Who says vengeful ghosts can't go on blind dates?

Chapter 1: An Ordinary Life

Open your eyes.

It was a ceiling that felt both familiar and strange.

Ren Zhizhe sat up in bed. After a while, he began to fumble for clothes, get out of bed, and wash up.

And breakfast—after transmigrating to this world that is not much different from before, he generally does not cook, and usually eats all three meals outside at restaurants.

After yawning, Ren Zhizhe went out.

"Why is the sun so bright this morning?"

The sun he spoke of was actually a large, scarlet eye.

The sky outside was reflected in the giant eye as blood red, and the white clouds in the sky were floating, fleshy creatures with giant teeth. The purpose of the giant teeth was to hunt other "clouds" and grow stronger.

But the world in Ren Zhizhe's eyes is normal. The "white clouds" devouring each other are nothing more than two white clouds merging together in his eyes.

"Same as before. Here, take your cash."

Arriving at his usual restaurant, Ren Zhizhe took out cash from his pocket.

The world still uses cash for payments.

Or rather, the world's mobile phones are not advanced at all; they are still those bulky mechanical button phones that only have the functions of making calls, sending text messages, and playing Sokoban games.

"Guest, guest, you're up so early?"

morning?

Is it early? The sun is already so bright.

However, Ren Zhizhe knew that this was just a polite remark.

He glanced at the waiter in front of him.

It was a monster pieced together by countless hands. Because it had so many hands, it could serve many dishes at once.

The waiter's body also has a giant, round mouth in the center, which is specifically designed to devour weaker guests.

"Yes, waking up early is good for your health. Let's serve the meal."

"Guest...guest. I'm sorry, lately...you know, the economy isn't doing well lately, and vegetable prices have gone up."

The waiter said in a low voice, trembling with fear.

He didn't really understand what "the economy is bad" meant. But he knew that this phrase would be more effective with Ren Zhizhe.

The waiter clearly didn't dare to anger Ren Zhizhe.

However, the restaurant's rules were that vegetable prices were going up, which is why he had to risk his life to do this.

"All right."

Ren Zhizhe made up the price.

He is not short of money.

In this world, he has 9.96 million in savings in the bank, enough to live comfortably on the interest alone.

Where is your boss?

Previously, the boss would personally come to greet him. Why was it a waiter today?

"We recently hired a few new employees, and the boss is keeping an eye on them." The waiter's hands were trembling all over.

He had absolutely no desire to speak to the vengeful ghost before him.

He personally witnessed the previous boss being crushed into dust by Ren Zhizhe's killing rules because he said the wrong thing!

And then? A restaurant can't be without a boss. So one of his tall, thin colleagues was forced into becoming the new boss of the restaurant.

In short, you have to be careful when talking to this vengeful ghost!

"New employees? They're hiring new employees again?"

"Yes, yes."

"I remember you guys were always recruiting, weren't you?"

"this……"

"Did you quit after working there for only a few days?"

"Oh? Yes, yes, yes!"

"Hmm..." Ren Zhizhe nodded.

Indeed, the economic situation has been poor recently.

Working in the food service industry, these waiters/waitresses are said to be both exhausted and poorly paid. This generation of young people seems unable to endure hardship and are unwilling to waste their education on this kind of work.

Seeing that they had gotten away with it, the waiter relaxed considerably.

Where are all these new employees coming from?

Those were just humans participating in a bizarre game.

Nobody knows what the weird game is, and nobody cares.

For weak beings like them, all they need to know is that every so often, humans are forced into their world.

After finishing his meal, Ren Zhizhe left the restaurant.

He has lived in this world for a long time. Now, he has reached the age to get married.

So, he has to go on a blind date this morning.

The blind date was to take place in a quiet coffee shop. It wasn't too far, so he could walk there now.

"A café... I think it was called Tranquil Café?"

In my memory, it was a very quiet place with a very nice atmosphere.

The tables and chairs for this blind date were right next to the store entrance. In order to make a good impression on his date, he had to arrive early to wait.

"What kind of person will that blind date be?"

……

The human world.

"Sir, your order..."

Jiang Xiaowei placed a bowl of noodles in front of the guest.

As a waitress in a small restaurant, she was actually quite young.

Normally, someone her age should be in a university classroom competing fiercely with her peers. However, her mother is seriously ill, and her father died in a car accident, leaving them in dire need of money. She can only spare her precious time to do odd jobs.

However, just as she was about to put the bowl down, a voice suddenly exploded deep in her mind.

[You have become a player in the eerie game! The first round of the eerie game will begin in ten minutes. Please be prepared.]

"what!"

The bowl overturned, spilling liquid all over the table.

The customer who ordered the food was startled.

However, the customer didn't start cursing. Instead, he turned around with a bewildered look at the impetuous young girl in front of him.

At this moment, Jiang Xiaowei's face turned deathly pale, and she looked extremely unwell.

Ten minutes?

This is an attempt to kill her!

Since the arrival of the eerie game, online discussions have never stopped.

Therefore, even though she had never participated in the bizarre game, Jiang Xiaowei still knew a little about it.

Those chosen as players are transported to a world where survival is extremely difficult. New humans are chosen every day, and chosen players die every day.

"I'm so sorry, so sorry. We'll bring you a fresh bowl right away..."

Upon seeing Jiang Xiaowei standing there in a daze, the other waiters quickly came over to pull her away, while also apologizing to the guests repeatedly.

The customer frowned. But since it was only spilled on the table, and given the restaurant's promise of a free meal, the customer didn't say anything more, and simply pulled his companion to move to a new table.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell anywhere?"

The boss personally intervened and spent some time resolving the problem. Immediately afterward, Jiang Xiaowei was summoned by the boss.

The boss didn't blame him, but instead asked a few questions with concern.

This is just a small restaurant, a small business, and the wages are a bit low. There are actually only a few waiters, and they all know each other.

Jiang Xiaowei was introduced to the business by one of the waiters. Since most of the customers in this kind of small business are acquaintances, the boss naturally has no need to make things difficult for his employees.

Why would Jiang Xiaowei, who desperately needs money, take odd jobs here? Because she has no choice; places with higher wages don't hire students.

She got this job thanks to that waiter's connections, didn't she?

"It's a weird game..."

"A bizarre game? Is it your turn now?"

The boss was startled. He quickly offered a few words of comfort, but they couldn't dispel the despair in Jiang Xiaowei's heart.

Those chosen by the bizarre game will be forcibly transferred to a bizarre world to participate in a "game instance".

For humans, it was a world teeming with monsters, a place where survival was a matter of life and death.

The monsters in this eerie world are called vengeful spirits by humans. These vengeful spirits have unique rules for killing and pose a great threat to humanity.

Initially, in an effort to combat the eerie game, nations began investing heavily in training official players. But it was to no avail; those destined to die still perished. Humans were utterly powerless against the vengeful spirits.

Only a vengeful ghost can kill a vengeful spirit.

"Am I going to die?"

With only one minute left, Jiang Xiaowei trembled with fear.

The eerie game features a built-in shop where players can purchase items to increase their survival rate.

However, you need Ghost Coins to buy things!

Ghost coins can be obtained either from the supernatural world or by winning a game.

In other words, you have to play the game at least once before you can buy anything!

Doesn't that mean she's doomed?

【10…9…8…7…】

"Boss, I...I'm leaving."

【6…5…4…3…2…】

"Oh? So fast? Well... good luck, I really hope you come back safely."

【1! 】

Jiang Xiaowei didn't hear the boss's words clearly. With three seconds left on the countdown, she felt dizzy.

When she came to her senses again, she found herself on a dilapidated street.

Besides myself, there were other players around.

Jiang Xiaowei had intended to glance at the other unlucky souls like herself. But as soon as she entered the game instance, her attention was drawn to the bizarre instance details posted by the game.

[Instance Name: Exile Street]

[Dungeon Rating: Unknown]

[Instance Type: Survival]

[Instance Time Limit: 3 hours]

[Introduction: Survive by all means possible, using every trick in the book!]

[Remaining game time: 2 hours and 59 minutes.]

"What...what does this mean?"

A timid-looking girl spoke first.

"Damn it, survival mode again!" a scarred-faced player, clearly a veteran, cursed.

After that, without even glancing at anyone else, he quickly left the area along the street with a grim expression.

"Hey... why did this person just leave?"

A man wearing gold-rimmed glasses voiced his dissatisfaction.

With each person missing, his chances of survival decrease!

"Just a lone wolf," another middle-aged man with an afro casually remarked.

The gold-rimmed glasses and afro suggest he's a veteran player.

As for the others, they must all be players participating in the eerie game for the first time, right?

Jiang Xiaowei looked around.

Apart from Scarface, who had already left, only five people remained.

Gold-rimmed glasses, an afro, that girl, a fat guy, and Jiang Xiaowei herself.

Does that mean that half of the six people are veteran players?

"The rating of survival dungeons is 'unknown'. The rating of these dungeons will change depending on the player's actions. Even passing by a vengeful ghost can change the dungeon's rating."

Seeing so many newcomers, the man with the gold-rimmed glasses patiently explained.

"Therefore, don't wander around aimlessly. Otherwise, you might attract vengeful spirits and significantly increase the difficulty of the dungeon."

"I see... then we can just wait here?" the fat man asked eagerly.

His voice was loud, his movements were hurried, and saliva flew out of his mouth.

"If we wait three hours, we should be able to survive, right? We can go back then?"

The fat man's behavior made it difficult for Jiang Xiaowei, who wanted to ask a question, to get a word in edgewise.

"It depends on luck." The fat man asked so many questions, but the man with gold-rimmed glasses only replied with this one sentence.

He seemed very patient and did not seem disgusted by the fat man's rude behavior.

"That……"

"Something's coming." The man with the afro stared intently across the street.

"What?"

Jiang Xiaowei was startled.

Has the vengeful ghost come looking for us so quickly?

She quickly followed the gaze of the man with the afro and looked at the sidewalk across the street.

There really was someone there... no, it should be called a vengeful ghost!

"Is that... a beggar?" The girl shrank back in fear.

"What bad luck!" Upon seeing this, the man with the gold-rimmed glasses immediately cursed.

He saw a begging bowl in the ghost's hand. Perhaps...

As they were speaking, the beggar ghost had already taken a step towards them.

At this point, they couldn't escape even if they wanted to!

"Give me some money!"

Hearing the beggar ghost's hoarse voice, the man with the gold-rimmed glasses threw out a ghost coin without hesitation.

"And you?"

"Here you go." The man with the afro was a bit slow, but he still paid.

However, others were not so lucky.

The fat man stared longingly at the man with the gold-rimmed glasses, hoping this veteran player could save his life.

Unfortunately, the man with the gold-rimmed glasses remained silent. He was like a mute, his gaze fixed on the beggar ghost, showing no intention of offering any help.

Vengeful ghosts all have rules for killing.

Judging from what we just saw, this beggar ghost's rules for killing should be related to begging for money.

But to understand the situation in more detail, we must test it with that person's life.

and so--

"And you? Where's your money?!"

The beggar ghost put his arm around the fat man's shoulder.

"Get out of here! Get out of here!"

The fat man screamed in terror. However, the beggar ghost's grip was too strong, and he couldn't break free at all.

"You have no money. You have no money! Right!"

The beggar ghost plunged his fingers deep into the fat man's flesh.

For a moment, the fat man let out a piercing scream. Seeing this, Jiang Xiaowei and the girl both felt their legs go weak and stared at the scene in bewilderment.

"Run away," the man with the afro advised.

"This...this..." The girl's lips trembled, unable to utter a word. Finally, Jiang Xiaowei reacted and immediately took off running!

What should I do?

What to do!

If we keep running, can we escape the pursuit of this beggar ghost?

"what!"

Behind me came the girl's screams. Clearly, she was too slow and had already met her demise.

But this also gave Jiang Xiaowei more time to escape. However—

"No, humans can't outrun vengeful ghosts!"

Jiang Xiaowei was already panting.

What should I do?

How can I survive?