Murder

In the dark of the night, a tall, thin young man with short hair walked briskly down the street. The heels of his leather shoes clicked against the hard cobblestones...

Under the dim illumination of the magical streetlights, his figure cast a long, swaying shadow that looked somewhat eerie, like a monster. He was hurrying toward the Gray Mist Mountain Town Junior Academy.

He had checked his pocket watch before heading back; he left the plaza at about ten past nine. If he didn't walk faster, the dormitory doors would lock right at nine-forty.

He had no desire to sleep on the streets during the Month of Frost. Freezing to death for failing to return to school on time would surely make him tomorrow's headline in Gray Mist Mountain.

Turning a corner on this shortcut, he was getting closer and closer to the school. Just two more turns...

"Phew..." He couldn't help but exhale a breath of hot air, which formed a faint, misty shadow under the nearby magical streetlight.

It was simply too cold...

"Ah!"

A short, terrified, desperate, and helpless scream rang out, but it was as if it had never happened. The shadow under the magical light merely trembled twice before suddenly tumbling into the deep alley, vanishing from sight...

Falling into the abyss at the same time was an adult young man named Li Size...

A few minutes later...

"Ah!"

It was a sound that seemed to be there, yet wasn't, mingled with the static rustle of a radio losing its signal...

If a scholar well-versed in necromancy were present, they could probably deduce that a wraith-like power had manifested.

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

Instead, it was Li Size, a mechanical automation engineer from the Tenth Aerospace Automation R and D Institute of Yanxia on the Blue Planet, who now opened his eyes on the ground...

He had just been returning from the celebration banquet for the tenth phase of the South Heaven Gate Project when a laser beam shattered the AI Chip Mozhe on the back of his neck, destroying his brain and killing him.

Then, he woke up as if he had merely had a nightmare...

No!

That wasn't right!

His entire body felt as if it was being torn apart, filled with a sense of rejection and a bone-piercing chill...

Where is this?

"Ah!"

It was like waking up from a drunken stupor and recalling fragmented, blurry memories that seemed both real and fake...

There were disjointed scenes, and it felt like there were even more obscured memories hidden behind a veil, impossible to recall at the moment.

But it seemed none of them belonged to him!?

What is going on!

Am I dead or alive? Am I still me?

Li Size struggled to prop up his somewhat stiff and unfamiliar body. Suddenly, a memory surfaced in his mind:

The original soul of this body had just been torn apart and devoured by a transparent, eerie entity lurking in the dark void!

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

He had already died!

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

"Damn it!"

Enduring the tearing pain and the hangover-like lack of bodily control, Li Size ran wildly in the direction of the Academy he remembered in his head...

Step, step, step...

The sound of continuous footsteps came from ahead, making Li Size's scalp tingle. Did I just walk right into a trap?

There were no magical streetlights in the deep alley, making it hard to see clearly. He could only make out what looked like three figures ahead. Li Size was caught in a dilemma...

The people on the other side seemed to hear Li Size's footsteps stop and shouted, "Who is it! Who's there?"

As they spoke, they stepped forward. He could faintly make out that they were wearing crimson uniforms with a badge pinned to their chests:

Two crossed rifles with a knight's kite shield centered above them.

Anyone could tell that these were official authorities.

Li Size tried hard to recall the extra information in his brain. Fortunately, he found just enough to handle the current situation.

He raised his hands. "Officers! I am Li Size, an apprentice from the Town Academy. I just survived an attempted murder! Please, save me!"

Although he wasn't sure if these patrol officers could deal with legendary wraiths, they were the last life-saving straw Li Size could grasp at this moment.

Hearing this, the officer holding a shield glared forward. He rested the tip of his shield on the ground, tilted it slightly backward, and stepped forward in a half-crouch with his right leg bracing behind the shield. His voice was cold: "On alert!"

The other two patrol officers stood on either side of Li Size with their guns drawn, pointing front and back. However, it was obvious that they were also keeping a wary eye on the young Li Size:

The shield-bearing officer had already drawn a revolver with his left hand, its firing range covering a full 360 degrees, including Li Size.

It was clear that these patrol officers were well-trained, experienced, and calm. Li Size unconsciously relaxed a bit, though he was still somewhat worried that the wraith might suddenly appear.

After about one or two minutes, with no other movements occurring, the three officers began to look at Li Size with a hint of suspicion.

Especially since Li Size was currently unsteady on his feet, swaying slightly and looking somewhat like a drunkard.

Relieved in his heart, Li Size kept his hands raised and explained:

"Officers! I really was just attacked by a ghost! I thought I was dead for sure, but the wraith suddenly disappeared, and that's when I ran out! It's true! Please help me!"

"A ghost!?" Hearing this, the three patrol officers all drew a sharp breath. Feeling a tightness in their chests, they looked around at the surrounding darkness, as if a wraith might pounce out from anywhere.

The three men pulled out clear vials of about 20ml from their waists. The vials were half-filled with a pale yellow liquid that seemed to glow faintly.

They then each took out three bullets. When the liquid was dripped onto them, it miraculously vanished.

Could this be the legendary holy water?

They sequentially reloaded these bullets into the first three chambers of their magazines, clearly possessing some knowledge on how to combat such forces.

Although he had only been in this world for a few minutes and was in the midst of a bizarre murder attempt, the highly intelligent Li Size had already gleaned a few things from the details:

Obviously, this was a world where supernatural powers existed, but it was not some ignorant, primitive civilization.

Judging by the magical streetlights, the existence of a town academy, the street planning, and the capable, orderly official forces, this was a highly developed civilized world.

The patrol officers seemed to have proven their ability to deal with ghost monsters. Although Li Size was still tense, he finally had the presence of mind to calm down and sort through his chaotic thoughts.

Just as he possessed this body, it seemed that besides himself, the parasitic chip Mozhe had followed him over?

Thinking back carefully, the damaged Mozhe had fused with his soul and transmigrated together with him. It seemed to have mutated due to the mysterious forces of this world.

It had been on the verge of an unstable, failing collapse, but it accidentally absorbed two fragmented ghosts, miraculously stabilized, and was now rebooting.

It would be activated in about 30 minutes. The reactivated Mozhe would mutate into a peculiar soul talent native to this world.

As for those two fragmented souls, the first seemed to be the original owner of the body, and the second seemed to be the attacking ghost?

In other words, he was actually out of danger. Of course, perhaps the killer was still plotting a second attack, so Li Size dared not tell the patrol officers the real situation.

Ten more minutes passed with no movement. It seemed that with the appearance of the patrol officers, the killer would not make a second attempt.

The three patrol officers visibly breathed a sigh of relief, but a ghost attacking a human in the small town was a massive hidden danger.

The three patrol officers decided to take Li Size back to the police station. They needed to thoroughly record and investigate the entire incident, as well as find clues to drag the mastermind out of the shadows.

The three officers introduced themselves to Li Size. The shield-bearer was Perisman, and his two colleagues were Tiflin and Revan.

They then took Li Size to retrieve their bicycles from the intersection and gave him a ride back to the station. The bikes were quite similar to the ones back on the Blue Planet.

Before they even reached the doors of the police station, his soul talent suddenly activated.

Beep! Soul Talent - [Unnamed] activated!

Li Size fell into deep thought. A moment later, he understood its function:

It absorbed currency and converted it into energy points, which could then be used to enhance physical attributes, run deductions, and analyze information!

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