As his vision clears Jia Hyson realizes he's no longer in the room where the ritual was held, instead he seemed to be sitting on a soft, ornate doll bed. While he can't physically turn his head with his current weakened status since the doll was merely an anchor for his soul, after some struggling and adjustment his spirit managed to wriggle out of the doll's head to survey the surroundings. It seems, after some testing, that he currently cannot separate completely from the doll, most of his spiritual body was still stuck inside even after much effort, his soul compressed into something black and gaseous.
While it's not much, it's enough to see that the room was filled with beauty and extravagant luxury.
And dolls.
Jia Hyson wants to cry. Just because he happens to be a doll now doesn't mean he's immediately over his fears of them! If anything it got worse since now it's confirmed that ghosts can haunt dolls! If anyone ever says otherwise he will slap them!
"This world... is really too cruel," Jia Hyson sighs. To live as one of his greatest fears... who did he offend in his past life to have such amazing luck?
Bebe: 'Do you want Bebe to list them alphabetically or according to level of hostility toward Host?'
Jia Hyson: '...' His System has gotten better at talking back recently.
Actually, where was Bebe? Since he has no physical body anymore, Jia Hyson didn't keep any accessories that he had worn beforehand. His spirit was weak and didn't even have defined features as well. When trying to push out of his vessel he noted that he was barely a silhouette of his former self, a hazy outline that could fade away at any second. Sticking his right hand out of the doll, he could tell there was no bangle present.
"Look at the doll," Bebe patiently says, prompting his gaze toward his vessel's body. His metaphorical eye twitches at the small silver bracelet glinting on the doll's right wrist. It seemed no matter what form, the physical body will always carry Bebe.
Bebe: 'Bebe will be with host.. foreveer~'
ヾ( ￣O￣)ツ
Jia Hyson: 'Hehe, you forget, it's not me trapped with you, it's you trapped with me~' ψ(｀∇´)ψ
Bebe: '...' _:(´ཀ`」∠):_ Host, you may not like this world but Bebe truly believes you suit it quite well ah.
"Anyway," Jia Hyson changes the subject as he looks around again. Despite the disturbing amount of dolls and doll-related objects it was infinitely more aesthetically appealing than the murder basement. "Where am I? How long have I been out?"
"Around two weeks," Bebe answers, "Your soul needed some time to properly assimilate into an unknown object, not to mention need time to recover from the trauma as well. Bebe was honestly surprised you woke up so fast."
"What can I say? My body is made for all types of fun ( ˘ ³˘) ~♡"
Bebe felt speechless at how easily his host can go back to being so shameless, will he die if he doesn't make some sort of perverse joke? "Didn't your body burn into a crisp?"
Jia Hyson felt speechless at how ignorant his system was. Will it die if it doesn't correct him?
One host and one system, both on two different wavelengths, could no longer bear to communicate with each other.
Under Jia Hyson's order, Bebe busied itself with gathering information about the current decade as well as if any of the evil spirits haunting the demon house in the future are currently present. The setting of the story is about fifteen years away so Jia Hyson has an even longer time to set the foundations than in the previous world. Meanwhile Jia Hyson focused on trying to figure out how to gather enough energy and strength to move his doll body.
It was.. a work in progress.
Because of how the doll body was both an embodiment of one of his major fears as well as a reminder of his burning coffin ending, Jia Hyson was understandably uncomfortable in it. Settling into the body to him was like struggling to put on a scratchy woollen jumpsuit five sizes too small, it was hard to concentrate on anything but the jumpsuit and eventually you'll either be squeezed out or scratching so hard the clothes tear off… the metaphor went a bit astray there.
In fact, Jia Hyson had made more progress leaving the doll than controlling it. Now he could force his entire arm or leg out and away from his vessel before the almost magnetic pull becomes too much to resist against.
Like Bebe had said beforehand, Bai Li Wei's stats had changed once he had become a ghost, adding new skills to the list in a blood red font. Unfortunately for Jia Hyson, the stats were really just as bad as before. Skills such as Curse Production, Possession, Deathly Jinxes, Transparency and Tangibility Control and Optical Illusions were all below below 20 points.
As for skills like producing ghost fire... not even Jia Hyson can fault the big fat 0 value next to it. Even if he had previously thought it would be an amazing power to wield, in this lifetime he had to grudgingly admit he wouldn't be able to stomach using it even if he could have.
However it wasn't all hopeless. It seemed Jia Hyson had a few rather high values in four skills: Hair control, Eye for an Eye, Alluring Beguilement and Heart's sway. All of these skills were roughly valued at 40 to 65 points. Hair control was a versatile, not to mention classic ghost ability which can be used offensively and defensively. Eye for an Eye may not be as good as full Possession or Optical Illusion but the high value allows Jia Hyson to be able to see through other people's eyes and, to some extent manipulate their visual senses. Finally Alluring Beguilement and Heart's Sway were Jia Hyson's strongest ghostly skills at 63 and 66 respectively, as implicated, it gives him the ability to more easily see people's inner demons and convince and manipulate them using this.
Not to mention his special skills were rather interesting. Not particularly useful per say but interesting. [Psychotic Break] now was activated in passive mode which allowed Jia Hyson to see the details. [Psychotic Break] is a skill that levels up under times of extreme stress, trauma and various other negative influences both external and internal. It allows the owner to nurture a more abnormal mindset, encouraging feelings of apathy, resentment and cruelty as well as minimise the feelings of pain, hurt and fear. While it may be promoting Jia Hyson's sociopathic and violent thoughts and tendencies to a worrying level, it is also the main reason why his mind hadn't broken from everything yet, allowing him to retain his rationality and glib personality. Luckily, while the effect won't completely go away, if given a long enough period of peace and exposure to positive influences, [Psychotic Break] can regress back to level 1.
[Malevolent Intent] is a special skill that unlocked after [Psychotic Break] reached level 5. It increases with the accumulation of the user's negative emotions and malicious thoughts and helps recycle some of this negativity into energy the user can use. Without this skill, the average ghost could probably only convert 1-3% into energy and would need to take at least two years before they could produce enough power to become even a little tangible. In hindsight it does explain why some ghosts in movies take decades before they become active enough to scare a bunch of tweens. However, with [Malevolent Intent] Jia Hyson can now efficiently convert 5% of his negativity and any absorbed yin energy into pure spiritual power. Each level up will increase this efficiency by 1%.
Given these benefits and that Jia Hyson's new stats were still rather new, he decided to refrain from redistributing his points for now. After all, he had such a long time to slowly accumulate points manually anyway.
They spend the next few days like this in relative silence as they focus on their respective tasks. However unlike Bebe, Jia Hyson's task was neither fun nor satisfying which resulted in him procrastinating and Bebe having to stop its own research to nag him resulting in a lot of insults. Despite it being a relatively mundane pattern they've gotten into, Jia Hyson felt a little comforted by it and was slowly getting used to spending longer times in the doll.
One day, the pattern was broken as the door to the room opened. For a moment, Jia Hyson froze in panic before he remembered he was a weak ghost that couldn't be noticed even if he tried. However after relaxing his nerves they soon tensed once again, not with surprise this time but with hatred.
Professor Shen walks slowly toward him, taking the time to admire and caress each doll he passes. Sometimes he would stop to adjust their outfits or gently dust some gathering dust off them. It was like he genuinely loved these pale imitations of humanity.
Finally Professor Shen reaches the heart of the room, stopping right in front of Jia Hyson with admiring and lustful eyes. Unlike the other dolls, Jia Hyson had his own space, a pedestal really, surrounded by various high quality doll goods, clothing and anything ornate and pretty. Even his clothing, a high collar traditional chinese robe, looked soft and silky, the golden dragons even seemed hand stitched. It was clear the professor still held his beauty in high regards. As much as it disgusted Jia Hyson, he had to admit it was a rather useful position to be in.
"Ah, Li Wei, I'm so sorry I haven't come to see you for so long," Professor Shen apologises with a regretful smile, "Work and family matters you see? I hope you didn't miss me too much,"
Jia Hyson raises a spectral middle finger to the man. Ah, he can't wait to gain enough power to rip this fuck to shreds. No, no, he has to be patient. Revenge is like orgasm denial. And Jia Hyson is a pro at being a tease.
Bebe: '… ಠ_ಠ Bebe hates that Bebe actually understood that.'
Jia Hyson: (∩❛ڡ❛∩)
"You really are just as beautiful as your original," Professor Shen sighs as he strokes the cold surface of Jia Hyson's porcelain cheeks with wistful yearning, "It's a pity that Li Wei had such a disgusting personality. To think he had hidden it from all of us. Even I didn't see through it, if I did I would've never proposed to use that two-faced slut for such an important ritual."
Jia Hyson: ...hehe
[Ding, ding! Psychotic Break has increased to Level 10!]
[Ding, ding! Psychotic Break has reached Level 10! Activating new special skill Psychotic Breakdown (Active) Level 1! Feel free to activate it and strangle me anytime!]
[Ding, ding! Malevolent Intent has increased to Level 5!]
[Ding, ding! Malevolent Intent has reached Level 5! Activating new special skill If Looks Could Kill (Active) Level 1! Ah, to die under your gaze is my greatest pleasure!]
[Ding, ding! Malevolent Intent has reached Level 5! Activating new special skill Cruel Caress (Active) Level 1! Even though it hurts, I can't help but shiver in anticipation for your touch!]
Jia Hyson: '...'
Bebe: '...'
Jia Hyson: 'Bebe... I didn't know you felt this way...'
Bebe: 'Fuck off, upper management upgraded the skill notifications when you were unconscious. 凸(￣ヘ￣) Now all of them come with slogans.'
Jia Hyson: 'Oh, well, in that case... can you give the one who came up with those slogans my number?' (／≧ω＼)
Bebe: 'You want me to invite another pervert here? Why don't you just ask me to go screw myself over instead?! Hell no!' 凸ಠ益ಠ)凸
Jia Hyson's mouth twitches at the vehemence in his system's tone. 'I'm surprised they even allowed this to pass,' he comments mildly. Bebe made a huffing sound of irritation.
'Since it's unusual for hosts to play ghost roles like this, the standards for describing related skills was probably lower.' Bebe explains, before adding in a bitter, low voice, 'Besides, this was most likely done by Overlord Li Jun.'
Jia Hyson raises his nonexistent eyebrow in interest at the title and name. He's heard a lot about overseers which act as the management and logistics behind the systems but overlord sounds far more dominant. Not to mention, if Bebe could recognize one of these overlords from words alone that would imply Bebe had more connections then he had thought. 'Overlord?'
'It's a status higher than overseer,' Bebe says after some hesitation. Even though it was embarrassed for making such a slip up, it wasn't like it could take it back now. 'In our hierarchy there's the normal systems, the more specialized systems like Bebe, the overseers that manage the systems, the Overlords that look over the Overseers and issue any law enforcement required, and finally there's those with the God code called the Nobility. However those systems don't come out that often so Bebe isn't that familiar with their functions.'
'So they're a bit like the royal family in a democratic country,' Jia Hyson muses. He's got to admit, he had never really put too much thought about how the world of the systems run. It was definitely a fascinating topic. A pity that Bebe seemed unwilling to divulge anymore, Jia Hyson would have liked to hear more about this God code and how one can become an Overseer or an Overlord. Since they're all systems with extremely advanced AIs it is quite amazing to imagine how their societal constructs had been fabricated.
Meanwhile Professor Shen had picked him up, stroking his hair like Jia Hyson was his most precious child while slowly stripping him off his clothing like his most beloved lover. Jia Hyson watches the old man do all this with a disdainful gaze which only worsened as he notes that his naked doll body was incredibly anatomically correct.
'I wonder which one of those cultists made this body?' Jia Hyson muses as he observes as a wrinkled finger perversely strokes the little porcelain bird (slang for cock lol) between those porcelain legs. 'I need to take some special care in 'thanking' them.'
'You know, say what you want about these freaks but Bebe is impressed by the amount of effort and money they put into this,' Bebe also comments as they both stare judgementally at Professor Shen who was now giving the doll a sponge bath. 'He's using a limited edition branded body wash, the bowl he's using is carved from pure jade and it seems like Host's new clothes is custom-made.'
'Ah, you're right,' Jia Hyson nods seriously in agreement, 'Professor Shen has been so good to me, it would be a shame to not give the same amount of effort in return. But first, let me try out one of my new skills…'
Concentrating, Jia Hyson activates [Cruel Caress] and suddenly he felt a little more tangible. Less like a gust of cold air and more akin to a heavy mist. It wasn't enough to move anything larger than a hair really but it was enough to be felt. When the professor reaches out toward him, Jia Hyson grabs the man's outstretched hand, making him pause momentarily. He felt a rush of glee and victory at being able to interact with the physical world again, even if it was a barely negligible amount.
Professor Shen on the other hand frowns, retreating his hand and flexing it with mild confusion. For a moment he felt a tingling cold, like he had stuck his hand in the fridge. He doesn't ponder upon it for long as a female voice calls out for him outside the room. "Brother Shen! Are you in here? Dinner is ready!"
For a moment his face darkens, it is probably the most angry Jia Hyson has ever seen him to be honest. What was a little unnerving was despite his expression his voice still came out mild and agreeable, "Thank you for telling me, I'll be down soon."
"Well you better be ah! Li Du and his kid are coming soon and I want to make a good impression!"
Professor Shen's face twists even further, a mixture of anger, nerves and trepidation. Despite that what comes out his mouth still sounded amiable, "Of course, of course! Give me two minutes!"
Finally the sounds of retreating footsteps were heard. Professor Shen glances at the door and sneers, "Noisy parasite, I'm surprised she even managed to attract a man. Then again, this Li Du probably has his own defects given he's been divorced twice."
Jia Hyson snorts. Tough words for a single old man with a doll room.
Professor Shen quickly dresses Jia Hyson up, looking regretful that he couldn't savour the process like before. Finally he gives him a soft kiss on the lips before reluctantly leaving. Once the door closes Jia Hyson hears a locking sound. It seems the man is more careful when guests are around.
Left alone, Jia Hyson stares at the door thoughtfully.
Then he smiles.
[Ding, ding! Malevolent Intent has increased to Level 6!]