29: Using ghosts as collateral to gamble for a way to survive

Lin Que dimmed the lights in the studio to the lowest setting,

leaving only a floor lamp in the corner casting a solitary glow.

He stared at the author dashboard of Hongguo Novel Website, the cursor blinking quietly in the title bar.

Wang Shouyi held high the banner of "Jian Shen," calling on the literary world to learn from him.

This farcical scene put Lin Que in an excellent mood.

Since they wanted to learn, he had to bring out something new for everyone to "study" properly.

His fingers fell on the keyboard, typing the title of the new chapter.

[Using Ghosts as Stakes, Betting on a Path to Survival]

This time, he no longer pursued pure sensory stimulation,

but decided to unveil a corner of this cruel world,

throwing that bottomless setting before all his readers.

Words flowed rapidly under his hands.

[...]

[Professor He is dead.]

[His death taught all survivors a bloody lesson: in this era of supernatural recovery, knowledge, morality, and integrity are all worthless. The only thing that can counter a ghost is another ghost.]

[Yang Jian looked at the ghost shadow that had turned Professor He's tongue into a bookmark and slowly raised his left hand.]

[That hand was pale and cold, without a trace of blood, as if it didn't belong to a living person.]

["You... your hand..." Among the survivors, a girl pointed at him in horror.]

["This is the price," Yang Jian's voice was devoid of any emotion.]

["I have harnessed a part of the Door-Knocking Ghost. That rusted golden palm is the hand of the Door-Knocking Ghost.]

[As a price, my left hand is also turning into a ghost hand. It gives me the ability to touch and suppress other ghosts, but at the same time, it is eroding me."]

["People like us have a title: Ghost Controllers."]

["We are malevolent ghosts walking the earth, using our own lives to bet on a temporary safety.]

[Every time we use a ghost's power, we are accelerating our own deaths. But if we don't, we'll die right now."]

["As for the ghost that uses a tongue as a bookmark..." Yang Jian's cold gaze shifted to that ghost shadow from the Republic of China era.]

["It's not invincible. Its killing pattern is a hatred for noise.]

[Professor He's recitation sounded like noise to it. So, it killed him."]

["And the price of harnessing it, I guess... is becoming a mute who can never speak."]

["Make your choice. Do you want to be killed by a ghost now, or do you want to become a monster like me and then be slowly consumed by a ghost?"]

Lin Que paused after finishing these paragraphs.

He knew these few lines would completely subvert the readers' perception of horror novels.

It was no longer a simple ghost story,

but a brand-new world with strict rules and a cruel system.

The concept of "Ghost Controller" was a bombshell he had dropped.

Without any hesitation, he uploaded all thirty thousand words he had written in one go.

This time, the comment section wasn't immediately occupied by wails and howls,

but fell into an eerie, prolonged silence.

All the readers were stunned into silence by this grand and desperate setting.

Over an hour later, the comment section erupted like a geyser.

[Holy crap! Ghost Controllers! Using ghosts to fight ghosts! What kind of god-tier setting is this! My scalp is tingling!]

[So that's what the golden palm meant before! The author is amazing! This logical chain is so complete!]

[Every ghost has its own pattern, and harnessing it requires paying a corresponding price! This world-building is invincible!]

[Don't get too excited upstairs! Didn't you notice the most terrifying part? Becoming a Ghost Controller only delays death!]

[In other words, everyone in the book is doomed! That's the ultimate despair!]

[I get it! The book title, "the human world is like a prison," doesn't mean the world is like hell because of ghosts,]

[but rather that to survive, humans have to become ghosts. That is the true "the human world is like a prison"!]

[This isn't a horror novel anymore; it's an apocalyptic philosophical text in a supernatural cloak!]

[Dream Weaver Great Master, please accept my worship!]

The readers went wild.

For the first time, they discovered that horror could be written with such "sophistication" and speculative depth.

This craze triggered by "Ghost Controllers" quickly spread from the comment section to various social platforms and forums, forming a phenomenal cultural discussion.

...

The next day, Jiangcheng No. 1 High School.

The atmosphere on campus had changed again.

If "Door-Knocking Ghost" and "Ghost Under the Bed" brought collective panic,

then "Ghost Controller" brought a desire for exploration mixed with fear and excitement.

During breaks, students were everywhere in the hallways, discussing in hushed voices.

"Hey, if I harnessed the Turn-back Kill ghost, would the price be that my neck can only ever look forward?"

"Then if you harnessed the Sleep Paralysis Ghost, would the price be permanent paralysis? I'd rather just die!"

Wu Di's eyes shone as he grabbed Lin Que's arm and shook it violently.

"Brother Que! Brother Que! Did you see it? The latest update of 'the human world is like a prison'! Ghost Controllers! That's so freaking cool!"

Lin Que felt dizzy from the shaking and gave an impatient "Mhm."

"Brother, do you think such things really exist in this world? Using the power of ghosts to fight ghosts?"

Wu Di's face was full of longing.

Lin Que glanced at him and said calmly:

"Yes."

"Really?!"

Wu Di's eyes widened like copper bells.

"The price is that from now on, you can only ever get a zero on your exams."

Wu Di's face instantly slumped:

"...Then never mind."

Their conversation, clearly enough, drifted into the ears of Shen Qingqiu, who had just reached the classroom door.

Ghost Controllers?

"the human world is like a prison" again.

Shen Qingqiu's brow furrowed involuntarily.

Her perception of this book was extremely complex.

On one hand, she loathed the panic and darkness it spread.

On the other hand,

the plot where the ghost didn't read poetry forced her to acknowledge the author's talent.

What made her even more conflicted was Lin Que.

This youth who had just had an epiphany in front of her, vowing to learn from Jian Shen teacher,

why was he discussing this kind of spiritual opium with his classmates again?

Could it be that his remorse from a few days ago was all an act?

This thought made her feel very uncomfortable.

All day, Shen Qingqiu felt somewhat restless.

After returning home in the evening and finishing her lesson prep,

as if possessed, she still clicked on Hongguo Novel Website.

When she saw that glaring title, [Using Ghosts as Stakes, Betting on a Path to Survival],

a sense of foreboding surged in her heart.

In the end, she couldn't help but click on it.

An hour later,

Shen Qingqiu leaned back in her chair, her face pale.

She felt as if her worldview was being forcibly dismantled and reconstructed.

This...

Is this really something an online novel author could write?

The setting of "Ghost Controller" was like a key,

instantly connecting all the previously seemingly scattered horror events

into a complete, self-consistent, and incredibly dark world.

Its logic was terrifyingly rigorous, and its despair was deep to the bone.

This wasn't simple grandstanding at all;

it was a grand narrative with a complete worldview!

She suddenly thought of that mysterious "Jian Shen" teacher.

She heard from friends in the Writers Association

that the internal team at "New Tide" had tried many ways to meet him, but were all rebuffed.

One portrayed the human world as hell, a demon dissecting the despair of human nature with cold words.

One was an angel mending the flaws of the human world, providing salvation to the world with the gentlest touch.

One in the abyss, one in the clouds.

These two completely different creative souls coexisted in the world.

She picked up her phone, wanting to find someone to talk to,

flipped through her contacts, and finally her finger stopped on Professor Li Yuanchao's number.

But in the end, she didn't dial.

...

Lin Que hummed a little tune as he returned to his new home in Xisheng Mansion.

As soon as he entered, he smelled the rich aroma of food.

"Little Que is back!"

Wang Xiulian, wearing an apron, poked her head out from the spacious open kitchen,

her face beaming with a relaxation and happiness she had never had before.

"Go wash your hands quickly; Mom made your favorite braised pork today!"

"Alright."

Lin Jianguo was sitting on the large leather sofa in the living room,

watching the news on the ultra-thin LCD TV on the wall,

holding a cup of hot tea in his hand.

Seeing Lin Que, he just lifted his eyelids and said:

"You're back."

But his relaxed brow and the corners of his mouth, no longer tense,

both showed his pleasant mood.

Lin Que washed his hands and sat down at the dining table.

A sumptuous dinner, bright lights, and his parents' comfortable smiles.

All of this made him feel incredibly grounded.

This was the meaning of his making money.

Just as he sat down at the table,

the phone on the table vibrated frantically.

He frowned and unlocked the phone.

On the screen was a series of unread messages from his editor, Lvluo.

[Dream Weaver Great Master! Are you there? Something huge happened!!!]

[Great Master, reply quickly! The sky is falling!!!]

[[Link]: Jiangcheng and over a dozen other municipal Writers Associations jointly released: "Initiative to Purify the Online Literature Environment and Resist Vulgar and Harmful Works"]

...