Jimmy was in an exceptionally good mood today. He had successfully exploited Derek, paying him a mere 4,000 yuan in total—an average of 800 yuan a month—to work as an IT graduate in his company for five months, essentially as free labor. This generated over 10,000 yuan in profit, making it a lucrative deal.
This wasn't Jimmy's first time running such a scam. Some graduates had worked for an entire year under him, only to receive two months' worth of salary before leaving in fear after being intimidated by Jimmy's threats. Jimmy firmly believed that to make money, you had to be ruthless.
As he waited for the elevator, Jimmy felt as though someone was watching him from the shadows. When he turned to look, there was nothing.
Ding!
The elevator arrived. The doors opened, revealing an empty cabin. Jimmy's driver, the bald muscular man, had gone down earlier to prepare the car. Jimmy entered alone.
Once inside, the elevator light flickered slightly. Jimmy felt a chill down his spine and instinctively glanced back, but nothing was there. Shaking it off, he pressed the button for the first floor and waited for the elevator to descend.
Jimmy was on the fifth floor, but instead of going down, the elevator began to ascend—6th floor, 7th floor, 8th floor… all the way to the 14th floor.
Initially, Jimmy thought he had mistakenly boarded an ascending elevator. But when it passed the 8th floor, something felt terribly wrong.
This building only has eight floors. Where's the 9th, 10th… or even the 14th floor coming from? Heaven?
The lights flickered again, producing a sinister buzzing sound.
A wave of fear gripped Jimmy as his face turned pale. Just as he picked up the emergency phone to ask the property manager what was going on, the elevator suddenly plummeted!
"14, 13, 12…"
"10, 9, 8…"
Jimmy's mind raced. Am I going to die?
"Ahhhh! Nooo! Ahhhhh!" Jimmy screamed, trembling as he collapsed to the floor. The elevator slammed to a stop on the first floor with a loud thud!.
Shaking, Jimmy got to his feet, frantically pressing the open button. But before the doors could release him, the elevator began to descend again.
"-1, -2, -3…"
It stopped at -4.
-4? Jimmy thought, panic rising. This building doesn't even have a basement, let alone a fourth underground floor.
Grabbing the emergency phone again, he screamed, "What's going on with this elevator? It stopped at -4! Get me out of here now!"
"Negative four? That's impossible. Please, stay calm and explain what happened," a woman's voice responded coolly.
Jimmy ranted about his experience, describing how he had gone from the 5th floor to the 14th before plummeting to -4. "Now hurry up and get me out! I'm going to report you!"
"Mr. Jimmy," the woman said softly, "don't you think you should reflect on why you're experiencing such strange things?"
"What?" Jimmy barked, confused by her cryptic tone.
"Only those who've done bad deeds attract ghosts. If you keep sinning, ghosts will continue to haunt you. Try doing good, and maybe they'll leave you alone."
"Who are you? Stop messing with me! I'm not scared of anything! Just wait until I get out—I'll make you pay!" Jimmy shouted, his voice trembling despite his bravado.
"There's no need to find me. I'm right behind you," the woman's voice said eerily.
Jimmy froze. Turning slowly, he saw a pale, long-haired woman in white standing behind him.
Is that… Sadako?
Of course, it was Derek's ghostly clone in disguise.
Just as the ghost parted her hair to reveal a bloodied face with empty, bleeding eyes, Jimmy fainted, collapsing to the floor. A distinct smell of urine wafted through the air.
"What the heck? That's all it took for him to faint?" Derek's ghostly clone grumbled, disappointed. Slowly, it dissipated into the air.
With the task complete, the elevator's display returned to "1," and the doors opened as if nothing had happened.
"Domain concluded. The target was scared into urinating. 20 mana points awarded. Rewards include one Search Card, one Mark Card, one Surveillance Card, one Illusion Card, a basin of blood, and a bloody inscription," the ghostly clone reported.
"Nice! The rewards are solid!" Derek gleefully reviewed his spoils. He'd spent 10 mana points setting up the domain, earning back 10 points, plus items that would save mana in the future.
"Not every domain will yield positive results. Some may leave you at a loss," the ghostly clone reminded.
"Impossible!" Derek scoffed. "Scaring people seems like a foolproof gig."
The ghost clone chuckled quietly but said no more.
"By the way, do you have a name?" Derek asked.
"A name? Just call me Clone," the ghost responded.
"Are you male or female?"
"…Does it matter?"
"Of course, it matters! If you're a beautiful woman, I'd enjoy chatting with you more. If you're a dude… let's not bother—I'm very straight," Derek teased, laughing.
"…," the ghost clone chose to ignore Derek.
The next day, Derek waited for Jimmy to call and offer to pay the wages he owed, but no such call came.
Even after being haunted, he hasn't learned his lesson? Derek fumed.
Determined, he decided to teach Jimmy a more painful lesson until he submitted.
Unbeknownst to Derek, Jimmy had gone to a rural temple that morning to have a Taoist priest perform a ritual to dispel evil. Spending 1,000 yuan, he acquired a talisman said to ward off any ghosts trying to approach him.
Little did Jimmy know, his ordeal was far from over.