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Chapter 24: Massive mortgage, running instances at a loss?
Chapter 24: Massive mortgage, running instances at a loss?
Chapter 24: Massive mortgage, running instances at a loss?
Chosen One: Alexander
ID: xjbxd44011
Strength: 20
Speed: 22
Stamina: 19
Ghost Energy: 70
Talent: Unhindered Charm in Social Communication (aka: Social Prodigy)
Instance Participation Times: 1
Partner: Su Rong (Fierce Ghost)
Real Estate Owned: Haunted Apartment 108 (30-year mortgage, 17 years and 6 months remaining)
Ghost Coins: 0
Ghost Items: None
Skills: None
At first glance, there doesn't seem to be much change in the attributes.
A Partner and Real Estate section were added.
The remaining mortgage alone is over 600,000!
Well, this house, one room, one hall, one bathroom, and no more than fifty square meters in size, has a mortgage close to a million!
Real estate in the world of horror is even more terrifying than in the real world!
Other than becoming a homeowner with a mortgage, only his three-dimensional attributes have slightly increased.
This is as expected. Ghost Energy itself has the ability to strengthen physical attributes. As he has Ghost Energy, his physical strength will continue to increase.
Those powerful veterans are even comparable to superheroes from movies in his previous life.
What caught Alexander's attention was a shitty yellow switch button added to the attribute interface. As he moved his thoughts, the interface instantly changed.
Ghost Master: Alexander
Owned Instance: Tube Building
Instance Funds: 500 Ghost Coins
Tube Building (Junior Level)
Rules: Unrestricted
Base Bonus: 5
Fear Attribute: 5 (+5)
Maximum Number of Chosen Ones: 10
Number of Registered People: 3
Remaining Random Slots: 23
Ghost Servants: 0
Current Status: Can be activated, each activation consumes 300 Ghost Coins
Activation Times: 48
Owned Plugins: Human Head Mop (Resentful Spirit), Bleeding Faucet3 (Resentful Spirit), Yin Wind Maker (Resentful Spirit), Flickering Light Bulb11 (Inferior Quality), Blood-Stained Door*5 (Inferior Quality), Old Bucket (Inferior Quality)...
Human Head Mop
Level: Resentful Spirit
Attributes: Instance plugin, Fear +2
Bleeding Faucet
Level: Resentful Spirit
Attributes: Instance plugin, Fear +1
Yin Wind Maker (Resentful Spirit)
Attributes: Creates Yin wind from the base, targets blown by the Yin wind experience Fear +5 for a certain period
Flickering Light Bulb
Level: None
Attributes: Instance plugin, Atmosphere creation, No bonus
Blood-Stained Door
Level: None
Attributes: Instance plugin, Atmosphere creation, No bonus
...
Well, good heavens!
After viewing the Ghost Master interface, Alexander understood why many veteran Chosen Ones prefer to jokingly call themselves players!
They are indeed players, just being played by ghosts.
This is completely a game!
The Ghost Master collects fear and turns it into Ghost Coins by creating an atmosphere to scare the incoming Chosen Ones.
Once the fear is collected, they kill with a single blow, turning the soul into Ghost Coins.
Everything is squeezed clean for profit.
"Wait!" Suddenly, Alexander saw that the instance status could be activated and looked puzzledly at Su Rong:
"You can't afford the mortgage, right? Why don't you activate the instance to earn Ghost Coins?"
Is it out of pity? No way, it has already been activated forty or fifty times. If it was out of pity, where would the down payment for the house come from?
Su Rong's pretty face blushed, and she was somewhat embarrassed as she fiddled with the corner of her clothes and mumbled, "It... it can lead to losses. I've been relying on part-time jobs to pay the mortgage, and I haven't activated it for a long time."
"How can it lead to losses? Is the instance's income very low?" Alexander's eyes widened, feeling like he might have been tricked.
No wonder it was so easy to recognize the master. Besides the good feelings, it seems that finding someone to pay the mortgage might be the main reason too!
"Of course, it will lead to losses!" Su Rong said matter-of-factly:
"Activating an instance costs 300 Ghost Coins, and one soul can only amass about 20-50 Ghost Coins. Most of the time, you only get the minimum of 20."
"And you can't kill everyone. Although the instance can pull in new people from your world at random, there are only 50 slots per year. Most of the time, it's the Chosen Ones signing up themselves, and only if there are not enough do we use up the slots. If we don't leave two or three people each time, no one will come in next time."
"What about the others... other ghosts? Do they also lose money?" Alexander asked.
Su Rong shook her head and began to speak:"Those rich Ghost Masters would hire or purchase ghost servants, like in the Blood Moon High School. With so many ghost servants around, the fear value is definitely high, but the cost is too high!"
"For those Ghost Masters without money, there is only one way... to sell flesh!"
"Sell flesh? It can't be..." Alexander's heart skipped a beat, remembering the black plastic bags outside.
Su Rong nodded, "Human flesh is worth some money, at least it can cover the cost!"
Seeing Alexander's face turn pale, Su Rong quickly explained, "Don't worry, I have never sold or eaten any. That's also why I'm losing money."
Alexander breathed a sigh of relief. Although it's a dog-eat-dog world, Alexander isn't exactly a saint.
After all, in such a world, if killing could improve one's strength, he wouldn't hesitate to orchestrate a massacre!
But eating human flesh, even selling the flesh of his own kind as a commodity, made him feel disgusted.
However, Alexander soon asked in confusion, "What about fear? Isn't the emotion of fear supposed to condense into Ghost Coins?"
"They are not afraid at all! And I can't afford ghost servants!" Su Rong moaned, "They only fear at the moment of death. After an instance, only about 30 to 50 Ghost Coins can be condensed. It's so not worth it!"
"Why do you need ghost servants to scare people?" Alexander was baffled.
"How do you scare people without ghosts?" Su Rong was equally confused.
"How did you scare people before?" Alexander asked.
"You've seen it! Just like in Blood Moon High School! Or use ghost energy to make myself look very fierce!" Su Rong stretched out her hands to mimic claws, sticking her tongue out at Alexander.
I'm so scared! So cute yet so fierce!
Alexander found this amusing, almost couldn't resist kissing her.
Of course, he knew that Su Rong didn't want to look ugly in front of him, in the instance she would definitely have a terrifying face.
But you are a ghost!
Shouldn't ghosts rely on the eerie atmosphere, the horrifying environment, the shrill howls, and the uncanny music to scare people?
With this in mind, Alexander suddenly understood why Su Rong was losing money, and declared with a wave of his hand,
"Wait for me, I will start an instance, you do as I say! You will definitely make a profit!"
"Do you really know how to do it? I'm a ghost, can you scare people better than me?" Su Rong was somewhat skeptical.
"Can I do it? Young lady, dare to doubt your man?" Alexander became indignant,
"Let me show you what professional means! Where did you buy your plugins, I need some props."
Despite being a bit skeptical, Su Rong still taught Alexander how to use the Ghost Pearl to check the attributes of the plugins and how to open the specialized store for instances.
There were many things in the store. Alexander even saw a Ghost Soldier Transition Summoning Tool with a fear bonus of +999, costing a whopping 500,000 Ghost Coins.
After some searching, Alexander quickly found what he needed.
Ubiquitous Player
Rank: Spectral
Attributes: Instance plugin, can play various sounds according to the Ghost Master's intent, fear value +10
Price: 200
"This is too expensive, 10 points of fear isn't really worth it, it's not very useful!"
Seeing the funds decrease to 300, just enough to start an instance, Su Rong's worried expression deepened.
"Inconsequential? Heh, soon you'll understand the charm of music!"
A sly smile appeared on Alexander's face as he chose to activate an instance.
"Ghost Master activated an instance, randomly selected quota -7, teleporting Chosen Ones, instance startup!"