What bad intentions can a golden finger have?

Colin appeared inside a decaying Wooden Cabin.

Cold, damp, and dilapidated.

This was Colin's first impression of the interior of the Wooden Cabin.

Then, he subconsciously looked out the glass window and saw the fog.

Endless gray fog obscured the sky and the earth outside the window, leaving Colin unable to see anything but the fog.

Furthermore, this gray fog seemed to possess a certain vitality, flowing silently amidst an unsettling, deathly stillness.

His intuition told Colin that the gray fog was extremely dangerous; if he dared to leave the Wooden Cabin and enter the fog, his only fate would be death.

Overcome by intense unease, Colin withdrew his gaze.

Only then did he notice that he had been lying on a wooden bed, though he had no idea for how long.

Amidst the groaning, overburdened creaks of the wooden bed, Colin sat up.

"How on earth did I end up here?"

Colin rubbed his forehead, trying to recall the reason for his presence here, but unfortunately, he found nothing.

A crucial segment of his memory was missing, as if erased by some force.

All he could remember was a life devoid of any familial affection.

This made Colin feel uneasy and panicked, but soon, his attention was diverted by something else.

There were two items placed on the table.

A Hurricane Lamp filled with a dark red liquid, and a leather scroll.

They looked as if they had been deliberately placed there for anyone who stood up to see immediately.

Colin did not act rashly; instead, he stared at the two items and began to ponder.

Regardless of the motives of the person behind all this, judging by the supplies left behind, it didn't seem like they intended to kill him.

However, before Colin could figure anything out, a line of white text suddenly appeared before his eyes—or, to be precise, within his brain.

[This is an antique-style Hurricane Lamp. It is not fueled by kerosene, but by a substance resembling blood.]

The sudden appearance of the information startled Colin, causing him to recoil, and the text vanished from his mind.

"This is..."

Regaining his composure, Colin realized that as long as he stared at an object for a few seconds and thought about it, a "hint" related to it would appear in his brain.

What had just appeared was a "hint" he had triggered unintentionally.

Colin looked at the Hurricane Lamp again, and soon, the previous information appeared before his eyes.

[This is an antique-style Hurricane Lamp. It is not fueled by kerosene, but by a substance resembling blood.]

A line of text appeared, and just as Colin thought that was all and prepared to shift his gaze to the scroll, another line of text emerged in his mind.

[You realize this is likely a very important item, but there are no tools in the room to light a fire. How should you ignite it? Looking at the bright red liquid, you ponder: perhaps you could try dripping a drop of blood onto it?]

[Warning! You perceive that it can only burn for one hour!]

"I don't care what you think, I'll decide for myself,"

Colin muttered in complaint, then whispered, "A Hurricane Lamp lit by blood—what is its purpose, then?"

The hint did not tell him what it was used for once lit.

Perhaps the information was in the Parchment nearby.

However, Colin did not rush to open the Parchment. Instead, he stared at it for a few seconds, activating the "hint" that felt like a skill.

[A piece of Parchment containing important information. Don't worry about its material; open it immediately!]

After a moment of hesitation, Colin got off the bed, walked over, picked up the Parchment, and opened it.

In an instant, a beam of light rose from the Parchment, condensing into lines of small text in mid-air.

[Welcome to the Global Gray Fog Survival game. Here, survival will be your primary objective. To that end, please keep the following advice in mind.]

[1. The Wooden Cabin can block the gray fog and is your final sanctuary, but do not rely on it too much.]

[2. Terror only occurs within the gray fog.]

[3. The Hurricane Lamp can disperse the gray fog.]

[4. The loyalty of all personnel obtained through the system is absolute; please use them with confidence.]

[5. Beware of the Black Night! Beware of the Black Night! Beware of the Black Night!]

[6. In the gray fog, if you don't want to become prey, it is best to become the hunter.]

[7. Always maintain reverence for the gray fog.]

[8. Cherish your life, for you will not be resurrected.]

"A survival game?" Colin narrowed his eyes.

He had never heard of any game capable of achieving this level of reality.

However, these characters were not the entirety of the scroll's content; after they gradually faded, three options appeared.

[Chat Channel]

[Task List]

[Recruitment]

Among them, [Chat Channel] was flickering constantly, giving off a very active vibe.

Colin also wanted to communicate at the moment, so without much thought, he reached out and tapped it, only to discover that there were three sub-channels under [Chat Channel].

They were [World Channel], [Regional Channel], and [Private Channel], respectively.

The [World Channel] had the highest flickering frequency, so Colin reached out and tapped it directly.

In an instant, a large amount of messages sent by other people emerged within a half-meter high area.

These messages refreshed every ten seconds, and could be advanced, paused, or used to post on the current page.

"Important things three times: lock your doors! Lock your doors! Lock your doors! There are things in the Gray Fog!"

"Mom, Dad, brother, sister, I am xxx, reply to me if you see this."

"What happened?"

"I don't know, I just had my birthday, drinking and singing, and suddenly I was sent here. I'm completely confused, it's miserable."

"I'm the one who's miserable, I was halfway through taking a dump and suddenly got sent here. That's not the point, the point is, does anyone know how to light a kerosene lamp?"

"I'm also begging for the way to light the handheld kerosene lamp, otherwise it's impossible to do the tasks, please, kind souls."

How to light a kerosene lamp? Colin looked at the large swath of messages asking how to light the kerosene lamp and muttered somewhat strangely:

"By handheld kerosene lamp, do they mean a Hurricane Lamp? Don't they know that you can light a kerosene lamp by dripping a drop of blood on it? Just stare at it for a few seconds and—"

Before he could finish, Colin suddenly woke up to reality. He suddenly realized one thing: others might not necessarily have this ability.

This way of getting "hints" just by looking at things was very likely his own unique ability. In other words, it could be called a cheat.

However, Colin didn't feel happy because of this; instead, he frowned.

Unless it was distributed based on looks, Colin didn't feel there was anything special about himself compared to others.

He longed for pie to fall from the sky, but he never believed that pie would actually fall from the sky.

Whether this thing that kept giving him hints in the second person—which could be considered a "cheat" for now—was good or bad was something no one could say for sure.

But in the end, Colin could only shake his head helplessly and stop dwelling on it.

After all, good or bad, Colin was helpless for the time being. Now that this thing was in his brain, he couldn't exactly open his own head to see what was inside, could he?

Thinking on the bright side, perhaps he really had been hit by a pie, and it really was just an unremarkable hint.

What kind of bad intentions could a little hint have?

Regardless, Colin kept his guard up.