"Hey, have you heard that rumor?"
"What?"
"You know, *that* one. A really mysterious game. They say once you play it, you'll die in a bizarre way within a week!"
"Whoa, don't joke like that."
"Exactly, it's fake. Rumors like that—every school has a ton of them. The nonexistent classroom, the thirteenth step you must never step on—they're practically everywhere."
"Yeah, if a game like that existed, I'd just let my boyfriend play it. At least we'd stop fighting so much lately..."
"Ha ha ha ha..."
At dusk, on a small path beside the school gate, a group of girls chattered as they walked by. If you got closer, you could hear hushed discussions and sudden bursts of laughter from the crowd. They frolicked along, moving forward, until one of them waved goodbye to her companions, apparently parting ways at a fork. But just then, another girl spoke up with a hint of worry.
"Xiaoxiao, are you really okay?"
"Yeah, it's been days since he contacted you. Aren't you going to call and ask?"
The girl called Xiaoxiao by her friends seemed reminded of unpleasant memories, her smile vanishing instantly.
"Who'd call that jerk? He's probably just holed up at home playing games or something!"
"So... you really had a big fight? The rumor about the cold war is true too?"
"Anyway, we had a huge blowout. That bastard only knows how to stare at his phone all day—it's unbearable! Which is more important, the game or me?"
"Could it be... he went and played that scary game? The cursed one where you die within a week..."
The stern-faced girl let out a snort through her nose.
"Are you stupid? How could a game like that really exist?"
"It's just a rumor. With the college entrance exams coming up, everyone's too stressed, so some bored people make up these boring lies."
"Anyway, I've decided: if he doesn't apologize within a week, I'm definitely breaking up with him!"
"Hehe, but that guy seems pretty rich, Xiaoxiao. You won't regret it?"
"As if! A guy who can't even tell which is more important—the game or his girlfriend!"
Seeing her friend's dismissive expression, the girl named Xiaoxiao stomped her foot and turned away angrily.
"Well... it's getting late. Let's head home soon too."
The other three girls quickened their pace in the chilly autumn wind, running toward the street corner.
A few blocks away from the girls, beside the road, stood a gray-walled apartment building. Though its exterior was unremarkable, sunlight filtering through the glass curtain wall faintly revealed the refined interior decoration.
On the thirteenth floor of this building, in an apartment near the end, a strange sound seeped through the door cracks in the bleak autumn dusk.
It sounded like some kind of electronic synthesized music, humming faintly through the dim hallway.
Yet, it seemed to go unnoticed by anyone.
If the camera now turned into the apartment, it would show a dark, messy room littered with leftover food containers and drink cans. On some moldy, rotting food, maggots could even be seen crawling.
Following the cluttered floor, the camera pushed toward another door. Inside was an equally messy bedroom, where a dark silhouette sat on the bed, holding something, completely absorbed, making a rapid clicking sound.
From the faint glow of the object, it was clear that it was a phone. But why this person was so obsessed with it, to the point of not leaving the room for days—perhaps not even the bed—was a mystery.
Getting closer, one could see the person's face, filled with confusion and panic, muttering lowly under their breath.
"What do I do... it's already the fifth day... still no progress..."
"I've tried everything I can, but I still feel like I'm missing something..."
"What do I do... what do I do... I can't go out, I can't tell anyone, what am I supposed to do..."
"I don't want to die... I don't want to die!"
"Someone save me! Aaaaaah...!"
-----
In the darkness, Chen Mo suddenly opened his eyes.
An indescribable feeling jolted him awake in the dead of night. Turning his head, he saw the phone on the pillow beside him light up on its own, emitting a blood-red glow.
That glow was the automatic startup screen of the Strange Tales Radio, the most terrifying nightmare for all participants.
Whenever this program ran automatically, it meant the radio had released a new story, and another batch of listeners would be forced into a terrifying supernatural world to undergo life-and-death trials.
But tonight, for some reason, as the screen representing a story release lit up, Chen Mo felt a strange sensation rise within him.
A feeling... that could only be called a bad premonition!
Then, as he expected, a new preview appeared on the phone screen. Unlike the eerie style participants usually saw, this time the image was pixelated.
Green grass, red houses, gray stone paths, and little figures resembling those from *Minecraft*—it looked like a game screen, with bright colors evoking a warm, pleasant feeling.
"This... this is..."
He could imagine that the other listeners of the radio were probably just as confused as he was at this moment. But then, the blood-red text representing the task assignment slowly emerged.
*Have you heard of so-called campus ghost stories?*
*The sound of piano music from an empty classroom,* *The thirteenth step you must never step on,* *The specimen walking late at night,* *And the classroom that doesn't exist...*
*Truth and lies, no one can fathom.*
*Today's story begins with the campus ghost stories of Changteng High School. Seven participants will enter the story world to break the curse spreading there. The time limit for this story is one month.*
*Now, announcing the participants for this story:*
*Lin Tianheng, Ye Sheng, Feng Wenxuan, Duan Xue, Dai Minghan, Li Kai...*
*And a familiar name:*
*Chen Mo.*
-- PS: First update.