Chapter 9: The Evil Spirit That Feeds on Fear

Chapter 9: The Malevolent Spirit That Feeds on Fear

"Items with special functions are indeed rare, yet not entirely scarce." The child, with his endearing features, strained to keep his head lifted, maintaining a persistent gaze with Su Bai. "Master says that an ordinary item from the human world, if steeped in the red moon's power for a full twenty years—that is, bathed in its light for two decades—might mutate and develop unique abilities. This explains why structures in the nightmare world often exhibit peculiar characteristics to varying degrees."

"Could it be that this shop's merchandise consists of those very items with special functions?" Su Bai surveyed the empty store, a headache beginning to throb.

Useful artifacts were exceedingly rare. In his previous life, apart from the marriage contract, Su Bai had acquired a few other items, but none were particularly potent.

In fact, even items that mutated after twenty years of exposure to the red moon might possess abilities that were single-use—like a planchette that could only offer one prophecy, or a pot lid that would shatter after deflecting a single blow.

From Su Bai's recollections, items capable of long-term use had likely been exposed to the red moon's influence for a century or even longer. Artifacts that were both durable and powerful enough for sustained use could even ignite deadly conflicts among players.

"If that's truly the case, this shop might not need to open for business for another twenty years." Su Bai mused that if his enigmatic fiancé had gifted him even one so-called "item," it would have been more valuable than this vacant storefront.

"No!" Xiao Wu pointed at Su Bai's left hand. "Master's gift extends beyond that. The ability to transform ordinary items into special goods was bestowed upon you, Madam... no, Boss, the moment you stepped into the shop."

Su Bai paused, then glanced at his left hand. On his palm, a peculiar mark had appeared at some unknown point, slightly darker than his skin tone. It resembled a Möbius strip, but the intertwined bands were faintly etched with intricate characters Su Bai didn't recognize.

The mark had materialized silently, without any sensation of pain. Yet, as Su Bai gazed at the imprint on his palm, his mind seemed to fill with countless unfamiliar characters swirling, slowly reassembling themselves into words he could comprehend.

Though he couldn't decipher them until the rearrangement was complete, he had a vague premonition that the content emerging in his mind might be the "user manual" for this mark.

"Does this mark allow ordinary items to gain special functions?"

"Of course not! Even Master cannot easily achieve such a feat." Xiao Wu immediately waved his hands. "What you need to do, Boss... well, is to prepare an ordinary item, then use your left hand to directly force those malevolent ghosts and vengeful spirits from the outside nightmare into it. That way, the ordinary item you prepared will most likely mutate and acquire special functions, becoming a product of this shop."

"..." Such a terrifying ability, described by Xiao Wu with the casualness of listing steps to a simple household chore.

"As the shop's inventory grows, the white sand in the glass jar will also increase, and consequently, your power, Boss, will grow along with it."

Xiao Wu offered Su Bai little time to process this before adding, "Oh, right, the mark on your hand has another purpose. If you wish to return to the shop while you're outside, simply find any door with a handle, open it with your left hand, and you can instantly return! Whether you're in the nightmare world or the human world, the door of the Mist Shop will always be open for you, Boss!"

"Such a powerful ability was once exclusive to Master, but now, Madam... no, Boss... you can wield it too!" Xiao Wu's expression seemed to be soliciting Su Bai's commendation.

Su Bai had to concede that the shop's capabilities far exceeded his expectations.

"But capturing malevolent spirits isn't an easy task for me right now." For the Su Bai of his previous life, common evil ghosts posed little threat, but for the current Su Bai, it was undoubtedly a significant challenge.

He glanced at the glass jar on the counter; the layer of white sand at the bottom was pathetically thin.

Too weak.

It was at this moment that the mysterious characters that had appeared in his mind when he looked at the mark on his left palm finished their rearrangement, manifesting as human-readable text Su Bai could understand. The method of using the mark in his hand to completely seal spectral entities into ordinary items was now fully imprinted in Su Bai's mind.

In the nightmare world, "supernaturals" is a blanket term for all anomalies under the red moon, encompassing special buildings and artifacts, as well as the malevolent ghosts, vengeful spirits, and various monsters lurking among players.

No one knows the origin of these entities, akin to vengeful spirits from horror stories. Some claim they are echoes of the deceased from the real world, others believe they are ghosts mutated from deceased players, and still others suggest they are human obsessions clinging to objects, imbuing those objects with human form.

Some contend that all these theories hold truth, as the spectral entities players encounter are diverse, their motives for attacking humans vary, the methods to eliminate them differ, and consequently, the ways players complete the game are equally varied.

In the game, you might need to fulfill certain spirits' wishes, or abide by rules established by certain entities.

However, most spirits in the nightmare are not so amenable; more often, they are simply malevolent entities that prey on humans.

According to the "user manual" in Su Bai's mind, the mark on his hand seems particularly drawn to these purely malevolent spirits. The more vile and violent the ghost, the more the mark appears to favor it. And what the mark relishes even more is the fear and despair of these vile, violent malevolent spirits when they are captured.

This twisted preference aligns perfectly with the nature of malevolent spirits.

Although these malevolent spirits superficially feed on humans, what they truly crave, more than human flesh, is the scent of fear and despair emitted by humans in desperate situations. That's why many spirits, though capable of devouring humans immediately upon encounter, choose to linger, gradually plunging them into fear and despair before finally consuming them whole to savor the meal.

Just like the cheongsam ghost quietly observing the burly man Qin Ge. Although she couldn't act on the bus, she slowly transformed her body back into a paper figure, relishing the mounting terror of the trio. For a malevolent spirit, this game of torment is also a form of enjoyment.

The more fearful humans become, the stronger the fear-devouring malevolent spirits grow.

Conversely, if a fear-devouring malevolent spirit itself succumbs to fear, its power will be weakened. This was a fact even Su Bai, who had endured ten years in the nightmare world, was unaware of. After all, when human players confront these malevolent spirits, the outcome is invariably "kill or be killed," making it impossible to perceive any fear emanating from the spirits themselves.

In essence, the mark on Su Bai's hand desires him to select spirits with pure malice.

Although Su Bai's current strength is insufficient to violently subdue powerful malevolent spirits, as long as he can make contact with a spirit during its moment of fear, the mark can capture it!

The deeper the fear, the stronger the mark's binding power.

"Truly a gift from the 'supernaturals'," Su Bai smiled wryly as he gazed at the mark on his hand. "Is this meant to gradually transform me into a malevolent spirit too?"