Evil Spirits

[You've died]

[Life Simulation Evaluation: D]

[You were able to temporarily escape the chase of an Evil Spirit. Reward: 3 Origin Points]

[You discovered a way to restrain Evil Spirits. Reward: 3 Origin Points]

[Final Reward: 10 Origin Points]

[Comments: You had a first glimpse of the darkness hidden underneath this seemingly ordinary world... Or did you?]

A bunch of eerie words that seemed to be dripping with blood flashed in front of Fang Yuan's eyes, letting him know that the simulation was over and he had returned to reality.

Compared to the last time he exited the simulation, Fang Yuan felt way calmer and it was way easier for him to accept his death.

Although there was still some faint pain in his body, he was able to ignore it and raised his head to look at the still-burning lamp.

"It seems that only a few seconds have passed in reality.", he whispered and realized that the time spent in the simulation didn't correspond to the time in reality.

Even though Fang Yuan couldn't be completely certain, he was quite confident that he had spent at least half an hour in the simulation, if not even longer.

Yet, only a few seconds had passed in the real world.

Fang Yuan didn't rush to look at the possible changes in the simulation but instead got up from the chair and walked towards a bookshelf in the eastern part of the living room.

Reaching out, he picked a book and took a look at the title on its red cover.

The book was titled "The Biography of a Traveler" and it was only about 20 pages or so long.

This was a book that his mother used to read him in order to put him to sleep when he was still very young.

The book follows the experiences of the protagonist, a carefree traveler who spends his time visiting different towns and cities and learning their different customs.

It used to be very popular in Oak Town among parents, who used it to try and teach their kids common knowledge about this world.

But now, this book, which was supposed to be for kids, attracted Fang Yuan's attention.

After he opened the book, he flipped mindlessly through its pages and only stopped when he finally found a certain passage.

"Last night, while I was resting in my room, the loud screams of a woman woke me up, coming from the house next to me."

"When I rushed there, I was shocked to discover that the family of five, which had welcomed me just a few days ago with open arms, had inexplicably disappeared without leaving any traces behind."

"Today, a passing Martial Artist visited the town and informed us that the family was unlucky and came into contact with an Evil Spirit."

"Curious, I asked him what an Evil Spirit was, and he told me that Evil Spirits are malevolent creatures with all kinds of strange abilities, that enjoy killing humans and drinking their blood.

"'So, how can humans resist Evil Spirits?', I asked him and he sneered, telling me that it is impossible for ordinary people to resist Evil Spirits."

"'Only Martial Artists and Spiritualists can resist Evil Spirits!', he told me."

The passage ended there, with no further mention of this event nor Evil Spirits in the book's following pages.

Fang Yuan could still remember that when he was a child, this passage had haunted his mind and he was always afraid that an Evil Spirit would suddenly pop out and kill his entire family.

Of course, as he grew older, he understood that this was nonsense and gradually forgot about it.

Even after awakening the memories of his past life, he still didn't believe this, thinking that it was just a story meant to scare children.

But now, remembering the creepy smiling woman, the eerie temple, and the chained, moving corpse, Fang Yuan could no longer dismiss this as just a story.

[Evil Spirit], this was the term that the system used to refer to the smiling woman and it matched with the term that the passing Martial Artist in the book used.

"Martial Artists..."

Although Fang Yuan had never heard the term "Spiritualist" before, he was fairly familiar with Martial Artists.

In fact, there was actually a Martial Artist family in the Oak Town, the Lu family.

Fang Yuan had always thought that Martial Artists in this world should be like the fake 'martial artists' of his previous life, but now, it seemed that he had been mistaken.

"Interesting, very interesting!", Fang Yuan whispered and he found himself becoming strangely excited.

He couldn't know where this inexplicable excitement came from as if it arose naturally within him.

But this excitement soon disappeared, as he remembered something and was forced to calm down.

Fang Yuan closed the book and put it back on the bookshelf, then picked up the oil lamp that lay on the side, as well as the antique rusty sword he had previously taken out.

With the lamp in one hand and the rusty sword in the other, he took a few steps forward and slowly approached the painting that hung on the wall of the living room.

As he raised his head and looked at it, he had the illusion that the eyes of the dark humanoid creature were staring straight at him.

If it was before, he would have been able to ignore this strange feeling, but after learning about the existence of Evil Spirits, he felt that it was very likely that this painting was haunted!

A shiver ran down his spine, but looking at the burning lamp, he mustered up his courage and continued walking.

Slowly, Fang Yuan got closer to the painting, but even when he arrived in front of it, nothing shocking happened.

He didn't feel relieved by this, however, but extended his hand and placed his knuckles on the painting, then called up the system.

With a move of his mind, he "clicked" on the [Beggar] simulation.

[You can consume Origin Points to bring certain items into the Life Simulation.]

[Current Options:]

[Option 1: A Rusty Sword(2 Origin Points)]

[Option 2: A Small Dagger(2 Origin Points)]

[...]

A small list of all kinds of items appeared, but Fang Yuan hurriedly ignored them all and stared at the last option.

[Option 10: An Ordinary Painting(1 Origin Point)]

Seeing this, his tense body relaxed subconsciously and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Fortunately I was just overthinking.", he thought and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Indeed, thinking of the way the smiling woman acted and from what it's mentioned in the book, I would have long been dead if there was an Evil Spirit in my house."

Thinking of his previous cautious actions and his fear, Fang Yuan felt a little embarrassed.

Thankfully, no one else was here to witness the previous scene, otherwise, they would have wondered if he was a mental patient.

Relaxed, he sat on the chair, placed the lamp and the rusty sword on the table, and then leaned back.

Many thoughts went through his mind as he analyzed everything that happened in the simulation, as well as the contents of the book he had just read.

A few minutes later, he let out a sigh, and after cleaning up the things in the living room, he walked to the bedroom and threw himself to his bed.

Fang Yuan didn't choose to conduct any more simulations, knowing that there was one more chance for him to complete the mission.

Although he already had some ideas and was fairly confident about completing it, he still had to prepare a few things beforehand.

Moreover, Fang Yuan still had an antique shop that he had to open up the next morning.

Even though he knew that he might have discovered a great secret, that secret wouldn't provide him with food.

He still needed to get up early and go to work!

"Even now, with Evil Spirits seemingly lurking everywhere, I still have to go to work!", Fang Yuan complained inwardly.

Before closing his eyes, he glanced at the burning lamp that lay next to his bed.

Previously, he would have put it out before going to sleep, but now, the faint flame of the lamp seemed able to relieve his tense mood and provide him with a feeling of safety.