Black Book

Today was Old Zhou's seventh-day memorial.

Not many friends and relatives had come—only a few dozen in all.

Old Zhou had been stubborn and obstinate in life. Even if he'd once had friends and relatives, most had drifted away over the years.

But even with so few people there, Zhou You thanked each and every one of them with great care. Though he couldn't hide his grief, he maintained a smile, and his every gesture was courteous.

But after quietly thanking a relative who'd come from far away, he suddenly began to cough for some reason.

At first, it was only a few coughs, but soon they turned into violent gasps. By the end, he could hardly hold it back. His body doubled over like a shrimp, and his chest began heaving like bellows.

At the same time, whispers rose around him.

There was little grief for the funeral in those voices. Instead, many sounded regretful and sympathetic.

"Hasn't the Zhou boy only just graduated from college?"

"Yeah, he's only in his twenties, and he was a top student at X University."

"Poor kid. His parents died when he was young, and now the grandfather who raised him has passed away too."

"That's not all. I heard he's come down with an incurable illness at such a young age. What a shame."

"Misfortune always finds the most unfortunate people."

Zhou You paid no attention to the whispers around him. After taking a long while to recover, he wiped away the blood at the corner of his mouth. When he raised his head again, there was no sign of discomfort on his face.

The same calm smile, the same polite words.

Nothing had changed.

More than an hour later, the final farewell ceremony was over. After seeing off all the distant relatives, Zhou You could finally let out a long breath and plop down in front of Old Zhou's grave.

Unlike the bustle earlier, the cemetery was now quiet and deserted, with no one else in sight. Leaning against the gravestone, Zhou You took a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket.

But as he pulled out his lighter, he paused.

The doctor had told him not to smoke.

But soon he smiled and shook his head, then took out a cigarette and lit it.

As smoke curled around him, Zhou You's earlier polite expression vanished. In a calm, almost indifferent voice, he slowly said,

"Old man, to be honest, it was a good thing you died when you did."

"Don't take it the wrong way. If you'd held on much longer, we might've ended up switching places, with you having to bury me."

"The doctors still haven't figured out what's wrong with me. They only know there's a mass in my brain. It's not cancer, but judging by the pressure it's putting on my nerves, I reckon I've got about two months left."

"I don't want to die, but what can I do? We're out of money, and the doctors have already said there's nothing they can do. So don't blame me for being an unfilial grandson. You can forget about great-grandchildren. When my time comes, I'll bring you a few bottles of good liquor as an apology."

"..."

The cigarette quickly burned down. Zhou You dusted himself off and stood up, but just before leaving, he seemed to remember something and pulled a few old books from his backpack.

Old Zhou—his grandfather—had liked collecting odds and ends and old knickknacks, though none were worth much. They'd sold nearly all of them to pay for the old man's treatment. These few shabby books were all that remained, and no one wanted them.

Zhou You had originally planned to keep them as mementos, but remembering what the doctor had said, he decided to burn them all.

An orange glow slowly flared to life. The pages blackened bit by bit in the brazier, then crumbled into ash and drifted away on the north wind, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Looking at the scene, Zhou You let out a nearly inaudible sigh. But just as he was about to turn away, he noticed something strange.

Nearly everything in the brazier had burned to ash, but for some reason, something remained at the very bottom—not even slightly damaged.

Huh. Fireproof material?

Curious, Zhou You picked it up with the fire tongs and brushed off the ash. It turned out to be one of the books he'd just burned.

It was black, and the cover had no illustration or title.

He casually opened it and saw a few large words printed in standard type on the title page, in blood-red ink.

"Do you want to live?"

...What was this? Some last prank the old man had left him?

But remembering his grandfather's stern, rigid face, Zhou You immediately dismissed the idea.

"This font, this fireproof material... Could it be another fake the old man picked up? Whatever. It's none of my business. And look at what it says. If you could keep living, who'd want to die?"

Just as Zhou You finished speaking, the book flipped open to another page, as if the wind had turned it.

There were a few more words on it, still a deep blood red.

"If you want to live, press your fingerprint on this page."

Was this really not a prank?

Zhou You looked up and glanced around again. There was no one there besides him. In the empty cemetery, only the cold wind howled and echoed.

After a long while, curiosity finally won out over caution. Zhou You dipped a finger in the incense ash from the nearby burner and pressed it to the page.

...Nothing happened.

"What? So it was just a gimmick."

His faint hope quietly faded. With a bitter smile, Zhou You picked up the book, intending to toss it into the furnace.

But then.

At that very moment.

The book suddenly opened by itself before Zhou You's eyes.

Its pages fluttered past with a speed too fast for the eye to follow, then suddenly stopped at a particular page.

"—Then welcome to the Weird Game!"

At that instant, darkness like ink spread out around Zhou You.

When he regained consciousness, he was no longer in the cemetery but in a strange space.

Bright incense candles burned all around, making the place look like a temple, but there were no doors or windows. Dark talismans covered the surrounding pillars. At the very back stood a raised platform, but there was no statue or Bodhisattva on it—only a yellowed sheet of paper floating in midair.

It looked like a page from the Black Book. The text was still in standard type, but unlike before, it held no question. Instead, several lines read like an introduction.

"Novice Scenario: Escape Building No. 4."

"Type: Ghost story."

"Corruption level: Extremely low."

"Number of revivals: Unlimited (special benefit for the Novice Dungeon)."

"Background: You're an ordinary wage worker who recently found a job and urgently needs a place to stay. Unfortunately, you're short on cash, and after searching for a long time, you still haven't found anything suitable. Then one day, you happen to spot a rental listing online. The rent is cheap, and the location is excellent. The only requirement is a long-term lease. Overjoyed, you hurry over with six months' rent in hand, never imagining that you're about to step into the most terrifying nightmare of your life..."

"Reward 1: 100 Soul Stones and one random common white item."

"Reward 2: One additional month of life."

"Would you like to enter? If you choose No, you will log out immediately and will never be able to enter this game again."

What was this?

—That was Zhou You's first thought.

Had he run into aliens?

—That was his second thought.

But soon, all his thoughts faded away, and his attention was drawn entirely to the final line.

One month of life.

Could this body, already sentenced to death, really be granted another month?

Zhou You slowly raised his head and studied the page.

To be honest, everything about this thing seemed bizarre. Under normal circumstances, he would have rejected it without a second thought and handed it over to some research institute to see if he could get a little money for it. But now...

He remembered the doctor's death sentence, then thought of how much weaker his body had been getting lately.

Then he suddenly gave a strange smile and chose Yes without hesitation.

Whatever you are, I've only got two months left anyway. What's the harm in playing your "game" for the faintest sliver of hope?

The next moment, the page abruptly burned away. Then a mechanical-sounding female voice rang in his ear.

"First-time players will randomly receive one novice active skill."

"Selecting skill... Skill selection successful."

"Active skill: Wuwo Ruding."

"Effect: When using this skill, you will be forced into a state of 'insensibility.' While in this state, you will be immune to all fear and effects that impair your reason, and will not die from ordinary damage."

"Skill duration: 10 seconds."

"Please note: This skill can only be used once per scenario (the number of uses resets upon death; novice reward skills will expire after three scenarios)."

When Zhou You opened his eyes again, he was in another world.

—The first thing he saw was a dilapidated stairwell.

It looked old and decrepit. The steps were somewhat sunken, and most of the paint had peeled from the walls. Little flyers had been haphazardly pasted everywhere. It looked like an ordinary, unremarkable old apartment building.

Such old buildings might have been rare in big cities, but Zhou You had lived in this sort of place with his grandfather since childhood, so it didn't seem unusual to him.

He carefully looked around and realized he was probably on the first floor. There was a notice board on his left, also plastered with flyers. At the top was the number of the building's unit.

"Garden Residential District, Building No. 4, Unit 4."

"First floor."

Below it was an old notice. The paper had yellowed and looked like it had been posted there for a long time. Bizarre mold spots covered it, along with some dark brown stains. Its text was illegible, except for a line of deep red writing that could just barely be made out.

Unit 4 Resident Notice

...There were no clues at all.

Zhou You turned around and looked outside.

The sun was bright, and the grass and flowers swayed in the breeze. Though there weren't many people around, he could just make out children laughing and running in the distance. It looked like an ordinary residential district, with nothing unusual about it.

"Am I supposed to escape from here?"

He scratched his head.

But nothing seems wrong here?

After thinking it over for a while, Zhou You decided he should give it a try.

What was that saying?

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Zhou You took one step toward the entrance. The warm sunlight was right before him, and he could almost hear the children laughing—

Then, right beside his ear,

a harsh, grinding sound suddenly rang out.

An intense pain, enough to warp his thoughts, struck without warning. Then the world before Zhou You's eyes abruptly flipped upside down.

The last thing reflected in his pupils was a headless corpse, spurting blood as it slowly fell to the ground.

A few seconds later, he finally understood what had happened.

Ah, that's my corpse.

Then everything before his eyes sank into darkness.

"You died."