Absurd World

As if waking from the deepest Nightmare, Chang Xi suddenly opened her eyes on the misty, rain-soaked street.

The Tian Kong was overcast and a light drizzle was falling. Several Passenger, some carrying umbrellas and others carrying briefcases, stood scattered around the Bus Stop, waiting for their Bus.

"... Are you out yet?"

With a touch of curiosity, Chang Xi looked around and then looked up at the Tian Kong. After thinking for a moment, she tried to summon the System Interface.

As the saying goes, "After much anticipation, it finally appears." A moment later, a Virtual Screen that only she could see slowly appeared in front of her.

[Dungeon Name: Ordinary World]

[Quest Type: Survival Exploration]

[Dungeon Difficulty: Unknown]

[Danger Level: Unknown]

[Dungeon Drops: Unknown]

[Dungeon -exclusive drop: Unknown]

[Current Instance Completion Rate: 50%]

[Quest Target 1: Escape the real dream world. (Completed)]

[Quest Target 2: Survive for three days. (Incomplete)]

[Quest Target 3: Exploration. (Incomplete)]

[Current objective: Go to the front desk of the Victory Grand Hotel to check in and stay at the hotel. (Incomplete)]

[Note ①: All Player in this world have been declared dead. This is a world on the verge of extinction, yet the world itself continues to function. Please investigate the truth.]

[Note ②: The whole world is your enemy; be careful not to expose yourself.]

[Note ③: Click to view the last clues left by the last Player in this world before their death.]

"... Death World?"

Chang Xi looked away from the Light Screen in front of her and glanced around at the Passenger waiting for the bus at the Bus Stop with a hint of confusion.

The streetlights were already on in the misty evening rain.

The entire city was bathed in a dazzling array of colors, with cars occasionally passing by on the streets, creating a peaceful and serene scene.

Beside her was a Suitcase, and from the pockets of her clothes, she found several plane tickets, her ID, and a mobile phone.

The identity assigned to her by the system seemed to be that of a tourist visiting the city.

What kind of world is this, on the verge of destruction?

After thinking for a moment and confirming the Bus number she was going to take, Chang Xi reached out and clicked on the clue left by the so-called last Player in this world in the notes.

The clues were few and far between, just three lines, and didn't seem like they were deliberately left behind. They were more like notes left out of despair.

"I knew from the beginning that it was a clever lie."

"A corridor with no exit, a never-ending cycle of restlessness."

"On an empty stage, the Lights danced, stretching all the way to the ends of the earth."

After looking at it several times, Chang Xi turned off the Light Screen in front of her with a look of disinterest.

She usually doesn't care much about things she's not interested in, and she's too lazy to even think about them. She does everything based on her own interests.

About five or six minutes later, a Bus finally arrived.

As Chang Xi was about to board the bus, carrying her Suitcase, she inadvertently caught a glimpse of the scenery inside and decisively stopped herself from getting on.

"Sorry, I misunderstood the approach."

After glancing at her phone, she gave the driver, who was glaring at her impatiently, an apologetic smile, and then casually picked up her Suitcase and returned to her original spot.

Everything was normal on the Bus: the driver, the Passenger, the seats, and there were no Monster or strange things hiding there... except for one thing.

The coin slot or card reader that used to be next to the Bus door has been replaced by a large black box, and every Passenger who boards the bus naturally puts something into the box.

Chang Xi initially thought it was a coin, but unintentionally, she saw what the Passenger who boarded before her had thrown into the box.

... It was a bloody, mangled eyeball, which looked as if it had just been gouged out of a living person's eye socket.

She walked out of the supermarket without looking to the side, took out Fireworks of Romance phone to check it, and then turned around and headed towards her destination Finish Line to the navigation.

The light drizzle falling from the Tian Kong perfectly concealed her unusual state.

"This kind of world..."

As if recalling the scenes she had witnessed in the supermarket, Fireworks of Romance's face paled slightly.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself detached from that real dream world and now aimlessly wandering through a supermarket.

After the long-awaited System Interface finally appeared, she finally felt a little relieved. In its place was the curiosity about the world that the system described as being on the verge of destruction.

After all, in her view, everything in the world was normal. The supermarket was full of people buying food, books, vegetables, and other necessities, exuding a strong sense of life and a peaceful atmosphere.

How can such a perfectly normal world be described as being on the verge of destruction?

However, the doubts and confusion that arose in her heart were quickly shattered by what she saw and heard in the supermarket.

Because the meat was only slightly underweight when buying it, the Big Guy in the apron didn't hesitate to chop off one of his fingers and put it into the plastic bag to make up the weight.

What was clearly a crazy and absurd scene was nothing out of the ordinary to the people around them, who continued to chat and laugh as they bought groceries and shopped at the supermarket.

After quickly treating the wound on his hand, the Big Guy resumed his business, even enthusiastically asking her if she wanted a few pounds of pork belly... even though he only had one finger left on his left hand.

The Fireworks of Romance initially thought these humans were all Madman, but they all spoke clearly and didn't utter any crazy words. Apart from their bizarre behaviors, they were perfectly normal in every other way.

When she went to pay at the cashier, the money she received wasn't the kind of tissues or coins she recognized; instead, it was replaced with all sorts of strange items.

Eyeballs, teeth, nails, ears...

She even witnessed someone knock out their own teeth because they didn't have enough money, completing the transaction with their mouth full of blood.

This absurd scene was perfectly normal for those around them.

Although her Sanity Value stopped decreasing automatically and started to recover slowly after she came out of that Closed Loop, she still felt her Sanity plummeting as she looked at the absurd scenes before her.

This is a world filled with madness and absurdity.