A Core Ship From The Start

Duanmu Huai is not a sensitive person.

To put it plainly, he doesn't read people, or rather, with Duanmu Huai's power and appearance, he doesn't need to read people. Instead, others often have to be mindful of him. After all, if Duanmu Huai gets upset, the consequences are unimaginable.

Even so, Duanmu Huai can sense that something's not right with the atmosphere here.

Strictly speaking, being off is actually normal, considering everyone just witnessed a hanging body, a freshly dead one at that, and it's someone they know. There's bound to be some mental disturbance, but seeing the director and staff almost getting into a fight heightened Duanmu Huai's vigilance. He noticed their overexcited state felt suspiciously off—as if they were about to shout "Blood sacrifice to the Blood God, skull offering to the skull seat" if this weren't the world of Cthulhu.

Indeed, to Duanmu Huai, their reaction was akin to seeing Followers of the Brutal God.

Could it be that the enemy this time is of the Mental System?

If that's the case, Duanmu Huai finds it a bit troublesome, as he dislikes dealing with the intangible, especially since he's not adept at spiritual attacks.

The only spiritual attack he can think of is singing "Sunny Rainbow Little White Horse" with Thousand Roars on.

However, Duanmu Huai isn't without solutions; it's just that he'd rather not resort to them.

Thinking of this, Duanmu Huai sighed inwardly, then focused his sharp gaze on the unconscious director.

[Quality Check]!

This was the first and only skill Duanmu Huai gained upon becoming the God of Joy, primarily used to assess others' qualities.

Of course, quality here doesn't refer to talents but... well, it's understood.

At least after acquiring this skill, Duanmu Huai mostly used it on the girls around him, though he didn't use it often.

After all... some things are best left unknown.

Like the information displayed on the director in front of him.

[Ability: Submissive LV3, Desire LV3, Technique LV3, A-Sensing LV7, M-Madness LV5, B/L Poisoned]

[Imprint: Pain Seal LV3, Happiness Seal LV3]

"......"

To be honest, just looking at this makes Duanmu Huai feel uncomfortable.

Really, some things are better left unknown. Especially when the person in question is a nearly fifty-year-old, short and thin old man.

But this isn't what Duanmu Huai is interested in; he's only concerned with the following line.

[Quality: High self-esteem, Suppressed, Pessimistic, Madness, Hates women]

"Hmm........"

Duanmu Huai turned his head to look at the other staff member.

[Quality: Rebellious, Pessimistic, Madness, Virgin A]

Duanmu Huai carefully scrutinized the other people as well. Although each person's quirks varied, they shared two common traits in their qualities.

[Pessimism] and [Madness].

This is definitely abnormal.

At that moment, Duanmu Huai quickly identified the problem. These [Qualities] don't refer to physical traits but emotional characteristics. [Pessimism] and [Madness], as the names suggest, indicate a tendency to think negatively and have twisted thoughts, making one prone to extremes.

If you say one or two people are like this, it's understandable, but when the entire crew shares these traits, are we to believe this place gathered a group of precious talents?

It can't be that everyone, including the guests, in the entire crew is mentally unstable!

And all are extremely pessimistic mental cases?

Duanmu Huai felt he might have found the reason why people keep committing suicide here.

Clearly, there's an invisible presence affecting people's spirits with some special ability, turning their emotions pessimistic, negative, and aggressive—so that at the slightest provocation, they'd opt for extreme self-harm. Those daring enough to come here are mostly already suicidal, making them more susceptible to influence!

Mad, it's the worst dealing with those kinds that won't face you directly!

Duanmu Huai cursed under his breath. Even though he had a guess, he still didn't know what to do. If the entity, like QB, had a physical form, it would've been manageable. But without a form, Duanmu Huai was out of options. He couldn't very well play mental chess with thin air; what good would winning do?

However... Duanmu Huai wasn't entirely helpless.

If this entity is killing in such a way, it signifies a reliance on humans—maybe emotions, maybe souls. So many humans gather here, a feast for it. If he lures it a bit, it might lose control and show itself?

Hmm... worth a try.

Time ticked by. Normally, a single night wouldn't mean much to most people. Blink, and it's over. But for the crew, it felt unusually long; they wished to close their eyes and sleep. Yet they feared never waking up again once they did.

However, there was a glimmer of good news. The torrential rain outside gradually subsided, thick clouds dispersed, and pale moonlight emerged, illuminating the once-dark Western-style House. But this cold, pure white light brought little comfort; instead, they felt a chill as if standing in a graveyard.

The crosstalk actor sighed, reached into his pocket, frowned and cursed under his breath, then got up and walked to the door.

"Where are you going?"

Watching the crosstalk actor about to leave, Duanmu Huai also stared at him and asked. In response to Duanmu Huai's question, the crosstalk actor shuddered slightly but quickly gathered his courage and glared back at Duanmu Huai.

"I'm going to stay in the car! This place is too bizarre, I don't want to stay here and wait to die!"

"I advise you to stay here and wait until dawn."

Duanmu Huai gave a calm warning, and facing Duanmu Huai's dissuasion, the crosstalk actor instinctively felt a bit intimidated. But soon, he glared back again.

"I definitely won't stay here! I'm safer in the car! This place is already cursed, as long as you stay here, you will all die! Believe it or not! Now that the rain has stopped, we should leave here immediately!"

"This......"

Upon hearing the crosstalk actor's words, the staff members began to hesitate, as it was clear that staying here wasn't a good idea. Previously, due to the heavy rain, they had to stay in the Western-style House for safety reasons. But now that the rain has subsided, perhaps leaving this bizarre house quickly is the best option.

"Is there anyone else who wants to leave with me?"

The crosstalk actor looked at the others, and under his summoning, more than half of the staff stepped forward.

"I, I also think we shouldn't stay here."

"Me too... This place is too strange."

Soon, almost two-thirds of the staff stood by the crosstalk actor's side, leaving only the actress, the old professor, the unconscious director, another staff member, and two female makeup artists behind.

"You're not leaving?"

"I, I feel it's safer to stay here."

The actress glanced at Duanmu Huai secretly, then spoke to the crosstalk actor.

"It's so dark outside now, and it just rained. The mountain road is not easy to navigate, what if an accident happens…"

"Yeah, yeah..."

The two female makeup artists nodded vigorously. They didn't want to leave, but thinking about the mountain road outside and the weather made them worried.

"I'm getting old, not fit to wander around late at night. I'll just stay here until dawn. This young man looks quite capable, there shouldn't be any problems with him around."

The old professor chuckled and answered.

"Then you all stay here, we'll leave."

The crosstalk actor didn't want to waste time here anymore. He snorted coldly and left the Western-style House with the other staff. Duanmu Huai and the others stood at the house entrance, watching them walk toward the parked car not far away.

"Mr. Duanmu, aren't we really leaving together?"

The actress stood beside Duanmu Huai, looking ahead uneasily. To be honest, she also wanted to leave. But in her mind, Duanmu Huai seemed more reliable. After all, he is a professional bodyguard who has saved her once. His decision must be reasonable, as for that crosstalk actor… whether he's capable or not is questionable.

"Let's wait and see."

Duanmu Huai watched those people without trying to stop them. He wanted to see if his guess was correct. If his assumption was right, then whatever lurked in this Western-style house wouldn't let such a feast leave on its own; it would definitely take some measures.

When the staff member committed suicide earlier, Duanmu Huai was not here, so he couldn't detect anything unusual.

But now... let's see what you can do!

Duanmu Huai folded his arms, leaning against the door, coldly watching the group get into the car. At the same time, he secretly expanded his perception, enveloping everything around him, including every plant and tree, in his grasp. He wanted to see what tricks this entity could still play at this point!

Under Duanmu Huai's watchful eye, people got into the car, started it, and turned on the lights to drive away. Seeing this scene, a few others regretted a bit, but still obediently remained here, only able to silently watch the car lights make a turn and head towards the exit.

"Whoosh———————!"

However, just at that moment, suddenly, a gust of strong wind blew, shaking the surrounding trees. This place being located in the mountains, with wind blowing was not surprising. But what surprised everyone was that with the wind, a towering tree behind them suddenly broke with a "crack" and fell forward.

The massive trunk crashed to the ground, and beneath it was the car driven by the crosstalk actor!

"Boom!!"

The enormous trunk smashed onto the car like a hammer. In the next moment, a flash of fire erupted, and the car instantly exploded into flames, naturally cremating the occupants inside.

"Oh my God———!"

"How could this————!"

Witnessing this scene, everyone else was ashen-faced, reaching out to cover their mouths in shock and disbelief, screaming. They never expected such a thing to happen right before their eyes!!

However, Duanmu Huai at this moment had no time to worry about others' thoughts. On the contrary, his eyes narrowed slightly, staring into the darkness ahead. Duanmu could feel that just when the wind blew, an eerie spiritual power suddenly emerged, causing the tree to collapse. Moreover, as the tree collapsed, through his perception, Duanmu discovered the crosstalk actor trying to accelerate to escape, but the car suddenly broke down. The tree then crashed down, and those people perished.

Furthermore, at the moment these people died, Duanmu felt their souls being devoured by that strange spiritual power, which then swiftly retreated and vanished into the air once again.

Although the other party's speed was fast, it couldn't escape Duanmu's prepared vigilance. Before the power could leave, Duanmu had already locked onto the target!

Gotcha!