An Unconventional Character Concept

Wannian has drowned to death countless times. In the middle of another one, he gets pulled into an infinite-loop horror game.

All his teammates are a bunch of complete idiots.

This five-person team includes a delicate damsel, a scheming guy, a whiner, a useless pretty face...

The team gradually makes its way to the third level of the horror game. Wannian is baffled and falls into deep thought.

How did this bunch of idiots follow him all the way to the third level?

Then Wannian gradually realizes that something is off about his teammates:

the "delicate damsel" who kills ghosts without blinking, the "whiner" who doesn't even flinch when he sees ghosts, the "scheming guy" who calculates the force-bearing area, and the "useless pretty face" who can punch someone three meters away.

Huh?

At first, they each "show off their skills." Later, they each SHOW! OFF! THEIR! SKILLS!

Wannian: ...

So they're all just putting on an act?

In this nine-story tower game, with its bizarre setting, not one team that has been dragged inside has ever made it to the top.

Their senses are sealed off. There are no changing seasons or weather, and people and souls coexist here.

A maze and lost players... evil spirits and struggles for power... sworn friends between life and death, two worlds...

After enduring one dramatic trial after another, Wannian and his teammates gradually discover that everything here is merging with the real world, bit by bit.

With each level they clear, a concept based on the real world appears.

Pain, time, war, the environment...

Once they realize that this place will eventually become a whole new world, where real death and fear will accompany every cycle of resets forever, the game's final stretch pushes their mental states to the brink of collapse.

Dragging his battered body across a trail of blood, Wannian sets out to shatter the absurd rules that brought all this about.

Reader advisory:

It's probably an ensemble story, but the only love interest is that "pretty face." Everyone else is just friends.

Goofy, but with serious moments.

The five members of the protagonist's group are guaranteed to survive.

Just to be clear: There are no real-life inspirations in this story. Any similarities in names or plot devices are purely coincidental. If you suspect plagiarism, please use a comparison chart. Please don't derail the comments or give unsolicited writing advice. If you drop the story, please don't come back just to announce it. Extreme fans of either the top or bottom, please understand that this may not be for you. Beginner writing ahead. Please be civil and help create a good writing and reading environment.

Theme: Finding a way out of dire straits, never giving up.