"When you read this sentence, you're already dead."
What the—?!
Zhou Ming opened his eyes, only to find himself sitting in a classroom.
"Wait—no! I was... I was just at home!"
He reached for his phone but found nothing in his pocket.
When he abruptly stood up, no one paid him any attention.
Instinctively, he patted the shoulder of Wang Zhenji sitting beside him.
"Fatty Ji! Hey, Fatty Ji!"
But there was no response. Turning his head, he saw a blank, featureless face staring back at him.
Though it had no eyes, Zhou Ming couldn’t shake the eerie sensation of being watched.
He bolted upright, and the entire class turned their heads toward him in unison.
Only then did Zhou Ming realize—none of them had faces. They wore flesh-toned masks, yet their gaze bore into him.
Run!
Without a second thought, Zhou Ming leaped onto the desk and dashed for the door.
The school was familiar, yet as he sprinted down the hallway, an overwhelming sense of strangeness gripped him.
The corridors were empty, but when he peered into other classrooms through the windows, he saw entire rooms of faceless figures staring back.
Zhou Ming ran faster.
Every classroom—every single one—was the same.
He checked them all, running in circles, and everywhere he looked, the faceless crowd watched him.
Panic set in.
"Right! I can just leave the school."
The moment the thought crossed his mind, faceless figures from over twenty classrooms surged into the hallway, charging straight at him.
Zhou Ming’s blood ran cold. He spun around and sprinted for his life.
The school was the same as he remembered, but the air was lifeless. Thankfully, the main gate stood wide open.
Get out!
He had to get out!
He pushed himself to run faster than ever before.
Just then, he looked up—
The entire street was filled with faceless people.
The second he stepped past the gate, every single one turned toward him and began running in his direction.
Zhou Ming froze mid-step. The next moment, footsteps pounded behind him.
A faceless figure lunged, grabbing his leg.
Another seized his arm.
Then another, and another...
Soon, Zhou Ming was completely immobilized.
The faceless crowd tightened their grip, slowly tearing his body apart.
Agony wracked him as one pressed a hand against his face.
Riiip—
......
"The morning air is fresh and bright, the sun brings warmth and endless light~"
Lin Mo stretched as he got out of bed, his joints cracking like firecrackers.
After reaching Qi Refinement, his physical strength had grown exponentially.
Originally, Lin Mo thought his body wouldn’t change much after Body Tempering.
But upon entering Qi Refinement, he discovered he could nourish his body with spiritual energy.
A stronger body could then hold even more spiritual energy.
This created a perfect cycle.
As everyone knew, Qi Refinement was followed by Foundation Establishment.
Lin Mo was already at the late stage of Qi Refinement, and the Divine Refinement Void Method had detailed the two ways to break through.
One was using a Foundation Establishment Pill.
The other was self-breakthrough.
Since "System Bro" hadn’t provided him with a pill, Lin Mo had no choice but to attempt the latter.
"Invincible Cultivation System, what’s my success rate if I try to break through to Foundation Establishment now?"
[Host, curb your impatience. As the saying goes, "A hundred days to lay the foundation." Foundation Establishment is the bedrock of your future cultivation—do not rush it.]
"You call yourself the Invincible Cultivation System, yet I need a hundred days just for Foundation Establishment?"
Lin Mo couldn’t help but scoff.
Seemingly provoked, System Bro angrily issued a new mission.
[Find the highest point in the local region. After meditating there for 24 hours while absorbing heaven and earth’s spiritual energy, you will receive a Foundation Establishment Pill.]
"That’s more like it, System Bro. I knew I could count on you."
After a bit of strategic flattery, Lin Mo went online to search for the tallest mountain in Yangcheng.
Though he’d studied geography, textbooks never specified which peak was the highest.
He quickly found the answer.
Mount Nankun, with its summit at Paradise Peak—1,200 meters above sea level.
Lin Mo couldn’t help but think, most places in Yun Province were already higher than that.
But whatever. System Bro was being merciful by not making him travel far.
With that settled, he packed his things and prepared to spend 24 hours on Mount Nankun.
Just as he changed clothes and was about to leave, his phone rang.
It was Xie Yuling.
Though she didn’t have a smartphone, she did own a basic phone for calls.
"Lin Mo, are you awake?"
"Yeah, just about to head home for a bit."
"Huh? I thought you said you weren’t going back?"
"It’s Mid-Autumn Festival. Gotta pay respects to my parents, maybe cut a mooncake or something."
Xie Yuling’s tone shifted slightly.
"Since it’s Mid-Autumn, I wanted to ask if you’d like to come with me to my cousin’s place for a barbecue."
Barbecue? Sounded fun.
But her cousin’s place?!
What was he supposed to be there as?
Before Xie Yuling could elaborate, Zheng Yuan chimed in from the background.
"Oh, Xiao Mo, just come! It’s just a casual get-together. Her cousin invited a bunch of friends too—it’ll be more fun with familiar faces."
That explained it.
Auntie Zheng knew Xie Yuling was a hardcore introvert. If her cousin had invited outsiders, she’d need someone she knew to stick close.
After a moment’s thought, Lin Mo agreed.
"Sure, why not? More people, more fun."
The Mount Nankun breakthrough could wait. He could always go after the barbecue.
"Great! We’ll let you know when we leave this afternoon. It’s just in the same village anyway."
Lin Mo hummed in acknowledgment before Xie Yuling took the phone back.
"Lin Mo, if you don’t want to go, it’s fine."
"What, you don’t want me there?" His teasing tone made Xie Yuling fluster.
"No! I just... didn’t want to interrupt your studies."
"It’s a holiday. Can’t study all day—I was just gonna game anyway."
Hearing no reluctance in his voice, Xie Yuling sighed in relief.
Then came the sound of a door opening, footsteps, and finally, a knock.
After hanging up, Lin Mo opened the door.
"What’s up?"
"I came to watch you game."
"Fine, but I haven’t eaten yet. Warm up my PC for me—I’m going downstairs for noodles."
"Ah, you should’ve said so earlier! We steamed some custard buns at home. Want me to grab some?"
"Nah, a few buns won’t fill me up."
With that, Lin Mo shuffled downstairs in slippers, leaving Xie Yuling alone in his room.
Once the door closed, she tiptoed inside.
Lin Mo’s room was neat, his bed made—though he never actually used blankets.
His desk was stacked with study materials,
and in the corner sat the cup she’d given him, still filled with water.
Proof that he actually used it.
Xie Yuling couldn’t help but smile—before quickly covering her mouth, as if afraid someone might see.
Only then did he remember that he was alone in the room. With a relieved sigh, he sat down on Lin Mo's bed and let out a slow, quiet laugh.
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
