Hearing this, Xu Youyou's brow smoothed.
“That's true.”
Zuo Lin'an pressed on.
“Put some effort into this first dungeon. Try to secure a few unsolvable specters to gather a hundred Contribution points, become a Two-Star dungeon boss, and then you can come to my dungeon.”
“A Two-Star dungeon can accommodate two specters.”
Xu Youyou's eyes lit up.
“That sounds great!”
Seeing him cheer up, Zuo Lin'an breathed a small sigh of relief.
“Then it's settled.”
Xu Youyou was still a bit conflicted. He knew he could avoid this paranormal world and wait until the next world to open his dungeon.
However, if he did that, he would definitely fall too far behind Zuo Lin'an.
“Alright, then it's settled!”
Zuo Lin'an let out a long breath in his mind.
Fortunately, the kid was easy to coax.
“Make sure you prepare well over the next seven days.”
Zuo Lin'an was a man of his word. Immediately after leaving, he went to urge the construction team to speed up their progress.
In the end, he paid extra to have them work overtime for a few days.
As a result, they actually completed the finishing touches within seven days.
While the workers were packing up, Zuo Lin'an and Feng Xingyun gathered the items they had purchased earlier to move them all into the old residence.
“These clothes are mine. Use these hangers to hang them in the wardrobe.”
“These are my brother's.”
“And the photos—put a copy in both my room and my brother's room.”
Zuo Lin'an gave instructions to Feng Xingyun while keeping himself busy.
He casually tossed a photo album into his bedroom drawer, placed his laptop on the desk, and set out some documents, paper, and pens beside it.
He also added a cup of hot water.
Next came the various furniture and appliances.
These items were all brand new and didn't need any distressing treatment.
The old residence being aged was fine, but these things had been newly bought before the brothers moved in, so keeping them as they were was perfect.
Once everything was set up, Zuo Lin'an checked the water, electricity, and internet.
Confirming there were no issues, he paid the final balance.
A helicopter soon arrived to pick up the workers, and Zuo Lin'an finally let out a long sigh of relief.
“It's finally done.”
Checking the time, he saw there was only an hour left before the dungeon opened. He needed to quickly fill out and submit his application.
He took out his work phone and clicked the application button.
【Novice Benefits: Time】
No need to change this.
Below was the main quest. He deleted the original and filled in what he had planned earlier.
【Main Quest: 【Investigate the Truth】, 【Find the Path of Survival】】
The third item required him to fill in a permanent specter item.
【Permanent Specter Item: Gold Hairpin Token of Love, hidden in the old residence's underground secret room, an heirloom】
【Gold Hairpin Token of Love: Permanent specter item, passive trigger. This is...】
After he entered the Gold Hairpin Token of Love, the specter item's special effects automatically appeared below.
It was quite convenient, saving him from having to type it out himself.
Next was the consumable specter item.
Zuo Lin'an had already prepared this.
Because of the newly set plot, the special effect of the original Withered Leaf also needed major modifications.
He had just finished modifying it moments ago.
Right now, he was holding the specter item, the Withered Leaf, in his hand.
Feng Xingyun happened to walk in from outside, holding a tree branch.
“Young Master, here is what you asked for.”
Zuo Lin'an took the branch, attached the Withered Leaf to it, and then placed the branch into a simple, antique vase he had prepared earlier, setting it in his “brother's” room.
【Consumable Specter Item: A Withered Leaf. The only leaf hanging on a branch that the brother found around the old residence. Feeling that this completely dead yet still clinging leaf was much like himself, he snapped the branch off and brought it home.】
【Withered Leaf: Consumable specter item, passive trigger. Preserves the user's life after suffering a fatal attack, maintaining an extremely weakened state for three days. During this period, the user cannot be attacked, but will drop dead after three days. Usable once.】
Zuo Lin'an had designed this special effect specifically to match the “brother's” circumstances.
It fit the character setting perfectly.
Next was the plot.
Since there was a plot, he naturally had to fill in the details.
This would allow the system to better judge the players' progress in completing the main quest.
【Plot: The brother is terminally ill and near death, with no cure available. The older brother brings him back to their ancestral old residence to spend his final days.】
【The brother feels guilty for being a burden to his older brother and wishes to commit suicide.】
【The brother discovers a secret room in his bedroom and finds the gold hairpin.】
【On his way to commit suicide, he overhears his older brother and the butler plotting to kill him. Bearing no resentment at all, he leaps off a cliff in the middle of the night to end his own life, transforming into a specter. This triggers the special effect of the gold hairpin, binding him to his older brother.】
【Believing his brother discovered his murderous intent and went into hiding, the older brother stays behind to search for him, wanting to confirm his death.】
This would do.
The last item to fill out was the number of players.
Zuo Lin'an recalled the advice he had received to act within his limits. In that case, he would set the player count to five.
【Number of Players: 5】
Zuo Lin'an reviewed everything from top to bottom. Finding no issues, he clicked submit.
About five minutes later, he received a notification.
【Congratulations! Your application has been approved. When Monday midnight arrives, five players will descend into your dungeon. Please be prepared. We wish you success in wiping out the players!】
Upon seeing the approval message, he sent another message to Xu Youyou.
【Zuo Lin'an: Did you submit your application?】
【Xu Youyou: Don't worry, would I lie to you?】
He followed up by sending a screenshot of his approved application.
【Xu Youyou: I checked the forums earlier and noticed that dungeons with ghost players are very rare. It might not necessarily be my turn.】
Before Zuo Lin'an could even respond, Xu Youyou immediately recalled the message.
【Xu Youyou: Whoops, that gave me a scare. I almost raised a death flag!】
【Zuo Lin'an: If anything happens in your dungeon later, you can call or message me.】
【Xu Youyou: No problem!】
Zuo Lin'an put away his phone and waited inside the old residence for a while. Seeing that there were only two or three minutes left until midnight, he stood up and walked out.
Feng Xingyun made to follow him, but Zuo Lin'an stopped him.
“You don't need to come. Go back to your room and rest first.”
“When the players appear outside and you hear a commotion, then you can come out.”
“Alright.”
Feng Xingyun obediently returned to his room.
Meanwhile, Zuo Lin'an stepped out of the old residence's main doors, walked onto the bluestone platform covered in fallen leaves, and made his way to the edge of the railing.
His specter body quietly materialized behind him, holding the specter item, the gold hairpin.
Zuo Lin'an glanced back and felt it wasn't safe enough.
In the next instant, the specter body plunged the gold hairpin directly into its abdomen, hiding it inside its body.
“All set.”
This way, if the players wanted to get the gold hairpin, they would have to repel the specter. But to repel the specter, they would have to kill his living body at the same time.
Zuo Lin'an let out a soft chuckle. The specter body instantly concealed itself nearby, waiting to strike.
This time, he still planned to take one out as soon as the dungeon opened at midnight.
Of course, that was on the condition that the five players spawned separately.
With everything prepared, midnight quietly arrived.
Zuo Lin'an could very clearly sense five life signatures appearing in the woods far from the old residence.
They were too close together, leaving no opportunity to strike.
The specter body quickly retreated, temporarily hiding in the crevice of the cliff where the “brother's” corpse lay.
Rate on N.U.
