On early Sunday morning, Lu Ye ran into his landlord in the hallway, who was up collecting rent.
"Little Lu, did you hear any strange noises last night?"
"Huh? I went to bed pretty early. What kind of noise?"
"I’m not too sure… Many people in the community said they experienced strange things. The hallway lights wouldn't turn on, no matter what."
"Our elevator only has a basement level, but some tenants said they saw a button for a second basement level..."
"Don’t worry, Sister Liu. Maybe it’s just a busted lightbulb. I’ll go check it out later," Lu Ye said with a smile.
Relieved, Sister Liu added gently, "I made fish head soup today. I’ll have my Cradily bring some over for you."
Lu Ye nodded, but as he reached the halfway point down the hallway, he realized something odd.
"Fish head soup… She didn’t make it with a Magikarp, did she?!"
Lu Ye went down to the first floor to check the power panel and replaced a bulb.
"Strange, the bulb looks fine."
Scratching his head, Lu Ye got into the elevator on impulse.
The dim freight elevator smelled damp, and the notices plastered inside were stained with mold.
Below the "B1" button, there was a faded, barely visible "B2."
Rubbing his eyes, Lu Ye looked again, but only "B1" remained.
"Seeing things in broad daylight?" he muttered, swallowing nervously.
"System, how should I handle this?"
[Suggested Skills: Holy Light Lv1 – BP Cost: 2000; Punishment Lv1 – BP Cost: 3000; Great Mighty Dragon Lv1 – BP Cost: 5000]
"You even have 'Punishment' and 'Great Mighty Dragon'?"
"Forget it; now’s not the time for jokes. How about something I can afford?"
[Suggested Skill: Spirit Vision Lv1 – BP Cost: 500]
[Do you wish to spend 500 BP to unlock the 'Spirit Vision Lv1' skill?]
[Spirit Vision Lv1: Enhances visual acuity with a small chance of detecting spirit entities. (Be aware that high levels of Spirit Vision may not always be a good thing...)]
Lu Ye glanced around warily as a cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
The empty elevator echoed with a damp, moldy scent. The lone, dim bulb flickered with a creaky "buzz-buzz."
A drowsy security guard outside the elevator yawned.
"Young man, you’ve been in there forever… Not relieving yourself in there, are you?"
Lu Ye exited the elevator with an awkward expression.
"Hey, old man, are there any urban legends around here?"
"Oh, definitely! My granddaughter told me," the guard replied enthusiastically. "There’s something called the Slit-Mouth Lady; she’s actually a Haunter."
"And the Cat-Face Granny? Take a guess—it’s Zoroark!"
"Alright, alright." Lu Ye grimaced. "Your granddaughter knows quite a bit, huh!"
"Of course! She’s an elite Trainer!" the guard replied proudly.
"I know you, kid—renter from the sixth floor, barely see you come out."
"Young and healthy, but instead of making a name for yourself as a Trainer, you’re here being a little livestreamer. What’s up with that?"
"Thanks for the encouragement." Lu Ye quickly retreated.
On his way to the Dedicated Pokémon Store, Lu Ye reflected on what had just happened.
"It probably wasn’t anything supernatural; just a Ghost-type Pokémon… makes sense."
Lu Ye prided himself on his materialist worldview.
As they say, Confucius wouldn’t talk about spirits or supernatural things—also true because Fighting types don’t do well against Ghost types.
"Later, I’ll ask the shopkeeper to call a few elite Trainers for an exorcism; that should solve it."
Exhaling to calm his nerves, Lu Ye opened his food app and searched for nearby restaurants.
"For lunch, there’s a place serving kaiseki... Slowpoke tail sashimi for 3,888 yuan? Forget it!"
"Guess I’ll just grab some Poké Balls," he muttered, "There are a few nurseries around here too; maybe I’ll check those out."
The System Store listed Poké Balls at 200 BP each—a bit pricey.
In contrast, the real-world price of 500 yuan per Poké Ball was a lot more reasonable.
At the Dedicated Pokémon Store, Lu Ye spent 2,500 yuan on five Poké Balls, leaving him with 17,000 yuan.
But at the nursery, he didn’t find his preferred starter Pokémon.
"Eevee and Rockruff are both very popular," the shop assistant said regretfully. "Even if you pre-order, it’ll be about a six-month wait."
"That’s fine, I was just asking."
Just like rare pets in his previous life, Eevee went for 30,000 yuan, and Rockruff was closer to 50,000.
Lu Ye was strapped for cash.
Basic Pokémon eggs, like Weedle and Wurmple, were cheap—only a few hundred each, though quality was luck-based.
Bird Pokémon eggs, like Pidgey and Taillow, were also available for around 2,000.
Lu Ye thought that instead of spending on these common Pokémon, it might be better to catch one in the wild himself.
"If you’re going out to catch a Pokémon, please take care," the assistant warned nervously. "We’ve had news of many injuries recently."
The plan to get an Eevee fell through, so Lu Ye headed back home.
As dusk fell, the air grew hazy, and a flock of Spearow screeched as they flew across the sky.
Lu Ye toyed with the miniaturized Poké Ball in his hand, clicking it to its full size and back, thoroughly entertained.
Familiar with his surroundings, he entered the elevator when suddenly, a cold sweat ran down his back.
His vision blurred, and everything around him shifted as if someone had inverted the world’s colors.
It was like the bizarre color changes in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure—
The elevator panel was smeared with eerie green handprints.
The overhead light swung wildly, creaking as if screaming. The bulb flickered violently before finally going out with a loud "pop."
In the silence that followed, a rotten, moldy smell filled his nose, and the chilling damp air licked the back of his neck like a blood-red tongue.
As the elevator descended to the mysterious "B2" level, the doors slowly opened.
[“Spirit Vision Lv1” skill check—Success!]
A glowing green haze filled Lu Ye’s view, revealing everything with hawk-eyed clarity.
At this point, Lu Ye surprisingly calmed down, raising his head expressionlessly.
A pair of enormous, bulging eyes stared back at him. The creature’s grin stretched to its ears, a blood-red tongue lolling out.
The Haunter leaned in, staring at Lu Ye, unblinking. They locked eyes for a full minute.
A flash of white light.
Hands shaking, Lu Ye sent a message to his followers in the livestream chat.
"What do you do if you bump into a ghost in the dead of night? Urgent help needed!"