"My name is Fang Yue. I'm twenty-three, just graduated, and currently unemployed. I'm pretty good at video games, though."
"So I decided to become a professional gamer."
"And today is the release date of Blue Sea, the latest full-dive game from Tengli Company."
"I was riding my beloved little electric scooter to the nearest Game Watch distributor."
Just then, a gust of wind blew a strange piece of parchment right onto my face.
I took it down and read what was written on it, feeling puzzled and curious.
But after a moment's thought, I tossed the strange parchment away.
Ten minutes later, I died.
...Who died?!
You're the one who's going to die!
Fang Yue's face darkened, but his hand stopped before he could throw the parchment away.
He stopped his scooter and looked around. The road was full of passing cars.
They know my name. It must be a prank by someone I know, right?
Whatever. Buying the Game Watch was more important.
He'd heard Tengli Company was giving away Lucky Gift Packs this time, hidden inside randomly numbered Game Watches. If he was late, someone else might snatch one up.
Fang Yue was about to toss the parchment away again when he suddenly froze.
The writing on the parchment faded line by line, then reappeared, also line by line.
Holy crap?!
What kind of black technology was this?!
"I thought the parchment was just a prank between friends."
"But I never imagined that it was actually my last lifeline!"
"I didn't believe what the parchment said. I treated it like a prank and threw it away."
"Nine minutes later, I died."
"Before I died, for some reason, I kept thinking about the parchment I'd just picked up. I regretted it deeply."
"If... I'd believed what the parchment said, things definitely wouldn't have turned out this way!"
Fang Yue was dumbfounded.
Could this thing read minds? That was terrifying!
Fang Yue examined the parchment closely.
It looked incredibly old-fashioned, like something only a medieval nobleman would use.
But when he touched it, it felt smooth as silk.
"This thing... might be worth a lot?"
Fang Yue started getting ideas.
He'd only just graduated from university and had nothing to his name. He was even renting a cheap room in a shared apartment. He really did need money.
As if it had read Fang Yue's mind, more writing appeared on the parchment.
"I thought the parchment was valuable, so I planned to contact a buyer and sell it as soon as I got home."
"Eight minutes later, I died."
Dead again?!
Fang Yue's face darkened.
What was wrong with you? You think I won't tear you up?
This time, the writing faded quickly, and another line appeared.
"I was furious, but after thinking it over, I decided to keep the strange parchment and follow its instructions."
"I survived."
"A year later, I became a millionaire."
Fang Yue: ???
There was something seriously wrong with this thing!
A millionaire just like that? What a load of crap.
Fang Yue didn't believe a word of it.
The writing on the parchment disappeared, then appeared again.
"I kept the parchment, but I didn't believe what it said."
"Ten seconds later, a text message arrived. The distributor told me it had only ten thousand Game Watches left in stock and urged me to hurry over."
"I panicked, worried I wouldn't be able to buy one."
"Just then, a bus came by."
"I left my little electric scooter and got on the bus, praying I'd reach the Game Watch distributor as soon as possible."
"Five minutes later, the bus crashed."
"I..."
For fuck's sake!
You're cutting the story off now?
What happened to me? What happened after I got on the bus? Come on, tell me! If you can't, I'll tear you up!
Just as Fang Yue's anger was about to boil over, his phone suddenly vibrated and the screen lit up.
A text message appeared before his eyes.
"Tengli Group, Jianghai City Branch No. 399: Our store has only 10,000 Blue Sea Game Watches left. Hurry in and get yours!"
Holy crap?!
The Game Watches really were almost gone! What should he do? What—
Beep beep!
Just then, a bus came along. It was Bus Route 33, which went right to the distributor.
Fang Yue instinctively reached out to flag it down.
But halfway through the motion, he froze.
Wait!
Wasn't this exactly what the parchment had said?
In his panic, he'd lost his head and nearly gotten on the bus.
Beep beep!
The driver had clearly seen Fang Yue raise his hand. He slowed down, pulled over, and honked twice.
The passengers turned to look at Fang Yue, but he stood where he was, not getting on.
The wide-open doors seemed like the gates of hell, and Fang Yue didn't dare move.
It was the height of summer, but his hands and feet were cold...
Oh, right. The bus air-conditioning was freezing. That explained it.
Still, he felt a little cold!
The chill cleared his head!
Fang Yue gave the driver an awkward smile, then looked down at the parchment...
"The bus stopped, but I hesitated over whether to get on."
"Soon, I made up my mind."
"To get to the distributor sooner, I got on."
"Three minutes later, the bus crashed."
"I died."
Damn!
Same ending again. Couldn't this parchment come up with anything new?
"You getting on or not, young man?"
"Yeah! Why are young people so wishy-washy these days?"
The passengers waited a while, then started complaining.
Fang Yue smiled awkwardly and shook his head. "I'm not getting on. Sorry, I read the number wrong. I thought it was Bus Route 35."
The passengers cursed him out, while the driver only shook his head.
The bus slowly pulled away.
Fang Yue took out the parchment.
"I followed the parchment's advice and didn't get on the bus. I survived."
"To get to the distributor sooner, I called a DiDi ride."
"The taxi driver was a seasoned pro and got me to my destination in no time."
"I bought the Game Watch just as I'd hoped."
Better safe than sorry.
Fang Yue found an excuse for his cautiousness.
He opened the DiDi app and called a taxi.
Three minutes later, the taxi pulled over at the side of the road.
Just as Fang Yue was about to get in...
BOOM!!
A deafening explosion suddenly rang out nearby.
Flames shot into the sky, and thick smoke billowed upward.
Fang Yue looked in that direction. It was the same way the bus had gone.
No way... Could the parchment really have been right?
His heart lurched, and a wave of fear washed over him.
"Holy crap! A crash? Did a tanker explode?"
The seasoned taxi driver shuddered in fright, nearly dropping the cigarette he was smoking.
"Sir, let's take a detour and have a look."
Fang Yue's suggestion was exactly what the driver wanted to hear. He nodded repeatedly.
A little extra fare and a chance to see the spectacle—what was there to lose?
The taxi headed down the road. Before long, Fang Yue saw the crash site, and his pupils shrank.
A bus lay on its side, engulfed in flames. There was an obvious dent in the middle, as if something heavy had slammed into it.
The three people still alive inside screamed as they crawled out. The rest were either badly injured or already dead.
The vehicle that had flipped the bus was a sleek luxury sports car. Fang Yue couldn't make out the brand, but he knew it had to be worth at least ten million.
Unfortunately, the sports car had collided head-on with the bus and been reduced to a heap of parts. The people inside had been killed so badly that their bodies were impossible to identify.
A number of vehicles had already stopped at the scene. People hurried over to help, shouting to each other, while others called emergency services.
These adults clearly knew better than Fang Yue how to handle a situation like this.
"Sir, let's go."
"Sure."
Once the taxi had left the crash site behind, Fang Yue breathed a sigh of relief and quietly felt for the parchment in his pocket.
"I might have... picked up something extraordinary."
In a pitch-black room, a huge screen displayed footage from a dashcam.
No one was visible, but voices could be heard.
"It's gone! How could it be gone?!"
"Find it! Find it now! We have to, or we're all dead!"
"Drive faster! Faster!"
"Too slow! You're too slow! Speed up! Accelerate! Turn around and go back to where we were..."
At that moment, a bus appeared ahead.
The car had no time to brake before slamming into it.
The picture spun violently, then fell to the ground. Chaos followed.
Beep.
Someone turned off the screen, and it went black.
The lights came on, illuminating the room.
It was a room much like a conference room.
But at that moment, only two people sat inside.
One was a middle-aged man with patchy stubble. He lit a cigarette and looked at the other person.
She was a woman in her early twenties, with a stunning figure and exquisite features.
The middle-aged man asked, "Xiao Miao, what did you figure out?"
Xiao Miao raised her voice. "No way. You're telling me someone couldn't tell these two were looking for something?"
"..."
"Why aren't you saying anything, Manager Liu?"
"Ahem! I'm just having trouble getting used to the way young people talk."
After a pause, Manager Liu tapped the table with his index finger.
"I checked the car's records. Its last route started at Mingyue Factory, crossed Jianghai Bridge, then passed through nineteen neighborhoods, including Xinfeng Road and Ruoxiang Road. At Lianyi Road, it suddenly turned around and sped back five neighborhoods before crashing into the bus and killing its occupants."
"Seriously? That's it? That's it? That's it? It crashed going just over two hundred kilometers per hour?"
...That was the point?
Manager Liu's expression stiffened, and he awkwardly changed the subject. "Anyway, whatever they lost has to be somewhere in this area. I want you to look into it discreetly."
"Manager Liu, can I refuse? Blue Sea is launching tonight!"
"What matters more, the game or your job? Don't even think about it. We're a bounty company. Once we take a job, we have to do it. Our reputation is what matters most."
"Yes, yes, I know..."
"I'm only trying to promote you because you're young..."
As she listened to Manager Liu ramble on, Chen Xiaomiao sighed.
My Blue Sea...
Tonight, I'll only be able to sneak in a little playtime.
Before you continue