Lin Xi stood in the classroom and forced herself to breathe normally, even though her lungs felt tight as if someone had placed a hand around her throat. The chalkboard still displayed her name, the letters slightly smudged as if they had been written by a hand that wasn't quite steady. The air was stale, like a room that hadn't been opened in years, but it wasn't the smell of neglect that made her uneasy. It was the feeling of being watched, the sensation that the shadows in the corners were not just dark shapes but something waiting to move.
Her phone was still in her hand, still live, still streaming her in a world that did not belong to her. The chat messages on the screen were no longer typed by strangers but appeared like glowing text, as if the world itself was speaking through the interface. The words floated in front of her, slightly blurred at the edges, and she could almost feel the energy of them, as if the messages had weight.
The word "WATCHERS" was written on the paper in the box, and it sat in her mind like a stone.
Watchers. Who were they? What did they want?
Lin Xi walked slowly to the front of the room, keeping her eyes on the chalkboard. She tried to treat this like a normal situation, like a livestream challenge or a prank, but her mind kept rebelling. Nothing about this was normal. The room didn't feel real. The shadows didn't behave like shadows. Even her own breathing sounded wrong in the silence.
She stared at the chalkboard again, at the letters forming her name. She leaned closer, noticing details she hadn't seen before. The chalk wasn't just scribbled on. It looked carved, etched, as if the board itself had been scratched to create the letters. The "L" in Lin was slightly taller than the other letters, and the "X" in Xi had a small diagonal mark on the lower right. It was subtle, but once she noticed it, she couldn't unsee it.
She straightened up and looked at her phone.
The chat was scrolling, but not as fast as before. It felt deliberate, like the messages were being typed with intention. She could feel the weight of each word, the pressure behind them.
"Find the first viewer."
"Find the first viewer."
"Find the first viewer."
Lin Xi swallowed. "Okay," she said quietly, speaking to the air as much as to the chat. "But… who is the first viewer?"
The messages appeared again, one after another.
"Follow the sound."
"Listen for the heartbeat."
"Find the one closest to the camera."
Lin Xi's heart rate increased. Closest to the camera. The camera was in her phone, which she was holding in her hand. She looked at her own reflection in the screen. Her face looked pale and tense, the ring light in the phone camera making her eyes shine too brightly.
She had always treated her phone as a tool, a device. But now it felt like a part of her body. The idea that the first viewer could be something tied to her phone made her skin crawl.
"Closest to the camera," she repeated, trying to keep her voice steady. "So… the first viewer is here, in this room?"
The chat responded with a flood of messages, some urgent, some mocking.
"Duh, it's right there!"
"Maybe it's a hidden camera."
"Maybe the first viewer is YOU."
"Streamer, don't be stupid."
Lin Xi frowned. "Me?"
The chat went silent for a moment, and then a system message appeared on the screen.
[TASK UPDATED]
[FIND THE FIRST VIEWER]
[HINT: THE FIRST VIEWER IS A CONNECTION]
Lin Xi's throat tightened. A connection. Not a person. A connection.
She looked around the room. The desks, the chalkboard, the shadows. The classroom was empty, but the air felt thick with something unseen. The shadows in the corners seemed to press closer, like the room was narrowing around her.
She walked back to the desk and picked up the black card again. The sentence "YOUR NAME IS YOUR FIRST CLUE" stared up at her, and for the first time, she understood why the chalkboard letters had been written with such care. Her name wasn't just a label. It was a key.
She tried to think of the meaning behind her name, but the answer wasn't obvious. Lin Xi. A common name, nothing special. She had never thought about it. She had never considered that her name could be important in a way that mattered beyond identity.
The chat shifted again, messages appearing like whispers.
"Remember the first stream."
"Remember the first viewer."
"Remember the first time you felt alive."
Lin Xi's breath caught. Her mind flashed back to the first time she went live.
She was young and awkward, with a shaky voice and too much anxiety. She had no followers, no fans, nothing. She had started streaming because she didn't know what else to do. She had been lonely and desperate for attention. She had hoped the internet would give her a reason to exist.
She remembered the first comment that had appeared.
"Nice."
It had been so simple. Just one word. But it had meant something to her. It had made her feel seen. It had made her feel like she mattered.
She had never known who wrote it.
She had never known who the first viewer was.
And now she was in a world where the first viewer mattered more than she could have imagined.
The chat messages appeared again, and this time they felt heavier, as if the words were pressing against her skin.
"THE FIRST VIEWER IS NOT A PERSON."
"THE FIRST VIEWER IS A CONNECTION."
"THE CONNECTION IS YOUR PHONE."
Lin Xi stared at the screen, her mind racing. Her phone. The device she had always used to stream herself to the world. The device that now felt like a portal. A connection to something else.
She looked down at her phone and noticed something she hadn't before. The streaming interface had changed. The usual icons for likes, gifts, and comments were gone. Instead, there was a small symbol in the corner: a seven-pointed star, the same symbol that had been on the wax seal of the envelope.
Lin Xi's hands trembled. "What is this?" she whispered.
A system message appeared again.
[THE FIRST VIEWER IS THE ONE WHO WATCHES YOU WITHOUT BEING SEEN.]
[THE FIRST VIEWER IS THE FIRST CONNECTION YOU MADE TO THE LIVE WORLD.]
[YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN WATCHED.]
Lin Xi's heart pounded. She felt a cold wave of nausea. "That's impossible," she said, but her voice sounded small and weak. "That's not possible."
The shadows in the room seemed to shift. The air grew colder, and the feeling of being watched intensified. Lin Xi could feel eyes on her from every corner, though she couldn't see anyone.
She took a step backward, her foot scraping against the floor. The sound echoed in the room, sharp and lonely.
The chat messages appeared again, but this time they were different. They weren't just instructions. They were questions.
"Do you remember the first time you were watched?"
"Do you remember the first time you felt like someone was behind you?"
"Do you remember the night you lost your voice?"
Lin Xi's throat tightened. She had not told anyone about that night. No one knew. Not even her closest friends. It was a memory she had tried to bury.
But now the Live World was bringing it up, like it was a clue.
She swallowed hard, forcing herself to speak. "Yes," she said, her voice shaking. "I remember."
The chat went quiet again, and the silence was worse than the noise. It felt like the world was holding its breath, waiting for her to admit something she didn't want to admit.
Lin Xi looked at the chalkboard, at her name. The letters were still there, but now they felt like a puzzle. She leaned closer again and stared at the "X" in Xi. The small scratch on the lower right. It looked like a tiny arrow pointing downward.
She frowned. "What does that mean?"
The system message appeared again.
[CLUE FOUND]
[THE FIRST VIEWER IS THE ONE WHO MADE YOU REALIZE YOU WERE BEING WATCHED.]
[THE FIRST VIEWER IS THE NIGHT YOU LOST YOUR VOICE.]
[THE FIRST VIEWER IS THE SHADOW YOU TRIED TO IGNORE.]
Lin Xi's skin prickled. The night she lost her voice. The shadow. The feeling of being watched.
She remembered the night clearly now. She had been streaming late at night, trying to reach more viewers. She had been tired, her voice cracking. She had heard a sound behind her, like someone moving. She had turned around, and for a moment she thought she saw a figure. A shadow, shaped like a person, holding a phone. The shadow had smiled at her, and she had felt a strange fear, like the fear of being seen by someone who shouldn't be there.
She had screamed.
Her voice had gone hoarse.
She had never streamed again that night.
She had never told anyone what happened.
Now, the Live World was telling her that the shadow was her first viewer.
Lin Xi's hands shook. "No," she whispered. "No, that can't be."
The shadow in the corner moved slightly, like a person shifting in a seat. Lin Xi's eyes darted to it, and she saw it more clearly now. The shape was of a girl with long hair and a hoodie, holding a phone. The shadow's face was blank, but it felt like it was looking at her.
The shadow raised its phone, and the screen glowed. Lin Xi could see her own live stream on the shadow's screen. The viewer count was visible.
It was increasing.
Not by thousands. Not by hundreds.
By one.
Lin Xi stared at the screen, her stomach dropping. The viewer count climbed slowly, as if someone was counting her. One. Two. Three. Four.
The chat messages appeared again, and this time they were frantic.
"THE VIEWER COUNT IS CHANGING."
"THE FIRST VIEWER IS WATCHING YOU NOW."
"DON'T LET IT REACH SEVEN."
Lin Xi's mouth went dry. "Seven?" she whispered.
The system message appeared.
[THE LIVE WORLD IS BASED ON SEVEN.]
[YOU HAVE SEVEN DAYS.]
[YOU HAVE SEVEN TASKS.]
[YOU HAVE SEVEN VIEWERS.]
Lin Xi's heart hammered in her chest. "Seven viewers," she repeated, her voice trembling. "So the first viewer is one of seven."
The shadow's phone screen changed again. A new message appeared, written in the same scratched font as before.
YOUR FIRST VIEWER IS HERE.
Lin Xi swallowed hard. "Is that you?" she asked the shadow.
The shadow tilted its head slightly, as if acknowledging her question. Then the phone screen displayed a new message.
PROVE YOU ARE WORTH WATCHING.
Lin Xi felt a cold dread wash over her. "How?" she whispered.
The voice on the microphone spoke again, calm and measured.
"Understanding is the key," it said. "Not strength. Not speed. Understanding."
Lin Xi stared at the microphone, feeling the weight of the words. "What do you mean?"
The voice replied, "The Live World is not a game you win by running. It is a game you win by knowing. By remembering. By seeing what you refused to see."
Lin Xi's hands tightened around her phone. "So what do I do?"
The chat messages appeared again, like a tide of whispers.
"Find the clue."
"Find the first viewer's name."
"Find the truth."
Lin Xi looked around the room again, searching for something that could be a clue. The chalkboard, the desks, the shadows. Everything felt like it was part of a puzzle, but she didn't know which piece to pick up.
She walked slowly to the chalkboard, her footsteps echoing in the silent room. The letters on the board seemed to shimmer faintly, as if the chalk was alive.
She reached out and touched the board.
The chalk dust felt cold under her fingers. She drew her finger along the letters, and the chalk began to smear, revealing something underneath. Another layer of writing. Faint, almost invisible, like it had been hidden there for years.
Lin Xi's eyes widened.
Underneath her name, there was another word.
BETTER.
Lin Xi stared at the word, her heart pounding.
Better than what?
The chat messages appeared again, more urgent than before.
"BETTER THAN WHO YOU WERE."
"THE LIVE WORLD WANTS YOU TO BE BETTER."
"THE FIRST VIEWER IS THE ONE WHO MADE YOU WANT TO BE BETTER."
Lin Xi's breath caught. "You want me to be better?" she whispered.
The voice on the microphone replied, almost softly, "Better than the version of yourself that ignored the shadow."
Lin Xi's mind raced. She thought of the night she lost her voice. She thought of the shadow. She thought of the first comment, the first viewer, the first moment she felt seen.
The Live World wasn't just trapping her. It was forcing her to confront something she had avoided.
She turned away from the chalkboard and looked at the shadow again.
The shadow's phone screen lit up.
A new message appeared.
ASK.
Lin Xi's eyes narrowed. "Ask what?" she asked.
The shadow did not speak. Instead, the room seemed to shift. The air grew colder. The shadows in the corners moved closer, as if the room was tightening around her.
The chat messages filled the screen again, but now they were not instructions. They were warnings.
"DON'T ASK."
"ASK AND YOU WILL REGRET IT."
"THE FIRST VIEWER IS NOT A FRIEND."
Lin Xi swallowed hard. "Then what do I do?" she whispered.
The voice on the microphone spoke again.
"You must find the first viewer's name," it said. "You must call them. You must acknowledge them."
Lin Xi's stomach dropped. "Call them? How?"
The voice replied, "Use the connection."
Lin Xi stared at her phone. The connection. The live stream. The interface. The seven-pointed star symbol.
She felt a sudden urge to turn the phone around, to point the camera at herself, to see if the first viewer was somehow inside the screen.
She lifted the phone, hands shaking, and turned it to face her.
Her own face filled the screen. The camera captured every detail, every tremor of her lips, every flicker of fear in her eyes. But behind her reflection, something else appeared.
A shadow. A shape. A girl with long hair and a hoodie, holding a phone.
The shadow was standing directly behind her, but it was only visible in the camera.
Lin Xi froze.
The chat exploded.
"THERE SHE IS!"
"THE FIRST VIEWER IS BEHIND YOU!"
"TURN AROUND!"
"NO, DON'T TURN AROUND!"
Lin Xi's breath caught. Her hands trembled so badly the phone shook.
She turned her head slowly.
Nothing.
No one.
Just empty classroom, desks, shadows.
She looked back at the phone screen.
The shadow was still there.
It smiled.
Then it raised its phone, and the screen on its phone showed Lin Xi's stream again, like an endless mirror.
The viewer count increased.
Five.
Six.
Lin Xi's heart slammed against her ribs.
The chat messages flooded the screen, frantic and loud.
"IT'S ALMOST SEVEN!"
"THE FIRST VIEWER IS NEAR!"
"THE LIVE WORLD IS COUNTING!"
Lin Xi's mouth went dry. "Seven… what happens at seven?" she whispered.
The system message appeared.
[THE SEVENTH VIEWER IS THE FINAL JUDGE.]
[IF THE SEVENTH VIEWER ARRIVES, YOUR GAME ENDS.]
[YOU MUST FIND THE FIRST VIEWER BEFORE THE SEVENTH ARRIVES.]
Lin Xi's skin prickled. "So I have to find the first viewer before the seventh?"
The voice on the microphone replied, "Yes. Or you will be watched forever."
Lin Xi's mind spun. She felt a wave of fear so strong it made her knees weak. She had no idea what "watched forever" meant, but she knew it wasn't good.
She looked at the chalkboard again. The word "BETTER" still sat beneath her name, like a warning.
The shadows in the corners seemed to move closer, like they were leaning in to listen.
Lin Xi's hands shook. "Okay," she whispered. "Okay. I'll do it."
The voice on the microphone responded calmly, as if she had just agreed to a simple task.
"Good," it said. "Now, remember. The first viewer is not a person."
Lin Xi's breath caught. "Then what is it?"
The voice paused, as if savoring the moment.
"The first viewer is the moment you first realized you were being watched," it said. "It is the moment you became aware. It is the moment you became a performer."
Lin Xi stared at the phone, at the stream, at the shadow behind her in the camera.
She realized something.
The Live World wasn't just a place. It was a mirror.
It was forcing her to face the part of herself that had always wanted to be seen.
The part of herself that had never admitted it.
The part of herself that had become a streamer to avoid being alone.
Lin Xi's heart pounded. She looked at the chalkboard again, at the letters of her name, at the word "BETTER."
She whispered, "So the first viewer… is me."
The shadow in the camera smiled wider.
The chat messages appeared again, but this time they were not instructions. They were almost… sympathetic.
"Now you understand."
"Now you see."
"Now you are part of the show."
Lin Xi's hands trembled. She felt a strange mix of fear and anger, like a fire igniting inside her chest.
She looked at the shadow again, and this time she did not look away.
She whispered, "If I'm the first viewer… then why are you here?"
The shadow's phone screen lit up with a new message.
"BECAUSE YOU INVITED ME."
Lin Xi's breath caught. "I didn't invite you."
The shadow's phone screen changed again.
"YOU DID. THE NIGHT YOU LOST YOUR VOICE."
Lin Xi's vision blurred. She remembered the night again, the fear, the scream, the shadow. She remembered how she had tried to ignore it, how she had pretended it was nothing.
She had invited the shadow into her life by acknowledging it in fear.
She had made it real.
The chat messages appeared again, and this time they were quiet, almost reverent.
"THE FIRST VIEWER IS THE SHADOW YOU CREATED."
"THE FIRST VIEWER IS YOUR FEAR."
"THE FIRST VIEWER IS YOURSELF."
Lin Xi's heart hammered. She felt the world shift around her, like the classroom was moving closer, like the shadows were pressing in.
She knew then that the Live World was not just about survival.
It was about confession.
It was about admitting the truth she had buried.
And if she didn't find the first viewer—if she didn't accept it—she would be trapped in the live stream forever, watched by seven viewers, each one waiting for her to break.
The timer on her phone blinked.
[DAY 1: 20:42 REMAINING]
Lin Xi's breath caught. She had less than a day to find the first viewer.
She looked at the shadow in the camera one last time.
Then she did something she had never done in her life.
She spoke directly to the screen.
"Okay," she whispered, voice trembling but determined. "I see you."
The shadow's smile widened.
The chat messages appeared, and for the first time, they felt like a warning rather than a joke.
"GOOD."
"NOW YOU MUST FIND THE SECOND CLUE."
"THE SECOND CLUE IS IN THE ROOM YOU FEAR MOST."
Lin Xi's skin prickled.
She looked around the classroom, and her eyes fell on the door.
The door that hadn't opened earlier.
The door that had no handle.
The door that seemed to be waiting.
She took a step toward it, her heart pounding.
And as she reached for the door, the shadows in the corners moved as one, like a tide.
The room went darker.
The chalkboard letters glowed faintly.
And the voice on the microphone spoke again, calm as ever.
"Your first task is complete," it said. "Now the show truly begins."