chapter 1
“Brothers, the three great joys of middle age: just got promoted, made a fortune, and before my wife died, I ended up transmigrating myself-what should I do?”
“Waiting online, pretty urgent.”
Shen City, in a district apartment building near the second ring road, lights blazed brightly.
A young man sat with a hint of worry between his brows, unable to sleep for a long time.
His name was Li Yi, a transmigrator.
The story before his transmigration was hardly worth mentioning; all he remembered was that he died underwater while saving a student who had accidentally drowned.
When he opened his eyes again, he had arrived in this world.
Thinking about his beautiful wife holding someone else’s hand in the future, his own child calling another man “dad,” and spending his own money, Li Yi felt a headache coming on.
But after a moment, he suddenly realized-
He didn’t have a wife.
“It’s just a pity about my hundred gigabytes of study materials.”
Life was hard. Li Yi sighed.
After tossing and turning in bed for a while, he climbed up again and sat at his computer desk. The computer screen was filled with one shocking, bizarre case after another.
It sent chills down his spine.
This world seemed different from the one before he transmigrated…
There were midnight terror bells, Bloody Mary lurking in mirrors…
There was the Painted Skin Ghost that killed and swapped skins, and even pure cannibalistic maniacs.
This was the world he now lived in-a metropolis of monsters and strange tales.
It could also be a living hell.
Li Yi’s hands tapped on the keyboard, the glow of the screen reflected on his face. He was already aware that this was a world where Fierce Ghosts existed.
In the past, this place had been as peaceful as the world before Li Yi transmigrated.
But at some unknown point, Fierce Ghosts began appearing frequently among humans, attacking the city’s residents.
Some of these Fierce Ghosts were so terrifying that they could wipe out an entire city in a single night.
A city with millions of people-what a horrifying concept.
The residents of a wiped-out city wouldn’t die so easily.
Instead, they would be transformed into servants within the Domain of the Fierce Ghost, endlessly repeating the agony of their final moments in life.
People divided Fierce Ghosts into five major tiers: Wandering Spirit (harmless), Resentful Spirit (dangerous), Evil Ghost (city-destroying), Half-step Blood-clad Ghost, and Blood-clad Ghost.
Above the city-destroying tier, the levels of Fierce Ghosts could no longer be described by common sense. Theoretically, a single Blood-clad Ghost could easily slaughter an entire nation.
That is, if there were no Spirit Binders to stop them.
Humans were not completely powerless. Fortunately, the Spirit Bureau arose in response to the crisis. Most of its members were Extraordinary Persons and hidden masters who had originally cultivated in remote mountains.
With the Spirit Bureau keeping things in check, humanity could barely maintain the peace of the past.
This world had no celebrity idols. The headlines in the news were mostly about hauntings in certain regions, or the emergence of a new rising star capable of suppressing Fierce Ghosts.
If such headlines appeared on the internet in his previous life, they would surely be webnovel plots made up by some hack writer.
But in this world, they were genuine news hotspots, which made Li Yi feel a strong sense of dissonance.
He pinched his arm.
It wasn’t a dream. He really had transmigrated, and into a world where supernatural events existed.
Thinking that he might encounter a Fierce Ghost at any moment in the future, Li Yi couldn’t help but feel a chill in his heart.
Hmm? This news?
Dayan District! Isn’t that the district right next to mine?
He kept scrolling down, and one news item caught Li Yi’s attention. He hurriedly clicked it open.
Dayan District was right next to the rental apartment where Li Yi currently lived, separated by only a thousand meters.
If a Fierce Ghost incident broke out there, he definitely wouldn’t be able to escape either.
“Spirit Bureau Express: Recently, frequent Fierce Ghost Knock incidents have occurred within Shen City, concentrated in the Second Ring area. The number of victims has now exceeded several hundred.”
“We are temporarily naming this incident ‘Ghost Knock’. According to current information, anyone who hears the sound of a Fierce Ghost knocking-regardless of whether they open the door-will be marked as the Fierce Ghost’s target.”
“Hereby issuing emergency measures: Residents living in the Second Ring area must not fall asleep before midnight to avoid becoming the Fierce Ghost’s target.”
“At present, the Spirit Bureau has dispatched personnel to apprehend the Fierce Ghosts with all their strength, taking responsibility for the lives of the people.”
Below this news, the comment section was filled with complaints.
“What’s wrong with Shen City’s Spirit Bureau? Fierce Ghosts have already reached the Second Ring. Will we have to worry about being killed by Fierce Ghosts even at home in the future?”
“Heh, luckily I moved to the Capital early. At night, rows upon rows of Spirit Bureau troops patrol the streets-such a strong sense of security.”
“Truly envious. I wish Shen City could be as safe as Jingdu someday.”
It seemed the Spirit Bureau was similar to the police force from before he transmigrated, maintaining order in the city.
If one joined the Spirit Bureau, would they no longer have to worry about Fierce Ghosts coming to claim their lives at any moment?
Li Yi stared at the information on his computer, seriously considering the feasibility of this idea.
Always waiting for others to protect him wasn’t a solution; he should also take the initiative to seek out some means of survival.
But as an ordinary civilian, with neither any special skills nor an Inverse Gift, why would the Spirit Bureau accept him…
Dong, dong dong.
Just as Li Yi was deep in thought, a dull knocking sound suddenly rang out, making his heart clench.
Li Yi turned to glance at the clock, and a chill ran down his spine; the hairs on his body stood on end.
The clock on the wall was ordinary, but what was special was the time-it pointed to midnight, with the minute hand just past the quarter mark.
It was already… 12:01 AM.
The time when Fierce Ghosts roamed was also the most dangerous time in this world.
In this world’s cities, before midnight belonged to humans; after midnight, it was the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts.
Could he really be this unlucky?
Li Yi took a deep breath and stood up at the sound of the knocking, only to realize something was wrong. It was currently summer, the hottest season of the year.
But now, the temperature inside the room was bone-chillingly cold, as if it had suddenly dropped by more than ten degrees.
This strange phenomenon confirmed his suspicions. His hand gripping the chair trembled slightly.
A voice rang out in his mind.
“Anti-Cliché Streamer System is starting up…”
A must-have for transmigrators-the System golden finger had arrived. The time to change his fate had come.
Li Yi’s eyes lit up instantly, waiting expectantly for the System to activate.
“System binding complete.”
Then, a virtual interface appeared before Li Yi’s eyes, a phantom frame materializing in front of him.
Only at this moment did he truly feel ecstatic, even his fingers trembling uncontrollably.
It really was a System, not a hallucination.
Li Yi’s life was about to change.
Now he no longer had to worry about dying at the hands of a vengeful ghost at any moment.
In this world of the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts, his life finally had some protection.
The System’s interface was simple, resembling the popular streaming overlay on the internet, combined with a character frame from an online game, giving off a strong sense of high-tech.
Li Yi focused his attention on the screen before his eyes.