The Last Gentleman

Chapter 1

A vast sea as dark as ink stretched endlessly, with countless boats drifting upon it.

Some were small, single-person rowboats. Others were ferries, carrying multiple people. Occasionally, a large ship appeared, carrying hundreds.

But regardless of what vessel they were on, the people remained in a dazed, lost state. Their memories slowly being erased by the sea, they had no knowledge of where they were headed or even that they were already dead.

However, within this sea, a lighthouse suddenly appeared, half-hidden in mist, where there should have only been passage to the land of death.

Its beam landed on a small rowboat, illuminating a young man seated on it, drawing him toward the lighthouse.

As the light grew brighter, the young man’s dark, lifeless eyes began to regain their luster.

The burning sensation from the light grew as the boat drew closer. Scorching patterns etched across his head, carrying a voice that seemed to call from the world of the living.

Buzz!

The pitch-black sea vanished, replaced by an old, weathered wooden desk.

The young man, his eyes slowly adjusting, found himself staring at an old kerosene lamp at the upper right corner of the table. The flickering flame within it matched the image of the lighthouse in his mind.

Beneath his resting arms, he felt the rough texture of paper. It was a yellowed sheet with hasty, messy handwriting.

To his left on the desk was a glass, containing a peculiar-smelling transparent liquid.

Seeing this unfamiliar scene, his first thought wasn’t fear or curiosity; instead, a critical notion bubbled up from deep within his subconscious:

“My thesis!”

His last memory was of an all-nighter spent revising his graduation thesis in the lab.

And that memory ended with intense chest pain and a foggy consciousness.

Realizing this, the young man put the pieces together.

“Did I… die suddenly?”

He looked at his hands, noticing they were rough and worn, with calluses and dirt under the nails. He instantly recognized these hands were not those of his own familiar ones.

“Did I… transmigrate?”

His name was Yi Chen, a weary graduate student in chemical engineering.

Being a fan of novels and games, the first word that came to his mind was 'transmigration.'

Upon reaching this conclusion, he felt no anxiety or fear. Instead, a profound sense of relief washed over him, and he even relaxed his body because he no longer had to worry about finishing his thesis, the upcoming review, or the defense. It felt wonderful.

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Having grown up in an orphanage, he had lived a solitary 24 years with little attachment to his former world.

However, the relief did not last long, as a putrid smell in the air brought him back to reality.

“I need to figure out what’s going on…”

Yi Chen shook his head and stood up, scanning the modest, 40-square-meter wooden room.

To the left of the desk was a narrow, single wooden bed pressed against the wall. Mold stains were visible at the foot of the bed, likely due to the dampness of the room.

There were no windows in the room.

The only connection to the outside was a heavy, gray iron door, tightly fitted in its frame. The coarse, bumpy paint seemed to be at least 40 or 50 years old.

The door key was hanging on Yi Chen’s waistband.

On the wall beside the door, there was an old-fashioned telephone—a model he had only seen in the orphanage as a child, long since replaced by smartphones.

The phone cord, wrapped in rubber insulation, extended upward, disappearing into the ceiling.

It was also worth noting that the only source of light in the room was the kerosene lamp on the desk.

The simple, sealed wooden room and the rotten air reminded Yi Chen of a grim thought—'a coffin.'

It felt as if he were trapped in a coffin disguised as a wooden room.

He returned to the desk and, lacking a phone or mirror to check his appearance, tentatively felt his face. Aside from some stubble, his features seemed sharp and even a bit more handsome than his previous self.

Judging by the roughness of his skin, he guessed he was likely under thirty.

He resumed his focus on the desk, eyeing a 'letter' left on it.

“English? Is this overseas?”

Yi Chen, accustomed to skimming through papers, quickly scanned the letter.

The first line was unsettling, as it began with a chilling word—'die'.

As he read further, each word slithered into him like a parasite, filling him with unease.

≮ “I’m going to die; I know it for certain.

But at least I still have the choice of how to die.

There’s nothing in this world worth clinging to. My only regret is letting Dean Fran down. I messed up my first job since leaving the orphanage.

I’ve always been careless, making mistakes like this even back at the orphanage.

The third rule in the manual… I’ve reviewed it every day, yet I still made a mistake.

There’s nothing more to say. I can only hope that whoever reads this letter can forgive my cowardice and incompetence; I simply don’t have the courage to face the consequences of my errors.

If possible, please cremate my body.

Please, do not bury me here! ≯

“Is this a will?”

Yi Chen picked up a cup from the corner of the wooden table, inhaling the scent lingering in the liquid within.

He could now deduce the basic background of this body's original owner.

“Did this guy also spend his childhood in orphanages? Was it because of a similar past, similar appearance and build, and a coincidental death that allowed me to cross over into his body?

Knowing he would die, he chose to poison himself?

Does failing to follow a certain rule truly result in a death penalty? What kind of place is this?”

Deeply analyzing, Yi Chen could smell the anxiety and danger pervading the air, as he also pondered his own ‘predicament.’

“Since I’ve crossed over, the mess naturally falls to me to handle… This guy couldn’t even leave more useful information in his will.

After making a mistake, what kind of dangers could there be?

Will assassins from some organization come to eliminate me? Or will something strange come knocking?”

With this thought, Yi Chen glanced around the room once more.

Even though the wooden cabin was sealed tightly like a coffin, he still felt no sense of security.

“Calm down~ I’ve already died once, there’s nothing to fear. First, let’s look for the ‘manual’ mentioned in the will to see exactly what mistake this guy made, and what kind of job he was doing.”

Pulling open the drawer of the wooden table, he found a parchment map and a unique handbook bound in black fur.

According to the map,

This place was a cemetery.

The wooden cabin was located in the center,

surrounded in a clockwise manner by cemetery numbered 1 to 6. Additionally, at a corner of the map was an unusual Cemetery No. 7, completely isolated and accessible only by a narrow path over a hundred meters long.

“So, this is a cemetery? This guy was a gravekeeper? No wonder there’s a faint smell of decay even in this cabin.”

Yi Chen turned his attention to the handbook containing vital information.

*Employee Manual (Easton Town – Cemetery)*

The first page documented the schedule in detail.

The gravekeeper needed to inspect the designated graves at specific times. For example:

The inspection time for Cemetery No. 1 was from 7:00 to 9:30.

The inspection time for Cemetery No. 2 was from 1:00 to 3:00.

And so on.

Cemetery No. 7, however, had no designated inspection time and did not require inspection; it was marked as a special area.

The schedule seemed relatively normal.

But when Yi Chen turned to the second page, his expression grew serious.

It started off with an asterisk and bold red text:

Please carefully read each of the following cemetery rules and commit them to memory. Failure to observe any rule, or any mistake, will invite disaster. The consequences will be worse than death.

I. [Inspect each grave according to the timetable; the margin of error for start and end times must be less than one minute.]

II. [During inspections of Cemetery No. 2, ensure that the cross-shaped headstone is not inverted or adorned with items resembling a goat skull.

If such conditions are present, the headstone must be restored and items removed within the inspection time.]

III. [When inspecting Cemetery No. 4, ensure that the number and order of headstones remain consistent with the original setup. If there are any abnormalities in the number or sequence, you must clear away the extra graves or restore the displaced headstones to their correct order.]

For easier memorization, the appendix contains an original sketch of Cemetery No. 4.

IV. [Before beginning the inspection of Cemetery No. 5, make sure there is absolute silence within. If any strange sounds are heard, postpone the inspection by one hour. If the sound persists after an hour, report it to the manager.]

V. [If a new corpse is delivered to the cemetery gate, carefully inspect the hearse to ensure it bears the correct ‘organizational mark.’ If the mark is correct, transport the corpse to the designated grave entrance as indicated by the number engraved on its surface, and it will be interred automatically. If no mark is found or if the mark is incorrect, transport the hearse and the corpse to Cemetery No. 7 during the daytime.]

Refer to the appendix for the organizational mark.

VI. [Other cemetery only require basic inspection to confirm that the tombs remain undisturbed and that no foreign objects are present.]

VII. [When not on patrol, stay in the safehouse to minimize the chance of accidents.]

VIII. [If an error at work causes disaster to befall you, the organization offers one opportunity for survival.

Lift the floorboards beneath the bed, retrieve a defensive tool, and resolve the issue.]