"You stay here for now, don't follow me. I'm going over there to take a look." Caleb left that instruction and walked alone towards the containers.
The Ghost-faced Man would not show itself when two people were present. To figure out its identity and intentions, Caleb could only go alone.
"Hey?! Don't act alone!" Ginger said anxiously. She wasn't worried that Caleb would encounter the ghost by himself, but rather that she would encounter it if she was left alone here. But her teammate was determined to go solo, and she couldn't stop him. She could only stand there, waiting uneasily.
The owner of the scorched black face, after successfully attracting Caleb's attention, had retreated behind the containers. But when Caleb approached that spot and looked behind the containers, there wasn't even a ghost to be seen.
"Disappeared? Is it hiding somewhere, preparing to jump out and scare me?" Caleb's lips curved into a smile. He was actually looking forward to such heart-pounding activities.
He walked through the passageway between the two containers for a moment. Suddenly, a sound of wings flapping came from above his head. Caw! Caw! A hoarse bird cry followed. Caleb noticed a pitch-black crow flapping its wings and ascending, circling above his head.
"That explains why there are birdcages here."
Just as the crow attracted Caleb's attention, a cackling laugh suddenly came from behind him. The laughter was mixed with someone muttering to himself: "I found him... He's here... He's here alone..."
Caleb turned his head sharply. The sound stopped abruptly, and there was still nothing behind him.
"Tsk tsk, I bet… you're standing right in front of me now!" The oldest trick in horror movies—the jump scare from turning around. Caleb calmly turned his head back.
Whoosh!!!
Sure enough, less than ten centimeters in front of him, a scorched, hideous Ghost-faced Man suddenly appeared. The owner of the ghost face even deliberately bared his fangs to make himself look even more terrifying.
Although Caleb was prepared, the visual effect created by the opponent being so close was truly horrifying. His body instinctively recoiled, and his heart rate instantly soared, reaching the resting heart rate of a normal person.
—Unknown factor importing… Data error… All attributes instantly skyrocketed.
"Heh, come on, let me see what you've got!" In any horror movie, the most terrifying stage is before the ghost appears. Once they come face to face, there's generally nothing to be afraid of anymore.
Caleb crouched slightly, assuming a counter-attack stance. He had already switched to 'Active Stance' just now, and now his body was full of energy, agile and flexible. Coupled with the secretion of adrenaline, his nervous senses were highly sensitive, and every move of his opponent was locked in his sight.
The Ghost-faced Man opposite him was not as scary as Ginger had described. It was likely that Ginger's perspective after entering the 'Real Fear' state was different from Caleb's current perspective. Strictly speaking, he was essentially a person whose whole body had been burned to a charred state, completely black, with striking red eyes and snow-white fangs.
At this moment, the charred man was full of surprise, seemingly unable to comprehend how Caleb had so easily broken his scare tactic. Seeing the opponent assume a challenging stance, the charred man flew into a rage, letting out a shriek, extending both hands, and quickly pouncing towards Caleb.
Thump thump… thump thump… His heart beat like a drum, and the charred man in his line of sight was analyzed in slow motion by his powerful dynamic vision.
"Too slow!" Caleb tilted his body, easily dodging the opponent's frontal pounce. Then he swung his right fist, striking at the opponent's abdomen.
But his attack missed. His fist passed directly through the charred man's body, as if hitting air. Then, the charred man vanished, leaving no trace.
"Is it not a physical entity? Or did it activate some skill, turning into an incorporeal form that cannot be hit?" After the charred man disappeared, Caleb stood still for a while, pondering why his punch had missed the opponent earlier. "Was the purpose of attracting and attacking me just to scare me?" If it truly wanted to harm Caleb, it shouldn't have left immediately just because one attack missed, right?
At this moment, the crow circling in the sky also flapped its wings and flew away, heading west. "Was the crow sent to monitor people?"
Since the opponent had given up on bothering him, Caleb prepared to return to Ginger. The entrance to this container area was a T-shaped route. When Caleb first chased the Ghost-faced Man in, he turned right. Now back at the crossroads, he glanced to the left. A red corner was peeking out from behind a rock over there.
"Another box?"
He walked in that direction and sure enough, saw the red box placed behind the rock. Opening the box, and switching to 'Concentration Stance' to search around, a syringe glowed with a highlighted outline.
—Item discovered… —You obtained [Tranquilizer].
[Type: Uncommon Criminal Evidence]
[Effect: Unknown, requires appraisal.]
[Weight: 10]
[Note: An emergency Tranquilizer. Only those with medical knowledge can use it.]
[Usage Condition: This item does not belong to you and cannot be used.]
[Usage Effect: When the needle pierces the body, a brief cry of pain will instinctively be emitted.]
"Another piece of criminal evidence." Moreover, this item still didn't belong to Caleb for use. Ginger had already tested the [Military Factory Map], and the map did not belong to her either, so she couldn't use it.
"I wonder if this Tranquilizer belongs to her?" Caleb vaguely guessed that these 'criminal evidence' items were probably similar to 'identity markers'. The Tranquilizer clearly links to Amelia (the doctor) from the opening narration.
After putting away the Tranquilizer, Caleb took two steps along the path back.
"?"
He suddenly noticed that the [Explorer's Badge] pinned to the left side of his T-shirt was gently warming up. "What is this?" The heat emanating from the badge seemed to intensify with Caleb's movement, as if guiding him in a direction. After some testing, Caleb found that walking to the right side of that rock caused the badge's temperature to gradually rise.
"That should be the correct direction." He walked about ten meters in that direction, and finally, a narration prompt appeared before him:
'As a clumsy third-rate Explorer, you occasionally discover clues to treasures by sheer luck.'
"It really triggered an identity ability!" The Explorer identity's main ability is a small chance to discover hidden 'treasure' clues in the scene.