Blue Star, Hua Nation.
This country seemed to be split into two parts. A small portion had faded into gray and white, like the territory of the dead, filled with thick deathly aura without the slightest trace of living beings. The other larger part still retained its former vibrant colors, with bustling crowds coming and going in the city center.
Viewed from above, the scene resembled a colorful painting gradually losing its hues.
Suddenly, on a certain central square, a white circle of light appeared beneath the feet of a hurried pedestrian. Seeing it, his face filled with terror: "No, don't choose me, don't—"
The next second, his shouts were abruptly cut off as he vanished completely into the white circle.
The surrounding pedestrians retreated in panic, quickly emptying that area, everyone afraid of touching the white circle.
No one attempted to pull the pedestrian back when the light circle appeared.
Because they couldn't.
Besides watching, they were powerless.
Moreover, who knew if the next person chosen by the white circle might be themselves.
Fate controlled by the unknown, the shadow of death looming constantly, hope forever arriving at a tomorrow that never comes—they couldn't see the future and could only silently pray in their hearts for those chosen and for themselves who might be chosen in the future.
——
Xu Xi felt his head was exceptionally groggy, his eyelids heavy as if weighed down by a giant rock.
Vague, chaotic noises sounded in his ears, unclear.
What was that sound?
As his consciousness gradually cleared, Xu Xi suddenly opened his eyes, breaking free from that sleep paralysis-like state, and quickly sat up.
Looking around blankly at this completely unfamiliar room before him, Xu Xi was utterly confused.
He remembered clearly that he had died from overwork, collapsing at his desk after pulling an all-nighter. Where was this?
Before his confusion could last long, a flood of memories not his own surfaced in his mind.
Having read many novels in his previous life, Xu Xi immediately realized—he had transmigrated!
From the memories, he learned this was a planet called Blue Star, its development extremely similar to his original world. The only difference was that a year ago, a shocking change swept across the globe.
A live-streaming app called [God Hunt] had implanted itself into everyone's electronic devices like a virus, with an overbearing attitude that brooked no refusal.
The [God Hunt] game would randomly select players from various countries for live-streamed survival. Whenever a player failed to clear a dungeon, a corresponding part of their country's province or city would become polluted. Conversely, if a player successfully cleared a dungeon, pollution would be cleared from an area.
The scope of pollution or clearance was determined by the dungeon's difficulty level.
The original owner of this body was also an orphan who had died suddenly—specifically, from heart palpitations after staying up all night watching streams.
Discovering that he had just taken over this body and, of all times, had been selected by the game, Xu Xi: "..."
Currently, various provinces and cities in Hua Nation had been polluted to varying degrees, but the nation was still holding on. However, if he died in the game, he would truly die.
Who knew if he could transmigrate again after dying this time?
The possibility seemed incredibly slim.
After calling out "System" in his mind several times with wishful thinking and getting no response, Xu Xi felt profound despair wash over him.
Other protagonists get systems when they transmigrate, they get cheats—so why did he get nothing?!
In a place he couldn't see, sporadic bullet comments drifted by.
[What's going on? Why is he just sitting there motionless? Get up and look for clues!]
[Probably scared stiff and hasn't recovered yet]
[Newbies are so boring to watch. Better go watch the experts' streams]
Every day, people were selected and pulled into the game, with thousands of new live streams appearing. Coupled with countless veteran players, a newbie's stream didn't get much traffic.
Plus, with Xu Xi sitting there dazed and not moving, many viewers lost patience and left. Only three or four people remained in the stream, stubbornly staying.
After wallowing in grief and indignation for a while, Xu Xi gradually accepted the fact that he had not only transmigrated but also gotten no golden finger.
No matter what, since he had gained a second chance at life, he would strive to survive no matter how difficult it was!
Xu Xi knew his every move was being live-streamed, but when facing life and death, who cared about that?
He finally paid attention to the chaotic noises that had been lingering in his ears since he woke up. After listening quietly for a moment, he realized it seemed to be the sound of a television coming from the living room.
The [God Hunt] game's dungeons had no conventional names or introductions. Background, clues, death rules, including clearance methods—everything needed to be figured out by the players themselves.
This was also why the player mortality rate in the game remained so high.
Without a golden finger to fall back on, Xu Xi didn't dare act recklessly, afraid of losing his second chance at life.
He quietly got out of bed and walked to the bedroom door, pressing his ear against the door panel to listen for any movement outside.
[He moved, he moved!]
[Looking at this approach, this newbie is quite cautious]
The few remaining people in the stream who were about to give up and leave suddenly saw him move just as they were about to swipe away. This renewed their interest, and they decided to stay and watch the newbie's next actions.
Xu Xi listened at the door for a long time. Besides the indistinct TV sound, he didn't hear any other movement.
Gripping the doorknob, Xu Xi couldn't help but hesitate.
It would be fake to say he wasn't panicked inside. Although he usually loved watching horror movies or novels and enjoyed playing horror games, there was a big difference between that and personally participating now!
Finally, he gritted his teeth and gently turned the knob.
The moment the door opened silently, the TV sound abruptly stopped. Xu Xi immediately froze in place.
[Dammit! Even I'm getting nervous now]
[Why is there no jump scare warning?!]
[Who's going to give you a warning in a live stream? (looking at an idiot.jpg)]
There was no expected sudden ghost face attack.
Peering through the open crack, Xu Xi nervously observed outside. However, apart from his own increasingly thunderous heartbeat, everything outside remained utterly silent.
After waiting for a long time without any abnormalities—so long that bullet comments in the stream started spamming urging messages—Xu Xi finally couldn't resist pulling the door open and stepping out.
The bedroom opposite was tightly shut. Holding his breath and lightening his footsteps, Xu Xi continued moving outward. After a few steps, he finally saw the apartment's layout.
It was a two-bedroom, one-living-room unit, roughly eighty square meters. Probably built quite some time ago, the yellowed wall plaster was already peeling off, revealing aged bricks underneath. Cracks in the corners of the walls spread like spiderwebs, dense and intricate. Warm yellow lighting illuminated the dust floating in the air.
What let him temporarily breathe a sigh of relief was that within his field of vision, he didn't see anyone.