New York City Public High School, senior year — back row by the window.
"Hey, Damon! Didn't sleep well last night?"
Half-awake, Damon stirred from slumber, lifting bleary eyes and staring dumbfounded at the girl leaning over his desk and nudging him.
She had a mane of golden shoulder-length hair, and those pretty blue eyes were fixed straight on him.
"Whoa, you woke up hard — you even dreamed the ocean horse was moaning in his sleep."
Damon's head felt fuzzy; his memory stopped at the instant the computer shorted. He distinctly remembered that he'd been up all night, fired up the Map Editor and The Frozen Throne to relax. Then—
"I think I croaked?"
"So the situation now is… I transmigrated?"
Fragments of memories flashed through Damon's mind. They were of another him — exactly the same as before the transmigration. No father, no mother, raised in an orphanage. According to the orphanage director, he had been abandoned at the orphanage gate with a set of adult clothes beside him, presumably left by his father. At eight he was adopted; a few years later his adoptive parents died together in a car accident, leaving him a two-story detached apartment.
Damon's expression turned strange. He remembered who the "ocean horse" in front of him was. That bitch Madison Montgomery! Two years ago she exploded into fame playing a supporting role; afterwards, because she refused to sleep her way up, her career fizzled, and now she'd sunk past the eighteenth-tier of stardom. The two of them had been childhood friends — they got on pretty well.
Madison happily took out a sheet of paper and put it on Damon's desk.
"Today's your eighteenth birthday, and tomorrow's the weekend — pick a place and we'll go on vacation together to celebrate."
Damon nodded automatically, then glanced at the note.
"Couples-only retreat — Crystal Lake Youth Camp."
"Natural scenery at sunset — a farm in southern Texas."
"A quaint, hospitable old town — Hardenfield."
"A suburban historic town under dark veils — Elm Street."
Reading the list, an inexplicable chill ran down Damon's spine; his limbs went cold and his mind snapped instantly alert! Family, think about it — just after transmigrating, opening his eyes and he's already expected to stand on the same stage with the Four Great Killers. Who could handle that!
"So? Anything catch your eye?" Madison's face showed eager expectation. "I had my agent pick these out specially — sounds like fun vacation spots."
"Like Crystal Lake camp — nestled by mountain and water, just thinking about it is awesome!"
"So interesting, really… so interesting!"
Damon squeezed out a few words through his teeth, meeting Madison's hopeful gaze with a deadpan seriousness: "Madison, have you ever done drugs or had premarital sex?"
Madison glanced around, leaned down and whispered nervously, "I don't do drugs, I've never had a boyfriend, but I wouldn't mind doing some things I like at a lovely campsite."
Hearing that suggestive reply, Damon's brow twitched. "Do some things"? Captain Anti-Porn Squad, you've been recruited!
Damon remembered that in the original story Madison had accidentally killed an annoying agent and was taken away by the witch academy. He had thought the agent was problematic but didn't deserve death. Now he only wanted to say: good riddance — and make sure he suffered more!
Damon sighed deeply, lacking all romance, and said, "Madison, if I ever crossed a line with you before, I sincerely apologize."
Madison looked baffled and nervous. "Ah… I didn't mean it that way. What's wrong with those places?"
Seeing Madison's confused, helpless look, Damon fell silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "Never mind. Any other options?"
"Yes, yes!" Madison pursed her lips and watched Damon's expression carefully, then pulled two flyers from her bag. "These are flyers I picked up on the street. They say there's a peaceful little town ringed by forest — a great spot for vacationing and recuperation."
Trigger keyword detected:Vacation spot.
Damon instantly felt a chill down his spine. He leaned over to take a look.
"Silent Hill?!"
Hiss—
Well, isn't that a full assembly of legends?
Hell's empty, and all the demons are walking the earth!
Good lord, sister — with luck like yours, you're wasted not buying a lottery ticket!
Pass! Straight pass!
Damon flipped to the next flyer.
The image showed a sunny beach bursting with life, warm waves and shining sand — and pairs upon pairs of long, fair legs that drew the eye without mercy.
"Beach vacation?"
He glanced at the title — and to be fair, this one actually looked normal.
But…
Recalling Silent Hill and the four infamous killers that apparently existed in this world, Damon couldn't shake the feeling something was off.
Was this beach… normal?
Scenes from every disaster movie he'd ever watched flashed through his mind —
Two-Headed Shark, Three-Headed Shark, Nine-Headed Shark… N-Headed Shark, Ghost Shark, Megalodon, OctoShark, Land Shark, Zombie Shark…
Sharks. Nothing but sharks.
Damon took a long breath. He didn't want to admit it, but deep down he knew —
in this world, anything that seemed impossible could very well be real.
He quietly crumpled up the flyer and said as evenly as he could,
"Madison, how about this — this weekend, let's just go to a nearby amusement park."
Madison noticed his pale face. Concern flickered in her eyes, but she still smiled and nodded.
"Sure! I heard they've got a haunted house there. We can check it out."
Haunted house...
Damon suddenly wanted to take back every word he just said.
But the class bell rang before he could respond, and Madison turned around. Damon had no choice but to let it go for now.
He took the chance during class to sort through everything he'd learned so far.
His gaze shifted to the fourth row, sixth and seventh seats — where two boys sat straight-backed.
Peter Parker and Harry Osborn.
A few rows back, not far from Damon, sat a curvy redhead.
Mary Jane.
In the next class over, there was a tech nerd who loved physics and math, always wearing a dragon-shaped ring — Dave Stewart.
Everyone called him Crazy Dave, ever since fourth grade, when people thought he had some kind of mental disorder.
In the second-year department, there was a school beauty named Mikaela.
And a lonely girl often bullied and ostracized — Maria.
Their biology teacher? Professor Curt Connors.
And the public high school often collaborated with a renowned psychiatrist named Hannibal.
Marvel Universe + American Horror Universe + Transformers Universe + Sorcerer's Apprentice Universe + Serial Killer Universe + Gourmet Horror Column Universe...
"I'm so dead, I'm so dead, I'm so dead!"
"This combination is way too complete!"
"Don't tell me this world is some kind of multiversal trash bin where everything just gets dumped together!?"
Damon's jaw clenched; his head buzzed painfully.
This world was too dangerous — he wanted to go home!
Honestly, in a world crawling with devils and disasters, Damon couldn't even figure out how he'd survived to eighteen.
And this city's public high school was probably just the tip of the iceberg.
How much darker could the rest of the Earth — no, the universe — possibly get?
As he pondered that, a sharp pressure surged through his mind, like something was trying to break free.
Suddenly, his vision shifted.
Before him appeared a massive, three-dimensional holographic display —
covering every area within a hundred-meter radius around him.
With a single thought, he could zoom in, out, or move the view to any point on the map.
He saw Harry and Peter whispering to each other, exchanging glances.
He even spotted Nico from the next class, sitting in the back row, reading something that was definitely not study material — and, to be fair, it was shockingly explicit.
After the initial discomfort passed, Damon suddenly realized something familiar about all this.
"Wait a sec… isn't this— the Map Editor?!"