A Chinese Ghost Story

"Knock, knock, knock."

A few knocks sounded at the door.

"An Yang, can I come in?"

An Yang frowned and sat up from the bed in one motion.

"Of course, Lina."

Lina had short golden hair that reached her ears, wore a red dress, and had light makeup on her face. She walked in with a smile at the corner of her lips, sat down beside him, and pressed close.

"Can I sit here?"

An Yang sniffed lightly—the woman had put on some perfume, a pleasant scent.

"Of course, make yourself at home. And, you're very beautiful."

A hint of melancholy appeared on Lina's face. She turned to look at him and said, "You're going back tomorrow, right? Will we ever see each other again?"

An Yang narrowed his eyes. Foreign women were mostly quite open; when she sat on his bed with her makeup perfectly done, it was already a clear hint.

"Hard to say, but I think we won't. Asia is on the other side of the Earth."

Lina suddenly leaned in, staring straight into his eyes. Their faces were very close. She parted her bright red lips and said, "Actually, I really like Chinese Kung Fu. If you have time, can you teach me?"

An Yang nodded. The fire that had built up over three months was nearly burning him to ashes, and this woman was teasing him. His breathing couldn't help but quicken.

Lina leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Her hands naturally wrapped around his neck, and she shifted her body to press against him.

They kissed more and more fiercely, their bodies burning hot, soft breaths escaping through their noses.

The real world, Jinguan City, another deserted alley.

An Yang, wearing a dark green officer's uniform, appeared out of thin air. But this time, he was mentally prepared, and his intermediate Mastery of Combat gave him stronger reflexes and balance, so he landed steadily.

He paused for a moment and pulled out his phone.

"Why is it always an alley?"

"There was someone in the Chosen One's room. If you're not afraid of startling her by suddenly appearing, I can change the positioning strategy next time."

An Yang was taken aback and said, "Someone? Could it be Ji Weiwei, or a thief?"

"Based on the photos on the Chosen One's previous phone, it should be her."

An Yang relaxed. He thought for a moment and said, "Let's head back. It's time to put your phone's functions to use. Come on, open the map for me."

A 3D map instantly appeared on the phone, marking both his home location and his current position. The shortest route was highlighted in red, and the map orientation shifted as he moved the phone. The street views were especially realistic, looking quite high-end.

"Oh, it's here. I know the way. Turn it off."

An Yang put away his phone, glanced around, removed the medal pinned to his chest, and took off the shoulder boards, cap badge, and collar insignia from his officer's uniform, stuffing them into his pocket. Only then did he stride forward confidently.

The timeline of Escape from the Amazon was set in 1999. This uniform belonged to the Type 87 Military Uniform. The current active-duty uniform was the Type 07 Military Uniform. Chinese law stipulated that non-active-duty officers were not allowed to wear active-duty uniforms.

Anyone could wear the Type 87 Military Uniform, but the shoulder boards, collar insignia, and cap badge could not be worn; otherwise, it would be considered impersonating a soldier. He couldn't afford to provoke the government right now.

Even so, his officer's uniform drew a lot of attention. Many people didn't know the difference between the Type 87 and Type 07 uniforms. Seeing his resolute expression and straight-ahead gaze, with the military demeanor he'd honed over three months at Hunter School still intact, they all assumed he was an officer.

An Yang walked upstairs and knocked on the door, but there was no response. He knocked again—still nothing.

"No one home?"

An Yang decided not to wait any longer. He pulled out his key and, with a click, opened the door.

It was a two-bedroom, two-living-room rental apartment. It wasn't small, but it certainly wasn't large either—the kind of place where no one could hide. A single glance showed the room was empty.

"Where did that girl go?"

An Yang gave a wry smile. He'd even gone out of his way to find a mall, changing from his military uniform into casual clothes in the restroom, only to find that Ji Weiwei had disappeared somewhere again.

His phone vibrated, and dense text appeared on the screen.

Prelude 3, A Chinese Ghost Story

Mission World: A Chinese Ghost Story (Origin World)

Mission Time: 503 hours and 31 minutes later

Mission Objective: Prevent Nie Xiaoqian from reincarnating

Initial Skills: None

Mission Success: Reward Item Ability*1, Skill Point*1, Physical Attribute Point*1

Mission Failure: Repeat Execution

"A Chinese Ghost Story! Nie Xiaoqian! Black Mountain Old Demon! Yan Chixia! Sword Control Technique!"

An Yang's eyes widened. His first reaction wasn't even about Nie Xiaoqian, the ethereal female ghost, but that he had finally entered a world that could surpass the modern one in certain aspects!

In a world like this, his gains would undoubtedly be the greatest.

"Haha, my Skill Stealing finally has a use!"

Only after his excitement subsided did An Yang begin to examine the mission itself.

"Stop Nie Xiaoqian from reincarnating—does that mean you want her and Ning Caichen to end up together? I didn't expect you to be so righteous, System. I misjudged you!"

"No wait, 503 hours and 31 minutes... let me calculate... two times two is four, two times four is eight... hmm, System, since you're a phone, act like one. Come on, open the calculator for me."

"Nearly twenty-one days? That long!"

An Yang was surprised. Such a lengthy preparation time.

"System, what's going on here?"

"In the Escape from the Amazon world, the original assessment gave the Chosen One a two percent chance of giving up due to exhaustion, a five percent chance of being hit by a bullet on the Devil's Path, a thirty-one percent chance of being hit during the first drug enforcement mission, and during the second... to summarize, the Chosen One had a two percent chance of abandoning the mission, a sixty-five percent chance of withdrawing due to injury, and a thirty-three percent chance of completing it. The estimated number of mission repeats was three. Since the Chosen One passed on the first try, this saved approximately 432 hours..."

"Stop, I get it. You're saying the interval until the next mission is also tied to how fast I finished the last one?"

"Yes."

An Yang suddenly understood.

In the Amazon mission, any injury meant leaving the training. For him, injury equaled mission failure. During the two live-combat phases with the highest injury risk, he chose to snipe from a distance the first time and directly avoided the greatest danger the second. So those 503 hours also included the time saved from skipping two repeats of the Escape from the Amazon mission.

"I'd better watch A Chinese Ghost Story a few times first."

Saying this, An Yang tossed his phone into the Portable Space. Just as he was about to turn on the computer, his stomach growled.

"Forget it. I still have over twenty days. Let's go grab a bite first."