It was still the same temple.
The incense and candles burned brightly, and smoke curled through the air.
The only noticeable difference was that the page floating above the altar had changed. Judging by its appearance, though, it was still the same yellowed paper.
But the moment Zhou You touched it, a prompt appeared before his eyes.
"Player detected in possession of item: Corpse Inside the Door. The player may choose to replace this instance with a special instance. Please note that the difficulty may be too high for you at present, but there is a chance of receiving an extremely rare reward. You will also receive medicine that can effectively target your illness."
"Would you like to enter?"
Zhou You didn't choose right away. He carefully reread the last sentence for a moment, then reached out and pressed the option without hesitation.
Wasn't the whole reason I came to this godforsaken place to look for a chance to cure myself? It's only medicine that targets my illness, not a cure, but what's that saying?
Something's better than nothing, right?
The instant Zhou You made his choice, the page seemed to glitch. It flickered rapidly in midair, then began to transform. The paper gradually grew tattered, like an old book from the eighties, and even the text began changing from standard print to the oil-ink Song typeface of earlier times—
"Unknown special item detected: Corpse Inside the Door has intervened."
"Altering scenario..."
"Scenario alteration complete."
"Special Instance: Night Watchman."
"Type: Calamity Spirit."
"Corruption Level: Low to Moderate."
"Number of Revivals: 10 + 5 (additional revivals granted by Corpse Inside the Door)."
"Background: Like many young people your age, you have dreams and hope to make something of yourself. That is why you left your hometown and came to this coastal city... Unfortunately, things didn't turn out as well as you imagined. With little education, you struggled to find work, and eventually landed a job patrolling the streets at night. The pay isn't much, but it's just enough to keep you from starving."
"But what you don't know is that this job is far from simple."
"Before you, five people in the same position had already gone missing, and three had met gruesome deaths."
"And you may well be the ninth."
"Objective: Survive for five days and patrol the entire district at least once."
"Please note: Time in this scenario is divided into 'day' and 'night.' Time will immediately return to daytime when you choose to do so in the game space, fulfill certain specific conditions, or die a certain number of times. Daytime is relatively safe, but your range of movement will be limited, and you will be unable to complete your patrol objective."
"This scenario can only be saved automatically."
"Reward One: 500 Soul Stones and one random special purple item."
"Item and talent grades, from lowest to highest: White, Green, Blue, Purple, Orange, Silver, Red, Gold, Dark Gold."
"Reward Two: An additional month and a half of life, and one dose of Sanchu Decoction to suppress the worsening of your illness."
"Would you like to enter?"
Well, now there isn't even an option to leave.
Zhou You curled his lip, then chose to enter.
"Hey..."
He vaguely heard a voice.
"Hey... kid..."
The voice grew louder, and its tone more and more irritable.
"Hey... kid... I... I'm fucking talking to you!"
A sudden, loud bang jolted Zhou You from his daze.
He opened his heavy eyelids and saw an enraged face.
At first glance, the man looked about thirty-six or thirty-seven. He was bald and wore a green security uniform of the sort commonly seen around the year 2000, with a conspicuous red armband on his sleeve.
The man was glaring at Zhou You, looking distinctly displeased... and rather hostile.
Since he had only just entered the scenario and knew nothing about his surroundings, Zhou You decided to play it safe.
"Um, may I ask who you are...?"
Who would have thought that such a simple, polite question would be like a match tossed onto a pile of fireworks, instantly setting the man off?
"Who am I??? Are you fucking sleepwalking? You can't even recognize your own boss? You came begging and crying to me back then. I only helped you because we're from the same hometown, gave you a job so you could put food on the table, and this is how you repay me? It's your first day on the job, and you're already dozing off?"
"Um, I know you're in a hurry, but just calm down..."
As he placated the middle-aged man, who looked ready to bite someone, Zhou You glanced down at himself.
He wore the same green uniform as the man, though his looked a little older and much dirtier. In some places, he could see dark stains...
They almost looked like blood.
But before Zhou You could take a closer look, the middle-aged man suddenly slammed his hand down on the table.
With a resounding bang, Zhou You finally understood what had startled him awake.
"I'm fucking talking to you! Are you even listening?"
Zhou You quickly cleared his throat twice, then put on an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, sorry. I zoned out for a moment and didn't hear you. What did you need?"
They said you couldn't stay angry at someone who smiled at you. Faced with Zhou You's utterly harmless and friendly smile, the middle-aged man couldn't bring himself to get mad again. He could only say sternly, "I came to remind you that it's time to start work. It's your first day on duty, and we're short-staffed, so you'll be the only one on night patrol for the next few days. Keep your eyes open and don't fucking screw anything up..."
"Um, sorry to interrupt."
"What?"
"I seem to have forgotten. What exactly is my job again?"
"Have you fucking forgotten what you do?" The middle-aged man was about to start swearing again, but then he seemed to remember something and held it back. With forced patience, he explained, "I'll tell you one more time, and this is the last time. Your job is to patrol all the main roads in Qinghe District between eleven at night and four in the morning. That includes Chang Song Slope, where they're about to build a park. Write down any problems you see and hand in your report when you clock out each day..."
"Uh, what should I do if something happens along the way? Say, some street thugs causing trouble, a burglar helping someone move house for free, or something... really strange?"
"...You don't need to worry about that." The middle-aged man waved a hand. "All you have to do is make one round, come back, and write up your report. That's it. Simple enough, right?"
No. It might not be simple at all.
Zhou You watched the middle-aged man and keenly spotted a trace of deeply hidden fear in his eyes.
But in the end, he only grinned and gave the man a mild smile.
"Yes, I understand. I'll get ready for work now."
Before you continue