Mobiuslidou stared at the two short stories he’d written on the Royal Road platform on his phone, shaking his head helplessly—they’d flopped again.

  “Time for bed. I have to go to work tomorrow.”

  He rolled onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

  BOOM!

  A deafening crash split the sky, and a shrill red alarm blared out of nowhere.

  BOOM, BOOM, BOOM—

  One explosion after another followed, shaking the entire building to its core.

  Mobiuslidou shot up from the bed in an instant, his mind clearing at once: an earthquake? Lime dust showered down from the ceiling, and the chaos outside—shouts, cries, screams—all merged into a cacophony that assailed his eardrums.

  He bolted for the door, and as he reached the ground floor, he stared at the completely unfamiliar scene before him, utterly dumbfounded.

  Where am I?

  The sky was a murky gray, and a dense horde of unknown creatures dove toward the ground like a black cloud.

  Ahead, mech warriors and battle tanks fought desperately to hold back terrifying ant-spider-like monsters; silver-armored soldiers formed a phalanx, holding swords and shields to stand their ground, while mages behind them gripped staves, conjuring fireballs and lightning in their palms, with layer upon layer of pale green defensive barriers rising one after another!

  Mages?

  And people flying through the air?

  In his daze, a spider monster lunged straight for him!

  Mobiuslidou tried to dodge, but his body froze, rooted to the spot.

  The monster’s pincer-like claws were mere inches from his face—

  SLAM!

  A massive mechanical hand slammed down, swatting the spider monster flying far away.

  An impatient voice came from inside the mech:

  “Get out of the way, don’t be a nuisance!”

  Just then, a city guard saw him still standing there, stepped forward and grabbed his arm, shouting in alarm:

  “What are you staring at for…! Oh! This kid peed his pants!”

  Outside the City, the Next Day

  Mobiuslidou held a wooden stick in his hand, whacking giant rats that burrowed out of the ground. Killing them yielded nothing, and he had to loot each corpse, hoping to find a crystal core the size of a marble.

  Mobiuslidou had transmigrated into a game-like world:

  No classes, no levels—superpowers could only be obtained from skill books dropped by monsters.

  Each person could master a maximum of ten skills.

  And skill books, rarer than crystal cores, were more precious than life itself.

  Mobiuslidou stared at the two marbles in his palm. So these were crystal cores? His stomach rumbled loudly. He’d spent the whole day fighting just to get two, and he shook his head helplessly.

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  Looking up toward the city gate, a stunningly beautiful woman—innocent yet seductive—walked toward him with a magic staff in her hand, her beauty breathtaking.

  Mobiuslidou muttered to himself:

  “If only she were my wife.”

  He stood there, transfixed, staring blankly at her.

  The woman tripped over a stone in the road.

  “Aah!” she cried, falling face down at Mobiuslidou’s feet.

  Mobiuslidou stared down at her, dumbfounded: This beauty… has a screw loose!

  The woman jumped to her feet in an instant, glanced around, and then looked at Mobiuslidou.

  “Hello, my name’s Belle. I’m looking for a teammate. Would you team up with me?”

  Mobiuslidou was completely stunned: Confirmed, this beauty definitely has a screw loose.

  He shook his head firmly:

  “Sorry, I’m busy. I still have to kill rats.”

  With that, he turned and left.

  Mobiuslidou let out a yelp as he tripped over a stone and fell face down on the ground.

  His stomach let out a loud gurgle—

  Belle hurried over to help him up.

  She tripped over something again—

  “Aah!”

  She fell flat on the ground! Her magic staff slammed right into Mobiuslidou’s head.

  His vision blacked out, and he fainted.

  Belle scrambled to her feet, staring at the unconscious Mobiuslidou in a panic.

  “What… what do I do now?”

  A lightbulb went off in her head, her eyes widened, and her mouth formed an O shape.

  She reached out, grabbed Mobiuslidou’s ankle, turned around, and dragged him toward the city.

  As she dragged him along, Mobiuslidou’s head hit another stone by the roadside, swelling up a big bump.

  Inside the Room

  Mobiuslidou held the big bump on his head, staring at the stunning beauty by the table with a look of resentment.

  “I saw you faint, so I dragged you back. It’s far too dangerous outside at night.”

  Mobiuslidou fell silent, and his stomach let out another loud gurgle.

  Belle went on: “Oh right, you haven’t eaten, have you?”

  She raised her hand, and a bread-like food materialized out of thin air. She smiled softly and handed it to him.

  Mobiuslidou hesitated for a moment, then reached out, took it, and devoured it greedily!

  After he’d eaten his fill, Mobiuslidou said: “I’m just an ordinary person, with no superpowers at all.”

  Belle shook her head: “It doesn’t matter.”

  Mobiuslidou asked again: “Where are we going as a team?”

  Belle looked out the window: “Blackspire Fortress!”

  “A lot of people go there. Why don’t you team up with them?”

  Belle fell silent, her eyes darting away, and she said nothing.

  Mobiuslidou had a bad feeling. He leaned in, coaxing and tricking her, and finally managed to get her to open up.

  Belle whispered: “Before… everyone who teamed up with me… died…”

  Mobiuslidou stared at her in utter shock, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open!

  A teammate killer?

  A stunning beauty was short on teammates?

  Sure enough! There’s no such thing as a free lunch!

  The journey to Blackspire Fortress had to pass through three regions: the Silent Mine, the Demon Hive, and the Windscoured Rift.

  The two left Starfire City bright and early, heading for the Silent Mine.

  On the way, Belle suddenly spoke up:

  “I still don’t know your name.”

  “Mobiuslidou.”

  They soon reached the entrance to the Silent Mine.

  Belle warned: “It’s a danger zone inside. Be careful.”

  At the thought of Belle’s words—that everyone who’d teamed up with her had died—fear instantly enveloped Mobiuslidou.

  But there was no way around it; he’d eaten her food, so he had to bite the bullet and follow her in.

  The two walked into a bare forest, deathly quiet that sent chills down one’s spine.

  Mobiuslidou’s heart was in his mouth, and he warily scanned his surroundings.

  Belle’s voice came over:

  “Don’t be nervous, we’re not there yet. The mine ahead is the Demon Hive.”

  They reached the tunnel mouth, and shrill screams echoed out from inside at once.

  Mobiuslidou’s legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground.

  Belle clung to his arm, hiding behind him—even more of a coward than he was!

  A black shadow darted out suddenly, and the two were so scared that they plopped down on the ground.

  Mobiuslidou forced himself to look up—

  A dog was standing right in front of them.

  The dog stared back at him, its chest heaving violently, whimpering in a low voice, with yellow liquid spurting out in gushes from its lower body!

  Man and dog stared at each other.

  “A Husky?”

  A warm, wet sensation spread through Mobiuslidou’s lower body.

  Oh no…

  He was so embarrassed he could’ve dug a three-bedroom apartment with his toes; his dignity was completely gone!

  The Husky stared at him for a long time, decided there was no danger, and slowly calmed down, lying on the ground and relaxing a great deal.

  Belle’s eyes lit up:

  “Why not take the dog with us? We’ll have an extra teammate then!”

  Before Mobiuslidou could say a word,

  the dog, as if it really understood what she’d said, trotted over to Belle’s legs with its tail wagging furiously, nuzzling her back and forth.

  Mobiuslidou watched its sycophantic, simping act and thought to himself: What a simp.

  Belle:

  “What should we call you?”

  Mobiuslidou spoke up: “Simp.”

  After a short rest, the two and the dog headed for the tunnel mouth.