Doll Island Amusement Park

After hanging up the phone, Qin Feng sank into the soft sofa of his new home, exhaling a long breath and savoring the tranquility of surviving a brush with death.

With a thought, a pale blue light screen rippled open before his eyes like water. Data flowed, finally settling into a fixed display.

[Host: Qin Feng]
[Cleansing Points: 60]
[Spiritual Sense Level: Form Observation Realm (Early)]
[Legendary Armaments: Scissors of Truth (D-Class), Gluttony Stomach (D-Class), Death Notice (D-Class)]
[Mastered Abilities: Item Affinity (Passive)]

Looking at the faint glow emanating from the three D-Class Legendary Armaments, Qin Feng felt an unprecedented sense of security.

This was his greatest asset for survival in this bizarre world.

He focused his intent on Origin Enhancement, and a new line of prompts appeared.

[Upgrade to 'Form Observation Realm (Mid)', requires consumption of Cleansing Points: 460 points.]

"Four hundred and sixty... forty points less than I expected." After a moment of thought, Qin Feng understood why.

He curiously examined himself internally. In his dantian, the miniature vortex formed by the [Gluttony Stomach] acted like a perpetually unsatisfied black hole, greedily devouring the sparse Spiritual Energy drifting around it.

Meanwhile, the Qi Gathering Returning to Origin Art functioned like a precision purifier, automatically refining the chaotic Spiritual Energy into pure internal energy, nourishing his limbs and body.

An automatic "mana drain" and an automatic "health regen"—a perfect perpetual motion machine combination.

"At this rate, even if I do nothing but lie around all day, I'll reach the threshold of the mid-stage in twenty days."

As soon as this thought arose, Qin Feng immediately dismissed it.

"Twenty days? By then, the 'Vanishing Bus' will probably have been reduced to ashes!"

A C-Class nest-type Anomalous Event—"The Vanishing Bus."

According to scattered intelligence leaked from the Special Cases Department, a C-Class anomalous event was itself a mobile aggregate of anomalies.

The thought of the bus potentially being packed with D-Class and E-Class "experience points" made Qin Feng's heart race.

When all sorts of strange beings gathered, if he tried any of his usual "essence oil battle god" or "talk them into madness" tactics, he'd likely be wiped out by someone's area-of-effect attack the moment he opened his mouth.

To get the biggest piece of the pie amidst a pack of wolves, the only way was to ensure that in the face of absolute power, all flashy tricks became mere embellishments!

"I need to pull off some big scores within three days!"

Qin Feng's eyes sharpened, and he sat up straight, once again opening the "Yellow Springs" app.

The list in the [Mission Hall] refreshed. After being promoted to Soul Custodian, his permissions had indeed increased significantly. Several C-Class commissions now displayed a green light for him.

[Commission: C-011, Investigate 'Kisaragi Station', Recommended Team Size: 5 people, Spiritual Sense Level: Form Observation Realm or above.]
[Commission: D-045, Deal with 'Slender Man', Location: Abandoned Forest Farm on the outskirts of the city, Beware of mental contamination.]

Qin Feng merely glanced at them before uninterestedly swiping past.

Official missions meant teaming up, reporting, writing action reports, and in the end, the meager rewards wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps between his teeth.

Instead of waiting for others to divide the cake, why not bake one himself?

A bold idea took shape in Qin Feng's mind.

He tapped his fingers on the screen, exited the mission hall, and entered the app's vast, ocean-like database.

Donghai City was huge, and countless strange rumors emerged daily. The Special Cases Department couldn't possibly cover everything.

There were always some "wild" anomalies hiding in the dark corners of the city, growing unchecked, waiting for the first "lucky person" to discover them.

And he would be the "hunter" who came to harvest them.

Anomalous Event Genesis Environment Studies Overview, On the Transformation Differences Between Urban Negative Emotion Aggregates and Earthbound Spirits, Analysis and Statistics Report on Non-Official Paranormal Events in the Past Decade (Donghai City Chapter)...

These documents, which would appear dry and uninteresting to outsiders, were like maps pointing to treasure in Qin Feng's eyes.

His "Item Affinity" talent once again shone to its fullest.

As he immersed himself in using his phone, this "item," the text on the screen seemed to come alive. Useless information automatically dimmed, while crucial keywords flickered with a faint light, connected by invisible lines in his mind, reorganizing themselves.

"The birth of anomalies is inseparable from 'emotions' and 'obsessions'..."

"High-incidence areas: hospitals, schools, cemeteries, abandoned factories..."

"Emerging breeding grounds: online echo chambers, long-term unfinished construction projects..."

Qin Feng's brain functioned like a supercomputer, rapidly comparing these patterns with Donghai City's electronic map and filtering them.

Suddenly, his finger paused. He clicked on a link, which led to a local urban legend forum.

[Post Title: [High-Energy Warning] Does anyone know about the abandoned 'Doll Island' Amusement Park in the south of the city? My friend has gone mad because of it!]

[1F: OP, tell us more. We love hearing this stuff.]

[2F (OP): My friend is an adventure streamer. Last week, he said he was going to Doll Island to challenge it. That place closed down over ten years ago, supposedly because a little girl died there. He flew a drone in at midnight, and then...]

[3F: And then what? Hurry up and tell us!]

[2L(OP): After he came back, he deleted all the videos and his behavior changed.

I secretly asked him, and he was trembling all over, only saying that he saw a little thing in a red dress sitting on the carousel. That thing... seemed to be looking through the screen and smiling at the drone's camera.

Now he's locked up in a mental hospital, always cowering in the corner, saying that little girl has come for him.]

Doll Island Amusement Park!

Qin Feng's eyes flashed, as if he could already hear the pleasant notification sound of Cleansing Points being credited.

He immediately performed a cross-check in the Special Cases Department's internal database. The result showed: this location had no Anomalous Event records on file.

A forgotten place, filled with "childish obsessions," "rumors of death," and a "decaying atmosphere."

Perfect! It was practically a "wild instance" tailor-made for him!

Anomalous Events born from a single, strong obsession usually had clear rules, making them the most suitable targets for sharp tools like the [Scissors of Truth], which specialized in breaking rules.

"A little girl..." Qin Feng rubbed his chin, a wicked, expectant smile curling on his lips. "Just right, I love playing with children the most. After all, I helped my sister take care of kids back in the day."

He turned off his phone, stood up from the sofa, and stretched, his joints cracking like popping bubble wrap.

Outside the window, the night had deepened.

For ordinary people, it was time to rest.

But for him, the newly appointed "Soul Custodian," the hunt had just begun.

Qin Feng walked to the entryway, stuffing the M-7 pistol and spare magazines into his backpack. After a moment's thought, he returned, picked up an Alpenliebe lollipop from the fruit bowl on the coffee table, and casually put it in his pocket. Finally, he grabbed a bottle of "Happy Water for Otakus" from the refrigerator.

Humming an out-of-tune tune, he pushed open the door, his figure quickly disappearing into the dark stairwell.