[Instance 1][Happy Family 1] Welcome to Rules Horror!

Brain storage area...

The last things Chen Han remembered were the blinding headlights of an out-of-control truck and the agony of his skull being crushed.

He had clearly died.

Yet the piercing headache remained. There was no hospital disinfectant in his nostrils, only a damp, musty smell.

Like an icy hand clamped tightly around his lungs.

His eyes snapped open to a completely unfamiliar, dimly lit room.

Moldy walls. A wardrobe with peeling paint.

And...

A cold digital watch that had appeared out of nowhere on his wrist.

The next second, the watch suddenly lit up.

An electronic, mechanical voice slammed straight into his ears:

[Welcome to the world of rules horror, player-Chen Han.]

[You have died. This is your only chance at rebirth-survive within the rules, or you will die permanently.]

[Your attempt to clear the instance will be livestreamed to billions of viewers worldwide.]

The electronic voice cut off abruptly. Scarlet instance information instantly popped up on the watch, giving Chen Han no time whatsoever to adjust.

Three months earlier, an app called the Kaidan App had suddenly appeared on everyone's phones.

The government hadn't had time to react, nor had the public.

But it had simply appeared!

The Kaidan App was dedicated to livestreaming people selected to enter rules horror instances after death.

The chance of entering rules horror after death was only one in three.

For the vast majority of people, entering a rules horror instance was a disaster.

For the already-dead "players," however, it was a new life fraught with danger.

[Current instance: Happy Family]

[Clear requirement: survive in this house for 12 hours]

[Current time: 8:00. Countdown to clearance: 11:59:59]

[Instance rules:]

[1. Mommy treats Xiaomi better than anyone else. Mommy will solve any problem Xiaomi has.]

[2. You must praise Mommy's cooking. No matter what she makes, you must eat all of it.]

[3. Never eat any food Mommy makes.]

[4. Without Mommy's protection, you will be in absolute danger. You must never stay out of Mommy's sight for more than 10 minutes.]

[5. When Mommy turns into Daddy, get away immediately. Never stay in the same room as him.]

Chen Han's blood instantly ran cold.

When he was alive, he had been a delivery rider who was a total scaredy-cat but loved watching rules horror anyway.

That was why Chen Han knew all too well the weight those few lines carried-every one was a line between life and death. One wrong choice meant eternal damnation.

Rules 2 and 3 directly contradicted each other!

One forced him to eat, while the other told him he absolutely couldn't. Choosing wrong meant death!

And then there was rule 4. At least ten minutes had passed since he woke up.

He hadn't seen so much as Mommy's shadow, so why was he still alive?

Could the rule only take effect from the moment he saw Mommy?

Before he could think any further, violent knocking suddenly erupted in the silent room.

Knock, knock.

Two soft knocks, yet they struck Chen Han's heart like a sledgehammer.

Every hair on his body instantly stood on end, and cold sweat soaked his back in a rush.

He pressed himself tightly into the corner of the bed, even forgetting to breathe.

Was it Mommy?

Or an anomaly from the rules?

He didn't fucking dare open the door!

He hadn't even figured out the rules yet. Why the hell would he open it?

For all he knew, the instant he opened the door, he could violate an instant-death rule!

Three seconds passed. When no response came from inside, the knocking suddenly grew heavier!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

That wasn't knocking. It was pounding!

The wooden door shook violently under the blows, as though it would be smashed through at any second. Each bang made Chen Han's scalp prickle.

His legs went weak with fear. Huddled in the corner of the bed, his teeth chattering uncontrollably, he had only one thought left:

It's over! I'm going to die here!

Help! Someone save me!

He had always been timid. Even reading a rules horror novel required hiding under the covers.

Now that he was actually in an instance, he was on the verge of a complete breakdown, without even the strength to open his mouth and cry out.

Just then, there was a sharp crack.

The force from outside had actually twisted the door handle clean off.

It fell to the floor, rolled a few times, and stopped by Chen Han's feet.

The door was pushed open.

Light streamed in from outside, so harsh that Chen Han could barely keep his eyes open.

His whole body was rigid. He didn't even have the strength to close his eyes and could only stare helplessly at the figure in the doorway-

A middle-aged woman of around forty stood there, smiling.

Her eyes were hollow, with an irrepressible madness lurking deep within them.

She held a fat golden shaded cat in her arms.

Bright red blood stained the corners of the cat's mouth, and it stared fixedly at Chen Han with an almost mocking look.

What was terrifying was that look. It was nothing like a look a cat should have.

Chen Han's scalp instantly crawled!

He could clearly sense that the eerie aura coming from this cat was ten times more terrifying than the woman before him!

The woman walked in wearing slippers, an affectionate smile on her face, and approached the bed step by step.

Chen Han was scared out of his wits, shaking like a leaf, while thoughts flooded frantically through his mind:

Stay back! Don't come any closer!

I'm just a guy who has no fucking clue what's going on!

I don't know anything! Spare me!

Yet sheer terror had frozen his face completely.

He couldn't muster even the slightest expression. All he could do was keep his eyes open and stare straight at the approaching woman.

To anyone else, however, he showed not a trace of panic. Instead, he seemed frighteningly calm.

The woman reached the bed and affectionately straightened his rumpled collar.

Then she stroked his head, her voice overflowing with tenderness:

"Finally awake? I thought you were sick, hiding in your room and refusing to come out."

"Now that you're awake, hurry out. Mommy made you breakfast. It's almost cold~"

With that, she turned and left, holding the golden shaded cat.

At the instant the door closed.

That bloodstained golden shaded cat suddenly turned toward Chen Han:

It spread its mouth into a smile only an anomaly could have.

Meanwhile, Chen Han's livestream chat had completely exploded.

"Holy shit? A newbie? Who the hell is this guy? When that door handle fell off, I was so scared my phone went flying, but he didn't even blink?"

"No way. An anomaly got right up in his face, and he still stayed that expressionless? Is this some fucking top-tier big shot pretending to be a newbie to stomp low-level content?"

"Did you see his eyes just now? Completely unruffled! I thought he was about to backhand that anomaly!"

"LMAO, the newbie in the next stream is crying from fear, but this guy stayed rock-steady the whole time. Is this the confidence of a big shot?"

"Rules 2 and 3 openly contradict each other, and he's not even slightly panicked? He must have already seen through the traps in the rules! Followed, followed! Sticking around to watch this big shot become a legend!"

"Didn't you notice? When Mommy touched his head, he didn't even dodge! Any normal newbie would've jumped out of their skin! This guy is definitely hardcore!"

Chen Han couldn't see the chat from his perspective.

Not to mention that he wasn't remotely in the mood to read it right now!

Once the woman left, all strength instantly drained from his body.

He collapsed onto the bed, gasping for breath, the back of his shirt completely soaked with cold sweat.

In those brief few dozen seconds, he felt as though he had walked past death's door eight hundred times.

But before he could recover, the clatter of bowls and chopsticks came from the kitchen.

The woman's gentle voice drifted through the door, carrying a bone-chilling coldness:

"Xiaomi, hurry out and have breakfast."

Chen Han immediately chickened out.

He swore that even if he starved to death today, even if he died in this instance,

Even if he jumped from here, he wouldn't eat a single bite of anything an anomaly made!

Yet at that very moment, a scarlet notification suddenly popped up on Chen Han's watch:

[Warning: Mommy's breakfast will be served at the dining table in 30 seconds. Please make your choice.]

[An incorrect choice will directly trigger a death rule.]