The intense sensation of weightlessness hit Lin Huai the moment he stepped through the light gate. In the next second, he felt a mix of disorientation and rapid descent.
Lin Huai didn’t even have time to make a sound. Before falling into the vortex, the only thought lingering in his mind was: ‘Couldn’t they give some warning before teleporting? Aaaaaah…’
When he finally steadied himself and opened his eyes, he found himself in a pure white room.
“Welcome to the Infinite Game,” a monotonous voice announced. “Congratulations—novice trial participant. You have completed two games and have earned the qualification of a novice trial participant. What you see now is the game space you’ve obtained as a ‘Qualified Participant.'”
“You can modify this space according to your preferences and transform it into something you like. Note: Weapons, ammunition, and magical items cannot be created from nothing. The same goes for food and life.”
As soon as the system finished speaking, the previously empty room was now furnished with a sofa, coffee table, carpet, and TV—a complete lazy person’s set. Lin Huai sprawled inelegantly on the sofa, propping his chin on his hand as he waited for the system’s next introduction.
Under the system’s guidance, Lin Huai began to understand the purpose and origin of this so-called game space.
According to the game’s introduction, there were tens of thousands of players like Lin Huai in this world. They were randomly selected from ordinary people through the distribution of Black Invitation Letters (Lin Huai’s comment on this: “Isn’t this just handing out junk flyers…”) and entered this life-and-death game. Upon first entering the game, players would be assigned to the Novice Zone based on their abilities. After each round, the system would give them a score. Players who performed exceptionally well would, after several rounds in the Novice Zone, receive an admission ticket to become an official game participant, known as a “Qualified Participant.” They would then gain the qualification to advance to the Intermediate and Advanced Zones after several games.
Before becoming a “Qualified Participant,” players could only rely on their own strength to fight against the game. After becoming a “Qualified Participant,” players… still could only rely on their own strength to fight against the game. However, the difference was that they now had a 20-slot inventory and could earn game coins and experience points based on their ratings after each game. As their experience points increased, they could level up to the Intermediate and Advanced Zones. Isn’t that a pleasant surprise?
Lin Huai: “I’d like to ask, can game coins be exchanged for RMB?”
System: “At the Novice trial participant level, no. But at any level, trial participants can exchange RMB for game coins.”
Lin Huai: “…What if I forcefully bring the game’s currency out?”
System: “It will turn into joss paper.”
Additionally, before the game starts, a temporary item market will open for players, with the contents being randomly refreshed each time. Also, starting from becoming a Qualified Participant, players who achieve an “S-rank” or higher after each adventure will get a chance to spin a lottery wheel and have the opportunity to obtain special items with powerful abilities.
With the promotion to Qualified Participant, players also gain other additional benefits. For example, they can teleport at any time—meaning that players will receive a notification one day before the game starts, informing them of the game’s time and date. When the game time arrives the next day, regardless of where the player is, they will be immediately teleported to the game site, saving them the trouble of taking buses, subways, or bikes and using navigation apps. It’s quite considerate.
However, when initiating teleportation, players need to stay away from crowds and enter a secluded, undisturbed space—places like locked bathroom stalls or shower cubicles with no surveillance cameras would be ideal choices… The only side effect might be earning nicknames like “Shizuka” or rumors of “kidney deficiency.”
After the system’s voice faded, Lin Huai first checked his character panel as prompted.
Name: Lin Huai (temporarily)
Gender: From a biological perspective, a man who cannot get pregnant (for now)
‘The “temporarily” here is completely unnecessary…’ Lin Huai silently complained in his heart.
Age: Looks 20
Alignment Evaluation: Kind enough to avoid punishment games
Current Status: Novice Zone trial participant (Qualified Participant)
Experience Points: 470/1000
Distance to Next Level: 530
Current Instances Cleared: 2
Instance 1: Shangjin Villa, S-rank, +120 experience points
Instance 2: Minghua High School, SS-rank, +350 experience points
Next Instance Start Time: Undecided.
After admiring his stats, Lin Huai walked over to the lottery wheel in the center of the hall. The wheel displayed that he had two chances to spin it, thanks to achieving S-rank or higher in both instances.
After studying the rules of the lottery wheel, he spun it for the first time in his life.
The wheel was divided into several sections with unclear meanings. There was a 60% chance of getting a white item, 20% for a green item, 10% for a purple item, 5% for “Thank You for Your Patronage,” 2% for a black item, 2% for a red item, and 1% for a gold or silver item.
‘I don’t know what the different colors represent… but at least I’ll get a white item,’ Lin Huai thought, stroking his chin. “Chu Tian said his wrench came from here.”
Boys who smile often have good luck. Lin Huai, deeply adhering to the famous words of Gu Long, spun the wheel.
“Congratulations, dear player! You’ve won ‘Thank You for Your Patronage!’”
Lin Huai: ……
He refused to believe it and spun again, silently chanting, “Away with bad luck.” This time, Lady Luck seemed to finally favor him. The wheel clattered around three times, and a purple light flashed. An item appeared on the sofa.
“Congratulations, dear player! You’ve won the ‘Damage Gloves’!”
Damage Gloves
Quality: Purple
Effect: When in contact with the hands of a Nether Being, they cause continuous burning damage.
Lin Huai, who had just picked up the gloves and read the item description, looked at his now-burned hands: ……
He nearly threw the gloves down in frustration and spun the wheel again—
“Your lottery spins have been used up.”
Lin Huai: ……
Just as Lin Huai was about to smash the lottery wheel, a countdown started in his mind: “Teleportation in 10 seconds, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6…”
When it reached “3,” a spark of inspiration from his nerve endings made him turn around. His gaze landed on a corner of the white room.
There, in the previously empty corner, stood a black door!
The black door was sealed with layers of chains, exuding an ancient and ominous aura. It was as if… something was locked inside.
“Two…”
He didn’t have time to investigate further. The countdown reached “One.”
After a whirl of disorientation, he found himself back on the wasteland in the western suburbs. Staggering a few steps, Lin Huai barely managed to steady himself.
He took a deep breath and flipped the sky the bird.
“F***ing game!”
After uttering this censored remark, he straightened up. The white card belonging to Yan Xi, which the system had defaulted to as his instance reward, now lay in his 20-slot system inventory.
The scene before him was bathed in a blood-red sunset. Lin Huai checked his phone and realized that ten minutes had passed in the real world since he entered the game. His three teammates had long disappeared, and as evening approached, he was the only one left on this desolate land.
He had arrived here by taking a taxi from near the subway station. It was afternoon when he hailed the cab, and the driver, though puzzled why a young man like him was heading to such a remote, barren place, didn’t make a fuss about it, given the fare. Now, going back was harder than coming. Lin Huai walked three kilometers along the road, topping his WeChat step count, without spotting a single vehicle to take him back.
With less than eleven hours left before his 10 AM Material Mechanics exam, Lin Huai’s mood was as dark as it could get.
It wasn’t until midnight that he finally saw a taxi. In the dead of night, he didn’t bother considering his or the driver’s safety and stood by the roadside, waving at the approaching car.
The driver was Chen Wei. Two hours ago, he had picked up a girl from the train station who had come to S City for work. Taking advantage of her unfamiliarity with the area, he drove her around for an hour before dropping her off at her destination. Faced with her tearful curse of “You’ll get your karma,” Chen Wei laughed heartily and said, “I’m a rough guy. Why would I be scared of you?”
Thinking this, he chatted with his buddies on the radio and took a shortcut toward where he was supposed to return the car. This shortcut passed through a desolate area and a development zone. Rumor had it that on the nearby mountain, there was a newly built cemetery. Most drivers avoided this route at night.
But Chen Wei was in a good mood after making some money, so he ignored these taboos.
Halfway through, his headlights flashed, and suddenly, a person appeared on the road. Chen Wei, distracted by his conversation, hadn’t been paying attention to the road. Startled, he slammed on the brakes. As soon as the car stopped, he yelled, “Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”
The person he was yelling at was a young man over 1.7 meters tall, pale-faced (from panic about the exam in ten hours), and cold in demeanor (from frustration with the game and the long walk). Nonetheless, he was polite. The young man knocked on the car window and said amiably, “Excuse me, could I get a ride? To S University.”
Chen Wei was about to respond amiably with a curse—but then he thought, since he was returning the car anyway, he might as well earn some extra cash. He nodded, unlocked the car, and let the young man in.
The young man sat in the back row, silent. Chen Wei glanced at his white shirt and pale face through the rearview mirror and couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
It’s late at night, and someone’s hailing a taxi in the middle of nowhere… Where did he come from, and where’s he going?
Chen Wei turned on the overhead light and struck up a conversation: “Hey kid, where’d you come from?”
The young man replied listlessly, “From up there.”
Up there? The mountain? Chen Wei’s body tensed. The mountain… other than a barren wasteland, only had a newly built cemetery.
A strange sense of dread washed over him. Chen Wei chuckled nervously and said, “Up there, huh? That’s quite a walk. How long did it take you?”
“Not long,” the young man said. “Just walked alone… for a few hours.”
“In the middle of the night…” Chen Wei felt a chill. “What were you doing up there? Visiting a relative?”
“No…” The young man’s voice was faint. “It was… my own business.”
Chen Wei: ……
He shakily turned off the car’s air conditioning. As he did, the young man in the back let out a soft sigh.
“Ah…” he said. “Ten more hours…”
Chen Wei’s voice trembled. “Ten more hours… until what?”
Lin Huai thought about his Material Mechanics exam and answered honestly and weakly, “Death…”
An hour later, Lin Huai was back at the university.
To his surprise, the driver not only didn’t charge him but also hurriedly urged him to get out before speeding off. Lin Huai only had time to pull out a wad of bills from his pocket and place them on the backseat.
After waking up the dormitory auntie and entering the building, Lin Huai tiptoed into his room, where his roommates were sound asleep. While brushing his teeth, he suddenly remembered something and checked his pants pocket.
‘It’s not here anymore,’ Lin Huai frowned. ‘Strange, did I throw that wad of cash into the taxi earlier?’
Even though the game had told him that he couldn’t bring in-game currency into the real world, Lin Huai, with his insatiable curiosity, had stuffed a handful of cash into his pocket before leaving the game as an experiment.
Now that the money was left in the taxi, whether it could be used in real life was anyone’s guess. Lin Huai sighed deeply and, with the Material Mechanics exam looming, climbed into bed and fell asleep.
‘I’ll try again next time…’ he thought.
Meanwhile, the car radio was buzzing with a story from an anonymous taxi driver about a supernatural encounter:
“Tonight, I picked up a passenger—a man in white. His face was ghostly pale. When I asked where he came from, he said he climbed out of the cemetery. When I asked where he was going, he said to die… And when he got out, he threw a handful of joss paper at me. It was terrifying…”
