Chapter 2: Ruins Game
"Hajimi wo nanbei luduo, ashiga yakunaru..."
The hypnotic, abstract, and upbeat tune echoed through the elevator, instantly shattering the previous eerie atmosphere and slightly easing Lin An's fear.
Forcing himself to calm down, Lin An began to carefully observe the bizarre situation.
He had to admit that once the music changed, the horror movie vibe didn't seem quite as scary anymore. When the now-composed Lin An looked at the eerie old woman with the cat face again, he noticed her figure had become much more translucent than before.
"Could it be... a fake?"
As the thought flashed through his mind, the scene before him rapidly shifted. When he looked around again, Lin An realized that he had somehow walked out of the elevator and returned to the vicinity of his rented apartment!
At the same time, a sharp, intense pain suddenly shot up from his calf!
Looking down, Lin An discovered a black cat with a human face was rapidly and relentlessly gnawing on his calf!
"Damn it!"
He kicked the unknown Monstrosity away. In the next moment, Lin An raised his baseball bat high and unleashed a New Year's Greeting Strike!
*Bang!*
A crisp sound rang out as the heavy, powerful blow landed directly on the creature's bizarre head!
Watching the Man-Faced Cat "fall asleep" on the spot—its corpse slowly dissolving into the air without leaving a trace—Lin An finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Not lingering in the hallway, Lin An picked up the supplies he had just bought along with his baseball bat and quickly returned to his apartment.
Although he didn't know how long he had been in the Illusory Realm, only a brief moment had passed from the time he broke the illusion to the killing of the Man-Faced Cat, so his phone was still ringing.
He tapped to answer.
"Hello, is this Student Lin?"
"I'm the HR from Yuanming Game Company in Linjiang City. Our records show you missed the personality test written exam we scheduled. Did you forget?"
"Missed the exam?"
Hearing this, Lin An was slightly stunned.
If he had missed the game company's exam, then what exactly was it that he had passed earlier?
But before Lin An could think deeper, a line of pale blue text suddenly floated before his eyes.
[Game Countdown: 5:00]
What's going on?
Could it still be an illusion? Is the Man-Faced Cat not dead?
His confusion grew, but seeing the countdown ticking away second by second, a sense of urgency involuntarily welled up in Lin An's heart.
"I'm sorry, something came up unexpectedly..."
After brushing them off with a few words and hanging up, Lin An quickly took out some antiseptic to clean the darkening, bleeding wound on his calf, then rapidly wrapped it with a few layers of bandages.
[Game Countdown: 2:30]
Two and a half minutes. What could he do in that time?
Lin An didn't think for long. He quickly grabbed several items he might need.
Lighter, baseball bat, knife, chocolate... He stuffed the smaller items directly into his pockets, swallowed a few candies, and gripped the baseball bat tightly in his right hand.
[Game Countdown: 00:59]
With less than a minute left on the countdown, he felt that such a mysterious phenomenon should probably be handled by an equally supernatural existence.
So, after pondering for a while, Lin An began to pray silently in his heart.
"Three Pure Ones above, Buddha bless me, ancestors manifest... Prosperity, democracy, civility, and..."
At that moment, the countdown slowly reached its end.
3... 2... 1... As the text before him vanished, time seemed to freeze, suddenly falling into absolute stillness.
The surrounding space, like shattered glass, developed dense, web-like black cracks.
A faint cracking sound seemed to ring out, and the world completely shattered.
His consciousness plunged into darkness at that same moment... "Where the hell did this take me?"
Inside a crude thatched hut, the awakened Lin An quickly sat up from the bed, his eyes filled with confusion as he surveyed his surroundings.
It was a dilapidated, drafty thatched hut, with an area barely larger than a single bed.
If Du Fu saw this, he'd probably stay up all night rewriting "Song of My Cottage Unroofed by Autumn Gales" into "Rhapsody on E-pang Palace."
Quickly scanning the room, Lin An soon discovered that his baseball bat, phone, and other items had vanished. Even the clothes on his body had been changed at some point.
However, he could confirm that his body was still his own, as the calf bitten by the Man-Faced Cat was still throbbing with pain—it even seemed to have worsened.
Just as Lin An was wondering what was happening, that mechanical voice rang out once more.
[Welcome to the Ruins World.]
[Congratulations on participating in the closed beta of this game. Next, you only need to survive for one day and kill any one Monstrosity to obtain official player status.]
[First, a disclaimer: dying during the game period will not result in actual death, but it will erase relevant memories and completely disqualify you from becoming a player.]
[Next, please keep the following precautions in mind:
First: You can summon the game panel through your thoughts.
Second: The night is extremely dangerous; remember not to stay in the dark for long periods.
Third: The Land of Guixu is the end of all things, where disasters beyond common sense occur frequently.
Fourth: During the game, time in reality remains frozen.
Fifth: Initial player identities are randomized, but rest assured, they generally won't be very good.
Sixth: Do not reveal your player identity.
Seventh: Everything obtained in the game can be brought back to reality.
Finally, we wish all players good luck.]
Closed beta, frozen time?
And things obtained in the game can be brought back to reality?
After quickly catching these keywords, Lin An couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement alongside his shock.
Just as that strange question had suggested, the change... it was really coming!
"Hiss... it hurts a bit."
But before Lin An could enjoy his excitement for long, the pain from his calf instantly pulled him back to reality.
Looking down at the wound, he saw the black toxin continuously spreading outward. With a thought, Lin An mentally chanted "Panel."
A pale blue screen immediately appeared before his eyes.
Perhaps because it was still in the closed beta, there weren't many functions on the panel.
It was mainly divided into four major sections: [Player], [Inventory], [Friends], and [Forum]. Among them, [Friends] and [Forum] were grayed out and temporarily inaccessible.
Besides that, there was a line of ticking text in the top right corner.
[Return Countdown: 23:55:55]
The countdown was decreasing second by second. If Lin An guessed correctly, he would return to reality when it ended, which perfectly matched the earlier mission requirement to survive for one day.
He clicked on the Player module, and a new interface appeared.
[Player: Lin An
Level: 1
Experience: 50% (Slew a Level 2 Man-Faced Cat above your level; experience increased by 50%)
Essence (constitution): 5 (Normal humans range from 4-6)
Qi (Energy): 0
Spirit (Spirit): 8 (Normal humans range from 4-6)
Current Status: Light Injury, Poisoned!]
Looking at his panel, Lin An fell into deep thought.
A human's Essence, Qi, and Spirit corresponded to the three major categories of constitution, energy, and Spirit. constitution and Spirit were easy to understand.
As for energy, Lin An speculated it might be something like internal strength from wuxia novels, mana from xianxia novels, or perhaps Dou Qi from xuanhuan novels.