Daisy_Flower_4657

"I Want to Play a Game" blends elements such as time loops, infinite streams, rule-based games, and post-apocalyptic survival, all set against a unique Chinese aesthetic with mind-bending plot twists. The story unfolds in an alternate realm known as "The Land of Endings," where all participants are "the Guilty"—people burdened with sins in the real world—who are forcibly drawn into a death game controlled by the Twelve Zodiac. The game is divided into three levels: "Heaven," "Earth," and "Human." Within ten days, participants must win "the Dao" through strategic play, deduction, or cooperation; once they accumulate enough, they can escape. Those who fail will lose their memory and be resurrected on the eleventh day, while only those who awaken the "Echo" ability can retain their memories and move on to the next cycle of reincarnation. Originally a "place for divine creation," The Land of Endings has become a brutal battleground for survival following the betrayal of the Zodiac leader, "Tianlong" (Heavenly Dragon).

I Want To Play A Game

The dim light filtering through cracked windows painted grotesque shadows across the decaying massage parlor. Jack Li's labored breathing echoed in the hollow space as Taylor frantically tore moth-eaten drapes into bandages. The metallic tang of blood mingled with the stench of decay permeating the walls.

"Logic connections..." Lawyer Liu murmured, her fingers trembling as she arranged a makeshift bed. The phrase hung in the air like a half-formed spell.

The rhythmic *thud-thud-thud* from the adjacent room intensified. Jack Li's bloodied hand tightened on the armrest. "We should leave."

"Don't move!" Taylor pressed a wad of fabric against his oozing shoulder. The wound resembled a carnivorous flower bloomed in flesh - jagged petals of torn muscle where the blade had twisted.

Lawyer Liu's heels clicked decisively against rotten floorboards as she marched toward the sound. "If it's dangerous, we'd already be dead."

"Wait—" Jack Li's warning died as the door creaked open.

An emaciated figure in tattered therapist's whites mechanically pounded on a desiccated corpse. Putrid fluid oozed from flattened ribcages with each compression. "Pressure... adequate...?" the thing croaked in looping monotone.

Taylor's retch echoed through the corridor.

"Don't look." Jack Li's blood-slick palm slammed the door shut. The *thudding* continued, muffled now. "Find dry wood. Now."

As Taylor scurried off, Lawyer Liu stared at the vibrating door. "Were they... like us once?"

Jack Li didn't answer. The question hung like the stench.

When Taylor returned with splintered chair legs, Jack Li ignited his Zippo. Flames danced in his hollow eyes. "Hold him down," he ordered nobody.

The searing wood met flesh with a hiss. Jack Li's scream tore through the building, harmonizing with the ceaseless *thudding* next door.

Lawyer Liu watched tendrils of smoke rise from cauterized flesh. "Why save me in the microwave?"

"Game mechanics." Jack Li's teeth chattered. "Not charity."

"You're lying." Her voice cracked. "Officer Liu saw it too. There's humanity beneath—"

"Officer Liu died romanticizing a fraud!" Jack Li's fist smashed into moldering wallpaper. Dust rained down. "The 'good man' abandoned his family! The 'hero' let his partner take a bullet! We're all monsters here!"

In the adjacent room, the pounding reached frenzied intensity. Dry bone splintered.

Taylor pressed fresh bandages to the smoking wound. "Then why keep fighting?"

Jack Li's gaze drifted to the vibrating wall. "Because the alternative..."

A wet crunch silenced the eternal *thudding*.

The Prelude to Surrender