Everyone in the team had traceable backgrounds.
Even the most mysterious of them, Chu Chenli, left behind brief records of when he teamed up with Ye Lanzhou ten years ago.
Only Mu Yanshen seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, as if he’d emerged from a crack in the earth.
Under his name was a blank, empty space.
The only clues about him came from his appearance and behaviour.
He was closest to Chu Chenli, probably because they were of a similar age.
But the intensity of their bond went far beyond a mere connection due to age.
Zhong Huaiyu couldn’t help her curiosity and tried to probe discreetly, eventually turning to the most approachable member of the group, Hua Jin.
But Hua Jin, though easygoing, wasn’t a fool.
“Maybe it’s just fate.” Or perhaps it was love at first sight.
With that, Hua Jin casually deflected the topic.
Zhong Huaiyu understood not to push further, so she just said a few words to end the conversation, before eventually turning her attention back to He Ziyue.
Chatting with He Ziyue meant there would never be an awkward silence.
Hua Jin finally let out a small sigh of relief, glancing at Mu Yanshen and Chu Chenli who were beside him. Chu Chenli rested against the car window, eyes closed, while Mu Yanshen gazed outside, though his attention mostly stayed on Chu Chenli.
Honestly, even after observing them for so long, Hua Jin couldn’t fully understand the delicate relationship between those two.
From the moment they first met, there was an inexplicable connection between them.
Mu Yanshen played tricks on everyone, yet never on Chu Chenli.
Meanwhile, Chu Chenli, had always been ruthless towards hostile NPCs in the game and developed a reputation for being overly bloodthirsty. But he, too, had shown mercy only to Mu Yanshen.
Their other teammates often teased that there was no way Xiao Mu would ever win against Ah Li. And that he would have been long gone if he hadn’t surrendered so quickly to him.
But Hua Jin, who had been working with Chu Chenli from the start, knew better. If Chu Chenli had truly wanted Mu Yanshen dead, he wouldn’t have given him the chance to surrender in the first place.
He could’ve killed him the first time they met.
But he didn’t.
Perhaps it was because Mu Yanshen was too good at pretending, or maybe it was something else, who knows?
–
Amidst the vast white fog stood a pristine, snow-white laboratory.
A young boy, barely half an adult’s height, had short black hair that had grown unkempt, with bangs falling over his eyes and ears in messy tufts.
Dressed in a white lab coat, the only colour on him was the number “17” on his chest.
In his arms, he clutched a worn, greyish-brown rabbit plush toy, patched up with countless stitches. Its long ears drooped limply over his arms.
He followed a researcher through the long corridor in silence.
At the corridor’s end, stairs led to the surface, where the harsh light made him squint instinctively.
A breeze brushed against his face, lifting up his messy bangs and revealing a pair of light amber eyes, clear as a sky, pure and bright.
He smiled, revealing small, sharp canines.
It’s a real pity that no one would call him cute here.
The researcher, whose hair was already streaked with grey despite his young age, gave the boy a blank look and signalled for him to stand in the centre of the outdoor training ground. After locking the exit, the researcher walked into an observation room and pressed a button labelled ‘training’.
The gates opened, releasing ferocious beasts.
Twenty minutes later, the boy stood alone at the centre of the training field, surrounded by nothing but the mangled bodies of the beasts, locked in a deathly embrace with one another.
The boy had two claw marks on his face, and his once-white clothes were stained with blood. One of the rabbit’s ears had been bitten off.
He knelt down and pried the ear from a beast’s mouth, trying to reattach it to the plush toy.
The researcher closed the gate to the beasts’ enclosure and unlocked the door leading back to the lab.
“Let’s go.”
The boy hesitated for a moment before looking up at the researcher and smiling again.
The researcher averted his gaze coldly and led the way back into the corridor.
The boy hurried to follow, clutching the ear in his hand.
After training came medication and examinations, moving between various machines.
The researcher watched the fluctuation of brainwaves on the monitor for a while before suddenly turning to the boy and asking, “Do you have any wishes?”
The boy, still focused on fixing the rabbit’s ear, looked up. “Wishes?”
“Things you hope will happen to you in the future,” the researcher explained.
The boy thought for a moment and then asked, “Does something I believe in count as a wish?”
The researcher nodded. “It counts.”
The boy stopped fiddling with the ear, flashing a smile that showed his little canines. “I believe that one day, someone really special will come to me on a rainbow-coloured cloud—just like in the movies.”
The researcher didn’t ask him what movie he was referring to and pressed on: “And then what?”
The boy hadn’t really thought about the ‘then’, so he pondered for a long time before replying, “Then they’ll take me away.”
The researcher asked, “And if they can’t?”
Without hesitation, the boy said, “Then I’ll follow them!”
A “beep” sounded as the machine completed its recording.
The researcher’s expression returned to its usual indifference. After reviewing the data one last time, he turned off the machine and closed his notebook.
“Let’s go.”
And with that, the monotonous day came to an end.
–
Hua Jin snapped out of his daze and found himself standing in the middle of a dense white fog.
None of his teammates were in sight.
Just a few minutes ago, he had been climbing a mountain, gasping for breath as he followed behind Chu Chenli.
Chu Chenli had much better stamina and seemed more familiar with this strange place. As they walked, Hua Jin gradually fell behind.
In a brief moment of distraction, the person ahead of him vanished.
Hua Jin couldn’t help but feel a flicker of panic.
As the last level was about to end, they had a minor conflict with He Ziyue, who was in a phase of being overconfident and unwilling to listen to advice. In this level, they had been grouped with her again. Hua Jin, cautious by nature, was still discussing the plot with the rest of the team, but He Ziyue had already charged ahead, eager to finish the level on her own, promising to return for them afterward. She disappeared in the blink of an eye.
The teammates hadn’t even had time to stop her before she was gone.
A sense of unease hung over the group, but there was nothing they could do. They could only follow the set path toward the plot’s key points.
This level had the setting of a horror game.
A group of mad scientists, driven to insanity by the horrors of war, attempted to alter human genes in pursuit of superhuman abilities beyond physical limits.
After decades of research with no progress, the more rational scientists either quit or passed away, leaving behind only the pure lunatics who only tortured the test subjects.
Until one day, a test subject managed to escape the lab and exposed the horrors of these madmen to the outside world.
No one believed that gene modification could truly grant superpowers.
But they did believe that the scientists had long abandoned the experiment’s original purpose, deriving sadistic pleasure from torturing their subjects.
The madmen were executed, the lab was shut down, and the test subjects were rescued. The ending seemed happy.
But the real tragedy was just beginning…
The protagonist was an orphan, adopted under the guise of care from a welfare home, only to be taken into a den of human experimentation.
After enduring inhumane torture, he helped the first test subject escape.
However, once the subject had escaped, his companions had no hesitation in betraying him, pointing him out to the scientists.
The madmen, enraged, tortured him until he was barely alive, disfigured beyond recognition.
He barely hung on until the outside world had sent people for rescue. When asked if there were any other survivors, the remaining test subjects shook their heads, feigning innocence, but deliberately locked the secret basement’s door as they left.
Without an insider’s help, no one knew the basement even existed.
The well-meaning rescuers led the freed children down the mountain, doused the laboratory with gasoline, lit a torch, and watched as the lab was engulfed in flames. Only when it was reduced to ashes did they turn to leave.
The test subjects reintegrated into society, living under new identities in different parts of the world. Over time, their past was buried.
More than ten years later, they had all achieved success in their respective fields when, on the same day, each of them received an identical letter.
They reunited at the site of the old laboratory.
The game’s story officially began here.
What initially seemed like a thrilling real-life escape room or murder mystery game quickly took a dark turn when the first person was shot in the head.
It was then that the survivors realised something was seriously wrong.
Without any external narration, the initially glamorous and successful individuals began to accuse and distrust one another, eventually turning to violence.
As the truths of the past were slowly revealed, one by one, the survivors killed each other off.
The last person, drenched in blood and madness, slashed the throat of their final companion, laughing maniacally. Believing they had won, they dragged their broken body and shattered limbs toward the newly opened door.
Outside, the world was enveloped in a thick white fog. Unaware of the danger, the survivor limped deeper into the mist along a winding path…
In the final scene, the fog slowly crept toward the city, and a faint image on a large street screen showed the news of their disappearance.
The plot ended abruptly here.
Though the protagonist never directly appeared, clues throughout the story hinted that the gene modification experiment on him had been successful.
The fog and the laboratory’s illusions were all his creations.
After killing the test subjects who had once betrayed him, his hatred, like a vengeful spirit’s, turned toward ordinary humans.
In the final outcome, it’s unclear which side prevails, but within the story’s premise, the protagonist undoubtedly possesses the power to destroy the world.
The players are dropped into the game before the official storyline begins.
Their mission is to either redeem or eliminate the protagonist, preventing the world from reaching its apocalyptic end.
The exact timeline remains unknown, but by some twist of fate, they’ve been transported to a location near the laboratory in the remote mountains.
Returning back to the societal area seems nearly impossible, as finding a clear direction is difficult. For now, the only option is to move toward the plot’s key point.
At the very least, they need to figure out where they are in the timeline of the plot.
Hua Jin hadn’t expected to have such bad luck from the start, but with no other choice, he gritted his teeth and ventured further into the white fog.
Thankfully, the fog wasn’t as intense as it would be later in the story—it was more like the soft, misty haze of an early morning.
From deep within the forest, the sound of a trickling stream could be heard.
Hua Jin pushed aside the leaves and walked toward the source of the water.
By the stream, a small child crouched down, dressed in an oversized white-striped hospital gown. His head was lowered, lips pressed together, with long bangs covering half of his face.
It seemed he hadn’t noticed Hua Jin’s approach, as he was focused on scrubbing something with great effort in the flowing water.
Hua Jin took two steps forward and saw that the boy was holding a long strip of grey-brown cloth.
The cloth looked old and tattered. Even when wet, its worn condition was obvious, and dark stains spread out in the clear water, forming circles of blood.
Hearing movement behind him, the boy froze.
He slowly turned his head, abruptly looking up at Hua Jin.
Instinctively, Hua Jin took a step back.
But soon, he realised that the face he saw was not as menacing as he had expected.
The boy’s face was delicate and cute, fair and round, with a bit of baby fat.
If not for the setting and background, he could easily be mistaken for a pampered young master from a wealthy family.
His expression wasn’t gloomy. Instead, sharp little canines peeked out as he smiled, dimpling his cheeks.
If placed among doting aunties, he would definitely be the type of child that they would rush to pinch cheeks of.
Despite all the previous warnings, Hua Jin couldn’t help but let his guard down at that moment.
The boy stood up, picked up the doll beside him, and walked slowly towards Hua Jin.
He looked up at Hua Jin, holding out the toy with a hopeful expression, and asked, “Can you help fix my friend?”
It was a grey-brown rabbit plush.
The toy was missing one of its long ears, which was the piece he had just been washing in the stream.
The wide sleeve of his hospital gown had slid down to his elbow as he raised his hand.
His tender little arm was covered in dark bruises and needle marks, extending all the way down to his hand, a distressing sight.
The raised hand trembled uncontrollably.
Not from fear or anxiety, but from an involuntary physiological reaction.
The boy, however, seemed to feel no pain, his amber eyes brimming with sparkling anticipation.
Hua Jin took the doll and followed him back to the laboratory.
After looking through the laboratory, which the boy seemed to treat as part of his daily life, Hua Jin momentarily forgot about his missing teammates and the mission to eliminate the protagonist. He sat on an empty bench, repairing the rabbit toy for the boy.
The boy sat beside him, propping himself up on his hands, swinging his little legs contentedly.
The more relaxed the boy appeared, the more it pained Hua Jin’s heart.
The white mist outside grew denser, gradually creeping into the corridor, slowly swallowing the path behind them.
Hua Jin was oblivious to it.
He meticulously sewed the toy’s ear back on, restoring it to its original form. He held it up to ensure there were no flaws and handed the toy back to the boy, satisfied.
The boy sent him a sweet smile.
He took the toy, hugged it tightly, jumped down from the bench, and began skipping toward the end of the corridor.
Hua Jin couldn’t help but smile and followed a few steps behind him, glancing around.
In the next moment, he stopped in his tracks, his smile freezing on his face.
“Where is everyone else?” Hua Jin asked, his voice tense.
The boy tilted his head, absentmindedly playing with the rabbit. “They’re gone.”
“Why are you still here?” Hua Jin’s eyelids grew heavy, his body sluggish as if a fog was seeping into his thoughts.
The boy’s voice sounded distant as he replied, “I’m waiting.”
“…For who?”
“For me.”
A deep voice suddenly cut through the air, firm and unyielding.
In an instant, a gust of wind sliced through the fog, splitting it apart like a blade cutting through mist. The once-thick fog dissipated into glittering dust, falling softly to the ground.
Hua Jin saw the boy’s face contort in shock.
Everything happened in a blur.
A loud thud echoed as a body slammed into a wall, and the sharp sound of a blade followed.
The illusion of the boy shattered like a bubble, and Hua Jin was left staring at a tall, unfamiliar youth, who crashed into the wall.
Chu Chenli stood in front of him, his sword pressed against his youth’s throat, drawing a thin line of blood.
The boy’s stuffed rabbit fell to the ground, the freshly sewn on ear now severed once again.
Hua Jin and the boy both gulped at the same time, cold sweat trickling down from their foreheads.
In the heavy silence, the blade seemed to press a little deeper.
No one doubted that the sword, which had effortlessly sliced through the wall, could just as easily sever the boy’s neck.
“Take it easy, big brother,” the boy raised his hands as he spoke, “I surrender.”
As the surrounding white mist dissipated, Hua Jin realised they were still in the forest, beside the stream, almost exactly where they had first arrived in this world.
The boy’s back wasn’t against a wall but an ancient tree.
Chu Chenli showed no surprise. He studied the boy for a moment, the cold killing intent in his eyes dissipating into indifference.
He withdrew his blade and with a swift motion, he carved through the tree’s bark like it was soft tofu, leaving a clean slice behind.
The tree’s heavy branch slowly tilted and, with a loud thud, crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Chu Chenli sheathed his sword and turned away, leaving the boy standing there, looking pitiful like a helpless little quail.
Hua Jin glanced at the boy’s familiar face, recalling the child’s arms, which had been full of marks of needles. Compassion stirred briefly in his heart.
But that trace of sympathy vanished completely when Hua Jin saw the pitiful condition of his other teammates.
Two of them were missing limbs. One had been tricked into the laboratory, where they personally experienced the experiment. The physical and psychological damage left them pale, curled up under a tree like a soul-shattered husk.
The worst off was He Ziyue.
Her entire body was wrapped in bandages, and she was barely clinging to life. Yet, even in this state, she struggled to lift her trembling hand and defiantly gave the boy—who caused all of this—a middle finger.
If Hua Jin hadn’t escaped unharmed, He Ziyue might not have survived.
While He Ziyue’s arrogance and overconfidence had played a part in the disaster, she was still an important teammate who had protected them countless times. Naturally, the group’s sympathies leaned toward her.
Hua Jin turned and glared furiously at the boy.
However, the boy’s attention was completely fixed on Chu Chenli.
His eyes were glued to Chu Chenli’s face, and despite the fact that Chu had almost severed his neck just moments ago, the boy showed no sign of fear or caution. There was no trace of terror or caution in his expression.
Instead, his eyes shone brightly, like a child who had just discovered a beloved new toy.
At that moment, Hua Jin felt a cold chill run down his spine.
Then, in the blink of an eye, as if carried away by a breeze, the boy vanished without a trace.
Until the moment he disappeared, he never spared a glance at anyone other than Chu Chenli.
While helping to bandage their wounded teammates, Chu Chenli sensed something and glanced at the now-empty tree stump.
A teammate, still uneasy, asked, “He won’t just suddenly reappear, will he?”
Hua Jin reassured them, “Probably not. The mission has been shown to be completed.”
In the end, only He Ziyue was full of dissatisfaction, weakly waving her arm and grumbling, “How could he just run off like that? I didn’t even get my revenge! And in the end, it was Little Brother Ah Li who had to save me. So embarrassing…”
Chu Chenli quietly murmured, “We’ll meet again.”
Amid the noise of others arguing with He Ziyue, only Hua Jin seemed to hear his quiet words.
Before Huajin could ask how Chu Chenli knew this, they left the game world. But in the very next world, the boy who had nearly caused their team to be wiped out appeared before them once again.
With a cheerful smile, he introduced himself, “I’m Mu Yanshen.”
This time, his gaze remained fixed on Chu Chenli’s face.
“I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
The author has something to say:
After everyone’s reminder, I realised that today is Chinese Valentine’s Day, hahaha, so I suddenly decided to add a special chapter for Chinese Valentine’s Day, writing about Xiao Mu and Ah Li’s first encounter.
It’s too much to finish in one chapter, so I split it into two parts, the first part is in the perspective of their teammates, and the second will be in Ah Li’s perspective.
This doesn’t affect the main storyline, you can treat it like a side story, or as some foreshadowing~ Finally, I wish everyone a happy Chinese Valentine’s Day, refilling my pen!
