I Connected to the Infinite Game NPC Network

Before she could die, Shen Zhanyi was swept into a horror challenge System. She must compete against a group of geniuses from various fields who died young, gather clues, and piece together the story of each instance to earn extra life points.

Opponent A: "I scored 700 on the college entrance exam and excelled in every subject. My initial rating is B."

Opponent B: "I'm a top boxing coach. My rating is A!"

Shen Zhanyi (sweating): "I... I'm just an opera singer QAQ"

*

In the first instance, players are paired up.

Shen Zhanyi, whose initial rating is only D, gets paired with a pretty boy from Class F.

The pretty boy is named Yue Jingchen, and he's unemployed.

The two cannon fodder players think they're doomed to be eliminated in the first round. But whenever an NPC walks by, dialogue boxes suddenly appear before Shen Zhanyi's eyes:

Ghost Tailor: "Let's kill that college student tonight."

Corpse Driver: "This batch of players really is hopeless. They spend ages looking for such an obvious clue."

Shen Zhanyi: What?! Has she connected to the NPC network?

Shen Zhanyi happily plans to carry her pretty-boy teammate to victory, until one night a female ghost passes their room and stares for a long time at Yue Jingchen, who's fast asleep.

Dialogue box: This guy's a big shot. We can't afford to mess with him. Run!

Shen Zhanyi: ???

*

Much later.

Shen Zhanyi: "I get it now, Yue. You're just a scheming drama queen pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger."

Yue Jingchen: "How about we play Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing in the next instance and poison the ghosts to death?"

Shen Zhanyi: WTF!

Reader's guide: 1. The setting is entirely fictional, with lots of original elements and horror.

2. There are some outrageous golden finger tricks.

3. This is a long novel.

4. Please add it to your collection, mwah.

Theme: Cherish life and stay away from monsters and ghosts. Nothing is impossible; staying alive is victory.