Chapter 3: The First Copy

The loyal viewers of the horror game live broadcast channel suddenly discovered that the lazy streaming company actually deigned to promote a new streamer for once.
A small anchor with zero fans, Da Lala, was listed first on the newcomer list on the homepage, right next to God 7, the first on the overall list.

 

The audience members who had originally come to watch other anchors couldn’t help but glance over, and then they couldn't take their eyes away.

 

The title of the live broadcast room read:

 

“A beauty was forced to become a horror game player in order to make money? What should rookie king ‘Alluring Beauty’ do when he encounters God 7?”

 

Alluring Beauty? What a gimmicky name.

 

God 7? Rubbing heat¹, huh…

 

Wait.
Encounter?

 

These companies were really becoming more and more unscrupulous in their marketing! The audience screamed in their hearts, but their bodies were more honest, clicking directly into the stream.

 

It was early August.
The weather was still sweltering, to the point that anyone who stood in the sun would feel like a bun in a steamer.

 

Shen Qingcheng stood inside an iron fence with a suitcase at his feet.
In front of him was an open playground and several clean buildings with childish drawings painted on the exterior walls.
Small trees were planted in a circle on the edge of the playground, thin branches and withered leaves slumping in the sun.

 

The left side of the playground was full of slides, seesaws, and various colorful mushroom toys, and the right side was occupied with a large canteen shaped like a chef’s hat.

 

This was very obviously a kindergarten.

 

A car loudly drove away from him.
Shen Qingcheng thought for a second, then picked up his suitcase and turned around to walk away.

 

“Shen-laoshi².”

 

He pretended he didn’t hear anything, picking up his pace and walking to the gate door.
His mouth tilted up in a smile, and he pushed at it with his hand.

 

Seeing this, the audience, who had just entered his broadcast room out of pure curiosity, filled the barrage³ with question marks.

 

The door did not open.

 

“Shen-laoshi,” the voice called out again.

 

Shen Qingcheng turned around, looking at the man who had appeared behind him at some point.

 

The man was in his thirties, with a lean face and a pair of black rimmed glasses.
His eyes were bloodshot under the glasses, and it looked like he hadn’t slept in quite some time.

 

Shen Qingcheng blinked.
His vision was clear.

 

The game had sealed his yin-yang eyes⁴, so unless a yin being voluntarily showed itself, he couldn’t see anything.
He really wasn’t used to the change yet.

 

“You know me?” he asked.

 

“Aren’t you one of the teachers who applied for the job?” The man was more surprised than he was for a second, then he regained himself and smiled.

 

“The other teachers have already arrived, so Shen-laoshi is the only one left.”

 

Oh, so it was an NPC.
It was impossible for him to simply walk off, so Shen Qingcheng had to hoist his suitcase up and follow him.

 

The man took him to a building with a bright yellow exterior and said, “My name is Liu Wangyu.
I’m the deputy head teacher of Class 1, and I’ll be in charge of your work here.
What’s Shen-laoshi’s name?”

 

“I thought Liu-xiansheng knew my name already.” Shen Qingcheng glanced at him, and replied a name.

 

Hearing the answer, Liu Wanyu’s eyes shifted a little.
He said, “I only knew your surname.
Anyway, Shen-xiansheng can call me Liu-fuban⁵.”

 

The summer weather was so hot that anyone would sweat profusely after being outside awhile, to the point that they looked like they had been caught in a heavy rain.

 

Shen Qingcheng let out a long breath as he finally walked through the gate.
Even his breath was hot.

 

In the hall of the building, there were nine people waiting, either standing or sitting, and each with a suitcase at their feet.
When they caught sight of the two people who had just entered, their expressions all varied.

 

These were the players in this copy.
Counting Shen Qingcheng, there were a total of 10 players, 6 men and 4 women.

 

“Teachers,” Liu Wangyu raised his voice to attract their attention, “now that you’ve all arrived, I hope that you all will be able to get along and cooperate with me so we can complete the preparations for the start of school as soon as possible.

 

“I know everyone is tired from coming all this way, so I won’t arrange any work for you today.
There are empty rooms on the third and fourth floors for you, one room per person.”

 

A female player sitting alone on a sofa, wearing a professional suit, asked, “Where do we eat?”

 

The other players were also very concerned about this issue.

 

Liu Wanyu wasn’t angry at all that she interrupted him, and added mildly, “Everyone eats in the cafeteria.
Meals will be from around 7 to 8 in the morning, 11 to 12 at noon, and 6 to 7 in the evening.
Teachers, please don’t miss these meal times.
The school year hasn’t started yet, so the canteen is short-staffed.”

 

“I have a question,” said Shen Qingcheng, raising his hand.
“Does the cafeteria have snacks? Sweets are fine too.”

 

One of the other players, a young boy in overalls, rubbed his temples like he had a headache.
Shen Qingcheng had already thought that his mannerisms looked familiar, and his suspicions were now confirmed.

 

This boy was naturally Chen Ge.

 

The expressions of the other players were indescribable.
In contrast, the tall man beside the bookshelf remained silent and expressionless.

 

“Um.” Liu Wangyu was stunned.
“You can probably find some at mealtime, I guess.”

 

“Okay,” said Shen Qingcheng, putting his hand down.
“You can continue.”

 

Liu Wangyu: “Uh, that’s about all I wanted to say.
Just so you know, the children that often come to play in the kindergarten are the teacher’s children.

He didn’t stay any longer, leaving after giving them a basic rundown.

 

The 10 players were left in the lobby, all of them firmly ensconced in their own positions.
No one spoke for a while.

 

Shen Qingcheng looked left and right.
Since he was new to the scene, and was already not fitting into the group, he had to hold back from claiming a room first.

 

He really wanted the best room!

 

After a long silence, the professional woman who had just asked the questions spoke first, looking around the crowd.
“There shouldn’t be any newcomers among us, right?”

As soon as she spoke, a long-haired girl in a white skirt on the large sofa opposite her trembled.
She lowered her head, hiding her expression, but her hands gripped her skirt and her knuckles whitened.

 

Several players noticed this, their eyes flashing.

 

“Hey, what are you trying to do by asking that, huh?!” The boy who was sitting next to her asked aloud.

 

He was about the same age as Chen Ge and had blond hair.

 

The woman sneered, “What do you mean?”

 

She glanced coldly at the girl in white and said, “In the game copies, you should rein in your desire to protect others.
It has no place here.”

 

The blond boy tried to argue, but she was too lazy to listen.
“Everyone should’ve seen the objectives.
It takes 20 days to clear the copy, and the difficulty is medium to high.

 

“I believe that many of us will choose to explore a storyline, so I have a proposal: we can cooperate and exchange information.
Since I know it will be hard to trust each other, I figuredI would put myself out there first.”

 

She didn’t feel embarrassed when no one said anything, she just added, “Of course, if you believe you can survive these 20 days by yourself, then you might as well pretend I didn’t say anything and go pick out rooms.”

 

The players shuffled around for a while, each person carefully watching the expressions of the others.
After a few minutes, two players stood up–a man and a woman.
They carried their suitcases upstairs.

 

After they left, the woman’s face softened a little.
She didn’t say anything about their choice, instead flicking her hair back and saying, “I’ll go first then.
My name is Zhou An’an, and I used to be a white-collarworker.
Everyone else is free to introduce themselves with just their name.”

 

Someone else continued, “Tian Haimeng.”

 

“My name is Liu Zimei.”

 

The long-haired girl in the white dress said softly, “I- my name is Bai Yi, and I used to be an art student.”

 

The blond next to her was leaning back on the sofa with his hands linked at the back of his neck.
“Xue Tong.”

 

Chen Ge glanced at Shen Qingcheng, hesitating.

 

When he’d encountered this situation before, he’d always honestly reported his name.
In the copies, the appearance of the players would be adjusted, so no one really knew each other when they returned to the game space.
Besides, in the game space, most people used their code names, so sharing your real name didn’t really matter.

 

He’d already told him his real name… After a few seconds of thought, he gritted his teeth and offered, “Wu Hai.”

 

Chen Ge’s inner turmoil wasn’t noticed by anyone else, and the introductions continued.
The man beside the bookshelf said, his voice mellow and thick, “Lu Qi.”

 

After Lu Qi, only Shen Qingcheng was left.
“Hey, it’s my turn?”

 

He swept his gaze over to Lu Qi, smiling with crinkled eyes: “Well, I used to be a civil servant, and my name is Shen Meiren⁶.”

 

Pfft.
Xue Tong, who was leaning propping his head up with his arm, laughed immediately.

 

The rest of the players, including Chen Ge, looked just as flabbergasted as Liu Wangyu had been when he heard the name.

 

“You’re not laughing?” Shen Qingcheng stared curiously at the man beside the bookshelf.

 

Lu Qi glanced at him momentarily, but said nothing, His handsome face had a chilly expression.

 

Xue Tong was still laughing, but he clearly didn’t have any ill intentions.
“Shen Meiren? You didn’t choose this name because of the rookie king, right⁷?”

 

Although it was unclear whether it was really possible to return to the real world, most of the players started live broadcasting with the expectation that they could really go back, and some of them would do anything to increase their audience.

 

Borrowing a famous name to get attention was child’s play to them.

 

Alluring Beauty, Shen Meiren.
It turned out that this was the reasoning behind his name⁸? Chen Ge considered it silently.

 

He was already a little regretful for having been so guarded against Shen-ge, since Shen-ge hadn’t taken offense at all and had even encouraged him.

 

Chen Ge thought that he must’ve given himself such an outlandish code name to hint at his actual name, and he suddenly felt guilt rise in his gut.

 

Shen Qingcheng didn’t get angry after Xue Tong ridiculed him, and smiled calmly.
“I know, I was going to introduce myself as Shen Qi⁹, but that would just make people think of God 7.
That wouldn’t be rubbing heat anymore, that would be rubbing a volcano.”

 

Xue Tong laughed.
The long-haired girl in the white dress covered her mouth to hide a soft smile.
Even the other players, who had been serious and tense from the game began to smile.

 

Only Lu Qi pursed his lips and turned around.
He lifted his suitcase from beside his feet and went upstairs.

 

Gradually, the other players dispersed as well.

 

Shen Qingcheng realized that he still had to choose a room, and he grabbed his suitcase and walked away quickly.
Chen Ge, who had fallen behind in hopes of taking the opportunity to tell him who he was, could only open and close his mouth hopelessly without calling out.

 

Well, they could talk about it later.

 

In the horror game live broadcast room, the homepage recommendation effect was quite extraordinary.
There were more and more viewers in Shen Qingcheng’s broadcast room.

 

【 I heard there was a beauty here? Let me see, let me see! 】

 

【 Wow, I love this little brother’s appearance! 】

 

【 Oh, why did my little brother leave? Where’s he going? He’s headed in the opposite direction, I hope he comes back soon! 】

 

【 Finally an NPC arrived… Control this naughty anchor 2333¹⁰ 】

 

【 Ahhh, my little brother is called Beauty, definitely the name of a peerless god, awsl¹¹ 】

 

【 Come, God 7.
】

 

【 +1, unfortunately, God 7 has already closed his broadcast channel, now we can only rely on editing a collection of clips of him after the copy ends to make ends meet.
】

 

【 My God, God 7 is actually here! 】

 

【 A wild God 7 was really caught! 】

 

【 ? Did God 7 see Beauty just now? 】

 

【 Shen Qi? I’m fucking rolling on the ground laughing, does Beauty know that he narrowly avoided dallying with God 7 in front of God 7 himself! 】

 

【 Beauty is really good at this, I’m learning from him hehehe~ 】

 

【 No wonder I’m still single, it’s because I’m not good at flirting with beautiful women.
My heart is withering.
】

 

【 I started jumping blindly just now.
When the players are close to death, I am afraid, but I also can’t help but want to watch wuwuwu¹².
This scared girl is now online.
】

 

【 You’re a world apart from me, I only dare to watch the copies that God 7 goes through.
】

 

【 Why does Beauty want to change rooms? 】

 

【 Did he find something? 】

 

【 Is someone going to die? I’m ready! 】

 

The barrage slowly became more serious.

 

Shen Qingcheng was standing in front of a man’s room, explaining himself.

 

There were many vacancies in the apartment complex, and Deputy Head Liu Wangyu had generously allocated the third and fourth floors to them, but there was only one best room on each floor.

 

These two rooms were taken by the two players who had chosen to clear by surviving until the end.

 

Shen Qingcheng had previously suffered a lot in order to complete a task that had tangled him up for 20 years, and since he was now free, he really wanted to relax a bit, so he planned to negotiate with these two.

 

He first found the man, and he was currently standing in front of him.
“What do you think, xiansheng? I can compensate you with Mama Rong’s Silver Needle.”

 

The man was very annoyed, and shouted, “Not enough!” before slamming the door with a bang.

 

Shen Qingcheng, who had just had the door shut in his face, touched his nose and turned to the fourth floor instead.
However, the female player’s attitude was even worse than the man just now, slamming the door on him just as he said that he wanted to change rooms.

 

He shook his head and sighed.
The other rooms were all the same, so he randomly chose the empty room across from the woman without any thought.
As he entered the room, he whispered doubtfully to himself, “It can’t be that Mama Rong’s needles are that bad, right?”

 

Back then, they had definitely made Ziwei scream¹³, right?

 

The room was a very ordinary single room with basic furnishings, like a bed, a table, and a closet.
It was much better than the bare personal space.
The only downside was that there was no toilet.

 

There had probably been bathrooms in those two rooms Shen Qingchenghadn’t been able to trade for.

 

He squatted, opening his suitcase, and hanging the simple clothes inside up in the closet.
He then took out his terminal to check his tasks.

 

“Official copy B0072 clearance tasks in progress…

 

“Objectives: 1.
Find the truth hidden in Xingxing¹⁴ Kindergarten.
2.
Live.
Complete either objective to clear the level.
The time limit is 20 days.

 

“Welcome to the horror world.
Happy gaming!”

 

The second objective was easy.

 

Just as Shen Qingcheng though that, he received a message from Chen Ge.

 

Forming a team in advance didn’t let them see through their disguises, but they could use their terminals to contact each other.
Unfortunately, the number of team members in one team were limited.

 

He opened the message.
There was only one sentence in it: “Shen-ge, the one called Wu Hai is me.”

 

What a kind, pure child, Shen Qingcheng thought to himself.
He sent a reply: “How could you have become stupid right after I just praised your cleverness?”

 

Chen Ge, who had been conflicted for a long time and eventually sent a message due to his shame, exclaimed in his heart.

 

How mean!

 

In the summer, the sky brightened early and darkened late, so the sun had not yet set when it was time for dinner.
Shen Qingcheng disliked the heat outside, so he stayed in his room and played games all afternoon.
When he finally came out, he was dizzy.

 

Downstairs, he met Zhou An’an, who had just come back from dinner.
She was the professional woman who had organized the introductions.
Shen Qingcheng greeted, “Good evening.”

 

Zhou An’an was briefly stunned, and said unnaturally, “Good evening.”

 

As Shen Qingcheng passed her, she asked, “When everyone gathered information this afternoon, they found that many places were locked.
Did you find anything interesting?”

 

Shen Qingcheng looked at her blankly and said, “I was playing games in my room.”

 

“Wow, someone wants to be an empty-handed white-eyed wolf¹⁵!” Xue Tong, who had just come up from behind, deliberately said loudly.
Beside him was Bai Yi, who still looked soft and weak in her white dress.

 

When she heard his sarcastic voice, Zhou An’an’s face turned cold, and she left without waiting for Shen Qingcheng to speak.

 

Xue Tong approached and patted him on the shoulder.
“It’s altright, don’t tell her anything if you don’t want to.
She said she wanted to exchange information, but she turned out just to want others to send information to her without doing any of her own work.
Ha, how could such a good thing exist?”

 

Shen Qingcheng shrugged indifferently.
He really had played games all afternoon.
Why was it that no one believed him?

 

Playing his games had made his brain tired, so Shen Qingcheng said goodby to Xue Tong and Bai Yi.
After having dinner, he went back to his room to rest a while, and it didn’t take long before he succumbed to drowsiness.

 

In the middle of the night, Shen Qingchen was awakened by a chill.

 

The weather had definitely been hot.
Before he went to bed, he’d turned on the air conditioner, and he’d slept under only a quilt.
Now, the air conditioner had stopped running, but the room was colder than it had been when it was on.

 

He tightened the quilt around himself and couldn’t help but shiver.

 

There was a rhythmic clicking from outside the door, like someone was walking tirelessly back and forth in the corridor.
The sound echoed in the long corridor, faint and airy.

 

Shen Qingcheng looked out the window.
The moon was bright and the stars were sparse, the moonlight shining normally.

 

Alas, in the middle of this night, it was questionable if it was possible to sleep peacefully.

 

The owner of the footsteps seemed to know that someone was awake.
The steps stopped in front of Shen Qingcheng’s door.
After a while, they said, “Shen Meiren.”

 

Accompanying the sound was a slow, heavy knock on the door.

 

Boom, boom, boom.

 

His heart beat in time with the knocks, and he couldn’t help but picture a blood-stained hand knocking at the door.

 

“Shen Meiren.”

 

The voice became bitter and cold.
“It’s me, open the door…”

 

“No, I’m going to sleep,” he muttered.

 

As he finished speaking, he took the air conditioning remote control out from under his pillow and turned up the temperature.
He tightened the quilt around himself again, turned over, and fell asleep again.

 

The night passed.

 

The next day, Shen Qingcheng was woken up by the heat.
He felt like he was about to be cooked, dazedly touching his sweaty forehead, before he was startled by a sudden scream.

 

“Ahhhhh! Someone died!”

 

 

The author has something to say:

 

Shen Qingcheng: Wow, this wake-up service is super unique~

 

 

 

TLN:

¹”Heat” is attention.
Basically, drawing heat is using a more famous person's name to elevate yourself, through creating scandals or other schemes.

² Laoshi literally means teacher and is used as a honorific.
I’m leaving this in pinyin since it sounds awkward otherwise.

³ The barrage is a scrolling chat that goes across the whole screen.

⁴ Probably a natural endowment that led to him having the skill ‘Flaming Eyes’.
Yin-Yang eyes let you see spirits/ghosts.

⁵ Fuban (副班) is literally “class deputy”.
Used mostly for the student council VP.
Since this is a kindergarten, this probably refers to the deputy teacher or a similar position.

⁶ Meiren (美人 ) is literally “beautiful person”.

⁷ Alluring Beauty is 美人倾城.
Shen Meiren shares two of the same characters (美人).

⁸ Remember, for all Chen Ge knows, Shen Meiren could be his real name.

⁹ Qi (七) is the number 7.

¹⁰ 2333 sounds like laughter, so it’s textspeak that basically means lol or lmao.

¹¹ awsl stands for 啊我死了, which literally means “ah, I died”.
Actual meaning is “it's so cute”.

¹² Crying onomatopoeia.

¹³ Pretty much what it sounds like.
It seems that at some point Qingcheng tortured this dude with heated needles.
It could be friendly threatening, but I doubt it.

¹⁴ Xingxing (星星) is literally “star”.

¹⁵ A white-eyed wolf is someone ungrateful, or someone who bites the hand that feeds them.

 

You may have noticed that some terms have changed.
The first chapters have been edited to reflect this.
Feel free to let me know if I missed something, especially if it’s in the footnotes (I’ve been messing with them a lot–formatting is hell).

 

By the way, only the A/Ns that have interesting content will be translated.
A lot of them are just the author saying “thank you for the subscriptions”.