The summer sun blazed overhead. Even though it was already five in the afternoon, the heat was so scorching that hardly anyone walked along the campus paths. The ceiling fans rattled as they spun. Lu Li lay bored across his desk, looking at the line of chalked words on the classroom blackboard, written in large letters: 29 days until the college entrance exam.
"What a boring world. Give me something different!" Lu Li could already picture how he'd spend the next month: studying hard, and then studying hard some more, until he could decide his fate a month from now. This was a turning point that would determine his future, but Lu Li found it dull.
Lu Li closed his eyes to rest for a while. But in the next instant, he felt something he absolutely shouldn't have felt at that time of year, and opened his eyes. One moment, the summer sun was blazing; the next, snow was falling all around him. Flakes as large as goose feathers landed on Lu Li, their icy touch making him shiver. The scene before him etched itself into his mind.
As far as the eye could see, the world was blanketed in white. Snow fell thickly, and all things stood silent. The only structure in sight was a dilapidated temple in the distance. Just then, a voice sounded in Lu Li's mind, and a transparent panel appeared before his eyes:
[You have joined the game. Your temporary ID is Z0001] [This game instance is: Puppet Thread Defense.] [Instance type: Solo; Test] [Instance description: This world hides many dangers unknown to ordinary people. You are an unusual person, born able to see these dangers. In a dilapidated temple on a snowy night, you encounter an old man. Unknown dangers are coveting his life...] [Instance objective: The old man must survive until dawn (that is, 6:00 a.m.).] [Instance hint: On a snowy night, what could be more important than a fire?] [Instance completion reward: Basic ability enhancement, 200 Game Points!] [Enjoy the game!] Your personal attributes are as follows: [Temporary ID: Z0001] [Physical assessment: 1.23; life energy generation: 0.1 (average for normal humans: 1/0.01)] [Soul assessment: 2.77; mental energy generation: 0.27 (average for normal humans: 1/0.01)] [Innate ability: Ultimate Control: A nonhuman-level soul has granted you nonhuman-level control. You have exceptional control over your own body!] [Basic abilities: None] [Skill slots: None] [Evaluation: A BUG among humans!]
"Instead of the usual game stats like strength and agility, it evaluates the body and soul?"
After Lu Li finished reading the information, the panel shrank into a small window that hovered at the corner of his eye without obstructing his vision. He rubbed his arms, which had turned bright red from the cold. Before arriving in this frozen wasteland, he had been in the middle of summer, wearing nothing but a short-sleeved school uniform. It had been about five hours since lunch, and things were now looking very bad.
Lu Li took a couple of breaths. Drawing on his nonhuman level of control, he constricted his pores to retain body heat and slowed his heartbeat to reduce unnecessary expenditure. He consciously halted most bodily functions that weren't needed to move or think.
About a year ago, Lu Li had nearly died in an accident. Afterward, he discovered that many things about him had changed. His emotions had grown faint, and his worldview had become entirely different. That change had turned him from a quiet, timid high school student into something like a BUG among humans.
Lu Li looked up at the sky. It had been summer where he'd come from, and at five in the afternoon the sky had still been bright. But after his sudden arrival here, it seemed the season had become winter. Even if it was still five o'clock, dusk was already settling in. The sky would probably be completely dark in less than half an hour.
Opening the temple's gate, Lu Li felt the gust of wind caused by the change in temperature steal another bit of warmth from his body. He didn't have time to look inside. He hurriedly shut the gate, and only relaxed once the temperature outside his clothes rose again. He couldn't maintain the state he'd been in just now for very long; doing so for too long could cause irreversible damage to his body.
Only then did Lu Li have time to survey the temple. A fire burned on the floor, but it wasn't the most striking thing there. A young woman lay in an old man's arms, her beauty peerless, like a goddess from the heavens. But a closer look revealed cracks at her joints and an expression that never changed. This stunning young woman was actually a Puppet—or rather, a marionette.
Lu Li studied the young Puppet for a moment, then looked at the old man holding her. His clothes were tattered, patched over and over, and he looked shabby and haggard. A prompt appeared at the corner of Lu Li's eye: [Quest target discovered.]
"So the mission is to protect the old man until morning?" Lu Li thought. He cupped his hands toward the old man and said, "Old sir, I was passing by when this heavy snow started. It's freezing, and I don't have any warm clothes. Night is almost here, so I was hoping I could stay here for the night."
Lu Li's words caught the old man by surprise. He quickly stood up and replied, "This place belongs to no one. I'm only staying here for a while myself. Young master, you're welcome to stay. Don't worry about me."
"Then thank you, old sir." Lu Li smiled, walked over to the fire, found a piece of wood, wiped it down, and sat. Feeling the warmth from the flames, he relaxed his control over his body a little more. Only then did he carefully inspect the temple.
A headless statue stood on the temple altar, lending the place an eerie atmosphere. The offering table in front of the altar had also been taken apart; the piece Lu Li was sitting on came from it. Nearly all the temple's wooden furnishings that could be dismantled had been piled to one side to use as fuel, and there wasn't much left.
"Young master, I have some clothes here. It's bitterly cold. If you don't mind, please take these and wear them." The old man cautiously opened the box beneath him, which he had been using as a stool, and pulled out a set of red clothes like an opera costume. The colorful patterns were exceptionally vivid, and the outfit looked like it was meant for a woman. Looking at the young Puppet in the old man's arms, Lu Li figured these must be spare costumes for her.
Lu Li didn't mind. He accepted the costume and thanked the old man, then quickly put it on. It was a little tight, but at least it was much warmer. Then he looked over at the small pile of fuel. A new prompt appeared at the corner of his eye...
Before you continue