Death Road

[Description: When you find yourself facing an impossible choice, it will mark a path to death and release, preserving your last shred of dignity while also offering you a slim chance of survival.]

[Effect: For three hours, all dangerous paths will be marked for you, and you will gain one chance to rewind upon death. After you die, time will rewind by one hour, but no earlier than the moment you used this skill.]

[Cost: You may only take the most dangerous path forward, must advance at least 100 meters, and cannot turn back.

When the danger at your location reaches a lethal level, you no longer need to keep moving. The cost will instead become remaining within the area designated by the skill for ten minutes.

This power has a 24-hour cooldown.]

As the red text faded, the gauge reappeared in Xia Shou's left eye. Its reading had returned to 1,100 meters, but it was still increasing at an extremely slow rate.

"Damn it! I'm still sinking!"

Xia Shou picked up the mirror and looked behind him. In the reflection, Alice's eyes were tightly shut, her brows knitted in pain. A trickle of blood ran from the corner of her mouth, as though she had just endured tremendous suffering.

Suddenly, Xia Shou understood. Alice had been saving him!

The notebook said [You cannot open doors yourself], but it hadn't said Alice couldn't open them.

Thinking back carefully, he realized that if he hadn't risen just now, he might already be dead.

And he had probably risen because Black Swamp had swallowed that red wax figure!

Xia Shou immediately took out the notebook and flipped through it. Sure enough, new content had appeared!

[...You are sinking. I am certain you would not want to know what lies down there.

If you want to live, devour those anomalous things. That is your only means of gaining "buoyancy."]

Devour anomalies...

Easy enough to say, but where was I supposed to find them?

Alice had nearly been overwhelmed just opening a small, shabby wooden door. Opening the other doors was out of the question.

If he wanted to devour anomalies, he would have to find another way.

[On your own, you will probably hit the bottom before you find your first anomaly.

Go join the Anomaly Control Bureau. It will greatly increase your chances of encountering anomalies.

But if you join the Containment Bureau, remember to avoid a woman named "Shangguan Yan." Although her strength is beyond question, she is utterly insufferable.

Also, never tell anyone at the Containment Bureau about the existence of "Black Swamp."]

[Before leaving, remember to take the pocket watch and recommendation letter from the study drawer. Stand before the door in the Entrance Hall and think [Jiangbo City] to leave... If you want to return, Alice will help you when she is awake.]

After reading this information, Xia Shou noticed that all the writing in the notebook had grown a little blurry.

"Looks like I can't keep using this guide for now."

Following the notebook's instructions, Xia Shou made his preparations and returned to the Entrance Hall.

He reached out, but his fingers stopped just before touching the door handle.

"Alice, help me open the door."

The notebook said he couldn't open any closed doors in the house himself. Perhaps that included the front door.

The cool sensation on one side of his neck vanished. A pale, slender arm swept over Xia Shou's shoulder and grasped the handle. With a gentle turn and push, the door opened, and the clamor outside washed over him.

Xia Shou stepped onto the street. Before him stood a modern city exactly like the one in his memories.

The door behind him closed automatically. No one on the street spared him a second glance, as though Alice behind him didn't exist.

"It seems ordinary people in this world can't directly perceive anomalous things. Come on, let's head to the place on the map first," Xia Shou said to Alice, as though she were simply a friend of few words.

Following the map in the notebook, Xia Shou wound his way through the sprawling city and finally arrived at a museum. Above its entrance shimmered five illusory characters resembling a holographic projection-Anomaly Control Bureau.

Xia Shou looked around and spotted others as strange as himself among the tourists coming and going.

A burly man three meters tall and a skeletal missionary carrying a cross passed through the crowd like invisible men, entering the museum nonchalantly without anyone noticing.

In all likelihood, this museum was the Containment Bureau's cover in ordinary society.

Standing before the museum entrance, Xia Shou carefully considered his next steps.

Although the notebook recommended joining, Xia Shou felt he needed to think it through cautiously.

As things stood, he had to devour anomalies to gain buoyancy.

But this world clearly wasn't the sort of place where a stroll down the street would bring him face-to-face with three supernatural incidents.

Finding anomalies on his own would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

And then there was their danger and unpredictability...

Xia Shou recalled the last depth reading he had seen on the gauge and the slow rate at which he was sinking, then silently ran the numbers.

At that rate, his depth would cross the 1,300-meter red line again within two days at most!

"Looks like I don't have a choice."

There was no way he could find an anomaly on his own within two days.

"Hey, you're not a Containment Bureau employee, are you?"

A voice suddenly sounded behind him. Xia Shou turned around to find a red-haired woman in a black suit standing there with her hands in her pockets, studying him with an oddly nuanced look.

Her long legs could rival a supermodel's. She wore a men's suit, the hem of her white shirt tucked into her waistband, outlining her slender waist and ample bust. A smile that seemed to command everything rested on her face. Every movement radiated confidence and composure, yet there was also something subtly mysterious about her.

Her gaze moved upward and lingered above and behind Xia Shou for a moment. Clearly, she could see Alice.

Since she could see Alice, she was probably with the Containment Bureau. Judging by her attire, she was administrative staff, too.

While Xia Shou was considering how to begin, she spoke first. "You're here to join the Containment Bureau, aren't you?"

Xia Shou was startled.

She had seen at a glance that he was here to join the Containment Bureau. Could this also be something the notebook had arranged in advance?

"How did you know?" Xia Shou asked cautiously.

"Besides museum visitors, the only people who come here are employees, interview candidates, prisoners, and people summoned for questioning. Since no one's here to receive you and I've never seen you before, you're most likely here for an interview. It's not hard to guess," the woman said with calm confidence. She sniffed lightly, as though she had caught

some unusual scent, and her eyes narrowed like a cat's. "There seems to be something special... in your pocket."

Xia Shou frowned slightly. The pocket watch was in his pocket. The notebook had told him to bring it and the recommendation letter when he came to the Containment Bureau.

"Huh? You're in charge of personnel?" Xia Shou asked in surprise.

"I'm someone who can make the final call."

"Seriously? But don't I need to pass some kind of assessment to join the Containment Bureau?"

"I can smell it. You're well suited to this line of work." She gave him a meaningful smile. "Come with me first."

They entered the museum and made their way through the grounds. Along the way, people kept nodding in greeting to the red-haired woman ahead of Xia Shou. She seemed to hold a high position in the Bureau, convincing the initially skeptical Xia Shou that she really did have the authority to approve new recruits.

Xia Shou followed her through a transparent barrier between sections of the grounds and finally entered a concealed elevator.

As the doors closed and the elevator began descending, Xia Shou suddenly remembered the warning in the Death Record Notebook. Taking the opportunity to inquire, he asked, "Is there someone here named Shangguan Yan?"

"Oh, Shangguan Yan. She's quite famous," the woman replied casually.