Chapter 432: A Ghost Hunt in the Dungeon

Boom!

With lightning speed in the midst of sudden chaos, Yenir seemed to have a flash of thought as he let the girl ram him aside.

Under his spirit energy scan, the charging girl appeared almost nonexistent, leaving him genuinely startled.

Meanwhile, realizing that her disguise was uncovered and her plan foiled, the Otherworldly Ghost dropped the act.

“Roar!”

An inhuman roar shattered the silence.

In an instant, the ghost accelerated; its suddenly gaping maw looked ready to tear apart its own mouth—wide enough to swallow a head whole—and it bit down with a ravenous hunger for flesh.

Then it closed its mouth, completely disregarding human combat logic.

In a flash, its hands lashed out. With Third-Stage power behind it, a piercing sound—like a battering ram—accompanied its swipe at the girl.

Under such force, even steel would shatter.

Yet, confronting this horrifying sight, the girl remained utterly calm.

Almost before the ghost could complete its attack, she nimbly flipped from behind with her massive crossbow and drove off with a powerful kick, narrowly evading the strike.

Loading the crossbow with one hand, a dull twang announced as a silver bolt shot out as fast as lightning.

“Stop dawdling! Run!”

“That monster is Third-Stage!”

Realizing that her arrow wouldn’t finish the ghost, the young girl shouted urgently. With a flick of her ponytail, she dragged a stunned Yenir toward the Factory.

She could sense that her arrow had merely perforated the ghost’s mouth. Although such an injury would be fatal for any human, it was far from enough against a Third-Stage ghost.

Unless its central nervous system is completely shattered, a Third-Stage ghost just won’t die!

With a rush of wind at its back and accompanied by a stench-filled roar and another grabbing hand, the girl’s eyes grew even more desperate.

If caught, she would be torn in half in an instant.

She had hoped that by holding onto Yenir, she could drag the clueless rookie to safety, but an overwhelming force made her stagger.

It felt as though she wasn’t holding a person at all, but a mountain rooted to the spot.

“Why are you trying to escape?”

A strange glimmer flashed in Yenir’s eyes as he noticed the sudden change in the girl’s expression. In that instant, a dazzling flash of crimson sword-light slashed out.

With temperatures reaching thousands of degrees and a burst of spirit energy, a Fire Dragon of searing heat suddenly emerged in a slash.

“Boom!!!”

From afar, under average Third-Stage might, the ghost was struck square on the head. Its once-solid skull melted away like butter, and with a final scream, it was split in two. The ensuing high-temperature flames charred the gaping wound into raw coal.

A one-hit kill!

After Yenir casually switched off his Elemental Blade skill, the once-menacing ghost was undeniably dead, collapsing to the ground like chopped firewood.

“Ding: Third-Stage Ghost Kill – Obtained 1 Core of the Otherworldly Ghost Fragment”

“Ding: Progress on Ghost Battlefield 1%…”

..

As two system notifications rang out in succession, a flash of delight lit up Yenir’s eyes.

He knew that killing a Third-Stage ghost would yield fragment rewards, but actually pocketing them instantly erased his earlier doubts.

Excellent.

The ghost here was even weaker than he’d imagined. Taking down a Third-Stage Beginner cost him about 10% of his spirit energy. If things kept going smoothly, gathering ten fragments shouldn’t be too challenging…

“You’re Third-Stage!?”

“Heavens! Weren’t you supposed to have failed the Ghost Hunter trial!?”

“Didn’t Anya say she’d have you join the Beginner Exam when she came back!?”

Looking down, Yenir was momentarily stunned. He had just refocused his thoughts, planning to figure out who this girl trying to save him was, when a stream of bizarre words burst from her.

“You know me?”

“Anya? Who is Anya?”

Studying the girl who clutched him, he observed that the young woman—holding a giant crossbow in her right hand—seemed barely of age. She wore dirty white sportswear with her ponytail tied back.

Even the massive crossbow, nearly half the size of a human, made her appear rather odd.

Her overall power level seemed to be around Second-Stage.

Clearly, she was a subjugated human.

As her words faded, the girl clinging to Yenir suddenly shifted her expression, then, as wary as a rabbit, leaped away.

“Aren’t you Yenir!?”

“Don’t you remember Anya, sis!?”

“Who exactly are you, Ghost!?”

“No way—if you’re a ghost, how can you kill ghosts!?”

Her mind seemed to whir as she fixed her gaze on him, as if verifying something, then anxiously rifled through her pocket and pulled out a photo to compare with Yenir.

“That’s strange… you look just like a human…”

“And you even have the locator Anya put on you…”

Hm?

Catching the fragmented clues from the little girl, Yenir raised an eyebrow as he instantly grasped what she was saying.

Anya? Sis? You know me?

Was she referring to the very first girl he’d killed? Is Anya that ghost’s name?

……………

Three minutes later, Yenir, lost in thought and still in disbelief, looked over at the distant girl with a puzzled expression.

After a few questions, he finally pieced together the situation.

The girl’s name is Zhang Ke, a ghost hunter.

She met Anya six months ago—yes, that remarkably adept ghost in disguise.

They were both ghost hunters roaming the Dungeon, but not long ago, Anya suddenly told her she needed to return because she had a brother to care for.

And the brother Anya mentioned was none other than Yenir.

As for the locator, Yenir hadn’t realized that his ID Card already carried the tracking device Anya had installed.

So once he entered the Factory, the nearby Zhang Ke picked up the locator’s signal. Recognizing the danger, she decided to rescue him.

Of course, what Zhang Ke hadn’t expected was that the so-called little brother Anya mentioned—whom he appeared to be as a First-Stage—was actually Third-Stage Yenir in disguise.

“Interesting…”

“If I hadn’t checked on Anya, based solely on her words, I would have never suspected that Anya was a ghost.”

“Tsk, the disguise is truly brilliant… a ghost taking a human as his brother while blending into ghost hunters.”

“This plot is getting pretty wild…”

A spark of something flashed in his eyes.

As he pieced the information together, Yenir suddenly realized that his luck—or rather, the accidental killing of Anya—had inadvertently solved a major problem.

A ghost had been lurking around him before entering the Dungeon, and judging by the circumstances, if Anya hadn’t died, she would probably have led him to other NPCs.

In the upcoming events, he’d likely have to cut his way deeper into the danger…

“Once inside, the ghost will disguise itself as a guide NPC, leading the Awakeners to the next stage. Along the way, it even recruits teammates.”

“Even though the Awakeners might not form strong bonds with these Dungeon NPCs, fighting side by side leaves no room for doubt…”

“And if these ghosts revolt during the final, high-difficulty stage… no Awakener will survive unscathed—not without shedding skin.”

“The system really is devious…”

Yenir sighed, thinking of the girl he had once killed.

Honestly, if he weren’t in such a hurry, he might have fallen for that trap too…

But now a new problem presented itself.

Zhang Ke—is she human or ghost?

Logically, this ghost hunter named Zhang Ke appears human and behaves as one. By all accounts, she should only be human…

If she were a ghost, there’d be no reason for her to save him. Besides, the ghost that died earlier clearly chose to attack her…

“Normally, I wouldn’t have any suspicions. But… caution is necessary…”

“This Dungeon’s storyline seems a bit twisted…”

At that thought, overwhelmed by the impact of being Third-Stage on the girl’s fragile psyche, Yenir abruptly stood up and strode toward her.

Under her suddenly alert gaze, he spoke in a serious tone:

“Zhang Ke?”

“You wanna sleep with me?”