GHG Chapter 1: Siren Town

When Bail Liu wakes up, he finds himself sitting at the back of a car. The interior of the car is cramped, and the old seats are stained with the realistic scent of cigarettes. He can vaguely see the drizzle outside the windows as water droplets slide down them. It's hard to tell whether it was sunset or night through the dark sky. A faint scent of fish lingered in his nostrils, causing him discomfort.

In front of him was a floating panel written with the words - 【Game Instructions】.

What is this place? Why is he here? What even is this panel?

As if reading his thoughts, the answers showed up on the panel in the order of his questions.

【You are in a deadly game, and you are here because we detected that a strong desire for money exploded within you after you lost your job. Your desire was so strong that it fits the requirements to initiate the game.】

As the words on the panel appeared one by one, Bai Liu finally remembered.

Yes, that's right, he lost his job.

And he's a person that has an intense desire for money. He has loved money to a point that's not normal ever since he was a kid, even a therapist diagnosed him with money hoarding disorder, admonishing him that he will do something terrible for money.

When he had a job, Bai Liu thought that having a fixed income can control his desire for money slightly. Though when he lost his job, Bai Liu fell into a whirlpool of an uncontrollable craving to hoard money, he would do anything to fulfil that want. His therapist told him that it's normal for a low-wage worker to feel that way, saying that he should travel around the world to relax and fix the pacing of his life.

Bai Liu wanted to scoff. Without money, he could only experience hell when he travels alright?

Bai Liu asked his therapist sarcastically, "will I become rich if I went on a vacation?"

His therapist exclaimed, "of course not! You'll become poorer."

Bai Liu: "..." Aren't you really fucking clear that what would happen?

"But when you're poorer, you'll realise..." His therapist comforted him, "that it's okay to be poor, money is all just materialistic things, and there's no need to put yourself through pain over that."

Bai Liu asked his therapist rhetorically, "is it painful that you've met patients like me?"

Therapist: "..." It's painful.

Bai Liu let out a laugh, "what makes you put yourself through pain? Why don't you quit your job and go out for a walk?"

Therapist: "..." Because of money. Without money, he didn't dare leave.

The therapist then started sobbing.

After he made who knows how many therapists cry, Bai Liu clapped his hands with a sigh, being poor is really a good weapon against humanity. Only that it hurts him more than he hurt others.

Luckily this therapist is free, or Bai Liu will end up even more broke.

---

After Bai Liu lost his job, he sunk into great anxiety, there was no way of adjusting to it. Even in his dreams, he dreamt of himself becoming a billionaire in one night and sitting in piles of money while laughing as loudly as he wanted, only to wake up lonely and depressed, finding that the amount of money that was left in his bank account was five digits.

The anxieties that being unemployed caused battled in his mind. Bai Liu kept daydreaming - if only there is a more risky way to make money. He can throw away his life just for money!

He told his friend about his thoughts, his friend then comforted him by asking, do you see that book of law on the shelf?

Bai Liu said he sees them.

His friend said, just flip to a random page and what's written on it is a risky way to make money. If you work hard enough, you might be able to make as much money as you made last month.

Bai Liu: "..."

Bai Liu doesn't want to break the law, but aren't their ways to make some quick money without breaking the law?! His friend told him that it'd be faster if he dreams about it.

Even if it means endangering his life, he still wants money - that was the last thing on Bai Liu's mind before he passed out.

The flashbacks were over as Bai Liu stared at the floating panel in front of him.

Another sentence appeared on the panel, "that's right, it was your desire that initiated this game. If you successfully pass this game, you will be able to obtain whatever you want."

Bai Liu said without any hesitation, "I just want money."

Who cares what kinda game this is, he just wants to make money.

After a moment, Bai Liu asked, "this game of yours is legal right?"

The panel: 【...it's legal.】

The panel: 【you may receive points after you pass this game, and you can trade the points for money and whatever you want.】

Bai Liu: "what game is this? What do I need to do to pass a level and obtain the points that you mentioned?"

The panel: 【this is a survival horror game filled with monsters, serial killers, supernatural beings, etc. What you need to do is find their weaknesses, complete the game's story, and survive.】

【Loading into instance dungeon...loading complete.】

---

【Instance dungeon: 《Siren Town》】

【Level: level one (a game is classified as level one when the death rate of players is lower than 50%) 】

【Mode: single player】

【Summary: this game combined the elements of action and puzzle-solving, and it is very popular among players. However, it is not newcomers friendly, the death rate of newcomers is very high】

---

【Loading player information...loading complete--】

【Name of player: Bai Liu】

【Health: 100 (the player's attack will decrease after their health bar is lower than sixty; the player is dead if it turns into zero】

【Stamina: 80 (full of energy)】

【Dexterity: 25 (your limbs are very stiff due to sitting at the office all the time, you're not too swift)】

【Attack: 30 (as deadly as a high school girl throwing her schoolbag at someone)】

【Intelligence: 89 (you are surprisingly smart)】

【Luck: 0 (you've somehow been unlucky the moment that you've been born. If your company needs to fire someone, that person must be you)】

【Ability: none (you don't have any abilities yet)】

【Sanity: 100 (you are the first player that still has their sanity at a full bar after entering the game)】

There's a sentence in tiny red words beneath the sanity bar.

(P.S. Please make sure that the player's sanity bar is over sixty. The player's sanity bar being lower than sixty will cause damage to the player's mentality, which causes their stats to be cut in half; being lower than forty will cause the player to see hallucinations that do not belong to the game, making it harder to pass a game; being under twenty will cause the player to enter a psychotic state, the attack stats will increase drastically, killing any living creature; the player's sanity being zero will merge the player into the game, and the player will become one of the monsters in the dungeon）

【Final evaluation of the player's stats -- F tier player, the lowerest level. Due to the player's particular sanity and intelligence, the evaluation may change, now summarizing the player's level as -- F (?)】

When Bai Liu scans over the information on the panel and sees the question mark behind the F, he can't help but feel like he is being mocked. He swiped it to close it, but a new panel popped up.

【You have been logged into the new palyer's area of the screens (1/100), there is no one stopping to look at your screen at this moment. Player Bai Liu's popularity rate is 0, the investment rate is 0】

Bai Liu frowns at it, "what's this?"

Panel: 【Your gameplay will be displayed in the newcomers' section in the lobby for the other players to watch, but there is no one watching your gameplay for now, and no one has invested in your gameplay yet, you are currently a nobody】

Bai Liu is starting to understand that it's just what streamers do, but that doesn't matter, he is more focused on the investment rate, "if someone invests in me, I can get points right?"

Panel: 【Yes】

【The game is about to start. Good luck, newcomer】

The panel was like a television being turned off, flashing before disappearing before Bai Liu's eyes.

Somewhere in the lobby, a small screen suddenly lights up, showing Bai Liu's elegant features. There are a lot of other screens around Bai Liu's screens, showing various new players breaking down due to fear. Some of them are bawling while banging on the screen, seemingly failing to accept reality and trying to break out; some of them curl into a ball, not being able to face reality.

Bai Liu's blank expression makes him an abnormality out of all of the panicking new players.

Everyone looks up to look at the screen that suddenly lit up, discussing among themself with interest.

"There's a newbie again, I wonder how many days can he survive."

"Judging from the background, that dungeon should be Siren Town right?"

"These newbies are so unlucky, the death rate of Siren Town is really high. Wasn't there a time when a hundred new players logged in and only one survived?"

"The random dungeon distribution of dungeon for newbies kinda sucks. But watching these newbies being scared shitless is kinda funny..."

"Wow, you're too mean! Though these newbies' tears and snot are about to spill too..."

"Wait!" Suddenly, a player that is passing by moves closer to Bai Liu's screen as if he discovered something incredible. He examined Bai Liu's stats and exclaims in disbelief, "there's a new player that just logged in with a hundred sanity!"

"What?!"

"No way?! Get out of the way and let me see!"

"Jeez! Newbies these days are insane! A hundred sanity?!"

"The last time that someone logged in with a hundred sanity in one of the top tens."

"Holy shit, a seed with high potential! Let me see!"

Bai Liu's screen flickered, and a robotic voice reported:

【Fifty people gathered around Bai Liu's screen. Player Bai Liu has achieved the accomplishment of Newly Hatched Newbie, unlocking three functions all at once】

【 Twenty-eight people liked Bai Liu's video; fifty-six people added Bailiu's screen to their collections; no one has invested money in Bai Liu. Please keep up the good work, player Bai Liu】

......