kp snapped his fingers, and a card appeared in front of everyone, displaying attributes such as identity, physical values, and various skills.
These cards floated in front of them. Shen Lin reached out and touched one. His fingers penetrated the card’s surface, creating a distorted ripple in the air. When he pulled his hand back, the ripple dissipated, and the card became whole again.
kp introduced, “This is your identity card, also your attribute card, including basic values like strength, agility, intelligence, inspiration, education, etc. All information about your character is written on this card. This card will accompany you throughout the entire game, and you can check it anytime you want. I must say, all attributes are randomly determined by rolling the dice, absolutely fair and just.”
“Too bad it’s not public,” Zhang Yang pushed his glasses.
“This is a novice game. In the next round, you can roll the dice and create your cards yourselves. Don’t complain! Pay attention! This is an essential beginner’s tutorial. Do you know the consequences of not reading a beginner’s tutorial!?”
“I never read game tutorials,” Han Qianqiu curiously looked around, not absorbing a single word.
“You rebel… Don’t read it. You can’t see each other’s character cards, but you can deepen your understanding through conversation. Now, let me give you a brief introduction.”
kp said, “Liu Facai, playing the role of Xiuwen, majoring in the medical department at Lyon Nobility College.”
“Wait, who is Liu Facai?” Zhang Yang interrupted.
Everyone fell silent for a moment, and finally, their gaze shifted to the only person who hadn’t mentioned his real name and called himself alex. An even deeper silence ensued.
alex: “…”
Shen Lin: “Names are given by parents; it’s okay.”
alex: “…………”
Han Qianqiu wailed, “Can we change the setting? Is it really okay for Facai to hold such an important position as a nurse?”
alex suddenly got angry, “Don’t call me Facai!”
Han Qianqiu was still standing, but alex tall with long legs, kicked him in the groin under the table. Han Qianqiu howled in pain, bending over the table.
Revenge was inevitable.
Shen Lin mourned in silence.
“Do you have any questions about Liu Facai?” kp said with a smile. “If not, I’ll continue the introduction.”
He introduced everyone’s roles and positions very clearly:
Han Qianqiu played Bai’er, a short stature physics student, skilled in stealth and reconnaissance;
Zhang Yang played Freud, with brown curly hair and glasses, a history major student, skilled in library use and history;
Carter was a music major student, playing the role named Nana, gentle temperament, slender figure, skilled in listening, persuasion, and throwing;
alex played Xiuwen, a medical student, skilled in medical treatment and first aid;
Yan Xiu played Felton, a sports major student, silent and tall, handsome, with skill points in climbing, jumping, and brawling;
Finally, Shen Lin was introduced. He was a performing arts major student, the youngest, with golden hair and blue eyes, a beautiful appearance, and elegant posture, skilled in disguise and charm.
kp proudly said, “By the way, all the specialties and skills are based on your life experiences and personality traits. Each of you has your strengths, making it a perfect team.”
Shen Lin: “…What is this charm skill?”
Han Qianqiu laughed loudly, put his arm around Shen Lin’s shoulder, and said with schadenfreude, “Literally?!”
Yan Xiu’s icy gaze fell on Han Qianqiu’s hand.
Han Qianqiu stiffened, withdrew his hand, and awkwardly touched his nose.
Carter, looking at her own introduction, was puzzled, “Why would I, a music student, have the skill of throwing?”
kp candidly admitted, “Because your attributes are skewed, and your strength is high.”
“………… So?”
kp tried to round up the setting, “I gave you the throwing skill. In critical moments, you can pick up a piano/violin and hit someone. It’s a pretty good combat skill.”
“Wait, wait,” Shen Lin accurately caught the secret revealed in kp’s words, “Combat skill? Is there combat?”
kp politely responded, “Yes, dear.”
Everyone fell into the damn silence again.
“What happens if we fail? Can we escape from a fight?”
“I think it’s necessary for me to repeat to you all. This is a free world, and you can freely decide all your actions. The only rule is that the success or failure of your actions depends on the number you roll on the dice. In other words, it depends on luck.”
alex frowned, “Explain in more detail.”
“During the game, you may encounter some events. When you want to use your skills to solve these events or obtain clues, you need to make a dice roll judgment. The number you roll must be less than your own attributes, meaning you have the ability to solve the problem.”
Zhang Yang looked at Han Qianqiu, “Did you understand?”
Han Qianqiu, with an attitude of leaving everything to fate, said, “I’ll be honest with you; I rely on two words when playing games: go with the flow.” He looked at Shen Lin, who was contemplating, and added, “And relying on teammates.”
Shen Lin: “…”
He sighed and explained, “For example, if we encounter an unfamiliar creature now and need to make a biology check, and our biology attribute points are 60, if the rolled number is less than 60, we can recognize what kind of creature it is.”
“Smart,” kp said, “these are the basic rules. Other gameplay and techniques can be gradually explored and accumulated in the game. So, are you ready, players?”
Yan Xiu spoke up, “You’ve been avoiding one question.”
“Hmm?”
“What happens if we fail?” Yan Xiu’s eyes were faint, emitting a compelling aura when he stared at others with a cold face. It was as sharp as a straight steel knife, gleaming with a chilling light.
As he spoke, the sea suddenly surged, and the sound of waves hitting the rocks startled everyone, making them shiver involuntarily.
The endless blue sea, somehow, dissolved with a tinge of red. This red color mixed with the white waves, becoming denser and transforming into patches of crimson.
As the waves reached the shore, leaving vibrant red traces, they saw something being washed ashore within the foamy waves—more and more of it.
Carter suddenly screamed, “Hands, hands—severed hands!”
Others: “…!”
The waves reached their feet, and the red color spread over their shoes. Something hooked onto Shen Lin’s shoelace. He looked down, finding a small section of a little finger bone twisted and hooked onto his shoelace.
Shen Lin: “…” Nothing could surprise him anymore.
“Holy crap!” Han Qianqiu yelled, “Mom, something grabbed my ankle!”
“Don’t scare me!!!”
“Sorry,” kp let out a pleasant chuckle, “As a first-time kp, I made a mistake. I forgot to close the door to the game room, allowing these executioners to flow in from the ‘corridor.'”
Executioners—
Everyone’s faces turned pale.
A crack appeared on the pale paper, forming a creepy curve: “It’s okay. I was scared by this scene back then. Now, looking back, it’s just some severed limbs of living organisms. This is the ultimate fate of humanity, nothing special.”
Everyone: “…”
The curve on the pale face widened, almost extending to both sides. The paper person looked at them with a tilted head, “However, you probably won’t ask that question again.”
Indeed, there was no need to ask.
The abundant blood that had dyed the sea red and the countless bones and fragments mixed in the seawater all clearly indicated—
The statement in the game rules, “Either escape from here or die,” was not a joke.
After some time, kp closed the door, the color of the sea no longer deepening. The bones washed ashore disappeared, replaced by fragments of planks, tables, chairs, and other objects that had rushed to the shore with the tide.
Shen Lin tried to sense the presence of kp No. 98 but found nothing in the vast, empty world. Except for a few quail that had stopped clucking, the only sound was the whistling sea breeze.
After a long silence, Yan Xiu’s cold voice fell on them like a handful of snow, “First, see what’s on you and figure out how to survive.”
Everyone perked up at his words, searching for items from their pockets.
In the end, they counted: one small knife, two hair ties, one lipstick, four pens, three pocket watches, a cigar box, and a lighter. They also found a notebook, soaked and palm-sized.
Concretely displaying the identities of six students, they had nothing unnecessary.
Han Qianqiu, now called Bai’er, looked at Yan Xiu with innocent eyes, “Boss, can we survive with just these?”
Shen Lin looked up at him.
Yan Xiu looked back at Shen Lin and nodded, “Yes.”
With these words, everyone sighed in relief. The souls that had scattered due to the shock of the shattered bones finally came back.
Shen Lin found this person quite extraordinary. Despite his terrible memory—forgetting things as soon as he experienced them—he carried himself with a calm and composed demeanor. It seemed like he could effortlessly handle anything placed in his hands.
Shen Lin interpreted this seemingly omnipotent aura as a military spirit.
“Now what?” Bai’er stared with a pair of innocent big eyes.
Shen Lin said, “Let’s exchange information first. How are you all related to Dorena?”
“Classmates, attended a public lecture together. He invited me to his birthday party.”
“Same here.”
“Me too.”
Through the conversation, everyone, except Nana, who was Dorena’s girlfriend, turned out to be Dorena’s classmates.
“From my impression, Dorena has always been a loner with a very peculiar and eccentric personality,” Shen Lin shared the memories belonging to Olok and pointed out the suspicious points, “But the six of us present here are from the physics department, sports department, history department, music department, medical department, and performing arts department… We rarely have any intersections. How could Dorena, with his personality, know so many people?”
After a pause, he asked, “How long have you known Dorena?”
Everyone reported similar durations, all around a month.
“Well,” Shen Lin’s golden short hair shimmered brightly in the sunlight, and his green pupils were surrounded by a faint golden glow, “From these ‘coincidences,’ we can conclude that Dorena’s acquaintance leading to this birthday party was likely a premeditated plan. So—”
He pondered for a moment, gazing at everyone, “Where did Dorena Haino go?”
