"Hmm?"
Inside a dilapidated residential building. The air was damp and musty, mixed with a smell of rust.
"Ah—!!"
##### was startled awake by a scream. When they opened their eyes, the light on the ceiling of the room was flickering with a sizzling sound.
"What is this? A dream of Penacony?"
They sat up, finding themselves lying on a hard wooden bed. Their head felt heavy and dizzy, as if they had just fallen out of a dream.
"No, no, it's the fabled transmigration!"
They scanned their surroundings, then they recalled something important.
They only somewhat recalled that they were playing a game called Honkai: Star Rail while crossing the road, and had just pulled multiple golds in a ten-pull. They practically won the gacha jackpot.
But once they opened their eyes again, they were already in this world.
"Sizzle, sizzle..."
Just as ### was looking at the ceiling, a broadcast suddenly echoed in their mind.
"Welcome, everyone, to this horror game!!"
"Game Type: Survival"
"Difficulty: 1"
"Synopsis: This game is set inside a residential building shrouded in darkness. All players are unable to escape the premises."
"The structure has been infiltrated by several human or non-human killers!"
"Completion Condition: Use all means to survive for 24 hours!"
"Current Player Count: 20"
"Friendly Reminder: Some killers are not human, but they can imitate human voices. Please do not believe any sound you hear!"
"A Horror game?"
They were stunned.
Then a stream of information flooded into their mind.
This was not Earth, but a parallel world called Terra! [TLN: If novels keep using Blue Star like a distasteful jackass, I get to use Terra]
At some unknown point, a supernatural force enveloped this parallel world, randomly selecting residents of Terra to be players in these horrific games, which were also live-streamed.
It had infiltrated all residents' devices, and no matter how hard the authorities tried, they couldn't stop the games and live streams brought by this supernatural force.
Each game, or rather, each instance, had its own rules, which were broadcast in every player's mind.
The only constant was that almost every instance featured thrilling and horror elements, and was accompanied by gore and death.
Therefore, besides praying not to be chosen, countless residents of Terra would also watch the live streams and send bullet comments to discuss, pondering how they could survive if they were unfortunately chosen one day!
While digesting this information stream, their senses recovered somewhat. They suddenly felt something covering their face, and then gently took it off.
In their hand was a half-black, half-red fox mask!
"Wasn't this..."
They stared blankly at the mask.
This… why did it feel somewhat familiar?
Bang!
The light, like lightning, illuminated the mirror not far from the bed, allowing them to see themself in the mirror clearly.
"Could it be?"
She blinked a few times. Then she was shocked by the change.
He, who should have been a masculine male, had now become a cute girl with chestnut-colored twin tails and pink eyes!
Looking down, through the gap up front, there was nothing.
In the mirror, such a cute and beautiful art style, combined with the eerie, gloomy dark environment around, looked completely mismatched with the environment.
In his previous life, he clearly remembered who this girl was; she was the Honkai: Star Rail character he had pulled far past the threshold of E6—
Sparkle!
"I've become Sparkle??!!"
No wonder she wasn't panicking harder. In such a bizarre situation, as a player in a horror game where her life could be lost at any moment, she felt no fear at all, and even found it quite exciting!
"Ding!"
As expected, just as she realized she had become Sparkle, a notification appeared in his mind!
"Role-playing System activated..."
"Binding..."
"Binding successful!!"
"Previous Life Name: (Doesn't matter)"
"Role-played Character: Sparkle, Current Role-playing Progress: 0%"
"Path: Elation"
"Aeon: Aha"
"Increasing Role-playing Progress can unlock Sparkle's skills! It will also enhance various attributes!"
"Currently owned innate skill: One Face, A Thousand Places (transform into any character)!"
"Role-playing System, I see..."
Sparkle shook her twin tails, then her lips curved slightly.
In her previous life, she was a common, nameless, overworked wage slave, broken by the weight of dull living. So she naturally yearned for the Path of Elation and would gladly follow it. So her personality wasn't suddenly altered by higher beings.
It's just that this 'role-playing' sounded just as bland.
"Sorry little System..."
"But what I want isn't just to play a simple role."
"From now on, This Miss — is Lady Sparkle!"
Her voice echoed throughout the room, and the light flickered as if startled.
"La la la~"
As if a spotlight was shining on her head, Sparkle gently spun a few times, like dancing.
No live audience yet? Then she would perform for herself. After that, she stopped, put her hands behind her back, and slowly paced to think. Since the game had started, it was time to think about how to clear it.
To clear the game means to survive for 24 hours. This required making good use of Sparkle's abilities!
Her current ability was One Face, A Thousand Places. If she could gain Elation points through this ability, she could increase her Role-playing Progress!
And now she was truly walking on the Path of Elation. To increase her Role-playing Progress, she had to constantly advance on this Path of Elation.
In layman's terms, it meant making fun.
Constantly seeking fun. Seeking Elation at all costs. The bigger the emotion, the better.
The more fun, the greater her ability. This way, if she was caught in a game again in the future, the greater the probability of clearing it, and higher difficulty games in the future could yield more Elation points. Alright, the cycle of laughter is complete
"Sizzle..." "..."
As if it had never seen a player who could still smile in such a situation, the terrifying atmosphere around seemed to have encountered something even more terrifying, and the light barely flickered anymore.
Slowly calming down, as a stream of information flowed into her mind, Sparkle finally recalled the current situation.
"What a pity~"
After recalling the knowledge downloaded into her, Sparkle sighed softly.
"Sparkle is unlucky. If it were other worlds, finding fun would be much simpler."
"Unfortunately... this is meant to be a horror world..."
To find Elation in such a setting was hellishly difficult.
But this could be another cosmic joke from Aha. So it leads back to Elation.
["Here they come! Has the live stream started? Did I miss anything?"]
["Holy crap! Just got here, why does this little girl's style feel a bit different??"]
["This is another survival challenge??"]
["This is a residential building??? I remember this scene! Last time, all dozens of players in this game died. These killers are cunning, and they can imitate humans. Forget 24 hours, a normal person entering would be lucky to last 10 minutes."]
["Everyone died in the last one I saw too..."]
["After all, the killers just need to kill as usual, while players have a lot more to consider."]
In the live stream room, as the game officially began, the bullet comments gradually became lively.
However, there was also a silent mourning for the misfortune of the twenty people participating in this bloodcurdling game.
Sparkle naturally couldn't see these bullet comments. At this moment, she was resting her chin on her small hand, pondering something.
Indeed, finding elation here was difficult.
But Aha seemed to have forgotten one thing!
Sparkle gently raised her head, her pink eyes staring in one direction, not knowing what she was looking at.
"I don't need to seek elation!"
"Because..."
"I am Elation!!!"
"Uh hahahahahahaha, hahahahahahahahahaha—"
Suddenly, a burst of laughter, even more eerie than a murderous maniac's, echoed throughout the entire residential building.
["What the heck is that noise?"]
["Is she going to scream and break the setting? No, no, what am I saying…"]
["Oh my, that laugh, I'm getting chills hearing it..."]
["Will the killers be scared if they hear this laugh?"]
["Very spirited, extremely spirited! Her mental state must be phenomenal!"]
Bang!!
Just as Sparkle was laughing loudly, a dull thud suddenly came from outside the door.
It sounded like someone was chopping at the door with an axe.