Chapter 1: F-Rank Talent, Death Call

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[Welcome to the Strange World. This is a cursed realm, and you will enter it as a player.]
[Remember, in this world, humans occupy the lowest rung on the food chain. To the strange beings, you are the most delectable fare. For survival, strive to complete tasks and win their favor.]
[Note: There is no death in this world. If you are eliminated, you will descend into even more terrifying instances and face more hopeless trials.]
[Your initial instance has been matched—The Crimson Apartment.]

Inside the room, it was as if a drop of ink had fallen into a bowl of clear water: dim and impenetrable to light.

Ji Yan opened his eyes.

His mind crashed at once.

He had bought many scratch cards, never winning more than twenty coins, and now, against odds of one in ten million, he had struck a prize.

Perhaps this was what people called the chosen one...

Ji Yan’s smile was tinged with bitterness.

At that moment, a virtual game panel popped up before his eyes.

[When dawn comes, the strange beings will awaken. Use your time wisely to familiarize yourself with the environment and learn about the strangeness—this will increase your chances of survival.]

[There are three players in Room 404 and three strange beings. Each interaction with them triggers different tasks. If you fail to complete these, you will face varying degrees of punishment.]

Hesitation leads only to defeat.

Rather than despair and cry, it’s better to rally quickly and figure out how to survive.

Ji Yan slapped his cheeks, surveyed the shabby room, and then stepped outside.

Soon, he discovered two others in the living room—clearly, the other two players.

They were eating sticky, unpleasant-looking food at the dining table. Despite its revolting appearance, they ate rapidly, barely chewing, only swallowing.

This manner of eating was purely to fill their stomachs.

The female player noticed Ji Yan and froze for a moment.

The male player didn’t even glance at him, continuing to eat grimly.

“Well, this is novel.”

“How long has it been since we’ve had a new player in this little apartment?”

The girl, her hair in twin ponytails and her face fresh and pretty, sized Ji Yan up with surprise.

The boy tore a piece of black, mushy meat and glanced at her, sneering, “Why worry so much? It’s not like new players haven’t come before.”

“Use this time to fill your belly. Once those strange beings wake, even getting a sip of water will be hard!”

On hearing this, the girl quickly lowered her head and resumed eating ravenously.

Ji Yan walked over, examining the food in the bowl.

The boy pulled the tray closer, guarding it, his gaze icy. “This is our food, not yours.”

“If you want to eat, complete a task yourself!”

He had little patience for new players.

These newcomers knew nothing of the rules. If you helped them, they grew dependent—any trouble, they’d come looking for you, dragging you down with them.

A total liability.

“I just want to understand the rules of this instance.”

Ji Yan had the self-awareness of a new player; the two before him were clearly veterans who had survived here for some time.

In such an unfamiliar environment, finding any useful information was impossible, so he could only try to glean something from the veterans...

The boy scoffed and said nothing.

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The girl, however, believed in helping new players—perhaps they might help her in the future. There’s strength in numbers, after all.

She summarized simply, “Inside this house, we play the roles of children. The three strange beings are the father, mother, and grandmother. If you want to live here and get food, you must complete the tasks they assign every day, without fail.”

“Oh, by the way, I’m Yi Tong Liu, and he’s Dong Chu.”

Dong Chu scowled at hearing his name mentioned.

He shot her a sarcastic look. “Beautiful Liu, have you forgotten what happened with the last new player you helped?”

“He stuck to you like glue afterward, dragged you along whenever he tripped an alarm, and you still haven’t learned your lesson?”

He cursed inwardly that this woman never learned.

At the mention of the previous new player, Yi Tong Liu’s pretty face darkened.

She glanced at Ji Yan, said nothing more, and continued eating the last of her food.

Dong Chu suddenly remembered something and, unexpectedly, spoke to Ji Yan: “Every player has a [Trait Talent]. Open your personal info panel and check your level.”

Trait Talent: every player had one.

It was a sort of welfare mechanism, divided into four levels: A, B, C, and D. The higher the level, the better the trait, and the more privileges you enjoyed in the instance.

Although Dong Chu disliked new players,

If a newcomer awakened a good talent, they could be extremely useful in the instance—even more so than many veterans.

So he gave it a try.

Let’s see if this rookie has any value.

Yi Tong Liu chimed in, “Right. For example, my talent is C-level, called [Innate Charm], a passive trait.”

“In any instance, my appearance is more favored by the strange beings than other players. In short, my favorability is 5% higher than the average player.”

“Don’t underestimate that 5% chance. In one task, another player and I triggered an alarm together. The strange being had to choose one as punishment.”

“In the end, because I was more likable, the other one was unlucky!”

As she spoke, her pretty face showed a hint of pride.

Dong Chu muttered, “Rather ironic—even in the world of strangeness, looks matter.”

Ji Yan opened his info panel.

He skipped past the basic stats, eyes landing on the last column: [Trait Talent], where a glaring [F] appeared.

“F??”

Ji Yan was stunned.

“What! Isn’t D-level the lowest? How’s there an F?”

Even the two veterans were taken aback by the F-level talent.

D-level talents were so weak as to be almost useless.

For example, someone’s D-level talent—[Lightning Speed]—the privilege allowed “teleportation” in the instance.

On paper, amazing, but in reality, it only teleported you two centimeters—no different from having none.

Another joke of a D-level talent—[Invisible], allowed “invisibility” in the instance, but as soon as you approached a player or a strange being, the effect vanished.

These trait talents all seemed promising, but once tagged as D-level, they suffered epic nerfs!

D-level was already the bottom of the barrel; one could hardly imagine how bad F-level could be.

Dong Chu’s brow furrowed, and whatever faint goodwill he had disappeared. He no longer wanted any association with such bad luck.

An F-level talent might even harm nearby players; let him fend for himself.

Yi Tong Liu’s gaze held a trace of pity, but she was less calculating and instinctively comforted him.

“Don’t lose heart. It’s better than nothing. What matters is the player’s own ability.”

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Ji Yan wondered if he was cursed.

Unwilling to give up, he clicked to view the talent details.

[Talent: Passive, F-level.]
[Name: Know It All.]
[Details: By making eye contact, you can see the underwear of all strange beings and players.]

Ji Yan’s vision went dark.

Alright.

This talent was certainly ridiculous!

But then, a notification sounded in his mind.

“Ding! Player has successfully awakened talent, F-level. Due to a bug, this talent is abandoned.”

“Bug activated. Your talent has been modified—”

[Talent Name: Omniscient Insight.]
[Talent Details: By touching a personal item of a strange being, you can obtain all their hidden information.]

A few simple lines, but Ji Yan stared dumbfounded.

So F-level really meant this!

But how could a bugged, abandoned talent be awakened by him?

He didn’t know.

Yet the talent’s details spoke for themselves: it was incredibly valuable.

He could probe all the hidden information of the strange beings!

This meant he wouldn’t have to risk his life, as other players did, to painstakingly gather tidbits of information for strategy.

He only needed to touch an item, and he could uncover every secret of the strange beings!

Ji Yan didn’t reveal the bug in his talent.

A trump card, after all, should be hidden whenever possible.

Showing off only satisfies vanity and brings no real benefit.

A flower in full bloom draws attention, but it withers just as quickly when plucked.

At that moment, the mottled clock chimed again, six times in total.

Six o’clock—dawn.

The strange beings awoke!

The moment before, Dong Chu and Yi Tong Liu were eating; the next, like soldiers hearing a call to assemble, they swiftly cleared the table and hurried into the corridor leading to the bedrooms.

Ji Yan followed, hearing strange noises at the doors.

Strange, because it sounded like something sharp scraping across the door, painfully shrill.

As Ji Yan caught a whiff of decay in the air, a hoarse voice, as if torn from a throat, drifted from the pitch-black corridor...

“Is there a new child today? Come to Father’s room and let me see what you’re made of.”

Ji Yan’s mouth twitched.

Seriously—

The first words upon waking are a summons for him?