Chapter 1: First Entry, A Frightening Trip to Deliver Toilet Paper

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Chapter 1: First Entry—The Chilling Toilet Paper Delivery

Are you kidding me?!
Others who travel to another world end up in places of immortals or high fantasy, so why did I end up in this bizarre realm?
Duan Ming watched in horror as the blue-faced ghost tattoo on his forearm gradually took shape, his scalp tingling.
A brief fusion of memories made it clear to him that this world, which mirrored Earth’s culture quite closely, was also one where death lurked at every turn.
Ten years ago, the barrier between this world and the World of the Macabre was breached. Humans were forcibly pulled into it, leading to predictable carnage and countless deaths. Yet in this chaos, a few lucky survivors discovered that the ghostly energy, supernatural skills, and forbidden items gained in the Macabre World could produce astonishing effects. After years of sacrifice and research, humanity was no longer simply prey to these horrors.
Then, three years ago, everything changed. Humanity unexpectedly obtained a rare and powerful artifact called the Realmstone. This item could alter the relationship between the two worlds. Simply put, once a person entered the Macabre World and was tainted by its aura, they would no longer be forcibly dragged in again. Thus, before the universally acknowledged age limit of eighteen—after which one would be forcibly summoned—each person had to organize a voluntary first entry into the Macabre World.
But even though the Realmstone greatly reduced the difficulty of that initial entry, it was no small challenge for high school students. After all, the death rate for the first round in the Macabre World was still as high as thirty percent. No one wanted their life to end before it had even begun.
And now, Duan Ming, freshly traversed into this world, was facing this deadly predicament.
His class was about to undertake their first collective entry.
Duan Ming watched, helpless, as the blue-faced ghost tattoo was completed on his arm, and then his vision went black...

[Instance Name: Guan Cai Residential Complex]
[Number of Participants: 10]
[Instance Difficulty: F Rank]
[Instance Task: Assist the property management in daily operations. Your performance after seven days must meet the standard of “qualified” or above.]
[Mission Duration: 7 days]
[Kind reminder: 1. Do not leave the residential complex, or you will forfeit the protection of the Realmstone.]
[2. Never leave your room at night without reason.]
[3. Here, the tenants are gods. If you fail to meet their demands, the consequences will be dire~]

Guan Cai Residential Complex was an ancient, decrepit neighborhood. The environment was chaotic, garbage strewn everywhere. The notice board at the entrance was plastered with yellowed newspapers, one half-torn away to reveal the blood-red characters: “Guan Cai Residential Complex.”
There were only two buildings, each six stories tall in the old-fashioned style. The walls were crumbling, pipes rusty and mottled, and the sky perpetually gloomy—a scene that made one’s skin crawl.
In the central square, nine young men and women suddenly materialized. After glancing around, many began to tremble; two girls even broke down in tears, hugging each other.
“Mom, I want to go home!”
“I don’t want to die!”
One boy, calmer than the rest, stepped to the center of the group and spoke in a steady voice: “Everyone, calm down. The first round for newcomers isn’t as terrifying as you think. As long as we’re careful and avoid breaking any death rules, I believe we can all make it back safely.”
Another, fighting his own fear, quickly echoed, “The class monitor has the best grades in Macabre World theory. If we listen to him, we’ll all get through this.”
Gradually, the girls’ sobbing ceased.
The class monitor nodded, but as he glanced around, his brows furrowed. “Wait a minute, weren’t there supposed to be ten of us in this instance? Why are there only nine?”
Just as hearts began to pound with renewed dread, in a public restroom not far away, Duan Ming—the tenth—felt his scalp about to explode.
He was huddled on a toilet in a closed stall, staring in terror at a ghostly pale hand slipping under the partition, clutching rolls of red, yellow, and white toilet paper. A chilling voice drifted in:
“Do you want white toilet paper, red toilet paper, or yellow toilet paper~?”
He’d heard countless tales of haunted toilets, in all their variations, but the common thread was that no matter what you chose, the ending was always horrific.
It was just a different method of dying.
Duan Ming’s pupils shrank to pinpricks.

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Just then, a few lines of text suddenly appeared before his eyes.

[Toilet Paper Spirit]
[Name: Zhang San]
[Level: Wandering Soul]
[Friendliness: 0]
[Target Information: Once a well-known pianist, he was sabotaged by a jealous rival and lost the use of his left hand. Despairing, he ended his life in a public restroom. Now, as a ghost, he haunts toilets, offering people paper. Choose the red paper and you’ll be drained of every drop of blood. Choose the white, he’ll steal your brain. Yellow gives you a fifty percent chance to escape; the other half, he drains your blood and takes your brain too.]
[Hint: After becoming a ghost, his arm remained dislocated as it was at the moment of death. This is his greatest sorrow and an unchangeable rule of the Macabre World—he cannot fix it himself. He desperately wishes, just for a moment, to feel his arm restored and to relive the joy of his fingers dancing over the keys.]

Reading this, Duan Ming was taken aback.
“Does every newcomer round have such hints?”
“So, if I choose the yellow paper, I’ve got a fifty percent chance to survive?”
He swallowed, then focused on the ghastly, dislocated arm before him.
“Or…”
“I could try something else.”
After a moment’s struggle, he gritted his teeth, sprang from the toilet, and launched himself high—
Stomping down hard on the dislocated joint.
Crack!
A clear sound of bone grinding.
Then—
“Huh?”
“My hand?”
“My hand is normal again!”
Duan Ming: “???”
Feeling the hand beneath his foot quickly withdraw, silence fell all around.
He dared not move an inch. Only after a long while did he murmur uncertainly, “Is it really over?”
Just then, a message echoed in his mind.

[Hidden Task Completed: Fulfill the Toilet Paper Spirit’s Wish]
[Reward: 1. Ghost Energy +10]
[2. Spectral Skill: Weeping at the Grave]
[3. Three sticks of incense, five billion ghost coins]
[Toilet Paper Spirit’s friendliness +40]
[Weeping at the Grave: Spend one billion ghost coins to summon any ghost with friendliness above 50.]

Duan Ming was stunned.
Such generous rewards? Because it was a hidden quest?
In his memory, hidden quests indeed had huge payoffs, but with such clear hints, why had so few people ever completed them?

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Could this be my cheat code for having transmigrated here?
He then noticed that the three rolls of colored toilet paper were still at his feet. Curious, he bent to pick them up. As soon as he touched them, another prompt appeared.

[Special Item Obtained: Toilet Paper Spirit’s Paper]
[Toilet Paper Spirit’s Paper (Consumable): White paper—instantly kills any ghost of the same rank (up to Evil rank). Red paper—instantly kills any ghost up to one rank higher (max Evil rank). Yellow paper—can only be used on yourself; fifty percent chance of immediate death, fifty percent chance to survive any fatal event.]

Same rank? One rank higher?
Duan Ming recalled: Ghosts were ranked by the amount of ghost energy they possessed: Obsession, Wandering Soul, Vicious Ghost, Malevolent Spirit, Fierce Ghost, Evil, Calamity, Destruction, Despair, and the Unspeakable.
Ghost energy below 10 was Obsession rank. Above that, Wandering Soul. At 100, Vicious Ghost, and so on—each rank ten times the last.
He glanced at the red and white papers in his hand.
“So, my current rank is Wandering Soul? I can now instantly kill up to Vicious Ghost-level spirits?”
But after just three seconds, his budding confidence evaporated. He carefully pushed open the stall door, peeked around for a long while, and, only after making sure the coast was clear, fled the place at top speed.

Meanwhile, the other nine were standing at attention, trembling. Facing them was a man in a suit, with a large black dog at his side.
The man was impeccably dressed, but a horrific wound yawned at his neck, blood endlessly seeping out, the throat within faintly visible. His neck was bent at a grotesque angle, and as for his face, the left side was still human, but the right was a mangled mess, the eyeball dangling halfway out.
None of the nine dared meet his gaze.
He swept his eyes over them, frowning. “Weren’t there supposed to be ten of you? Why is one missing?”
The class monitor, well-versed in theory and knowing the importance of currying favor with instance NPCs, forced down his fear and began, “Reporting, Supervisor—”
Before he could finish, the man’s eyes flashed, and he snapped, “Did I give you permission to speak?!”
At that instant, the big black dog lunged, pinning the monitor and biting off half his head with a single chomp.
The group fell silent in terror.
Just then, Duan Ming jogged up, ignoring the frantic signals from his classmates, and smiled cheerfully. “Sorry, sorry, I had a bit of an upset stomach and had to use the restroom.”
The suited man’s expression was grim. “Do you know the consequences of being late here?”
Seeing the man’s horrific face, Duan Ming caught his breath but then, as if nothing had happened, strode forward and shook the man’s hand warmly. “You must be the illustrious Supervisor, right? I’ve heard so much about you! It’s an honor to meet a real ghost at last.”
The others couldn’t believe Duan Ming’s reckless approach, and as they watched the Supervisor’s face darken, they thought he was done for. But suddenly, the Supervisor’s expression shifted. He grinned, clapping Duan Ming amiably on the shoulder.
“Just don’t let it happen again.”
“Rejoin the group.”
“Alright, thank you, Supervisor.”
The others: ∑(o_o;)
Was this guy connected?
Who could pull strings even in the Macabre World?
None of them noticed, as the two briefly shook hands, the Supervisor withdrew his right fist, fingers tightly clenched as if gripping something.

[End of Chapter]