Chapter 1
Heavy clouds hung low, as if brooding over an oncoming storm.
In a desolate, uninhabited forest, a man in light gray silk pajamas was making his way through the trees.
He stood tall and straight. His handsome face was set with eyes like stars, and his short jet-black hair drooped softly, giving his whole person a gentle, refined air.
Chu Yue had no idea how long he’d been walking in this forest. He’d simply fallen asleep and woken up here.
Suddenly, voices came from up ahead. He pushed aside the branches in front of him.
A flat stretch of grass came into view. In the middle of the clearing stood a stone stele half as tall as a man. Perched arrogantly on top of it was a snow-white fox.
Around the stele, eight or nine people stood scattered about.
Hearing the sound behind them, several of them turned. As they shifted aside, they revealed a bright red smear on the ground-human tissue.
What kind of cursed luck was this? Had he just walked straight into a murder scene?
Before he could turn and leave, another small figure slowly emerged from the forest.
It was a boy of seven or eight, dressed in ethnic minority clothes. His tender young face was full of confusion.
“Everyone’s here,” someone said.
A crisp electronic voice immediately rang in everyone’s ears.
Chu Yue raised his head warily. The White Fox that had been sitting upright on the stele slowly stood up-and actually spoke in human language.
“[Welcome to the Nightmare Trading Center.]”
“[Current Category: General Store]”
“[Current Instance: Li Ergou’s Butcher Knife]”
“[The gathering in Sunset Town starts in seven days, but Li Ergou’s Butcher Knife has gone missing. Please help find it and return it to him.]”
“[Instance Level: Level 0]”
“[Number of Participants: 12]”
“[Game Mortality Rate: Ten percent #*＊&￥……]”
Chu Yue saw the White Fox’s eyes go vacant for a split second, then quickly clear again.
The next voice that sounded was suddenly shrill, laced with a chilling malice.
“[Game Mortality Rate: One hundred percent.]”
Its gaze swept slowly over everyone, then it repeated itself.
“[Game Mortality Rate: One hundred percent.]”
With that, it leapt down from the stele and, before the crowd could recover from their shock, slipped into the forest and vanished in the blink of an eye.
Chu Yue licked his lips. The fox’s words had been clear and distinct; he’d understood every single one, yet strung together they felt surreal, like something out of a dream.
Was this place…a game world?
“Game mortality rate, one hundred percent? One hundred percent!” someone suddenly shouted.
The crowd immediately broke into an uproar.
A man in his thirties stepped forward. He glanced up at the sky. “It’s getting late, and it looks like it’s going to rain. We need to reach the town at the foot of the mountain before dark. We can talk on the way.”
Chu Yue’s mind was racing, but his feet still fell in line with the others as they started moving.
“My name is Wang Meng,” the man introduced himself.
He then gave a brief explanation of this world’s basic rules.
Only then did Chu Yue understand-this really was a game world, a horror survival game.
If a player wasn’t careful, they’d be killed by a Monster in the Instance. And if you died in the game, you died in the real world as well. The only way out was to complete the mission assigned by the game.
As for why they’d been pulled into the game, Wang Meng only left them with one line: “We can figure that out after we survive this Instance.”
Each Instance had a different Death Condition. You could only infer them from the Instance’s content on your own; it came down to luck. If you died on the first day, you wouldn’t get any information at all.
When it came to that terrifying game mortality rate, he glossed over it casually, as if it didn’t concern him.
On the road, everyone introduced themselves one by one. When it came to the little boy, Chu Yue paid special attention.
But the boy only gave his name, then lowered his head. He didn’t cry, didn’t fuss, and didn’t speak again.
Chu Yue slowed his pace and gradually fell to the back of the group.
The sky darkened quickly. In what felt like no time at all, the town below had already lit its lamps.
He looked back. The clearing from before had vanished, swallowed up by dense trees and drifting mist.
Maybe it was just his imagination, but in the shadowed forest he seemed to see a flash of moving red, like someone walking with an open umbrella.
Heading up the mountain at a time like this?
Hurrying as fast as they could, the group finally entered the town just before complete darkness fell.
Waiting for them at the town entrance was a hunched old man standing under a streetlamp.
He tapped his smoking pipe, its metal fittings jingling as he shuffled over. “You lot must be the help Li Ergou sent for. You’re late-Li Ergou’s already gone home. I’m here to fetch you in his stead.”
With that, he turned and beckoned them to follow him into town.
The town was ablaze with light, bright white from incandescent bulbs spilling out of every window lining the street.
But there was no sound at all. It was like walking through a dead city.
Following behind the old man, they walked for about ten minutes before finally arriving at a long, narrow apartment building that looked like it had been converted from an old factory dormitory.
After leading them into the Hall, the old man took six keys off his belt and set them on the table.
“The room numbers are on the keys. Two to a room. Sort yourselves out. Tomorrow morning, Li Ergou will come explain what happened.”
He tapped his pipe twice against the table and added a reminder: “Try to turn in early tonight. After ten-thirty, don’t wander around. All the other rooms are occupied. If someone complains, it’ll put Li Ergou in a foul mood-and he’s got a nasty temper.”
He finished, swept his gaze around the group, and stressed, “Remember: two people per room. Don’t switch rooms around.”
No one answered. They only listened in silence.
Seeing no one had questions, he turned and walked out the building’s front door.
Just as his figure disappeared from sight, a bolt of lightning split the sky. A deafening crack followed, and then the torrential rain finally came crashing down.