NFM Chapter 84

“…Huh?”

On the other end of the phone, Lin Huai seemed still half-asleep. She didn’t care, pouring out her experience like beans from a bamboo tube. By the end, she was almost in tears: “Junior, have you heard it too? The sounds in my room…”

“Miss Qin Jiang,” Lin Huai’s voice was polite, “I think…”

He paused, as if choosing his words carefully: “Perhaps you’ve been under a lot of stress lately?”

“I’m not, I haven’t, I swear I saw that person in red, wearing a red robe and a hood…”

“Oh, Spider-Man?” Lin Huai said, “Queens is his territory, so it’s normal for him to appear.”

“It’s not Spider-Man!”

“Then, Deadpool?”

“…”

Lin Huai, who did good deeds without seeking recognition, was not smug. He sat in front of his dorm computer, staring at the monitor that had almost trapped his butt, tapping his fingers on the desk, deep in thought.

He had little memory of his past—only that he was born in Wen County, where a war later devoured a city of ghosts, making him the strongest Fierce Ghost in the area.

He rarely went out, spending most of his time in the well—by his grave. Thus, he had no impression of the rapidly changing, reform-and-opening-up world of the past century.

But when he saw the ghost in that room, a thought crossed his mind.

‘It wasn’t this rampant before; it’s out of control.’

It was his voice, yet it didn’t seem like his. The voice was cold, like ice frozen beneath an iceberg.

…Like an emotionless, inorganic deity, above all living beings.

“This is strange,” he thought, “Could this be the original owner’s voice?”

A standard philosophical triple strike instantly filled his heart: Who am I? Where do I come from? Where will I go?

However, he clearly wasn’t a fan of pondering philosophical questions. After a brief struggle, Lin Huai decided to continue living in the real world he loved—and ponder another more practical question.

“I got stuck in the screen twice just now…” He slumped in his chair, rolling his eyes as he looked up, “Is it time to lose weight…”

Lin Huai spent the next month balancing weight loss and studying. The day after returning from the Instance, he signed a contract with Chen Shu, officially joining the “Operation to Defeat the Great Demon King.”

The Midnight Zone was a yet-to-be-developed horror-themed area. In recent years, as living standards improved, people who had been well-fed by Mr. Yuan Longping started seeking excitement in real life… Aside from online trolling, browsing xxxxhub, and idolizing celebrities, they discovered another hobby that could bring them immense thrill—

Being scared.

The moment of struggling on the edge of life and death, besides fear, also brought a surge of dopamine pleasure afterward—Zhou Ming, the developer of the Midnight Zone, precisely targeted this need.

Zhou Ming, as Chen Shu’s current boyfriend, warmly welcomed Lin Huai’s arrival. After the three gathered, he made a phone call, saying, “Today, there’s another person joining us. From now on, he will mainly handle the administrative aspects of the Midnight Zone, working with you on its development.”

Not long after, someone arrived at the door. The man had broad shoulders and long legs, looking like a male model straight out of a poster. Zhou Ming introduced him to the group, “This is Cheng Yuan, the second son of the Fangcheng Group, and my childhood friend.”

The male model nodded at them, extending his hand politely, “Hello.”

His gaze swept over Chen Shu, then Zhou Ming, finally landing on Lin Huai, and his eyes lit up.

Cheng Yuan was the second son of the Fangcheng Group, a leading conglomerate in the country. His father’s surname was Cheng, and his mother’s was Fang. Like most overbearing CEO groups often seen in danmei novels, the Fangcheng Group also had characteristics such as controlling the economy, never practicing family planning, and sons preferring to find men. Cheng Yuan had an older brother and a younger brother, named Cheng Yuping and Cheng Yubao respectively, making Lin Huai suspect that if they had a fourth brother, he might be named Cheng Yuxian…

However, Cheng Yuan clearly had more life interests than the overbearing CEOs in novels. He didn’t support small celebrities who would later run away pregnant, didn’t accidentally get involved with college students who would later run away pregnant, and wasn’t exposed as an omega by competitors who would later run away pregnant… Of course, this world didn’t have the ABO or six bathrooms distinctions. In short, his greatest joy in life was…

“You look really good, really good,” Cheng Yuan looked at Lin Huai, marveling. He circled Lin Huai twice, almost reaching out to touch him.

Lin Huai smiled at him, “Did you buy health insurance?”

“Really good, really good,” Cheng Yuan’s eyes sparkled, “Your looks are perfect for playing a ghost!”

Yes, Cheng Yuan’s greatest hobby was creating haunted houses.

The three hit it off and started designing the new haunted house together. The new haunted house was located next to Saint Maria Academy, a haunted middle school.

Lin Huai incorporated what he had seen and heard in his second Instance into it, shamelessly copying everything, knowing the system couldn’t complain to him.

After hearing his ideas, Chen Shu looked disdainful, “Too… too… gay. Not good.”

Lin Huai: “Why gay?”

Chen Shu: “You’re pretending not to know what gay is.”

In his spare time, Chen Shu also fully explained his original idea for Saint Maria Academy: “Actually, this story is like this…”

[The following is Lin Huai’s translation]

“Since childhood, a girl was disliked for her ugly appearance. They hated her, mocked her, poured dirty water on her. She endured it all silently, believing that her ugly self would never be worthy of love.

Yet, she still loved beautiful things. She had a secret garden hidden behind the principal’s office, its entrance known only to her. The flowers in the garden were very beautiful. She wasn’t allowed into the garden everyone else could enter, but she didn’t care, because she had this beautiful secret garden.

She kept this little secret in her heart, like the Little Prince protecting his rose with a glass cover. Later, she had one more thing to protect.

It was the new piano teacher at the academy. She was a beautiful young woman, teaching at a nearby music school. While everyone despised the girl’s appearance, only the piano teacher praised her: ‘Your voice is beautiful, and you’re cute when you smile.'”

“This kind of white moonlight character is just a walking death flag from head to toe…” Lin Huai commented, “What happened next?”

“Later, the white moonlight… no, the piano teacher’s birthday arrived. She was such a beautiful, kind girl, deserving of all the sunlight and the best gifts in the world. The girl wanted to give her the best gift, but she had no money and had never left the orphanage… Finally, she decided to give the teacher her most precious possession, the little secret she had never spoken of.

She took the teacher through the small door and showed her the flowers in the secret garden. But what she didn’t see was that the principal returned that day and opened the garden’s main gate.

The girl hid the teacher in the bushes, but she herself was dismembered and killed by the principal. Those weren’t beautiful flowers… the plants the principal had been growing in the secret garden were poppies. The principal had been involved in drug trafficking on the side.” Chen Shu said, “What do you think of this story?”

“…It’s full of love and hope,” Lin Huai said sarcastically, “Why is your story about friendship between a girl and a teacher, while mine gets labeled as gay?”

Chen Shu said, “I don’t know, maybe it’s because my protagonist didn’t say ‘because we’re friends.'”

The busy month passed with studying and part-time work. On a Sunday in the second month, Lin Huai once again felt a burning pain in his heart… no, in his conscience.

This time, he dutifully hid in the bathroom half an hour early and locked the door, eliminating any possibility of someone randomly barging in.

In the familiar dizziness, he arrived at the familiar login space. With several S-rank game evaluations under his belt, he was flush with resources and swept everything in front of him without a second glance.

After taking care of business, he was about to question the system about why it had kicked him out of the system space last time when he heard the cold mechanical prompt.

“Player, this Instance is a promotion from the beginner to intermediate level,” the system’s cold voice announced, “Starting transmission now, three, two, one…”

Then came the familiar dizziness.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw a vast expanse of white.

“Where is this…”

He tried to stand up but found it difficult to make large movements. Looking down, he saw a black electronic collar around his neck.

“I…”

He touched the collar, feeling its coldness. It seemed custom-made, fitting his body perfectly.

He was wearing a white jumpsuit that revealed his figure but restricted his movements.

Looking down again, he saw black numbers written on his chest.

“81”

The collar pressed against his Adam’s apple, making him slightly uncomfortable. Lin Huai couldn’t help but reach out to adjust the collar.

“Potential Criminal 81, Potential Criminal 81,” a cold voice came from a broadcast somewhere, “Please stop your actions, please stop your actions.”

Volume 4: C-Position Debut as the Villain