An Unusual Life Beginning with Evil Spirits

Volume 1. Let the Game Begin

"Uwaaaahhhhhh!!!"

Accompanied by a blood-curdling scream, the entire decayed building exuded an indescribably eerie atmosphere.

The dim lighting around made it hard to see even a few meters ahead.

At this moment... fear filled my heart.

The hand that had already crawled out from under the bed froze completely in place, my whole body half-hanging off the edge.

I wanted to go out... but I didn't dare.

If I stayed... wasn't that just waiting for death?

‘Gulp!’

The sound of swallowing saliva rang out so clearly in this eerily silent room!

"FML... if I die, so be it! If a man dies, he goes to the sky, if not, he lives forever!"

That scream just now told me someone had definitely become a sacrifice.

Even though those chaotic footsteps practically saved me, I couldn’t muster much gratitude.

I could only mutter ‘Amitabha, better to die early and reincarnate early’, then gritted my teeth and crawled out from under the bed.

"Tss!"

Though the bone in my left leg had healed on the outside, the marrow inside still hadn’t fully recovered.

I had checked this during the anomaly state, so the pain was inevitable.

Besides, after pulling out those four steel rods, four small circular holes remained on my calf.

Even now, I could vaguely feel the warm blood trickling under the bandage.

I knew... in this condition, running away was nearly as difficult as ascending to heaven.

But if I didn’t run, the only option was to wait for death...

I didn’t know what would happen if I got caught, but... if I died, then damn it, I’d fight you with everything I had, no matter what you were!

If I died, I’d become an evil spirit!!

Even if I couldn’t kill you, I’d bite off a piece of your flesh and make sure your second half of life... no, second half of ghosthood was impotent!!

Ah!

Ptui!

Even if I die, I won’t bite that part!!

I carefully walked to the bedroom door.

The lighting around was still just as dim.

Beyond five meters, I could barely see anything at all.

It didn’t feel like a problem with the lights, but rather as if something strange was blocking everything beyond five meters.

"Please don’t come back..."

I glanced at my watch.

It was already 12:07.

If I delayed any longer, I might really not get out of here!

After checking my surroundings and confirming there was nothing within five meters, I gritted my teeth and tiptoed out of the bedroom.

A gentle breeze blew through the curtains from the window, making the surrounding cloth sway lightly.

Occasionally, I could hear faint rustling sounds on the floor, like some insect crawling.

It made my skin crawl with goosebumps!

FML!

What I hate most are cockroaches!

But this place was full of cockroaches.

Almost every corner I looked at, I saw fat cockroaches crawling around.

The sound they made was downright disgusting!

"Tss~ hoo... tss~ hoo..."

My own breathing echoed clearly in my ears.

The surroundings... fell into complete silence.

As if... there was nothing at all??

"Buzz!!"

AHH!!!

Every hair on my body stood up.

My hand landed on the watch.

Right now, this watch was the only thing I could rely on!

But when I turned my head, what I saw... was my phone, fallen on the floor...

"My phone... it wasn’t corroded?"

I frowned, took a deep breath, and quietly walked to the phone.

First, I gently tapped it with my foot.

After confirming there was no issue, I picked it up.

"A text message?"

I furrowed my brows and looked around...

After confirming it was still safe, I looked down to check the message on the phone.

‘One bystander player eliminated. Remaining players: eight.’

"Eight players? One player eliminated? So that means there were a total of nine players? Aside from seven bystanders... could it be, there’s another beginner player like me?"

Thinking about it, I couldn’t help but frown.

If there were nine people from the beginning, then that sound just now was more than ninety percent likely to be the eliminated player.

But it was hard to imagine a player who had experienced the game would be so careless to make such loud footsteps.

Which meant... that person just now was probably a pure bystander who hadn’t read the game rules and didn’t know what was happening.

Judging from the sound, the person was probably killed instantly, or at least taken down immediately.

Aside from the scream, I didn’t hear any sounds of resistance.

If this guy has intelligence, then just now, had it already noticed me?

If it did, then now... after finishing that person, was I its next target...

No!

I can’t stay here any longer!

I rushed to the door in two steps.

The front door had been blown shut by the wind when it ran out just now.

Though the door was already battered, at least it still functioned as a door and was locked.

When my hand landed on the doorknob, suddenly... a strong sense of danger surged from the other side of the door.

At the same time, a heavy breathing sound reached my ears so clearly from outside the door!

Had I delayed?

No.

From picking up the phone to checking its contents, I didn’t even take ten seconds.

From hesitating under the bed to reaching the door, that didn’t even take ten seconds either.

All in all, just twenty seconds... and this guy had already killed a player and made it back here!?

Too fast!!!

At this speed, physically escaping was probably nearly impossible!

What to do what to do what to do what to do what to do what to do...

It’s right outside!!

It probably already saw me!

But the game rules said it couldn’t actively crouch to look under the bed, so it didn’t check?

No... that can’t be all.

There must be something crucial I missed, something very important!

No!!

This isn’t the time to think about that!!

It’s right outside the door!!

What do I do!!!

Run?

Run where?!

Back under the bed?!

But... that rule is definitely not normal!!

I can’t fully trust it!

But... what should I do?

Behind me... is the window.

Jump out!?

What kind of f**king joke is that?

This is the seventeenth floor!!

Open the door?

Do I want to die!??

But... what should I do!!

‘Hoo~ hiss~ hoo~ hiss~’

The breathing outside the door grew clearer and clearer, as if... something was watching me?!

Wait... watching?

I froze slightly, and instinctively remembered that what I was holding in my hand... was the doorknob.

And it was the front door’s doorknob.

Then... wasn’t there something on the door that allowed one to peek through?

A peephole?!?

In a flash, all my attention was drawn to that tiny peephole.

Almost reflexively, I looked toward that already somewhat grimy little glass — and at that moment... a blood-red eye, filled with boundless malice, stared straight at me... from within the peephole.

The palm clutching the cold doorknob was already soaked in sweat.

A chill exploded up my spine, blasting into my scalp!

In that instant, I felt the roots of my hair go stiff and tight, and inside my heart surged... endless fear!

That crimson eye, as if it held infinite power, made it impossible for me to look away.

At the same time, I felt a twisting force on the doorknob... it... it was opening the door!!

It was coming in!!

What should I do!!!

Am I going to die!?

Die here!?

No... I don’t want to die!

I can’t die... I refuse to die here!!

What else, what else can save me?

The... watch!

Suddenly, I remembered the time-stopping watch I had exchanged three hundred points for.

Just as the doorknob was turning, I let go of it without a second thought and placed my right hand on my left wrist, pressing down on the watch, fingers frantically mashing...

The front door slowly opened, the breathing sound instantly became clear, and in front of me... there was nothing!

But I could feel it — I just knew it!

It... was watching me!

Its hand had already reached out in front of me!!

No... I don’t want to die here!

That presence was already almost touching my neck.

I could even faintly feel the chill coming from that bizarrely proportioned hand...

‘Click!’

At that instant, my right hand seemed to press down on a small button on the watch — and in that very moment, the entire world froze!

Everything around... paused as if time had stopped.

“Za... Warudo?”

At this moment, thoughts whirled through my mind at lightning speed.

As I analyzed everything happening before me, my mouth even blurted out this classic meme, so classic it almost made me vomit blood!

Dammit, even at a time like this, what the hell was my chuuni brain thinking!!!

Right!

Run!!

From the moment time stopped to the instant I regained my senses, it took less than 0.5 seconds!

The moment I realized it, I didn’t care about anything else anymore — whether it was the injury on my leg or that shapeless thing blocking the door — I gritted my teeth, threw my arms up to shield myself, and charged forward!!

The moment I rushed out, I felt something brush against my body.

I never knew... that cold could penetrate to the bone in an instant!

Four seconds left!

Standing in the middle of the corridor, I turned and sprinted madly toward the stairwell!

Right now, no matter what, I couldn’t waste even a second!

It hurt so much!!

Maybe due to the soul’s rebound effect, my speed was actually slightly faster than when I was male.

From here to the stairwell corner was at least ten meters, but I covered it in under two seconds!

Three point five seconds left!

No time to brake at all.

I forcefully twisted my body mid-run and charged through the stairwell’s iron door.

With a loud ‘clang’, I slammed into the door, using the impact to cancel my momentum, then lunged toward the handrail!

The railing was already completely rusted, many parts had even disintegrated, but I didn’t have time to care!

Jump!!

Grabbing the railing with both hands, I stomped hard with my right foot and leapt down the stairs!

The moment I landed at the level-connecting corner, I clutched the railing, trying to forcibly twist my posture midair, but... the railing had decayed too badly and couldn’t support my weight.

With a loud ‘crack’, it snapped right off, and I... was thrown by inertia, slamming hard into the wall!

‘Bang!’