The Start of a New Game

Before dawn the next day, Xu Tong had already arrived early.

Old Man Song gave him the small house on the left, which could be considered a place for him to settle down in this city.

Over the past two days, Xu Tong spent his days tidying up the courtyard and his nights learning the fundamentals of paper crafting under Old Man Song's guidance.

While others usually needed to practice these basics day after day to grasp the essentials, Xu Tong found it incredibly easy thanks to the help of the prop card [Paper Craftsman Manual].

Often, Old Man Song only needed to demonstrate a technique once, and Xu Tong could replicate it effortlessly, creating works that were vivid and lifelike.

This couldn't help but give Old Man Song a new perspective on Xu Tong's talent.

But this was far from enough; the foundation of paper crafting, beyond technique and skill, required an understanding of painting and calligraphy. Here, Xu Tong lacked the assistance of any prop card and had to learn it the honest way.

Fortunately, Old Man Song was patient in his teaching. Although neither had formally acknowledged their status, the master-disciple relationship was already tacitly understood.

After dinner that night, Old Man Song took two black-and-white photographs out of a box for Xu Tong.

He took them and saw a group of people in official robes with small braids, sitting neatly on horses.

At first, he didn't notice anything amiss, but upon closer inspection, his brows arched. He tilted his head and looked at Old Man Song, who was sitting in a chair fiddling with his tobacco pipe: "Paper Dolls?"

Seeing that Xu Tong had figured it out, Old Man Song smiled and nodded, pointing to the man in the tattered cotton-padded jacket in the bottom left corner of the photo:

"That's my master! Back when Empress Dowager Cixi was nearing her end, my master went to make Paper Dolls for her. These were all made by him. Remember, his name was Xue Gui."

Xu Tong stared at the photo, lost in thought. This craftsmanship completely crushed Old Man Li's.

The black-and-white photo lacked color, and if he hadn't seen Old Man Li's Paper Dolls, he might never have guessed that these figures riding tall horses were actually Paper Dolls, even with a wild guess.

"My master was a world-renowned paper craftsman back then; no one could ever find a flaw in his work."

Old Man Song picked up his pipe, packed a pinch of tobacco into it, and began to smoke while sitting in his chair.

As he smoked, he recounted the old days when his master taught him how to fold Paper Dolls, his face filled with pride.

As he spoke, Old Man Song eventually fell silent. When Xu Tong looked up, the old man had already drifted off to sleep with his eyes squinted, and one could hear the faint sound of snoring.

He checked the clock; it was already 11:20 PM. He quietly took the pipe from the old man, covered him with a blanket, extinguished the light, and slipped out of the room.

Just as he closed the door, flickering lights began to shimmer in the dark distance. Looking up, he saw a massive sign glowing on a nearby building: the Script Murder Experience Hall.

"A new round of the Script World is about to begin. All players, please proceed to the lobby immediately."

"Attention: Players must gather before the script begins. Those who are late will be penalized 10 script points per minute. If you run out of script points, you will be erased!"

Hearing the prompt in his ears, Xu Tong curled his lip. It was just as he had guessed: there was a penalty for being late.

However, this penalty mechanism seemed more lenient than he had imagined; it didn't leave one with absolutely no way out. As long as one had enough script points, there was still a chance to survive.

He changed his clothes, quietly closed the door, and headed toward the building.

It wasn't actually far; he remembered it used to be a restaurant, and it would take about five minutes to walk there.

On the streets at 11 PM, the lights had grown dim, and there wasn't a single vehicle to be seen on the road.

It felt as if the closer he got to the building, the more dilapidated the surrounding architecture became.

Even the trees along the street gave off a sinister and oppressive feeling.

The traffic lights on the road seemed to stay red forever, like a silent warning that made one's heart race with anxiety.

"Hum~~~"

After gently pushing open the glass door, that familiar face came into view.

Her pale face was still sweet to the point of being cloying.

Seeing Xu Tong, the woman reminded him with an indifferent expression: "You have half an hour to prepare. If there's nothing else, you can wait in the lobby for the other players to arrive."

After speaking, she didn't forget to point to the sign hanging on the left wall.

The sign bore a line of small red text: [Communication regarding the script is prohibited within the lobby. Violators will receive one warning and a deduction of 10 script points.]

Xu Tong nodded thoughtfully and strolled past the woman, whistling slowly.

"Such an attitude!"

The woman rolled her eyes at him. After she sat back down and waited a moment to confirm that Xu Tong had truly left, she pouted, sat back in her chair with a look of boredom, leaned down, and pulled a metal box from a pocket beneath the chair to place on the table.

Just then, her gaze suddenly sharpened; she noticed a paper crane had appeared on the table out of nowhere.

Picking up the paper crane, the woman glanced outside the counter and pursed her lips: "Stingy!"

However, after saying that, she still rummaged through a drawer to find a glass bottle filled with eyeballs. She tossed the eyeballs into the trash can and dropped the paper crane into the bottle to admire it.

After watching for a while, perhaps finding it decent, she placed the bottle in front of her, opened the metal box on the table, and began licking her lips with her long, slender tongue as she looked at the delicacies inside.

Before long, a low, gnawing sound could be heard from beneath the counter...

On the other side of the lobby, Xu Tong discovered he wasn't the first to arrive.

A young man was sitting opposite him. Their eyes met, and after sizing each other up, they both sensed a familiar feeling from one another.

Like Zhou Yu, he was no novice.

"Mad Dog!" The young man squinted his eyes and raised his teacup with a smile.

Xu Tong sat across from the young man, picked up the magazine he hadn't finished reading earlier, and said unhurriedly: "Doctor!"

After the two identified themselves, the vast hall gradually returned to a deathly silence.

It didn't take long, however, before the sound of footsteps announced the arrival of three more people.

They were three men of vastly different ages; the youngest looked to be only seventeen or eighteen, while the oldest looked old enough to be the father of the other two.

Despite his age, the man made Xu Tong and Mad Dog exchange an involuntary glance. He wore a military-green tank top that revealed an exaggerated set of muscles.

The way he sat on the sofa made it seem as if the entire piece of furniture was tilting toward his side.

As for the man in the middle, he was about the same age as Xu Tong. He sat down, hugged his headphones, and closed his eyes, looking as if he were conserving his energy.

The three showed no intention of introducing themselves, nor did they have any desire to ask for the names of Xu Tong and Mad Dog.

The arrogance and confidence in their demeanor were enough to show that, in their eyes, Xu Tong and Mad Dog were merely bottom-tier nobodies not worth mentioning.

"Hum... click, click, click..."

Red light illuminated one side of the hall. Everyone turned to look, and there she was, in that familiar qipao.

The only difference was that today's qipao had been changed to a deep purple.

This added a touch of mature feminine charm to the hostess's already graceful figure, making her look like a perfectly ripe apple, exuding an alluring fragrance.

"Welcome to this Script World game. Please, follow me!"

A paper fan covered her face, and her voice, filled with temptation, sent a tingling sensation deep into one's bones. Mad Dog, sitting on the sofa nearby, couldn't help but lick his lips.

Unfortunately, before Mad Dog could even stand up, two figures had already stepped ahead of him into the corridor leading to the game area.

What was even more infuriating was that the mountain-like brute shoved his way over, squeezing Mad Dog, who was following behind, out of the way.

His massive frame blocked the corridor completely, leaving not even a sliver of space for the two of them.

"Damn it!" Mad Dog didn't dare say anything aloud, but in his heart, he was already cursing the brute's entire family.

Xu Tong, however, didn't mind. He followed along at a leisurely pace, occasionally admiring the stills from various scripts displayed on the walls of the corridor.

As he walked, his footsteps faltered. He had actually spotted a familiar still.

Sitting on a coffin were a man and a woman—weren't they Zhou Yu and Wang Shaohui, who had participated in the game with him last time?

"Do you recognize them?"

Seeing him stop, Mad Dog turned back to look at the photo. "Those who die in the Script World leave a photo here. This is their ending, and the only thing they leave behind after their curtain call."

Looking at the wall of photos along the corridor, Mad Dog couldn't help but take a long breath. Every still was the ending of a player.

Walking past here every time made one's blood run cold.

He couldn't help but worry that if he went in this time, would there be another photo of himself on the wall next time?

Just as deep anxiety welled up in his heart, Xu Tong's voice reached his ears: "So ugly!"

Mad Dog was stunned. He looked back at Xu Tong, only to see him gesturing at the photo with a look of disdain. "Couldn't they have taken inspiration from the style of Hong Kong films?"

"This photographer must be a loner. To take a photo this ugly, he definitely doesn't have a girlfriend."

Xu Tong said to Mad Dog with a straight face.

Mad Dog's mouth twitched a few times. Just then, the hostess stood at the entrance of the room and said, "Players, please enter as soon as possible. The game is about to begin."

The two looked back and saw that the three who had been walking in front had already chosen their rooms and stepped inside.

Seeing this, the two had to drop the subject and walk quickly to the doors.

Three of the rooms had already been taken, leaving only one on the left and one on the right.

Xu Tong looked at the one on the left and was about to walk toward it when Mad Dog suddenly said, "Be careful. They are a team, and they are stronger than us. Once you enter the Script World, it's best not to follow them."

"Why? Isn't it comfortable to ride the coattails of the strong?"

Xu Tong asked with his hands in his pockets and a carefree expression.

Mad Dog frowned. "I advise you to extinguish that thought. A team's playstyle is different from ours; they can be more aggressive, they can share information about the script, and even..."

Mad Dog didn't continue, only looking at him with cold eyes. "In any case, look after yourself."

With that, Mad Dog pushed open the door beside him and stepped inside.

Watching Mad Dog disappear into the room, Xu Tong narrowed his eyes.

Just then, the hostess, who had appeared behind him at some point, lightly covered her face with her fan and whispered into Xu Tong's ear, "Handsome, a friendly tip: watch out for the ghost behind you!"

Having said that, the woman gave him a shove. The immense force left him no room to resist, and his body was pushed directly into the room.

"Bang!"

As the door slammed shut, the room was suddenly plunged into a suffocating darkness.

Suddenly, a flicker of light appeared in the dark room. He peered closely and saw a bright light shining from a great distance away.

Moreover, the light was getting closer and closer to him, bit by bit.

Watching the light draw near, he narrowed his eyes to get a better look.

"Woooo!!!"

A blurred silhouette in the darkness gradually became clear under the light. Looking at the behemoth that had suddenly appeared in front of him, Xu Tong narrowed his eyes, silently pulled a non-existent cigarette from his pocket, took a deep drag from the air, and exhaled: "Hiss~~~ Whoo~~~ We're done for!"

The moment the words left his lips, a massive train pierced through the darkness.

Volume One is finished, and Volume Two is about to begin. Just one chapter today; I need to review the story of the new dungeon.