Lin Yuanzhou, twenty-nine, is a practicing lawyer who specializes in divorce cases. His hairline is receding, he has a herniated disc, the office water cooler is often empty, and he still hasn't written his intern's evaluation. At three in the morning, the law firm's phone rings, and he gets dragged into a System called “Rule Horror.” Break a rule and you die; clear the game and you become a “Cleaner,” numbered 0917.
Other people enter the game levels with weapons. He brings a copy of the Civil Code. While others figure out how to avoid the ghosts, he looks for logical loopholes in the rules: passive voice, missing subjects, ambiguous references. Each one gives him enough ammunition for three rounds in court. He helps Chen Yu find his brother, helps Jiang Wan uncover the truth, and helps Fang Jian write the lawsuit he should have received three years ago. At last, the System realizes it's recruited the most troublesome Cleaner of all: a man who doesn't believe any system is perfect.
“You're not managing the rules. You're using them to unlawfully imprison people.”
