The moon was dark, the wind fierce, and thunder and lightning raged across the sky.
At the center of a cemetery dotted with low hills, withered trees, and tombs, a robust, bearded middle-aged man wearing nothing but strawberry-patterned underwear was pressed "intimately" against an elegant woman with delicate features and a graceful figure, dressed in a pure-white princess gown. His features were twisted in pain.
Just then, the sky darkened once more. A colossal red demon straight out of Western fantasy emerged from the dark void.
Its appearance nearly suffocated the bearded man and White Dress Princess below.
The bearded man struggled to rise from the ground and tried to pull Princess behind him. Though her whole body trembled uncontrollably, Princess quickly changed to a stubborn expression and stared at the monster in the sky.
But it was all futile. The enormous red demon spread its wings and dove toward the ground with overwhelming force.
The gale howled, and Princess screamed.
In the blink of an eye, Princess vanished, while the bearded man crashed heavily to the ground, sent flying three meters through a mist of blood.
When the scene shifted again, the demon was already back in the sky, holding the petite Princess in its arms and staring cruelly and mockingly at the strawberry-underwear-wearing bearded knight it had badly injured once more.
This time, he had no chance.
Completely ignoring Princess's cries, the demon's wings wrapped around itself and Princess. Then the two of them merged entirely into the darkness.
At the same time, on a low hill not far from the scene, one dotted with more than a dozen tombs, a group of humans of various heights, builds, clothing, and expressions erupted in a startling cacophony of chaotic noise that, for some inexplicable reason, did not spread throughout the cemetery.
"Who are you people? What is this place!?"
"Listen, we're living under the rule of law now. Kidnapping and extortion are crimes... Don't do anything stupid and set foot on the road of crime!"
"Fuck! Look! Someone's dead! Holy shit! It's a naked foreigner! Hurry, hurry~ Where's your phone? Record this!"
"Dumbass! There's a monster in the sky! Why record this corpse instead of that? What the hell are you filming!?"
"Hey, you think that monster ran off with a girl. Could it be taking her back to breed?"
"Could it be a goblin?"
"...I only had two bottles of beer and a jin of baijiu, and I'm already hallucinating? My alcohol tolerance has really dropped."
"Ahhh!!!" (Pause) "Ahhhh!!!!"
Some asked questions, some tried to persuade others, some watched the spectacle, and some only screamed. The scene was a riot of voices, with most people shouting over one another while failing to form even the slightest effective communication—
Until a gunshot rang out, one that should have echoed through the cemetery sky.
Most Chinese people really were not particularly sensitive to the sound of gunshots. But when the sound came from close by, and following it with their eyes revealed a smoking pistol muzzle, most of them knew enough to act sensibly.
Everyone fell silent at once, including the half-drunk guy who had been questioning his entire existence. A few people let out brief "ah" sounds before instinctively covering their mouths.
"Now, all of you shut up. I talk, you listen. One extra word, understand?"
The only two people in the crowd who stood out sharply from the others were dressed in chainmail that looked as though it could only appear at a comics convention. One of them, a man with strangely blue-green skin, sat on a tombstone, smoked a cigarette, and swept the gun muzzle across the crowd.
No one dared breathe loudly. They only shifted their bodies as slightly as possible, trying to avoid the muzzle that was already sweeping back and forth.
The other person who stood out sharply was Cheng Tian, Cheng, who was bare-chested, wearing only shorts and slippers, and clutching a phone. He looked unmistakably as though he had just stepped out of his own bathroom.
Not only was he dressed the most lightly, but he was also the only person who had not said a word from beginning to end.
The reason Cheng Tian had remained silent was that he had plunged into a storm of thoughts long ago. All the surrounding noise had gone in one ear and out the other, until the gunshot rang out.
While everyone else was still exploding over this sudden, inexplicable transmigration, Cheng Tian had instantly retrieved a keyword from his mind the moment he saw the strawberry-underwear-wearing man, the purple-haired Princess, and the red demon in the center of the cemetery—
Demon Village.
He had even identified the exact version. It was the opening animation of the Famicom version of "Demon Village."
Yet the scene before him differed drastically from the opening animation he remembered.
As the kingdom's original savior, the knight Arthur should have put his armor back on after the demon abducted Princess, then charged toward Demon King's Castle to rescue her.
But judging from the blood foam spraying from Arthur's mouth and the way he lay on the ground looking as though he was barely breathing... could he be dying?
With his mind completely filled with information related to "Demon Village," Cheng Tian did not join in the surrounding uproar and seemed unusually quiet. That was also why the Greenie quietly glanced at him twice more.
"Everyone, pay attention. Look over here."
As he spoke, the man knocked the muzzle of his gun twice against the tombstone beneath him. Everyone obediently looked over.
With those knocks, the rotten stone surface covered in dust began peeling away on its own.
Then, lines of writing began appearing across the stone like an ink-wash electronic book.
Dungeon import complete. Knight "Arthur" fought desperately to seize the complete route map to Demon King's Castle from the Demon King. Not only did he fail to protect the poor Princess, whose fate was already tragic, but he also failed to escape the pursuit of Great Demon King "Astaroth's" forces. Yet, at the moment of his death, Arthur unexpectedly discovered a certain hope that should never have appeared. In that instant, the dying knight prepared to make the final important choice of his life... Welcome to the "Chosen Evolution Space." The Chosen Evolution Space is dedicated to discovering every qualified player and granting them the opportunity to fulfill wishes, make up for regrets, surpass themselves, and break through their limits. Explore dungeons, seek out rules, slay monsters, and complete missions. As players, you may attempt anything in the Chosen Evolution Space and obtain things that once existed only in fantasy—things capable of easily freeing you from the shackles of the mundane world. But all of this comes with one prerequisite... First, find a way to survive! You rookies! Dungeon Template: Demon Village Dungeon Affixes: Newbie Trial—A dungeon exclusively for new players. Killing between players is forbidden. Any killing will yield no benefits, and the next dungeon mission will receive a reward-reduction DEBUFF. I Am Legend—The original protagonist has been removed, and players will take the protagonist's place to carry out the mission. Players may receive additional assistance in some form. Medieval Fantasy—The setting contains medieval fantasy magic elements, limiting the effectiveness of technological creations. True to the Original—While conforming to certain real-world laws, the scene's structure and related settings are highly faithful to the corresponding template. Dungeon Difficulty: E+ (From low to high: E, D, C, B, A, S, ?. A plus or minus added afterward indicates dynamic adjustments to dungeon difficulty.) Main Mission: Team mission. Kill the guardian BOSS "Cyclops" guarding the lowest gate of Demon King's Castle. Time limit: 8 hours. Basic Completion Rewards—2 free attribute points, 1,000 points. Additional evaluations and rewards will be granted based on the completion of expansion content, such as individual mission contribution, map exploration, and plot development. Side Mission: Solo mission. Kill the elite demon unit "Red Arremer" patrolling the cemetery's boundary. Completion Rewards—4 free attribute points, 1 random Red Arremer skill stone. During your dungeon adventure, you may discover and unlock more related settings. Your bodies have already been digitized. Please touch your own "Chosen Mark" with your mind to view your personal data panel. Chosen Evolution Space: Evolution without end.
The surface of the tombstone sank completely into darkness. Several people who read slowly had not even finished reading everything.
Most of the others wore expressions of confusion and disbelief.
Two young men who clearly knew each other had been trying to record Arthur and the demon. After a brief moment of thought, both revealed excited expressions.
"Bro! Is this real? Did we really transmigra—"
The young man with the phone had clearly read plenty of webnovels and already had a relatively clear understanding of his situation. Overwhelmed with excitement, he had completely forgotten about the gun in the Greenie's hand and his warning. And so—
Bang!
Accompanied by the gunshot and an uncontrollable cry of pain, the young man became One-Ear.
Before you continue