Chapter 1 Chapter 1 Kind Neighbor

At ten o'clock in the evening, when the high school bell rang, Jiang Shizao got up quickly amid all kinds of noise.

The thin boy quickly blended into the crowd of people leaving school, as if this would make him feel a little safer and calmer...

...Calm down at all costs!

Jiang Shizao had already felt so miserable about his situation that he had no tears left to cry.

There was no other reason. The world he was in now was not the world he had lived in for twenty-two years, but a book - he had traveled through a book, and it was a deadly supernatural novel.

At this time, Jiang Shizao was walking out of the school gate among the crowd, and this was already the seventh day since he came to this world.

During these seven days, Jiang Shizao firmly adhered to the cultivation of a book traveler - he was as cowardly as possible.

You cannot go into the toilet alone, you cannot stay in the classroom alone, you must never catch the bus too early or the last one, you must not be curious, and you must never be alone if you can blend in with the crowd... In short, live a safe life and never seek death.

With caution and prudence, Jiang Shizao managed to survive for seven days in fear, thanks to his ten years of experience in reading various types of novels.

...So, who would have thought that he, a corporate slave who has graduated and worked for a year, would one day encounter something like traveling through a book!

How on earth did this happen...?

Coincidentally, the book that Jiang Shizao wore happened to be the new book "Bell City" serialized by Abyss, a supernatural novelist he has been a fan of for ten years.

The novel tells the story of various supernatural events that take place in Lingcheng, a city that is always rainy and foggy. It begins with the transfer student protagonist "Wen Zao" transferring to Lingcheng High School.

As luck would have it, Jiang Shizao, after traveling through time, happened to be a sophomore at Lingcheng High School. But as far as he knew, there was no transfer student named Wen Zao at Lingcheng High School.

...So the protagonist hasn't appeared yet.

But the protagonist's absence does not mean that Lingcheng is safe!

On the contrary, it was because of the protagonist's arrival that the city gradually became safer as the protagonist dealt with more supernatural incidents...

Before crossing over, Jiang Shizao had just caught up with the latest chapter: "Wen Zao purified the soul obsession lingering in the classroom of Class 2, Grade 3 of Lingcheng High School, and connected with the obsession... "

...So, when he entered this world, did it trigger some ten-year gift package for book fans?

Jiang Shizao felt a pang of anguish. He truly didn't want to be transported into the world of Abyss's supernatural novels! Any book by a different author... for example, the level-up thriller by a certain celebrity author he was currently following.

...Just then, a sudden gust of cold wind extinguished Jiang Shizao's thoughts that were almost drifting away.

Jiang Shizao immediately perked up. He was already standing at the bus stop, and there were many people waiting for this bus, most of them students from the same school.

There were a lot of people, which was good, and Jiang Shizao didn't dare to look around, for fear of seeing something he shouldn't see.

But suddenly, a hand patted Jiang Shizao's shoulder. To be honest, this scared Jiang Shizao.

However, Jiang Shizao, who was wearing a high school uniform, did not actually jump up. He just turned his head slightly stiffly, and then saw a smiling face that was not unfamiliar to him.

It was Yang Yuanqing from the next class. "Shi Zao, you didn't look well this afternoon. Are you okay?"

Yang Yuanqing glanced at Jiang Shizao again. Under the platform light, Jiang Shizao's complexion looked even paler. "You still don't look well?"

"I'm fine." Jiang Shizao breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was a friend from school. "The car is here, I'll leave first." They were going different ways.

Jiang Shizao could already see the No. 444 bus starting to slow down.

"Okay, see you tomorrow morning. Have a good rest tonight, and we'll play ball together during the physical education class tomorrow morning." Yang Yuanqing made an appointment. The physical education classes of both their classes were in the second period in the morning.

Jiang Shizao waved and said goodbye to his classmates. By the time he arrived safely outside his residential complex, forty-five minutes had passed.

It's really not a safe time at this time, but there's no way around it. The evening study at Lingcheng High School ends at 10 o'clock, and including the time spent on the bus, it's almost 11 o'clock in the evening when we get back to the community.

Come to think of it... the reason why he immersed himself in the life of an ordinary high school student in Lingcheng so quickly was because of the system prompt in his mind when he first entered the world of this book.

"Jiang Shizao", congratulations, you've transmigrated into a book. You are now a student in Class 1, Grade 2 at Lingcheng High School. Please maintain your daily high school student persona.

"Wait, Lingcheng?!" At that time, Jiang Shi was already receiving the world information pouring into his mind like a movie, and his expression almost collapsed:

"Isn't what I'm wearing the new book that Abyss is writing—"

In fact, he already had the answer in his heart. After all, the various fragments about Bell City that emerged in his mind were exactly "Bell City"!

[That's right.] The system also gave a positive response.

"..." Jiang Shizao felt like he was struck by lightning and petrified. Although his brain was still working, he asked:

"What does it mean to maintain a daily character?"

This is the world of Abyss's novel. In other words, it's a world filled with ghosts and monsters.

[…Going to school?]

Jiang Shizao: “…”

"Is it safe?"

【Maintain the character's daily routine and safety. 】

…

That was pretty much the conversation I had with the system a week ago.

Just when Jiang Shizao wanted to ask more, the most important thing was how he was going to get back - the system in his brain seemed to have its signal interfered with, the mechanical sound beeped intermittently for a while, and finally became completely silent.

In the following days, Jiang Shizao never successfully called out the system again.

“…”

The existence of a system is a standard feature of many book-traveling people. The setting of system failure in the early stages is also very common in novels... Jiang Shizao can understand it, but when this setting appears to him, it makes him want to point to the sky and say something.

Fortunately, Jiang Shizao maintained his personality and went to get out of class on time, so his life in Lingcheng was relatively stable.

But it's just a stable life.

At this moment, Jiang Shi had already walked into the Linghe community where he lived.

It was a dark and windy night, and not many residents in the community had lights on. Jiang Shizao lived on the 14th floor of Unit 7. After entering the community, passing the first garden, turning right and the building at the innermost side was Unit 7.

To be honest, even though there are street lights, Jiang Shizao's heart still beats wildly every night when he passes this road.

The night will catalyze human imagination. The surroundings are quiet and he can't see what is following him... Whenever this happens, Jiang Shizao always tries very hard to resist the urge to look back!

As long as I don't see it, it doesn't exist...

Jiang Shizao repeated it silently in his heart for the ten thousandth time.

Finally I reached the entrance of Unit 7, swiped my card and entered the corridor. The next checkpoint was the elevator in front.

The elevator. One of the most terrifying locations in supernatural films, it combines isolation and terror, and it's a facility Jiang Shizao experiences at least twice a day.

The sensor lights in the corridor lit up because of the popularity, and Jiang Shizao was walking towards the elevator door holding his breath.

At this moment, the number 22 was showing on the elevator display screen, which meant that Jiang Shizao would have to wait for the elevator to go down from the 22nd floor to the 1st floor.

It's a test both mentally and spiritually... Jiang Shizao approached and pressed the elevator up button. Then he began to wait.

During this process, he had to control his gaze and not look around, while also using his senses to pay attention to the fire escape on the side.

The fire escape in the residential building is always dark, with only the green light of the emergency exit lit dimly. Its door is never locked, and it is also the entrance to the stairs leading to the entire building.

“…” Jiang Shizao admitted that his sensitivity and caution were sometimes very exhausting.

While taking a deep breath silently, I couldn't help but recite to the system silently.

System, oh system, if you don’t come out, I’m afraid I won’t live to see the day of dawn.

The mental pressure on residents of Lingcheng is really too great.

And Wen Zao, where are you...

The numbers on the display screen kept getting smaller. In the silence, the only sound in the entire corridor was the mechanical sound of the elevator running smoothly.

Just then.

“Squeak—”

The sound of the unit door opening broke the original silence, and Jiang Shizao's figure in front of the elevator trembled almost imperceptibly.

The sound of a door opening.

The sound of a door closing.

Then came footsteps.

...very normal footsteps.

It must be a person coming in, right? All the noises are normal, it must be a person!

Despite his mental judgment, Jiang Shizao still felt so nervous that his hair stood on end as the footsteps approached.

In the previous week, Jiang Shizao had never met anyone in the corridor at this time.

But just then.

"It's early."

Eh?

When Jiang Shizao heard his own name, he was stunned for a moment, and then he subconsciously turned his head.

Seeing the person's face clearly, Jiang Shizao relaxed a little. The person's voice was very pleasant. When he first heard it, he might have been inclined to think that the person could not be a strange creature.

The other person is also very handsome, with the kind of handsome features that can easily win people's favor when they first meet.

...However, the world information that Jiang Shizao received did not contain any information about the visitor.

The man before him was a complete stranger to him, yet his behavior seemed familiar.

At this time, the strange man had already spoken again, his attitude friendly and natural: "Is school over early? I just got off work too."

Jiang Shi had already figured out that since the man could open the door to the unit outside, he must be a resident of the same building. The young man in front of him didn't look like a property manager or security guard, so Jiang Shi had already ruled out that option.

After confirming that the other person was a human, Jiang Shizao was very happy to have someone traveling with him.

"Thank you for your hard work overtime." He chose a sentence that would not be wrong to continue.

He doesn't get home from get off work until 11 o'clock. Isn't he just a social animal like him?

"It's not hard." Wen Zhi said. At this time, the elevator had arrived at the first floor. After the two of them stepped in and swiped their cards respectively, the button lights on the 14th and 17th floors also lit up one after another.

Jiang Shizao confirmed that the person who came was a neighbor who lived on the 17th floor.

"You haven't been to the convenience store for a long time."

After the elevator door closed, the neighbor spoke again.

"Uh." Jiang Shizao looked at his neighbor and suddenly realized, "Ah, yes. Lately... lately I've been eating all three meals in the school cafeteria."

It turns out that my neighbor works at a convenience store and seems to be a very gentle person.

Wen Zhi nodded and said softly, "Luckily I met you here today. I thought something had happened... I'm glad you're okay."

After saying this, Wen Zhi saw that Jiang Shizao seemed a little stunned. He lowered his eyes slightly and continued, "You used to come to the store for supper. You also asked me to save a few more skewers of oden for you. It's a bit worrying that you suddenly stopped coming."

...Is that so? Jiang Shizao was slightly surprised as he listened to his neighbor's patient explanation.

At this moment, Wen Zhi's image in Jiang Shizao's mind changed again. The neighbor before him seemed to have a more three-dimensional image.

This is a kind neighbor who cares about Jiang Shizao and leaves special midnight snacks for him. He is handsome and has a pleasant voice and works in a convenience store.

Jiang Shizao looked at Wen Zhi. The other person was very tall, and when he got closer, Jiang Shizao realized that his neighbor was actually nearly ten centimeters taller than him.

He had to tilt his head slightly to meet the other person's gaze.

Jiang Shizao himself is not short, with a net height of 1.81 meters.

And his neighbor's physique was obviously better than his... Although it was inappropriate, Jiang Shizao had a natural envy of this.

"Sorry... I'll go tomorrow, tomorrow night." ...By the way, which convenience store is it? There are several convenience store brands common in Lingcheng near the community.

Jiang Shizao suddenly felt distressed, but he couldn't ask his neighbor directly. This would expose other problems...

However, according to his neighbors, going to a convenience store on his way home at night seems to be part of his daily routine as a high school student.

Information about such an important person was completely absent from the previous system images!

This is an unreliable system!

At this moment, the neighbor next to me smiled gently and said, "Okay, I'll wait for you."

"Our convenience store is closest to the west gate of the community."

The west gate is the closest door to Unit 7 where they live, so.

"Your arrival happens to be during my shift change, so we can go home together later."

Wen Zhi turned sideways and spoke to Jiang Shizao.

"Okay." This time, Jiang Shizao responded very actively.

This was also one of the rare moments when he felt excited since coming into this world.

At this moment, Jiang Shizao was thinking in his heart: That’s great, I don’t have to walk alone at night or take the elevator anymore.