Chapter 1: Test of the Dark Side (Ruined Village I)

“Do you ever feel the urge to strangle a cute little animal when you see one?”
“No.”
“When you see a wealthy person, do you wish you could have their fortune for yourself?”
“No.”
“When you see a child, do you hope their life could stay frozen at this moment forever?”
“No.”
“When you lie to someone, do you feel absolutely no guilt?”
“No, no, no!”

Liang Dan sat at her computer, clicking the mouse in rapid succession.
“No, no, no, no!”
What kind of bizarre questions were these?
Liang Dan didn’t understand, but she could respect it—perhaps the pressures of modern life were simply too much, leading people to have such thoughts.

“If you had the chance to save a living person’s life by offering one thousand yuan, would you do it?”
Liang Dan breathed a sigh of relief. At last, a question she could honestly answer “yes” to.
“If the person saved is chosen at random, and no one will ever know it was you who saved them, would you still do it?”
Without hesitation, Liang Dan clicked “yes.”

“Congratulations! You have scored zero on the Dark Side of Personality test.
“You have earned the title: Supreme Paragon of Kindness.
“You have acquired the skill: Infinite Rebirth.”

Suddenly, the computer screen went pitch black. Liang Dan frantically clicked the mouse, but her computer was frozen.
“Is it a virus?”

Just half an hour earlier, Liang Dan had received a call from a junior she hadn’t spoken to in ages, asking her to fill out a university questionnaire and assuring her that the questions were easy.
Liang Dan happened to be home resting, so she agreed without a second thought and clicked the link her junior sent.
“Dark Side of Personality Test, a total of 120 questions.”
Seeing the sheer number, Liang Dan frowned, thinking it would take ages to complete.

But once she began, she understood why her junior had said the questions were easy—
They were so extreme and disturbing that almost every one made her instinctively select “no.”

Liang Dan stood up to pour herself a glass of water. She’d barely taken a sip when everything went black, and she collapsed over her computer.

*

The acrid stench of earth stung Liang Dan’s nose. She heard the commotion of voices around her and snapped her eyes open.
She found herself in a vast, empty room. The windows were rusty frames without glass, and the paint on the walls had peeled off in all directions, a patchwork of white, black, and grey.
A few wooden chairs, their paint flaking in ragged patches, sat scattered on the floor nearby.
At the far end stood a metal staircase without handrails, looking dangerously unstable.
Most importantly, there were several people standing in front of her!

A girl, looking about sixteen or seventeen, stood before her in a dark blue school uniform, tall and slightly frail.
Near the staircase stood a man of about thirty, dressed in a black suit and holding a briefcase.
Beside the girl was an elderly man, perhaps in his sixties, clutching a white plastic bag that seemed to contain vegetables.

Before Liang Dan could get her bearings, the metal staircase groaned, and a middle-aged woman descended from above. “You’re all awake?”
The young man snapped, “What’s going on? Why am I here? Did you kidnap me?”
The schoolgirl shrank back, eyeing the woman warily.
The middle-aged woman held up her hands. “I don’t know why we’re here either. I only woke up a minute before you.”
The old man shouted, “Who’s the idiot who dared kidnap me? What money do you think you’ll get from an old man like me?”

Then, a voice rang out from above, cheerful and completely androgynous:
“Welcome, players, to Level One Survival Instance: ‘The Ruined Village.’
“The condition for passing: Survive in the village for one week.
“Please note: Death in the game means death in reality. Value your lives.
“Those who clear the game will receive rich rewards.
“Every player possesses hidden attributes; the higher your attributes, the greater the rewards for clearing the game.
“Your attributes were determined by your test scores before entering. Please discover them for yourselves.”

“What a load of crap,” the young man muttered as soon as the announcement ended, grabbing his briefcase and heading for the exit. “Stop playing games. I’m warning you—kidnapping is a serious crime.”
The old man hurried after him. “I don’t have time for this nonsense. I have to get home and cook dinner.”
The schoolgirl sighed with relief. “It must be some elaborate prank. We should hurry home.”
“No, wait—” Liang Dan sensed things weren’t so simple. “Everyone, don’t—”

Before she could finish, the wall near the door began to tremble. In the blink of an eye, it collapsed, and Liang Dan quickly pulled the schoolgirl back to her side.
After the dust settled, a pile of rubble blocked the doorway, and a massive hole gaped in the wall. The young man stood unsteadily by the debris.
The old man was trapped beneath the rubble, his body pinned, only his shoulders and head visible.
“Help! Help!”
His cries rang out as the floor beneath Liang Dan began to shake violently, and her vision spun.
The middle-aged woman dashed toward the newly opened hole, the young man following close behind.
Liang Dan didn’t hesitate. She crouched and grabbed the old man’s arm, pulling with all her strength.
“Help me! Save me!”
But the weight of the collapsed wall held him fast; he wouldn’t budge no matter how hard she tried.
The schoolgirl, face pale with worry, urged, “We need to get out! This place is about to collapse!”
Liang Dan glanced at the wall, now split by a jagged crack. “Go on ahead.”
The girl fumbled in her school uniform pocket. “I’ll call 119—get the firefighters to rescue him!”
Suddenly, her face drained of color. “My phone is gone!”
Leaning forward, Liang Dan began to clear bits of rubble from the old man, tossing them aside. “It’s no use. This isn’t the real world!”
The schoolgirl looked from Liang Dan’s determined face to the crumbling wall, then bit her lip and ran out.
As Liang Dan stepped back, the old man clung to her legs. “Miss, don’t leave me! Help!”
She tried to move, but he held on with all his might.
Liang Dan sighed. “I saw a metal rod by the wall—I might be able to use it to pry the rubble off you.”
The old man looked behind her. Sure enough, a metal rod stood leaning against the wall not far away.