1: Chapter 0001 Murder

In the dead of night, a tall, thin, short-haired youth walked briskly down the street, the heels of his leather shoes clicking "da-da" against the hard stone pavement...

His figure swayed under the dim light of the sorcery streetlamps, casting a long, eerie shadow that looked almost like a phantom as he hurried toward the Gray Mist Mountain Town Lower Academy.

Before heading back, he had checked his pocket watch; it was about ten past nine when he left the square. If he didn't walk faster, the dormitory would lock its doors on time at nine-forty.

He certainly didn't want to spend the night on the streets during the Frozen Month, only to become the headline news of Gray Mist Mountain tomorrow after freezing to death for failing to return to school on time.

After taking a shortcut around a bend, he could see the school getting closer and closer, with only two turns left...

"Hoo~" He couldn't help but exhale a puff of hot air, which cast a faint, misty shadow under the sorcery streetlamp nearby.

It was truly too cold...

"Ah!"

The short, fearful, desperate, and helpless roar vanished as if it had never occurred. Only the shadow under the sorcery lamp trembled twice before suddenly falling into the deep alleyway, never to be seen again...

Falling into the abyss at the same time was a (legal adult) young man named 'Li Size'...

About a few minutes later...

"Ah!"

It seemed to exist, yet it seemed not to; it even appeared to be mixed with the "hissing" sound of a radio losing its frequency...

If someone were well-versed in necromantic sorcery, they might have deduced that this was the manifestation of a Ghost-type power.

"Li Size"—no, he was no longer the Li Size who had fallen moments ago...

Instead, it was the "Li Size" from Blue Star—a mechanical automation engineer from the 10th Institute of Aerospace Automation of Yanxia—who opened his eyes on the ground...

He had just returned from the 10th celebration banquet of the "Nantianmen Project" when a laser beam struck the back of his neck, shattering his "AI Chip Mo Zhe" and his brain, killing him instantly.

And then, he woke up as if it had all been just a nightmare...

No!

That's not right!

His whole body felt torn, repelled, and bone-chillingly cold...

Where is this?

"Ah!"

It felt like waking up from a drunken stupor, trying to recall fragmented memories—things that seemed both familiar and strange, hazy and unclear...

There were some fragments, but they were disjointed. It seemed there were even more fragments that were even hazier, as if separated by a membrane, unable to be recalled at the moment.

But none of them seemed to be his own!?

What is going on!

Is he dead or alive? Is he still himself?

Li Size struggled to prop up his slightly stiff body, when suddenly, a fragment surged into his brain:

This body had just had its Soul torn apart and devoured by a transparent, eerie entity from the dark Void Realm!

And then, Li Size had possessed it and come back to life!

He was already "dead"!

If this was a murder, and if the killer was still watching him, then he was clearly in great danger now!

"Damn it!"

Li Size endured the tearing pain and the drunken sensation of being unable to control his body, and ran blindly in the direction of the "Academy" in his mind...

"Tap, tap, tap"...

Continuous footsteps came from ahead, making Li Size's scalp tighten: "Could I have walked right into a trap?"

There was no sorcery light in the deep alley, so he couldn't see very clearly. He could only make out what looked like three people ahead, leaving Li Size in a dilemma...

The people over there seemed to hear Li Size's footsteps stop and shouted: "Who! Who is there?"

As they spoke, the other party approached. He could vaguely make out that they were wearing crimson uniforms with a badge pinned to their chests:

Two crossed rifles with a knight's long shield at the center above them.

Anyone could probably tell that this was an official force.

Li Size tried hard to recall the extra information in his brain; fortunately, there was just enough to handle the current situation.

He raised his hands: "Officer! I am Li Size, an apprentice at the Town Academy. I just experienced a murder! Please, help me!"

Although he wasn't sure if these Patrol Officers could deal with the legendary Ghosts, this was the last straw Li Size could find at the moment.

Upon hearing this, the Patrol Officer holding the shield glared forward, tilted the shield tip against the ground, half-squatted with his right leg forward to brace behind the shield, and said in a cold voice: "Alert!"

The other two Patrol Officers stood to Li Size's left and right, holding their guns, aiming forward and backward respectively, though it was clear they were also maintaining a certain level of caution toward Li Size:

The Patrol Officer with the shield had already drawn a revolver with his left hand, covering a 360-degree shooting range, including Li Size.

It was clear that these Patrol Officers were well-trained, experienced, and calm. Li Size calmed down involuntarily, though he was still somewhat worried about a Ghost suddenly appearing.

About 1-2 minutes passed, and as there seemed to be no other activity, the way the three men looked at Li Size changed.

Especially since Li Size was currently unstable, swaying slightly, looking somewhat like he was drunk.

Li Size breathed a sigh of relief and explained while keeping his hands raised:

"Officer! I really was attacked by a Ghost just now. I thought I was a goner, but the Ghost suddenly disappeared, and that's when I ran out!! Really! Please help me!"

"A Ghost!?" Upon hearing this, the three Patrol Officers gasped, feeling a tightness in their chests. They looked at the darkness around them, as if a Ghost were about to pounce from somewhere.

The three of them pulled out transparent vials of about 20ml from their waists, the pale yellow liquid inside seeming to glow faintly.

Then, they each took out three bullets, and the liquid dripped onto them, miraculously disappearing.

Could this be the legendary holy water?

They loaded the bullets back into the first three slots of their magazines in turn; they clearly had some knowledge about countering such powers.

Although he had only arrived in this world a few minutes ago and was experiencing a bizarre murder, the high-IQ Li Size had already caught a glimpse of a few things from the details:

Obviously, this was a world where extraordinary powers existed; but it was not the kind of ignorant, low-level civilization.

From the sorcery streetlamps, the existence of the Town Academy, the street planning, and the capable and orderly official forces, this was a highly developed civilization.

The Patrol Officers seemed to have proven they had the ability to deal with Ghost monsters. Although Li Size was still nervous, he finally had the presence of mind to calm down and sort through his chaotic thoughts.

Just after possessing this body, besides himself, it seemed the parasitic chip [Mo Zhe] had come along too?

Thinking back carefully, the damaged Mo Zhe had fused with his Soul and Transmigrated together, seemingly triggering a mutation due to the mysterious powers of this world.

But it had been in an unstable, failing collapse; it turned out it had accidentally absorbed two broken Ghosts and had actually stabilized and was rebooting.

It would be activated in about 30 minutes, and the reactivated [Mo Zhe] would mutate into a unique Soul talent of this world.

As for those two broken Souls, the first one seemed to be the original owner of the body, and the second one seemed to be the Ghost that attacked?

This meant he was actually out of danger, though perhaps the killer was still planning a second attack, so Li Size dared not tell the Patrol Officers the truth.

Another ten minutes passed, and there was still no movement. It seemed that with the appearance of the Patrol Officers, the killer would not launch a second attack.

The three Patrol Officers were clearly relieved, but a Ghost attacking humans in the town was a very serious hidden danger.

The three Patrol Officers decided to take Li Size back to the police station. They had to make a detailed record and investigation of the entire event, and find clues to ferret out the mastermind.

The three officers introduced themselves to Li Size; the one with the shield was Perisman, and his two colleagues were Tiflin and Levan.

Then, they took Li Size to retrieve his bicycle at the street corner and carried Li Size back to the police station; it was much like the bicycles on Blue Star.

Before they even reached the police station gate, the Soul talent activated first.

Beep! Soul talent - [Unnamed] activated!

Li Size fell into deep thought, and a moment later, understood its function:

Absorb currency to convert into energy points; energy points can be used to improve physical fitness, Deduction, and Analysis!

Li Size decided to just name it [Pay-to-Win].