The room, less than ten square meters, was lit by a pale, dizzying light.
A strange odor permeated the air.
The stench of rot, the smell of rust, and a pungent, fishy odor mingled together.
It seemed to have been sealed for a while, fermenting, producing a truly 'refreshing' aroma.
When you longed to open a window for ventilation, you'd discover—the room's windows were sealed shut.
This room was like a cage; staying inside made one feel stifled and unable to breathe.
The old floorboards bore damp marks, as if they had been repeatedly washed with water.
The wooden floor was rotting from the moisture, and because of these water stains, in addition to the nauseating smell, the room also had a damp, clammy feel.
Making breathing even more viscous and heavy.
The only living thing in this room was the young man sitting on the single bed.
He was still wearing a loose blue and white school uniform, looking like a high school student, with a buzz cut, fair skin, and handsome features.
At this moment, he was one part bewildered, two parts sleepy.
Zhao Ping'an had been sitting here for several minutes, staring at the phone in his hand, which was clearly not his own, and began to contemplate life.
Contemplate what?
Contemplate why he was so idiotic!
Contemplate why, despite having been educated on so much anti-fraud knowledge, he still had such itchy fingers!
Next time he saw a suspicious link, he absolutely would not click on it impulsively.
Because you simply didn't know if the link led to something lewd, a scam, or perhaps, a terrifying game that could transport you through space.
His name was Zhao Ping'an, a third-year high school student, but now, he seemed to have entered an extraordinary place.
Zhao Ping'an held the phone, looking at the screen.
A page with a black and red background, with an information box floating on it, black and stained with slowly flowing blood.
The blood was like a living thing, flowing thickly, endlessly, as if something behind the information box was constantly producing it.
If Zhao Ping'an hadn't been directly teleported to this dreadful place, he would definitely have complimented the special effects, saying they were really well done.
Weren't these better than the special effects of some game developers?
One look was enough to make one's hair stand on end!
The sense of horror was directly maxed out!
But at this moment, Zhao Ping'an had to seriously reflect: what terrible deeds had he done recently?
How did he encounter such incredibly bad luck?
Could it be because he used an alt account to post lewd content and then reported the WeChat accounts of all his Class Teachers, preventing them from assigning homework?
Could he be blamed for that?
Their teachers were crazy!
They only had one and a half days off a month, and the teachers of each subject were like randomly spawning BOSSes, dropping homework assignments at random times!
He could write homework until he convulsed!
Which student liked writing homework?!
Homework should be humanely destroyed!
He was the Homework Destroyer for the good of students!
Or, perhaps, he forgot to put the leftovers his mother told him to put in the fridge last night, and only remembered to put them in at dawn?
He couldn't be blamed for that either; his brain wasn't good. He'd forget as soon as his mother finished speaking. He couldn't be blamed, his brain should be blamed.
Could it be that yesterday he chased the big black dog from the butcher shop with a broom for three streets?
He was truly wronged!
The big black dog made the first move!
If that wretched dog hadn't kept barking at his backside, scaring him into running at a thousand-meter dash speed, would he have retaliated?
No!
It couldn't be that time he used a poop-stained mop, taking on ten people, becoming famous in one battle, and even shoving the mop in that idiot's face, could it?
He couldn't be blamed for that either. Who told that idiot's significant other to fall for him, and then that idiot blocked him in the bathroom like an elementary schooler?
That was self-defense!
It just so happened that there was a pile of something, left by some bastard, right in front of him, and a mop was conveniently at hand, and he just did it on a whim!
It wasn't his fault that this matter became known throughout the school; the other party was the one who cried and screamed and wanted to call their parents!
He merely told the principal, teachers, and classmates that he had shoved the poop-stained mop in his face!
A man crying like a woman couldn't be entirely his fault!
This couldn't be enough for divine punishment, could it?!
Zhao Ping'an had thought about transmigration; who didn't read novels?
He would occasionally fantasize about entering a Western fantasy world, seeing elf beauties and mermaids, and perhaps building a harem.
Or, going back to ancient times, leading a group of primitives to conquer all, making everyone in the future his descendants.
Or even history would be fine, just directly flattening the globe with iron cavalry, changing history...
But Zhao Ping'an absolutely did not want to transmigrate into a horror world!
He was afraid of Gui!
No, a true man shouldn't say he's afraid; he was purely cautious!
What, this isn't a horror world?
Then what the hell was this thing on his phone?!
“Dear Player~~~ Welcome to Zhong Gui Game!”
“Welcome, welcome, a warm welcome!”
“A bloody welcome!”
“A screaming welcome!”
“A soul-shattering welcome!!!”
“Welcome welcome welcome welcome welcome...”
“Hello, Zhao Ping'an, are you willing to accept Zhong Gui Game, join Zhong Gui Game, and participate in Zhong Gui Game?”
“Option One: Willing.”
“Option Two: Join.”
“Option Three: Participate.”
“Option Four: All of the above.”
When the four options were presented, Zhao Ping'an chuckled, “Hey, forced sale, huh?”
“Dear Zhao Ping'an~ If you do not make a choice, you will be unable to leave this room, unable to start game quests, unable to obtain food and water, and you will become increasingly weak.”
“The longer it takes, the more disadvantageous it will be for you. You will die here~!”
Zhao Ping'an looked at the flickering information box, paused, and then exclaimed, “It’s alive?”
These novels lied to him; weren't they all supposed to be dead?!
Weren't they all 100% pure tool-persons?
“...Of course it’s alive. What else could it be, dead?”
“Dear Zhao Ping'an, make your choice quickly! I will thoughtfully prepare a novice gift package for you~”
Zhao Ping'an completely ignored the system's question and instead asked the system a question, “What should I call you?”
A true man must take the initiative!
“??? Call me System~ I am the system of Zhong Gui Game!”
Zhao Ping'an continued to probe, “Male or female?”
“...Male?”
Zhao Ping'an made a sound of disgust, “Tsk.”
He had thought it would be a beautiful female system.
It seemed he wasn't the male lead; male leads always had beautiful women around them!
“...”
Tsk what?! I just asked you, why are you tsk-ing?!
Zhao Ping'an was not in a hurry to make a choice. Since this system was intelligent, he had to first figure out the situation, right?
He wasn't the male lead from a novel who knew everything as soon as he arrived; he needed to get a novice tutorial first.
Although he had read many novels, he still needed a professional to explain things.
“Explain my current situation to me, System.”
“And what exactly is Zhong Gui Game.”