Chapter 1
When Shen Yunzhe walked out of the community gate, he found the body of a sparrow in the snow.
I don't know why it didn't migrate in this severe winter, but instead froze to death here.
On a winter night, heavy snow fell with a roar, and the strong wind almost paralyzed today's traffic. There were few people on the streets.
Shen Yunzhe ignored the dead sparrow in the snow and walked forward with his hands in his pockets. He sniffed and a lot of white snow fell on his scarf and hair. Few normal people would go out in such weather, but Shen Yunzhe had no choice. If he couldn't find a job, he would be kicked out in such weather.
Two months have passed since I was fired from my previous company. The rent is about to expire, but I still can't find a new job. The resume I submitted has fallen into the sea of responses. Most companies generally prefer recent graduates, and I am about to set up a stall in this cold winter.
He finally received an interview notice, and even though the interview was tonight, he still came.
Finally arriving at the destination, Shen Yunzhe brushed the snow off his body. As soon as he stepped onto the stairs, he saw a man wrapped like a bear standing there. He looked extremely burly in the dim light.
As if hearing a sound, the 'bear' turned around, his face obscured by his thick clothes.
When Shen Yunzhe walked closer, he heard a quarrel coming from inside.
"What's wrong with you?" The girl's sobs were clearly audible. "This account is the result of our joint efforts. It's been ours until now. You suddenly want to recruit people. Recruiting is fine, but no matter how many people come, you don't keep any of them. We haven't updated our account in almost two months!"
"Yuanyuan, I told you this is because I want to bring higher quality videos to my fans."
"You say that, but you don't do that!"
The man hesitated and didn't give a good explanation, so the girl cried even louder.
"Is this interview really possible?" Hearing the tense atmosphere inside, 'Xiong' looked at Shen Yunzhe, as if he finally realized that he was still fully armed. He quickly took off his hat. The young man smiled at Shen Yunzhe. He looked very young and should be a college graduate.
"It's just a quarrel. Who doesn't quarrel in modern society?" Shen Yunzhe didn't care much, and his expression was relaxed. It was obvious that he was the kind of person who didn't mind quarrels.
"'Yuanqi Soda,' an internet celebrity couple with millions of followers, nicknamed Yuanyuan and Balloon, have two dogs and a cat. They became famous through livestreams and vlogs of cute pets visiting stores. I thought I'd get a chance to observe the rise and fall of an internet celebrity account," the young man sighed. "It looks like my chances of getting the job aren't great. So, what are you applying for, bro?"
Shen Yunzhe listened to the quarrel upstairs again, "Copywriting planner, what about you?"
"Editing." The young man gave a thumbs-up. "Lucky, we're not competing."
The young man's name is Meng Cunrui. He is a very outgoing person and just graduated from college. He came to interview the editor of this internet celebrity in the middle of the night because he was interested in the internet celebrity industry. He was not worried because he saw that the chances were slim. There was a quarrel going on upstairs, so they didn't want to disturb them and could only stand there.
After standing there for ten minutes, the corridor door slammed open and the girl rushed out with red eyes, not caring whether there was anyone there.
"Yuanyuan!" The man chased out, but the next moment his eyes were on Shen Yunzhe and Meng Cunrui.
Shen Yunzhe saw him looking worriedly at the direction where Yuanyuan left, and then looked at the two of them with a strange look. After hesitating for a long time, he forced a smile.
"You guys are here for an interview, right? I'm sorry to make you look ridiculous. Come up quickly."
As he said that, the man turned around and went back to the room. Meng Cunrui looked at the man with surprise, and then looked at Shen Yunzhe again.
"He doesn't care anymore?" Meng Cunrui said to Shen Yunzhe in a very low voice, "Just let his girlfriend run out in the middle of the night? It's snowing heavily outside!"
"With this kind of attitude, I don't dare work under him." Meng Cunrui seemed a little worried.
Shen Yunzhe thought for a moment, his tone a little uncertain, "Maybe they felt embarrassed seeing us waiting so long? Besides, couples might know each other well enough to know that nothing will go wrong."
"That's right." Meng Cunrui nodded reluctantly in agreement.
The two went upstairs together. The room was a mess. They must have thrown things when they were arguing. Porcelain fragments were scattered all over the floor. The chandelier on the ceiling was swaying, casting white halos. The man didn't care. He just cleared a table, sat behind it, and motioned for the two to sit down.
After seeing the two people sit down, he seemed very anxious and spoke hurriedly before they even opened their mouths.
"I'm sorry, I'm in a state of turmoil right now. Could you please start work tomorrow? I haven't updated my account in two months, and my girlfriend and I are having a fight. If possible, please take a look at this live streaming format."
As he said that, he quickly opened his phone and pushed it in front of Meng Cunrui.
Even Meng Cunrui, who was known for being outgoing, was confused by his attitude. He looked down at his phone in confusion, and the next moment his expression suddenly changed. Shen Yunzhe noticed that his expression was a little scary, so he subconsciously looked down at what he was looking at.
The phone screen was pitch black, with only a ray of light shining in the center of the darkness. Under that faint light, there was a shadow-like thing shaking. The shadow was not shaking much, but it was vague and not very clear.
With a click, a black shoe fell to the ground and a clear sound came from the phone.
But, according to Shen Yunzhe's subconscious judgment... that looked like a hanged man? He was dangling with his toes pointed downwards, and what had just fallen off was his leather shoe.
Shen Yunzhe estimated that his face didn't look very good either.
"Sorry, my hand slipped." The man quickly took the phone back and switched to a new interface. "This should be it."
Before they could ask further questions, the man sent them the link to the live broadcast room and asked them to go home and take a look. If there was no problem, they could come to work early tomorrow morning. After that, the man immediately kicked them out and hurried to find Yuanyuan.
After watching the man leave, Meng Cunrui looked at Shen Yunzhe beside him with a pale face.
"Brother, did you see that just now? Is that a dead person?"
"...Modern people are under so much pressure, it's normal to watch something a little bit more intense to relieve stress," Shen Yunzhe judged, even though this statement sounded like an excuse. "Or maybe it's just a horror movie."
"But I see it's a live broadcast, brother, and there are live comments. It looks like something is happening right now." Meng Cunrui's hands and feet were weak. "No, I have to call the police."
Watching Meng Cunrui tremblingly taking out his cell phone to call the police.
As expected of a recent college graduate, he is always persistent in finding the truth no matter what happens.
On the other side, 'Soda', whose real name is Wanqi, was shouting Yuanyuan's name in the heavy snow, trying to find him, but there was only white snow on the street and not even a single person could be seen.
He left a row of footprints on the snow, and his shoes made a squeaking sound. If Shen Yunzhe was here, he would be surprised to find that the shoes he was wearing were very similar to the pair of shoes in the live broadcast just now.
"It's okay, I still have time." Wan Qi stopped, his voice trembling, and a little fear slowly welled up in his eyes. "Including those two people just now, it's exactly 100. It's okay, I still have one day. I can find Yuanyuan tomorrow. Yes, I will be fine."
Just then, his phone rang with a ding-dong sound, and a message alert came out.
Wan Qi was stunned for a moment, he swallowed, took out his cell phone from his pocket, and a message popped up on the screen. The moment he saw the message, his eyes widened suddenly.
【Congratulations on your successful forwarding. Total number of forwardings: 99. 】
"99?!" Wan Qi shouted in horror, "No! I counted, and including those two people just now, there are exactly 100! How can there be only 99?!"
[Since the number of people forwarding this message has not reached 100, you will enter the game world in 10 seconds.]
"No, no!!" Wan Qi shouted. He hurriedly opened the live broadcast interface and tried to find someone to watch the live broadcast. Unfortunately, there was no one there on such a snowy night. He could only run wildly in the snow in vain.
Ten seconds later, the streets were silent, dim lights illuminated the deserted streets, and heavy snow quietly covered the footprints that had stopped abruptly.
…
Fortunately, nothing happened in the end. The police came in the heavy snow and took notes in a businesslike manner, but they could not contact Wan Qi who had left. As it was getting darker, the police asked them to go home first and would contact them if there were any questions. Only then did Meng Cunrui and Shen Yunzhe leave.
The snow was getting heavier and heavier, and a blizzard warning was issued. Shen Yunzhe finally returned home and felt his fingers and ears were so cold that they hurt.
Blowing a breath into his palm, Shen Yunzhe took out the key tremblingly and prepared to open the door. As soon as he inserted the key into the lock, he heard his cell phone ringing.
Because of looking for a job, Shen Yunzhe would answer even unfamiliar calls during this period. He would answer the call without even looking at the phone.
"Hello? Hello." Shen Yunzhe answered the phone while turning the key with his frozen hands. His voice was a little trembling because it was too cold.
There was a busy tone from the phone, as if there was no one on the other end. Shen Yunzhe raised his eyebrows slightly. He lowered his head to look at the phone interface. It still showed a call in progress but there was no sound. Just when Shen Yunzhe thought it was a harassing call, a system tone came from the phone.
[The game "Qingcheng Jianbai Central Hospital" is loading. ]
[The game is loading...]
"Game promotion?" Shen Yunzhe sighed, his voice trembling. "What era is it now? Do we still have to rely on phone calls to promote games?"
Shen Yunzhe didn't hang up either. He opened the door with one hand while talking to the person on the other end. "Speaking of which, are you hiring? I'm good at chatting with strangers. I guarantee the call will last longer than the standard time."
"Or other positions..."
With a beep, the call was automatically disconnected.
"Hang up?" Shen Yunzhe frowned and put the phone back into his pocket. The key finally opened the dilapidated door lock. He pulled out the key and pushed open the door, but the scene in front of him made Shen Yunzhe almost stunned.
What was in front of him was not his home, and he didn't know when the door next to him disappeared.
It wasn't snowing, and it wasn't late at night. The orange-red sunset ahead shone on the whitewashed walls. Lush green creepers covered the entire building, and the dilapidated walls took on a sense of decay. He could see a half-fallen signboard on the roof, which looked like... Qingcheng Jianbai Central Hospital.
There was a faint white shadow on the hospital window. It was lying on the glass and seemed to be looking out.
Shen Yunzhe remembered the phone call he had just received. The name of the game seemed to be "Qingcheng Jianbai Central Hospital".
Subconsciously looking back, Shen Yunzhe still couldn't see the way he came. Behind him was a dilapidated gravel road covered with withered weeds. It was obvious that no one had been there for a long time.
"Am I dreaming?" Shen Yunzhe stood there without moving. He opened his cell phone and prepared to look through the call records.
He murmured with a grim expression, "It's not really a new position, is it? I just said it casually."
Unfortunately, the moment his phone turned on, it froze on a strange interface with a white background and a blood-red announcement.
[The game "Qingcheng Jianbai Central Hospital" has been loaded.]
Game Content: Qingcheng Jianbai Central Hospital, once the best hospital in Qingcheng, relocated overnight, leaving behind an abandoned old site. Three years later, someone opened the sealed door to uncover the secrets of the hospital's relocation...
[Main Mission: Please find out the truth behind the hospital relocation.]
Shen Yunzhe hoped that it was really just his phone that was infected with a virus.
The phone did not respond at all. When Shen Yunzhe tried to shut down and restart it, the announcement disappeared and a huge countdown appeared, with only 30 seconds.
"Don't wait, go!"
A strange voice appeared behind Shen Yunzhe. Before he could turn around, a force pulled him forward. Only then did Shen Yunzhe realize that the door of the hospital not far in front of him had been opened at some point. The dark gap in the doorway was particularly strange.
He was dragged into the hospital, and the man let go of his arm, and the hospital door behind him creaked and closed automatically.
Shen Yunzhe was finally able to see the man's appearance. He looked like a young man in his thirties, wearing glasses and a tie, like an intellectual. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and watched the countdown on his mobile phone end. He finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The man seemed to remember Shen Yunzhe and quickly turned to look at him. "Hello, my name is Ning Xiao, and I'm a high school teacher. You must be the newcomer here, right?"
"I'm sorry, it was too urgent just now. You definitely don't want to know the consequences of not entering the game field before the countdown ends." Ning Xiao's smile was a bit forced.
After experiencing a series of things that should not have happened in reality, Shen Yunzhe was unexpectedly calmer. Some people are like this, the more exciting and terrifying the situation is, the calmer they are.
So he asked curiously, "What will happen?"
"He will die." Ning Xiao, a high school teacher, murmured.
"Players who fail to enter the game venue within the specified time will be disqualified from the game, and disqualification means: disappear."
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