You Can Do That?

While Mo Shang was thinking about where to go, he suddenly remembered that after obtaining the System Remnant, the system had upgraded its ability to travel between worlds.

"System, what worlds can we go to?" Mo Shang asked.

"Yes, Master. There are worlds we can go to," the system replied.

"What kind of worlds?" Mo Shang asked, unable to help himself.

"I don't know."

"You said there were worlds we could go to, didn't you?" Mo Shang asked again, his face full of question marks.

"There are, but the previous system was too badly damaged, and some functions are broken. I can't check what kind of worlds they are. We can only travel to one at random..." the system explained.

"Random is fine. It's better than nothing. Can you bring someone else along?"

Mo Shang didn't dwell on it. The feature was practically free, so as long as it worked, that was good enough. What more could he ask for?

"In principle, no. But I make the rules here, so it's absolutely possible!" the system declared confidently.

"Great. Then start the transfer." Mo Shang didn't hesitate and gave the system its orders.

"Yes, Master."

[Beep. Module starting. Loading data...]

[Information module failed to load. Verification module failed to load. Task module loaded successfully. Travel module added successfully. Reward module loaded successfully...]

[Beep. Self-check complete. All systems normal. Have a pleasant journey.]

As a string of alerts rang through their minds, a different power suddenly enveloped the two of them and carried them away from this world.

"Damn it! Where the hell did you bring me? Are we still in China?"

Once the transfer ended, Mo Shang steadied himself and looked around. A string of question marks appeared on his face.

Before them lay a silent, ruined city. The sky was a heavy gray, the high-rises leaned at crooked angles, all the glass was shattered, and cracks split the streets. The pooled water was murky and green. There wasn't a trace of life anywhere.

A deathly aura hung all around them. The air was cold and clammy, filled with an indescribable moldy stench. The silence was terrifying; they couldn't even hear the wind. Everything about the place was strange...

"Where are we? The rules here feel unusual..." Jiang Shuyu studied their surroundings, then looked at Mo Shang in puzzlement.

"A small world. I used that Orb from before to bring us here."

Mo Shang explained, then immediately questioned the system in his mind. "System, your random teleportation is a little too random, isn't it? Where the hell did you throw us?"

"Uh, I'm not sure either. The information module is damaged, so I can't get any information. It was free, so just make do with it..." the system replied, sounding a little uncertain.

"Forget it. Tell me what my mission is first. What's the reward?" Mo Shang sighed and rubbed his forehead. You got what you paid for. There was nothing he could do but make do.

"There is no mission. The reward is ten draws."

Mo Shang was stunned by the system's answer. Then he asked, "No mission? Then how am I supposed to complete a mission and get the reward?"

Just then, a system alert suddenly rang out.

[Beep. Mission complete. Reward obtained: ten additional trait draws.]

At the same time, the system spoke in a smug voice. "Hehe. The old task module in the remnants was broken, so I fixed it myself. I also exploited a bug in my own code. As long as you make it here, the mission counts as complete. Consider it a little perk."

"Huh? No, wait, is that allowed? You exploited a bug in your own code to give me a perk? You can do that?" Mo Shang exclaimed, dumbfounded.

He'd seen hosts exploit system bugs to get benefits for themselves. But this was the first time he'd seen a system exploit its own bug to benefit its host!

"We're buddies. Don't mention it," the system replied nonchalantly, as though it had done nothing worth mentioning.

"Haha, you little bastard. You'd even exploit your own bugs just to give me a perk?"

Mo Shang was deeply moved. In an era when systems exploited their hosts, it was rare to find one as benevolent as his.

"There seem to be special rules here..." Jiang Shuyu said, as if she had noticed something.

"Yeah, it does seem that way. I wonder what kind of world this is..." Mo Shang nodded. He'd noticed that the rules of this world were different too.

"Someone's coming." As they spoke, Jiang Shuyu sensed something and turned her gaze toward the distance.

Hearing this, Mo Shang looked that way. A figure was slowly walking toward them.

As he watched the figure, Mo Shang's expression grew thoughtful. "He's surrounded by a deathly aura. Could he be a cultivator of the ghost path? Or something else..."

While Mo Shang was pondering this, the figure had already reached the two of them. They could now make out the newcomer's appearance.

The man was burly, with a strange aura surrounding him. He held a butcher's knife and wore a bloodstained apron around his waist. Judging by his appearance, he seemed to be a Butcher.

As Mo Shang looked at the Butcher, the Butcher studied the two of them as well, a hint of confusion in his expression.

"Such strange clothes..." the Butcher muttered, then looked away and continued walking.

"Friend, please wait." Seeing him about to leave, Mo Shang quickly called out.

The Butcher stopped. His head rotated a hundred and eighty degrees to face Mo Shang, and a hoarse voice came from his throat. "What is it? Travelers from another world?"

Mo Shang showed no reaction to the Butcher's head turning all the way around. Smiling, he asked, "I wanted to ask: where are we?"

"This is the Weird Tales World. You're not weird beings, are you?" the Butcher replied flatly, without a trace of emotion.

Mo Shang was slightly taken aback. Though he'd suspected as much, he hadn't expected it to really be a Weird World. He'd read plenty of novels of this sort in his previous life...

"We're not weird beings. By the way, how did you know we came from another world?" Mo Shang asked again.

"The rules told me..." the Butcher replied.

"Is that so?"

Mo Shang pondered this. He knew that the Weird Tales World was governed by all kinds of rules.

What surprised him was that the rules of the Weird Tales World seemed to be something like the will of heaven and earth, not truly inanimate...

"If you don't have anything else to ask, I'll be on my way. I still have to go to work." Seeing that Mo Shang had nothing more to ask, the Butcher prepared to leave.

"Go to work? You weird beings have to work too?" That immediately piqued Mo Shang's interest.

"Mm. I guard an eerie-tale instance. That's my job." The Butcher nodded.

"Can we come with you and take a look?" Mo Shang's eyes lit up. He was quite curious about these rule-based eerie tales.

"Sure. You're guests, so the rules will assign you identities. Follow me..." The Butcher nodded, turned his head back around, and continued walking.