Ch. 18 - Another Bug?! Even My Family’s in the Reward Settlement?!
Bug Abuse? I Swear I'm Just Playing Normally!This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
Did I mishear that? Even my sister got a settlement screen? That can’t be right…can it?
From within the photo, his sister Bai Xi shared her own results screen with Bai Wan.
[Congratulations, Player Bai Xi, for successfully clearing the dungeon "Ghost Cruise."
Settlement as follows:
Player Achievement:
The Sister Who Rode Her Brother’s Coattails – Player Bai Xi made no contribution to the dungeon, having spent the entire time hiding in one place. Cleared the game solely through her brother’s efforts. Awarded only the base reward: 100 Paranormal Coins.
Player has acquired new skill:
Life Is But a Stage
Description: Your refined acting skills now allow you to play the role of an NPC. At the start of a dungeon, the player may choose one of two available NPCs to impersonate, gaining that character’s memories, experience, equipment, and social connections. Higher skill levels increase the odds of being assigned key roles and widen the selection pool.
Player innate skill: Paper Doll
Description: Due to being a paper-person, the player can return to her portrait at will, regardless of distance.]
Bai Wan was dumbfounded.
Seriously? She really got a reward settlement?
And she even picked up a skill that lets her impersonate an NPC? That sounded kind of amazing.
His eyes lit up. With his sister in play, he could learn all kinds of hidden secrets from within dungeons. Even if she could only impersonate side characters at first, her information would already be leagues ahead of most players’. That alone was a huge edge.
And her innate skill, Paper Doll, was basically a god-tier survival tool. She could return to her portrait at any time.
“Wait, if my sister got a settlement… then what about Dad and Mom?” Bai Wan turned toward the portrait again.
Sure enough, his parents were smiling with joy.
“We’re getting our results too!”
But just as Bai Wan leaned in to check, the family members’ results suddenly vanished. The system’s voice rang out at the same time:
[Bug detected. Game entering self-repair. Repair complete.]
“Bro… my screen disappeared again,” Bai Xi said dejectedly.
“System, don’t be such a mingy coward. Are paper-people not human? They can’t join the game now? My whole family made it through that dungeon just fine! And what about my cat?! You're gonna tell me that little guy didn’t join the dungeon?!” Bai Wan protested loudly.
The system went silent. Apparently, there had never been precedent for a paper-person or a cat successfully clearing a dungeon.
Which raised a rather philosophical issue.
Are paper-people human? If not… what are they? And what qualifies someone as a human, anyway? Is it the body? Or the soul?
After what must’ve been some deep philosophical pondering, the system reluctantly gave in.
[Player Bai Xi has successfully cleared the dungeon. Rewards will be issued per standard protocol. Other paper-people will not receive rewards...]
As if realizing it had forgotten something, the system followed up a few seconds later:
[The cat will also not receive rewards.]
So only his sister got rewarded?
Bai Wan wasn’t disappointed. He hadn’t expected anything from this to begin with. Getting even one result was already a win. One day, he was sure all his family would get their due reward settlements.
Then, at that moment, identical black six-pointed stars appeared on both Bai Wan and Bai Xi’s wrists.
Bai Wan inspected his own with curiosity. He could make the star appear or vanish at will, but he had no clue what it did.
And just then, his sister gasped.
“I… I think I can come out now!”
The next moment, Bai Xi stepped out of the portrait.
She wore a light blue skirt and a crisp white blouse. Her long hair flowed like a curtain of ink, swaying gently with her steps. She had soft bangs framing her face, and her large, blinking eyes shimmered faintly with tears.
Bai Wan hadn’t seen his sister in ages. He was just as delighted.
So she could step out now just because she cleared the game? That meant… maybe the rest of his family could too. One of the biggest reasons he joined the Paranormal Game in the first place was to find a way to restore his family to normal.
And now, finally, a lead.
This is good news. Very good news.
Back home at last, Bai Xi flopped onto the couch and rolled around like a lazy kitten. After a while, she finally stood and walked over to Bai Wan, eyes brimming with fondness.
“Bro… It’s been so long. I missed you.”
Then she bounced forward, white boots clicking lightly on the floor.
A sweet floral scent reached him before her arms wrapped tightly around his waist. A single tear trickled down her cheek.
She was just a high school girl, still a kid. She’d been turned into a portrait, shut away for who knew how long. Of course she felt vulnerable.
Bai Wan let out a sigh and gently wiped her tears away.
“Don’t worry, dear sister. From now on, I’ll protect you. No matter what you run into, so long as it doesn’t involve paranormal artifacts or coins, your big brother’s got your back.”
Bai Xi stiffened slightly.
Then her expression flipped in an instant—from teary-eyed angel to smug delinquent.
“Tch. Stingy. Who wants your lame artifacts anyway?!”
Seeing his sister’s act exposed, Bai Xi gave up the charade. She pouted, clearly annoyed.
“I just think the Paranormal Game is scary, okay? I’m just a girl… I need a little reassurance.”
Bai Wan pulled her into a side hug.
“You’ll be fine. With that Paper Doll skill, you’re safer than I am.”
Bai Xi pouted again. “Bai Wan! Can you stop being so cheap? Don’t forget who used to give you your allowance when we were kids!”
“Cough… that was ages ago.”
His sister had always been popular because of her looks. Since elementary school, she’d been the dream girl for half her classmates. And thanks to that, she’d always had more pocket money than he did.
Back when their parents were super strict with spending, all his game cartridges and manga came from her leftover change—sponsored by her little fan club of puppy-eyed boys.
And she always gave him half. That’s how he got to play Mario in the first place.
"The other two artifacts are both useful to me... but you can have the Blood Wine and the lamp." Bai Wan relented, after all, he owed her too much to be stingy.
“Now that’s more like it.” Bai Xi beamed.
Her smile was clean and radiant.
Bai Wan couldn’t help but shake his head with a sigh. No denying it—his little sister really was a knockout.
Then a strange feeling stirred in his gut. Now that she could enter the game as an NPC… there’d probably be a whole crowd of simps chasing her around, right?
Bai Wan stared into space, sparing a moment of pity for all the future poor fools. Hopefully they had a brain in their heads and didn’t just fall for her face.
…Though if they ended up giving her all their paranormal artifacts and coins, half of that would come to him anyway.
He gave his head a little shake, clearing away the silly thoughts, and returned to sorting through his loot.
This run had been a massive haul.
He now carried five items:
A lantern, a bottle of red wine, a bloodstained bandage, a ghost ship, and a cursed idol.
He handed the blood wine and lantern over to Bai Xi.
Bai Xi took them like she was cradling treasure.
“Here—take these paranormal coins. I don’t need them yet and I’m not about to freeload off you.”
She really was generous. Just like when they were kids.
Bai Wan chuckled as he accepted the 100 coins. That brought him over 400—enough to fuel his artifacts for a little longer.
Meanwhile, as the siblings divided the spoils in peace, the Paranormal Game forums were in utter chaos.
Because just a few seconds ago, someone had leaked a summary of Bai Wan’s dungeon settlement results.
And now… players across the forum were stunned speechless.