Cemetery

While reading through the rules one by one,

Yi Chen could roughly determine that the place he had transmigrated to contained "strange" elements that did not exist in his original world,

At the same time,

An unknown danger was steadily drawing closer.

But he still had a slim chance of survival.

Following the hint in the final rule, Yi Chen bent down and looked beneath the wooden bed.

He moved aside the removable floor hatch and pulled a moderately weighted hand axe from between the grooves.

"Is this the so-called self-defense item?"

The axe handle was made of hickory wood, its surface carved with patterns that increased friction.

It was light, tough, and unlikely to slip from his grip.

The axe head, forged from carbon steel, was flawless.

It had undergone a special sharpening process, making it incredibly keen, and the blade had been silver-plated.

It gleamed brightly, hard and highly destructive.

Whoosh~

When he tried a test swing, it actually carved a faint sound through the air.

This finely crafted hand axe brought him an inexplicable sense of security, slightly easing his tense state of mind.

"Not a bad weapon for self-defense..."

After a brief warm-up, he returned to the desk.

"According to the suicide note, the root of this guy's mistake was the Third Rule.

In other words, while inspecting Graveyard Plot 4, he had failed to notice the changes in the number and order of the gravestones."

Yi Chen nibbled at his fingernail.

He now faced an important choice.

Should he stay in the wooden cabin and wait for danger to come knocking,

or should he go alone to the cemetery, face the danger head-on, and break out of his predicament?

"I should be more proactive... According to the rules, perhaps the only way to completely eliminate the danger is to restore Graveyard Plot 4. If I just stay in the wooden cabin and do nothing, I'll most likely only be waiting to die."

Yi Chen tried to treat his current circumstances as a trial after transmigrating.

However,

There was still a series of preparations to make before setting out.

First,

He used his reasonably clever brain to deeply memorize the Cemetery Map, the blueprint for Graveyard Plot 4 in the appendix, the organization's insignia, and so on.

Next,

He put on the Work Clothes folded at the foot of the bed.

It was a dark-gray coat somewhere between a raincoat and a trench coat. Its loose hood could cover half his face, concealing his features in the darkness.

"This coat fits a little too well... I've never worn such a comfortable jacket. Was it custom-made?"

The coat did not restrict his movements in the slightest. Instead, it made his body move more fluidly.

He also discovered a Metal Badge on the left side of his chest. Printed on it was the name of the original owner of this body—William Berens.

Everything was ready.

Just before walking out through the iron door, he tried using the telephone mounted on the wall beside it.

However,

The receiver contained nothing but harsh static. The telephone line seemed to have been damaged, making it impossible to contact the outside world.

"It's probably because of the violation. The Administrator above has cut off contact with this place... Let's go."

Click~ Click~

As the door hinges turned, they sounded like an elderly person issuing warning after warning from deep within a hoarse throat.

Yi Chen stood at the doorway, wary of any danger that might arrive.

Seconds passed.

The only thing that came was the nauseating stench of rotten flesh mixed with soil.

The moon was completely obscured tonight. The only source of light was the Kerosene Lamp in his hand.

"It seems the danger hasn't come looking for me yet. That's a good thing... Let's begin exploring."

The axe, its blade flowing with Silver Light, hung from his right hand beside his thigh.

He held the Kerosene Lamp level with his chest in his left hand.

Wearing the dark-gray coat, Yi Chen had completely assumed the identity of a "grave keeper" and begun his first exploration of the cemetery.

First,

Just as the map depicted,

The wooden cabin known as the Safe House stood at the center of the cemetery.

Graveyard Plots 1 through 6 surrounded it.

Hollow iron railings about three meters high separated the numbered plots, keeping them isolated from one another.

The cramped paths between the graves allowed barely enough room for a single Corpse Transport Cart.

Twisted branches that had grown wildly met above his head, blocking out the night sky and shrouding the entire cemetery... If the wooden cabin had been a small coffin, then this cemetery was a large one.

The environment pressed down on Yi Chen until his heart trembled.

He even imagined that a pale foot was following right behind him, while the branches transformed into arms reaching out to touch his shoulders.

Huff...

He took a deep breath.

When he was young, people at the Orphanage had told him that when passing through gloomy places at night, he must never look back. Otherwise, he might attract something unclean.

Therefore, he kept his eyes fixed straight ahead throughout the journey, turning his head no more than forty-five degrees.

Following the route on the map stored in his memory, he soon arrived at the iron gate of Graveyard Plot 4.

However,

An idea suddenly occurred to him.

"I've been moving through the cemetery for several minutes... It's eerie and oppressive, but at least I haven't encountered any danger or seen anything unclean.

The danger in Graveyard Plot 4 was enough to drive someone to suicide. It definitely wouldn't be easy to deal with.

I'm probably going to need to run and fight a guerrilla war.

Why not circle the entire cemetery first, familiarize myself with the area, and figure out the routes and places I can use to escape and hide? Hmm! That's what I'll do."

He temporarily left Graveyard Plot 4 behind.

Following a clockwise route, Yi Chen began touring the entire cemetery.

As time passed, he gradually adapted to the atmosphere of the cemetery.

He also discovered some rather interesting details and deliberate arrangements within the cemetery.

The numbered graveyards differed in nature.

For example, Graveyard Plot 1 used uniform stone arched gravestones. It had clean steps and stone-paved paths, giving people a tidy and comfortable impression.

The neighboring Graveyard Plot 2 used oak cross-shaped gravestones. They leaned every which way and were overgrown with weeds... The entire place was extremely gloomy, and even the temperature was ten degrees lower.

His journey went smoothly, and he encountered no danger.

Following the order of the plots, he arrived at the final one, Graveyard Plot 6.

The soil here was unusually wet.

Every step felt like sinking into a mud pit, with the soles of his shoes sinking at least two centimeters.

The gravestones here were all made of piled-up stones, with no information recorded about the deceased's lives.

"Hmm... What's that?"

His relatively sharp powers of observation allowed Yi Chen to notice a detail.

Near the corner of Graveyard Plot 6,

A gravestone made of piled stones lay scattered across the ground, as though something had destroyed it.

He carried the axe over to inspect it, circling the grave mound twice, but found nothing unusual.

Perhaps because he had completely taken on his current profession,

or perhaps out of respect for the dead,

After confirming that there was no danger, Yi Chen crouched down and rebuilt the scattered stones, restoring the gravestone.

Before leaving, he unconsciously pressed his palms together and gave a slight bow.

However,

He had not yet taken two steps.

A strange sound came from behind him.

Thanks

The voice was bizarre, as though it had been produced by blending together the voices of many people. Its pitch rose and fell, striking straight into his organs.

Yi Chen turned around immediately while raising the axe in front of him.

However,

The graveyard behind him was completely calm. Nothing had changed.

"Are my nerves too tense, making me hallucinate? No... I really did hear it.

There really is something supernatural here. It's just that the voice thanking me didn't seem hostile.

I should avoid causing trouble if possible. I'll deal with the most pressing problem first."

Yi Chen quickly withdrew from the muddy, swamp-like Graveyard Plot 6.

At this point,

Apart from Graveyard Plot 7, which stood alone at the edge and was used to store and process unknown corpses,

He had figured out the cemetery's general layout.

He had also come up with the best routes for escape and evasion.

Next, he needed to face the problematic Graveyard Plot 4.

Not long after Yi Chen left,

Within Graveyard Plot 6,

The soil mound of the grave he had just repaired suddenly began to loosen.

A mouth emerged, chewing fragments of the coffin lid and covered in damp soil.

It seemed to have an eyeball in its mouth as well.

It appeared capable of staring through the layers of railings and vegetation at that "helpful" young man.

Thank you all for your support. Like my previous book, this new book will have two updates every day, at around 17:00 and 22:00, with one update on Sundays. This story is entirely original, which makes it more difficult to write, so I hope everyone can be a little more understanding. There will still be explosive update sessions when the time comes.