"Pant… pant."

In a long corridor, a woman sprinted forward desperately, as if something horrifying was chasing her from behind.

"I shouldn’t have opened that door so recklessly."

She regretted her decision from just minutes ago.

The hallway was lit by incandescent bulbs on the ceiling, but now they flickered erratically, doing their best to create a sense of dread.

A classic trick—but classics work for a reason.

Still, for the woman, the thing chasing her was far more terrifying.

It was a giant, standing at two hundred and fifty centimeters tall. Its skin was pale, laced with grayish-blue veins. Its eyes held no emotion whatsoever. Each step it took struck the ground with a heavy thud.

The distance between them kept shrinking.

Just as the giant was about to grab her, she suddenly vanished—only to reappear five meters ahead of where she had been. A few seconds later, she repeated the same action, widening the gap once more.

"The exit is just ahead."

She dashed forward with all her remaining strength and shoved open the door in front of her. A blinding white light forced her to shut her eyes.

At that very moment, the giant’s hand brushed against her neck—the rough texture sending a chill through her.

"Ah!"

She jolted upright inside the game pod, patting her chest.

"Good thing I cleared it in the end… though the rating wasn’t great."

She stepped out of the pod and picked up her phone, scrolling through the news.

Today, there was an important announcement—Anomalous Zone, the first full-dive virtual reality game, was officially entering open beta. Ever since its closed testing phase, it had received overwhelming praise. Aside from reduced pain perception, everything felt almost identical to reality, as if players had truly crossed into another world.

Despite its ominous name, the game wasn’t purely horror. It featured all kinds of dungeons, so even those who disliked horror could adjust the settings to avoid more terrifying content.

With the launch of the open beta, Anomalous Zone also introduced a brand-new feature: Personal Weapons.

Once players cleared their first dungeon, they would unlock a unique weapon of their own. These weapons could grow stronger over time and gain additional skills—but where did those skills come from?

At random. 

That’s right—pure randomness. There was no fixed method to obtain exclusive skills. As the developers casually put it:

“As long as you keep running dungeons, you’ll have more chances to unlock skills!”

Before long, the game forums were flooded with explosive discussions about personal weapons and skills. Players eagerly shared what kind of weapons they hoped to obtain, while others speculated whether skills were tied to hidden scores.

“But we don’t even know if hidden stats exist,” someone pointed out.

"Hmm… as expected, most of it is about this."

After scrolling through for a while, she spoke, then decided to give her neighbor a call.

Inside a room, a young woman sat in front of her screen, fingers tapping across the keyboard. She had long, voluminous wavy hair with dark red highlights at the ends, and delicate, well-defined features.

Her name was Su Lingyan. After inputting the test data, the correct result appeared on the screen.

“Phew, done.” She picked up a cup of fruit tea beside her and took a sip.

Just then, her phone rang. She glanced at it before answering.

“Lingyan, are you online yet?”

Holding her drink in one hand and her phone in the other, Su Lingyan replied, “Of course not. I just finished work.”

“It’s already four in the afternoon! I’ve cleared a dungeon already, and you’re still not online? I bet you haven’t even unboxed your game pod yet.”

“...” Su Lingyan turned to look at the large box sitting in the corner of her room.

“You guessed right. But I have a question.” She shifted her gaze toward the door. “Bai Luoyin, you literally live next door—and you even have my key. Why are you calling me? ”

With a casual “I’m coming in,” the door opened, and a short-haired woman stepped inside, leaning against the frame.

“I didn’t want to disturb you. You were working just now,” said Bai Luoyin—Su Lingyan’s roommate and best friend.

“Oh, I’m so touched. You’re such a great bestie~” Su Lingyan walked up and pinched Bai Luoyin’s cheek. “Stop lying. You just think this is fun!”

“Ow, that hurts—let go!” Bai Luoyin pulled her face free.

“Come on, help me open the package first.” Su Lingyan grabbed a pair of scissors.

After unboxing, a sleek black game pod was placed in the corner. The dark blue lines across its surface gave it a futuristic feel.

“How long does a dungeon usually take?” Su Lingyan asked.

“It depends. At least three hours. But the in-game time runs at a ten-to-one ratio compared to real life. So three hours in-game is only eighteen minutes in reality,” Bai Luoyin explained.

“Then if I bring my work into the game, wouldn’t that be super efficient? I could spend more time slacking off.” Su Lingyan mused.

“That’s not a feature! And it would only make your procrastination worse—you’re the kind of person who always waits until the last two days to start working! That project you just finished—when was the deadline?” Bai Luoyin shot back.

“Five p.m. today.”

“And what time is it now?”

“Four-thirty. See? I finished half an hour early. Perfect.” Su Lingyan looked very pleased.

“Yeah, you’re something else. You always push things to the last second, yet somehow still finish on time,” Bai Luoyin said helplessly.

“As long as it’s done on time, it’s fine. Honestly, I should suggest that feature to the devs. Anyway, I’m going in—oh, this is pretty comfortable.” Su Lingyan lay down inside the game pod, the cushioning and pillow perfectly balanced between soft and firm.

“Oh, right—what’s your personal weapon?” she asked just before entering the game.

“Secret. I’ll tell you later~”

“Welcome to Anomalous Zone.”

A mechanical female voice rang out. Su Lingyan opened her eyes and found herself standing in a pure white space, facing a floating game interface.

“Since this is your first time entering the game, please enter your nickname.”

Text appeared on the interface, with a rectangular input field below it.

“Hmm… I always feel like coming up with a nickname is such a hassle.” Su Lingyan thought for only a second before typing into the panel: Zerion.

Her only criterion for naming was simple: whether it sounded good.

Immediately after, the interface changed. A red horizontal bar appeared, a blue one beneath it, along with multiple grid slots and a section for personal information.

The rest were familiar icons typically found in games—announcements, mail, friends, and so on.

On the left side of the red bar was a heart icon, indicating that it represented health. The blue bar was likely stamina or mana, and the grid was presumably the inventory for storing items.

The explanation text on the interface confirmed her guesses: the red bar represented HP, displayed only as a percentage rather than a numeric value, while the blue bar represented stamina.

Then a prompt popped up in front of her.

“Player is about to enter the first dungeon. Proceed?”

Su Lingyan selected “Yes.”

A portal opened in the pure white space. She stepped through it.

“Loading dungeon. You are about to enter the instance.”

First came darkness, then chaotic noise. When her vision stabilized, she found herself in a bustling city. Her phone showed the time: 11:00.

Main Quest: Please locate Mr. Hank Lin.

The objective appeared in her quest log.

Find someone. That shouldn’t be difficult. After all, this was only the first dungeon.

Su Lingyan decided to simply ask around. After questioning the fifth passerby, she finally got a lead.

“Hank? He should be at that café over there at this time. I don’t recognize you—are you his friend?” said the man, who turned out to be Hank’s neighbor.

Su Lingyan casually brushed off the question and headed to the café.

Now that she thought about it—what did Hank even look like?

When she arrived, she realized there was only one male customer and two female customers inside.

Quest completed. A checkmark appeared in her quest log.

That was easy.

She entered the café and noticed a wallet and an old phone in her pocket. The wallet contained a fair amount of money, so she ordered a coffee and sat near Mr. Hank.

Hank Lin appeared to be a man in his thirties, with short brown hair and the facial features of a mixed heritage. He was calmly drinking coffee while looking out at the busy city outside the window.

A new objective appeared: Assist Hank in saving his wife.

However, from Hank’s current demeanor, it didn’t seem like his wife was in any immediate danger.

Su Lingyan glanced at him from the side, then looked away, thinking about how to start a conversation.

Before she could decide, Hank finished his coffee, stood up, and left the café. Su Lingyan had no choice but to leave her unfinished drink and follow him.

Hank crossed the street and entered an alley—then suddenly had his hand grabbed.

It was someone wearing a black coat, a baseball cap, and a mask, revealing only a pair of eyes.

Those eyes were green—clear like emeralds, strikingly beautiful. A faint floral scent lingered around them.

“You can’t change the ending. So don’t waste your effort.”

The person said something incomprehensible, then left. Hank found it strange but didn’t think much of it.

Su Lingyan, however, kept her gaze on the figure for a moment longer.

Such beautiful eyes. she thought.

After leaving the alley, a long-haired woman stood across the street. Hank walked toward her.

She hugged him, smiling brightly.

“Hank, I’m so happy today.”

“What happened, dear Tina?” Hank asked gently.

The couple walked side by side through the street, with Su Lingyan following behind.

“I found the family heirloom I’ve been searching for,” Tina said excitedly.

“That’s wonderful news. I’m happy for you. If I remember correctly, your family heirloom is a music box,” Hank replied.

“Yes! Many years ago, my grandparents passed away suddenly, and the music box they were keeping disappeared. Our family has been searching for it ever since. Earlier today, I met a collector, and when he showed me his collection—I saw it!”

“The kind collector heard my story and decided to give it to me directly. He was truly a generous man.”

The couple arrived at a villa located in a rather secluded area with little traffic.

Su Lingyan glanced at her phone. 11:35. Thirty-five minutes had passed since entering the dungeon, yet she still had no idea what the real objective was. Tina didn’t seem to be in danger at all.

The front gate was open. Tina pressed the doorbell, and a butler quickly answered.

“Miss Tina, Mr. Williams instructed me to give you this when you arrived,” the butler said, handing her a box.

“Thank you very much. May I ask if Mr. Williams is home? I would like to thank him personally,” Tina said carefully.

“I’m sorry, he is currently busy,” the butler replied.

“What a pity. I will visit again next time.”

The butler nodded and closed the door.

Tina eagerly opened the box. Inside was a white music box shaped like a carousel. Gold decorations adorned the top and the horses, making it elegant and luxurious—and, to Su Lingyan’s taste, quite beautiful.

“It’s a beautiful music box,” Hank said sincerely.

“Yes.” Tina closed the box and handed it to Hank.

“Dear, I know you’re planning to go buy the new novel that just came out, so please take this home for me. I’ll go to the bookstore and pick up yours as well. I’m worried it might get lost again.”

“Alright,” Hank smiled gently.

“You’re so kind,” Tina said happily before walking away briskly.

Hank turned and headed home with the box. About ten seconds later—

A loud crash echoed behind him.

Bang!

Then came a piercing scream.

Hank turned around sharply. The first thing he saw was a blinding red.

Tina’s body was thrown into the air like a rag doll, then slammed heavily onto the ground. The sound of breaking bones was clear and sharp. Blood quickly spilled, staining the ground red.