Kaleidoscope

001.1 | Gratitude for Saving Me

Qi Sying gasped for air as he groggily regained consciousness. He remained motionless for a moment when a sharp throbbing pain suddenly whacked his head. Qi Sying whimpered, biting his lips to stop his voice from leaking. 

It took him a while to regain focus and called the system frantically, ASAP. 

A cold voice spoke inside his mind. The system is narrating his successful transfer mechanically. It didn't alleviate the incessant throbbing of his temples and made it worst. Qi Sying felt a sudden overwhelming desire of smashing his head against the wall. 

He had no idea transferring worlds could be so vexing.

[This system can reassure the host that transferring worlds is not painful. The pain the host is feeling is from the body the host resided.]

Qi Sying gritted his teeth, trying to retain his reason. His brows are sweating profusely and his lips were already white as a sheet of paper. Tears subconsciously wet the corners of his reddened close eyes, his breathing hitched from the incoherent gasps he could not prevent from leaking. 

One can easily discern that something is wrong with his body.  It is impossible to communicate in this state.

"Please..." Qi Sying tried his best to remain in a clear state. He begged the system while he slowly wallowed into fainting. "Take it... away... so painful... plea-"

[I apologize, host, but this request will have a significant impact on the storyline. Please bear with me for a moment.]

What? It wanted him to go through the agony? Did the system ever realize how much pain he is in right now? 

It's enough to drive Qi Sying insane! 

He wanted to drill his head open and pluck his brain out because the pain was really unbearable. He believed it is the only way he can get rid of the pain. But the system only told him to keep going?

While Qi Sying is cursing in his head, convinced that he has been duped by the system or something, a second person appeared on the scene. 

This character is a gentleman dressed in an office suit - the default black vest, plain tie, and white undershirt partnered with black slacks and pointed shoes. His peppered hair revealed his golden years but his good-looking face still gave off a youthful charm. 

He is just passing to the cubicle where Qi Sying was staying. Qi Sying was hunched over the desk, his hands clasped behind his back, so the second person didn't see his expression just yet. He only presumed Qi Sying was napping.

"Hey rookie, break time is over. You still have documents to finish," the person knocked on the glass divider.

Usually, the rookie will immediately respond to his commands with a 'yes sir!'. The other person, however, was deafeningly silent this time. 

He thought he must be sleeping deeply seeing the person remained motionless. This newcomer was very good in his work, has an adaptable personality without crossing boundaries, and thorough. It would be bad if other people find him slacking off.  

"Jun Zihao, only because you finished your internship doesn't mean you can finally relax. There are still a lot of things to learn, ba." He leaned against the cubicle wall, arms crossed. 

This is not the first time he caught this rookie sleep. Actually, in between break hours, "Jun Zihao" has the habit of snoozing off. When he asked him why he does that, the youth enthusiastically presented him a thick copy of scientific journals about the advantage of taking naps in between work. 

He thought, "Youths these days have it hard, ah. They have to look for valid reasons just to be given an opportunity to slack off."

Taking naps during break hours was not bad but Jun Zihao has the tendency to go over the time. 

He waited for the youngster to respond, but "Jun Zihao" remained hunkered down. It is only at this point that he realized there was something wrong with the rookie. He moved closer to shake the person up, thinking that he was still sleeping deeply. 

However, as soon as he touched the man, he instinctively retracted his hand due to the scalding heat emanating from the body. It is as if he had touched a boiling kettle! 

Qi Sying had long lost his consciousness.

The second character named Wen Yuan, turned the body over and saw a person with a very red face contrasting the overly paled lips. He would have assumed the person is dead if not from the prominent warmth brought by high fever. 

Wen Yuan immediately called his colleagues for help and call an ambulance. Fortunately, it's already the end of break and many people had returned to their work areas. They carried "Jun Zihao" over towards the elevator. 

Unconscious people are really heavy!

They arrived on the elevator door but found it stalling on the ground floor. Many people were rushing to their work stations since the break is about to end. It is normal for the elevator to be occupied. 

They were residing the eleventh floor. The elevator won't reach this area directly since it will surely take stops in mid-floors. It will also be crowded, it's impossible for them to squish in. 

Wen Yuan felt that if they will take any longer, something bad will happen to "Jun Zihao". He only thought for a while before deciding to use the VIP elevator. 

The VIP elevator, as the name implied, was reserved to be used by the higher ups and other important people like investors and the company president's family members. It is often empty, only used during mornings, lunch, and late at night. 

Wen Yuan pressed the button. If ever someone will question them, they will just say that it was an emergency. Life is more important than the roles they held inside the company.

Like what he expected, the elevator quickly opened up. They carried "Jun Zihao" in then pressed the ground floor's number. The elevator descended smoothly until it reached the lowest floor. 

Wen Yuan felt grateful that it was still break time and the directors are still away. Though, it doesn't mean that they will not come back. 

Two forces collided as soon as the elevator doors opened. One group was from the outside, and they were dressed in expensive suits and watches. The aura they emitted alone indicated that they belonged to an elite society. 

The man in charge, the CEO of the company, was known to be the coldest man on the planet. He fixed his gaze on the people occupying the special lift.

Wen Yuan could feel sweat dripping from his cheek. That one look was enough to snuff out all of his confidence, not to mention his other colleagues who were carrying the deadweight with them. 

Only the unconscious "Jun Zihao" was free of the terrible pressure. Ru Weimin, the CEO's name, examined the faces of his office workers as well as the person they were all carrying. The secretary next to him took a step forward to assess the situation.

"What happened?" Ru Weimin's secretary, San Zhao, inquired.

"Sir San Zhao, the rookie-... I mean, Jun Zihao, the new employee, suddenly fainted. I think he is sick." 

Wen Yuan tried to swallow the instinctive fear and calmly answered. San Zhao walked closer and noticed the pale face of the person getting around. 

Earlier, Wen Yuan could still feel life coming from the man. But this time, his lips are almost blue. Even limbs are now very limp like boiled vegetables. "Jun Zihao" was already hanging unto them like a broken puppet.

San Zhao heard a lot of good things about this newbie and he is not that black hearted to reprimand them. He called the security from the front door to give assistance. He could see Wen Yuan and his people were having a hard time carrying "Jun Zihao".

The pale body caught the attention of Ru Weimin, who had been watching the proceedings. His pupils tightened as he became aware of something haunting his entire being. The sudden shaking of his soul reached the tip of his cold, frozen heart. 

He turned around and followed the group walked through the front doors with his eyes. Just in time, an ambulance rolled up, placing Qi Sying on a stretcher and bringing him inside. It didn't take long for the siren to go off, and everyone on the team took off.

San Zhao dialed the hospital where the ambulance belonged and explained the situation. He got in touch with a few people to make sure their worker was well taken care of. Then he ended the call and walked over to the CEO to make sure everything was okay.

Worriedly, the board of directors and executives turned to him and inquired as to what had transpired. San Zhao returned to Ru Weimin's side after answering them.

"It turns out that this "Jun Zihao" is a frequent patient to the hospital they brought them in," San Zhao said, as he put his phone back in his pocket and straightened his not particularly crooked tie.

"En," Ru Weimin nodded. 

San Zhao is still straightening his tie when he heard the soft reply. Huh? Did his boss reply to his report?

"He has a private doctor?" Ru Weimin asked.

"Ah? Ah- yes, he has. It seems that he has been going there for a regular check-up," the secretary answered based on what the nurse told him.

"En," Ru Weimin nodded again. San Zhao felt that something is wrong with his boss's actions.

"Sir, do you want me to monitor him? The Ru Family owned the hospital. We can have the doctor's diagnosis if we wished to see it," San Zhao said.

"No, there's no need," Ru Weimin said.

It's just a routine checkup, after all. That's something that everyone does, right? If you do it, it means you're trying to keep a condition or allergy under control. 

Could "Jun Zihao's" fainting be connected to his routine medical exams? 

Ru Weimin had no idea why he was so worried about a stranger, who was only a new employee. Observing how lifeless those lips look...

"Our next meeting will start in thirty minutes," San Zhao took his phone out again. "They already finished preparing the venue. The investors will come anytime from now."

Ru Weimin nodded. The different responses made San Zhao shook his head. They entered the elevator and pressed the top floor, keeping the earlier events hidden on the back of their minds.