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Chapter 1: The Game Without Anything
"Mr. Lin, your delivery."
"...Are you sure you got the right person?"
On the seventh floor of an apartment building in Mingzhu City, Room 421.
Lin Qi took the box from the courier with a puzzled expression. He didn’t recall ordering anything.
"It’s from one of your fans," the courier explained.
Fans?
I always thought the idea of fans sending gifts to their favorite streamers was just a nice legend... With a smile, Lin Qi signed for the package and thanked the courier before closing the door.
After placing the delivery box on the living room table, Lin Qi didn’t open it right away. Instead, he decided to grab his phone to record a video first.
Based on his understanding of internet users these days: There’s no way this is a genuine gift. It’s definitely some kind of prank!
Once the phone was securely mounted on its stand, Lin Qi calmly used a utility knife to cut open the box and pulled out its contents: A USB drive and a letter.
"Hmm?"
Lin Qi picked up the USB drive and examined it closely. He rarely described a USB drive as "exquisitely crafted," but the intricate patterns on it clearly indicated its high cost.
After studying it for a while without uncovering any clues, he set the USB drive aside and turned his attention to the envelope resting quietly in the box.
"Dear Mr. Lin, we are honored to invite you to be a tester for our new game. We hope you will explore the limits of the game during your playthrough and provide valuable feedback."
"Wishing you an enjoyable gaming experience."
Lin Qi read through the note with a strange expression on his face.
His thoughts were scattered.
Shouldn’t this kind of thing be handled by professionals? ... Lin Qi felt a slight ache in his molars, sensing that this could turn into a troublesome situation.
"Is there something else at the bottom of the box?"
Lin Qi suddenly noticed a small hidden compartment at the bottom of the box.
He pulled out the small package inside—
It was filled with paper bills.
"One, two, three, four… Three hundred."
Lin Qi stared at the thirty thousand yuan in his hands and instantly felt that all the potential trouble was worth it.
So this is what they meant by sincerity.
………………
Twenty minutes later.
"It’s already downloaded? That was fast."
Walking out of the kitchen, Lin Qi held a freshly brewed cup of coffee and glanced at the game directory that had already been copied onto his main hard drive. He raised an eyebrow.
This has to be the most baffling business deal I’ve ever received. No idea who the client is, no contact information, no specific requirements… He silently grumbled.
Of course, Lin Qi knew that all he had to do was focus on his part. Everything else wasn’t his concern.
He sat down, started the game.
With soft, soothing music playing in the background, the game's main menu appeared on the screen.
[Start New Game]
[Load Game]
[Settings]
[Exit Game]
"Quite minimalist."
Did they not bother polishing the login screen during the testing phase? Lin Qi muttered as he selected "Start New Game" without hesitation.
The screen gradually dimmed.
When it lit up again, the scene became vibrant and bright—
Clear raindrops fell steadily, leaving faint streaks on the windowpane.
A youthful figure sat on the bed, wearing a light-colored blouse and a pale gray skirt that reached her ankles. Her long platinum-blond hair cascaded loosely down her back.
The only flaw was—
Her gaze was hollow.
At the same time, a name slowly appeared on the right side of the screen: "Viya"
…………
The daughter of a carpenter, she moved to the capital city of "Rothesia," known as the City of Poetry, when her father relocated for work.
As her azure eyes reflected the towering spires, the orderly flow of magical cars, and the piano surrounded by pigeons in the central square, she gained a crystal-clear vision of her life goal for the first time.
She vowed to stay in this city and accomplish something—anything—as long as it allowed her to remain.
After painstakingly studying outdated textbooks from school over and over, Viya barely scraped by with passing grades to qualify for the entrance exam at Rothesia Academy.
Phew—just keep going. If I pass the exam, I can coast through to graduation, and then life will finally have some hope.
Viya woke up in her rented apartment and gave herself the usual pep talk.
‘Wait—why can’t I move?’
Viya tried to get up and prepare breakfast as usual, but her body suddenly refused to obey. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t budge.
So this is a role-playing game?
Lin Qi watched the screen quietly. After a few seconds, it dawned on him: "The game’s already started? I thought this was a cutscene."
Who’s talking?
Viya immediately grew alert.
Out of the corner of her eye, she scanned the empty bedroom. Aside from her personal belongings, there was nothing else. The voice seemed to echo directly in her mind, devoid of direction, gender, or clarity.
Lin Qi muttered to himself: "No tutorial? Maybe they assume most testers are experienced players? They’ll probably add one later."
Tutorial... Test...
What?
Viya couldn’t make sense of the voice. She even wondered if stress had driven her to hallucinate.
Her body began moving against her will—
Taking two steps forward, then abruptly turning left, and finally collapsing to the right in a motion that defied all logic.
Like a puppet being jerked around by invisible strings.
Meanwhile, the mysterious voice continued: "Movement keys are WASD, same as always. Let me check how the character handles."
Boing.
Viya suddenly jumped.
"Knees? Seriously?!"
Lin Qi’s eyes lit up.
The fact that the character could jump already put it ahead of 70% of similar games.
Is jumping really that impressive? Viya thought bitterly. Though confused about what was happening, she understood her current predicament—she was completely at someone else’s mercy.
…………
"Wait!"
Lin Qi slapped his forehead, remembering something important—something very important.
He opened the graphics settings, turned off the frame rate cap, vertical sync, and motion blur, enabled frame generation, and cranked the resolution to the maximum.
"Now this feels much better."
Satisfied with the noticeably smoother visuals, Lin Qi nodded approvingly.
Viya, on the other hand, felt a sharp sting in her eyes. When she blinked them open again, the entire world seemed different.
Did my vision improve?
She blinked again hesitantly, noticing every crack on the wall with startling clarity, even tracing the flight paths of insects buzzing past.
Am I seeing ghosts...? Viya swallowed nervously.
She recalled the fairy tales her mother used to tell her—stories of ancient spirits with deep grudges attaching themselves to sinners, turning them into mindless puppets driven by their former obsessions.
The more she thought about it, the more terrified she became.
…………
After tweaking the settings to ensure a smooth gaming experience, Lin Qi stared at the nearly featureless room and had an interesting thought.
"What if there’s a hidden wall here?"
He stroked his chin thoughtfully.
Everyone knows that some games hide things in the tutorial level—collectibles, Easter eggs, rare equipment—or even a boss lurking to the right of the spawn point.
So Lin Qi made the character bump into the walls repeatedly.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
The crisp sound of head meeting wall echoed continuously, almost like a long, melodic tune.
Ouch—that hurts.
Viya winced sharply.
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