[Current Viewers: 510 -> 850]
[Fear Points: 1310]
The door to the Master Bedroom creaked open with a sound that felt like nails dragging down a chalkboard.
Ryan stepped inside, the Rusty Crowbar raised, his Butcher's Bloody Apron dripping black slime onto the carpet.
The room was surprisingly clean. Unlike the rest of the rotting house, this room looked frozen in time. A large canopy bed stood in the center. In the corner, an old wooden rocking chair swayed back and forth, back and forth.
Creak... Creak...
Sitting in the chair was a woman. Her back was to Ryan. She was humming that twisted lullaby, cradling a bundle of dirty rags in her arms as if it were a baby.
Hummm... sleep now... the monsters won't get you...
The temperature in the room was so low that Ryan's breath turned into thick clouds of mist.
[System Warning: Mental Interference Detected.]
[Enemy: The Weeping Mother (Level 4 Spirit).]
[Ability: Hallucination / Despair Aura.]
[Passive Skill 'Nerves of Steel' is resisting the effect...]
Ryan glanced at the livestream chat.
User_CatLover: "I... I feel sad all of a sudden. Why am I crying?"
User_Slayer69: "Ryan, don't listen to her! It's a Siren's song! She'll make you commit suicide!"
User_RichKid: "Bro, get out! Mental attacks are unblockable!"
Ryan rubbed his temples. He could feel a slight headache, like a buzzing fly in his brain. The ghost was trying to project her sadness onto him. She wanted him to feel her pain, her guilt, her desire to end it all.
Unfortunately for her, Ryan was dead inside. Or rather, the System made him emotionally numb to fear and despair.
"Excuse me, Ma'am," Ryan said, his voice shattering the eerie atmosphere. "The baby is clearly dead. Can you stop rocking? It's annoying."
The rocking chair stopped instantly.
The woman slowly turned her head. Her face was pale, veins pulsing black under her translucent skin. Her eyes were sewn shut with thick, black thread. Tears of blood leaked from the stitches.
"You..." she whispered. Her voice sounded like dry leaves crumbling. "You are loud. You will wake him up."
"He's not sleeping," Ryan said bluntly, walking closer. "He's a pile of rags. And you... you are the one who killed them, aren't you?"
The atmosphere in the room exploded.
"NO!"
The woman screamed. The windows shattered. The bedsheets flew into the air.
"I SAVED THEM! I HAD TO! HE WAS COMING! THE COLLECTOR WAS COMING!"
She stood up, floating a few inches off the ground. The room warped. Blood started bleeding from the walls. Shadows twisted into the shapes of screaming children.
Any normal human would have gone insane seeing this.
Ryan just checked his fingernails.
"System, extract her ability? Or do I have to beat her up first?"
[System: Target is unstable. Physical attacks are 50% less effective. Recommend using 'Shard of Truth' to break her delusion.]
"Right. The Shard."
Ryan pulled out the glowing piece of glass he got from the Mirror Ghost.
The Weeping Mother lunged at him, her hands turning into long, spectral claws. "DIE WITH US!"
"Look at this!" Ryan shouted, thrusting the Shard of Truth forward.
A blinding white light erupted from the shard, engulfing the room.
[Flashback: 3 Years Ago]
Suddenly, the room changed. Ryan wasn't in a ruined house anymore. It was warm. It was bright.
He was an observer, invisible.
He saw the Mother—alive, beautiful, and happy—tucking her two children into bed.
But then, the shadows in the corner of the room lengthened.
A tall, slender figure emerged from the darkness. It wore a suit, but its face was a blank white mask. It didn't look like a ghost. It looked... alien.
"The pact is complete," the figure said. Its voice sounded like static. "I have come for the children's souls. As agreed."
The Mother fell to her knees, begging. "Take me! Take me instead!"
"No," the figure said. "Pure souls are required. Midnight. I will return at midnight."
The figure vanished.
The Mother cried for hours. She called the police, but the phone line was dead. She tried to open the doors, but they were sealed.
She realized there was no escape. If the 'Collector' took them, they would suffer for eternity in some dark dimension.
She looked at her sleeping children. She grabbed a pillow. Her hands were shaking.
"I'm sorry... Mommy is sorry... this is the only way to hide you from him..."
[Flashback Ends]
The white light faded.
Ryan stood in the ruined room, breathing heavily. The chat was silent. Even the trolls were quiet.
The Weeping Mother was kneeling on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. The monster appearance faded, leaving behind a sad, broken woman.
"He... he didn't get them," she wept. "I hid them in the void... where he couldn't find them."
Ryan lowered his crowbar.
This wasn't a monster hunt anymore. This was a tragedy.
"Who was he?" Ryan asked coldly. "The Collector. Who is he?"
The Mother looked up, her sewn eyes bleeding. "One of the Lords... from the Underworld Server... Number 7..."
Ryan's eyes narrowed.
Underworld Server? That was the name of his System app.
"Okay," Ryan said, crouching down to her eye level. "I can't judge you. But you're dead. You're trapping yourself here."
He pulled out his phone and opened the System Interface.
"I can't send you to heaven," Ryan said honestly. "But I can take you somewhere where that 'Collector' won't find you."
[System Option: Capture Spirit?]
[Success Rate: 100% (Target has lost the will to fight).]
The Mother hesitated. "My... babies?"
"They are already gone," Ryan lied smoothly. "They are waiting for you. But you can't go to them looking like a monster."
The Mother nodded slowly. She dissolved into a soft blue light.
"Thank you..."
The blue light swirled into Ryan's phone.
[Ding! Captured Level 4 Spirit: The Weeping Mother.]
[Fear Points: +500]
[Mission Complete: Survive the Night.]
[Hidden Reward Unlocked: You have discovered a clue about the 'Seven Lords'.]
Suddenly, a golden item dropped where the mother had vanished. It was a necklace.
[Item: Mother's Tear]
Grade: Rare (Accessory)
Effect: Passive Mental Resistance +50%. Can calm down enraged spirits once per day.
Ryan picked it up and put it in his pocket.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Ryan's phone alarm went off.
It was 6:00 AM.
Sunlight began to stream through the broken windows, burning away the dark shadows. The heavy atmosphere of the house lifted instantly.
[System Notification: Mission 'House No. 44' Completed.]
[Evaluation: S-Rank.]
[Total Earnings: 2060 Fear Points.]
Ryan walked to the window and looked at the sunrise. He was exhausted. He was covered in ghost blood and dust.
He looked at the livestream.
User_RichKid: "He actually did it. He survived."
User_Slayer69: "That story... about the Collector... was that part of the script? It felt too real."
User_CatLover: "Ryan, you are a legend! [Gift: Crown x1]"
Ryan smiled tiredly at the camera.
"Well, guys, that's it for tonight. House No. 44 is officially cleared. The ghosts have been... evicted."
He ended the stream.
[Stream Ended. Total Donations: $2,100.]
Just then, his bank app pinged.
[Credit Alert: $10,000 received from 'Anonymous Client'.]
Ryan let out a long breath. He slumped against the wall, sliding down until he hit the floor.
"Sarah... you're safe."
He closed his eyes for a second.
[Ding!]
A new System notification popped up. But this one was different. It was red. And it wasn't from his System.
[System Alert: You have interfered with the property of 'Lord No. 7'.]
[You have been marked.]
[The Collector has noticed you.]
Ryan opened his eyes, staring at the red text.
Instead of being scared, a cold grin spread across his face.
"Marked me?" Ryan chuckled, gripping his crowbar. "Good. Tell him to come. I need more loot."
He stood up and walked out of the Master Bedroom, leaving the nightmare behind to start a new one.
(End of Volume 1: The Haunted House Arc)