How had he summoned that door?
It seemed he had silently thought, "Make a break for the door."
"Gate."
Shen Ye spoke the word in his mind.
Without a sound, the hospital room door appeared before Shen Ye again.
A notice was posted on the door:
"You may summon the 'Gate' at any time." "However, each day, you will receive an evaluation trait only the first time you open the 'Gate.'" "The higher the evaluation, the more powerful the trait, and the more attribute points it can be converted into." "In addition, the world currently connected to the 'Gate' is:" "Nightmare World."
Tsk.
He could only farm one trait a day.
-His lovely dream of stockpiling attribute points had fallen through.
What should he do?
To get a better evaluation tomorrow, he might as well make some preparations first.
Shen Ye pressed close to the window and peered inside.
The four-meter-long skeletal monster had returned to the other end of the corridor and was bent over a corpse, gnawing on it.
With his current strength, he could not beat a monster like that.
Communication.
Communication was the cornerstone of human survival.
Shen Ye took a deep breath and firmly turned the doorknob.
A chilly gust blew toward him.
"Hi!"
He steadied himself and said loudly:
"Sorry to interrupt your meal. Here's the thing: after months of refinement, we've launched a revolutionary new phone. Its performance-"
The skeletal monster roared and charged at him.
Bang!
Shen Ye slammed the hospital room door shut, immediately severing the connection between the two worlds.
Immediately afterward.
The door gradually vanished, and the monster disappeared along with it.
Only Shen Ye remained standing there, his hand against his forehead as he tried to steady his nerves.
-He had been so nervous that he had blurted out his sales pitch from his previous life.
How embarrassing.
Luckily, no one knew.
"Come on, Shen Ye. You can do this."
He gave himself a pep talk.
"Gate."
The hospital room door appeared again.
Looking through the window into the corridor, he saw that the skeletal monster had returned to its original spot and opened its mouth, about to resume eating the corpse.
Shen Ye opened the door and said with a smile:
"Sorry to interrupt your meal. What I actually wanted to say was, why don't we become friends?"
The skeletal monster charged at him again.
Bang.
The door closed. Communication had failed.
Shen Ye fell into thought.
Judging by its reaction, he seemed to be on its menu.
Putting himself in its shoes, if he were a monster, he would not communicate with his food either.
Then under what circumstances would he communicate with his food?
...He had it.
"Gate."
Shen Ye silently spoke the word in his mind.
The hospital room door appeared before him again.
He peered inside through the window.
The skeletal monster had its head pressed against the glass, chewing on the corpse as it stared coldly at Shen Ye.
Only a pane of glass separated it from Shen Ye.
-This monster had wised up!
The moment he opened the door, it could rush over and eat him!
Still, Shen Ye managed to remain just barely calm.
The "Gate" was his ability. Once it was destroyed, the connection between the two worlds would immediately break.
Besides, he could summon and dismiss the "Gate" at any time.
He was safe.
Perhaps this skeletal monster was blocking the doorway simply because it found him annoying!
Shen Ye sighed and said sincerely:
"I don't want to keep bothering you either, but I really want to enter your world."
The skeletal monster reached out and clawed at the corridor wall.
The wall was gouged through like tofu, crushed into powder that sifted silently from its bony claws.
The monster looked at Shen Ye without saying anything.
Yet Shen Ye could feel its mockery.
-Go ahead and mock me. I'm just an ordinary human to begin with.
He studied the skeletal monster carefully and saw that it was still leaning against the wall, communicating with him in a half-reclining position.
Following its skeleton with his eyes, he could see that its left leg bone was covered in cracks, while a section of its right leg bone was missing altogether.
No wonder it was in that position.
An idea suddenly occurred to Shen Ye.
"Esteemed Big Skeleton, would you like a wheelchair?" he asked.
Big Skeleton looked at him without moving.
-Perhaps there was no such thing as a wheelchair in Nightmare World!
Shen Ye got up, fetched his phone, turned it on, and immediately ran a search.
"Look!"
He pointed the screen toward the door's window, showing a video of someone sitting in a wheelchair.
Shen Ye said enthusiastically:
"This is a wheelchair. It's a very useful means of transportation for people with disabilities. If you need one, I can have one custom-made."
Big Skeleton stared at him with its dark, hollow eye sockets, as though looking at an idiot.
Shen Ye persisted:
"Not interested in wheelchairs? Okay, we have other options."
He searched for another item and showed its picture to the monster on the other side of the window.
"This is called a hula hoop. It's for strengthening your waist and abdomen."
"I'll buy you one, shipping included. You can use it to strengthen your pelvis and lumbar spine."
"That way, you'll be able to crawl faster and with more energy."
"I'll demonstrate how to use it."
"Look-"
"You swing your hips like this. Got it?"
Big Skeleton silently looked at the phone screen, then at Shen Ye.
It clenched its bony claws and struck the hospital room door with all its might-
Boom!!!
The hospital room door shattered outright. The connection between the two worlds immediately broke, and the skeleton and the corridor behind it vanished in an instant.
"If you don't like it, just say so. Why get so violent?"
Shen Ye spoke under his breath.
He paced around the room, considering how to break the impasse.
Tomorrow, he could obtain a new evaluation trait.
If he could win over Big Skeleton today, tomorrow's evaluation trait would surely be better than the gray trait "Polite Person."
He would also gain more attribute points.
His strength was at stake-
He needed strength for the high school entrance exam, and even more to evade the enemy secretly using the "Cursed Statue of the King of the Myriad-Fallen Evil Ghosts."
-No matter what, he had to find a way to establish a relationship with Big Skeleton.
But it seemed to really dislike him.
Shen Ye felt a little dejected, then immediately rallied.
It was fine!
Winning over a client required a little professionalism.
He would just try harder!
-So what exactly did it need?
Shen Ye thought for a while, and some new ideas gradually took shape.
"Gate."
He spoke the word.
The hospital room door appeared again.
This time, Big Skeleton was no longer pressed against the window.
It had returned to the other side of the corridor and continued eating the corpse with its back to Shen Ye.
Was it planning to ignore me?
Shen Ye's fighting spirit flared.
He cleared his throat and spoke in a dignified, solemn tone:
"Friend, do you find it difficult to get around, having lost the vigor you once had?"
"Friend, do you ever feel you can no longer fight as well as you wish?"
"-I can help you!"
"No money, no gifts. All I ask is that you become my friend."
"Give it a try!"
"Give me a chance, and I'll give you a second youth!"
"Don't hesitate. You must remember how great you were when you were young! I can restore you to that state!"
As he spoke, he stole glances at Big Skeleton.
During his first two lines, Big Skeleton had continued eating the corpse without pause.
But as he spoke on, it gradually stopped moving.
Had his words stirred some sort of emotion in it?
Why not fan the flames?
Shen Ye took a deep breath and called loudly through the door:
"Don't put it off until tomorrow. Make your decision! You can regain your confidence as a man today!"
Big Skeleton still neither turned around nor moved.
Suddenly-
With a clang, a sheet of parchment appeared nailed to the hospital room door, bearing lines of small, blood-colored writing:
"You have received a Nightmare Contract." "Signatory: Mother of the Shadowy Skeletons, King of the Ghouls, the defeated Underworld Lord Micteticashiva..."
Shen Ye shuddered.
-This monster had such an astonishing background?
But why was there an "..." after the name "Underworld Lord Micteticashiva"?
Shen Ye thought for a moment, then reached out and tapped the "..."
The "..." instantly expanded into a passage of previously collapsed small print:
"Battlefield Quartermaster of the Fifth Combat Squad of the Skeleton Army under the command of."
So the full signature should have been "Battlefield Quartermaster of the Fifth Combat Squad of the Skeleton Army under the command of the Mother of the Shadowy Skeletons, King of the Ghouls, the defeated Underworld Lord Micteticashiva."
All right, all right. So that's how you're going to play it.
Shen Ye narrowed his eyes and continued reading:
"Contract terms: equal exchange." "Postscript:"
"I remember that seven thousand years ago, the humans of that age made the eternal, immortal Clock of Fate chime twelve times through their talent for creating culture, art, and technology. Even the gods took notice of that sight."
"Human, I hope you can help me regain my power."
"-I never enter into contracts with beings other than gods, so you had best understand the value of this contract."
"Sign your name on the next line, and this contract will be established."
"Signatory: ()"
A hazy white light rose from Shen Ye's body, resonating with the contract.
An understanding dawned on him.
The fact that this Nightmare Contract was pinned to the Gate meant that his own ability formed the basis for entering into it.
If he and this Skeleton Soldier were dissatisfied with each other, he could cancel the contract at any time.
From another perspective-
The contract was correct and valid.
-But if he could not help the Skeleton Soldier, this contract was nothing more than a scrap of paper.
Shen Ye took a fountain pen from his pencil case and solemnly wrote down his name:
"Shen Ye..."
-A string of "..." had actually appeared automatically after his name as well.
I get this too?
Shen Ye could not help feeling a little surprised.
He saw Big Skeleton rush over and tap the contract with a long finger bone from the other side of the Gate.
The string of "..." after Shen Ye's name immediately expanded:
"The human who overcame the curse of the Myriad-Fallen Evil Ghost, gatekeeper of nightmare and reality, the sole Controller of Inter-Realm Space."
-So I've got this kind of presence too?
Shen Ye thought silently and stole a glance at the skeleton, only to see that the skeleton was also staring at those words, seemingly somewhat awed.
Dong, dong, dong, dong, dong!
A series of solemn, stately bell chimes rang out from somewhere.
Various etched runes radiating golden light appeared above the hospital room door, coalescing into two clock hands. One pointed toward the small golden words that had just appeared: "Mother of the Shadowy Skeletons, King of the Ghouls, Battlefield Quartermaster of the Fifth Combat Squad of the Skeleton Army under the defeated Underworld Lord Micteticashiva."
The other hand pointed toward a line of small words radiating white light:
"The human who overcame the curse of the King of the Myriad-Fallen Evil Ghosts, gatekeeper of nightmare and reality, Shen Ye."
The hands and the two names continued to shine for several breaths before slowly fading away.
The contract was established!