Ch. 46 - Bai Wan’s Awakened Skill: Error Code!

Surrounded by paranormal entities, Bai Wan took a single step forward.

And in that moment, an invisible field rippled outward from him.

Whoosh! 

A white domain burst forth, engulfing the entire city for a ten-kilometers radius. 

Then… utter chaos erupted.

The horde that had been charging toward Bai Wan suddenly collapsed en masse. One after another, they tripped on flat ground, toppling over like a wave of dominoes, limbs entangled and flailing wildly.

Some slammed face-first into what appeared to be invisible walls—no matter how they clawed and smashed, they couldn’t get through, howling in impotent rage.

More absurd still, from somewhere above, a giant Ultraman suddenly appeared in the sky and began firing energy beams at the horde.

Bai Wan strolled casually through the tide of paranormals, completely unharmed. Any entity that got close immediately suffered some bizarre misfortune.

Some were struck by lightning out of nowhere. Others had literal dog shit fall from the sky, splattering over their faces.

Even the city buildings twisted into nonsense—some stretched into inexplicable towers, while others floated up into the sky.

On Bai Wan’s shoulder, the Sunflower split into a grinning, glowing face, radiating golden light. High in the sky, several tiny bright dots were rapidly approaching.

The entire city… had descended into a full-blown bugfest.

The vision cut off there—and a name echoed in Bai Wan’s mind:

Error Code.

He stared, dumbfounded.

What the hell… 

His Awakened Skill is called Error Code? It looked like…it massively amplifies his bug effect rate?

Normally, his bug traits didn’t trigger all that often—but once this skill activated, it was basically a guaranteed full-system breakdown…

Bai Wan’s expression turned complicated.

This thing…is definitely powerful. But also feels extremely unreliable.

A full-area bug domain with no target discrimination? Who knows how many allies he might accidentally wipe out…And honestly, he doesn’t have that many expendable teammates to begin with.

Unless he’s facing a truly desperate crisis—maybe then it’d be worth gambling on a miracle.

“So… what’s your Awakening?” Su Yuening asked, her eyes full of curiosity.

Bai Wan hesitated, then forced a smile. “You’ll know when I use my ultimate in the future…”

Let’s be real—I already smashed the ancestral foundation of Lan City’s branch office without using my ult. If I ever activate this thing, even the national headquarters might not have a tombstone left intact.

Su Yuening eyed him suspiciously. He was definitely hiding something weird again…not another weird skill?

“…Fine, then let’s head out?” she said, glancing at the timer. Only eight minutes remained before they’d be ejected from the shop.

“Wait. Give me a moment… I think I’ve figured something out about this dungeon.”

Back when he’d seen that the black mist ghost’s true form was a woman, Bai Wan had felt a creeping hunch—but he hadn’t had time to fully process it.

Now, inside the shop where time was frozen, he could finally think. Bai Wan began carefully retracing everything that had happened in the dungeon.

They were thieves, intruding into Lin Yuan’s home and killing him… then burying their stolen loot in Xilin.

But there was something strange about that: according to all known info, Lin Yuan was just a poor scholar. So why had they dug up so many valuables in Xilin?

That didn’t line up with being poor.

And more importantly—the ghost that had been hunting them all this time wasn’t Lin Yuan at all.

It was a woman.

Then there was the ghost wife’s letter. It spoke of an unfinished painting, a fantasy world, and a vanishing… yet no trace of the artwork itself. Was it a test? Or had the painting been moved somewhere else?

All the details churned in Bai Wan’s mind—until suddenly, his eyes widened in shock.

Wait…

Could the path to survival be… that?!

His expression changed rapidly.

If he was right, then from the very beginning, they’d fallen into the system’s trap. They would’ve been wrong from the very start.

The whole thing reminded him of the Ghost Cruise dungeon. It matched the paranormal game’s usual tricks—deliberately misleading players down false paths.

“…Let’s go. I think I’ve figured out how to clear ‘The Letter’ dungeon. I just need to confirm it.”

Su Yuening blinked, startled. Then she said, “I once read a book that said mental illness just means your brain circuits are a little... unconventional, but it doesn’t affect intelligence—in fact, it might even mean you’re smarter than average.”

“So it’s true!”

Bai Wan: “……”

When did this white-haired weirdo get so cheeky?

“Alright, let’s go. We’ve been in this dungeon long enough. Time for the final phase.” Bai Wan smiled and stepped out of the shop, with Su Yuening following behind.

Time outside the Skeleton Shop had remained frozen, so as they exited, they saw the massive ghost figure still stuck mid-animation, and the ghost army still locked down under the Snow Peas’ suppression.

Bai Wan led Su Yuening away from the battlefield, sprinting until they’d shaken off pursuit, finally arriving back at the small stream.

There, they found Sun Qian and Wang Jian waiting beside the truck.

“You’re finally back! Let’s get the hell outta here!” Sun Qian called, overjoyed. The truck keys were with Bai Wan—without them, there was no escape.

Bai Wan nodded, jumped in the driver’s seat, and gunned it toward the town.

As they left the forest behind, everyone in the truck exhaled in relief.

There were way too many ghosts back there. Without these mysterious "Family" helping out, they probably would’ve been wiped in Xilin. No wonder this was rated as an unsolvable-class dungeon.

Sun Qian sat in the passenger seat, giving Bai Wan a long look.

“Liu Tong, you’ve been hiding this from us for a while now, huh? So you’re the infamous rookie ‘Family’…”

Bai Wan sighed. “Don’t hold it against me, okay? I was just trying to stay alive. You all know how high my bounty is—I’m in constant danger.”

“I didn’t mean to lie. But lying is still wrong. I, Liu Tong, swear on my name—I’ll never lie again. If I do, may my future kids be born without an assh—”

“Alright, alright! No need to go that far!” Sun Qian interrupted, wiping sweat from his brow.

Damn, this Liu Tong guy doesn’t mess around.

Bai Wan then told Sun Qian that he needed to test a theory.

Sun Qian’s eyes lit up. Had he found a way to clear the dungeon? He promised full cooperation immediately.

It was already past 8 PM. Everything needed to be finished by 10.

Bai Wan pushed the truck to its limit, first swinging by his little sister’s house in town to ask for the general location of the Xinghai Art Gallery. Then, without delay, he drove toward the next county over.

“We’re going to an art gallery?” Su Yuening asked, puzzled.

She remembered the female ghost’s letter had mentioned it—the Xinghai Art Gallery was where Lin Yuan had hoped to display his painting. That unfinished piece, Dreamscape, was created for that exhibition.

Bai Wan nodded. “Yeah. If I’m right, the Xinghai Art Gallery holds the final clue. If all goes well… this will be the end of it.”

The Xinghai Art Gallery…is the key to this entire dungeon.

But just then, Sun Qian’s expression shifted. Through the rearview mirror, he spotted something.

In the truck bed where Su Yuening and Wang Jian were sitting—a third figure had appeared.

A figure with no visible face.

No one knew when it had gotten there.

And neither Su Yuening nor Wang Jian had noticed… they weren’t alone.

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