Bai Wan and the painter both froze for a brief second.

Then, before the man inside could react, Bai Wan slammed the door shut.

“Whew… good thing I’m fast,” Bai Wan muttered with relief. If that deranged artist made it out, not even two S-Rank Captains might be enough to contain the mess.

Luo Yimeng and Zhao Jie stood beside him, stunned.

Luo Yimeng: “???”

Zhao Jie: “???”

“…Was there something in that room just now?” Luo Yimeng rubbed her eyes in confusion.

Bai Wan firmly shook his head. “Nope. Nothing at all.”

Luo Yimeng blinked. “But I swear I saw some scary-looking guy in there painting…”

“Yeah, his eyes looked really creepy…” Zhao Jie muttered, still dazed.

Cold sweat rolled down Bai Wan’s temple.

“Pfft. You two deal with paranormal stuff all year—it’s perfectly normal to have stress-induced hallucinations. Besides, where would a painter come from inside HQ?”

Luo Yimeng hesitated.

…That’s true. There shouldn’t be a painter in HQ. Maybe it was just their imaginations?

She opened the door again—and this time, it led to the normal HQ hallway, empty and undisturbed.

“…Forget it. Let’s move on. Maybe we really are overworked…” She massaged her forehead. 

Still, despite her words, her professional instincts were on high alert. Could a powerful paranormal entity have infiltrated HQ?

With caution sharpened, they brought Bai Wan to a large empty room.

Inside was just a single table… and on it sat a purple box. Bai Wan immediately felt a strange pulse radiating from the box. Whatever was inside, it wasn’t ordinary.

Luo Yimeng smiled. “This is the location for Phase One of your test. It measures observation and analytical skills. For privacy reasons, there are no surveillance devices in here. Both Zhao Jie and I have signed non-disclosure agreements—none of your secrets will leave this room.”

“The paranormal entity you’ll face in here is one we’ve contained through special means. If any real danger arises, we’ll immediately take control. So feel free to give it your all.”

Bai Wan nodded.

“Alright. You’ll need to activate Hunt Mode first. Only then can you engage with the entity in real space,” she added.

Bai Wan followed the instructions and activated Hunt Mode within the system.

Whoosh—!

A formless field rippled outward, enveloping the entire HQ.

A system message appeared:

[Player “Family” has entered Hunt Mode.]

[Your retained temporary bug skills are now available immediately in Hunt Mode, with no cooldown. However, using paranormal items still consumes Paranormal Coins.]

[All paranormal entities encountered in Hunt Mode are unaffiliated with the system. Their strength is no longer suppressed. No guaranteed path to survival will be offered. Analyze the entity’s kill rules and survive on your own. Good luck.]

This was Bai Wan’s first time using Hunt Mode. He was pleasantly surprised to learn that his saved bug skills could be used right away—a definite bonus.

“Your Hunt Mode is active. Shall we begin the test now?” Luo Yimeng asked.

“Sure,” Bai Wan nodded.

“Great. The countdown begins. The test starts in ten seconds. Your objective is to escape the room while under paranormal assault.”

She moved to the corner with Zhao Jie and pressed the stopwatch.

Ten seconds later, the test began.

At that moment, a slow, rhythmic knocking began at the door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Each strike was oddly mechanical, as if a robot were tapping with exact timing.

Bai Wan immediately sensed it—something paranormal was on the other side. Then, he noticed something even more telling: a spider that had been crawling on the floor suddenly stiffened and dropped dead.

Bai Wan observed for a second, then approached the table and opened the purple box.

What he saw took him by surprise. 

Inside was a handwritten page covered in text, and… a severed arm. 

The arm was mottled black-green and radiated an eerie cold. It was clearly a severed paranormal limb.

Bai Wan picked up the arm, then read the paper.

It told a story:

During an earthquake in a certain city, a man was trapped under the rubble. Rescue teams came, but due to faulty signal coordination, they barely missed him. Desperate, he pounded on nearby doors for help—but the debris muffled his cries. Eventually, he died, buried alive in despair.

One month later, residents began reporting a one-armed man knocking on doors late at night across the affected zone. He’d ask if anyone had seen his missing arm. Every person who opened their door for him was found dead soon after. The incident caused a massive uproar.

“A door knocking ghost, huh?” Bai Wan mused, forming an initial theory for Phase One.

Meanwhile, Luo Yimeng and Zhao Jie were quietly observing from the corner.

“Not bad,” Luo Yimeng whispered. “He’s staying calm even with a ghost at the door. Good psychological stability.”

Zhao Jie nodded. “Yeah. A lot of talented recruits freeze up when facing an actual entity—cold sweat, panic. That kind of fragility won’t cut it. But this guy…”

Suddenly, Zhao Jie froze.

“What the hell—?! What’s he doing?!”

To their astonishment, Bai Wan had started dancing in front of the haunted door.

“Is he… dancing at the ghost?” Luo Yimeng’s eyes widened.

Not only was Bai Wan moving, his rhythm was perfectly in sync with the ghost’s knocking pattern.

“Is he using the ghost’s knock as a beat??”

“…Should we deduct points for this?” she asked, stunned.

Zhao Jie hesitated. “I mean… he technically hasn’t broken any rules…”

“But surely you’re not supposed to dance in front of a ghost??”

Zhao Jie thought of the notoriously eccentric S-Rank Captains and said, “Sister Meng, all powerful Para-Hunters have their own quirks…”

“Including dancing at entities??”

“…If nothing else, it proves his nerves are rock solid.”

Luo Yimeng just stared at her notebook, completely at a loss.

Yeah, I could write “excellent psychological resilience,” but… how?

What exactly am I supposed to jot down here?

“Hunter Bai Wan demonstrated extreme mental stability, remained calm under duress, and engaged the ghost with interpretive dance”???

Thank God he finally stopped. 

Seeing Bai Wan halt his provocations and look vaguely disappointed, Luo Yimeng breathed a sigh of relief. At least he had some sense to stop.

This round was designed to test observation and deduction. The team had scattered small spiders across the room—unobtrusive but deliberate. 

The ghost’s killing method involved vibration-based soundwaves during its knock. A sharp-eyed testee would notice the spiders dying one by one… and infer the ghost’s attack method. Combined with the paper in the box, it should lead them to the correct solution.

The ghost was searching for its missing arm. If the player opened the door before it began killing the person and returned the limb—they'd pass.

But if all the spiders died and the player still hadn’t figured it out, they’d be next. No buffer. Test failed.

Luo Yimeng and Zhao Jie gripped their pens, waiting to see how this mysterious prodigy would do.

Would he solve it in time? 

If he figured it out in under a minute—that’d be considered excellent. But Bai Wan had already wasted over ten seconds dancing…

Then suddenly, Luo Yimeng saw him dash toward the door.

“He’s charging?! He didn’t pick up the severed arm!” she gasped, disappointed.

So that was it… Even this top newcomer failed the first round?

He’d noticed the ghost’s kill mechanic and timed the escape well—but missed that the severed arm was the real solution.

Test failed. She lowered her pen to mark his score… but froze.

Because right then, Bai Wan casually slapped his hand against the wall beside the door.

And right before their eyes—the door disappeared.

Replaced by a blank wall.

THUD!

A dull impact echoed from the other side, followed by what sounded like bones cracking…

Then… silence.

The door knocking ghost stopped knocking.

The room fell into stunned silence.

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