Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The Paternal Simulator

A few hours later, Cen Sheng was awakened by urgent knocking.

Rong Ye, seemingly unable to be far from him, hadn't treated the wound on his shoulder while he was unconscious. Instead, he had taken the sun protection clothing hanging by room 403's door and covered Cen Sheng to prevent him from catching cold.

The corpses on the living room sofa had vanished, the bedroom door was tightly shut, and the fierce ghost Bai Qiao was likely hiding inside.

The long-necked ghost didn't take the opportunity to turn him into a doll while he was unconscious. It seemed he and his neighbor in room 403 could coexist peacefully.

The knocking was close, someone was pounding on the door of room 404.

"Police! Open the door!"

"Open the door, people inside! You are surrounded, don't harm the hostages!!!"

Cen Sheng, still groggy, was thoroughly confused by what he heard.

Hostages? Where did the hostages come from? Yanshan Ting

The hint left by Rong Ye on the bloody clothes resurfaced in his mind.

'Don't trust the light, only trust the time. Before dawn, don't open the door for anyone.'

Amidst the chaos, Cen Sheng faintly heard Dou Li's excited shout, "It's the police! We're safe!"

The transport monster could mimic others' voices; it might have impersonated the police.

Hearing the door of room 404 open, Cen Sheng felt a chill run down his spine.

Fearing it might be too late, and the five women would be eaten by the transport, he hastily opened the security door.

Although the light outside was dim, it wasn’t pitch black like the night before. The corridor had no cartoon-flower-like transport monster, only a group of uniformed police officers.

Ji Meng and the other four women stood at the door of room 404, so excited they almost threw themselves at the police.

The door opening drew everyone's attention, and the police turned warily, facing the bloodied Cen Sheng inside room 403.

After a moment of silence, a chorus of exclamations echoed in the hallway.

"Detective Cen!"

"Brother Sheng!"

"Little Sheng!"

Ji Meng tried to run over, but a police officer held her back. Wu Pang and Officer Wang ran out from the crowd, anxiously supporting Cen Sheng.

"Yesterday you mentioned you might be targeted for revenge. The more I thought about it, the more uneasy I became. I called you around ten o'clock, more than a dozen times, but you didn't answer a single one! I knew something must have happened to you, so I quickly contacted Officer Wang you mentioned..."

Wu Pang's eyes were red, his voice laden with a sobbing tone.

Cen Sheng instinctively stepped back a few paces, raising his hand to close the door.

It wasn't until he felt the warmth of a living person from Wu Pang that he gradually relaxed.

At the same time, the familiar narrator's voice sounded again.

[Mr. Cen, it's now 6:03 AM, the sun has risen.]

————

After his wound was treated, Cen Sheng sat on a bench in the hospital corridor, lost in thought.

The doctor suggested he be hospitalized, but Cen Sheng disagreed. He was now a resident of Yin He community and had to return there at night.

Ji Meng and the other four women were taken away for questioning by the police and hadn't come out of the station yet. Childhood friend Wu Pang was running around, delivering food and fetching medicine for him.

Cen Sheng had a good relationship with the police, and Officer Wang trusted him, saying they would come to question him once he was in better shape.

Taking advantage of the quiet, Cen Sheng tried to call out to the narrator in his mind.

Just as he called out twice, a rectangular, semi-transparent blue screen suddenly appeared before his eyes.

The interface looked like a typical vertical screen mobile game.

In the top left corner of the screen was a chibi avatar of Cen Sheng, next to which was a line of text: [Cen Sheng · Little Saint Father]

Next to the name and level were three values: Evil Value, Good Value, and Paternal Value.

A quick glance showed he currently had 180 Evil Points, 330 Good Points, and 22 Paternal Points.

Cen Sheng couldn't figure out how the first two values were calculated, but the Paternal Value seemed to be the Paternal Role-Playing Level.

Below the information bar, on the left, was a customer service icon labeled Voice Assistant.

On the right was a small circular map that appeared to be expandable.

Directly below the map were two function keys: 'View Story Progress' and 'Switch Novel Worlds'.

The main interface background was the hospital corridor where Cen Sheng was located.

In the middle of the background image was a chibi-style cute character illustration, with an option to switch characters next to it.

And that wasn't all.

At the bottom of the main interface, there was a row of options.

From left to right, they were: Lottery, Companions, Backpack, Tasks, Room, Business, and Achievements.

Staring at the semi-transparent interface for a while, Cen Sheng suddenly remembered that the reward for the novice task wasn't just a 1-on-1 assistant but also included a Paternal Simulator.

So, was this game-like semi-transparent screen in front of him the Paternal Simulator?

————

Last night's 404 Blood Case had left a significant psychological impact on Cen Sheng. If such difficult tasks were only considered novice tasks, what level of difficulty would the narrator assign him in the future?

Cen Sheng felt his abilities weren't strong enough and decided not to undertake any more tasks.

After all, he had already found Rong Ye's soul. By feeding him more evil ghosts and gradually nurturing him, he hoped to eventually learn everything he wanted to know from Rong Ye.

At this moment, the main interface of the Paternal Simulator displayed an illustration of a white light orb, surrounded by rapidly scrolling blue numbers, giving it a futuristic technological feel.

Cen Sheng looked around to ensure no one was nearby, then raised his hand to tap the light orb.

A dialogue box immediately popped up below the orb, and simultaneously, the familiar narrator's voice sounded in Cen Sheng's mind.

[Hello Mr. Cen, I am your intelligent voice assistant, you can call me Xiao Yin.]

Cen Sheng thought silently, 'I don't want to do those dangerous tasks anymore. How can I unbind myself from the narrator?'

[Xiao Yin's suggestion is not to cancel the binding.]

'I no longer need to cooperate with the narrator. Now, I just want to catch evil spirits to nurture my boyfriend and live a peaceful and ordinary life like before.'

[Xiao Yin's suggestion is, don't…]

'Do you know how dangerous last night was! Xiao Jiejie harbored good intentions, her soul constantly restraining the evil spirit. Ji Meng and her group were grateful, and after the misunderstanding was cleared, they not only didn't hold me back but also saved my life. Bai Qiao in room 403 agreed to cooperate with me, allowing me to temporarily hide in her room. Rong Ye woke up in time, doing his utmost to help and protect me.'

'There's the deity statue that can suppress fierce ghosts, and the transport monster that can be reused. Even so, I was nearly killed by an evil ghost yesterday. And such life-threatening tasks are just novice tasks in your opinion!'

Cen Sheng was adamant, 'I'm done, cancel it!'

[We can offer you a lot of help, Mr. Cen. You should understand that even without our novice tasks, you will still encounter those dangers. From the moment you moved into room 404, you have been involved in the storyline of "Yin He Ghost Stories."]

Cen Sheng remained silent.

He knew that his predicament last night had little to do with the narrator, but he feared being dragged into other dangers by the narrator.

Now the narrator only allowed him to act within "Yin He Ghost Stories," but what if he later unlocks post-apocalyptic, zombie siege, or Lovecraftian novel worlds? What then?

The orb flickered for a long time, [Detection: Mr. Cen has successfully avoided the third chapter plot of "Yin He Community" and rewritten the special character 'Cen Sheng's' death ending.]

Cen Sheng could guess how he had avoided it.

The chapter preview mentioned that he would be strangled in water by a slender, icy hand. Ji Meng's group and the possessed Xiao Jiejie all fit this description.

If Cen Sheng hadn’t gained the trust of Ji Meng and her group in time, he would have been drugged by them and drowned in water.

If he hadn't discovered that Xiao Jiejie was possessed by the female ghost, he would have been drowned by her after midnight.

These were challenges Cen Sheng overcame on his own, without any help from the narrator.

Even if he didn’t unbind himself today, he intended to negotiate some benefits from the narrator. Otherwise, being too weak, he might not survive the next task.

Cen Sheng took the initiative, and negotiations began. As he expected, the narrator indeed needed him and was at a disadvantage in the negotiations.

Just then, the elevator nearby opened, and Wu Pang, carrying a bag of medicine, hurried out.

Seeing his best friend improved Cen Sheng's mood significantly. Just as he began to smile, the voice assistant suddenly chimed in.

[Detection: 'Cen Sheng' has encountered a special character—Wu Pang.]

[10 Good Points automatically deducted, unlocking Chapter 32 preview of "Yin He Community."]

[Wu Pang, anxiously waiting for a long time, finally received a call from the police. He thought they had found his wife and child, but the police's next words plunged him into despair. The police had found two bodies, one adult and one child, and asked him to identify them.]

[The limbs and heads of the two bodies were missing, leaving only charred torsos. Even so, Wu Pang recognized them instantly as his wife and daughter.]

Cen Sheng's body stiffened instantly, never having imagined that Wu Pang was also a character in the "Yin He Ghost Stories" novel world.

————

"Little Sheng, are you hungry? Officer Wang asked you not to wander off and to wait here for the police. I was thinking, maybe I should bring you a burger?"

Unable to contact Cen Sheng since ten o'clock the previous night, Wu Pang had reported it to the police. There seemed to be special restrictions in Yin He Community, allowing living people to enter only after dawn.

He had spent the night searching for the entrance to the community with the police and running around taking care of Cen Sheng. Until now, he hadn't even had a chance to drink water.

After talking for a while, Wu Pang looked down to see Cen Sheng staring straight at him.

"Bro, where are your sister-in-law and Lingling?"

"They went back to her mother's home, why do you ask?"

"Call them."

"Ah? But..."

"Call now! Right away!"

Cen Sheng was always gentle, but his sudden seriousness startled Wu Pang.

Instinctively, Wu Pang took out his phone and dialed his wife. After a few rings, a woman's languid voice came through.

"What's up, my dear?"

Wu Pang, looking bewildered, asked, "Uh… what are your plans for today?"

"I'm watching TV dramas, and she's playing with building blocks. It's been raining a lot here lately, and Lingling has a weak immune system. I've been afraid to take her out, worried she might catch a cold."

Cen Sheng gestured, and Wu Pang nodded, continuing, "When do you plan to come back?"

The woman's voice carried deep fatigue, "It depends. My mother has been very ill lately, and my father can't take care of her properly because of his leg. I'll wait until my mother gets a bit better, then return with Lingling."

At first, Wu Pang was just following Cen Sheng's prompts to ask questions, but after a while, he began to miss his wife. The tall, burly man squatted in the corridor, grinning foolishly into his phone.

Apart from minor illnesses, there was nothing unusual about Wu Pang's family.

But the narrator indeed had the ability to spoil future events. So far, the forecasts and plot summaries it provided had not been wrong.

Cen Sheng fell silent for a while, then looked up at the flickering light orb on the semi-transparent screen, 'Xiao Yin, activate the novice tutorial and guide me in using the Paternal Simulator.'

Author's Note:

I'm here! The system is online!

Oh right, I'm called the voice assistant here, OVO.

Thanks to the little angels who voted for me with tyrant tickets or nourished me with nutrient solutions from August 24, 2023, 21:49:58 to August 25, 2023, 21:14:35~

Thanks to the little angels who irrigated with nutrient solutions: Serein 54 bottles; mustard 15 bottles; Mei Ren Yi 12 bottles; Ou Du Du Du 10 bottles; Ya, Mei Tian Dou Zai Xue Xi, He He 5 bottles; Chang Geng Zhen De Hao Wen Rou 2 bottles; Wu Wu, why no more updates, Pink Leopard Loves Little Pink, Rong Rong Rong 1 bottle each;

I'm really grateful for everyone's support, and I'll keep working hard!