You're Awake

Before Chen Feng opened his eyes, a stench like human waste rushed into his nose.

The hard surface left his whole body aching. He struggled upright and found himself lying in a dark room of about ten square meters, on filthy marble tiles.

So stuffy. So foul.

A chamber pot sat in the corner, the source of the smell. Boards sealed the window, and a heavy iron door stood shut.

What the hell is this place?

Chen Feng remembered leaving the Internet Cafe and seeing a group of people in white coats charge at him. Before he could call for Water Ghost, they knocked him unconscious.

When he woke up, he was here.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Heavy footsteps shook the room like an earthquake. The door opened, and sunlight streamed in like a flashlight beam.

Sunlight? Was it daytime?

Chen Feng raised a hand to shield his eyes. Before he could savor the Joy of surviving another night, five people entered.

Four were thin and wore camouflage uniforms. The fifth wore a bloodstained white leather apron. He was enormous, with a massive belly and a body several times bulkier than a sumo wrestler's. Those earthshaking footsteps had to be his.

As his eyes adjusted to the light, Chen Feng made out four expressionless young men and a huge man with a pig's head.

The Pig-Headed Man called out in a gruff voice, "You're awake."

Where the hell am I? Who are you people?

Before Chen Feng could ask, the Pig-Headed Man cut him off. "Clothes. Take them off."

Still unable to make sense of the situation, Chen Feng asked, "What?"

"Your clothes. Off. Now!" the Pig-Headed Man roared.

The shout nearly ruptured his eardrums.

That guy in the Pig Face mask—something's wrong with him.

Chen Feng sensed danger from him and immediately called for Water Ghost.

Water Ghost, come to me!

But the system's reply made his heart sink: [Water Ghost cannot be summoned onto land when it is not raining.]

Fuck. Better to swallow my pride than get hurt.

Chen Feng stared at the man and reluctantly took off his shirt. But the Pig-Headed Man wasn't done humiliating him. "All of it!"

Huh?

Surrounded by burly men, Chen Feng suddenly had the horrible feeling they were going to have their way with him.

He couldn't beat them. Two fists couldn't fend off four hands, much less ten.

If he spent a system point to use Diaochan's Blessing and made them fight each other, he might be able to escape.

Chen Feng weighed his options. In the Save-Load System, one point could buy him an extra life and another mystery system box.

William Shakespeare once said, "To be, or not to be, that is the question."

Likewise, keeping his dignity or keeping his life was quite a question.

But Chen Feng didn't have to agonize for long. The impatient Pig-Headed Man made the choice for him.

"You four. Help him."

At the order, the four men in camouflage swarmed him. Chen Feng fought hard, but it was no use.

"Let go of me! What are you doing?"

Chen Feng covered himself where it mattered. Being stared at while stark naked felt awful.

"Solitary confinement. Seven days."

With that, the Pig-Headed Man and the others took his clothes and walked away.

The moment the door shut, darkness swallowed the room again.

Fuck. What the hell is going on?

Chen Feng got up and hammered on the door, but no one answered. He was like a living man shut inside a coffin, forgotten by the world.

[Day One]

With neither door nor window open, the air grew stiflingly stale. Add Cihang City's hellish heat, and the room was a giant steamer.

Chen Feng sat on the floor, his expression grim.

He had discovered more bad news.

[Due to ████, Save File 02 has been corrupted. Save File 03 was automatically created after you woke up.]

In short, the save point Chen Feng had made on the third floor of the Happiness Internet Cafe after defeating the Landlady no longer worked.

His new save point was the moment he woke up in this dark room. Even if he died now, he wouldn't get out. He would have to strip and suffer the humiliation all over again!

This world has some eerie power that can even affect the system?

Chen Feng finally understood why so many transmigrators before him had fallen here.

Just then, the door opened a crack, and someone pushed a bowl inside.

Chen Feng hurried over. Only when they delivered food could he enjoy a moment of precious sunlight and fresh air.

The food was a bowl of mushy rice porridge that smelled sour. One whiff nearly made him throw up.

"Is this shit even fit for a human being?"

"I'd rather starve than eat that."

[Still Day One]

Life trapped in the dark room was hard to bear.

Chen Feng paced around. Judging by the block-shaped patterns on the walls, he figured it was an old brick building.

He had once watched a palace drama in which consorts banished to the cold palace counted bricks to pass the time.

So Chen Feng started counting too. "One, two, three..."

[Still Day One, but judging by the drop in room temperature, it should be night.]

Some new neighbors arrived.

Cockroaches, house centipedes, and spiders.

The sight of insects crawling across the marble in the dark sickened Chen Feng. No joke: if even one of those things scuttled onto him, he would break into a frantic dance on the spot.

So he stayed on his feet and forced himself to think, trying to drive away his fear.

Think.

What kind of other world is this?

At first, Chen Feng had thought it was an ordinary City World. Life in Cihang City looked normal enough to fool anyone. No wonder he had lost his first life so quickly. Who could have guessed so many monsters were lurking here?

Now it seemed more like a city plagued by the supernatural. But if that was true, one thing didn't add up.

Why would a transmigrator with a cultivation system appear here?

And with so many systems out there, had none of his predecessors managed to escape the Happiness Internet Cafe?

Thinking hard really did push back the fear.

Though he was shivering from the cold, Chen Feng felt much better.

[Day Two]

With his lips cracked and hunger gnawing at him, Chen Feng felt as though ages had passed—an entire century. But when the door opened again and someone pushed in an iron bowl of sour food, he realized in despair that it was only the second day.

"Let me out, you motherfuckers!"

Chen Feng grabbed at the gap in the door and tried to fight back. All he got was another beating.

"When I get out, I'm going to kill every last one of you."

He cursed until he started crying, then cried until he had no tears left.

So tired. So thirsty. So hungry.

Chen Feng looked at the bowl of sour food on the floor.

He didn't know what day it was.

Chen Feng was noticeably thinner than when he had gone in.

How many times had they brought food? Was it day or night?

Chen Feng didn't know. After so long in isolation, his mind was foggy, and he had lost all sense of time.

Then the door opened.

Chen Feng shuffled toward it mechanically, but no iron bowl appeared.

The Pig-Headed Man came in. Seeing Chen Feng slumped in the corner, he clapped his hands, handed Chen Feng a camouflage uniform, then had two young men in camouflage haul him out.

Outside the room, a weed-choked path led to a large training ground. More than a hundred young people in camouflage uniforms were practicing military boxing there.

Behind the training ground stood a three-story building.

The Pig-Headed Man pointed at the sign on the building, which read "Internet Addiction Rehabilitation School," and said to Chen Feng, "Welcome. To the Fourth. Psychiatric. Hospital."