"The next generation of holographic simulation survival horror game—Pale Dawn, will be released simultaneously around the world at 8 o'clock tonight!"
"In the first season, the top ten players in the national standings will share a 100 million dollar cash prize!"
...
—Identity number: 09204503011907, name: Caleb White.
—Verification successful! Welcome to the Pale Dawn!
The screen slowly brightened.
Caleb found himself in a small, simply furnished room, perhaps ten square meters in size. It held only a dressing mirror, a workbench, and a humble, yellow wooden storage box.
The mirror reflected a thin young man, just under six feet tall, with silver hair, a white T-shirt, and jeans. His appearance was about 80% similar to the real Caleb White.
Shifting his gaze from the mirror, Caleb walked toward the wooden cabin door—the virtual equivalent of a 'Start Game' button.
—There are 4 hours and 32 minutes left before the official game release. It is detected that you have not completed the novice tutorial. Do you wish to enter the novice tutorial?
Caleb selected yes. The wooden door before him groaned open.
The view darkened, dissolving into a thick, billowing cloud of black smoke. Narration text appeared within the gloom:
"Your car broke down on the road. Unable to contact the outside world, you attempted to seek help from the locals."
"Following a distant wisp of smoke, you found this cabin built in the woods. However, you also noticed... a skinned human corpse lying in the open space just outside."
"Fear compels you to flee, but at that moment, you hear the distant barking of dogs closing in behind you."
"In a panic, you instinctively hide inside the small house before you..."
...
A few seconds later, the black smoke dissipated.
Caleb was now standing in a larger room, about 50 square meters. A foul stench hung in the air. Little light managed to leak through windows sealed with wooden bars, allowing him to vaguely make out the outlines of the furniture: two single beds against the wall and a square table in the center.
At that moment, the barks of dogs sounded outside, and a torchlight began to flicker on the windowpanes. A text prompt appeared before Caleb's eyes:
"Judging by the bodies outside, the owner of this house is clearly a ruthless individual. If he catches you, your life may be in danger."
—Game Assistant: Please enter cautious posture.
As the prompt appeared, an icon of a person hunched over, treading lightly, materialized in the lower-left corner of Caleb's vision. It was highlighted and flashing, accompanied by a description:
[Cautious Posture: Like a cat... treading lightly.]
[Posture Effect LV0: Hearing +10%, Vision +10%. When hiding, camouflage +5%, non-direct interactions with the target have a 10% chance of being ignored, footsteps reduced by 5%, trace duration reduced by 5%, movement -50%.]
Caleb switched to the cautious posture as instructed.
After a soft ding, his body's color seemed to darken, his breathing slowed, and his hands and feet became lighter, though his overall movement was dramatically slower. His hearing improved slightly, and his vision sharpened, allowing him to discern not only the furniture but also pots, bowls, and cutlery stacked haphazardly on the square table.
'I have to find a hiding place before the other party enters the house.'
A green arrow appeared, pointing toward a smaller room at the inner end of the building. Caleb followed it.
The room was filled with piled-up miscellaneous junk. Next to the clutter, a double-door cabinet flashed with a faint light, indicating the designated hiding spot.
He opened the cabinet door and slipped inside. Seconds later, he heard the creak of a door opening outside, followed by dull footsteps and heavy breathing entering the room.
Plop!
The sound of a heavy object hitting the floor. The footsteps' owner muttered something unintelligible, then a rustling sound began. Through the gap in the cabinet door, Caleb saw a faint firelight.
The light grew brighter, and the dull footsteps came closer. The owner had lit a lamp and was now walking toward the room where Caleb was hidden.
Caleb remained utterly motionless inside the cabinet, holding his breath, determined not to make a sound. The footsteps stopped. The surroundings grew silent. He felt his heartbeat quicken slightly, the thump against his chest growing more forceful.
Apparently, the homeowner didn't notice anything unusual. After standing outside the cabinet for a moment, the heavy footsteps retreated. After a while, the fire went out, and Caleb heard the creaking of a wooden bed as someone settled in, followed by a comfortable, nasal hum from the house owner.
A few more minutes passed, and loud snoring began to echo through the small structure.
'A chance to escape!'
The prompt appeared again.
Caleb gently pushed the cabinet door open, hunched over, and tiptoed out. The green indicator arrow reappeared, pointing toward the main entrance.
But just as he was about to follow the arrow, a new reminder flashed before his eyes: "Watch your steps!"
He instinctively glanced down. Immediately, he saw a horrific, bloody, skinless face staring up at him with wide, dead eyes.
'The appearance of this tip can actually scare people even more.'
When prompted, 90 percent of people will subconsciously look down, and by doing so they will see the skinless corpse on the ground.
Moreover, the direction of the corpse's face was obviously deliberately arranged, purely for the purpose of scaring people.
Caleb's pupils contracted. Although he was not frightened by this scene, a sense of tension spread involuntarily. His heartbeat quickened again...
'This game is quite suitable for me.'
He couldn't help but laugh at himself:
'At least, I don't have to worry about my heart shutting down while playing games.'
Ever since he could remember, Caleb's natural heartbeat had been slower than that of a normal person. As he aged, his heart rate continued its continuous, dangerous decline. The normal heart rate for a 23-year-old is between 60 and 100 beats per minute, yet Caleb's, even with his self-imposed measures, was only 30 to 60.
This data was the result of his long-term dedication to stimulating, heart-rate-boosting activities. If he had allowed his heart rate to slow naturally, he might have died years ago.
However, despite the continuous decrease, it hadn't induced other heart diseases. Instead, it had gifted Caleb an extraordinary talent:
Because his body had adapted to the slow heart rate, the moment it reached the normal range of 60–100 beats per minute, his body would secrete a massive surge of adrenaline. This gave him a clearer mind, faster reactions, and a more flexible body.
With this unique ability, he could accomplish feats that were nearly impossible for ordinary people.
For example: Last weekend, he signed up for a holographic shooting game tournament called Call of Duty: Warzone. Utilizing his superhuman reaction speed and astonishing shooting accuracy, he racked up 23 kills—even after all three of his teammates were eliminated—and easily secured the 80,000-dollar first-place cash reward.
He had participated in such competitions frequently, consistently winning generous prize money, and had even gained a degree of notoriety in the holographic gaming community.
But Caleb was far from satisfied.
He was in desperate need of cash. He urgently needed to raise 100 million dollars before his heart completely failed. This enormous sum was required to purchase 'Newborn,' the mechanical heart developed by the world-renowned medical technology company Second Life, for transplant surgery.
The prize money earned from a single Call of Duty: Warzone tournament was simply too little. How long would it take to raise 100 million at tens of thousands of dollars at a time? Besides, those competitions didn't happen daily.
Therefore, Caleb had recently set his sights on a new, much higher-stakes target: Pale Dawn.