Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Today was destined to be a memorable day for Ling PingAn.
After fighting in the rift for an entire morning, he had finally stepped into the Challenger Rank.
From now on, he had shed his mortal flesh and become one of the best in the rift.
Ling PingAn was ecstatic.
To celebrate, he made himself a fragrant cup of tea.
Drinking the aromatic tea, Ling PingAn felt comfortable from head to toe.
He leaned back in the chair and lifted his legs onto the counter. As he sipped on the tea, he muttered to himself, “I think I’ve just lost the fun in the game…”
All morning…
He’d been winning. He had yet to be defeated in a single match.
It felt pleasurable when he was actually playing the game, but afterwards Ling PingAn only felt empty.
Now, he was longing for the ups and downs he had had a few days ago in the Bronze Division.
Even though at that time he would lose more than he would win and was a real boob.
He often turned into a trash-talker, a flamer, and joined into the verbal warfare himself.
He had felt really happy back then.
Unlike now. He’d only kept on winning and winning.
All his opponents couldn’t even get in a hit.
All the heroes in the rift acted like pawns who were willingly offering their lives to him. No matter what hero he played or what position he assumed, he could completely stomp the enemy.
Especially as the rankings went higher and his teammates couldn’t actually keep up with him and play with him, the game became more and more meaningless.
“Looks like I need some new challenges.”
“The pool of the rift is too small.”
“It can no longer accommodate a top pro like me.”
So Ling PingAn grabbed his phone and started searching: What game has the highest difficulty?
The results of the search returned mostly stand-alone games.
Damned, Phantasmagoria, Stellaris…
Ling PingAn didn’t like any of them.
Mainly because he couldn’t troll people in stand-alone games and has no one to blame when something happens.
For Ling PingAn, such games were too unfriendly.
For the same reasons, he didn’t like online games either.
And they would require the use of real money.
Free-to-plays instantly lost their appeal.
Hitting a brick wall, Ling PingAn added a qualifier: What PvP game has the highest difficulty?
The answer came back with a bunch of ancient computer games.
Dota, LoL, etc.
Ling PingAn couldn’t help but sneer. “Sitting in front of a computer and playing games will cause spine problems…”
Ling PingAn added more qualifiers. “What PvP mobile game has the highest difficulty?”
The answer came back with a bunch of advertisements.
Come and hack me if you’re my brother. I’m Zha Zha Hui, I’m stronger when I’m green[1], and…yada, yada.
In short, it was mostly crappy answers.
Until Ling PingAn came across a comment on WeChat Read.
“Legend of Nightmare is a game that takes life as a gamble. You will not only have to scheme against the enemy, you will also have to guard yourself against your own teammates. It’s really, really difficult!”
Ling PingAn tapped at the link curiously. After he’d entered, he discovered that this comment had been made by a WeChat Read user with the ID NorthernWindz one week ago.
After the comment was posted, someone finally replied to the comment three days later.
Someone with the ID ILuvGames commented, “Bro, about that Legend of Nightmare you mentioned, why can’t I find it on the Internet?”
Looking at the time, the user with the ID NorthernWindz replied in less than a minute, “Bro, this is a secret game. Only people who have been invited can join in. If you’re interested, you can drop me a DM.”
ILuvGames hastily responded, “All right, done.”
Then, two days later, ILuvGames left a bunch of emoticons in the comments section of the post.
Sad Face, Grovel on Ground, and even Priest Praying and Monk Chanting…
This had Ling PingAn puzzled. “What game actually uses the invitation system?”
“From the look of it, it seems pretty difficult.”
“Let me try it out then!”
At the present time, Ling PingAn’s confidence had gotten extremely swollen.
Having attained Challenger Rank in the rift, he was eager to face more challenges.
Hence, he tapped on that ID by the name of NorthernWindz and tapped out a message, “Bro, can you invite me to Legend of Nightmare?”
…
In a dark basement, an old computer buzzed.
Suddenly, a private message prompt sounded.
The person who had been leaning back in a chair in front of the computer hopped up reflexively.
He opened the private message immediately and discovered that it was from a WeChat Read user with the ID name of Ling PingAn. “Bro, can you invite me to Legend of Nightmare?”
He smiled and his hairy face became distorted with glee. “Yet another sheep has fallen into my trap!”
This reminded him of the cute new face who’d arrived a few days ago. The smile at the corners of his mouth became even bigger.
He quickly clicked on the other party’s ID. When he saw that the WeChat user account was authenticated with a real name, he got even happier. “This kind of new blood is the Nightmare’s most desirable sacrifice.”
As he spoke, he typed tip-tappingly and replied, “All right!”
He dragged up a link from the hard disk of this worn-out computer and clicked send.
Then he sat up calmly and composedly as he quietly waited for the harvest.
A newcomer…
In any case, it would provide a few hundred Point Certificates.
If he was lucky, maybe he could even acquire a piece of good novice equipment that would provide him with even more Point Certificates when he sold it.
Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but drool.
His saliva flowed to the ground, corroding the floor as it sizzled with fumes.
The fluorescent light of the broken computer shone on him.
He wasn’t human.
He was a wolf-headed beast, sitting in front of the computer like a human.
…
Ling PingAn looked at the link that had been sent to the message box of his phone. He hesitated for a moment, but, at last, for the sake of safety, he first activated the antivirus software and then tapped on the link.
As soon as he tapped on the link, his phone was quickly directed to the browser page.
Subsequently, a page that seemed to be an official website loaded.
But seeing the simplicity and the ugliness of the official website, Ling PingAn couldn’t help but frown.
There was no game introduction and no top-up channel.
There was only a line of bold words in black, “This is the kingdom of nightmares and the entrance to hell. Are you ready? Once you step in, you can’t look back.”
“Fooling around with a game like this?” Ling PingAn laughed, “Let me test how good you are.”
“If you’re not fun, I will report you for illegal operation.”
Then he tapped on the line of text.
The webpage diverted once again.
One by one, bloody words appeared on the screen.
Path into the Nightmare is opening…
Entering World…
The brightness of his phone abruptly surged.
At this moment, the kitten, who had been sleeping soundly on the counter, suddenly woke up.
Meow…
The kitten jumped into Ling PingAn’s arms and curled up, trembling.
Ling PingAn hurriedly put down his phone and hugged the kitten. “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, little fella, don’t be afraid. I’m here, no one will ever bully you again.”
However, little did he know that at this very moment in the eyes of the kitten the entire bookstore seemed like the surface of a lake where a stone has been tossed.
Waves were surging, and winds of change were blowing everywhere.
Everything had been altered beyond recognition.
On the wall where posters had been pasted, something like a leech writhed from inside the wall.
Lone eyes opened on the posters.
Skittering whispers arose, conveying horrifying things among each other.
Inside the bookstore, on the seemingly empty bookshelves, asphalt-like liquid flowed between the books.
Pairs of appalling Evil Eyes opened one after another.
Taboo voices echoed in the kitten’s ears.
Just listening to these voices, the kitten was terrified, and it shuddered in terror.
All of wisdom and intelligence had departed from the room.
This horrifying bookstore was waking up and taking a different shape.
The kitten’s instinct was telling him that only in the arms of Ling PingAn could it survive.
Hence, with intense horror, the kitten used its four tiny paws to tightly grasp onto Ling PingAn’s chest, pressing itself into Ling PingAn’s body.
Ling PingAn looked at the trembling kitten in his arms and couldn’t help but sigh. “Little fella, just how much trauma did your former master do to you?”
The sympathetic young man had no choice but to ignore his phone for a while. He picked up the kitten, stood up, and said, “Let’s go, little fella, your big brother will take you upstairs to eat some fish…”
He held the kitten, turned around, and walked to the stairs.
At the moment he turned around, the kitten could see something like a cloud of black mist flowing in under the door and floating toward the counter.
Then the black cloud of mist turned into small balls of light and surrounded the phone that Ling PingAn had placed on the counter.
The kitten quickly shut its eyes.
Because it knew that this was taboo. The more it had seen, the faster it would die.
******
[1] Chinese memes made out of funny advertisements, directly translated.
