried to recall the day's events, but no matter what strategy he employed, he couldn't stop it.
His mind raced as he realized that hiding wouldn't solve the problem. He had to find a way to kill White Night.