I have worked diligently, yet remain mediocre and unaccomplished to this day.

It was as if a sudden brake had been slammed—the head that had been spinning so rapidly on the spot instantly froze, unmoving, even though it was now turned the wrong way, with the back of the head facing forward and the face on its back. The headless girl was gripped by such terror that she dared not move a muscle; the force of the execution device was simply too terrifying for any ghost below the level of a malevolent spirit. It was like an imperial edict from ancient times! Aside from bowing and accepting subjugation, there was no thought of resistance at all.

Moreover, before Chen Sheng summoned the execution device, this headless girl hadn’t even been able to see it. That meant she wasn’t a powerful ghost. Chen Sheng was a little surprised by her reaction, especially since his “starter gear” was also imbued with exorcism properties.

He looked toward the room at the end of the corridor.

“Are you alright, friend over there?” Chen Sheng called out.

His voice echoed, traveling from this side of the “old house” to the other, but the reply he’d heard earlier—“Wait a moment, I’ll be right there”—no longer came.

“Friend over there, it seems you’re not doing so well,” Chen Sheng said with a smile curling at his lips. “In that case, let me take a look at you.”

With those words, Chen Sheng felt his way through the darkness to the door of the room.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He raised his hand and fired a burst, reducing the slightly ajar door to splinters.

Coughing, he waved away the floating dust and woodchips, switched on the room’s light, and saw a human skin, dressed in a probationary police officer’s uniform, lying limply on the desk.

“Brother from the Police Department, what a miserable way to die…” Chen Sheng couldn’t help but mutter at the dark humor of the game’s designers; even knowing it was just a game, the sight still made his scalp tingle.

“Damn developers!”

He gave them a customary middle finger, then turned and left the room.

The room was empty—there was nothing there but a desk and a chair. The furnishings were exceedingly sparse, but that was hardly surprising. Shangsanjiang City was far from peaceful, and most probationary officers came from humble backgrounds and had little money to spare. If one had scrimped and saved enough to buy a television, then the emptiness here made perfect sense.

A probationary officer’s monthly salary was five hundred dollars, but a television cost a thousand!

No sooner had Chen Sheng left the room, however, than the human skin lying motionless on the desk began to tremble violently. Next, as if animated, it stood upright. Its eyelids opened, revealing not eyes but two empty sockets.

Then, as the uniform slipped off, the skin twitched like a noodle, folding in on itself until it flopped to the floor with a slap, like a discarded towel.

…

Chen Sheng returned to the side of the headless girl.

Though he was disappointed by her initial dishonesty, he decided to give her another chance. After all, she might trigger some “game event.”

“Have you lived here long?” Chen Sheng asked.

The headless girl shrank away from his approach—more precisely, from the gallows frame he carried. As he drew near, the invisible restraint it exerted became even stronger, so much so that she felt as if she were suffocating.

“I only arrived a few days ago…” she replied hurriedly, her voice dry and hoarse, just as when she’d shouted for her missing head before.

“And before that?”

“Before, only that police officer lived here. There’s a special kind of resentment in this place that ghosts don’t like, so no other ghosts would come.”

Chen Sheng nodded. So, not every “old house” was haunted.

“You only moved in recently? Why? Was the rent at your previous place too expensive?” he asked.

The headless girl was briefly stunned by his line of questioning. After a pause, she finally answered, “It was because the Faceless Warden appeared.”

She had skipped over the less reliable questions and answered selectively.

“The Faceless Warden?”

At once, the headless girl began to tremble, and this time it was not the execution device that frightened her, but the very mention of that name.

“You’re really afraid of it?” Chen Sheng asked.

“There isn’t a ghost who isn’t scared of it. The Faceless Warden is one of the city’s three great malevolent spirits—even the realm of the dead can’t control it!” Her voice was laced with undisguised terror.

It was already widely known: that night, a male ghost, merely because he stepped out with his left foot first while the Faceless Warden was present, was torn to pieces by the Warden’s soul-hooking noose.

Though the ghost survived by feigning death, he lost most of his body in the process. Now, only one leg, half a torso, and half a head remained. Some parts were never recovered; others had been utterly destroyed by the soul-hooking noose and could never be put back together.

Chen Sheng listened thoughtfully. So, the Faceless Warden was a boss monster near Shangsanjiang City—and there were three such bosses here!

But would defeating them help him level up?

Chen Sheng pondered. He was a little worried these three bosses were just another pitfall designed by the game’s devious developers. After all, if it happened once, it could happen again. Look at him—still stuck at “LV0,” like the old joke: “I work hard, yet remain mediocre,” the kind of plot even the silliest soap opera wouldn’t dare use!

At that moment, the headless girl suddenly exclaimed, “It’s you…”

She hadn’t recognized Chen Sheng at first, but now, seeing him up close, she finally remembered—the person who’d greeted her that night was none other than him!

“You only just remembered?” Chen Sheng thought to himself that this ghost was truly forgetful, then smiled and replied, “Yes, it’s me.”

“How did you escape the Faceless Warden’s pursuit?” the headless girl blurted out, eyes wide. She had seen it clearly that night—the soul-hooking noose had been aimed right at him!

The birth of a malevolent spirit always carried a purpose, a certain duty. That purpose bestowed unique authority upon such beings.

For instance, the Faceless Warden was responsible for periodically cleansing the world of ghosts.

Thus, the soul-hooking noose, which was not originally an execution device, became one in the Warden’s hands!

This was the Warden’s purpose made manifest in the noose, granting it devastating power over ghosts. The headless girl had never seen a ghost escape its hook before!

So, when Chen Sheng produced the gallows frame, she immediately stopped seeing him as an ordinary living person.

“Me?”

Chen Sheng was stunned by her question, pointing to himself in confusion.