This was the first time Song Mo had discovered a connectable Instance within her materials, so despite it requiring 20 Screenwriter Points, she still decisively chose to capture it.
【Consuming 20 Screenwriter Points to capture the Route 404 Yin-Yang Bus... Capture successful! Please create the settings for this material.】
“I can even create settings? This is right up my alley. Isn't it just creating character profiles and character bios—”
Song Mo smiled. With just a single thought, a stream of ink-like text appeared from midair, tightly covering the bus.
The materialized text engulfed the physical body, and the rumors and settings regarding the Route 404 Bus flooded her mind—
【Setting Draft 1: This is a bus that travels between the realms of Yin and Yang, possessing the ability to cross between life and death...】
【This setting requires 1,000,000 Screenwriter Points. Setting failed.】
【Setting Draft 2: This is a living bus. Every time night falls, it appears near Taiping Cemetery...】
【Setting failed. Please continue to refine the setting.】
Song Mo bit her thumb in slight anxiety. After thinking it over, she continued writing:
【Setting Draft 3: This is a creature born from the local legends of Jiangcheng. Neither ghost nor spirit, it was delivered by Song Mo from fear and curiosity, naturally loyal to Song Mo...
It is the vessel for all bus-related supernatural occurrences. Whenever it is mentioned, its presence increases...
Taiping Cemetery seems to hold a special meaning for it...
From the Zi hour to the Mao hour on every night of the full moon, it will appear in the heavy fog, randomly taking late-returning people to Taiping Cemetery...】
A long string of ink-like text hovered in the air, as if the system was evaluating it.
Just as Song Mo thought the setting had failed, the faded text drifted again in the next second, slowly sketching in midair.
【Evaluating—】
【Supernatural creature created successfully!】
【Supernatural Creature No. 001: Route 404 Bus Ghost (Loyalty: 100%)】
The old, lifeless bus that had slept for years began to melt at a visible rate. The words written by Song Mo seemed to come alive, densely swarming into the interior of the bus—
Then, this dead object that shouldn't have been able to move suddenly shook. On the wide glass windshield, the old wipers began to move with a creaking sound:
“Creak... Creak, creak...”
【Creature Traits: Formless and substance-less, drifting between reality and illusion, gentle and docile temperament. (Feeding it low-level materials offers a chance to produce tickets.)】
【Haunting Locations: North City Taiping Cemetery to South City Old Furniture City route. With a bus ticket, one can ride it to the Instance 《Taiping Cemetery》 (Undeveloped)】
【Instance 《Taiping Cemetery》 has been placed in the inventory.】
【Would you like to name the Route 404 Bus Ghost?】
It succeeded!
The moment the Bus Ghost moved, Song Mo felt her heart in the left side of her chest suddenly throb violently.
It wasn't an illusion, nor was it psychological. It had truly come “alive”!
“So creating scripts and supernatural creatures can affect myself. This means if I create enough scripts and creatures, it's not impossible for me to truly come ‘alive’.”
Song Mo suppressed her excitement and approached this old-fashioned bus painted entirely in green.
Unlike the shadow, it had color; it was a “dead object” with life.
It was no longer a cold, rigid lump of metal, no longer a lifeless old object—the rigid mechanical shell had completely come “alive.”
...
...
“Beep beep! Beep beep!”
The Bus Ghost rushed out of the display stand, but strangely penetrated reality, circling Song Mo with extreme agility like a puppy begging its master for food.
“...Are you hungry? What should I feed you, motor oil? Gasoline?”
Song Mo reached out and patted the big guy, surprisingly sensing a faint wave of “joy” transmitting into her palm:
“No, wait, you're a bus ghost. Should I burn paper-mache motor oil for you?”
Receiving no food from its master, the Bus Ghost honked its horn twice more, its emotions growing more anxious:
【Hungry...】
【Want to eat...】
Song Mo's heart stirred. Recalling the system's previous prompt about low-level materials, she tried to retrieve the shadow she had captured earlier.
The gray shadow transformed from text back into reality. Before she could even see how the Bus Ghost moved, the shadow disappeared.
Hum—
The body of the Bus Ghost vibrated gently, and the front of the bus shook slightly, as if letting out a highly satisfied burp.
This time, its emotions were much calmer:
【...Want to go out and play...】
It was born from fear and curiosity, naturally yearning for the night, instinctively wanting to leave the cramped exhibition hall.
Song Mo looked at the well-behaved, docile Bus Ghost before her, quickly weighing the pros and cons in her mind.
This was the first ghost she had personally written a script to create. Compared to the living corpses, it was much gentler and harmless.
More importantly, its loyalty was maxed out, making it completely controllable.
After a moment of thought, a gentle smile spread across Song Mo's eyes as she softly agreed:
“You may roam the city at night and pass through things freely. You are not allowed to disturb ordinary people, and absolutely must not cause panic.
Before dawn, you must send me back home on time. Do you understand?”
“Beep beep! Beep...”
As her voice fell, the Bus Ghost immediately vibrated its body obediently, its headlights flashing rapidly several times.
Only then did Song Mo agree—she needed to catch more low-level materials before dawn, and she could hitch a ride on the Bus Ghost to do so.
Whoosh!
The moment Song Mo entered the bus, the Bus Ghost hummed cheerfully and drove straight toward the thick, solid wall—
“Who's on the bus? We've already called the police!”
“Stop!”
“The police will be here any minute! Get off the bus right now! That bus has been abandoned for over a decade, it can't run!”
Extremely chaotic footsteps sounded not far away, clearly security guards drawn by the sound of the horn.
But in the next second, as numerous flashlight beams swayed, this mottled, old Route 404 bus drove straight through the wall right in front of everyone, slowly entering the fog.
!!!
“G-Ghost bus!!”
“There's a ghost! It's haunted!!”
The flashlights shook. In an instant, the guards clearly saw the empty driver's seat. Chills ran down their spines, and the leader, without a moment's hesitation, scrambled backward, letting out a lung-splitting scream:
“Run! Ghost!! The Route 404 Ghost Bus is out!! Help!!”
“Fuck, there really is a ghost! There really is a ghost!”
The shrill screams pierced the silence, but all that was left for them was the empty exhibition area.
“Sorry.”
Song Mo mouthed the words through the window to the guards—even though she knew no one could see her.
It was just that after today, there would likely be another urban legend about Route 404.
...
...
The Bus Ghost was simply the ultimate support for capturing low-level materials!
Song Mo sat on the Route 404 bus, quickly reaching her hand out the window. Rows of ink-like text immediately floated before her:
【Low-Level Material: Shadow (Capture success rate significantly increased)】
【Low-Level Material: Shadow (Capture success rate significantly increased)】
【...Capture successful!】
【...Capture successful!】
【Capture failed.】
【Capture successful!】
In just half an hour, Song Mo had over a dozen low-level materials in her inventory.
“Great.”
Joy flashed in Song Mo's eyes. Originally, she had only wanted to use the Bus Ghost to create a new script, but she hadn't expected such a pleasant surprise.
Not only had she obtained a docile, law-abiding exclusive ghost, but she had also unlocked a new method for capturing materials.
The Bus Ghost seemed to sense its master's pleasure and became even more jubilant. Surrounded by thick fog, it drove steadily along the city streets.
Perhaps due to its original prototype, despite being able to pass through physical objects, the Route 404 bus still obediently followed traffic rules, even waiting at red lights.
If anyone were to observe from a surveillance camera, they would see a bizarre sight:
On the empty asphalt road, a thick fog would suddenly appear out of nowhere, and an unmanned old-fashioned bus would creak along the street.
The fog stretched along the way, enveloping the entire street.
Song Mo believed it wouldn't be long before the authorities discovered the existence of Route 404.
But she wasn't worried. She focused entirely on capturing materials, only reluctantly letting the Bus Ghost take her back when the sky began to brighten.
The success rate of capturing low-level materials while riding the ghost bus was nearly one hundred percent!
With so many materials, it was enough to support her in creating a new horror script.
The moment she arrived downstairs at her rented apartment complex, the first ray of morning light pierced the darkness.
Song Mo floated into her room, watching the thick fog recede.
The street returned to its usual silence as the fog completely dispersed.
Dawn had broken.
As her senses returned to her physical body, Song Mo slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze was clear and bright, devoid of fatigue, filled only with a sense of harvest and pleasant surprise.
【Screenwriter Points: 30】
【Remaining Lifespan: 25 days, 11 hours...】
【Number of Materialized Scripts: 1】
【Number of Created Ghosts: 1】
【Please keep up the good work.】
Rate on N.U.
