Chapter 2: Audacious Beyond Measure

Chapter 2: Audacious to the Extreme

[Greedy Spirit]
[Name: Qin Wei]
[Rank: Fierce Spirit Level]
[Friendliness: 40] (Highly Appreciative)
[Background: Once a poor boy from a remote mountain village, so impoverished that the entire village had to pool funds just for his university tuition. Fortunately, he was somewhat capable, climbing step by step to a position of great power after graduation, with a constant stream of visitors paying their respects. Having suffered poverty, he accepted all comers. Grateful and loyal, he repaid those who once helped him with generous returns; even the village’s stray dogs were given coveted positions. Ultimately, however, he met his demise at the hands of a fellow villager consumed by greed, pushed down the stairs while clutching a safe filled with cash.]
[Note: Money holds unparalleled sway over the greedy, but beware—he harbors an intense hatred for those who betray him.]

Gazing at the man in the suit, the information prompt reappeared.

With these details, the task was straightforward—though the degree of generosity was tricky to gauge.

Although Duan Ming had just earned a fair sum of ghost coins, this currency operated in units of hundreds of millions, making its true value elusive. Offering too little would displease the spirit; too much would strain his resources.

Fortunately, alongside the ghost coins, there was another item: incense candles—small candles that seemed to serve as another form of currency. Gritting his teeth, Duan Ming handed over two candles without hesitation; after all, these were common items in the real world, and parting with them caused no pain.

When the friendliness meter suddenly surged by 40 points, Duan Ming’s heart skipped a beat.

Oh no, he’d given too much.

Though inwardly bleeding, he maintained a smiling facade. Damn it.

Seeing Duan Ming obediently return to the group, the greedy spirit’s wide grin abruptly snapped shut, his face turning deathly cold. His icy gaze swept over everyone—and the half-headed class monitor lying on the ground—before he spoke.

“Now that everyone’s here, I’ll make this clear: no lateness is allowed, no interrupting when I speak, and most importantly, no betrayal. You all know the consequences.”

He glanced casually at the corpse on the ground. The large black dog was still indulging in some red and white objects, a sight that made one’s skin crawl.

Though their hearts trembled, everyone suddenly understood.

The greedy spirit’s rules for killing were strict: lateness, interrupting, and betrayal.

In the spectral realm, spirits—at least those below the evil level—cannot kill at will but must abide by certain rules. In fact, as long as you learn a spirit’s rules and avoid breaking them, you could dance an alien butt-shaking routine in front of them, and they would be powerless.

But if you accidentally cross the line, whether you live or die depends on a mere thought of theirs.

It didn’t necessarily mean death—just now, Duan Ming had leveraged the supervisor’s weakness to gain the upper hand, even earning some goodwill.

That was both infuriating and fortunate. Damn it.

The greedy spirit continued, “Now, work assignments. With one less person, it’ll be less trouble.”

He pointed to three male students. “You three, go to the security department.”

Then he indicated three girls. “You go to the cleaning department.”

Finally, only Duan Ming and a young man and woman remained.

“You three, come with me to the customer service department.”

Just as he turned to leave, he suddenly pointed at the half-headed class monitor on the ground.

“Those in the cleaning department, take him to the cafeteria. Brothers need to eat some meat.”

The girls recoiled in horror, shaking their heads vigorously.

Not only the prospect of moving a corpse but also the fierce tone just now was enough to chill anyone.

Seeing their reaction, the greedy spirit’s face darkened further, black mist seeping from his body.

“Are you trying to disobey my orders? Are you trying to betray me?!”

Goodness, disobedience already counted as betrayal? Duan Ming silently thanked his lucky stars.

At that moment, one quick-thinking girl hurriedly grabbed the others and, though retching, started dragging the corpse away.

The greedy spirit nodded in satisfaction. “Go find your departments. Don’t say you can’t find them—if you can’t even handle such a trivial task, what use are you to me?”

With that, he decisively led Duan Ming and the other two toward a small, squat building.

As they walked, encountering all manner of spirits, Duan Ming at last ceased regretting the two incense candles he had given away.

What was this?

A ghost from a car accident missing half its body.

A drowning ghost, soaked to the bone.

A charred ghost, blackened from head to toe.

He had no doubt: if his offering had been insufficient, the greedy spirit would never have personally escorted a few people here. Without this leverage, the sights along the way might have scared him to death.

Relying on this connection, upon arriving at the customer service office, Duan Ming confidently introduced himself.

“Hello everyone, my name is Duan Ming. I’ll be working with you all for the next few days—please take good care of me.”

At the same time, he discreetly slipped another one hundred million ghost coins into the greedy spirit’s hand.

“Hm?”

[Friendliness +5]

Duan Ming now had a preliminary understanding of the currency.

One incense candle granted 20 friendliness points; a casual “Hm?” gave 5 points.

One incense candle was roughly equivalent to four “Hm?” moments, about equal in value to 400 million ghost coins.

The greedy spirit accepted the coins without a word, and then stepped forward, warmly placing a hand on Duan Ming’s shoulder.

“This employee is quite decent. Everyone, be sure to help each other and communicate often.”

The office housed two more spirits: one a rotting ghost, his body swollen and blue with decay; the other headless, with the smooth cut at the neck still oozing blood bubbles from exposed veins.

Rotting Ghost: “Uh, hello there.”

Headless Ghost: “Gurgle gurgle gurgle~”

Duan Ming stared at them both.

[Rotting Ghost]
[Name: Wang Jue]
[Rank: Malevolent Ghost Level]
[Friendliness: 10]
[Background: Severely socially anxious, with no friends due to his personality. He cherished solitude. An accident claimed his life at home, but because he had no friends, his heavily decomposed corpse was only discovered after neighbors complained.]
[Note: Dislikes initiating contact but deeply longs for friendship.]

[Headless Ghost]
[Name: Chen Haolan]
[Rank: Malevolent Ghost Level]
[Friendliness: -20]
[Background: Former reckless youth, often riding his ghost motorcycle around. Died after getting caught on a steel wire stretched across the road.]
[Note: Seems resentful that you stole the spotlight in front of the supervisor. Terrified of thin ropes. Desperately wants to find his head.]

What’s this?

The headless ghost actually hates me now?

Apparently, social etiquette applies everywhere.

Reflecting on this, Duan Ming smiled brightly, bidding the supervisor goodbye. Immediately, two classmates approached.

“Duan Ming... Brother Duan, never expected you to be such a powerhouse when it counts. You’ve got to watch my back,” Wang Tao said, rubbing his hands and flattering him.

Another girl, Qiu Rui, was just as eager, deliberately unzipping her jacket and tugging her tank top down, gazing at Duan Ming with an abyssal stare.

“Yeah, Brother Duan, from now on, whatever you tell us to do, we’ll do it. No objections at all.”

She even tossed him a flirtatious glance.

Duan Ming knew this wasn’t the time to act recklessly. After only a minute’s gaze, he turned away, muttering “No problem, no problem,” and headed toward the rotting ghost.

He had no intention of dealing with the headless spirit just yet.

Though hideous and swollen, and emitting a nauseating stench that assaulted his nostrils from two or three meters away, Duan Ming feigned greeting the classmates behind him, taking several deep breaths to mask his discomfort, then sat beside the rotting ghost.

“Hello, I’m new here. If there’s anything I don’t understand about the work, can I ask you?”

The rotting ghost instinctively inched backward, his small green eyes barely meeting Duan Ming’s, before fixating on the telephone on the desk, softly replying, “Y-yes.”

“Great!” Duan Ming responded with exaggerated enthusiasm, practically leaping from his chair. “Brother, you know, I felt an instant connection when I saw you. I’m sure we’ll have lots to talk about.”

“Can we be friends?”

The rotting ghost trembled, his tiny eyes wide with disbelief.

“You’re willing... to be friends with me?”

“What kind of question is that? I’m sincere.”

[Rotting Ghost Friendliness +90]
[Rotting Ghost Friendliness Maxed Out]
[Rewards: 1. Ghost Qi +30]
[2. “The Passionate Portraits of Ghost Beauties”]
[3. Five incense candles, 1 billion ghost coins.]

[“I'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.