"Hmm?"
Inside a dilapidated residential building.
The air was damp and musty, mixed with a smell of rust.
"Ah—!!"
Su Luo was startled awake by a scream. When he opened his eyes, the light on the ceiling of the room was flickering with a "sizzle, sizzle" sound.
"Where is this? Penacony?"
He sat up, finding himself lying on a hard wooden bed. His head felt heavy and dizzy, as if he had just fallen out of a dream.
"No, no, I've transmigrated!"
Su Luo scanned his surroundings, then recalled something.
He only vaguely remembered that he was playing a game called Honkai: Star Rail while crossing the road, and had just pulled ten five-star characters in a ten-pull.
He'd hit the jackpot.
When he opened his eyes again, he was already in this world.
"Sizzle, sizzle..."
Just as he was looking at the ceiling, a broadcast suddenly echoed in his mind.
"Welcome, everyone, to this Horror Game!!"
"Game Type: Survival"
"Difficulty: 1"
"Synopsis: This game is set inside a residential building shrouded in darkness. All players are unable to escape."
"This residential building has been infiltrated by several human or non-human killers!"
"Completion Condition: Use all means to survive for 24 hours!"
"Current Player Count: 20"
"Friendly Reminder: Some killers are not human, but they can imitate human voices. Please do not believe any sound you hear!"
"Horror Game?"
Su Luo was stunned.
Then a stream of information flooded into his mind.
This was not Earth, but a parallel world called Blue Star!
At some unknown point, a supernatural force enveloped this parallel world, randomly selecting residents of Blue Star to be players in horror games, which were also live-streamed.
It had infiltrated all residents' devices, and no matter how hard the authorities tried, they couldn't stop the games and live streams brought by this supernatural force.
Each game, or rather, each instance, had its own rules, which were broadcast in every player's mind.
The only constant was that almost every instance featured thriller and horror elements, and was accompanied by gore and death.
Therefore, besides praying not to be chosen, countless residents of Blue Star would also watch the live streams and send bullet comments to discuss, pondering how they could survive if they were unfortunately chosen one day!
While digesting this information stream, Su Luo's senses recovered somewhat. He suddenly felt something covering his face, and then gently took it off.
In his hand was a half-black, half-red fox mask!
"This is..."
Su Luo stared blankly at the mask.
This… why did it feel somewhat familiar?
Bang!
The light, like lightning, illuminated the mirror not far from the bed, allowing Su Luo to see himself in the mirror clearly.
"Could it be?"
Su Luo blinked a few times.
He was shocked.
He, who was originally a muscular man, had now become a girl with chestnut-colored twin tails and pink eyes![1]
Looking down, through the gap, there was nothing.
In the mirror, such a cute and beautiful art style, coupled with the eerie, gloomy dark environment around, looked completely out of place.
In his previous life, she clearly remembered who this girl was; she was the Honkai: Star Rail character she had pulled ten five-star characters in a row—
Sparkle!
"I've become Sparkle??!!"
No wonder, in such a bizarre situation, as a player in a horror game where his life could be lost at any moment, she felt no fear at all, and even found it a bit fun!
"Ding!"
As expected, just as Su Luo realized she had become Sparkle, a "ding" sound appeared in his mind!
"Role-playing System activated..."
"Binding..."
"Binding successful!!"
"Previous Life Name: Su Luo (unimportant)"
"Role-playing Character: Sparkle, Current Role-playing Progress: 0%"
"Path: Elation"
"Aeon: Aha"
"Increasing Role-playing Progress can unlock Sparkle's skills! It will also enhance various attributes!"
"Currently owned innate skill: The Hero with a Thousand Faces (transform into any character)!"
"Role-playing System, I see..."
Sparkle shook her twin tails, then her lips curved slightly.
In her previous life, she was an overworked wage slave, very suppressed, so she naturally yearned for the Path of Elation and would steadfastly follow it.
Actually, her personality hadn't changed much.
It's just that this 'role-playing' sounded a bit unpleasant.
"Sorry about that..."
"However, what I want isn't to play a role."
"From now on, This Young Lady — is Lady Sparkle!"
Her voice echoed throughout the room, and the light flickered as if startled.
"La la~"
As if a spotlight was shining on her head, Sparkle gently spun a few times, like dancing.
No live audience? Then she would perform for herself.
Then, she stopped, put her hands behind her back, and slowly paced.
Since the game had started, it was time to think about how to clear it.
To clear the game meant to survive for 24 hours.
This required making good use of Sparkle's abilities!
Her current ability was "The Hero with a Thousand Faces". If she could gain Elation points through this ability, she could increase her Role-playing Progress!
And now she was truly walking on the Path of Elation. To increase her Role-playing Progress, she had to constantly advance on this Path of Elation.
In layman's terms, it meant seeking fun.
Constantly seeking fun.
Seeking fun at all costs.
The bigger the fun, the better.
The more fun, the greater her ability. This way, if she was caught in a game again in the future, the greater the probability of clearing it, and higher difficulty games in the future could yield more Elation points.
Okay, the logic loop is closed.
"Sizzle..."
"..."
As if it had never seen a player who could still smile in such a situation, the terrifying atmosphere around seemed to have encountered something even more terrifying, and the light barely flickered anymore.
Slowly calming down, as a stream of information flowed into her mind, Sparkle finally recalled the current situation.
"What a pity~"
After recalling the information stream, Sparkle sighed softly.
"This Young Lady is unlucky. If it were other worlds, finding fun would be much simpler."
"Unfortunately... this is a Horror Game world..."
Seeking elation in a Horror Game was truly hellish.
Perhaps this was also a joke from Aha.
[Here they come! Has the live stream started? Did I miss anything?][2]
[Holy crap! Just got here, why does this little girl's art style feel a bit different??]
[This is another survival game??]
[This is a residential building??? I remember this scene! Last time, all dozens of players in this game died. These killers are cunning, and they can imitate humans. Forget 24 hours, a normal person entering would be lucky to last 10 minutes.]
[Everyone died in the one I saw too...]
[After all, the just need to bravely kill, while players have a lot more to consider.]
In the live stream room, as the game officially began, the bullet comments gradually became lively.
However, there was also a silent mourning for the misfortune of the ten people participating in this horror game.
Sparkle naturally couldn't see these bullet comments. At this moment, she was resting her chin on her small hand, pondering something.
Indeed, finding elation here was difficult.
But Aha seemed to have forgotten one thing!
Sparkle gently raised her head, her pink eyes staring in one direction, not knowing what she was looking at.
"I don't need to seek elation!"
"Because..."
"I am Elation!!! Elation elation elation elation"
"Hahahahahahaha, hahahahahahahahahaha—"
Suddenly, a burst of laughter, even more eerie than a killer's, echoed throughout the entire residential building.
[What the heck is that noise?]
[Is she going to unleash a witch's barrier?! No, what am I saying…]
[Oh my, that laugh, I'm getting goosebumps...]
[Will the killers be scared if they hear this laugh?]
[Very spirited, extremely spirited! Mental state assessment: good!]
Bang!!
Just as Sparkle was laughing loudly, a dull thud suddenly came from outside the door.
It sounded like someone was chopping at the door with an axe.
[1] From now on, I will use female pronouns
[2] Bullet comments/livestream chat will have [] around them