Years After the Nuclear Discharge: The Arrival of the Black Mist
[The Gongjiang government has announced it will begin discharging nuclear wastewater from its first power plant into the ocean on the 24th. Although five treatment options exist, Gongjiang insists ocean discharge is the only viable solution.]
[Officials claim that after treatment through the ALPS system, the water now meets safety standards. However, Gongjiang has yet to provide sufficient scientific evidence to prove the wastewater is harmless.]
[In response, the United Coalition has suspended all imports of seafood from Gongjiang.]
[Good evening, viewers. Tonight, we'll analyze ocean currents to track the spread of the wastewater and its potential impact on the human body…]
A pale hand held the remote, flipping channels every few minutes. The broadcasters changed, but the topic remained the same—nuclear wastewater.
In April of the year 3022, the Gongjiang government began dumping treated nuclear waste into the ocean.
Some protested. Some ignored it. Some feared this would be the end of the world. Most just continued their lives in numb routine...
Until the fog came.
But it wasn't fog.
It was black rain. Dense. Oily. Heavy.
The Nuclear Crisis Monitoring Bureau detected traces of carbon-14 and tritium within it.
Still, the Gongjiang government insisted the rain was harmless, claiming it would last no more than three days. As long as people avoided direct exposure, they said, it posed "almost zero" health risks.
Now it was Day Five.
Factories had shut down. Streets were empty. And yet the elderly and children were falling ill. Ambulances screamed through the streets all day long.
Chu Yian rose from her couch and walked to the bathroom to rinse her face with warm water.
The mirror reflected her fair skin, soft cheeks, and delicate features. A small red mole at the corner of her eye added charm to her already likable appearance.
Pretty face, terrible fashion.
She wore bright red thermal underwear beneath an oversized winter cotton suit—the kind only grandmas wore. Mask on, jacket zipped, gloves secure. She wrapped herself up completely before heading out.
She had no choice. Her food was gone.
At the building's entrance, she paused.
Through the glass door, the black mist outside had thickened. It wasn't just rain anymore—it moved like ink. Like something alive. Like a gaping maw.
She hesitated. An overwhelming, primal fear gripped her chest.
A faint buzzing sounded in her ears.
Tinnitus?
She tapped her ear and reached for the keypad.
Then—screams. From outside. Sharp, shrill, agonizing screams. Car horns. Screeching metal. Chaos.
What's happening?
Her hand froze. She backed away from the door, eyes wide. The mist had become thicker than ink now.
Suddenly—bang!
A bloody handprint slammed against the glass.
Chu Yian stumbled back.
"Help me!"
A man appeared on the other side of the door. His flesh was melting away in the black rain, revealing raw muscle and white bone. Within seconds, his body had dissolved into a puddle of blood and yellow bile.
Chu Yian gagged.
Forget shopping. She bolted upstairs and slammed the door shut. The screams outside didn't stop.
Her phone had no signal. The emergency line rang only a busy tone.
The agonized screams chilled her to the bone—like the gates of hell had opened outside her apartment.
She kept redialing the police—again and again—until the screams stopped.
Click.
The power went out.
Silence. Deep, suffocating silence. Her heartbeat filled the darkness.
Then came a synthetic voice, from everywhere and nowhere—
[Survival Game: Online]
[Three Core Rules:]
1. Decline the Game = Death
2. Fail the Game = Death
3. Touch the Black Mist = Death
[All rights of explanation reserved by the Game.]
A transparent blue screen appeared in front of her.
Shaking, Chu Yian picked up a pack of instant noodles and tossed it at the screen. It passed through—and the display changed.
[Beginner Trial loading... Global Newbie Reward Distribution in Progress.]
The screen vanished, replaced by a glowing wall of cards—tens of thousands, maybe millions, flipping and disappearing like a lottery for billions.
The sight made her dizzy.
She blinked, then picked one at random.
The card expanded, and the others disappeared.
[Congratulations, Player Chu Yian. You have obtained a Rare Ability: Treasure Chest]
[Description: A summonable chest usable in both real life and game worlds. Indestructible. Cannot be lost.]
[Function 1: Storage — Holds up to 1 cubic meter of items.]
[Function 2: Spontaneous Creation — Produces a random item. Usable in-game only. 3-day cooldown.]
The screen vanished. Pain flared in her palm. A small, golden cube—about the size of an earbud case—appeared in her hand.
It was heavy. Pure gold. Each side embedded with twelve multicolored gemstones. It looked expensive. Too expensive to be real.
"That's it?" she muttered.
The cube instantly expanded into a full cubic meter. It got so heavy it nearly broke her wrist.
After some experimenting, she figured it out. It had two forms: small and cubic. Either form could vanish into her palm with a touch and leave behind a glowing mark.
Super cool.
Before she could play with it further, the system voice returned:
[Draw Complete. Initiating Newbie Trial.]
[Trial: Road to Survival]
[Objective: Reach the Safe Zone within 5 Days]
[Starting Funds: 200 Credits]
[Starting Items: ID, Basic Clothes, Communication Device]
[Current Player Count: 6,103,455,781]
[WARNING: Only players who complete the game will be granted survival resources. Take this seriously.]
The world spun.
When her vision cleared, Chu Yian found herself in a shared dorm room—standard four-person layout with bunk beds and desks.
"Yian, you good? We're heading out."
"Huh?"
Three unfamiliar girls were waiting by the door. One of them, round-faced and cheerful, smiled and said, "Finals are over, remember? We said we'd celebrate with dinner! You look like you studied so hard you forgot everything."
Before she could reply, they pulled her out of the room, chatting away.
They boarded a sightseeing shuttle that drove them to the school's front gate.
"Where are we going?" Chu Yian asked.
"The mall!"
"I'll order a car then…"
As the others debated routes, Chu Yian quietly checked her pockets—two paper bills, each marked 100, a generic ID with her name, and an unlocked phone.
While waiting for the ride, she tried searching for "Survival Game," "Safe Zone," and other keywords.
Nothing useful.
Then the car arrived.
Chu Yian sat in the front seat, her mind still trapped in game mechanics and system prompts.
Until an ambulance raced past them, sirens screaming.
"That's the eighth one today," the driver muttered. "Weird…"