Rules

Countless ships drifted across this ink-black sea.

Some were wooden boats meant for a single passenger,

while others were ferries carrying many people,

and, occasionally, massive vessels carrying hundreds.

However, no matter which ship they were on, everyone was lost in a daze,

their memories slowly swept away by the sea. No one knew where they would ultimately go, nor did anyone know they were already dead.

Yet,

a lighthouse appeared across the sea that should have led to the land of the dead, half-hidden in the mist.

The light shining from its top happened to fall upon a wooden boat,

drawing it onward,

carrying the young man aboard toward the lighthouse.

As the light grew stronger, the pitch-black pupils set into the young man's face slowly faded, becoming lively and clear.

He gradually felt the scorching heat of the light.

When the boat drew close enough, searing patterns pierced through his skull, carrying a voice that sounded like a call from the world of the living.

Buzz!

The black sea before his eyes was gone.

In its place was an old wooden table covered in wrinkles.

As the young man slowly opened his eyes, his pupils faced an old-fashioned kerosene lamp on the upper-right corner of the table.

The flame burning inside it happened to overlap with the lighthouse in his consciousness.

In addition,

beneath the arms supporting his head, he felt the rough texture of paper, corresponding to a yellowed sheet covered in hurried handwriting.

A cup sat on the left side of the desk, containing some transparent liquid with a strange odor.

Seeing such an unfamiliar scene,

the young man's first thought was neither fear nor curiosity... Instead, a thought of immense importance to him surfaced from his subconscious:

"My thesis!"

The last fragment of his memory was of him staying up all night in the laboratory, revising his graduation thesis.

At the same time,

that memory ended with intense heart pain and a hazy consciousness.

Thinking of this, the young man realized what had happened.

"Did I die suddenly?"

He examined his own hands.

His yellowed palms were covered in countless signs of wear, his fingers had plenty of calluses, and his fingernails were packed with dirt-like grime.

The young man recognized at a glance that these were definitely not the old companions that had stayed with him through decades of bachelorhood.

"I... did I transmigrate?"

The young man's name was Yi Chen, a miserable graduate student majoring in chemical engineering.

He usually enjoyed reading all kinds of novels and playing games, so the first keyword that came to mind was transmigration.

Upon reaching this conclusion,

he felt no anxiety or panic.

Instead, he wore an utterly relieved expression, his entire body even relaxing... The feeling of not having to write his thesis or worry about its review and the defense afterward was simply fantastic.

Having grown up in an orphanage, he had spent twenty-four years as a bachelor and had not felt much attachment to his original world.

However,

that relaxation did not last long.

The rotten stench floating through the air made his nerves tense once more.

"I need to figure out what's going on as soon as possible..."

Yi Chen shook his head, rose, and surveyed the Wooden Cabin, which was no larger than forty square meters.

To the left of the desk,

there was a single wooden bed pressed against the wall.

Obvious patches of mold covered the foot of the bed, clearly related to the Wooden Cabin's dampness.

In addition,

the entire Wooden Cabin had no windows at all.

The only connection to the outside world was a heavy gray iron door, fitted tightly into its frame.

The old gray paint was extremely rough and bumpy to the touch. It had probably been applied four or five decades ago.

The key to the iron door hung from Yi Chen's waistband.

A decidedly old-fashioned landline telephone was also mounted on the wall beside the door.

In Yi Chen's memories, he had seen this kind of telephone only as a child in the Orphanage... Once the era of widespread smartphones arrived, such phones had been completely obsolete.

The telephone cord, wrapped in rubber, extended upward, pierced through the roof, and connected to the outside.

Another noteworthy point was that

the entire Wooden Cabin had no light source whatsoever. The only illuminating device was the portable Kerosene Lamp on the wooden table.

This crude, sealed Wooden Cabin, combined with the rotting smell in the air, reminded Yi Chen of something ominous—a coffin.

It was as if he had been sealed inside a coffin shaped like a Wooden Cabin.

Returning to the wooden table,

he had no phone or mirror with which to examine his appearance.

He reached up and felt his face. Aside from his unkempt stubble, his features seemed quite good overall—he appeared even more handsome than his original self.

Judging from the roughness of his skin, he was probably no older than thirty.

Next came the search for detailed information.

His gaze returned to the wooden table, where he focused on the Letter left behind.

"English? Am I abroad?"

Yi Chen drew on the reading skills he had developed from studying papers and quickly skimmed it.

The first sentence of the first line contained a disturbing word—die.

As he read further, the words on the Letter crawled into his body like maggots, making him feel sick all over.

≮I'm going to die. I know I will.

But at least I still have the right to choose how I die.

Thinking carefully, there doesn't seem to be anything in this world worth lingering for. The only person I feel sorry toward is Dean Fran. I ruined my first job after leaving the Orphanage.

I'm always this careless. I made mistakes like this in the Orphanage too.

The Third Rule in the handbook... I clearly read it every day, yet I still made a mistake.

There's nothing more to say. I only hope that whoever sees this Letter can forgive my cowardice and incompetence. I truly don't dare face the consequences of the mistake.

If possible, please burn my body.

Whatever you do, don't bury me here!≯

"A Suicide Note?"

Yi Chen grabbed the cup from the corner of the wooden table and smelled the liquid remaining inside.

He could now completely determine the basic circumstances of the original owner of this body.

"Did this guy spend his childhood in an Orphanage too? Because of our similar experiences, similar appearances and builds, and overlapping deaths, did I happen to transmigrate into his body?

Knowing he was going to die, did he choose to poison himself?

Just for failing to follow some rule, he had to pay with his life? What kind of place is this?"

His deeper analysis let Yi Chen sense the unease and danger permeating the air.

At the same time, he began to consider his own predicament.

"Since I transmigrated here, I naturally have to clean up this mess... This guy should have written more useful information in his Suicide Note.

What kind of danger would follow a mistake?

Would an assassin from some organization come to eliminate me? Or would some strange thing come knocking?"

At this thought, Yi Chen once again surveyed his surroundings.

Even though the entire Wooden Cabin was sealed as tightly as a coffin, he still felt not the slightest sense of security.

"Calm down~ I've already died once. There's nothing to fear.

First, I'll look for the handbook mentioned in the Suicide Note and see exactly what this guy did wrong, as well as what his job was."

He pulled open the drawer of the wooden table.

Inside lay a parchment map and a special handbook bound in black hide.

According to the map,

this was a Cemetery.

The Wooden Cabin stood in the center,

with Graveyard Plots 1 through 6 arranged clockwise around it.

At the edge of the map, there was also a strange Graveyard Plot 7, completely isolated from the others. It could be reached only by following a path more than a hundred meters long.

"This is a Cemetery? Was this guy a gravedigger? No wonder even the Wooden Cabin smells faintly of decay."

Yi Chen then picked up the handbook containing important information.

Employee Handbook (Easton Town—Cemetery)

The first page recorded the work schedule in detail.

The gravedigger had to patrol the corresponding numbered Graveyard Plots during fixed periods. For example:

The patrol time for Graveyard Plot 1 was 7:00–9:30.

The patrol time for Graveyard Plot 2 was 1:00–3:00.

And so on.

In addition,

Graveyard Plot 7 had no patrol time and did not need to be patrolled. It was a special area.

The schedule was reasonably normal.

When Yi Chen turned to the second page of the handbook, his expression immediately grew solemn.

It began with bright red text marked by an asterisk.

Please read each of the following Cemetery rules carefully and memorize them. Failure to follow any one of them, or making any mistake, will bring disaster. You will pay a price beyond death.

Ⅰ. Patrol each Graveyard Plot strictly according to the schedule. The error between the starting and ending times must be less than one minute.

Ⅱ. When patrolling Graveyard Plot 2, ensure that the cross-shaped tombstone is not upside down and does not have an object resembling a Goat Skull hanging from it.

If either situation occurs, you must restore the tombstone and remove the object during the patrol period.

Ⅲ. When patrolling Graveyard Plot 4, ensure that the number and Order of the tombstones remain the same as before.

If the number or Order is abnormal, you must remove the extra graves during the patrol period or rearrange any tombstones whose Order has been reversed or displaced.

For ease of memorization, the appendix of the handbook contains an original abbreviated map of Graveyard Plot 4.

Ⅳ. Before beginning the patrol of Graveyard Plot 5, you must make certain that there are no sounds inside.

If you hear any strange sound, the patrol must be postponed by one hour. If sounds can still be heard after an hour, report the information to the Administrator.

Ⅴ. If you discover a newly delivered corpse at the entrance to the Cemetery, carefully inspect the Corpse Transport Cart and make certain that its bottom bears the correct Organization Mark.

If the mark is correct, transport the corpse according to the numerical carving on its surface to the entrance of the corresponding Graveyard Plot. The corpse will bury itself.

If no mark is found, or if the mark is incorrect, deliver the Corpse Transport Cart and the corpse on it to Graveyard Plot 7 during the daytime.

See the appendix for details on the Organization Mark.

Ⅵ. The remaining Graveyard Plots require only basic inspections. Ensure that the graves have not been damaged and that no foreign objects are moving.

Ⅶ. Outside patrol periods, remain in the Safe House as much as possible to reduce the possibility of accidents.

Ⅷ. If a mistake at work causes disaster to descend, the organization is willing to provide one chance to survive.

Pry up the floor beneath the bed, take the self-defense tool, and handle and resolve the problem.