Chapter 4: Eerie Descent
In his groggy state of half-sleep, Zhang Yuanqing felt something soft and full pressing down on him, making it hard to breathe.
He opened his eyes to find a round, delicate face hovering above him, wearing a mischievous grin.
"You little punk. You dare stand me up?" his aunt whined in a sing-song voice. "I'll sit on you until you stop breathing."
Still perched on top of her nephew, she leaned forward before slamming her weight back down onto him.
Zhang Yuanqing let out a stifled groan as he felt all the air from his last breath rushing out of him. Irritated, he arched his back hard and bucked the woman off.
Ignoring his aunt's startled yelp, he caught a glimpse of the sky through the window. It was already dark. He'd slept from morning straight through to nighttime without realizing it.
"Dinner time!"
His aunt lay on her side across the bed, unleashing a relentless barrage of kicks to her nephew's backside.
"Could you not be so petty?" Zhang Yuanqing complained. "I'm a man who respects his elders and loves the young. I won't stoop to your level."
He slid off the bed, slipped on his shoes, and walked out the door.
The air in the living room was thick with rich aromas. Grandpa and Grandma sat at the dining table, eating. Grandpa's hair was silver white, his frame thin and tall, his expression stern and humorless.
"So how was it? Was the one we arranged for you any good?" Grandma asked his aunt with palpable anticipation.
His aunt nodded so enthusiastically her head bobbed like a chicken pecking at rice. "Not bad at all! Corporate executive, annual salary in the millions... Very satisfied, very satisfied!"
Grandma jabbed a finger hard against her daughter's forehead, and scolded, "You say that every time, and every time you end up blocking them. Use your head for once. Think about how old you are."
Yeah, exactly... Zhang Yuanqing gloated from the side, just before Jiang Yu'er's foot slammed into his shin under the table.
The two launched into a full kicking war beneath the dinner table, rattling the whole thing hard.
"If you're not going to eat, get back to your rooms!"
One bark from Grandma and both Zhang Yuanqing and his aunt instantly dropped their heads and shoveled rice into their mouths.
"Grandma, when is Cousin coming home?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.
His uncle's family lived right across the hall. A short time ago, his uncle, a freewheeling man from a wealthy background, had gone on a trip abroad with his well-to-do wife, and during that period, his cousin had been coming over for dinner every evening.
"He said he's working overtime tonight and won't be back... That man, once he starts working he forgets he's mortal. The complete opposite of his good-for-nothing father," Grandma grumbled.
Overtime... Zhang Yuanqing couldn't hide his disappointment as he let out a deflated, "Oh."
After dinner, Zhang Yuanqing and Jiang Yu'er each retreated to their rooms, leaving Grandma to clean up.
***
Back in his room, Zhang Yuanqing locked the door, picked up his phone, and dialed his cousin's number. Since he couldn't speak to him face to face, a phone call would have to do. It wouldn't be as clear as having a conversation in person, but it was better than nothing.
The call connected quickly, but the only thing that came over the line was an automated message informing him that the phone was powered off.
"In a meeting?" Zhang Yuanqing wondered as he hung up with a sigh.
As a squad captain with the Public Security Bureau, his cousin was always busy. Irregular schedules, unpredictable meals, and being unreachable like this happened all the time. Zhang Yuanqing was used to it.
He lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, letting his thoughts drift.
If he assumed Bro Bing's disappearance was the work of someone after the black card, then he needed to be careful. The safest move was to hand the card over to his cousin, who could then escalate it to his superiors.
Given the relative administrative powers wielded by Songhai City's Public Security Bureau, any faction operating out of Jiangnan Province would have limited reach here.
The problem was that the black card had vanished. Zhang Yuanqing scratched his head in frustration. That's the real headache...
A card that could disappear into thin air—the very thought was terrifying. Without the card, the option of turning it over to the authorities was off the table.
All he could do was come clean with his cousin, have him report it up the chain, and then follow whatever instructions came down. He was just an ordinary college student. There was nothing else he could do.
Suddenly, Zhang Yuanqing felt a stinging sensation on his forehead. It felt hot. He reached up and scratched at it, but the pain only intensified.
Hm? Burning and painful at the same time. What's going on...?
Confused, he climbed off the bed. Walking over to the full length mirror standing by the window, he carefully studied his reflection.
A young man's face was reflected in the mirror. Clean, refined features. Fair skin. No hardened edges forged by society's hardships, no weathered look carved by the passage of time. Just the unbridled vitality of youth.
In the middle of his forehead was a mark that resembled a black full moon, vivid and lifelike, with its irregular surface markings clearly visible.
Beneath that moon mark was something resembling a progress bar. It looked like it was at 90%.
What the... Zhang Yuanqing stumbled backward in shock. He scrubbed at his forehead furiously, but the mark clung to it like a tattoo, refusing to disappear no matter how hard he rubbed.
How was this on his forehead? When did it appear? Chaotic thoughts raced through his mind in a tangle of panic and confusion.
Wait! This... this pattern. It's the black moon from the card.
He froze for a moment, and then the realization hit him all at once. The black card hadn't been lost. It had entered his body through some means he couldn't begin to comprehend, and had somehow become the mark on his forehead.
While he stood there in bewilderment, the progress bar beneath the black moon ticked up to 92%. Each time the number jumped higher, his forehead seared with heat.
What was this? Some supernatural occurrence? Some form of superior technology? A hallucination?
At that moment, the contents of the letter surfaced in his mind once more. "A gift that could change your life..."
The black card really is something precious. So my earlier guess was right. Someone was after this card, and Bro Bing didn't want them to have it, so he sent it to me. And because of that, he disappeared...
Zhang Yuanqing let himself worry for Bro Bing as he stared at the progress bar with barely concealed anticipation.
What would happen when it reached 100%? Having witnessed the impossible with his own eyes, he was brimming with curiosity about what would come next.
After several more flashes of searing pain, the progress bar beneath the black moon finally completed its journey and hit 100%.
The next moment, a voice rang in his ears, flat, emotionless, and completely devoid of feeling.
【Character Card reboot complete...】
【Name: Awaiting designation (please name immediately)】
【Race: Human】
【Class: Nocturnal Specter】
【Level: 0】
【Skills: None】
【Experience: 0%】
【Morality: 60 (starting value)】
Beneath the morality stat was a footnote:
【Never let your Morality drop below 60. You may not have had a choice before, but from now on, please be a good person.】
Zhang Yuanqing stared at the luminous blue character attribute panel hovering before his eyes, utterly stupefied. What on earth was this?
He ventured a guess. "A System?"
As a seasoned internet surfer, being well informed was a basic requirement.
The emotionless voice echoed in his ears once more.
【Please name your character immediately!】
A glowing blue box popped out from the attribute panel and remained frozen in midair, waiting for him to write something in it.
It wasn’t a system then. Or if it was, then its intelligence level was so absurdly low that it couldn't even hold a conversation.
Deciding to take things one step at a time, Zhang Yuanqing extended a finger and wrote his own name.
"Zhang Yuanqing"
【Warning: Real names are prohibited.】
I can’t use my own name? Zhang Yuanqing blinked, then wrote a second name.
"Yuanshi Tianzun" [1]
【Naming successful! The Spirit Realm will open in ten seconds. Yuanshi Tianzun, good luck!】
As the voice faded, Zhang Yuanqing’s mind went blank. What’s going on? Opening the Spirit Realm? Shouldn't you explain what the Spirit Realm is first?
Before he could regain his composure, the ten second countdown had already ended.
【Ding. Spirit Realm map loading complete. Welcome to "Nocturnal Specter — Sheling Tunnel," Number: 0079.】
【Difficulty: S】
【Type: Solo (Death Type)】
【Main Quest 1: Survive for three hours.】
【Main Quest 2: Explore Spirit Realm 0079. Current exploration: 0%】
【Note: Non-Spirit Realm items cannot be brought inside.】
【Spirit Realm 0079 Introduction: Have you heard of the Sheling Tunnel, one of Songhai's Ten Great Urban Legends?】
【The Sheling Tunnel was built near the end of the last century. During construction, a work crew entered the tunnel on a rainy night to excavate and vanished inside, never to be seen again.】
【The Public Security Bureau organized search parties for days. In the mountains, they found a single worker who had been part of that night's excavation crew, but the rest had vanished without a trace.】
【The lone survivor, despite making it out alive, had been subjected to some unknown horror that had shattered his mind, leaving him babbling and incoherent... No matter how the officers questioned him, the only words that left his mouth were the same ones, over and over.】
【He said: Don't go into the temple. Don't go into the temple...】
The voice in his ears grew fainter and fainter until it faded to nothing. The world before his eyes rippled, warping and blurring like the surface of a lake that had just been disturbed.
Moments later, the scene before his eyes gradually steadied. A path paved with fine gravel was beneath his feet, and dim, yellowish light fell across the uneven walls that lined it. Zhang Yuanqing looked around in astonishment. "Where am I?"
He was standing inside an old, decrepit tunnel, lit by the feeble orange glow of antique xenon lamps mounted along the arched ceiling above.
1. Directly translated, his IGN is God’s Rebirth. ☜
