First Encounter with Ghost Rider

After riding another hundred-odd kilometers, Xiahou finally spotted the outline of a small town in the distance. He quickly sped toward it.

It was a small town with a permanent population of only a little over a thousand, and it had just one hotel. When Xiahou went in, the owner was already asleep on the sofa.

Xiahou had no choice but to ring the service bell on the counter repeatedly. The urgent ringing jolted the owner awake, and when he saw Xiahou looking at him from the counter, he hurried over to greet him.

"Hello, sir. Would you like a room?"

"Yeah! What else would I be here for? By the way, do you serve food? I'm a little hungry!" Xiahou replied, at a loss for words.

The owner looked apologetic. "Let me check you in first! It's twenty dollars a night. As for food, you'll have to buy something from the vending machine! Sorry! We're a little out of the way here, so we don't have any twenty-four-hour convenience stores or fast-food places!"

Xiahou had no choice but to agree. After buying a pile of snacks from the vending machine, he followed the owner to his room.

The room wasn't large, but it was reasonably clean and acceptable enough for a night's sleep. After eating his snacks and washing up, he lay down on the bed and drifted off to sleep.

It was almost noon the next day by the time Xiahou came out of his room. After checking out with the owner, he rode around the town. It really was tiny-in China, it might have been no more than a larger village-and there were very few shops.

After finding a steakhouse that looked decent, Xiahou parked and went inside to see what was good. But after looking through the menu, he found nothing but steak, pasta, creamy soups, and the like. He ordered a few things at random and began planning his future.

As things stood, he couldn't log out of the game. Otherwise, he would have gone back long ago, after nearly three years. He also needed to think about what to do in the future. This game was practically a real world, and everything cost money.

I need to find a way to make money. I can't just rob people, can I? Gangs and bad guys would be one thing, but I'd feel bad robbing ordinary people! Besides, there are so many overpowered characters in this world. What if one of them can kill me outright and even resurrection won't work? Like the five cosmic entities or the Living Tribunal!

As far as I can tell, this is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Mutants have shown up, so it's hard to say what else might be here! And over on the Mutants' side, they're always pulling off Days of Future Past and stuff! That's dangerous too!

So being a villain is still dangerous. Being an antihero wouldn't be bad, but it's still a hassle. I made ten grand yesterday. What if I became a mercenary or a bounty hunter? That sounds promising! Then I could buy a house, put an agency on the first floor, and live on the second!

By the end of that thought, he couldn't help speaking aloud. "Right! That's it! I can open an agency and do side quests while I'm at it! And make money too! I'm a genius! I'll call it Ready Player One!"

Just then, the server brought out the food he had ordered, and he dug in eagerly. He was used to Chinese food and always felt that Western food didn't keep him full, so he could only eat a little more.

After the meal, there wasn't much else to see, so he went straight to the town's gas station. While filling up, he also bought ten large round barrels of fuel as reserves. Under the gas station employee's gaze, he put them straight into his backpack, leaving the astonished employee standing there watching him leave.

He continued riding around like that for another two days, and it began to grow boring. Traveling alone was fine for a short while, but after a long time, it got lonely.

Looking at the vast city skyline in the distance, Xiahou arrived at the center of Marvel: New York! A city where countless major events and disasters had taken place.

Its brilliant lights were completely different from those of the towns he had encountered over the previous few days. Perhaps only this place could be considered a real city! The small towns elsewhere felt as though they were still in the last century.

As he marveled at the sight, he suddenly noticed a blaze speeding toward him from the distance, leaving a long, narrow trail of fire behind it.

Xiahou watched the flames draw closer and murmured, "That couldn't be... Ghost Rider, could it?"

Once they were close enough, Xiahou was certain. It really was Ghost Rider!

There was that unmistakable skeleton, the hellish motorcycle, and the raging flames pouring from both rider and bike. The scorching waves of heat set every small creature or bit of debris he passed ablaze, and Hellfire burned on the ground in his wake.

As he passed Xiahou, he even turned his head and gave him a thorough look, as though checking whether the man was tainted by sin.

But in Xiahou, he sensed only emptiness. He paid him no further attention and sped onward.

Xiahou hurriedly turned around and followed. No one could blame him! Who would have thought he'd run into Ghost Rider here?

The first time he saw the movie, he had been captivated by Ghost Rider's motorcycle! The plot hadn't been much, but it really was cool!

Xiahou muttered excitedly, "It looks like this might be his first transformation! It'd be a shame not to go up and ask for an autograph, and pick up some experience while I'm at it!"

But Ghost Rider was incredibly fast, and he didn't have to worry about fuel. Xiahou had already stopped for gas twice, and if he hadn't followed the trail of flames on the ground, he would have lost him.

After filling up yet again, Xiahou muttered, "Should I draw a better vehicle? Having to refuel every so often really makes me look lame!"

As the sun rose, Xiahou finally caught up with Johnny in a cemetery, where he was lying on the ground and beginning to change back into a human.

A white-haired old white man had also come out of the church in the cemetery and was now at Johnny's side, helping him to his feet.

After putting his vehicle away, Xiahou hurried over to the two of them. "Hello, Ghost Riders! My name is Xiahou! Can I get a photo with you?"

As he spoke, he spent a thousand energy points in the game store on a camera with unlimited storage and held it in his hand.

The elderly Ghost Rider had initially thought Xiahou was just an ordinary person who had seen Johnny and followed out of curiosity. But when Xiahou revealed that he knew who he was, he immediately grew wary.

He looked at Xiahou guardedly and asked, "Who exactly are you? What do you want with us? I don't believe I know you."

Xiahou was about to answer, but then he remembered what that old fogey Ancient One had told him and changed what he was going to say. "Didn't I tell you? My name is Xiahou. I only came to get a photo with you. It's enough that I know you, and I mean no harm! I'm not one of Mephisto's people either!"

Seeing that Xiahou's expression didn't look fake and that he seemed to know a great deal, Carter Slade could only lower his guard a little for the time being.

He nodded his chin toward Johnny. "Let's deal with his problem first, then we can talk about the rest!"

He then helped Johnny into the church, and Xiahou followed them inside.