Chapter 12 Who Am I 11

Patrick Star had two pointed, triangular hands with no fingers. However, opening a door only required grabbing the handle and pressing down; the action wasn't particularly delicate, so having no fingers didn't matter.

There were two bedroom doors, one on the left and one on the right. Patrick Star first pushed open the one on the left.

This bedroom clearly belonged to a couple. A wedding photo of the two embracing sweetly hung at the head of the bed, couple-themed ornaments sat on the desk, and the quilt was an old-fashioned red style decorated with hearts.

This was the parents' room.

Patrick Star didn't walk inside because the command Lin Xiangjun had issued was simply to "open the door." After opening it, it didn't linger but slowly waddled to the other side to open the other door as well.

This was clearly a child's room. It had a single bed, a desk with scattered picture books and stationery, and an open box full of toys on the floor. On the single bed was a princess-themed quilt full of innocent charm and plush toys, and the curtains had a thin layer of gauze.

But the pretty room didn't improve Lin Xiangjun's expression. She frowned, looking at the two quilts on the bed, her mood souring to the extreme.

This was the situation she least wanted to see, but clearly, it had happened anyway.

Lin Xiangjun checked the house from top to bottom. Aside from these two bedrooms, there was nowhere else to sleep—that friend who hadn't shown their face yet would need to squeeze into one bed with Lin Xiangjun at night.

Who would want to sleep with a supernatural entity?

Weren't they afraid of having their throat slit in the middle of the night!

Lin Xiangjun glanced at Patrick Star, who was standing quietly to the side pretending to be a corpse after opening the doors. "Go search the bedroom on the right now and see if there are any hidden notes—like the one in my hand."

Fearing Patrick Star might look for the wrong thing, Lin Xiangjun specifically took out the slip of paper with the Family Rules and waved it in front of its head.

Patrick Star slowly turned around, brought its head closer, and then nodded.

Lin Xiangjun: ...

So this starfish had been facing her with the back of its head just now?

Not having facial features was really a drawback; you couldn't even tell front from back. Lin Xiangjun rubbed her temples, feeling a bit stifled.

When she read novels, other people's paper figures weren't like this. The novels specifically described those paper figures as looking exactly like ordinary humans.

A paper figure was essentially a vessel containing a soul wandering the world—in other words, they were just like people, with their own joys, sorrows, and preferences. They could think independently and were completely loyal to the player who summoned them.

Why was her paper figure so different?

Was it that all the paper figures she had were different, or was it just this one?

Lin Xiangjun thought for a moment with a frown, and finally pulled out another paper figurine card and tore it open.

This time, as the light gathered, a woman wearing cartoon Donald Duck onesie pajamas appeared before her.

Her hair was very long but messy since it hadn't been combed. A long gash was torn open at her stomach, and blood had stained that area of her pajamas, the fleece soaked through and hardened into heavy clumps.

It was terrifying, but Lin Xiangjun was almost moved to tears of joy.

So there were normal paper figures after all!

"Master." This paper figure's voice sounded very young.

Lin Xiangjun nodded. "What is your name?"

"My name is Wang Min. I was twenty when I died, a sophomore in college. I was killed by a burglar while I was sleeping at home."

That was normal. After all, a soul that died of natural causes without any lingering obsessions wouldn't stay in the world for long. Lin Xiangjun nodded in understanding, then pointed at Patrick Star, who was sticking its butt in the air while rummaging around the bedroom. "Can you tell me what's going on with it? It seems... not very bright."

Wang Min glanced at Patrick Star.

"It is a higher-level paper figure than us."

Lin Xiangjun glanced at Patrick Star.

Its body was very bloated. Its arms couldn't reach into the gap under the bed, but it hadn't even thought of lifting the bed. Instead, it tried to wiggle and squirm its whole body underneath, forcefully shifting the bed out of place.

...She really couldn't see where the "high-level" part was.

Seemingly seeing through Lin Xiangjun's confusion, Wang Min explained, "Although paper figures like me appear smarter, can communicate more efficiently, and complete the master's tasks better, we all have a fatal flaw: we are easily damaged, and the cost of repairing our bodies is very expensive."

"But higher-level paper figures, like the one in the bedroom now, have much tougher bodies. Even if damaged, they can be repaired directly with underworld currency, and they can also grow. They can possess supernatural abilities—its current body is a blank slate so that after it gains a Supernatural Ability, it can evolve into a form that better suits that ability."

Understood.

Ordinary Paper Figures—like Wang Min—were at their maximum level from birth, just like ordinary humans, but that was the limit. She was as fragile as a human and had no possibility of becoming stronger.

High-Level Paper Figures—like Patrick Star—might look like an idiot now, but that was because it was level zero, still just a little baby that hadn't grown up.

As for how powerful this little baby could become in the future, it depended entirely on how Lin Xiangjun raised it.

"How does it grow?"

"By eating supernatural entities."

It was about what Lin Xiangjun expected. After all, supernatural abilities couldn't just appear out of thin air. According to the simple concept of 'eating something to nourish the same thing,' eating supernatural entities to replenish supernatural energy and gain supernatural abilities sounded very reasonable.

The way Lin Xiangjun looked at Patrick Star became much more affectionate.

Her luck was through the roof; she had actually pulled a hidden variant on the first try.

Lin Xiangjun had already started planning in her mind, preparing to feed that Stair Ghost to her little darling.

"Are there any precautions if I want to raise it?"

"Regularly feed it underworld currency," Wang Min said. "All of us paper figures need to be fed a certain amount of underworld currency periodically. This is the necessary price for us to use these bodies. If we aren't fed underworld currency, we will gradually grow weaker until we can no longer move and eventually die.

"Of course, High-Level Paper Figures definitely eat more than we do."

Lin Xiangjun nodded.

Wang Min was similar to an ordinary human and had her own selfish motives, subtly reminding Lin Xiangjun not to forget to feed her as well.

Lin Xiangjun didn't mind this behavior; after all, everyone needs to eat to survive, and it wasn't something to be ashamed of.

"What is the amount and frequency of the underworld currency feedings?"

"Ordinary Paper Figures like me need fifty once a week. For High-Level Paper Figures... it should be ten times ours. If you want us to go out and search for items, you need to pay one thousand underworld currency each time."

Lin Xiangjun understood.