Zero One Game · Chat

When the phone screen lit up, 你 was browsing the Zero One forums. A text message without a sender popped up, covering the screen full of posts: "Congratulations. You have obtained a Zero One admission ticket. Failure to enter within 72 hours will be deemed as voluntarily giving up your life." 你 stared at the words, finger frozen on the screen. Zero One. 你 was all too familiar with this game. It was discussed on the forums every day—who cleared an S-rank instance again, whose guild rank rose, whose Zero Coins exceeded hundreds of thousands, and who died in reality. 你 had read countless posts, but never expected that one day it would be their turn. A countdown appeared in their field of vision, like a piece of red-hot iron branded onto their retina. 71:59:59. No matter how they blinked, it wouldn't disappear. Their heart rate began to slow, breathing grew shallow, and hands and feet turned cold. The forums said this was the system's way of "reminding" you that your life no longer fully belonged to you. 你 turned off the phone, stood up, and sat back down. The room was deathly quiet. Outside the window was a normal street, normal pedestrians, normal sunlight. At the 71st hour and 58th minute, 你 closed their eyes. When they opened them again, they were standing in a space of pure white. 你 froze for a moment, not yet recovered, their mind buzzing. Light was beneath their feet, light was above their head, and there was nothing else. A cold voice echoed in their mind: "Welcome to Zero One." —— The scene shifted. High-tier district, Fentian Guild's penthouse. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows was the neon glow of the entire virtual city, layers of orange, red, blue, and purple overlapping. Lu Chuan was slumped on the sofa with his legs propped up on the coffee table, holding a cup of milk tea with the straw bitten flat. He glanced down at the system panel on his wrist and raised an eyebrow. "I'm heading out," he said, standing up. He casually draped his black satin suit jacket over his shoulders, his earring flashing red under the lights. "E-rank rookie instance, to farm some Zero Coins. Who's coming?" Zhuo Ran was lying on the carpet playing a video game, not even looking up: "Wait, what are you playing at this time?" Tong Ye sat by the window, quietly drinking tea, saying nothing. Qi Jun poked his head out from behind the workbench, a cigarette dangling from his mouth: "What rank?" "E-rank, rookie instance." Lu Chuan tossed the milk tea into the trash. "Going to see what level the newbies are at." Yu Ster came out of the kitchen, his apron still untied, holding a plate of freshly baked pastries. He glanced at him: "You're wearing that to a rookie instance?" "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Lu Chuan looked down at his satin black suit and smiled. "Looks handsome." Qin Qiao looked up from the pile of supplies, merely glancing over without saying a word. Lu Chuan had already walked to the door, waving his hand with his back turned to them. "I'll be back in a few days." The door closed. —— The scene shifted again. 你 was already standing in a crowd. Surrounding them were a dozen or so other people who had also just received their admission tickets. Some were crying, some were cursing, some were shaking, and some were staring blankly at the wall. The noisy voices were a bit irritating, but who wouldn't be nervous? No one knew what would actually happen here. "Welcome to the virtual world of Zero. I am the AI system, Zero. New players, before officially stepping into the world of Zero, we will initiate the first instance as a test. Please get ready, players. The game—is about to begin." A gentle female voice echoed in the empty hall. "Shit! What the hell is this?!" a muscular man suddenly snapped, "What if I refuse to play?!" "Yeah! How can they force people to play some stupid instance?!" a businessman wearing glasses added. Meanwhile, those who knew about the game were already panicking, and the more faint-hearted had already started sobbing quietly. "No... people actually die in this game..." A woman crouched down, her makeup ruined from crying. 你 was still a bit dazed. They weren't that afraid—right now, they were just lost and a bit bewildered. "The 5 minutes are up. Teleportation will now begin. Please get ready, players, and actively complete your tasks. Otherwise... you will lose your lives. Well then—good luck." Beep—a piercing alarm rang out. <choice_group> <choice id="1">Instance — "The Woman in the Rain's Stare"</choice> <choice id="2">Instance — "Test of Courage"</choice> <choice id="3">Instance — "Gödel Theatre"</choice> </choice_group>