Chapter 1: First Entering the Mysterious World
The night was deep, and a cold wind swept across the land, bringing an ominous whisper.
Su Yin stood in the center of an unfamiliar, deserted town, a pale moon hanging overhead, as if half of it had been devoured by shadows. The system's final notification still echoed in his ears—
[Welcome to the world of horror games, instance number: 0001-Redstone Town]
[Current mode: Multiplayer cooperation]
[Mission objective: Survive for 72 hours and complete at least one main quest]
[Warning: Ghosts cannot be killed.]
The words on the screen gradually faded away, replaced by an eerie silence.
He looked down at himself. His clothes were casual everyday wear, and there was an old-fashioned lighter and a yellowed photograph in his pocket. In the photo, there was a dilapidated hotel with a few blurry figures standing in front of it, and a few words written in red ink on the back:
[Before midnight, find it.]
Su Yin frowned and looked around.
Not far away, several figures were slowly approaching. Some were talking in low voices, some were cautiously looking around, and everyone had varying degrees of confusion or unease on their faces.
A tall man took the lead and spoke, his voice low and steady: "I'm Lu Heng, a professional soldier. Let's report our identities, at least so we have some idea of who we're dealing with."
"Qin Shu, university student," a young man wearing black-rimmed glasses replied.
"Han Qi, my profession is... streamer," a girl with a high ponytail shrugged, with a hint of helplessness on her face.
"Zheng Bo, detective."
"Tang Wan, doctor."
Su Yin pondered for a moment, then said briefly: "Su Yin, office worker."
No one asked more about their professions, after all, identity is not important now, what matters is that they have to figure out what kind of environment they are in.
But the silence in the air was not just because of confusion, but more because of wariness.
"How... did you all get here?" Tang Wan asked in a low voice.
Everyone's eyes gathered together in an instant, with suspicion and a faint unease.
Lu Heng frowned, as if thinking about something, and then slowly said after a moment: "I... remember I was on a mission, and a bullet pierced my chest."
Qin Shu's face turned pale: "I seem to... have been reviewing at home, and then I felt a sudden heaviness in my head for no reason, and when I opened my eyes, I was here."
"When I was live streaming, it seemed... it seemed that strange images suddenly appeared on the screen, and then... and then..." Han Qi's face gradually turned pale.
Zheng Bo said in a low voice: "My memory is a bit chaotic, but what I can be sure of is that I died."
These words made the atmosphere completely freeze.
A chill rose in everyone's heart.
Did they all come here after they died?
Lu Heng glanced at the surrounding buildings and pointed to the hotel in the photo: "Over there."
The outline of the hotel was hidden in the fog, and the sign at the door was so rotten that the original name could not be seen clearly, only the words "Check in and register" in red were faintly visible.
Han Qi swallowed and said in a low voice: "Don't you think... this place is too gloomy?"
Qin Shu pushed his glasses and said calmly: "It's not just gloomy, there are no insects chirping here, and there is no sound of wind, as if the whole town... is dead."
As soon as he finished speaking, the door of the hotel opened slowly with a "creak".
Su Yin's heart suddenly contracted.
The mission has begun.
好的,这是你提供的文档的翻译:
Chapter 1, Section 3
The hotel door slowly opened, and a musty and damp smell wafted towards them.
Su Yin subconsciously took half a step back, and the others also showed wary expressions.
"Are we really going in?" Han Qi's voice carried a hint of hesitation, her fingers tightly clutching her cuff, her eyes wandering uncertainly.
"The main quest's prompt is very clear." Zheng Bo said in a low voice, his eyes sweeping over everyone, as if observing something. "Before midnight, find it. We have no other choice."
Lu Heng didn't speak, but stepped forward and took the lead into the hotel lobby.
The dim chandelier swayed, emitting a faint light, reflecting the dusty counter and broken furniture. There were scattered old newspapers on the floor, and the clock on the wall stopped at "11:45 PM" - only fifteen minutes before midnight.
"It's too quiet." Tang Wan frowned, her eyes scanning the inside of the hotel. "It doesn't look like a place where 'people' have lived."
"Don't say that." Qin Shu said in a low voice, his fingers pushing his glasses, but it could be seen that his knuckles were a little white.
Han Qi looked at a long table placed in the center of the lobby, with an old check-in register on it. She hesitated and opened it, and found that the first page was written with a few names, all signed in red ink, as if blood had seeped into the paper.
Su Yin's eyes fell on the last column, where a newly appeared line of writing was:
[Su Yin, Lu Heng, Qin Shu, Han Qi, Zheng Bo, Tang Wan]
His fingers trembled slightly, and his heart seemed to be clenched tightly by something.
"This is... our names?"
"Who wrote it?" Lu Heng's voice was low, with suppressed anger.
No one answered.
The atmosphere in the lobby instantly became heavy, and the air seemed to become viscous.
Just at this moment, a dull footstep came from the depths of the hotel.
"...There are other 'people' here." Zheng Bo said softly.
Everyone's nerves tightened instantly, and their eyes turned to the dim corridor.
The footsteps were getting closer and closer, gradually stopping behind a door outside the lobby.
"What to do?" Han Qi's voice trembled.
Lu Heng raised his hand and made a silent gesture, slowly walking towards the door.
Su Yin's fingertips also unconsciously clenched the lighter, and cold sweat slid down his back.
Outside the door, a pale hand slowly reached out and placed it on the door frame...
The hand on the door frame was pale and withered, the nails were yellow, like the color of a corpse after it had rotted.
Su Yin's heartbeat suddenly stopped, and the lighter in his hand almost slipped. The air seemed to freeze, and everyone held their breath.
"Who's there?" Lu Heng's voice was low, but he had already gripped the military knife around his waist, his whole body tensed like a bowstring.
The finger trembled slightly, and slowly retracted into the door. The darkness inside the door was unfathomable, as if even light could not penetrate it.
Han Qi took a breath and suddenly took a step back, almost knocking over the registration book on the long table.
"Don't let it in." Zheng Bo said suddenly, his tone unusually firm.
Tang Wan's face was pale, and cold sweat oozed from her forehead. She asked tremblingly, "Why?"
Zheng Bo's eyes fell on the floor, where there was a shallow scratch, like the boundary of some kind of barrier.
"The temperature inside and outside the threshold is different." Zheng Bo said in a low voice, "This door is some kind of boundary."
Only then did everyone realize that although the lobby was gloomy, they could still feel the chill on their skin, while outside the threshold, the darkness was like a dead and silent abyss, and even the cold breath did not exist.
"It doesn't dare to come in." Qin Shu said softly.
For a time, everyone understood - as long as they stood in the hotel lobby, they were safe. But how long can this "safety" last?
The darkness behind the door was silent for a few seconds, and then, an extremely strange laugh sounded.
"Hehe...hehehe..."
The laughter was like a knife scraping across an iron plate, harsh and sharp, with an unspeakable malice.
"Get back!" Lu Heng suddenly pulled Han Qi over, keeping her away from the door.
The next second, the hand slammed on the door frame, with a kind of deep-seated resentment.
"Bang—!"
The entire hotel shook violently, and the old chandelier on the wall swayed, making a harsh creaking sound.
The hand paused for a moment, then slowly retracted, the laughter gradually faded away, and the outside of the door returned to a deathly silence.
Inside the hotel, everyone looked different, and the atmosphere was as oppressive as a suffocating water prison.
"It... is it gone?" Han Qi's voice trembled.
No one answered.
Su Yin took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. His eyes fell on the check-in register on the table, and turned to the next page.
The next page of paper was yellowed, and the handwriting on it was crooked, but it could be clearly recognized:
[First Night: Game Start]
[Please complete the check-in process.]
Almost at the same moment, behind the old front desk counter in the lobby, a hoarse voice came.
"Welcome to stay."