At three in the morning, Chen Mo was driving home after working overtime when his car veered into the guardrail.
In that moment, on the brink of death, he heard a sigh, then found himself standing amid ruins shrouded in gray mist.
This is Ashen Sea, a deadly space pieced together from the shattered remains of civilization. Only those on the verge of death can enter, and the only way to survive is to clear its instances.
Each instance gives you a few rules.
“Do not leave your bedroom after ten at night.” “Do not look your family members in the eye.” “Believe every word they say.”
They look like safeguards, but they’re actually traps. Some people followed them and died. Others disobeyed and died too. Only Chen Mo realized that the contradictions between the rules were the way out.
He has an inexplicable talent: whenever something about a rule feels “off,” it’s as if his brain is pricked, and his instincts tell him there’s a loophole.
That talent helped him survive his first instance.
Then he met Shen Qing.
She had entered Ashen Sea before him. She was colder, stronger, and more dangerous. “You’re lucky,” she said. “Not many people survive their first time.”
Chen Mo didn’t argue. He knew luck was temporary, but loopholes were forever.
As long as the rules kept lying, he could spot it.
As long as he could spot it, he wouldn’t die.
