Chapter One: Starting Out on Hell Difficulty

Page (1/3)

Military prison at the foot of Nine Yin Mountain, eastern outskirts of Wintersea City.

Shang Yi drifted back to consciousness, catching the damp, decaying stench that hung in the air. Groggy, he forced his eyes open and looked around, bewildered. Stone walls, a pitch-black iron door, a hard wooden cot with no mattress beneath him, and a faint shaft of light slipping in through a small window above the door.

Where am I?

He patted his head, memories crashing over him like a tidal wave.

I’ve crossed over…

Shang Yi pinched his own cheek, knowing full well this was no dream—this was a harsh, unyielding reality. He tried to recall the tags of his life before the crossing:

A police academy graduate who switched to game design, doubling as a horror game streamer.

Failed entrepreneurship, drowning in massive loan shark debt, driven to desperation.

…

“So I’ve transmigrated, and I still can’t escape a fate of utter despair?” Shang Yi quickly sifted through the memories of this world and gradually pieced together his predicament.

This world, where he’d landed, was called Skydome Continent, and in his memory, there existed only three cities.

The current city was Wintersea—economically, culturally, and technologically, it was almost identical to the cities from his former life.

Beyond the three cities lay a mysterious white fog reeking of death—anyone who entered perished instantly. The government had cordoned off all areas near the fog as military zones.

His father, Shang Li, and his mother, Bai Mei, jointly ran a haunted house on Wintersea’s western outskirts.

He himself was twenty years old, a sophomore majoring in game design at Wintersea University.

Today was the first day of summer break. His parents had asked him to bring a camera to the top of Nine Yin Mountain to take a few photos, claiming they had a government contract already authorized by the military.

The three of them reached the summit, but just as they were about to take pictures, Shang Yi suddenly lost all reason and shoved his parents off the cliff—down into the deadly white mist of East Sea.

All of it was captured on military surveillance. Shang Yi was swiftly arrested.

Strangely, the military didn’t hand him over to the police but locked him in the military prison beneath Nine Yin Mountain, announcing he would be executed for murder in half an hour.

Shang Yi fumed inwardly, “They really throw me into hell mode right from the start—there’s just no way out!”

Any romantic notions about transmigration were shattered in that instant.

He gripped his hair fiercely: “I have to find a way to survive. I can’t just die like a dog here.”

He forced himself to recall every detail of the moment he’d pushed his parents from the cliff, piecing it together and reasoning through the possibilities.

Page (2/3)

“Someone wanted my parents dead but couldn’t strike directly, so they framed me—controlled my mind, made me the murderer?”

As the thought flashed through his mind, a sliver of hope appeared, but after careful consideration, despair surged back: “I have no evidence at all.”

At that moment, the sound of a guard’s footsteps echoed outside the cell, and a line of text flickered before his eyes.

“Wintersea Haunted House System initializing. Please select survival difficulty.”

“Easy: Immediately receive Little Ghost - Baobao, Half-bodied Specter class.”

“Normal: Immediately receive Grudge Ghost - Xu Yin, Specter class.”

“Hard: Immediately receive Hunger Ghost - Tang Chi, Half-bodied Red-clad class.”

“Nightmare: Immediately receive Specter - Tang Ya, Red-clad class.”

The appearance of the system was like a drowning man grasping at a lifeline. After reading the four options carefully, Shang Yi realized this was a world of supernatural resurgence.

As a veteran gamer, he didn’t hesitate—he chose Nightmare difficulty.

As soon as he made his choice, the sound of a key turning came from outside the door.

With a clang, the iron door swung open.

A burly, vicious-looking guard stepped in, holding a pair of handcuffs.

“You!” He pointed to himself. “Put on the cuffs. Come with me!”

Sweat trickled down Shang Yi’s forehead as he cursed silently. “Where’s my red-clad specter? Where’s the ghost? Surely it’s not this thug of a guard…”

As he hesitated, the guard’s face suddenly contorted with terror.

A pale hand with razor-sharp nails shot out above the guard’s head and clamped down on his skull with a sickening snap.

A thin red line appeared across the guard’s neck.

With a grisly squelch, the ghostly hand twisted the guard’s head clean off and tossed it to the floor with a thud.

The headless body toppled forward, blood gushing from its neck.

Shang Yi dodged aside just in time to avoid being drenched in gore.

He gaped, jaw slack. “Is that a ghost? She’s practically a bone demon!”

At the cell door stood a girl about one meter seventy tall.

She bowed her head slightly, her doctor’s white coat soaked entirely in blood.

Page (3/3)

Her long hair hung over her face, nearly concealing it, and the skin that showed was so pale it was almost frightening.

“This female specter is… good thing I’ve played enough horror games. Anyone else would have been scared stiff by that display.”

Trying to calm his pounding heart, Shang Yi looked toward the ghost at the door and nervously called out, “Tang Ya?”

At the sound of his voice, the girl slowly lifted her head.

Black hair slid aside to reveal a face as flawless as white jade—so beautiful it seemed to steal one’s soul away.

Tang Ya regarded Shang Yi expressionlessly and approached.

Suddenly, she raised the same hand that had twisted off the guard’s head, fingers splayed, and lunged for his head.

Shang Yi was frozen with terror; his breath stopped, his blood seemed to congeal.

He watched, helpless, as Tang Ya’s ghostly pale hand pressed toward his face…

In that instant, countless thoughts flashed through his mind.

Instinct said to back away immediately.

But he trusted that the system’s gift wouldn’t be sent to kill him.

Suppressing his fear, he closed his eyes and stood firm.

A few seconds passed. Nothing happened. Shang Yi opened his eyes.

“Huh? Tang Ya? She’s gone?”

He glanced behind him—and saw a monster at least three meters tall standing there!

Its face was a ghastly white, with eyes, nose, and mouth like gaping black slits—a mask fit for a Halloween demon, utterly terrifying.

Its body was long and thin, like a giant lizard draped in a black cloak, standing upright.

Each clawed hand bore vicious, hooked talons that slashed through the air.

Shang Yi gasped sharply, about to react—when Tang Ya suddenly flashed into view, placing herself between him and the creature.

She faced the monster, arms outstretched, fingers hooked, eyes flashing with lethal intent.

The monster’s eyes bored into Tang Ya, its ghastly features twisting with bloodthirsty hunger.

It hunched forward, then lunged like a giant snake, so quickly its outline blurred.

Razor claws flashed, slicing toward Tang Ya’s throat!

But just as the claws were about to touch her flesh, a sudden change erupted—