Director Jin wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
At that moment, a voice drew his attention.
“Good day, Director.”
It was Zhu Zeyu—the young player had been standing guard outside the corridor this whole time, together with three veterans from Jin Rongxu’s side.
Judging by their stern yet composed expressions, they clearly had no idea what was happening.
“[Hunter] is here.” Director Jin did not hide it from them. “The instance has descended.”
“What?!”
Surprise flashed across Zhu Zeyu’s face.
Fortunately, the young man reacted quickly. He exchanged a glance with the other three, then asked, “Director, what can we do?”
Director Jin’s face had already turned as grim as it could possibly be.
According to his original plan, this operation was aimed solely at [Hunter], and it should never have become known to everyone.
But now look at what had happened.
The instance had descended in the crowded main hall, involving an entire group of people. There was no way they could keep it hidden.
This was a major blunder on his part!
“…Director?”
Zhu Zeyu cautiously studied Director Jin’s face.
Yes, his expression was awful.
For some reason, seeing it made Zhu Zeyu feel a little pleased.
Director Jin could not help raising his sleeve again, only to feel the sweat dampening his forehead.
The only consolation was that nothing had happened to Jin Rongxu.
He had asked about Jin Rongxu’s situation. The reply of “Nothing’s wrong” had at least given him some reassurance that everything was still under control.
“Stay in your room. Don’t come out.”
Director Jin replied on the [Player Forum], then briefly explained the situation regarding the instances that had descended in the two locations.
“[Hunter] has lost his patience, but our capture operation has yet to make any progress.”
“You must stay calm. Whatever you do, don’t move.”
“Wait until we’ve caught [Hunter] before you come out!”
After that, Director Jin turned toward Zhu Zeyu, who was looking at him questioningly.
“There are instances in the main hall and at Captain Zheng’s location.”
“You’ll come with me for now. Stay here and don’t move. Liu Lei?”
The middle-ranking officer nodded. “Here.”
“Go to the first floor and stabilize the situation. Be careful on the way.”
The man named Liu Lei turned and left briskly.
Just as Captain Zheng had said, the defenses on the thirteenth basement level were relatively tight.
Less than a minute after Zhu Yan created the virtual instance, a series of security doors on both sides of the corridor opened one after another.
More than a dozen elite players came running over in formation. Zhu Zeyu immediately recognized quite a few familiar faces—people he had fought against in the [Hall of Mourning].
“Director,” said a short, dark-skinned man, saluting Director Jin. “We’ve been briefed on the situation. Captain Zheng sent out a notification immediately. Do you know what’s happening at the other instance?”
Director Jin countered, “What about Captain Zheng’s location? What’s the situation there?”
…
What was the situation?
[Fog]—Mr. Ghost Story floated in midair, watching a group of people scurry about like headless flies.
Creating a space was quite interesting.
For example, the space where Captain Zheng and the other nine players were located had been altered into a square, brightly lit corridor. Zhu Yan could modify the furnishings in the corridor with nothing more than a thought.
He had discovered that the more distorted the space was, and the greater the difference between its interior and reality, the less [Shuddering Delight] it consumed.
Naturally, he had worked out this rule through experiments in the virtual instance inside the testing hall.
At this moment, the virtual instance in the testing hall was filled with the suppressed sobs of several players.
The place had been completely warped.
The high ceiling sagged heavily downward. More precisely, it had twisted like a sheet of stiff paper that had been crumpled into a ball.
The light strips and pipes above had bent along with it at bizarre angles. One damaged lamp hung down, white-green current crackling at the end of its exposed wires.
That was almost the only source of light here.
Apart from it, there were only murky yellow specks of light that had appeared from who knew where, drifting through the air. They illuminated the frightened or wary faces in the dark chamber, as well as the furnishings that had become so distorted they were impossible to recognize.
“Um… sir, this really is a misunderstanding.”
The young man in the baseball cap who had been used by Zhu Yan looked utterly panicked.
Two Alliance players had him pinned down, forcing him against a twisted, hardened examination bed. He could not move at all.
The young man was practically on the verge of tears. “I—I’m really not the [Hunter] you’re talking about! I don’t even know who he is!”
This was a completely undeserved disaster!
Who would have thought that simply picking up a phone that had inexplicably appeared on the floor, then pulling a handle that had inexplicably emerged from the ground, would result in him being pinned down and accused of being the [Hunter]?
Good heavens!
What did something so notorious have to do with an ordinary person like him?
“I…”
“That doesn’t matter anymore.”
Another, calmer voice came from the crowd.
The speaker was none other than Zhu Yan, who had re-formed himself into human shape in the corner.
He had activated [Roleplay], taking on the appearance of Qiu Lingxiao’s older brother—the same appearance he had seen at the [Recitation Stage].
Zhu Yan raised his phone flashlight, a strange smile on his face.
“Look. This space is extremely limited in size.”
“It should be some kind of special instance, shouldn’t it?”
Originally, Zhu Yan had planned to hang from the lamp in the form of [Fog] and write out the rules directly.
But that would have been far too dull. And he happened to enjoy excitement.
Besides, if he wanted to muddy the waters completely, and make use of the innocent Qiu Lingxiao as well, then how could he allow no one to witness Qiu Lingxiao’s older brother taking part?
That way, when the [Human Alliance] read their memories later, it would be much more entertaining.
The faint flashlight beam illuminated the walls enclosing the entire space.
The place was indeed small. The walls were not ordinary white walls, either, but flesh and blood that seemed to be alive.
One player suddenly produced a weapon and hacked at the wall with all his strength. Yet the fleshy wall did not budge. It merely splashed a small amount of blood and tissue into the air.
Zhu Yan stood in the corner and suddenly burst out laughing.
“What are you laughing at?”
In the silence, that laughter sounded deeply unnatural.
One of the Alliance players sensed something amiss. He turned around warily and looked at the young man.
For some reason, the young man’s face seemed vaguely familiar, but he could not remember where he had seen it.
Was it beside Captain Zheng? Or Captain Jin?
“Me?”
Zhu Yan turned his hand, changing the angle of the flashlight.
The white beam shone straight down from above his head, plunging his eyes completely into the shadows beneath his brow and casting his entire face in a sinister gloom.
“I’m laughing at how stupid you are.”
“I was the first person here to mention the instance. Naturally, you should have asked me about the rules. Isn’t that right?”
In truth, Zhu Yan had no idea how to play a villain.
He felt that the line did not make much sense, but it did not matter. At this point, he might as well keep his eyes open and make things up as he went.
Yet to the others, both the young man’s tone and expression carried a subtle, bone-chilling coldness.
It was as though he were not a player like them at all, but rather… something with a strange temperament that might even be trying its best to imitate humanity…
“Wow, you’re this stupid? Why don’t you just kill yourselves?”
Zhu Yan had thought of a brilliant paradox.
He raised his right hand, revealing the bow-and-arrow insignia in his palm.
“Since things have come to this, this is a—”
“Kill him!!”
An Alliance player realized what was happening and suddenly drew his knife, lunging at Zhu Yan.
But the blade passed unhindered through empty air, slammed into the wall of flesh, and was sent rebounding by the tremendous force.
The Alliance player clutched his numb hand and staggered back several steps. Suddenly, a commotion erupted among the crowd.
“What’s that?!”
“Red text! It’s the rules!”
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
