Chapter 1: Bloody Restaurant

"Character Card generation in progress..."

"ID: Liu Zheng (modifiable)"

"Level: lv1"

"Strength: 14"

"Constitution: 12?"

"Spirit: 11"

"Perception: 10"

Looking at the character panel in front of him, Liu Zheng was somewhat baffled.

All he did was fill out a survey and got picked by Hell's Game.

Are the Main Gods that casual about recruiting players these days?

Even those involved in pyramid schemes would at least inquire about one's family background.

"Instance will begin in one hour, please prepare accordingly."

That mechanical voice rang out again, and a countdown timer now appeared on the panel.

"Sending someone with ALS into an instance, isn't that inhumane?"

Liu Zheng was somewhat speechless.

He only had a few months left to live; this trip outside was for picking out his own graveyard.

He had already thought about his requirements.

It had to be a large space, facing from north to south, and ideally, the neighbor would be a nineteen-year-old JK girl.

"Player has signed a betting agreement; you must abide by the game rules."

The system stated indifferently.

"What betting agreement?"

Liu Zheng looked at the survey again, and to his astonishment, it had completely transformed.

"Name: Betting Agreement

"Type: Item"

"Quality: ???"

"Effect: The user's completion rewards will be automatically replaced with ones related to their wish until the wish is fulfilled. The user will be forcibly transformed into a player, and must not receive a completion rating lower than A before the wish is fulfilled, or else they will be eradicated."

"Note: Where there are kids crying every day, there are gambling dogs losing every day."

What was his wish again?

Liu Zheng scratched his head, then remembered.

Health and longevity.

A very discourteous request for someone with a terminal illness.

"Fine then."

He sighed.

Better a short pain than a long one; being erased seemed slightly better than waiting to die slowly.

What can you do in an hour?

Watch a movie, eat a big meal, write a will, have a celebration...

But Liu Zheng didn't do anything. He simply turned on the car stereo and played "Bohemian Rhapsody."

Then.

He watched as the countdown reached zero.

"Instance Name: Bloody Restaurant"

"Instance Type: Novice Trial"

"Instance Player Count: Solo"

"Objective: Survive 72 hours"

As the system prompt sounded, a mass of black fire instantly engulfed him, disappearing in the train car.

When Liu Zheng came to from the dizziness, he found himself standing at the entrance of his residential complex, with an additional letter in his hand.

He looked towards the complex's gate; the sign "Splendid New Garden" was covered with patchy rust, and the stone pillars showed signs of wind erosion.

He then looked inside the complex; the buildings were still in their original places, but as soon as Liu Zheng tried to take a closer look, he found everything blurry and indistinct.

At the same time, a stabbing pain coursed through his brain.

"Warning, rationality declining."

The system's prompt tone followed.

Liu Zheng hastened to look away.

Since he wasn't even allowed to look, entering the complex was out of the question.

So, he raised the envelope in his hand.

The clue for his next action must be inside.

Liu Zheng tore open the envelope and inside was a folded A4 paper.

He opened it and found it was a notice.

"Dear human citizen:"

"We regret to inform you that you have been unemployed for two months. Please follow the guide to the designated place for an interview. Failure will result in the loss of your citizenship and entry into the processing program."

"City Hall Department of Employment Security and Promotion."

No citizenship without a job—this Hell's Game really keeps up with the times.

Wait a minute, human citizens?

He suddenly spotted an interesting detail.

If there are human citizens, then naturally, there could also be non-human citizens.

Considering the so-called "processing program," the situation immediately became deeply unsettling.

"Interesting."

Liu Zheng felt somewhat excited.

This was the world he wanted, a world that was abnormal and out-of-the-ordinary.

He flipped the notice over, and it was a map.

There were five red marks in total, one of which was a pentagram, the others were dots.

Without thinking, that pentagram mark must be the so-called designated place.

The other four places were probably subsequent tasks or side quests.

If it were a whimsical player, they might go to the four dotted places first to check them out.

But with Liu Zheng's personality, he naturally headed straight for the heart of the matter.

He followed the map, not seeing any pedestrians along the way, not even small animals, and all the buildings he passed were tightly shut.

But Liu Zheng felt as though countless hidden eyes were watching him.

In those blurry gaps of doors and windows and the shadows of buildings, many figures lurked with bated breath.

"I can't stay outside for long."

A sense of danger warned Liu Zheng, prompting him to quicken his pace.

After briskly walking through the eerily quiet streets for half an hour, he finally reached his destination.

A three-story western-style building, isolated by a hundred meters from any other structures.

And that feeling of being watched quietly vanished after Liu Zheng entered the area.

"Bloody Restaurant"

When Liu Zheng saw the huge sign clearly, his pupils shrank involuntarily.

Because the name of the restaurant wasn't painted on but made up of limbs.

Long strokes were arms, short strokes were fingers.

They were nailed to wooden planks with rusty iron nails, still twisting constantly, as if they were welcoming him.

"Warning, rationality is declining."

The system reminded him again.

Liu Zheng quickly lowered his head, no longer looking at the sign.

"What is rationality?"

He diverted his attention by asking a question.

"Hidden attribute, when rationality decreases to a certain level, symptoms of intelligence decline, spirit being dazed, unconsciousness and even temporary insanity may occur."

"What if rationality reaches zero?"

"Permanent insanity or..."

Liu Zheng couldn't hear the rest clearly.

"Those lunatics in the mental hospital, they couldn't all be players with zero rationality, could they?"

He made a joke.

As expected, the system didn't respond.

Liu Zheng let out a sigh and stepped into the restaurant.

"Snap snap snap"

The crisp sounds followed him incessantly—it was those fingers snapping.

He couldn't tell if they were welcoming a new colleague or celebrating something.

He entered the restaurant and was somewhat surprised by the scene in front of him.

Different from the hellish scene he imagined, the restaurant's lobby was very neat and brightly lit, and the decoration was also of a grand and luxurious style.

A subtle fragrance filled the air, and even light piano music could be heard in the background.

Still, Liu Zheng didn't see anyone playing.

"Is anyone there?"

He called out.

"We haven't started serving yet, please come back later."

An indifferent voice responded to him.

Liu Zheng looked up, and a woman wearing a high-neck liner, draped in a white wool coat, had appeared on the second floor out of nowhere.

Her hair was coiled up into a bun, her face serene and peaceful, as if she were a lady from a Republican-era drama walking out of a time capsule.

A teardrop-shaped blue gemstone traced her fair neck and slipped into her inscrutable cleavage.

Such a beauty would enamor any man at first sight.

But for some reason, he felt only a slight chill in his heart.

"I'm here for the job interview."

Liu Zheng raised the notification he held in his hand.

"The City Hall is throwing its trash my way again."

The woman frowned.

He didn't feel the slightest ripple inside him at her remark.

Because he had heard worse things than that.

"I am Si Xue, the owner of this restaurant. There are three positions available now, which one are you applying for?"

The woman glanced at him and spoke.

"May I know what the three positions are?"

Liu Zheng asked politely.

"Delivery, kitchen help, waiter."

Si Xue replied indifferently.

Out of the three, waiter sounded the safest.

After all, the kitchen itself symbolizes bloodshed and violence, and making deliveries meant going out into the world beyond the restaurant.

Although he had come all this way without incident, that must have been plot protection.

However, judging from the decoration of the Bloody Restaurant, its clientele was likely either rich or noble.

Wealthy people in the real world were already troublesome enough to serve, and those of this strange world were surely even trickier.

"Boss, I'll do whatever you assign me. With your insight, the position you assign to me must be the most suitable."

Liu Zheng thought for a moment and then spoke.

"Interesting, a piece of trash with a bit of cunning."

Si Xue's lips curled up slightly, her sudden brilliance dazzling him somewhat.

Liu Zheng quickly held his breath and composed himself, barely suppressing the surge of emotions.

One smile nearly broke him, too dangerous.

This woman was definitely not human.

"Then go and do deliveries."

Si Xue's smile faded as quickly as it had appeared, her expression turning cold once more, casting doubt on whether his previous perception was just a hallucination.

"Okay, boss."

He nodded.

That's fine, he had experience with delivery.

"Niu Ma, take him for the handover."

Si Xue spoke indifferently, then step by step she vanished around the corner of the hallway.

"Yes, boss."

Following a muffled and heavy voice, an ox-horse creature emerged from a corner.

It had the body of a horse and the head of an ox, its horns reflecting an oily gleam.

Yes, a literal ox-horse creature.

"What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen an ox-horse?"

It spoke with displeasure.

"I'm sorry, I've never seen such a handsome ox-horse. I was caught off guard for a moment."

Liu Zheng retracted his shocked gaze and quickly apologized.

"You have good taste. I forgive you."

Niu Ma snorted.

It was clear that it was very pleased with Liu Zheng's compliment.

"The boss was right. For a human, you are indeed clever."

Niu Ma raised its forehoof and patted his shoulder.

"Work hard, human, don't make me eat you."

It opened its thick lips, revealing sharp teeth like saw blades inside.