Game of the Dead [Infinite]

Ming You died. As his consciousness gradually returned, he found himself in a whole new world, with an electronic recording repeating in his ears.

"Dear newly deceased,

Hello! Welcome to the Land of the Dead. Please proceed to the Hall of the Dead within half an hour to claim your assigned number. Once you have claimed it, you can immediately check your current [Life Score]. The higher your score, the better your chances of reincarnating next time, and the more likely you are to be born already at the finish line. Conversely, the lower your score, the worse your luck in reincarnation, and you may even lose the right to be human again.

The reincarnation system opens twice daily, at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Each session lasts three minutes. Reincarnation slots are assigned by lottery, so please register with your number during the allotted time.

Please note that the deceased with negative scores cannot register for reincarnation. Please do your best to raise your score!

For information on reincarnation tiers and specific ways to increase your score, please see the attachment."

Ming You: "..."

A holographic screen unfolded before his eyes, and Ming You opened the attachment.

0-10 points: Perhaps you'd like to be a happy insect;

11-30 points: Protecting animals means protecting yourself;

31-40 points: You were born human, so just make do;

41-70 points: The standard edition of the Game of Life;

71-90 points: The advanced edition of the Game of Life;

91-98 points: The VIP cheat-mode edition of the Game of Life;

99 points: Choose your own reincarnation, with your personal preferences fully accommodated;

200 points: Resurrection. Welcome back to the human world.

Ming You looked at his pitiful 12 points and thought of the older sister who had raised him since childhood, but was left paralyzed from the neck down by an accident. He thought of the tall figure who had pulled him from the rubble many years ago... Ming You decided he had to go back.

Even if his next life would be better, he still had so much left to do in this one.

*

The Land of the Dead exists to deal with the various kinds of "contamination" generated by humanity in the real world, ensuring that the real world is not consumed by it and can endure in a stable state.

These "contaminations" take shape as various terrifying instances. When the dead clear an instance, the contamination is cleansed.

The new contamination fragments today are:

A European town ravaged by plague, where anyone infected grows a second head;

A peaceful mountain village shrouded in fog all year round, from which no one can ever escape;

An adorable little island where a real-life murder variety show airs every day;

And a cozy school haunted by all kinds of urban legends, connected to the ghost market every night at midnight.

Ming You, determined to become a score-grinding machine: Hello, I'll take all of the above.

*

For an extra 10 points, Ming You once tricked the big shot Han Diaoling in an instance. As he left, he even had the gall to say a couple of nauseatingly flirtatious lines to that eternally unchanged, truly deadpan face, hoping he and the pretty boy would meet again someday, no matter how far apart they were.

The Land of the Dead is so huge. What are the odds of running into him again? No way, no way.

But just six hours later, Ming You walked straight into a trap of his own making.

Han Diaoling: "You want my body?"

Ming You: "..."

Han Diaoling: "Want to see me cry?"

Ming You: "..."

Han Diaoling: "And make me meow for you?"

Ming You gritted his teeth and steeled himself: "Yes! I'm the one who wants to meow for you! Meow, meow, meow! How's that? Did I get it right?"

*The focus is on plot and puzzle-solving; the horror is moderate.

*Manuscript in progress.

Theme: Always be the master of your own fate