Bai Liu awoke to find himself seated in the cramped backseat of a car. The interior was narrow and confining, the battered upholstery steeped in the acrid scent of cigarette smoke. Rain traced erratic paths down the window glass, blurring the view of a world shrouded in drizzling rain and dim, uncertain light—whether dusk or night, he could not tell. A faint, unpleasant tang of salted fish lingered in his nostrils, making him uneasy.
Suspended before him was a floating panel, upon which was written—[Game Instructions].
Bai Liu frowned.
Where was he? Why was he here? And what was this panel?
As if attuned to his confusion, the panel began to display answers, one by one.
[You are in a deadly game. You have been brought here because, after losing your job, we detected an overwhelming desire for money within you, which triggered the game's initiation.]
As the words appeared, Bai Liu's memories began to return.
Yes, that was right—he had lost his job.
And he was a man with an insatiable craving for wealth, a love of money so intense it bordered on pathology. He had even been diagnosed by a psychologist with "monetary hoarding disorder." The doctor had warned him that if he did not learn to control his obsession, he would one day risk his life for money.
While employed, Bai Liu's modest but steady income had barely kept his desires in check. But once he lost his job, he spiraled into a feverish, uncontrollable urge to amass wealth at any cost. His psychologist called it a normal reaction for a laid-off worker, advising him to relax, see the world, and find some peace.
Bai Liu had only wanted to sneer—without money, the only world he could see was hell.
He had retorted, "If I go out and see the world, will I become rich?"
The psychologist had marveled, "Of course not. You'll only become poorer."
Bai Liu: …You really do know how this works, don't you?
"But once you're poorer, you'll realize…" the psychologist had tried to comfort him, "poverty isn't so bad. Money is just a worldly possession—why torment yourself so?"
Expressionless, Bai Liu had asked, "Is it painful to have a patient like me?"
The psychologist: …It is.
Bai Liu had laughed coldly. "Then why do you torment yourself? Why not quit and go see the world?"
The psychologist: …For money. I can't afford to go.
And then had burst into tears.
After making who knows how many psychologists cry, Bai Liu would dust off his hands and sigh—poverty truly is the greatest weapon against humanity.
It wounds others by eight hundred, but oneself by a thousand.
Fortunately, this psychologist was provided by the community for free, or Bai Liu would have been even poorer.
————————
After losing his job, Bai Liu was consumed by anxiety, unable to find relief. He even dreamed of sudden windfalls, laughing atop mountains of cash. But waking only brought the bitter contrast of reality—his savings barely five digits.
In this restless, post-layoff malaise, Bai Liu would often rest his chin in his hand and daydream—if only there were a way to make money quickly, no matter the risk. He didn't care about his life, only about money!
He confided this to a friend, who pointed to the copy of the Criminal Code on his bookshelf.
Bai Liu said he saw it.
His friend replied, "Open to any page and you'll find a high-risk, high-reward job. Work hard enough, and you might even make the expedited list this month."
Bai Liu: …
He didn't want to break the law. Was there really no way to make money quickly without crime? His friend said, "You'd be better off dreaming."
Even if it cost him his life, he wanted money—Bai Liu lay in bed, and as he lost consciousness and was drawn into this game, that was his final thought.
When the memory faded, Bai Liu looked at the floating game panel before him.
Another line appeared:
[Indeed, it was your overwhelming desire that triggered the game. If you successfully clear the game, you will obtain everything you desire.]
Bai Liu didn't hesitate: "I want money."
Whatever the game, he only cared about profit.
After a moment, he asked, "Is this game legal?"
Panel: […It is legal.]
Panel: [Clear the game to earn points, which can be exchanged for money and anything else you desire.]
Bai Liu: "What kind of game is this? What must I do to earn the points you mentioned?"
Panel: [This is a horror survival game, filled with ghosts, killers, and unimaginable entities. Your task is to discover their weaknesses, complete the storyline of each game instance, and survive their pursuit.]
[Loading game instance… Load complete.]
————
[Game Instance: "Siren Town"]
[Level: One (Games with a player mortality rate below 50% are Level One)]
[Mode: Solo]
[Overview: This is a thrilling blend of action and puzzle-solving, highly popular among players, but notoriously unfriendly to newcomers. The rookie mortality rate is extremely high.]
——————
[Loading player information… Load complete—]
[Player Name: Bai Liu]
[Health: 100 (Below 60, attack power decreases; at 0, the player dies.)]
[Stamina: 80 (You are well-rested.)]
[Agility: 25 (Years at a desk have left you stiff and slow.)]
[Attack: 30 (You have the offensive power of a high school girl swinging a backpack.)]
[Intelligence: 89 (Surprisingly clever.)]
[Luck: 0 (You are extraordinarily unlucky. If your company needs to lay off one person, it will always be you.)]
[Skills: None (You have not acquired any skills yet.)]
[Mental Strength: 100 (You are the first player this year to enter the game with full mental strength.)]
Below Mental Strength, a line of red text reads:
(Note: Keep your mental strength above 60. Below 60, you will suffer confusion and all stats are halved; below 40, you will experience hallucinations unrelated to the game, making it much harder to clear; below 20, you will enter a state of madness, with attack power randomly spiking and attacking all creatures; at 0, you will be fully assimilated by the instance and become one of its monsters.)
[Player Panel Overall Rating—F-rank. The lowest tier, but due to exceptional intelligence and mental strength, this rating is under review. Final player rank: F (?).]
After scanning his stats, Bai Liu eyed the question mark after the F, feeling vaguely mocked. He dismissed the panel, only for a new one to appear.
[You have logged into the Newcomer Zone's mini-screen (1/100). Currently, no one is watching you. Player Bai Liu's popularity: 0. Recharge rate: 0.]
Bai Liu frowned. "What's this?"
Panel: [Your gameplay will be broadcast on a mini-screen in the Newcomer Zone of the player lobby, for others to watch. At present, no one is watching or recharging your gameplay. You are utterly unknown.]
Bai Liu understood—it was like being a game streamer. But he only cared about the recharge rate. "If someone recharges for me, do I get points?"
Panel: [Yes.]
[The game will now begin. Good luck, rookie player.]
The panel flickered like a television shutting off, vanishing in a flash of white.
Meanwhile, in a certain game lobby, a small screen suddenly lit up, displaying Bai Liu's pale, refined face. All around were similar screens, each showing a new player's terrified, broken expression—some curled up like hedgehogs, refusing to accept reality, others pounding the glass and wailing to be let out.
Only Bai Liu's face was utterly calm, an anomaly among the panic-stricken newcomers.
Everyone looked up at the newly lit screen, discussing it with interest.
"Another rookie. Let's see how long he lasts."
"Look at the background—is that the 'Siren Town' instance?"
"Tough luck for this batch. The rookie death rate in 'Siren Town' is brutal. Last time, out of a hundred, only one survived."
"These random instances for newcomers are getting way too hard. Still, watching them freak out is pretty funny!"
"Wait!" Suddenly, a passing player noticed something extraordinary and hurried over to Bai Liu's screen, exclaiming, "There's a new player with a mental strength of one hundred!"
"What?!"
"Let me see!"
"Damn! Are all the new players this insane now? Mental strength at one hundred?!"
"The last one with a hundred mental strength is in the top ten of the all-time leaderboard now."
"A real dark horse! Let me have a look!"
Bai Liu's screen flickered, and a mechanical voice intoned:
[Fifty people are now watching Bai Liu's screen. Player Bai Liu has unlocked the 'Rookie Debut' achievement and the One-Click Triple Interaction system.]
[Twenty-eight people have liked Bai Liu's video. Fifty-six have bookmarked his mini-screen. No one has recharged for Bai Liu yet. Please keep up the effort, Player Bai Liu.]
…