Work Prophet
Chapter 377 - 135 What is Hell Difficulty

Chapter 377: Chapter 135 What is Hell Difficulty

The dungeon held seven death row inmates, five men and two women.

The oldest was a Half-Beast of one hundred and sixty years, which roughly equated to just over fifty in human terms, and he was expected to live another six or seven decades without any surprises.

The youngest was only fifteen years old, a human boy.

Unfortunately, there were no protection laws for minors in this world. If one killed, without a valid reason, irrespective of age, he would face punishment.

Li Yu listened as Yago introduced the backgrounds of these death row inmates and their heinous crimes. Afterwards, he had the guards bring them out of their cells, asked them some simple questions, and then inspected their bodies.

Some had an expressionless demeanor; they would answer whenever Li Yu asked a question and remained silent otherwise, clearly resigned to their fate. Others clung to Li Yu’s legs, weeping loudly, acknowledging their wrongdoings, and begging him to save them.

However, they received no response and, under the grip of despair, they started to curse and swear.

There was also an individual who attempted to take Li Yu hostage, but before he could act, was swiftly pinned to the ground by a guard from the Arias family.

In the end, Li Yu circled the names of three individuals.

Of the remaining four, one had a hand chopped off during his arrest, thus classified as physically disabled; Li Yu crossed his name off too.

Another was a hunchback, likewise.

And another was just too ugly.

It’s not that Li Yu judged people solely on their appearance, but because this man, due to his looks, had been bullied since childhood, which twisted his psyche. If he detected even a hint of contempt in someone’s gaze, he would harbor a grudge and seek retribution violently at the next opportunity, even to the point of murder.

Putting himself in the other man’s shoes, Li Yu still thought this starting point was too difficult.

Charm may not be the most conspicuous attribute, but it’s still important. It’s not necessary to be exceptionally attractive, but one must not look monstrous.

To be born with everyone’s favorability in the negatives would make any endeavor as difficult as hell.

After hesitating for a moment, Li Yu also crossed off the name of the one hundred and sixty-year-old Half-Beast. His advanced age was a factor, but the real reason Li Yu decided to eliminate him was due to his health condition.

Even though it wasn’t obvious, Li Yu suspected from his answers that he might also have high blood pressure.

Out of caution, Li Yu decided not to take his corpse.

After circling the names, Li Yu returned the roster to Yago, instructing him to spare the lives of the three selected individuals for the time being, while also slightly improving their food and living conditions, and regularly cleaning their personal hygiene.

In other words, do everything possible to keep them healthy before the execution.

Hopeless as their situation was, the news of an execution postponement and enhanced treatment brought surprise and joy to their faces, while the eyes of the other rejected death row inmates revealed envy as they looked on.

Since Niu Xiangui was the first Servant recruited by the Double Rest Teaching Institute, Li Yu decided to give him some extra consideration.

After work, he composed a WeChat message detailing the situations of the three and sent it to Niu Xiangui to see whom he favored more.

Li Yu’s original intention was for Niu Xiangui to choose between the two men, and the woman was mentioned only in passing.

But unexpectedly, Niu Xiangui showed great interest, persistently asking Li Yu about the final female prisoner.

And his reason was quite simple: having been a man, he thought he might try being a woman in his next life. Plus, he’d always been busy with work and never married or started a family.

This time, he could get a head start without worrying about not being able to find a wife.

Li Yu then warned Niu Xiangui that this wasn’t a game where you could just pay to change genders at will. Once a choice was made, there could be no changes, and he shouldn’t make a decision he might regret for life out of mere curiosity.

Afterward, Li Yu also got in touch with Zhang Yanlin, sending Niu Xiangui some educational material about menstrual pain and gynecological inflammations, finally getting him to reconsider.

Once Niu Xiangui learned about childbirth, especially the pain and risks of giving birth during the medieval period, he completely abandoned the idea of gender change and made his choice from the two remaining men.

Then, Niu Xiangui tentatively asked Li Yu some questions about the other side.

The answer he got was to discuss it once they got there.

Li Yu didn’t need to align any stories with Niu Xiangui beforehand. Niu Xiangui would only speak Chinese, and at most, he’d be able to speak English and a few programming languages, which would make him no different than a mute when he first arrived on the Bratis Continent.

Li Yu wasn’t worried about him saying anything out of turn either, as language learning and onboarding training would happen simultaneously.

Seeing that Li Yu was tight-lipped, Niu Xiangui tactfully stopped asking. However, the next message he sent caught Li Yu’s attention.

Niu Xiangui volunteered to become a word-of-mouth recruiter, willing to help the Double Rest Sect continue recruiting Rebirth Volunteers at the hospital.

Being a patient himself, his presence in the hospital wards wouldn’t be as conspicuous as Li Yu or Zhang Yanlin. Now with time on his hands, he took the initiative to offer to undertake some of the outreach efforts.

Li Yu didn’t reject this idea.

Furthermore, Niu Xiangui also gave Li Yu a few small suggestions, like printing business cards to appear more professional and, if possible, designing a website to recruit Rebirth Volunteers online.

After hearing these, Li Yu thought Niu Xiangui’s suggestions were quite good.

It’s no surprise he was a full-stack engineer. Niu Xiangui’s work wasn’t just about coding; it also encompassed product design and team communication, among other aspects.

The only regret was that Niu Xiangui had no intention of designing the website for Li Yu.

In his words, he didn’t have many days left, and at the end of his life, he neither needed nor wanted to work anymore.

Li Yu understood this, as web design isn’t complicated, and Niu Xiangui wasn’t the only one who could do it; Li Yu could also ask his roommate, Wang Guowei.

But when Wang Guowei heard Li Yu’s requirements, he was a bit confused. After pondering in his gaming chair for a while, he finally realized, "You mean that new game about transmigrating to the medieval era, right? Are you planning a closed beta and looking to recruit players?"

"Something like that."

Unlike Zhang Yanlin, Wang Guowei wasn’t an employee of the Third Era, so Li Yu wasn’t comfortable disclosing too much to him.

"I can do the website, but just making a website won’t be enough, you know. Without traffic, you won’t attract enough players to help test it. You also need to spread the word on some gaming forums. Oh, and have you thought about live streaming?

"Nowadays, many game creators do live streams across several platforms, and it’s quite effective. Not only does it help announce progress and create an ’I’m working hard’ vibe, but it also allows you to collect player feedback while developing the game."

Li Yu was noncommittal, "Just help me make the website first. We’ll talk about traffic later. I have only one requirement: make it as authentic as possible."