All Chapters of Dead End: Hell of Customer Service: Chapter 11
- Chapter 20
112 chapters
Chapter 11 - Termination Without Severance
The lift to the 50th floor hurtled upwards at a speed capable of leaving an ordinary human’s stomach behind on the ground floor. Inside the polished, chrome-plated metal box, Mark Miller stood rigid, unmoving. His reflection on the lift wall was no longer that of an exhausted man in a crumpled office shirt, but a predator with a dark aura shimmering faintly around his body.David leaned against the corner of the lift, gasping for air. He stared at Mark with a look that bordered more on fear than admiration. "Mark... you... are you alright? You haven't blinked since we left the lobby."Mark turned his head slowly. His movements were calculated and highly efficient, as if every inch of his muscle had been calibrated by an algorithm. "A low blink rate increases visual focus by 12%. I am currently performing asset optimisation, David. You should also learn to regulate your oxygen intake. You’re wasting breath.""Wasting breath?" David gave a bitter laugh. "Mark, you’re talking like a poss
CHAPTER 12 - BLOODY MERGER AND THE UNION OF THE DAMNED
The world was like a piece of paper being crumpled by a giant hand. The thunderous roar of concrete grinding against other realities created a deafening symphony of destruction. The Debt Collection Headquarters, which had just been Mark’s battlefield, was now merely a tiny cell in a growing, gargantuan organism. Through the cracked windows, Mark saw skyscrapers from various corners of the globe—some appearing to be from a flickering neon future, others like medieval castles infected by digital circuitry—colliding and merging into one another.[MERGER PROCESS: 88% COMPLETE][NOTICE: REGIONAL RESTRUCTURING IN PROGRESS][Executive Voice: "Miller, congratulations. You are no longer a big fish in a small pond. Welcome to the Corporate Ocean. 10,000 Operators from the Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Near-Galaxy sectors have been merged into a single server: 'THE GLOBAL OFFICE'."]"Global Office?" Mark spat, wiping blood from his lip. He stood atop the ruins of the 50th floor, which was now forcibl
CHAPTER 13 - ILLEGAL LOGISTICS AND INVENTORY INFILTRATION
The scent of dimensional dust and the stench of burnt engine oil filled the air as Mark Miller, Leon, and a small group of their followers slipped through the gaps of overlapping buildings. The world had transformed into an illogical concrete labyrinth. Above them, logistic transport lines floated without tracks, carrying gargantuan containers filled with "Raw Materials"—which were none other than compressed human souls."Sector 7-G Logistics Warehouse is just ahead," Leon whispered, pointing toward a windowless metallic cube structure floating silently in the centre of a digital cloud vortex. "That is the heart of all system weapon distribution. If we want to fight The Enforcers, we need something stronger than a cracked hammer and a steel ruler."Mark stared at the cube with eyes that still radiated a cold, dark aura. "How do we get in? There isn't a door on the thing.""There indeed are no doors for lowly employees like us," Leon smirked. "But there is always a gap for those regard
CHAPTER 14 - ASSET DEPRECIATION AND THE FINAL BULLET
The vortex of shipping containers, driven by the Logistics Manager, created a deafening storm of metal. Every gargantuan container hovering in the air was no longer a mere storage unit, but an artillery shell ready to grind anything in the centre of the hangar. Mark Miller stood at the heart of that whirlwind, gripping The Resignation Letter pistol with a trembling hand—not out of fear, but because his nervous system was beginning to undergo a massive overload."Do you truly believe a piece of ancient artefact could shake the foundations of Galactic Logistics?" The Manager’s voice echoed, calm and drenched in disdain. He hovered in the air, his mechanical wings flapping slowly, sending waves of atmospheric pressure that made it difficult for Mark to breathe.Without warning, the Manager swung his arm. A red container hurtled from Mark’s blind side.BAM!Mark tried to parry with his hammer, but the weight of the container surpassed his already depleted physical strength. He was thrown
CHAPTER 15: INITIAL BLOOD OFFERING (IPO)
Mark Miller woke up with a pain that felt remarkably... organic. There was no longer the static vibration of the black fluid freezing his nerves. This time, every inch of his body felt as though it had just been flattened by a heavy goods vehicle carrying a mountain of legal documents. He winced, feeling a parched sensation in his throat—a harsh reminder that he was still a human being, not merely a line of code in a system database.Around him, the Sector 7-G Logistics Warehouse looked like a bleak iron fortress. David was busy stacking shipping containers to cover a breach in the wall, while Sarah attempted to cook emergency rations she had discovered in an inventory corner."You’re awake, Boss?" Leon approached, twirling his steel ruler with an unreadable expression. "Congratulations. The news about the 'Contract Employee' who slaughtered the Logistics Manager has spread throughout the Global Office. You are now the number one Trending Topic. Unfortunately, that’s not a good thing.
CHAPTER 16: SHADOW ECONOMY AND THE NIGHT MARKET FROM HELL
Sector 7-G Logistics Warehouse was no longer merely a cold metal building harbouring system secrets. Under Mark Miller’s command, the place began to throb with a strange kind of life. Dozens of survivors from the nearby residential zones started to arrive, seeking shelter from the merger storms that still tore through the skies. However, in this world, protection was never free.Mark stood on an internal balcony overlooking the warehouse floor. Below him, David and Sarah were managing a queue of people who looked haggard and terrified."Mark, listen to me. We cannot keep feeding them from emergency stocks," Leon whispered, appearing at his side. "The system is beginning to log the collective oxygen and calorie consumption in this area. If we don’t generate 'Profit' or 'Points' for the server, they will perform an Area Deletion to save on operating costs."Mark stared at his palm, which still bore burn scars from the system's lightning. "I know. This company does not like the unemploye
CHAPTER 17: MASS CLEARANCE AND AUDIT STANDARDS
The sky above Residential Zone 4-B turned a sickening pale yellow, the exact shade of old newsprint or dusty archive folders. This was a sign that the system was re-rendering the area for the upcoming audit. Mark Miller stood on the boundary between the Logistics Warehouse and the residential ruins, gripping his 'Contract Termination' hammer, which had now been modified with several purple circuits from the Black Market.Behind him, a line of survivors now known as the "Scavenger Team" stood trembling. They wore neon safety vests found in the warehouse—an irony, as in this world, bright colours only served to attract monsters."Listen up!" Mark shouted, his voice hoarse yet authoritative. "The Compliance Auditors will arrive in three hours. They won't ask if you have food. They will only look to see if there is 'Procedural Trash' in this area. And that procedural trash... is the monsters roaming out there."[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: CLEARANCE MISSION START][Target: 500 Units of 'Intangib
CHAPTER 18: THE DEADLY BUREAUCRATIC DEBATE
The atmosphere inside the Logistics Warehouse suddenly became as cold as a data storage vault in the Arctic. Three Compliance Auditors stood in a row, their white robes motionless despite the fierce wind blowing through the shattered gates. They did not breathe, they did not blink, and most terrifyingly—they had no mouths. Their voices echoed directly within the nervous system of anyone they addressed.Mark Miller sat in an office chair he had dragged to the centre of the room. He crossed his legs, holding the [REJECTED] stamp in his left hand while his hammer rested on his right shoulder. Behind him, Sarah and David trembled, realising that a single misplaced word from Mark would mean the erasure of their existence.[AUDIT PROCESS START][Subject: Senior Operator Mark Miller][Sector Status: Questionable]"Subject Miller," the middle Auditor’s voice resonated, its tone as flat as ancient dial-up tones. "We have found inconsistencies in your asset balance sheet. There are 142 biologic
CHAPTER 19: THE PR DEPARTMENT AND BRANDING HALLUCINATIONS
The lift toward the 100th Floor moved at a speed capable of churning one's stomach. Inside, Mark Miller leaned against the gold-plated walls, his breath heavy and smelling of copper. Beside him, David was busy wiping his cracked spectacles, while Sarah continued to clutch an empty mineral water bottle as if it were a lucky charm."Mark," David whispered, his voice trembling. "Do you reckon they have coffee up there? I mean, proper bean coffee, not that sachet powder that tastes like sweetened tarmac?"Mark turned, his eyes bloodshot from exhaustion. "David, we are heading into the den of the most dangerous bureaucratic monsters in this sector, and you’re thinking about coffee?""Precisely because of that!" David exclaimed softly. "If I’m to be executed for filling out a form incorrectly, I’d like my tongue to at least taste something that doesn't feel like factory waste. Is that too bourgeois a request for a corporate slave?"[System Helpdesk: "Naturally, David. The cost of a cup of p
CHAPTER 20: PERMANENT CONTRACTS AND THE DEATH PENALTY
The golden lift moved without a single vibration, as if the laws of physics did not apply to those of high rank. Inside the cramped space, the smell of brake oil from David’s body mingled with the metallic scent of blood from Mark’s shoulder. The numbers on the digital control panel surged: 98... 99... 100.TING.The doors opened, revealing a vast office with a view of the ruined city skyline beneath red digital clouds. In the centre of the room sat a young man wearing a casual hoodie and jeans, idly spinning a miniature planet Earth on the tip of his index finger like a basketball."Mark Miller," the man greeted without looking up. "Congratulations. You’ve just demolished my PR department. Do you have any idea what Clarissa’s branding cost? 12 million points. And you turned her into a pile of scrap brochures in five minutes."Mark stepped out, his 'Contract Termination' hammer dragging across the polished marble floor, leaving a long gouge that ruined the room's aesthetic. "Send the