Haunted by Office Things

After the clock-in issue was temporarily resolved, I walked to my workstation.

The moment I sat down, a chill crawled up the back of my neck.

I jerked my head up and looked at the air vent above me. Cold air blasted straight down, and I sneezed several times in a row.

Anna Underwood, who sat nearby, turned at the sound. After glancing at what I was wearing, she spoke with the same well-meaning concern she had shown in my last life. "Even if the office has air conditioning, it's easy to catch a chill on the way to work. You should dress a bit warmer."

I sniffed, forcing myself to endure the cold. "Anna, do you feel like the office temperature is a little low today?"

She reached up and tested the air above her own seat. "It's warm. It's always this temperature. Besides, this is a central system. Every vent should be the same."

The moment she finished speaking, I stood up. "Anna, could I trouble you for a few minutes? Can you sit at my desk and help me check the temperature?"

She looked puzzled, but still sat down in my chair.

In my previous life, I had only gone to her seat to test the air myself. The airflow there really had been warm. This time, I wanted her to feel the cold air at my desk firsthand so that I could apply to change seats.

What she said next hit me like a blow to the head.

"There's nothing wrong with your seat. It's warm air."

"What? That's impossible. It was cold just now."

Instinctively, I raised my hand to test it myself. What I felt was warm air.

I froze up.

Unwilling to accept it, I sat back down in my chair. The familiar blast of cold air immediately returned, making me shiver.

Upon seeing how agitated I looked, Anna asked with concern, "Emma, are you okay? Have you not been resting well lately? Could it be nerves?"

I refused to believe it. I went to other coworkers' desks and compared them again and again. Every one of them had warm air blowing at them. The moment I sat back down at my own seat, it turned cold.

The sheer strangeness of it made my scalp prickle. I snapped my head up at the vent and shouted, "Why is it only blowing cold air on me? Why only me? This is ridiculous!"

My behavior started to draw looks, and the others began to think there was something wrong with me.

"She's so young. Why does she act like a lunatic?"

"This is a company, not a shelter. How do they hire people like this?"

"She must be trying to cause trouble. First, the clock-in machine, and now, the air conditioner. She's making the whole office miserable."

The murmurs spread through the room and eventually reached management.

Mr. Tucker frowned and asked, "Emma, what are you doing? It's your first day. Instead of working, you're making a scene at your desk?"

I quickly pointed at the vent. "Mr. Tucker, the air blowing at my desk is cold. Wherever I sit, it blows cold air. I'm not making this up."

Hearing that, he walked over, stood under the vent, and tested the airflow with his hand. Then, his expression darkened.

"There is no cold air. It's warm. Everyone else sits here without any issues. How is it that the air turns cold only when you sit here?" His voice hardened. "If you keep causing trouble, don't bother coming in tomorrow."