This Was Heaven's Way of Killing Me?

Chen Ge stared intently at his phone screen. The wheel spun slower and slower, and with a soft click, the pointer stopped.

"Draw complete. Congratulations! You've won a rare special item: Cursed Love Letter (0.3% chance of winning)!"

"Her eyes bulged, her face was pale. From the moment she fell from the high-rise, she became a taboo on campus. Her red dancing shoes, bloodstained uniform, even her name became topics no one dared mention. People pretended to forget, until one day, someone else received her love letter..."

"Your first draw has won you a Vengeful Spirit. Rare title unlocked: Ghost Favored."

"Ghost Favored: While wearing this title, you have a chance of receiving help from a Vengeful Spirit."

Reading the notification on his phone, Chen Ge felt as if he couldn't get enough oxygen. "Cursed Love Letter? A 0.3% chance? Ghost Favored? I still haven't figured out the monster in the mirror, and now I've drawn a Vengeful Spirit! Is heaven trying to kill me?!"

He was starting to regret jinxing himself before the draw. "Stay calm! Don't panic. Things haven't gotten as bad as they could. Drawing a Vengeful Spirit doesn't mean it'll appear right away. I still have time to fix this. Maybe I should visit a nearby temple and pray for guidance."

He put his phone away and was about to slip it into his pocket when his fingertips brushed against something.

Looking down, Chen Ge saw a yellowed sheet of paper that had somehow ended up in his pocket.

A sense of foreboding welled up inside him. He shakily pulled out the paper. A sentence had been woven from strands of hair: I like you.

"To hell with staying calm! What is it you like about me? I'll change, okay?!"

The writing on the paper was delicate and elegant. It would have been much more pleasing to the eye if it hadn't been woven from hair.

Standing in the West Wing Room with the paper in his hand, Chen Ge's face turned ashen. "It's hard to believe that the first love letter I've ever received came in a form like this."

"Boss! What are you muttering to yourself about?" Xiao Wan came in from outside. She had just finished setting up the Paper Figures in the main room.

"Nothing. I was wondering, if someone knew their days were numbered, should they let go of all their obsessions and do something meaningful instead?" Chen Ge looked up at Xiao Wan, whose face was covered in corpse makeup. "For example, do their part to help the human race flourish."

Chen Ge had said it offhand, but Xu Wan actually looked thoughtful. Her expression gradually grew serious.

"Xiao Wan, are you saying yes? Wait, I'm not ready for this. Isn't this a bit too sudden? We do get along well, and we've worked together for a long time. If we really had to help the human race flourish, I wouldn't be against it..." Chen Ge suddenly felt a little nervous.

"No, Boss, you misunderstood. I was just curious because I saw you had two shadows when I came in." Xu Wan pointed behind Chen Ge. "Is this a new attraction for our Haunted House?"

"Two shadows?!"

Chen Ge turned around. Two shadows, one large and one small, were slowly drawing closer behind him. At last, they merged.

"WTF!"

Without another word, he grabbed Xu Wan and ran out of the Haunted House.

Only after getting back into the sunlight did Chen Ge calm down. He didn't explain what had happened to Xu Wan, simply sitting on the steps outside the Haunted House.

"Boss, you've been so jumpy lately. Are you under too much pressure?" Xu Wan sat beside Chen Ge. "Don't put so much pressure on yourself. Things will get better. What do you want for lunch? I'll go get it for you."

Chen Ge didn't know how to respond. He managed a weak smile. "I'll have whatever you're having. Also, go take off your makeup first. Don't scare the cafeteria chef."

"Mm-hmm."

After Xu Wan left, Chen Ge held the love letter up in front of him again. "I saw with my own eyes as those two shadows merged. Does that mean a Vengeful Spirit has latched onto me? Is it hiding in my shadow right now?"

Wherever there was sunlight, there were shadows. Chen Ge stared at his own shadow without blinking. "I have the Ghost Favored title, which gives me a chance of getting help from a Vengeful Spirit. If this title really works, then drawing a Vengeful Spirit might not be a bad thing."

That was the only way he could reassure himself. In truth, he knew perfectly well why they were called Vengeful Spirits: they were consumed by resentment before death, their entire beings radiating malice and curses. Living alongside a Ghostly Being like that could end in disaster if he made even the slightest mistake.

After lunch, Chen Ge sat outside the Haunted House with a Promotional Flyer in hand. There were plenty of visitors passing by, but hardly anyone wanted to come in and see the haunted attractions.

With nothing else to do, Chen Ge opened his short-video profile and found dozens of new private messages.

After weeding out the insults and advertisements, Chen Ge replied to the rest one by one. Soon, he came across a message from He Shan.

The honest, good-natured Forensic Medical College student had privately messaged Chen Ge to say that the school's online forum had exploded. After learning that the department's belle had been scared to tears, a bunch of male Senior Students had geared up to storm the Haunted House. Someone had even posted a call to arms on the forum, and more than a dozen people had already signed up.

"Ah, to be young." Chen Ge's lips curled up. He could already picture a dozen or so strapping lads, brimming with hormones, cowering and huddling together inside his Haunted House.

"Once I finish the trial mission, I'll let them try out the new scenario first and see just how scary that one-star horror scenario the phone rated really is."

Thinking of the trial mission, Chen Ge grew serious. He could only attempt it once. If he failed, the corresponding horror scenario would remain locked forever.

He checked the Black Phone and committed the mission details to memory.

Know yourself and your enemy, and you'll never lose a hundred battles. After confirming the mission location, Chen Ge began searching online for every bit of information he could find about the place.

"Ping An Apartment, West Suburb, Hanjiang City..."

Searching the place name alone turned up nothing. Only after flipping through several pages did Chen Ge find something about the Apartment Building on a local Han Jiang real estate website.

It was a complaint saying the seller had concealed the truth: the Apartment Building was actually a haunted house. There were mottled bloodstains under the wallpaper, and every night, an inexplicable foul stench filled the place.

No one took up the complaint, and eventually it was forgotten. Chen Ge checked the date of the message. It had been posted nine months earlier.

"Spend a night in a real haunted house and find the hidden killer. This mission's going to be a little difficult for me." Chen Ge had majored in toy design at university and was good at making things by hand. When it came to investigation and deduction, he was practically clueless.

"This won't be easy. I'm not afraid of haunted houses. I'm just worried the killer might live next door and mistake me for prey in the middle of the night."