Ye Shu's stomach grumbled with hunger, unreeling the plaintive song of an empty fortress. She was certain that, back in the subway station, much more than half an hour had passed. Perhaps time flowed at a different pace in the eerie domain, a place whose rules bore no resemblance to reality.

She found a restaurant and, after a hearty meal, managed to satisfy her hunger—if only barely. After paying the bill, she counted her remaining funds: just 1,700 left. That pitiful sum would hardly be enough to survive ten days in this world.

Ye Shu located a nearby hotel. The moment she stepped inside, she ran into a familiar face.

The man wore a suit of pale pink and white. His handsome face was softened by a hint of tenderness, but the moment his eyes settled on Ye Shu, contempt flickered across them, as if she were something filthy.

'Ye Shu, I can’t believe you’d come to a place like this. You’re not here to...work, are you?' He let out a derisive laugh. 'The illustrious lady of the Ye family, reduced to this?' 'Ye Shu, just beg me, and I, Young Master Zhou, might deign to toss you a hundred thousand. How about it?' Zhou Zilang lifted his brows languidly, a cocky grin curling his lips, eyes full of open disdain.

Beneath the girl’s willow-shaped brows, a pair of clear, innocent round eyes glimmered like stars, momentarily clouded by incredulity. Her slender frame trembled ever so slightly.

Meeting that watery gaze, Zhou Zilang’s heart suddenly softened. Had he—perhaps—gone too far? He too had once been young and reckless. What had Ye Shu really done? She had only rejected his confession, and, to top it off, had security throw him out the door that day.

'Young Master Zhou, are you being serious? You’ll keep your word?' Ye Shu’s heart leapt with delight. Just when she needed a pillow, here came one floating her way. Who else should she swindle if not this soft-headed Zhou Zilang? Strange old grudges paled in comparison to sheer survival.

'Of course I’m serious. I promise.' Zhou Zilang, lost in reminiscences of their past, agreed without thinking.

'Young Master Zhou, I’m begging you.' 'Will you be paying in cash, or transferring it?' she pressed, eyes bright and calculating.

Zhou Zilang: '...' The onlookers: '...' Catching the sly sparkle in her eyes, Zhou Zilang’s mouth twitched, but in the end, he kept his promise.

Ye Shu picked the most luxurious suite in the hotel—4,999 a night, complete with private meal service. She sat atop the thirtieth-floor rooftop as the crimson sunset painted the sky, its beauty edged with danger; something in her bones warned her that darkness was falling too quickly.

The 'newbie protection period' was still in force. As long as she stayed careful, kept away from the uncanny—especially the one from the subway—she’d be fine. She remembered well: even her red bead bracelet had shattered. That level of destruction spoke of a high-tier ghost, at least.

As twilight deepened, a terror seemed to lurk among the shadows. Even with her bracelet around her wrist, Ye Shu felt no true comfort. Just in case, she switched on every light in her room. As long as there was enough light, the uncanny could not come.

'Monsters and demons, be gone! Monsters and demons, be gone!' She silently chanted the mantra again and again until she drifted into a deep, restful sleep through the night.

The following morning, all of City F was ablaze with shocking news: a sudden blackout on Subway Line 1—one hundred passengers had vanished without a trace, leaving only blood spatters and grotesquely mangled remains.

Ye Shu was happily eating breakfast delivered to her room when she caught a rumor online. A single glance at the gory images snuffed out whatever appetite she had left. Wasn’t Line 1 the exact route she took yesterday...?

To prevent mass panic, the authorities quickly suppressed any mention of the incident, and no matter how she searched, Ye Shu found no further news. As she rubbed the smooth, red bead bracelet around her wrist, any lingering sense of luck evaporated.

She flipped open her game interface:

[Confirm modification of player name?] [Confirm name: 'I’m Your Daddy'?]

Ye Shu tapped confirm. She glanced at her talent skill—60 hours remained on its cooldown.

Meanwhile, the player chat forum had detonated into chaos. Overnight, the survivor count among a million players had tumbled by half.

[Yuni Bobo Bu Jia Yuni]: 'Terrifying. What a lousy game. They claimed we’d have a newbie grace period—I was on the subway yesterday. Good thing I drew an item, or else... haha (sticking my dog head out to survive!)'

[Wo Qiao Dou Ma Dai Ben Zun]: 'Big boss, tell us more! Spill the details!'

[Man Shan Hou Wo Ding Zui Hong]: 'Boss! Please watch over me, I beg of you.'

...

While morning still lingered, Ye Shu went shopping, her basket filled with candies, chocolates, instant noodles, ready-to-eat rice—anything that would provide quick, long-lasting sustenance. She stocked up enough bottled water for ten days as well.

When she stepped outside, however, she realized the western sky was already awash with red clouds, blood-colored as if dipped in gore.

A chill ran down Ye Shu’s spine: she’d watched the time carefully—it should only be three in the afternoon. How could it already be dusk? But her watch read 3 o’clock sharp. Her phone: 15:01. The times matched. It was the sun that was wrong...

In July, the sun shouldn’t set until after five. Evidently, the uncanny lurking in the darkness feared sunlight. Yesterday, the sun set an hour early; today, two hours early. At this rate, on the tenth day... would any players survive at all?

No time to think: as the sun dipped behind the western hills, Ye Shu raced back to the hotel. The haunting chill on her spine only ebbed once she’d set foot inside the gilded lobby.

'How strange—why did it get dark so suddenly today?'

'Lived half my life, and this is a first.'

A group of elderly folks by the window, out to enjoy the sunset, canceled their outing on the spot when they saw the sky blacken like spilled ink.

Back on her floor, Ye Shu spotted a pile of goods heaped outside the door next to hers. A burly man hefted box after box inside. She noted the bulge at his waist—a handgun, no doubt.

Ye Shu’s face remained impassive; pretending not to have seen a thing, she unlocked her door with a practiced calm. But before she could step inside, she was blocked.

'You a player too, sweetheart? Stick with me, and I’ll keep you safe. Good eats, good times, guaranteed.'

She eyed the muscular man—Zhang Daqian—then made a few vague gestures as if she couldn’t hear him. When he stepped back, she slipped inside without a word.

'Damn it, not a player after all,' Zhang Daqian cursed under his breath as he retreated to his own room. 'Thought I could fleece her for some loot. If this hotel weren’t crawling with cameras... and she’s a mute, too.'

Over the past two days, Zhang Daqian had mugged more than a few players for their gear. The bagua mirror he wore around his neck was a basic artifact—good for blocking a single ghost’s attack.

When the door clicked shut behind her, Ye Shu found her breathing uneven, but her eyes swiftly regained their composure. So it seemed—NPCs in this world automatically filtered out any talk about the game itself.

Before long, an attendant delivered her purchases: ten cases of water, ten bags of fruit candies, ten boxes of chocolate, fifteen crates of instant noodles, a sack of apples that would keep, assorted vitamins, masks, changes of athletic clothes, even a baseball bat for self-defense.

If possible, she should get her hands on guns and ammo, too. Weapons couldn’t kill the uncanny, but they were good insurance against fellow players.

Her room shone bright as day through the night, and nothing disturbed her rest. But at dawn, local police came to invite her for questioning.

Her next-door neighbor, the hoodlum Zhang Daqian, was dead. Not so much as a whole limb remained; a grisly, complete annihilation. The cleaning staff found rivers of blood staining the white carpet, entrails strewn across the floor. Surveillance showed that Zhang Daqian had entered the room and never come out—Ye Shu was the last person to see him alive.