He didn’t feel proud just because he had survived a life-and-death crisis—this ancient temple was far from simple.

You have to know, before him, an entire construction crew had died here.

After resting for a long time, he gradually let go of his fear, hesitating about whether to continue exploring outside.

That voice in his mind sounded again:

[Main Quest 1: Survive for three hours (Completed)]

[Main Quest 2: Explore Spiritual Realm No. 0079, Progress: 20%]

[Primordial Lord of Heaven, congratulations on completing a main quest. Calculating your reward...]

[Item/Tool obtained: Corpse Suppression Talisman (can be viewed in the inventory).]

[Experience gained: 15%]

[Inventory unlocked.]

[You will receive 36 hours of rest time. Next opening of Spiritual Realm No. 0079: 35:59:40.]

The scenery in the main hall began to distort, like the surface of water ruffled by the wind.

When his vision cleared again, Michael Bolton saw the bright energy-saving lamp, the spacious big bed, the desk, the PS5 game console, and the open window with the wind blowing in, making the curtains sway gently.

He was back in the human world.

“Back?”

He looked around in astonishment, confirming that he had really returned to his room. Only then did his knees go weak and he collapsed onto the soft bed.

He took a deep breath, and even the air seemed sweet.

It was good to be alive. The human world was wonderful.

After a few minutes, Michael Bolton sat up, unzipped his jacket, and found that the Corpse Suppression Talisman had indeed disappeared.

Michael Bolton naturally thought of “retrieve item,” and in the next moment, a glowing blue grid appeared before his eyes.

There were five slots in total, and in the first slot lay the yellow talisman.

It was a very strange experience. Once the inventory was unlocked, this function seemed to become instinctive—he didn’t need to learn it, he just naturally knew how to open the inventory.

“Besides the Corpse Suppression Talisman, I also gained 15% experience, but my level is still zero. That means I haven’t become a Night Wanderer yet—I’m still an ordinary person.”

“Just surviving three hours almost got me killed in there. How am I supposed to complete the second quest? Is this what S-rank difficulty is like...”

The more Michael Bolton thought about it, the more hopeless he felt, as if he’d been set up by Brian.

This lousy card really could change your life, but it was also truly hard to handle.

He was very self-aware—he was just a college student who had never even killed a chicken. In the next quest, it would be hard to survive on his own.

As a good, upstanding youth of socialism, at this point he definitely needed to rely on the country, rely on the government.

So he picked up his phone, planning to call his cousin, but when his finger touched the screen, he suddenly paused.

Because Michael Bolton realized he might have a better option.

He immediately rolled out of bed and found the business card left by the man with the slicked-back hair in his desk drawer.

The card had a name and contact information.

Tonight’s experience made him think of Brian’s mysterious disappearance. If he hadn’t made it out alive, he would have disappeared mysteriously too.

It was certain that Brian had already come into contact with the so-called spiritual realm, so maybe his disappearance was because he entered one?

Following this line of thought, the investigators from the Public Security Bureau were trustworthy.

He had another reason for choosing to contact the man with the slicked-back hair: the man had said he might disappear too, which was clearly hinting that he would enter the spiritual realm.

Combined with the fact that his cousin didn’t know anything, Michael Bolton had reason to believe that those three were special personnel who handled such incidents.

After thinking it through, Michael Bolton dialed the number on the business card.

The dial tone sounded for a few seconds before the call was answered. A mature man’s deep voice asked:

“Who is this?”

Chapter 8: Contact

Taking a deep breath, Michael Bolton tried to keep his tone calm:

“Officer Thompson, this is Michael Bolton.”

“...Oh, it’s you.” The man on the other end laughed. “What’s up, calling me in the middle of the night?”

Michael Bolton said in a low voice, “I have a lead to report. Actually, before Brian Parker disappeared, he sent me a card.”

“Why didn’t you say so before?”

There wasn’t a trace of surprise in David Thompson’s tone.

This... Michael Bolton hesitated for a moment, then told him all his suspicions about Brian’s disappearance.

There was a brief silence on the other end, then a chuckle:

“You really know how to make things dramatic for yourself.”

Emily Clark was right—Michael Bolton was actually a very withdrawn person. A normal, cheerful, optimistic college student wouldn’t be so guarded.

“Sorry...”

Michael Bolton felt a little embarrassed and immediately changed the subject—no, got to the point:

“I encountered some pretty strange, hard-to-explain things tonight. Um, do you understand what I mean?”

“So it seems you made it out of the spiritual realm.” David Thompson’s tone carried a hint of relief.

Yes, I just got out—almost died in there... Hearing this, Michael Bolton felt a weight lift from his heart.

The other party really did know about the spiritual realm.

David Thompson said, “College student, congratulations on becoming a spiritual realm walker. That’s what people like us are called. I’m a spiritual realm walker too—the difference is, I’m official, and you’re a wild one.”

Spiritual realm walker... Michael Bolton savored the words and asked: