Chapter 4: The Arrival of the Bizarre
In a daze, Zhang Yuanqing felt something soft and full pressing down on his body, making it somewhat difficult to breathe.
Opening his eyes, he saw a round, delicate face with a mischievous smile.
His aunt grumbled playfully:
"You naughty boy, how dare you stand me up. I'll sit on you until you die."
She straddled her nephew, leaning forward and lifting her bottom to sit down hard.
Zhang Yuanqing grunted from the impact, almost losing his breath. Annoyed, he arched his back, throwing the woman off balance.
Amidst his aunt's surprised "Ah!", he noticed it was already dark outside the window. Without realizing, he had slept from morning till evening.
"Time to eat!"
His aunt lay on her side on the bed, kicking her nephew's bottom repeatedly.
"Stop retaliating, will you? I respect my elders and won't stoop to your level."
Zhang Yuanqing slipped to the edge of the bed, put on his shoes, and walked out of the room.
A rich aroma wafted through the living room. His grandparents were sitting at the dining table eating. His grandfather, with silver-white hair, was tall and thin with a stern, serious expression.
"So, how was the match I arranged for you this time?" his grandmother asked expectantly at the table.
"Not bad, annual salary of a million, corporate executive, very satisfying!" his aunt nodded vigorously.
"You say that every time, and every time you block them," grandmother scolded, poking her daughter's forehead. "Grow up a little, think about how old you are."
"That's right, that's right." Zhang Yuanqing gloated from the side, then Jiang Yuer kicked him hard in the shin.
The two began kicking each other under the table, making it rattle constantly.
"If you're not eating, get back to your rooms!"
With one shout from grandmother, Zhang Yuanqing and his aunt immediately lowered their heads and started eating.
"Grandma, when is cousin coming back?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.
Uncle's family lived right across the hall. Recently, his aunt from a wealthy family and his free-spirited uncle went abroad for travel. During this time, his cousin had been having dinner here.
"He said he's working overtime tonight and won't be back... That boy, he works himself to death, completely opposite from his idle father," grandmother complained.
"Oh," Zhang Yuanqing responded, unable to hide his disappointment.
After dinner, Zhang Yuanqing and Jiang Yuer returned to their rooms, leaving grandmother 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 talk face to face, a phone call would have to do.
Though talking on the phone wasn't as clear as speaking in person.
The call connected quickly, but the speaker only transmitted an automated message saying the phone was powered off.
"In a meeting?"
Zhang Yuanqing hung up helplessly. As the captain of the security team, his cousin was always busy, with irregular meals and rest. It wasn't uncommon to be unable to reach him.
He was used to it.
Zhang Yuanqing lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, letting his thoughts wander.
Assuming Brother Bing's disappearance was intentional, and their target was the black card, then I need to be careful. The safest method would be to hand the black card to my cousin, who could then report it to his superiors.
Given the administrative level of Songhai City's Security Bureau, the forces from Jiangnan Province would have limited influence.
But the problem is, the black card has disappeared, which is the most troubling... Zhang Yuanqing scratched his head in frustration.
A black card that could vanish into thin air - just thinking about it was terrifying. Without recovering the black card, the option of handing it over to the state was off the table.
The only choice was to come clean with his cousin first, let him report it to his superiors, and then follow their instructions. He was just an ordinary college student, there wasn't much he could do.
Suddenly, Zhang Yuanqing felt a pain and heat on his forehead. He reached up to scratch it, but the pain intensified.
Huh? Pain and heat, what's going on?
Confused, he left the bed and walked to the full-length mirror by the window, examining himself.
The mirror reflected the face of a young man with delicate features and fair skin, lacking the resilience forged by life's hardships or the maturity etched by time.
Only the vibrant energy of youth radiated from him.
On his forehead, there was a black, moon-shaped mark, lifelike, with clearly visible irregular patches on its surface.
At the bottom of the circular moon mark, there was something resembling a progress bar, showing: 90%
This... Zhang Yuanqing stumbled backwards in shock. He rubbed his forehead vigorously, but the mark seemed like a tattoo, impossible to erase.
How did this thing appear on my forehead? When did it show up? Confused and panicked thoughts raced through his mind.
"Wait! Isn't this pattern the black moon from the card?"
He froze for a moment, then suddenly understood.
The black card hadn't been lost; it had entered his body in a way he couldn't comprehend, becoming the mark on his forehead.
As he pondered this, he noticed the progress bar beneath the black moon mark had changed to 92%. With each number change, his forehead felt scorching hot.
What is this? A supernatural phenomenon? Advanced technology? Hallucination?
At this moment, the contents of the letter resurfaced in his mind: This is a gift that can change your life...
"The black card really is a treasure. So my previous guess was correct - someone coveted this card. Brother Bing didn't want them to get it, so he sent it to me, and that's why he disappeared."
While worrying about Brother Bing, Zhang Yuanqing expectantly watched the progress bar.
What would happen when the progress bar reached 100%? Having witnessed the current supernatural event, he was full of curiosity about the coming changes.
After a few more bouts of burning pain, the progress bar beneath the black moon finally completed its journey, reaching 100%.
The next moment, a voice without emotional fluctuation or feeling resonated in his ears:
[Character card reboot complete]
[Name: Awaiting designation (Please name immediately)]
[Race: Human]
[Occupation: Night Wanderer]
[Level: 0]
[Skills: None]
[Experience: 0%]
[Morality: 60 (Initial value)]
Below the morality value was a note:
[Never let your morality fall below 60. You may not have had a choice before, but now please be a good person.]
Looking at the blue character attribute panel floating before him, Zhang Yuanqing was stunned for a while, thinking, "What is this?"
He tentatively asked: "System?"
As a skilled internet surfer, being knowledgeable was a must-have quality.
The emotionless voice echoed in his ears again:
[Please name your character immediately!]
A blue handwriting box popped up on the immobile attribute panel floating in mid-air.
Not a system, otherwise the AI would be too low-level, unable to even communicate... With a 'take it step by step' mindset, Zhang Yuanqing extended his finger and wrote his own name:
Zhang Yuanqing
[Warning, please do not use your real name.]
Can't use my real name? Zhang Yuanqing was taken aback, then wrote a second name:
Yuanshi Tianzun
[Naming successful! Spiritual Realm will open in ten seconds. Yuanshi Tianzun, good luck!]
Hearing the echoing voice, Zhang Yuanqing was stunned for a moment, thinking, "What's going on? Opening the Spiritual Realm? Shouldn't you explain what the Spiritual Realm is first?"
Before he could regain his composure, the ten-second countdown had already ended.
[Ding, Spiritual Realm map opening complete. Welcome to "Night Wanderer - Sheling Tunnel", Number: 0079.]
[Difficulty Level: S]
[Type: Single player (Death type)]
[Main Quest One: Survive for three hours.]
[Main Quest Two: Explore Spiritual Realm 0079, current exploration rate: 0%]
[Note: Non-Spiritual Realm items cannot be brought in.]
[Introduction to Spiritual Realm 0079: Have you heard of the Sheling Tunnel, one of Songhai's Ten Ghost Stories?]
[Sheling Tunnel was built at the end of the last century. During its construction, a work crew entered the tunnel to excavate on a rainy night and disappeared inside, never to be seen again.]
[The Security Bureau organized search teams to look for days, finding only one worker who had participated in that night's excavation in the mountains. The others were nowhere to be found.]
[Although that survivor lived, he suffered some unknown shock and became mentally unstable. No matter how the security officers questioned him, he kept repeating only one sentence.]
[He said: Don't enter the temple, don't enter the temple...]
The voice in his ears grew fainter and fainter until it was inaudible. The scene before his eyes, like a rippling lake surface, became distorted and blurry.
In an instant, the image gradually stabilized. Dim lights illuminated the uneven walls, and beneath his feet was a path paved with fine gravel.
"Where am I?"
Zhang Yuanqing looked around in astonishment, realizing he was in an old tunnel. Old-style xenon lamps on the arched ceiling emitted a faint orange glow.
PS: We're now 11th in monthly votes, thank you all, you're amazing.
Because it's a modern setting, some world-building is necessary. This world only has the Security Bureau. You're all longtime readers, you should understand.
(End of Chapter)