Chapter 1

Gently touching the cold metal wall, the dim fluorescent light flickered slightly overhead. Zhou Jinru stood in place, thinking about whether Churchill in 1940 was also cowering in such a narrow, dark basement, frightened by the continuous tremors from above.

Boom!

The ground seemed to be hit by something, shaking violently. Zhou Jinru quickly reached out to steady himself against the wall.

He still hadn't figured out where he was.

His last memory was the sudden flash of light, when he was playing basketball with his friends in the school gym. After the flash, he found himself lying in this dark metal corridor, just like the blackout he experienced during the farewell dinner after graduation, remembering nothing.

Zhou Jinru was still wearing his basketball uniform, and he walked forward. Since there were lights, there should be people around. Finding someone would help him understand what had happened.

In the second year after graduating from university, after a year of折腾 (struggling), he completed his last wish from his student days: participating in a school basketball team match. Then, he put aside all personal thoughts, accepted everything arranged by his family, fell in love with a young and beautiful stranger, held a grand wedding to continue the family line, and finally contributed to the family business.

He thought it was fair; he enjoyed all the conveniences provided by his family and would merge into the towering tree of the family.

Struggling to push open a heavy metal door, which was originally an automatic door but had lost its sensors and power, it was clear that it hadn't been used for a long time. Zhou Jinru increasingly felt like he had been thrown into an ancient shelter, everything looking like a post-apocalyptic scene.

Thinking about it, he sighed. In the dormitory during his student days, there was a guy who wrote web novels, constantly and unintentionally influencing the other three roommates with his strange and bizarre web novel ideas. As the saying goes, "Those who stay close to vermilion turn red, and those who stay close to ink turn black." Over time, everyone in the dormitory had developed thick nerves and highly imaginative minds.

When Zhou Jinru walked through the door, the scene before him made him take a deep breath.

It was a long-sealed office. The soles of his sneakers left a faint imprint on the floor. Under the dim light, Zhou Jinru immediately saw a rectangular blackboard with several headshots attached, connected by bold white chalk lines. Three notes were pinned to the lower left corner of the blackboard with magnets.

This scene was very familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before. He walked up and carefully identified the headshots. The faces were all unfamiliar, but their attire revealed their identities.

The woman in the upper right corner with a red headband was called W, the woman in the middle with short white hair was called Tlaloc, and below them were the red-haired Slayn in a hood and the expressionless Froststar.

Zhou Jinru couldn't help but laugh, "Could this be Rhodes Island?"

In the year of his graduation, his dormitory mates suddenly became obsessed with a mobile game called "Arknights." Zhou Jinru spent over three months on the game, spending money on card draws and character development. The game had a strong allure, but he eventually gave it up in mid-August due to basketball team training. He had once thought about picking it up again, but after downloading the client, he never continued the installation, leaving it on hold.

The office before him was a set of activity furniture that was released in the game when a new main storyline was opened, called "Chen's Office."

Thinking about this, Zhou Jinru's heart calmed down. He confirmed that this was a prank, and someone had brought him here to set up a scene simulation. The only people who could do this were his friends, who were really messing around.

The dim fluorescent light provided limited brightness. The fitness equipment beside the blackboard was covered in a thin layer of dust, the landscape plants in the pots had long since withered, and the documents on the desk had not been touched for a long time. Zhou Jinru keenly noticed that the photo of Chen and Tlaloc and the old teddy bear were missing from the desk, and the glass cabinet on the other side, which should have contained weapons, was empty, with Chen's dual knives also missing.

"Even the scene setup is so perfunctory."

Zhou Jinru sighed. The three most important items in Chen's office, the photo frame, the teddy bear, and the dual knives, were all missing.

As if sensing something, he looked up and met the bright eyes of someone sitting in the chair behind the desk. The chair had been facing away from the desk, so he hadn't noticed that someone was hiding there.

Rather than a person, Zhou Jinru took a small step back. In his view, the small figure curled up in the office chair had chestnut mid-length hair, a slender figure, and the large, soft chair completely hid her body. The most striking feature was the pair of tall, upright ears.

She was wearing the Rhodes Island operator uniform, which Zhou Jinru was very familiar with, as he had a similar one hanging in his wardrobe.

This is too realistic, what are those jokers up to? If this is a cosplay show, it's really too lifelike. Amiya's appearance and looks are just like they came out of the game, and he hadn't seen such a professional cosplayer in a long time.

Zhou Jinru organized his words in his mind: "Um, hello, could you tell me where the exit is?"

The girl stared intently at Zhou Jinru's face and asked hesitantly, "Angel, Lappland, and Texas, what group are they?"

What? So deep into character?

Faced with Amiya's irrelevant question, Zhou Jinru was at a loss and subconsciously answered, "Penguin Memoirs."

The girl's eyes lit up, and her tone quickened, "Starbear, Chen, and Shining? What about them?"

"Star Chen Doushi?"

"What is Huangmen Chicken?"

"98 yuan brought shame."

"Amiya's race!"

"… Rabbit! Kartes!"

Zhou Jinru forced himself to swallow the word he shouldn't have said, as he saw Amiya's expression stiffen, changing from cloudy to sunny, almost turning to rain.

He took a deep breath, "We've played, can you tell me how to get to the exit now?"

Perhaps there were a few hidden cameras in Chen's office, and this was a live broadcast. Zhou Jinru even suspected that this was a reality show organized by the game company.

"What's your name?"

This was Amiya's last question. Zhou Jinru found it strange, as if she was expecting something. Maybe this was the final step?

He said, "Zhou Jinru, Zhou Jizhou, the 'Jin' in gold, and the 'Ru' in Confucian."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly saw Amiya's tears streaming down her face, her slender shoulders trembling, and she choked out, "Welcome back, Doctor."