Chapter Seven: The Violence Index

Lin Yilin’s office had become Zheng Fan’s temporary stronghold; at the very least, he was no longer a wandering ghost.

That was a good thing.

It also allowed Zheng Fan to test, understand, and master his current condition with greater ease. Although he possessed a minimal amount of adventurous spirit, he remained a standard slacker at heart. Moreover, according to Lin Yilin, if his situation were discovered, he would be apprehended by those uniformed individuals known as the "Administration."

A small office like hers was not authorized to harbor phantom entities.

Lin Yilin arrived at the office early in the morning. No sooner had she pushed open the door than she saw a black cat with two tails sauntering past her.

"Good morning, Mr. Phantom."

"Mm, good morning." The black cat spoke in response, then shifted back into the form of Zheng Fan and stood up. "I’ve just about gotten used to moving on four legs. It wasn't actually that difficult."

Lin Yilin walked to her desk, sat down, and opened her laptop.

Watching Zheng Fan shift his appearance at will, Lin Yilin pondered aloud, "Mr. Phantom, if you were to turn into a giant dragon like those in fantasy stories, could you breathe fire like them?"

At the mention of this, Zheng Fan turned his head into that of a dog—he had indeed shifted his head into a canine form.

"I can mimic the shape, but I can't do anything else like breath attacks or magic for the time being. Never mind a dragon; I can't even take flight if I turn into a bird," Zheng Fan said, extending one hand, which morphed into a bird’s wing, and flapping it.

"Is it because you don't understand the anatomy?"

"It's not like one could understand that kind of structure anyway. Do I need to go read a bestiary of fantasy creatures?" Zheng Fan shifted his dog head back into a human face, looking helpless.

"It might have nothing to do with that; perhaps you just lack a more convenient medium," Lin Yilin mused.

Hearing this, Zheng Fan held up the black bead he had obtained from another phantom between two fingers. "Do you know anything about this?"

Lin Yilin shook her head. "No."

Zheng Fan tossed the bead in the air and caught it. "A pity. I thought this might be the 'hard currency' of supernatural powers in this world—like monster cores or demon pills."

"The supernatural side of this world is not as unified as the phantoms themselves. Each phantom expresses entirely different powers based on different phenomena, psychology, and so on. It’s mind-boggling," Lin Yilin explained.

"Then what special powers did that 'Knock-Knock Ghost' from before have?"

"Phantoms born from human bodies generally aren't that exaggerated. If I had to say, it was just quite good at hacking people. Other than that, it didn't have any powers beyond imagination."

"To be fair, being able to take two bullets and still almost hack you to death is already quite impressive," Zheng Fan remarked.

"Not nearly as impressive as you, Mr. Phantom. Even my earthworms have turned into this now." Lin Yilin held out her hand, summoning her earthworms.

Without Zheng Fan’s amplification, these worms no longer possessed the size of giant pythons, yet they remained significantly larger than their original form—comparable to medium-sized snakes.

Their previously harmless appearance was gone; the split mouthparts at their heads opened and closed incessantly, ready to tear flesh from a person at any moment.

Lin Yilin said, "This is the first time I've seen this. You didn't give me any other power; instead, you mutated my original ability."

"Speaking of which, what is the deal with these earthworms of yours? You said the source of supernatural power is phantoms, which means you already had a phantom, right?" Beneath Zheng Fan’s feet, earthworms began to crawl out—the same giant, monstrous worms from that night.

Even though he had detached himself from Lin Yilin, the ability he had altered remained in his grasp.

Lin Yilin took in the sight and replied, "When I was a child, a phantom left a mark on me. The ability to summon earthworms stems from that mark. That phantom hasn't shown any intention of coming to find me for all these years."

It sounded like a story, though likely not a pleasant one. Zheng Fan did not press further, thinking he would go for a walk later.

Although he was currently cooperating with Lin Yilin, he understood the principle of not putting all his eggs in one basket. He wanted to see if he could find a few more "hosts" to prepare for future contingencies.

How to put it? Miss Lin Yilin looked like the type who could die quite easily.

The way she hadn't even shown a change in expression when a blade was driven into her chest earlier left Zheng Fan feeling uneasy.

He paced the office, his gaze sweeping over the calendar on the wall.

"Does April have a thirty-first?" On the calendar, after April 30th, a "31" had been handwritten in thick, black, eye-catching marker.

The uniformed men from before had also seemed to mention April 31st.

As for the May calendar, there wasn't an extra thirty-second day, but a red "30" had been marked and inserted into the existing thirtieth.

"In the White Peace World, there naturally isn't an April 31st, but in the Gray District, it's not necessarily so. It’s like the real world has a bug; the end of each month might have an extra day," Lin Yilin explained, her slender fingers typing rapidly on the keyboard.

"If black is for the Black World, what is the red for?"

"The World of Violence." Lin Yilin’s typing came to an abrupt halt, and she looked up. "Red symbolizes the World of Violence, one of the most fundamental components of humanity."

"Tell me more."

Lin Yilin lightly stroked her mouse, contemplating. "The World of Violence is actually deeply rooted beneath the normal world, occasionally overlapping and expressing itself through certain individuals. The extra thirtieth day in some months causes the World of Violence to surface completely. It gets quite lively then."

"What happens when the World of Violence overlaps?"

"Violent events, naturally. Brawls, murders, cruelty... These things surge forth, rooted in various motives. But on the other hand, it’s also a good opportunity to gain a 'Violence Index'."

"What is a 'Violence Index'?" Zheng Fan asked, hearing yet another unfamiliar term from Lin Yilin.

"Hmm..." Lin Yilin mused for a moment, seemingly trying to figure out how to explain it. "In layman's terms, it's something like 'Combat Power'."

"Combat power?"

"It’s an indicator named by someone in history, used to roughly summarize the violent intensity of individuals or groups. But the Violence Index isn't just an expression of combat power; the index itself can conversely affect the combat power one possesses. Participating in violent activities within the World of Violence can increase your Violence Index."

At this point, Lin Yilin paused and stared at Zheng Fan. "Of course, because violence is the foundation of all worlds, many things are born with a high Violence Index—most of them phantoms from the Black World."

Zheng Fan pointed at himself. "Is my Violence Index decent?"

He felt he should be at least passable.

From a young age, the trait he was most confident in was fighting.

Some even called him a natural-born killer. It sounded a bit melodramatic, but the teacher who had taught him for several years in his original world had described him exactly that way. Zheng Fan, however, just felt that the teacher, who read too many novels, was probably getting carried away.

Even if it were true, it was basically useless in modern society—the peaceful society he had been in before he inexplicably traveled through time, that is. Even if he could go into professional fighting, he didn't have much of a desire for the spotlight.

"A rough estimate would be at least the 'Gang' level to start with," Lin Yilin said as she sized him up, then pointed to herself. "Someone like me is at the second level, 'Chicken,' only slightly better than 'None'."

"Pfft, what kind of grading system is that?" Zheng Fan couldn't hold back. Anyone who spent too much time on certain internet memes would likely develop a condition where "seeing a chicken makes one think of old friends."

"It's because of the phrase 'lacking the strength to truss a chicken.' It’s a rough estimation of the Violence Index. The further up you go, the more ambiguous it becomes, with each level expressed by the phenomena most easily summarized in human perception. 'Gang' is the fifth level. Between it and 'Chicken' are the 'Street Brawl' and 'Cluster' levels."

After finishing, Lin Yilin added, "Normally, anything above the 'Cluster' level is rarely seen in everyday life."

"Then it seems I'm actually quite decent."

"You're too modest," Lin Yilin said, turning her gaze back to the computer. "In the records of Xixike Street, there hasn't been a phantom with an initial Violence Index above 'Cluster' for over ten years. They are already as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns."