Killing Gods - Chapter 1: Blind Box Lottery?! This is possible?!

The sky was dark, low-hanging, churning clouds billowing across the horizon, their oppressive weight undiminished by the biting wind.

On the cliff edge, the slender figure of a young man swayed. As his opponent drew a pistol and closed in, he made a "fire" gesture before calmly taking a half-step back, then gently plummeted backward.

"Xie He—!" someone cried out his name in a heart-wrenching voice.

The wind howled in his ears, and the sea below the cliff burst open with a deafening roar, the surging water carrying the young man rapidly downward. The scent of seaweed and coral filled his nostrils.

Pale fingertips traced an arc of foam in the deep sea, the shimmering bubbles rising like silver threads pulling a puppet. The young man's eyelashes were lightly closed, his hair, soaked in seawater, darkened to an even more inky black, the damp ends brushing against the beauty mark at the corner of his eye.

He slowly sank, deeper and deeper. His eardrums and respiratory tract were filled with the salty seawater. The water pressure made his whole body ache, and his eardrums emitted a deafening roar. The seawater was enough to drown him.

His pure white clothes were billowing in the water, revealing a slender waist.

Silent incantations quickly appeared on his side, etching flowing, dripping runes.

That was the mark to seal away evil ghosts.

Behind him lay a deathly still darkness. His face, however, showed no fear; instead, a strange smile played on his lips.

***

The next second.

His pupils snapped open, the fleeting red glint in his eyes quickly vanishing into the deathly black.

A rush of oxygen flooded his lungs, causing Xie He to cough uncontrollably.

He seemed to have lost parts of his memory.

He still remembered his name, Xie He, 19 years old, an ordinary freshman who had just started summer vacation.

His memory had been severed since the start of summer vacation. He'd experienced this before, suddenly losing a period of time, his life's memories incomplete.

A mechanical voice sounded in his ear, as if blowing cold air on his neck:

[Welcome to the card-drawing game world. You will face the first level: "The Evil Ghost and His Blind Box Dolls." The game has a total score of 300 points, and your initial score is 0. The game is streamed live, and you gain 1 point for every 100 viewers you gain. Note: When you reach 6666 points, you can have a wish granted.]

[Please set your wish first. We have detected that your original body is very weak. Do you wish to choose to be resurrected?]

Xie He's eyes were dark. He didn't care about this topic and instead asked, "Is your game fun? Exciting? Will people die?"

[Fun. Exciting. Yes.]

Xie He remained listless until he heard the last sentence, at which point he raised his head and gave a slight smile. "How many points can I get if I clear all levels with the highest score and receive the maximum number of viewers?"

[Assuming 90% viewer attention per game, it's 2400 points.]

"I won't choose a wish yet, let's start. Mainly because I think I'll have a lot of points, enough to make at least three wishes, and my wishes are all quite difficult to fulfill."

Xie He scratched his brow, lazily dragging out his words, "I feel like I'm bullying you guys a bit."

System: "..."

The system voice continued:

[Game officially started. Plot transmission: Every night, an evil ghost will come and steal a blind box doll. He only wants to draw the most beautiful hidden blind box; if he draws the wrong one, he will eat the wrong doll. Each blind box only offers one chance to participate in the draw, so please cherish it.]

[Mission Objective: Understand the truth within six days; find the evil ghost's corpse; and eliminate the real evil ghost. Successfully completing the mission while ensuring your own survival will allow you to clear the level.]

[Dungeon Difficulty: One star ☆ (Easy Mode)]

[The following is the card-drawing phase for all players. Cards include skill cards, fighting cards, equipment cards, etc. The game cannot be stopped once it starts. If no card is drawn within 30 seconds, the player will be considered to have automatically forfeited their card-drawing opportunity.]

Xie He looked at the numerous cards that suddenly appeared before him, casually tapped one, and his expression strangely changed as the card fell onto his fingertips.

[Congratulations on winning: R-level card - Meal Card]

[Use: Conjure up the food you want.]

Xie He: "..."

In the game lobby, the viewers watching the live stream saw this scene as soon as they entered, and quickly typed on their keyboards, mocking:

[Hilarious! Is this guy some kind of unlucky card puller? Everyone else is getting invisibility cards, super strength cards... This guy's luck is just too bad! What can he do with a meal card? Is he trying to turn himself into a meatball to fill the demon's teeth?]

[?? Meal card? Does such a card really exist? Why have I never heard of it?]

[Let me explain to the person above. The system distributes cards to provide convenience for players. Out of tens of thousands of cards, there are only seven useless R-rank cards. It's not easy for him to draw one of those few R-rank cards out of tens of thousands of SSR cards; it's like finding a black ball in a box of white balls!]

[I regret choosing this game instance. There are too many newbies and the players are too bad; it's not fun. Usually, in this situation, everyone is wiped out.]

Xie He, however, held the meal card, his tone nonchalant, a slight smirk playing on his lips: "It's not like it can't be used."

After putting the card away, Xie He felt a sudden heaviness in his body, as if he had been pulled out of a sealed membrane and then gained substance.

"Ha...!" He couldn't help but hunch over abruptly, a sharp pain shooting through his stomach.

While talking to the system, he had no awareness of his surroundings. Now, his senses had returned, and he could feel the darkness and cold around him.

Xie He casually clutched his clothes, but the fabric underneath felt empty. His knuckles pressed against his stomach, and the joints in his back bulged, making him feel like he'd seen a ghost. He was incredibly hungry, extremely hungry.

His stomach churned with acid, a sharp, stabbing pain like being pricked by needles. He pressed his beautiful knuckles hard several times before he could barely straighten up and look around.

He found himself in a cramped, enclosed square box. The bottom of the box was swaying, presumably a blind box hanging in the air. It was pitch black inside, with only a pungent, musty smell emanating from it.

He couldn't see outside, but according to the game rules, there would be individual blind boxes hanging in the room, and all the players were trapped inside different boxes, like exhibits, waiting to be drawn by the evil ghost.

The surroundings were noisy and filled with a cacophony of sounds; everything was eerie and unknown, the air chillingly cold as if it were on a low-temperature air conditioner.

The players inside the blind boxes were screaming in despair, frantically pounding on them in a riot: "Let me out! Don't fucking play this joke on me!!"

"Aaaaaah, there's blood in here!"

"Who? Who tapped me on the shoulder! Come out!"

A voice trembled with fear, barely audible, "...Is there anyone in this box?"

"Help, help me!!!"

Xie He touched the inside of the box, searching for clues, but after searching everywhere, he found no exit. Even the top of the box was sealed shut, leaving his hands covered in a sticky substance.

His fingertips touched something cold and slippery, like freshly peeled human skin; he could even feel the texture and the pores breathing.

The viscous liquid made a gurgling sound, as if it were about to devour him.

A countdown clock chimed outside the blind box.

Tick-tock, tick-tock—

The seconds continued to tick, time seemingly stretched out infinitely.

It felt like some dangerous monster was about to approach.

Tick-tock, tick-tock—

A powerful sense of oppression swept over them. The players seemed to realize something, a chill ran down their spines, and their voices grew softer and softer, leaving only their dark eyes bulging in the darkness.

The countdown clock rang clearly in their ears.

The blind box seemed to have a life of its own, emitting a low, expectant, heavy breathing sound, faster and faster.

An unknown fear hung in everyone's hearts. What would the end of the countdown... be?! What would they face when the clock struck midnight?

Everyone secretly held their breath, their hearts trembling, their nerves on edge, their bodies convulsing and shaking, barely daring to breathe, even their legs felt weak, and they dared not even approach the inner wall of the blind box.

The comments on the screen were also trembling:

[!!! So creepy!]

[Help, why are there so few comments? I'm scared zzzzz]

[Ahhhhh, so tense, it feels so eerie, I can't help but cover my eyes to watch.]

Amidst the ticking of the clock, Xie He pressed his stomach, which was throbbing with hunger, and casually sat down, glancing absently at the darkness ahead, yet a strange anticipation rose within him. He thumped his rumbling stomach a few times, squeezed his meal card, made a shushing gesture at it, lowered his voice, and chuckled, "My dear little meal card, how about a cup of instant noodles?"

He raised an eyebrow, as if he could actually talk to the meal card, his tone completely serious, ignoring the fact that the card was just a lifeless object. An eerie feeling permeated the dark box.

Suddenly, the clock hands clicked sharply, and the hoarse, miserable cry of the cuckoo burst out.

The countdown was over.

The temperature was extremely low, chillingly cold. A strong, pungent stench of blood and decay filled the air, as if something sinister was approaching.

The panting sounds from inside the blind box abruptly ceased, replaced by a deathly silence.

The players' legs were numb, unable to move, their bloodshot eyes staring wide-eyed in fear in the darkness, cold sweat beading on their foreheads.

It's coming, isn't it? What...what is it?!

Don't come any closer! Don't come any closer!!

At this moment, the strings in their hearts reached their highest breaking point, stretched to their limit. Time seemed to stand still.

In the deathly silence of darkness...

Came the slurping sound of someone eating instant noodles.

Xie He was inside his blind box, happily eating his noodles, the rising steam gradually enveloping him. Tiny droplets of water mist clung to his dark eyelashes.

[????????????]

[Wait? He's leisurely eating instant noodles during such a tense time? Amazing!!]

[Holy crap? What kind of mentality does this newbie have?]

[Such a handsome young man… I want to lick the glistening water droplets off his eyelashes.]

"Tap, tap." Footsteps approached from the unknown darkness.

Then, an aged voice rang out, its tone neither too loud nor too soft: "Master, time's up. Please begin opening the blind boxes."

The voice was extremely hoarse, as if it had no throat and was speaking through its trachea.

Opening blind boxes?!

The players immediately noticed this.

The rules state that every night, an evil ghost will come and steal a blind box doll. He only wants to draw the most beautiful hidden box; if he draws the wrong one, he will eat the incorrect doll.

Drawing blind boxes.

Then, drawing the wrong one… and being eaten by the evil ghost?

The most beautiful hidden box…who even knows what the most beautiful hidden box is!

The evening temperature dropped rapidly, and the cramped space was filled with the faint, gurgling sounds of other players trying to suppress their noise.

“Giggle…giggle…”

Don’t draw me, don’t draw me…

The ghost seemed pleased with their fear.

In the dead silence, a thin, shrill laugh suddenly rang out.

The laughter was laced with excitement, sinister and chilling.

Like a sharp dagger, it pierced the eardrums.

An indescribable atmosphere of fear pressed down on everyone.

The players, trembling with fear, covered their ears, cowering inside their boxes, beads of sweat trickling down their cheeks, too afraid to wipe them away. Their hearts pounded, as if they would burst from their chests!

Only one blind box was calm...

Steaming hot, fragrant steam.

A young man sat lazily on the floor inside the box, eating instant noodles. He'd been eating for a while, like someone who'd just finished a sleepless night enjoying a hot late-night snack.

In the dim light, the dark circles under his eyes, including the pretty light mole at the corner of his eye, were visible.

He casually rubbed his stomach with his hand, the sharp hunger finally subsiding somewhat.

The eerie laughter paused for a few seconds, then transformed into a shrill voice: "Butler, I want the blind box hanging the highest!"

The words had barely left his lips when Xie He's vision suddenly brightened.

He looked up and saw his blind box suddenly emitting a dazzling white light, so bright it was almost blinding, like a flashlight had been turned on!

Xie He, chewing on his instant noodle spoon, squinted his eyes: "..."

So, the blind box hanging the highest was his.

[LOL, this newbie arrived just in time. Free kill.]

[Hahaha, I'm dying of laughter. Eating instant noodles to show off, was that supposed to be impressive? Never even played the game and still trying to act cool, serves him right for being chosen!]

[Waiting to see how this newbie dies, hehe.]

A creaking sound came from outside the blind box.

Xie He, chewing on his instant noodle spoon, stared intently in the direction of the sound, thinking that perhaps someone's feet were stepping on an old ladder, slowly climbing up, about to open his blind box!

Judging from the sound, it was within 3 meters of his blind box.

A dark, ghostly aura seeped into the blind box, dimming its light and turning it eerily dark.

The entire blind box trembled and shook mournfully, emitting a weak, ethereal sound. A chilling, persistent groan echoed in the air, like a wandering ghost, repeating itself over and over.

"Squeak, squeak—"

The things outside continued climbing the ladder.

Xie He, clutching his Meal Card, casually asked for a can of Wang Wang milk.

His skin was pale, his dark pupils devoid of light, concealing a sense of world-weariness.

Distance: 1 meter.

Xie He used his meal card to get a bag of potato chips and started eating.

[Still eating??? What is he thinking?]

[I don't want to watch anymore. Cowardly good-for-nothings and a handsome guy who only knows how to eat.]

0.5 meters.

The candlelight cast a massive shadow on the box, a colossal shadow that engulfed Xie He inch by inch, carrying a heavy, oppressive atmosphere.

0.2m!

Xie He's Adam's apple bobbed as he finished the last sip of his Wang Wang milk.

He leaned casually against the blind box, his left hand resting loosely on his knee, his slender fingers leisurely swaying the empty can.

His other hand calmly squeezed his Meal Card, his tone languid as he spoke at it, "Little Meal Card, give me another 50 jin of food."

The Meal Card traced a silent, bright arc.

Outside the blind box, the strange creaking sound stopped.

0m!

The butler climbed to the top of the ladder.

The candle wick trembled in the cold wind, and a pair of rusty scissors slowly opened in the firelight, about to cut the ribbon at the top of the blind box!

"Thump, thump..."

A pile of colorful snacks suddenly appeared inside the blind box. They piled up inside, causing the entire box to shake.

Then, overloaded, the box sank sharply downwards.

The overloaded box wobbled, then crashed to the ground with a thud, kicking up a cloud of acrid dust.

It landed firmly on the ground.

It became the lowest-hanging blind box.

In an instant, it went from highest to lowest. The light outside the box flickered conspicuously twice with a "sizzle," then went out!

Out of sight!!!

The old butler stood on the ladder, watching the blind box fall to the ground unharmed, dumbfounded.

Outside the blind box, the evil ghost stood frozen in shock.

The live chat exploded: [!!!]

[This actually works?!]

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