Temporary Ticket Inspector

Female Ghost:???

All the Ghosts:???

As soon as Xiao Ran finished speaking, the entire bus fell deathly silent. The female ghost's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.

"Yeah, yeah, she wet herself, and it reeks!!"

Unexpectedly, the man in the tank top joined in, pointing at the female ghost as he shouted. He pinched his nose as he spoke, his face full of disgust.

If he hadn't said anything, it might have been fine, but now there really was a strong smell of urine.

Xiao Ran wrinkled his nose and looked down. Sure enough, the puddle on the floor seemed much yellower than before. He was still wondering about it when he turned around and saw that the tank-top man's pants were soaked through. He was immediately at a loss for words.

The driver froze. He glanced at the puddle on the floor, then turned around. After a brief silence, he suddenly slammed on the brakes.

"Eeeek!!"

The sharp screech of the brakes was like the signal for a violent storm.

The driver's fat body lurched up from the seat.

"So tall!!"

Xiao Ran's pupils contracted. Only when the driver stood up did he realize just how huge the man was. He was two meters tall, his head nearly touching the ceiling of the bus. The suffocating pressure rolling off him made him seem less like a man walking toward them and more like a human-shaped giant bear.

The instant the driver stood, wisps of black smoke surged from him, swirling around his body. Every so often, the outline of a human face emerged from the haze.

Xiao Ran also noticed that the black smoke seemed to be coming from the pair of white gloves on the driver's hands.

His eyes fixed on the gloves. Their backs were white, but there was an extremely strange pattern on each palm.

"A Cursed Object!!"

He looked at the driver, but no matter how he saw it, the man didn't seem like an Initiate.

Like Li Ji, he seemed more like a native of the Labyrinth City world.

Facing the driver as he approached, the woman was clearly panicking. Like a frightened cat, her loose hair suddenly sprang up stiffly, like a hedgehog's spines, all pointing straight at the driver's face.

Black resentment flowed along every strand of hair, but compared with the dark smoke coiling around the driver, it was nothing.

The driver glanced at the puddle on the floor and sniffed. His expression darkened at once, and he raised a palm as broad as a door to slap the female ghost.

"Whoosh..."

Xiao Ran, sitting nearby, felt a suffocating gust of wind surge before his eyes. Even though the slap was still some distance away, his face stung as if it had been scorched.

With strength like that, even a physical attack could produce the effect of a magical one.

He didn't dare imagine what it would feel like if that kind of force hit him.

"Thud!!"

The female ghost's body flew straight from the front of the bus into the rear section, landing with a loud crash. The sound was like a massive hammer smashing into every passenger's chest.

But it was far from over. The next moment, a catlike scream rang through the bus.

The driver grabbed the woman by the hair, raised a fist as big as a cooking pot, and brought it down on the female ghost.

"Bang! Bang!!"

Even sitting in his seat, Xiao Ran could feel the weight of each punch reverberate beneath him.

Xiao Ran watched closely and saw the black resentment in the woman's hair vanish into the driver's gloves when it touched them. Clearly, the gloves were some kind of high-level Cursed Object.

At the very least, their rank couldn't be lower than the [Mourning Ring] in his hand.

At that moment, the passengers sat as still as monks in meditation, their eyes lowered. Yet whenever the woman screamed, they would sneak a glance, the corners of their mouths lifting in delighted smiles.

A few were especially bold. One man, holding a bamboo basket, kept grabbing sunflower seeds from it and cracking them as he watched, thoroughly entertained.

The man in the third row on the left, near the bus door, had crossed his legs, showing off a pair of shiny black leather boots. His eyes were closed, but his ears were cocked as he listened to the woman's screams, as if they were beautiful music. His face was rapt with pleasure.

Xiao Ran's gaze moved from one passenger's face to the next, carefully studying their expressions.

These "passengers" weren't exactly good people, either.

Although they'd dealt with the woman's trouble, who could say there wouldn't be other passengers harassing them at the next stop?

After all, he and the tank-top man were sitting among these "passengers." No matter how you looked at it, they were at a disadvantage.

Xiao Ran furrowed his brow and looked once more at the [Passenger Rules] hanging up front.

In the time it took to do that, the driver had pinned the female ghost to the floor and beaten her mercilessly.

What kind of Floating Fish evil? Against absolute strength, all the female ghost could do was howl. In no time at all, her head had been smashed into a pulp, and her chest had caved in.

The driver dragged the woman's body to the rear door, intending to throw her out.

But when he saw the closed door, he remembered that he hadn't pressed the door-opening button.

"Click!!"

To his surprise, the bus door opened just then.

The driver raised his head and saw Xiao Ran standing beside the driver's seat. At some point, he had pressed the door-opening button.

The tank-top man nearly bit his tongue. "When did this guy get up? Is he crazy??" Still stunned, he quickly shifted over to Xiao Ran's seat.

He didn't want to give the other "passengers" an opening to take advantage of. At the same time, he prayed that the driver wouldn't hold it against Xiao Ran.

He wanted to yell at Xiao Ran to hurry back, but he was afraid his shouting would draw the driver's attention and reveal that he'd wet himself. Looking at what had happened to the female ghost, he didn't think he could take a beating any better than she could.

His conflicted expression looked like he was badly constipated.

Fortunately, the driver only glanced at Xiao Ran before tossing the woman off the bus and turning back toward the driver's seat.

As the driver approached, Xiao Ran didn't return to his seat. Instead, he said to him,

"Hello. I noticed there isn't a ticket inspector. Could I give it a try?"

Xiao Ran pointed to the [Passenger Rules] hanging nearby.

One of the rules read, "There is currently no ticket inspector on this bus. Passengers are expected to purchase tickets of their own accord."

"What! You can do that?" Listening to Xiao Ran, the tank-top man could only think that he'd gone crazy. He couldn't wait to never set foot on this terrifying bus again, and the guy was actually applying for a job?

The driver lowered his head and looked Xiao Ran over with his tiny, bean-like eyes. "You want to be the ticket inspector?"

"Yeah. I think I can give it a try."

Even as he stood before the driver, who was like a mountain of flesh, Xiao Ran didn't show the slightest fear. Compared with the various commissions he regularly took on, this was nothing.

Since the [Passenger Rules] said there was currently no ticket inspector, that meant there had been one before.

He could give it a try. Even if the driver refused, it wasn't as if the man would attack him over something so minor.

Seeing Xiao Ran's confidence, the driver grinned. It was a knowing, unsettling smile, like he was looking forward to a good show.

He took a faded red armband from his pocket and handed it to Xiao Ran. "Then, good luck. Also, clean the bus."

It went so smoothly that even Xiao Ran was surprised.

"Okay." Xiao Ran agreed and reached out to take the red armband.

At the same time, blood-red writing appeared before Xiao Ran's eyes once more.

[Side Quest triggered: Temporary Ticket Inspector]

Quest requirements: Before you reach your stop, you must pay the driver five [Underworld Coins] or an equivalent Cursed Object.

Quest hint: By checking tickets, you can find passengers who've evaded fares and punish them to collect hefty fines.

Quest difficulty: E-class

Quest reward: E-class

(Note: If you don't have enough Underworld Coins, you'd better prepare to lose a lot.)

"There are Side Quests, too?"

This was something Xiao Ran hadn't expected. The quest was pretty difficult, too. After all, the Main Quest of his last Labyrinth City trial had only been E-class.

After carefully reading the text, Xiao Ran lowered his head and looked at the faded red armband in his hand.

F-class Cursed Object discovered. Activate?

"Activate."

Xiao Ran ended the fusion of the Ghost Cloak and the Red Armband Trainee, then activated the Cursed Object in his hand.

As black curse marks seeped into the armband and a strange symbol appeared on it, information about the Cursed Object surfaced in Xiao Ran's mind.

F-class Cursed Object: Red Armband Trainee

While the bus is in motion, you may "check the ticket" of any passenger on board. If they can't produce a ticket, you may invoke the curse and make them choose one of the following:

Choice 1: Pay the fare

The fare will be charged at triple the usual price.

Choice 2: Curse Contract

Trigger the curse to paralyze the target for up to 30 seconds. During this time, the target cannot move and will take 1.5 times as much damage. The target can either pay ten times the ticket price (by forfeiting a Cursed Object) to break the curse, or endure the paralysis for 30 seconds.

(Note 1: If the target endures the full 30 seconds, you will not be allowed to check their ticket again!)

(Note 2: You may check tickets only twice per stop. This Cursed Object can only be used on bus [404].)

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