"At around midnight on February 22, a shooting incident occurred in Nancheng District of our city. An 18-year-old high school student was shot in the chest and died. The case is still under investigation..."

The news was broadcast on the screen of the fast food restaurant. A girl in school uniform stopped holding her chopsticks and turned to her classmates: "The person who was shot and killed the night before yesterday was the very good-looking senior Qi Qiu from our school who wore glasses, right?

"

The classmate nodded: "Yeah, what a pity..."

"Speaking of which, my father took over this case." She added.

"Has the murderer not been found?"

"Well, it is said that the nearby surveillance cameras happened to be broken, and because of the heavy snow that day, the power in the general hospital area was paralyzed, and the nearby shops were also closed. It was dark and there were no witnesses."

"And... I heard that the scene was quite weird."

"Weird? How do you say it?"

The classmate lowered his voice and came over: "After being shot, the senior died on the spot. The strange thing is that there was a intact birthday cake next to his body. It was really neatly arranged, and there was no cream decoration on the cake.

If we bump into each other, would you say we penetrated someone?"

The other party made a low "Ah" sound, shuddered and tried to explain: "Could it be that the senior bought this by himself that night?"

"But even if the senior bought it himself, the bullet penetrated the heart with such force, the cake was not only unscathed, but was also placed next to the body, how can it be justified?"

"Yes, something is not quite right."

"The murderer is too perverted."

Next, uncomfortable news such as "The criminal who killed his wife and fed her body to fish in Xuncheng was shot", "A major suspect has been arrested in the case of hiding the body in Liangshan urinals", etc. were broadcast one after another. The two girls became more and more satisfied with the lunch.

Silent, I quickly lost my appetite.

Recently, everyone has the same feeling. The world seems to be getting crazier and crazier, and criminal activities are becoming more and more frequent.

Criminals are unscrupulous and everything is heading towards collapse and disorder.

"It's so scary. If this continues, I won't dare to go out."

"Yes, this world is too perverted..."

While they were talking, heavy snow began to fall outside the fast food restaurant.

*

[Unfortunately, the system has detected that you have entered a death state]

The sound of inorganic matter sounded in the void, and Qi Qiu's consciousness gradually awakened.

"Death state?" Qi Jiu, who had just woken up, was a little confused.

【Yes】

[Cause of death: fatal shooting]

The dull pain from being shot through his chest was still there, but Qi Chu could no longer feel his heartbeat.

Not long ago, something seemed to have penetrated his heart.

heart……

He touched his heart that had stopped beating, and his face suddenly froze.

——Qi Jiu finally remembered.

On the evening of February 21st, it snowed heavily after nightfall.

He walked out of the convenience store carrying the cake. It was late at night and the last train had stopped early, so he had no choice but to walk along the dark street toward the apartment.

Until he reached the makeshift traffic light intersection, several young people returning from a party stood across the road, their drunken revelry breaking the silence of the snowy night.

At that time Qi Gu looked at the time, 11:57.

The reason why he remembered it so clearly was because he would celebrate his eighteenth birthday in three minutes.

——"Qi Ku."

At this moment, he suddenly heard someone calling his name from behind.

Qi Jiu turned around suddenly.

But it was quiet behind him, and there was nothing but the snow-covered streets.

Who is calling him?

Qi Jiu was stunned for a few seconds, and when he came to his senses again, he noticed a figure on the other side of the zebra crossing.

The man was wrapped in a black trench coat, with his hands in his pockets. He looked out of place among the partying youths chattering around.

The brim of his hat was hung very low. In the night with only snow light, Qi Jiu couldn't see the other person's face clearly.

But Qi Jiu was inexplicably concerned.

The red light goes out and the green light comes on.

The man was walking among the young people at the party, walking towards Qi Qiu.

The other person was about the same height and build as him, his face was covered tightly by a mask, and his hands were always in his pockets.

The distance between the two is getting closer and closer.

When the man passed by, Qi Qiu lowered his gaze and noticed that there were some short silver-gray hairs stuck to the other party's cuffs.

Like a silver-gray cat left behind.

Qi Qiu's gaze only stayed for half a second, but in the next moment, a hard object pressed against his back without warning——

"Don't make a sound, don't look back."

The voice modified by the voice changer rang softly in his ears, and Qi Qiu subconsciously stopped all movements.

By this time, the partying youths had gone away, leaving only two people standing in the middle of the road.

The road was quiet late at night, and the snow swallowed up all sounds.

Even breathing stopped.

The sound of bullets being loaded was particularly harsh.

Qi Jiu soon realized that a loaded gun was pointed at his heart.

His eyes widened in disbelief, but before he could make a sound, his mouth was tightly covered by the other person, and his throat could only slide up and down ineffectively.

Qi Jiu froze on the spot, his heart beating wildly, and his body was strangely unable to move at this moment.

It was as if the muscles of his limbs were not under his control and he was unable to struggle and resist.

Through his gloves, Qi Qiu couldn't feel the other person's temperature, only the chilling breath coming from behind.

"Qi Jiu, try to survive——"

The other person knows his name.

"I believe you can do it."

The moment the voice fell, the other party pressed the trigger, and the bullet came out of the gun equipped with a silencer, instantly piercing Qi Qiu's heart.

Everything happened in just tens of seconds, and Qi Ku didn't even have time to mentally prepare for death.

He also couldn't understand——

Why did the man shoot him while telling him to try to survive?

When Qi Gu lost consciousness, the clock was pointing to 24 o'clock.

His eighteenth birthday is coming.

Death is not as painful as the legend says, or in other words, the other party's shot was too fatal and he lost consciousness before he felt the pain.

--who is he?

"Who is he?" Qi Jiu suddenly came back to his senses from his memories and asked the voice talking to him in the void, "Who is my murderer?"

[Sorry, the system cannot answer your question]

[Although you have died, you have been selected by the "Rules Illustrated Book" system and have the opportunity to regain your life through the dungeon]

[Are you willing to accept the next challenge? Yes/No]

Qi Jiu was in a daze for only half a minute. Soon, he figured out what happened, tried to accept this absurd situation, and found a way out for himself.

He frowned and thought quickly, and suddenly came up with a guess——

"Are only those who are killed eligible to enter the "Rules Illustrated Book"?" he asked immediately.

[Being killed is just a formality. The system randomly invites some dead people to enter the "Rules Illustrated Book" to complete levels and earn life points] System correction.

Qi Jiu has obtained the answer he wanted.

The murderer knew his name, so he was not a random murderer with an antisocial personality.

When the murderer put a gun against his back, he told him to "try to survive"...

The most likely possibility is that the murderer knew that he would be selected by the "Rules Illustrated Book" and deliberately arranged this death to allow him to enter the system.

——But who is the murderer? And why do you know that he will be chosen?

"I do." Qi Qiu said firmly.

He needs to know the truth, he needs to know who his murderer is and what his purpose is.

[The world of "Rules Illustrated Book" will open in three seconds...]

Qi Jiu moved his nose. As time passed, the air became moist, and an indescribable fishy smell spread around.

It smells like a polluted sea, the smell of fish that has been piled up for too long and has begun to rot.

[Welcome to the "Rules Illustrated Book", congratulations on becoming a member of the Death Travelers]

[The Death Traveler needs to earn survival coins in the dungeon, and the number of survival coins will directly determine the length of life after resurrection]

[Please note: While the dungeon is in progress, the rest time after clearing the dungeon also requires the consumption of survival coins]

In other words, he not only needs to earn survival coins for resurrection in the real world, but also needs enough survival coins to clear levels in the dungeon.

[Survival coins are also used for the transaction of all items and props]

Qi Jiu: "So, survival coins are the only currency in the "Rule Manual"?"

【Your understanding is correct】

[World script loading...]

The smell of the sea was getting stronger and stronger. Qi Jiu, who was in the darkness, even had the illusion that countless algae were spreading and growing wildly in the humid air, and the sticky fishy smell invaded his nasal cavity bit by bit.

"The Bates Canning Factory was built during the war. It has a long history and the most unique corporate culture. It was once the brightest pearl on the Kale coastline. After a hundred years after the war, canned food gradually disappeared from people's dining tables, and the Bates Canning Factory has

Losing its former glory, the factory is facing a crisis of bankruptcy. With the advent of a new can, the Bates Canning Factory was reborn amidst the wave of closures, but various bizarre events also followed... You are a new employee of Bates

Stranger in the cannery."

[Main mission: abide by the rules, explore the rules, and survive as a stranger in the Bates Cannery for seven days]

[Side mission: The side mission of this copy will be unlocked as the traveler explores, so stay tuned]

[Note! Strangers cannot attack the indigenous people in this dungeon, otherwise they will be deemed to have violated the dungeon rules and be eliminated]

After understanding the background of the dungeon and the main mission, Qi Ku was a little worried.

Survive seven days in a factory—it doesn’t sound too difficult.

Travelers only need to strictly abide by the survival rules of the dungeon, find hidden death rules and effectively avoid them, in order to survive the dungeon.

But Qi Ku has not forgotten the survival principle of the "Rule Manual" - the number of survival coins determines everything.

Regardless of the various inevitable crises, surviving for seven days requires at least 168 survival coins.

This is difficult for newcomers.

[The system will evaluate your personal ability to reasonably allocate the initial start-up funds] The system seemed to have guessed his concerns and explained.

[The loading of initial startup funds is completed, please check]

Qi Qiu's eyes were instantly attracted by the eye-catching red letters on the interface——

【Death Traveler: Qi Ku】

[Initial survival coins: 0; Newbie bonus coins obtained after system evaluation: 1; Total survival coins: 1]

【Death countdown:01:00:00】

Qi Jiu: "..."

He only has one hour of starting health.

[Please note! The survival coins earned in the copy must be withdrawn before they can be used]

[The current dungeon can only withdraw survival coins once a day, and the withdrawal will be at 12:00 midnight!]

[Withdrawal countdown: 16:00:00]

Qi Gu:???

Isn't it...?
Chapter completed!