4: Chapter 4 Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Misfortune

!!!

Lin Chuan sat up abruptly, his eyes wide with disbelief.

His golden finger seemed to have finally arrived!?

It just seemed to have arrived a bit late—no, it should be said that he discovered it a bit late!

Damn it!

If he had discovered it sooner, he never would have written his name in the classroom without a second thought.

At the thought of this, Lin Chuan felt a surge of regret.

He had been too hasty, or rather, his mind had been too unsettled at the time to stay calm.

That was why he had missed the discovery of his golden finger!

"Chuan-zi, you can't sleep either?"

From the neighboring bed, Luo Jie, hearing the sudden movement, asked in a raspy voice.

It went without saying that Luo Jie's emotions were clearly unstable.

There was a distinct sense of bewilderment in that raspy voice.

It was obvious that he was dwelling on what they had encountered tonight.

That was why he sounded this way.

"Yeah, I have some things I need to sort through first."

Luo Jie's words snapped Lin Chuan out of his shock and regret.

After giving a casual reply, he began to explore his golden finger.

Perhaps because of their previous contact, the golden finger—which was that parchment book—

Actually appeared in his hands the moment the thought crossed his mind.

The yellowed, brown leather felt soft yet icy cold, as if it had just been taken out of an ice cellar, giving off a weird and ominous feeling.

"This is... a human skin book!?"

Lin Chuan's scalp tingled with shock, and his first instinct was to throw the human skin book away.

However, he ultimately suppressed the urge by force, compelling himself to calm down.

Lin Chuan looked at the cover of the book, which had four large characters carved into it.

Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Calamity!

"Could this be something the System created just to fit the rules of this world?"

To be honest, Lin Chuan was very skeptical.

Cheat systems like 'Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Calamity' were very common in novels from his previous life.

Because he was naturally familiar with the concept, he immediately made the connection.

But as for whether that was actually the case, he still had to explore it further.

Rustle...

He flipped to the first page, which displayed three lines of text.

They were precisely those three 'lots' from earlier.

As if sensing Lin Chuan's flipping, words began to emerge on another page of human skin.

[Triggering malevolent ghost killing laws. You may manually select 'Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Calamity', limited to three times daily. Note: If you exceed this, you do so at your own risk!]

Good grief!

It really is a system!

No, that's not right. It should be said that the System reached a stalemate with the rules of this world.

That's why it turned out like this.

With his wild imagination, Lin Chuan quickly came up with a logical explanation.

"Limited to three times daily, and if I exceed it, I'm on my own... Does this mean if I go over three times, this human skin book will behave like a Ghost Revival?"

Now that he knew how to use the human skin book, Lin Chuan pondered the warning at the end.

He couldn't be blamed for thinking this way; if the System had reached a stalemate with this world's rules,

Then that truly might be the consequence!

As for whether he should test it himself, heh, Lin Chuan wasn't stupid.

Courting death for no reason was an act of idiocy.

"With this 'Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Calamity' human skin book, I'll have at least some level of confidence for the upcoming trip to Taoyuan Village!"

Gripping the human skin book, a glimmer of hope rose in Lin Chuan's eyes.

With a cheat in hand, even in this world where malevolent Ghost Revivals were rampant,

He was confident he could survive!

Actually, when he first arrived here, his goals were simple: make money and live a comfortable life.

But after experiencing the supernatural incident in the classroom, he now only wanted to stay alive.

And to stay alive, he had to make good use of the human skin book and then control malevolent ghosts to become stronger.

Yes, controlling malevolent ghosts to become stronger.

Although there was a risk of Ghost Revival, according to the information his grandfather had given him, the supernatural phenomena in this world were gradually beginning to resurge.

In the future, it would surely be a scene where malevolent ghosts roamed freely and the world became a living hell.

To survive in such a world, not controlling malevolent ghosts to grow stronger was equivalent to waiting for death.

Moreover, he couldn't forget that there was still a Blood Script Ghost targeting him.

It was just a pity that Lin Chuan had missed his chance earlier in the classroom; otherwise, his life would certainly be much easier now.

"Speaking of which, can I repeat this operation the next time the Blood Script Ghost writes a task?"

Stroking the human skin book, a sharp light flickered through Lin Chuan's eyes.

If it really worked, he might be able to avoid the Blood Script Ghost.

However, for some reason, he felt it wouldn't be that simple.

Otherwise, the Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Calamity lots on the human skin book wouldn't have been lower-tier lots.

According to Lin Chuan's understanding, 'Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Calamity' was divided into three grades of lots: Top, Middle, and Bottom, with each grade further subdivided into Top, Middle, and Bottom tiers.

For example, the current [Top-Lower Lot], [Middle-Lower Lot], [Bottom-Lower Lot], and so on.

"Whew... Regardless, I can always try 'Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Calamity' when the time comes."

Taking a deep breath, Lin Chuan put away the human skin book.

He discovered that this human skin book seemed to be connected to his consciousness.

As long as he wished it, he could summon it.

It was quite magical.

Of course, that didn't mean it could only be used when summoned.

In fact, he could also choose to seek good fortune and avoid calamity within his consciousness.

This was a truly excellent feature!

Otherwise, if he had to take it out every time he wanted to use it,

It would surely be spotted by someone with ulterior motives, and who knew what they would do to him then.

As the saying goes, an ordinary man is innocent, but possessing a treasure makes him guilty.

This human skin book must never be discovered by anyone!

After the human skin book was stored away, he lay back down.

This time, Lin Chuan truly relaxed, and the tightly wound string in his heart loosened slightly.

After all, he now had the ability to evade the killing laws of malevolent ghosts.

With those thoughts drifting through his mind, Lin Chuan fell into a deep sleep.

...

Sometime after nine in the morning, Lin Chuan slowly woke up.

Just as he climbed down from his bunk, he saw that big dummy Luo Jie with dark circles under his eyes.

It didn't take a genius to figure out why he looked like that.

He clearly hadn't slept well last night. It made sense; anyone who encountered what they did last night wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully.

Well... he himself was an exception.

Firstly, he understood more, which made him more composed.

Secondly, because he had the human skin book, he naturally wouldn't suffer from insomnia like Luo Jie.

"Chuan-zi, I want to go home..."

Seeing Lin Chuan coming down from the upper bunk, Luo Jie, who was sitting at the desk below, spoke in a low voice.

No one knew the torment he was going through; he was an only child.

His parents were both from Dayuan City. If he died like the teacher and classmates did last night, there would be no one left to take care of them.

He couldn't imagine how his parents would feel after his death...

"...We will come back alive."

Lin Chuan's footsteps toward the washbasin faltered, and after a moment of silence, he spoke.

It was true that he was a self-interested person, but that didn't mean he lacked humanity.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have given up on using the other guy as a guinea pig in the classroom Ghost Domain last night, nor would he have pulled him along to escape the Ghost Domain later.

"Right, we'll come back alive."

Luo Jie forced a smile. Yes, he had to come back alive.

And then return to Dayuan City...

"..."

Lin Chuan said no more, focusing on his own washing up.

Then he went to the computer to look up more information about Railway Line 13. He had searched quite a bit last night, but there was very little relevant news.

This time, he planned to search using a different approach.

What is a railway? It's tracks.

Last night he had searched for trains on Railway Line 13, and the results were negligible.

Since it wasn't a railway train, there was only one other possibility.

A subway!

"Subway Line 13, the reason it was abandoned in year XX was..."