Chapter 1-Game Descent: I Am the Sole Player
[To survive, we evolve.]
[For tomorrow, we reproduce.]
[For civilization, we transcend.]
[For dominance, we slaughter. Welcome to—]
"Bai Shan, have you been listening to a single word I've said?!"
Her chair was suddenly spun around, forcing Bai Shan's gaze away from the computer screen where game text was scrolling by.
She looked up, her upturned eyes fixed on the person who'd turned her chair. Those eyes had more white than black in them, the small dark pupils giving off a naturally cold, almost animal-like indifference.
"I told you, once I beat this game, I'll go back to school."
Behind her, the game's cutscene continued playing on the computer screen.
[For dominance, we slaughter. Welcome to—]
[Welcome to—Tomorrow's Dominator!]
Upbeat game music began to play. Bai Shan sluggishly shifted her feet, trying to swivel her chair back toward the screen to continue playing, but the person across from her grabbed her shoulders and gave them a firm shake.
"Bai Shan, what's going on with you? I know you've always been a loner at school, antisocial, rude to classmates, disrespectful to teachers, never kind to anyone..."
"Enough!" Bai Shan pried the other's hands off. A crack appeared in her cold expression. "Class president—Lin Huijun—I'm clearly beyond saving, so why don't you just let me be?"
Lin Huijun softened her tone slightly and continued, "But we all know you're actually a good person."
"There are only a few months left until the college entrance exam. Someone with your potential shouldn't give up halfway. You can play games after the exam—if you don't mind, I could even play with you then."
As she said this, Lin Huijun couldn't help glancing at the computer screen. The dark display reflected the bedroom and the faintly impatient half of Bai Shan's face.
Strange—given how intently Bai Shan had been staring at it, the computer wasn't even turned on.
Play together? Bai Shan's eyes dimmed slightly at the words.
If this game could be played with someone else, she wouldn't have spent so much time trying to beat this game called Tomorrow's Dominator.
Three months ago, a file named "?" had suddenly appeared on her computer. When she opened it, it turned out to be a game.
The game had embedded itself in her computer like a virus—appearing out of nowhere, impossible to delete, impossible to share the installer.
She'd scoured every corner of the internet and couldn't find a single trace of information about the game Tomorrow's Dominator. It was bizarre, as if her computer were haunted.
Bai Shan wasn't exactly a gaming enthusiast, but with such a mysterious game suddenly appearing on her computer, she couldn't resist the urge to explore.
Seeing that Lin Huijun was dead set on persuading her, Bai Shan decided to steer the conversation away from the game first.
"I've already thoroughly offended the grade director. Going back to school and studying under his sour face won't necessarily be more productive than studying at home."
"Thank you for your concern, and the classmates' too—if any of them actually care. But I'm already seventeen. I can take responsibility for my own life, so please don't trouble yourself."
Bai Shan finished speaking with forced patience, then swiveled her chair back to face the computer, ignoring Lin Huijun entirely.
The opening text animation had ended, and a familiar interface appeared on screen. Bai Shan placed her hands on the keyboard.
[Esteemed Dominator, please enter your name:]
[Tyrant]
Too lazy to think of a name, Bai Shan used her universal online handle "I'm here to be a tyrant" across all platforms. In this game, she'd shortened the ID to just Tyrant.
Tomorrow's Dominator had no save function. Every time the playable character died, she had to start over from scratch. This was Bai Shan's ninth time starting a new run.
[Esteemed Dominator, please reveal your Talent:]
A white ouroboros appeared on the screen.
Bai Shan dragged the serpent's fierce head with her mouse. The white ouroboros spun on the screen, as if endlessly devouring its own body, then gradually slowed to a stop.
[Talent: Tyrant's Grip (SS) Skill 1: Inspection Make physical contact with a target to view their Talent. Skill 2: Unlocks at Level 20 Skill 3: Unlocks at Level 50 Skill 4: Unlocks at Level 90]
Bai Shan looked at the Skill she'd rolled this round. The SS potential gave her a brief surge of excitement, but when she saw Skill 1, the corners of her mouth, which had just begun to rise, pressed downward.
The first Skill was utterly useless—not a shred of offensive power. In a game world overrun by monsters and disasters, surviving to Level 20 would be nearly impossible!
No matter how high the Talent's potential, it was all for nothing if she couldn't survive long enough to unlock new Skills.
Even if she were lucky enough to unlock Skill 2, it might not be an offensive ability either. From her experience, the runs that got the farthest were always the ones where the first Skill was a strong offensive one. Rolling a support-type first Skill basically meant an early death.
This was a single-player game with no other players. Support-type Skills had absolutely no use.
With no save function and a character struggling through a perilous world, eight runs in and she'd only ever gotten halfway through the main story at best. The slow progress was growing increasingly frustrating.
Bai Shan wanted to quit and restart, but she stared at the Talent name "Tyrant's Grip" and, after a moment's thought, decided to give it a try.
An early death just meant an earlier restart. One more death wouldn't make a difference.
[Enter the game?]
[Yes | No]
Standing nearby, Lin Huijun watched Bai Shan earnestly manipulating the keyboard and mouse in front of a black screen. A hint of alarm crossed her face as she repeatedly confirmed that the computer screen was indeed completely blank.
Bai Shan probably wasn't just skipping school to play games out of spite toward her teachers. She might be experiencing the kind of mental health issues that were common among high schoolers yet chronically overlooked.
She had to contact Bai Shan's parents. This kind of mental state might require professional intervention.
"Bai Shan, you... you should get some rest. I won't bother you anymore."
"Here are the study notes I printed out. I hope they help. Make sure to rest and take it easy..."
Bai Shan had already put on her headphones and was giving dismissive mm-hmms. She spared a glance backward and only caught sight of a neatly tied high ponytail slipping out of her room.
After staring blankly at the computer screen for two seconds, Bai Shan glanced at the study notes on her desk. She opened them to find neat, meticulous handwriting.
She casually slid the notes between Wiseman's Survival Manual and The Old Man, the Sea, and Cthulhu on her bookshelf.
Back in her chair, Bai Shan could finally start the game without distractions.
[This world is on the brink of collapse.]
On the computer screen, a character in a navy blue tracksuit stood on the rooftop of a tall building. Seawater had nearly swallowed the entire city.
In the distance, the upper half of the city's iconic twin towers jutted above the waterline, glinting in the sunlight. A mosasaur—a creature that didn't belong to the human era—burst from the water, soaring over the skybridge between the twin towers, its beams entangled with writhing vines.
[Humanity has fallen from the apex, no longer the darlings of this planet. The old Dominators have returned.]
[Fortunately, we have not been entirely abandoned. There is still a place for us in the new era.]
[The beginning of the new era can perhaps be traced back to 2025...]
Outside the screen, Bai Shan yawned at the narration she'd already seen multiple times, clicking the left mouse button repeatedly to skip through the story.
*
In the hallway, Lin Huijun pressed the down button for the elevator.
Bai Shan lived on the twenty-fifth floor. One of the elevators in this residential building was broken, leaving only two in working order. Lin Huijun had no choice but to wait patiently.
Her eyes wandered involuntarily. Perhaps it was the dim hallway lighting, or the random advertisements plastered around the elevator doors, but the building felt somewhat old and oppressive.
Among the clutter of ads, one piece of paper stood out strikingly. Twisted fluorescent handwriting, as if scrawled by someone in the grip of intense emotion. Lin Huijun leaned in curiously.
[This world is about to collaspe!]
Seeing the misspelled word "collaspe," Lin Huijun couldn't help but laugh. But as she read on, her expression gradually turned serious.
"Miss, could you press the up button for me?"
A slightly hoarse voice interrupted Lin Huijun's thoughts. She turned to see an elderly woman holding a baby, and quickly pressed the elevator button for her.
"Thank you."
The old woman carried the child over and stood beside Lin Huijun.
Lin Huijun's gaze was still fixed on the eerie piece of paper. She pulled out her phone and zoomed in, about to take a photo, when a wrinkled hand suddenly thrust into the frame and pressed the dangling note firmly against the wall.
The baby had been set down on the floor and was instinctively crawling around, letting out giggling laughter. The old woman pulled tape from her pocket, secured the paper to the wall, and gazed at it with a satisfied smile.
Witnessing the old woman's actions, Lin Huijun tucked her phone back into her pants pocket, trying to minimize her presence.
Fortunately, the downward elevator arrived quickly. Lin Huijun stepped in immediately. Just as the doors were about to close, the piece of paper suddenly drifted inside.
Before she could make out the old woman's expression outside, the doors had already shut.
Lin Huijun picked up the paper, her heart beating uneasily—this was her first time encountering a cult member proselytizing in person.
Crude, emotionally charged writing crammed every inch of the paper, giving her a headache.
[This world is about to collaspe! The Mayans predicted the true date of the apocalypse is 2026. The Great Merciful ██ must receive sufficient faith to avert the 2026 apocalypse. If the apocalypse cannot be averted, only believers will board ██'s Paradise Ark. Everyone else will die! Those who do not believe in the Great Merciful Holy Love God will be plagued by misfortune and incurable illness for the coming year.]
Could such crude writing really incite people to join this absurd cult?
But the old woman was clearly a fanatical believer.
Cults extort money through intimidation, threats, and brainwashing, committing acts that endanger public safety. Elderly people lacking scientific knowledge and family companionship were especially vulnerable to their control.
Conveniently, her mother had a friend who worked at the police station. Lin Huijun decided to report the situation to that police auntie as soon as she got home.
Lin Huijun stuffed the paper into her bag just as the elevator doors opened.
She instinctively stepped forward but nearly bumped into someone entering. Looking up, she realized the elevator had only reached the fifteenth floor.
A huge catfish suddenly flopped at Lin Huijun's feet, startling her.
The middle-aged man entering the elevator quickly grabbed the large catfish, about to toss it into his bucket, but his hands trembled and the fish jumped back onto the floor.
"It shocked me!"
The middle-aged man shook his stinging, numb hands and shouted.
Lin Huijun fought through the slimy, revolting sensation and helped wrangle the thrashing catfish back into the bucket.
It was her first time handling a catfish this big—probably a meter long.
"Thanks. I was just about to release this fish."
"Many waterways don't allow the release of invasive species. It can damage the ecosystem, and in serious cases you could be fined. You should look into it first—" Lin Huijun tried to dissuade him.
"We're accumulating good karma! A fish this big clearly has a spirit to it."
"This building's been really strange lately. We keep hearing weird noises from the pipes, the lights and faucets keep acting up. Several apartments have the same problem. We consulted a master who said..."
Lin Huijun felt her luck was terrible today. Not a single person would listen to her.
The elevator finally reached the ground floor. Lin Huijun lifted her foot to leave but accidentally stepped in a puddle of water, and her foot went numb for an instant.
A foot cramp? Lin Huijun looked down.
The middle-aged man had already carried his bucket out of the elevator. A small hole had broken through the bottom of the plastic bucket, and water was dripping out drop by drop.
In the ground-floor lobby, the old security guard was dozing off, his phone blasting short videos at full volume. It was rush hour, and returning residents crowded toward the elevators, with no attention to spare for the people and surroundings around them.
A catfish whisker poked out of the unnoticed hole, swaying lazily.
Stepping out of the old residential building, Lin Huijun felt the oppressive atmosphere vanish instantly.
She hoped Bai Shan would come to her senses and return to school soon.
Lately, the elderly folks at home had been frequently experiencing dizziness and heart palpitations. Lin Huijun needed to hurry home to help them with dinner, but on her way she received an unexpected phone call.
It was from the very police auntie she'd been meaning to contact.
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