Volume One: The Haunted Tower Chapter One: The Spectral Realm

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The atmosphere was suffocating, shrouded in darkness.
The room was utterly silent, as if dead.
Cheng Fan slowly opened his eyes.
He struggled to rise from the floor, then stared blankly into the darkness.
"Where am I?"
Cheng Fan muttered to himself.
A cold, mechanical voice echoed in his mind, as though responding to his question.
"Chosen explorer, you have entered the Ghostly Spirit Domain."
"This is a cursed space. At regular intervals, the Ghostly Spirit Domain randomly selects humans from reality and throws them into instances. Once inside, explorers must survive the ghosts’ pursuit and clear the instance."
As the voice resounded in his mind, Cheng Fan trembled slightly, an ominous premonition arising unbidden.
If he was not mistaken, he had indeed been kidnapped.
He’d been abducted by some mysterious force known as the ‘Ghostly Spirit Domain’, and now he was being forced to participate in a supernatural instance filled with ghosts!
At this realization, Cheng Fan’s face paled. He wanted to wail and curse his fate, but the thought of nearby ghosts made him swallow his cries.
Calm down. You must stay calm.
I’m still young, I’ve just entered university. There’s a long life ahead of me. No matter what, I can’t die here.
As his emotions steadied, Cheng Fan gathered himself and took a deep breath.
The cold voice continued:
"All explorers who enter the Ghostly Spirit Domain can awaken a personal talent."
"Since this is your first time participating in a supernatural instance, you are granted a one-time opportunity to draw an awakening talent."
"Would you like to draw now?"
Cheng Fan had no idea what an awakening talent was, but held to the principle of adapting to the situation. Naturally, he would not refuse.
"Draw!"
The next moment, a voice sounded in his mind:
"Congratulations, Explorer Cheng Fan, you have obtained an S-rank awakening talent: [Future Deduction]!"
"[Future Deduction] can help explorers simulate all possible future events. Each deduction consumes one usage. Close your eyes and silently recite 'Begin Deduction' to activate your talent."
"The deduction is completed instantly and does not affect your actions in reality."
"Current available uses: 5."
Future Deduction?
S-rank awakening talent?
Just as Cheng Fan was pondering his newly acquired talent, the cold voice sounded again before he could fully comprehend it.
"The supernatural instance is about to begin. Explorers, prepare yourselves."
[Instance Name]: Phantom Tower
[Instance Objective]: You and five other explorers are currently trapped in a commercial office tower, on the top floor—the twentieth. You must escape the building as quickly as possible. Anyone who successfully leaves is considered to have cleared the instance.
[Survival Tips]:
1. The Ghostly Spirit Domain will not present any instance with no solution.
2. All communication devices are disabled during the instance.
3. There is a ghost within the building.
4. The longer you remain, the greater the danger.
5. Do not concern yourself with your own condition; any means may be used to escape.
After the message was delivered, the voice fell silent.
And as for Cheng Fan...

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He sprang into action at once. Having just learned the rules, Cheng Fan pulled out his phone—unfortunately, there was no signal.
No signal—what did that mean? It meant the cold voice spoke the truth. This was indeed a potentially deadly supernatural game!
"Damn it, this is bad."
Using his phone as a light, Cheng Fan moved to the wall and flipped the power switch.
The lights came on, revealing he was in a medium-sized office.
Of course, the shape of the room was unimportant. What mattered was that he couldn’t stay here long.
However...
As he approached the door, Cheng Fan remembered his awakening talent.
If that’s the case, he might as well give it a try.
Settling on this, he closed his eyes, intent on experimenting.
Silently, he recited: Begin Deduction.
(Deduction begins!)
(Using your talent for the first time, you are a little excited.)
(You cautiously open the door and find the corridor outside well-lit, a standard office hallway.)
(After you step out, five other men and women quickly emerge from nearby rooms.)
(Like you, they are all tense and anxious. Because of this, there is no conversation; everyone rushes to the elevator.)
(Thirty seconds later, all of you pile into the elevator.)
(You press the button; the elevator begins to descend toward the first floor. Everyone is uneasy.)
(Ten seconds later, the elevator abruptly halts, stuck inexplicably at the seventeenth floor.)
(Panic ensues. You all shout and pound on the doors, but they will not open.)
(You are collectively trapped inside the elevator.)
(During the confinement, you and the others fiercely debate how to escape.)
(During the discussion, something changes abruptly—a ghost appears.)
(A female ghost in a red dress, hair disheveled, phases through the elevator doors.)
(Facing the ghost, you are all terrified, but trapped, you have nowhere to run.)
(The ghost targets you first, seizing your throat and tightening her grip.)
(Pain sears your neck; your consciousness blurs instantly.)
(You are dead.)
(Deduction ends.)
"Ah!"
Cheng Fan snapped open his eyes, screaming as his legs gave out and he collapsed to the ground.
The simulated deduction was horrifyingly real; even the agony of having his neck snapped was perfectly replicated. He had just experienced death firsthand.
Moreover...
On his very first deduction, Cheng Fan died. He had barely left his room before he was trapped in the elevator and instantly killed by a female ghost.
Worse still, out of the five explorers, he was the first to die!
From stepping out to his demise, he survived only five minutes.
"I died so quickly—was it because the ghost happened to enter the elevator? Or was taking the elevator itself a dead end?"
Now, his talent’s usage had dropped from five to four.
In other words, Cheng Fan had only four more deductions to find a way to survive. Otherwise, the outcome would be grim.
Still, though the first deduction ended in death, he had gained two crucial pieces of information.

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First, the presence of a ghost in the building was absolutely confirmed—a terrifying female ghost in red, who killed on sight and offered no chance for negotiation. Encountering her meant certain death.
Second, attempting to escape by elevator was futile, as it would inevitably break down mid-descent.
"Alright, so the elevator is out. Let’s try again—begin deduction!"
Cheng Fan took a deep breath and closed his eyes once more.
(Deduction begins!)
(Based on your previous failure, you decide not to approach the elevator and instead wait by your room.)
(Soon, the other five explorers emerge from their rooms in turn.)
(You greet them warmly, hoping to establish communication, but they ignore you, gripped by tension, and head straight for the elevator.)
(Your expression changes; you try to stop them, but are again ignored.)
(In desperation, you shout that the elevator will fail and block their way.)
(You fail; a tattooed man in a hurry punches you aside.)
(You watch as all five squeeze into the elevator.)
(Rubbing your swollen cheek, you curse and pick yourself up, turning your attention to the stairwells.)
(There are three stairwells in the corridor: one in the center, and one at each end.)
(After a moment’s hesitation, you choose the left stairwell.)
(You glance at your phone and see it is exactly midnight.)
(You start descending the stairs.)
(The stairwell is lonely and chill. You are extremely tense.)
(Five minutes later, you hear something—a series of terrified screams, male and female, echo up the shaft.)
(You can’t pinpoint the source, but you know the screams come from the elevator. The ghost has appeared, and those trapped are likely doomed.)
(This fills you with dread; you quicken your pace.)
(Ten minutes later, you are still running down the stairs.)
(Fifteen minutes later, you are still descending.)
(At the seventeen-minute mark, panting heavily, you suddenly stop and realize something is wrong.)
(You have been moving for seventeen minutes, yet the stairs stretch endlessly beneath your feet.)
(Remembering old tales, you suspect you have stumbled into a supernatural maze.)
(Panic rises; your body trembles uncontrollably.)
(Just as you are paralyzed by indecision, you are attacked.)
(The female ghost in red suddenly emerges from the wall beside you, clamping an icy hand over your mouth and nose from behind.)
(Stunned, you struggle, but discover she has no solid form—your hands pass through her as though she were air.)
(You begin to suffocate.)
(As time passes, the sensation of asphyxiation grows.)
(Unable to breathe, your body convulses; gradually, you lose consciousness.)
(You are dead.)
(Deduction ends.)
Back in reality, Cheng Fan snapped out of the deduction, holding his face in his hands. Beyond the lingering fear, his mind was reeling in terror.
He had died again!