Chapter 7: The Broken Curse Amulet

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Chapter 7: The Broken Cursed Amulet

Something’s wrong!
This hidden quest definitely has issues!
Although I don’t know how the hidden quest was triggered, what is this now?
The cheat system even resorted to forcibly assigning the quest—does it have no shame?!
Isn’t this just forcing Duan Ming to head to Room 604?!
Moreover, to ease Duan Ming’s mind, it even advanced the life-saving Substitute Doll as a bargaining chip, using both threats and incentives, all to coerce Duan Ming into going to 604.
Could there be something there that’s important to it or to me?
After a brief hesitation, Duan Ming could only silently accept this fact.
He had no choice; the hint system was too crucial in this strange realm, and the Substitute Doll gave him considerable confidence.
However, he wasn’t about to let the Jumping Ghost off so easily.
He looked down to see it weeping bitterly.
“Big brother, I have old folks above and little ones below, all relying on me to make a living. Please give me a chance to survive.”
Duan Ming rolled his eyes. Though what it said was true, its shamelessness was truly exasperating.
“Alright, alright, get up.”
[Jumping Ghost Favorability +20]
With a sudden move, the Jumping Ghost stood up. “Are you retracting the quest?”
“I never said that.”
The Jumping Ghost’s face fell.
“But I can let you avoid involvement in this matter.”
[Jumping Ghost Favorability +20]
“What method? As long as it spares me from punishment, I’ll do whatever you say.”
“Of course there’s a way, and it’ll benefit you quite a bit.”
[Jumping Ghost Favorability +20]
Seeing Duan Ming adopt a mysterious air again, the Jumping Ghost grew anxious inside, thinking, Can’t you just say it all at once? But on the surface, it showed no impatience and just stared expectantly.
Duan Ming said, “It depends on how much you’re willing to sacrifice for this.”
The Jumping Ghost instinctively clutched its trouser pocket. “I’m telling you, I have no money.”
“I’m not after your money.”
[Jumping Ghost Favorability +10]
Well, that was an unexpected bonus.
Duan Ming smiled with satisfaction and continued, “Give me something more tangible.”
“Tangible?” The Jumping Ghost scratched its head and then seemed to recall something. It pulled out a black wide-brimmed hat and said, “Will this do?”
“What’s this?”
Duan Ming took it and examined it.
[Ghostly Officer’s Cap]
[Common Item]
[Description: Wearing it grants some deterrent effect against common spirits.]
[Hint: The true owner seems very anxious about it and has been searching for it.]
Not bad at all.
Duan Ming took it without hesitation.
“That’s not enough.”
“Not enough?”
The Jumping Ghost hesitated, then bit its lip and took out a wooden plaque. “I found this by accident in the neighborhood; I was going to give it to my little daughter. I’ll give it to you—how about that?”

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[Broken Cursed Amulet]
[Evil Grade]
[Description: Cannot be worn for long. With your physical constitution, you won’t last more than three days before the curse turns you into a pool of blood. When worn, it can block one disaster-level attack; currently has one use left.]
As soon as the information about the wooden plaque appeared, a message came into Duan Ming’s mind.
“Take it!”
System?
Duan Ming was startled.
This was the second time since he encountered a bug that the system spoke to him proactively, and from the tone, it sounded urgent.
Just for this little wooden plaque?
He looked at the plaque in his hand—it was ordinary, with the character “Chen” carved in the center.
“What’s the origin of this thing?”
He tried to ask in his mind but, as expected, got no response and gave up, looking at the expectant Jumping Ghost.
“Alright, that’s settled.”
The Jumping Ghost breathed a sigh of relief and finally asked the question it had been holding back.
“So… what benefits do I get?”
“My friendship,” Duan Ming answered matter-of-factly.
“You!”
The Jumping Ghost immediately wanted to get angry, but with favorability stuck at 70 points and unable to drop, the rage inexplicably dissipated.
Then it thought again and the anger flared up once more.
“Me!”
Again it vanished.
The Jumping Ghost called it spooky.
After several rounds of this, it stopped trying and found Duan Ming increasingly likable.
It said helplessly, “So what do you want to do?”
“Hand over the tools. I’ll go myself.”
“I thought you had some plan, but you can’t go there, buddy.” Despite the favorability hitting 70, the Jumping Ghost couldn’t help but worry about Duan Ming. “You don’t know how terrifying the one in 604 is. Though she rarely calls property management, every ghost sent there never returns alive—without exception.”
“I know that. Let’s go.”
Ignoring everything, Duan Ming picked up the toolbox beside the Jumping Ghost and left the repair office without looking back.
[Jumping Ghost Favorability +20]
[Jumping Ghost Favorability: 90] (Lifesaver)
Hmm? Did he misunderstand something?
Never mind. It’s a pity he’s 10 points short of max favorability—maybe worth focusing on later.
Duan Ming’s entanglement with the Jumping Ghost had come to a pause, while nearby, Xiao Xueqi was stunned.
What kind of strange tactic was that?
Everyone else was begging spirits for survival, but Duan Ming was extorting a malicious ghost? And nothing happened to him?
Were they even playing the same game?!
…
The route was familiar. Half an hour later, Duan Ming arrived again at the entrance of Building A’s stairwell.
Looking up, the thick, impenetrable black mist still lingered at the top floor.
Though the Substitute Doll accompanied him, he was still nervous, taking more than ten deep breaths before stepping inside.
Beside the stairs stood an old elevator, but Duan Ming didn’t consider using it. This thing was a hotspot for paranormal incidents, and if the Substitute Doll got stuck there, he’d have a world of trouble.
His goal was clear—straight toward the two large characters “Repay Debt.”
A dim yellow light flickered near the stairwell corner, accompanied by a buzzing electrical sound that came and went. Duan Ming carefully passed by, heart pounding.
Damn, I shouldn’t have listened to so many ghost stories before.

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His gaze fixed on the “Repay Debt” sign, fearing a corpse’s head might suddenly appear in the blood-red characters.
Fortunately, he reached the second floor after a perilous but uneventful climb and finally breathed a sigh of relief before continuing upward.
Safe so far.
But when he stepped onto the sixth floor, a shiver like an electric shock ran down his spine.
“Isn’t the sixth floor the top floor?”
He looked to the upper right and saw the stairs continuing upward, and at the next stairwell corner, the “Repay Debt” characters appeared again, glaringly vivid.
A ghostly maze?
Just as he guessed, an eerie laughter echoed.
“Hehehehehe~”
“Hehehehehehehe~”
The piercing sound gave Duan Ming a headache. He immediately drew his kitchen knife and slashed at the “Repay Debt” characters.
“What the hell!”
The blade sank into the wall without resistance, as if cutting into flesh. Blood trickled down slowly from the wound, and the sinister voice sharpened.
“Impossible! How do you know where I am?”
“Damn it, it’s just six floors, and you’re the most conspicuous. If I don’t slash you, who else?”
Cursing, he continued hacking at the characters, making the presence inside wail in pain.
“Damn it, I’m going to fight you!”
Several black-tinged hands reached out from the wall, grabbing Duan Ming, trying to pull him in.
“Damn, even a wandering spirit’s acting tough with me?”
Duan Ming had previously scanned the ghost inside the wall.
[Wall-Buried Ghost]
[Name: Qian Gousheng]
[Rank: Wandering Spirit]
[Target Info: Buried alive in a cement wall, suffocated to death, spares no one in the vicinity, special ability: ghostly maze, pulls targets into the wall.]
[Hint: It once had a conflict with the Ripper Ghost He Wei and was severely beaten by him, leaving a psychological shadow.]
He had already experienced the ghostly maze ability before, but being pulled into a wall was a first.
The black hands were fragile; one slash of the knife severed them immediately, but they were endless—cut one, another appeared. Fortunately, the Wall-Buried Ghost could only extend three hands at a time, so the tug-of-war was stalemated.
“Wait, wait, let’s take a halftime break.”
Wielding the ghostly kitchen knife wildly, Duan Ming realized how much energy it consumed, his face turning pale.
The Wall-Buried Ghost was clearly exhausted too—only a wandering spirit rank, and with Duan Ming struggling fiercely, its strength was much weaker.
But it still boasted, “Hmph, trying to fight me? I’ll show you who’s boss!”
Duan Ming stopped swinging the knife and only resisted being pulled in weakly. “Go ahead, I’m resting.”
With its current ghostly energy, the Wall-Buried Ghost couldn’t pull Duan Ming in even an inch. After more than ten seconds, it withdrew all its hands.
“It’s not that I can’t hold on, just to be fair, I’m giving you time to rest. We’ll fight again later.”
Unexpectedly, as soon as Duan Ming was free, he fell to his knees and began to sob loudly.
Wall-Buried Ghost: “???”
A suddenly appearing Ripper Ghost: “???????”
“He Wei! Slash him!”
“Why?! Damn it… no, this guy wronged me, but why does my body seem to want to help him? Nooo!”
Seeing the Ripper Ghost and Wall-Buried Ghost tangled in a full-on fight, Duan Ming finally had time to wipe his tears.
Damn, is the Grave Cry skill really about crying? That’s taking it a bit too seriously!

(The End of this Chapter)