Many people do not like the short ones.

"Old Chen, back from your rounds? I’m heading out now, but you really should think about what I mentioned earlier. I’m serious, and so is my mom—we’re not joking." A young, beautiful nurse waved to Chen Sheng and walked naturally into the elevator.

Chen Sheng’s face remained blank, but for someone who always used a blank expression as a shield, he almost let his composure slip in that moment.

That little nurse was a new intern this year named Chen Xiaohui. Although they shared the same surname, there was no actual relation between them—unless, perhaps, five hundred years ago their ancestors were kin.

As for what Chen Xiaohui had mentioned, her mother had taken a liking to him.

Chen Sheng honestly didn’t know how to respond to that.

Feeling inexplicably unsettled, he glanced at the bag in his hand.

Inside, of course, was the healing game. Being in a hospital, he had to make sure it was well disguised. He hadn’t paid much attention to the game before, but now he found himself especially in need of something to soothe his soul.

The game had quite the reputation; everyone who’d played it sang its praises. Surely, it wouldn’t disappoint him.

Caught up in anticipation, Chen Sheng’s restlessness grew. Glancing at the clock, he saw his shift was nearly over, and he wasn’t on duty tonight. He hurried into his office.

Closing the door behind him, Chen Sheng opened the box.

But instead of the familiar game disc, he found a pair of gold-rimmed glasses.

The glasses themselves had an air of technological sophistication.

"A mix-up?" was his first thought, but he quickly dismissed it. There was a manual right beside the glasses—a concise card with both text and illustrations—explaining that just by putting on the gold-rimmed glasses, he could enter the game.

"So this is what you need a purchase code for?" Chen Sheng thought, astonished, suddenly keenly aware of the invisible yet strict boundaries of social class.

It was the same game, yet what he bought was just a disc that required a computer to play. Here, all it took was a pair of glasses.

"Poverty truly limits my imagination."

Muttering to himself, Chen Sheng didn’t hesitate. He removed his own glasses and put on the gold-rimmed pair.

The moment they settled on his nose, Chen Sheng immediately sensed their extraordinary quality.

The lenses looked just like regular glass. Given his strong prescription, everything was a blur without his own glasses. Yet within seconds, he felt a gentle warmth from the lenses, and soon enough, it was as if the glasses had adjusted themselves to his vision. The world became clear again.

"This is black technology!"

In that instant, all the minor annoyance from being set up by that girl vanished. If possible, he’d happily let her trick him a few more times before she was discharged next week.

He remembered that the director had been divorced and supposedly had an adult daughter.

In his excitement, Chen Sheng failed to notice the fine tendrils emerging from the frames, darting swiftly into the flesh around his eyes.

As the tendrils absorbed a trace of blood, a few red characters flashed across the lenses: "Confirmation complete. Curse immunity."

The words flickered and disappeared.

Chen Sheng noticed nothing. In his vision, vast, dazzling nebulae had appeared.

The star clouds spun, forming a vortex that seemed to draw him in.

The sensation felt utterly real.

He could even feel a tightness, his clothes pressed close against his skin. He couldn’t help but marvel again.

This technology was truly revolutionary!

Then, he found himself in a simple wooden cabin.

Standing before him was a broad-shouldered, muscular woman, her physique deeply imposing. The woman exuded a coarse, wild energy that gave Chen Sheng pause.

It was the first time he’d seen such a figure as a "beginner’s guide."

Sure enough, the woman spoke with open impatience, voicing what Chen Sheng had already guessed: "New here?"

"Yes," Chen Sheng nodded in response.

Her attitude was poor, but who in their right mind would argue with an NPC?

This healing game certainly had a unique style.

Seeing his calm, unruffled reply, without the slightest hint of dissatisfaction at her attitude, the woman hesitated for a moment.

She scrutinized Chen Sheng, then said, "According to the rules, go outside and pick one item for yourself."

She glanced at him once more, as if debating something, and then added, "I’ll give you a tip: this time, the item is related to time."

"Thank you," Chen Sheng replied politely, and headed out the door.

He discovered that the area surrounding the cabin was not at all desolate.

Before him stood rows of neatly arranged, black-and-white square courtyards, like assembled building blocks stretching into the distance.

Chen Sheng withdrew his gaze, looking around.

He found it odd.

There was no sign of life—no voices, no sounds but the wind, as if no one lived here at all.

But he quickly dismissed the thought.

"Time to look for the item."

He’d received a quest from the "beginner’s guide." The sooner he completed it, the sooner he could move on to the next stage. And without completing quests, how could he level up?

So far, not even a "LV0" had appeared above his head, but Chen Sheng strongly suspected he was indeed level zero.

"Since the hint mentioned something about time, the task likely involves how long it takes to find the item. While many dislike short durations, in this case, the shorter the better."

He analyzed the task as he walked and searched.

Yet, the streets here were spotless, lined only with those black-and-white square houses—no shops, nothing else.

"Am I supposed to climb over a wall?" His gaze shifted to the high black-and-white walls nearby.

They were tall.

But not insurmountable.

Just as Chen Sheng was about to climb, a sudden chill swept through. He heard footsteps and instinctively turned.

There he saw a woman in a gray robe, her hair wild and windswept over her face, obscuring her features.

Chen Sheng’s eyes lit up.

But not because of the woman herself; rather, it was what she held in her hand.

Three dull wooden sticks formed a frame, with a hemp rope tied into a loop.

It was unmistakably a gallows.