(Core conflict: **Villain's Agent** + **Fate as a Bargaining Chip** + **Dilemma**)
(Character dilemma: **Strength and Emotion**)
(Time and environmental pressure: **Countdown Threat**)
Lu Ci, a down-and-out young man who is a million yuan in debt after a failed startup, has been dumped by his girlfriend and is crammed into a cheap rental room. His life has hit rock bottom. One rainy night, while dodging debt-collection calls, he accidentally enters an abandoned apartment building rumored to claim one life every month. There, he encounters a true soul-reaping evil spirit: the "Red-Clad Senior Sister," who wanders the world because she died unjustly. On the brink of death, a cold voice rings in his mind: [High-concentration supernatural corruption detected. Binding conditions met... "Urban Supernatural Case System" activated. Beginner mission issued: Purify the resentment of the "Red-Clad Senior Sister." Failure penalty: Soul annihilation.]
The threat of a **Villain's Agent** soon follows. The System is not unique. A mysterious organization called the "Abyss Club" has a member known as "the Collector," Shen Mo, who delights in hunting newly awakened "System Hosts" and seizing their System cores. Lu Ci's awakening draws his attention. Shen Mo sets a trap, using a supernatural incident to lead Lu Ci into a dead end, intending to take this fledgling System.
The **Fate as a Bargaining Chip** Lu Ci faces is a heavy one. The System's main quest, "Reach the 'Night Watcher' rank within one year," comes with erasure from existence as its failure penalty. More urgently, he needs to exchange the "Purification Points" awarded by the System for money to repay his enormous debts and cover his gravely ill mother's medical bills. Every supernatural
