Chapter 46: Travel Guide
Lin Huai was pushed to the very front. A male player was already standing before the desk, so she waited as second in line.
At the table sat two Underworld Messengers, one standing and one sitting. They wore black-and-white uniforms and tall hats. Their faces were pale and gloomy, looking as sour as if someone owed them eight million dollars.
The standing messenger in white held out a hand to the man. “Registration fee: three underworld coins.”
Lin Huai frowned. Charging players to forcibly cancel their registration felt completely unreasonable.
She grumbled silently, watching the man scan a QR code to transfer three underworld coins for the fee.
Immediately after, the messenger in white pointed to a facial recognition scanner on the desk. “Look here. Facial recognition.”
Lin Huai had already gone through this process in her previous life, so she knew it well. After the scan, the player’s personal information would appear on the computer monitor beside the desk.
Then, the seated messenger would take a blank certificate, write down the player’s name and ID in an unreadable script according to the screen, and stamp the document.
Watching the messenger in black repeat the exact same actions as before, Lin Huai saw him pick up the blank cardstock and write a name. A sudden wave of déjà vu washed over her.
It looked identical to the way Sister Hanba filled out death certificates for corpses at the crematorium.
Even the cardstock and the layout of the form were completely the same.
“If a living person gets a death certificate, then they’re a dead person!”
“Lin Lin, you mustn’t die. You have to stay alive.”
Sister Hanba’s warning suddenly rang in Lin Huai’s ears, and the truth hit her like a thunderbolt. The player ahead had already taken his paper and left. The messenger in white was now reaching out toward Lin Huai for the fee.
Snapping back to reality, Lin Huai looked at the thick stack of blank certificates on the desk. Her heart pounded furiously against her ribs. She bent forward, clutching her stomach. “Excuse me, my stomach suddenly hurts. I’ll come back in a bit.”
The messenger in white waved his hand impatiently. “Hurry up, then. The restroom is on the west side of the square.”
Clutching her stomach, Lin Huai slipped away. The moment she was out of sight, she opened her system screen and tagged the entire Elite Squad.
[Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice]: Has anyone not received their travel permit yet?
[If You’re Bad, Practice More]: I’m still in line! When I first went up, I argued with the messenger taking the fees. He waved his hand and shoved me straight to the back of the queue, telling me to line up all over again.
Lin Huai was stunned. What kind of fearless person picked a fight with an Underworld Messenger?
[Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice]: …I’m by the entrance of the Earth God Temple. Sister Cai, come find me the moment you get your certificate.
[If You’re Bad, Practice More]: Got it. Almost there.
Lin Huai waited near the temple entrance for a short while before If You’re Bad, Practice More walked over. Holding a slip of paper in her hand, she looked thoroughly annoyed. “Damn it, I’m so angry! That messenger has no conscience at all. He claimed I had a bad attitude and charged me double!”
“Six whole underworld coins! I only had ten coins in total!”
Lin Huai raised an eyebrow. “Was your argument earlier about the registration fee?”
If You’re Bad, Practice More nodded openly. “The dungeon objective says we have to complete the underworld cancellation process and get a travel permit. Since it’s a mandatory quest, why should we have to pay out of pocket?”
“I couldn’t accept it, so I argued with him. That NPC refused to listen and sent me to the back of the line. When I told him I didn’t have enough money, he told me to go borrow some!”
“Boss, don’t you think that’s crossing the line? I entered this dungeon to earn money and find good rewards. I asked Brother Jiao Long and the others, and they said there are no rewards here at all besides the permit. And we still have to pay our own money to get in! Is this stupid certificate really that necessary?”
Lin Huai agreed that it felt unfair, but she kept her thoughts to herself. She led If You’re Bad, Practice More toward a quiet corner behind the temple.
Behind the shrine stood a dense forest wrapped in dark, swirling mist. Lin Huai didn’t dare venture inside, stopping right at the tree line.
“Sister Cai, let me see your certificate.”
If You’re Bad, Practice More handed it over without hesitation. “Boss, didn’t you get one? It’s just a slip of paper with a few squiggles on it. I can’t even read what it says.”
Lin Huai took the paper and looked at it closely. It was identical to the one she had received in her past life.
Remembering the death certificates Sister Hanba wrote, Lin Huai deduced that the first column was meant for a name.
The text was written in ghost script—Yin Seal Script.
When Lin Huai was young, she had learned some Yin Seal Script while helping Old Lin carve ritual seals. However, they only ever used a handful of characters. After studying the paper for a long time, she only recognized a single character: Si, meaning “to govern” or “department.”
It was the same Si found in Yinsi (the Underworld Bureau) and Siming (the Master of Fate).
She looked up at If You’re Bad, Practice More. “Sister Cai, do you mind sharing your real name?”
If You’re Bad, Practice More didn’t hesitate. Even though survivors kept their real names hidden, she had already accepted Lin Huai as her leader and saw no reason to keep secrets.
She nodded and smiled proudly. “My name is Sima Yan! I run the Sima Martial Arts Academy and know how to use all eighteen traditional weapons.”
Lin Huai had guessed correctly: that column was indeed for a name, and specifically for a real, living name.
Using her portable printer, Lin Huai set about making a copy of the certificate. While scanning, she placed a small scrap of yellow paper over the name and the official stamp, printing out an incomplete blank form.
Relying on the Yin Seal Script she remembered, she pieced together the brushstroke style. She carefully wrote her username, Bone Ashes, into the name slot. Then, using a red cinnabar pen, she drew a rough seal in the corner and smudged the wet ink with her thumb, making it look as though the stamp had been accidentally blurred.
Taking her original document back, If You’re Bad, Practice More watched Lin Huai’s forgery in total confusion. “Boss, will this really work? Can you actually get a travel permit with a fake certificate?”
Lin Huai shook her head, holding the forged slip as she walked toward the permit distribution counter. “I’m not sure. Let’s try it first.”
At the distribution desk, the clerk also charged three underworld coins before handing over a travel permit.
Standing to the side, If You’re Bad, Practice More fumed again. “They are way too greedy! Money, money, money—I don’t have a single coin left!”
Lin Huai watched the other players quietly step up and complete their tasks. She stood nearby with a calm, blank look on her face, but her mind was spinning at full speed.
She needed that travel permit, but her household registration could not be cancelled under any circumstances. Sister Hanba’s warning had clearly been a deliberate hint.
How could she obtain a genuine travel permit without her counterfeit paper being spotted?
Right at that moment, two heavily armored patrol messengers marched into view.
