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My name is Gu Bin, a veteran Ascender who wears many hats: explorer, Investigator, folklorist, pioneer of Restricted Areas, and more.

Those who know me call me Ah Bin. My high school grades were nothing to write home about, and I had to give it my all just to get into a third-rate university. If things had gone as planned, I probably would have spent my life on an assembly line in an electronics factory.

But things took an unexpected turn.

After graduation, a few strange encounters led to my awakening as an Ascender. From that day forward, I stepped into a vast, magnificent, and dangerous World.

These days, being an Ascender isn't as glamorous as ordinary people imagine. Just a month after my awakening, I got screwed over by a company and ended up saddled with massive debt. That forced me to join a Restricted Area pioneering squad to earn money and pay it all back.

I risked my life with that squad for three years, gaining plenty of experience and finally paying off my debt. The moment I was clear, I handed in my resignation and got the hell out. I drifted from place to place before settling in a new city. After a series of events, I made a lot of new friends, and we ended up starting a firm together, one that specializes in handling Extraordinary cases.

In this Extraordinary Era, vile, bizarre, and spine-chilling incidents frequently occur all over the World. Even an organization as big as the Star Association can find itself short-staffed. That's when people lower their standards and seek help from mercenaries or professional firms.

That's us.

There are many precautions you have to take when handling these cases. They're the ironclad rules of our line of work, paid for with the blood of countless people.

For example: Don't just take things from a paranormal scene, because they might carry a Curse.

In a house where an incident has occurred, never answer if someone calls your name. It could be a vengeful spirit trying to claim your soul, or something else just as bad.

When you're in an isolated village where an incident has taken place, never accept any food or water from the residents. In places like that, there's a high chance the locals are involved with Cultists.

Believe you are human. No matter what, no matter what happens. Some evil Powers can corrupt your self-perception. The moment it shatters, you will be corrupted and fall.

Stay sane in a crisis. Don't descend into madness...

It's by following these ironclad rules that my team and I have managed to survive one incident after another, earn piles of cash, and live a life of wild indulgence.

But just two months ago, the newbie on our team broke a fatal taboo!

He got greedy and secretly swiped a valuable, strange-looking wooden carving from a case site. His personality changed drastically in the following days, and by the time we realized something was wrong, he had vanished into thin air.

We filed a report and searched everywhere, but even after more than half a month, we couldn't find a single trace of him. My partners gradually gave up the search, all saying he must have taken the carving and skipped town. That thing was probably worth hundreds of thousands, more than enough for the kid to make a killing.

'But I always felt it wasn't that simple. Every time I recalled the grim, bizarre expression on the newbie's face after his personality shifted, I had a strong, uneasy premonition.'

One day, after finishing a commission, I went to a nightclub to blow off some steam. At three in the morning, a phone call jolted me awake. It was Brother Zhang on the other end, his voice filled with terror. He said the newbie was back, that he had turned into a monster, and that he had murdered another one of our partners in an exceptionally cruel way. He warned me to be careful and to get back to the office immediately to plan our next move.

'So the worst had happened.' I shot out of bed, threw on my clothes, and rushed out of the nightclub. I got into my car, turned the key, and started the engine.

Just then, though I was alone in the car, someone suddenly tapped my shoulder.

My heart leaped into my throat. I instinctively glanced at the rearview mirror, my gaze meeting a pair of cold, bloodshot eyeballs. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

When I got a clear look at the "person" in the back seat, my mind went blank with a deafening buzz. My hands grew icy, a bone-deep chill seeped into my heart, and my entire body felt as if it had been plunged into a frozen cave.

It was the newbie. He had been flayed, his muscle fibers and veins clearly visible. Viscous blood dripped from his body. The thick stench of blood rushed into my nostrils, shutting down my ability to think and leaving my mind in utter chaos.

The newbie gave me a silent, hair-raising smile. Without skin, the way the pink muscles contracted was exceptionally grotesque:

"I want your skin."

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"Fuck, I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight..."

Niu Zhiwei, a high school student, was lying in bed reading a novel. Terrified by a scene in the book, he instinctively pulled his blanket tighter.

He quickly finished the exciting chapter, then went to a sketchy website to admire some girls' graceful figures and suppress his inner Fear.

After entering Sage Mode, Niu Zhiwei contentedly closed his eyes, ready for sleep.

But he still couldn't help but think about the scenes from the horror novel, about that elusive, skinned monster. More than an hour passed before he finally drifted into a groggy sleep.

Niu Zhiwei dreamed that he met a beautiful Goddess. He asked her out to dinner and a movie, and then to do some of the things couples do.

He went to the roadside, hailed a taxi, and gave the driver the address. He buckled his seatbelt and pulled out his phone to text the Goddess, but for some reason, he couldn't type properly.

Just as Niu Zhiwei was getting frustrated, he felt a tap on his shoulder. It was the driver.