The monster knocked over a row of shelves, then stopped moving.

Lin Xia suddenly turned around, swinging the metal rod with a whooshing sound towards the monster that had torn open his stomach, hitting the monster right on the shoulder.

The sound of bones cracking was clear, the monster let out a shrill scream, but its claws still clung tightly to his torn open belly.

The injury thoroughly ignited the ferociousness in Lin Xia's heart. He roared, using all his strength to lift the metal rod for another heavy blow, smashing it onto the monster's head.

Once, twice, three times... under the continuous beatings, the monster finally stopped moving.

The sound of bones breaking continued, the monster's skull caved in, and its body went limp and fell, with black liquid seeping from its ears and nose.

Huff~ Huff~ Huff~

The store returned to silence, with only Lin Xia's heavy breathing and the sound of black liquid dripping from the metal rod onto the ground.

His abdomen and shoulders were covered in scars, dark red blood mixed with the monster's black blood slowly flowed down his skin.

He wiped the blood off his face and looked at the metal rod in his hand, which was now half bent.

Bang!

Dropping the metal rod to the ground, Lin Xia held his claw-torn lower left abdomen and slid down against the wall.

He looked up at the monster corpses, their bodies were shrinking at a visibly rapid pace, with the lines on the skin slowly disappearing, eventually returning to their original appearance.

Their faces were pale as paper, with no breaths left.

Leaning against the wall, Lin Xia gasped for air, grateful to have survived the ordeal.

Everything that had just happened felt like a nightmare, but the three cold bodies on the ground reminded him that it all really happened.

He had killed someone!

His first thought was how to explain it, and his gaze instinctively swept towards the surveillance device on the ceiling.

After regaining some physical strength, he struggled to stand up against the wall, intending to check the surveillance footage.

This was his proof of innocence.

The act was self-defense, by no means murder.

But when he came to a stop in front of the cash register, he found that the blood-colored text on the computer screen was fading.

Soon after, a new line of text appeared:

[Newbie Trial Completed, Welcome to the Death Space!]

The lights above flickered again, and Lin Xia's world began to distort rapidly.

In a daze, Lin Xia shook his head vigorously, trying to clear his mind.

But when the blur in his vision faded, he was stunned.

What?!

He was surprised to find that the originally chaotic virtual room had returned to its original state.

Even the glass broken by the monster and the collapsed shelves were restored.

Was it really a dream?

The sudden change left Lin Xia at a loss.

He couldn't help but doubt that it was his own overexertion and watching too many conspiracy theories lately that led to this hallucination.

But when his gaze turned to the screen of the computer at the cash register, that line of blood-like text was still displayed there.

The text twisted at this moment, transforming into a spinning blood-colored vortex.

An irresistible suction emerged from the vortex, as if aiming to pull out his soul.

Slowly, his vision was consumed by darkness.

...

He didn't know how long it had been, but when Lin Xia woke and opened his eyes, he found the environment around him had changed.

The world before him seemed to be pieced together from fragments of his dream, lacking a unified color scheme, with stark differences between various areas.

Above, there was no sky, just a deep dark purple void, occasionally streaked by fleeting lights, leaving behind fleeting traces.

The ground was covered with countless irregular black slabs, with faint purple light seeping from between the slabs, as if some sort of energy was flowing underground.

In the area around him, towering pillars stood, covered in complex runes, and the air was filled with a faint purple mist, in which floating points of light could be faintly seen, like fireflies scattered by the wind.

Gazing towards the square ahead, there were many figures gathered around that square.

He was certain that they were all his kind.

But the appearance of these figures left Lin Xia's mind somewhat blank.

Some were clad in heavy armor, some in flowing robes, while others were shrouded in shadows, only their cold eyes visible.

Their weapons varied as well; some carried massive swords on their backs, others wielded magic wands, while some had daggers shining with a cold gleam at their waists.

Each face was tense, the expressions anxious, as though facing some unknown danger.

At the center of the Space Square stood a massive black stele, inscribed with countless names, with some blazing in gold while others dimmed, like memories on the verge of being forgotten.

Before the stele stood a figure in a black robe, their features obscured, voice low and hoarse:

"The transmission is about to begin, the living move forward, the dead are obliterated."

As the words of the black-robed figure fell, some figures in the square silently gathered before the stele, a sense of oppressive tension permeated the air.

Some spoke softly to each other, others checked their equipment in silence, while some closed their eyes to concentrate, as if in prayer.

Suddenly, the runes on the stele flared violently, and a dazzling beam of light descended, engulfing the gathered figures.

Their silhouettes gradually blurred within the light beam, eventually disappearing.

The bizarre scene before him reminded Lin Xia of the missing persons reported in the news.

If he guessed correctly, the companions in this scene were all "missing persons," himself included.

Despite the overwhelming sense of oppression, he suddenly remembered something.

The boss might also be here, maybe he could ask for his paycheck.

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