Looking at the tasks on the panel, William felt no aversion; they aligned with his own thoughts—the cleanup work was definitely his responsibility.
He took out shoe covers and gloves from his pocket, put them on, and began his work. Hmm, there were still two and a half hours until noon dismissal. Finishing quickly would be fine.
He entered the room, walked past the bloodstains and Jones by the door, and went to the utility room to summon a bucket and mop. First, he would do the preparatory work.
He walked over to Jones, looking at his unclosed eyes. William, however, felt no discomfort. The unease he’d experienced after his first kill was completely absent, leading William to conclude that this wasn't his first time doing such work.
He used the quick packaging function, and soon, a cocoon-like bundle appeared on the ground. William’s gun also dropped to the floor.
Hmm, an unexpected gain. He collected the bullets and magazine. Magazine +1, bullets +17. He tried the Force Hand again; it was truly astonishing, he couldn't feel any weight at all. He set the cocoon aside. With a backward reaching motion, a mop appeared in William's hand.
Time to get to work! One swipe, two swipes, and soon, the mop head turned red. William ran to the bucket to rinse it. After three quick swishes, the mop head looked like new. Fortunately, the floor here was very clean, otherwise William would have to help clean the entire place.
Soon, the bloodstain progress bar began to surge: 10%, 30%, 90%, 99%.
Hmm, very good. Just like that other game, 100% is always hard to find, a series designed to drive perfectionists crazy.
William's choice was to ignore it for now. Yes, William decided to collect all the evidence first. That meant finding the remains of those 17 bullets.
Soon, William found them all, and the 'Evidence' section in his taskbar changed to 17/17, with a green checkmark.
Then William began to reset the furniture. Quickly! He fixed whatever was out of place. One might think some magic had been cast, as the cabinet by the door was soon neatly arranged. The shoes were also placed back to their original, undisturbed positions.
The last bit of bloodstain was found on the cabinet by the door—a bloody handprint.
William picked up the mop and swiped it. Good, the bloodstain disappeared. The items on the counter needed to be rearranged.
After finishing, William walked over to the dining table. The unfortunate man's wallet was on it. Hmm, unexpected gain: +$109.
On the bookshelf in the small apartment, William also found a box of bullets. Excellent, 9mm bullets +25.
It had to be the system! It wasn't that William had good eyesight; it simply highlighted automatically when he walked near it. How convenient! He loaded the empty magazine with bullets and put the remaining bullets in his pocket. Like a swarm of locusts, but only taking cash. He also packed up the unfortunate man's identification.
Looking at the green checkmarks on the panel, he felt a strong sense of satisfaction. Everything was green except for the 'dispose of the body' task.
Now, William only had one thing to consider: how to get this cocoon into a car. He looked at the traffic and pedestrians outside. William decided, “Hmm, I’ll wait until night.” He scanned the room again. It seemed he hadn't left anything behind. Then, he saw the bullet holes in the wall… how embarrassing. What to do? William walked over, and to his delight, the words "(Repairable)" appeared next to the wall. He clicked "Repairable," and it displayed "Repairing."
By the afternoon, it was finally repaired. Hmm, it was like new, even the scratches were gone. Truly both new and old.
What a natural-born Cleaner's physique!
When night fell, William confirmed that no one was around. He quickly ran off, carrying a cocoon and a garbage bag. When he reached where he had parked his car, he saw that it was gone! Empty. Truly America! His car was gone by the afternoon.
Then, William remembered something and returned to Jones's room. He found Jones's car keys. Hmm, not bad, this car is good! A true Texan, a big pickup truck.
He put the cocoon and other items in. He also found $60 in the car. Not bad, enough money for food. Humming a tune, he drove out of the city. He drove to the pre-prepared pit, threw it in, buried it, and saw the task board complete the mission. William successfully leveled up to Level 2 and gained a skill point.
“Congratulations, player, you have reached Level 2. Vehicle binding function unlocked. After placing garbage bags and packaged bodies into a vehicle, you gain the temporary buff ‘Concealer.’ Currently bindable vehicles (0/1).”
Concealer: Completely blend into the environment. Undetected, untraceable.
William did not make a decision too early. Instead, he chose to go back and check. He still had a Sword of Damocles hanging over his head.
He arrived once again at the familiar front desk. The familiar face. Clearly, our Miss Annabelle had not forgotten William. As usual, she handed him a gold coin, motioning for him to go on his own.
This time, William finally had the leisure to examine the gold coin closely. The base of the coin wasn't particularly remarkable, aside from feeling golden. Carved on it were two kneeling figures, one on the left and one on the right, both holding trays with the two ends of a scale. It looked quite interesting.
He walked through the door as he had last time. Book was still sitting there, and without looking up, she recited the standard procedure: “Welcome to the Continental Hotel. How may I help you?”
Then Book heard a familiar voice: “I’m here to turn in a task.”
Book looked up. What was it like to see an acquaintance? Surprise or shock?
So fast? Book hadn't even received word from the Hotel, and William was already here. This meant that even the High Table's extensive information network wasn't this quick in transmitting news.
This made Book sigh with emotion. Either William was an idiot, planning to trick the High Table and then be executed, or William possessed some ability she didn't know about. In other words, he was a master.
Could it be that she had misjudged him? Was this guy faking it? But for now, she could only keep him steady. Since no message had come from the Secretariat, she couldn't confirm whether William was telling the truth or not.
So, William was granted temporary use of a sofa and a complimentary drink from the Continental Hotel.
After settling William, Book quickly contacted the Secretariat, asking them to verify as soon as possible. The people at the Secretariat were also a bit confused, as their daily workload was immense, like a beehive processing a lot of information. Entry-level assessments like this were usually only verified after the target was eliminated and official news was received.
But no news had been received yet? The Secretariat couldn't sit still. They decided to go in person. Soon, a locksmith opened the door. And then, the target was gone.
No body, no signs of a struggle, no bloodstains. It was as if the person had simply walked away. The room showed no changes at all.
After some communication, everyone followed the information from the intelligence department and drove towards the distant suburbs.
When they found the body, a bigger question arose. Not to mention how professionally the body was wrapped, there were close-range gunshot wounds, 9mm wounds, 17 shots, all 貫穿. Where was the crime scene? They couldn't find it! There were no bullet holes anywhere! Do your elders know how you work? Are you trying to put Cleaners out of business?
By this time, William had already had his second glass of wine. The white wine was quite delicious, a sweet wine. It perfectly suited William's taste.