Bug Abuse? I Swear I'm Just Playing Normally!
Ch. 21 - The Special Class “Captain” & the Secrets of the Ghostsmith

Su Yuening walked up to Bai Wan and set the cup of water down on his desk.

Her striking white hair draped naturally down, hanging quite close to him. A gentle, pleasant fragrance drifted into Bai Wan’s nose, not overpowering, just subtly sweet.

He looked up and saw how near she was. Beneath her JK uniform, the pale gleam of her collarbone was clearly visible.

Seeing the look in his eyes, Su Yuening breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

This might actually work!

Recalling the hair-flip technique their captain had recommended yesterday, Su Yuening drew a deep breath, gently placed her hand on her hair, and gave it a casual toss.

It was the classic hair flip—legendary among pretty girls.

Curious, Bai Wan looked over.

Whoosh!

Her already-beautiful face framed by that airborne sheet of snow-white hair—just for a moment, she seemed like an ethereal spirit descending to earth. The world felt frozen in that instant.

And then the window suddenly burst open. A gust of wind rushed in. Her flowing white hair whipped straight into her face, plastering across it like a ghostly veil.

“Shit! There’s a ghost!”

Bai Wan jumped up in fright, clutching a paranormal artifact in his hand. The sight of a faceless, white-haired figure sent him reeling.

Zhou Lu: “…”

Su Yuening: “…”

A few seconds later, Bai Wan realized the white-haired figure in front of him was Su Yuening. Embarrassed, he awkwardly apologized, “Ah—sorry, just got out of a dungeon… My body still reacts on instinct…”

“N-No worries…” Su Yuening balled her hands into fists. Beneath the tangled hair, her eyes seemed to glisten faintly with moisture.

Why… why did it turn out like this…

“Ahem. Let’s head to the rec room and get that contract signed…” Zhou Lu cleared his throat. He had hoped to leave a strong impression on the newcomer, but today just wasn’t his day. Might as well get down to business.

“Sure,” Bai Wan nodded, curious. He followed them into the rec room, but what greeted him wasn’t quite what he’d expected.

The room was furnished for comfort. Several plush sofas were arranged around the space, and the corners were piled high with snacks and drinks. There was even a Nintendo Switch 2 console.

A large electronic display hung overhead, currently broadcasting the news.

“Today’s meteor shower is a once-in-a-century spectacle. Experts encourage families to watch together. They even claim there’s scientific merit to making a wish upon a shooting star…”

Zhou Lu noticed Bai Wan’s surprised expression and chuckled. “Unexpected?”

Bai Wan nodded. “A little. I thought a rec room would be more… serious. After all, we’re dealing with paranormal entities.”

To him, this place looked more like a chill lounge.

“We hunters aren’t your typical workers,” Zhou Lu laughed. “We don’t just fight paranormal phenomena; we also dive into dungeons. The mental strain is huge—so all the more reason to relax when we can.”

As he spoke, he handed over the contract. “Take a quick look. If it checks out, we’ll sign. Yuening, turn off the TV. It’s getting noisy. These so-called experts are getting more absurd by the day.”

“Yeah… When I was little, I thought meteor showers were magical,” Su Yuening said as she shut off the screen. “Now I know—it’s just another astronomical event.”

If wishing on stars really worked, she thought, there’d be no paranormals left in the world, and so many people wouldn’t have died…

Bai Wan skimmed through the contract. Everything looked straightforward. He bore no obligations—just a cooperative agreement. The only condition: once he accepted a mission, he couldn’t quit midway. Violating that would carry severe penalties.

Without hesitation, he signed his name.

“Great. There’s just one final step. Once that’s done, you’ll officially be part of the Lan City Special Affairs Bureau.”

Zhou Lu turned to Liu Tong. “Let’s go. You drive.”

“Boss, you mean we’re taking him there?” Liu Tong hesitated.

Zhou Lu nodded.

Liu Tong’s eyes showed a flicker of surprise. So the boss really intends to bring Bai Wan into the fold. That place… no temporary recruit had ever been taken there before.

Bai Wan noticed the mysterious glances between everyone, but didn’t press them. 

I’ll know when I get there anyway.

Inside the car, Liu Tong drove while Zhou Lu rode shotgun. Bai Wan sat in the back with the others.

“Say, Captain,” Bai Wan asked curiously, “is this really all there is to the Lan City team?”

Lan City might be a small city, but… surely there were more members than this?

“We have more, but they’ve got other duties,” Zhou Lu said from the front. “We squeezed time out just to meet with you. The world’s not peaceful anymore, paranormal events keep cropping up. We’re short on manpower. Core members are few, and most of the second-tier staff aren’t even players.”

“I see…”

Bai Wan suddenly remembered his Ghost Ship. Testing the waters, he asked, “By the way, I saw something about a ‘craftsman’ class in the materials yesterday?”

“There is such a class, and it’s in high demand,” Zhou Lu explained. “Craftsmen can repair damaged paranormal items. The stronger ones can even forge basic artifacts—not as good as those from dungeons, but still lifesavers. It’s a rare class. Most craftsmen are NPCs. Among players? Less than three in the entire game, as far as I know.”

His eyes held a hint of envy. Every craftsman was rich.

“Are there ranks to the craftsman class?” Bai Wan asked.

“There are—Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and the legendary Ghostsmith…” Zhou Lu replied.

At the mention of Ghostsmith, Bai Wan’s expression shifted. He had received a special class—Captain—but needed to repair his Ghost Ship to unlock it.

And to do that, he needed a Ghostsmith.

“Are there any Ghostsmiths among real-world players?” he asked.

Zhou Lu chuckled. “Of course not. The strongest in reality are only Intermediate-level. Ghostsmiths are just a myth. No one’s ever seen one. But some say the dungeon ‘Desolate Village’ holds clues about them.”

Seeing Bai Wan’s interest, Zhou Lu continued. “Curious, are you? Not surprising. Craftsmen make tons of money and possess strong survivability. Let me fill you in.”

“All known craftsman classes come from the dungeon Desolate Village. The details are fuzzy due to game restrictions, but there’s a blacksmith family in the dungeon—the Liu Clan. They’ve preserved the methods to craft paranormal artifacts. Anyone wanting to become a craftsman likely has to deal with them.”

“But the dungeon is notoriously difficult. It last opened six months ago. Back then, a group of elite players fought tooth and nail for the ten available slots. In the end…”

Zhou Lu’s voice grew wistful.

“Ten went in. Only one came back. The rest were fairly well-known names. All buried in that mysterious village.”

“But the survivor did share some things. Apparently, the Liu family once produced a Ghostsmith. The strategy teams think Desolate Village holds great significance—probably concealing the secrets of the Ghostsmith class. But so far, no player’s found it.”

Desolate Village, huh? Bai Wan was surprised there was a dungeon that actually produced classes. This game was far stranger and more diverse than he’d imagined.

Then suddenly… something felt off.

The car had gone dead silent.

“Captain…?” Bai Wan looked up, confused—and realized the car was empty.

Zhou Lu and the others had vanished.

What the hell?

Suddenly, a girl appeared in the passenger seat.

Who…?

Bai Wan frowned.

The girl turned her head toward him.

Her face was indistinct, but her eyes were cold and piercing.

In that instant, Bai Wan felt his very thoughts freeze. And unbidden, one word surfaced in his mind—Desolate Village.

What’s going on…?

The strange vision lasted only a few seconds before vanishing.

“Little Wan, you spacing out?” Zhou Lu’s voice broke the silence.

Bai Wan blinked. The others were back. The car looked normal again.

But his expression darkened.

No way…Was that… a ghost from Desolate Village?

Seriously?! All I did was hear the name and now I’m marked?

What kind of bullshit dungeon is that?!

“I’m fine, Captain. Just zoned out a bit,” Bai Wan replied, trying to play it off.

He didn’t mention the hallucination. He wasn’t even sure himself—was it a Desolate Village anomaly… or just another one of his damn bugs?

Shit! I can’t even tell anymore!

He then recalled what Zhou Lu said about people fighting for access to Desolate Village and asked, “Captain, didn’t you say people compete for slots? I thought dungeons were randomly assigned?”

Zhou Lu shook his head. “They usually are. But there are exceptions. You know about the Skull Shop, right? The one you encountered was a basic green-tier one. Above that is the Blood Shop, found only in dangerous places. And beyond that is the ultra-rare Dark Blood Shop—only found in unsolvable-level dungeons. Those shops sell access to rare dungeons like Desolate Village.”

“Let me explain—‘Unsolvable Dungeons’ are those that have wiped out all players three times or more. No one’s ever cleared one. That’s what we call true despair.”

Unsolvable…? The term alone made Bai Wan tense.

Seeing Bai Wan’s nervous expression, Zhou Lu tried to reassure him.

“Don’t worry. Unsolvable dungeons are usually high-level scenarios—like Forbidden Zone or Dream Delirium, those kinds of famous horror events. New players almost never get assigned to that tier. There are only two known cases. One of them is called Stay Behind, but that’s a special instance and doesn’t count as a true unsolvable dungeon.”

“The other one, I believe, is called The Letter. Now that is a real unsolvable dungeon. But relax, unless you committed some cosmic-level atrocity in a past life, like blowing up the galaxy, you won’t get thrown into it.”

At that, Bai Wan’s expression first relaxed—then froze, then twisted into disbelief. A mouthful of water sprayed straight out.

“Pfft—Huh? What the hell?! Captain, which dungeon did you just say was unsolvable?!”

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