Ah'Ming opened his eyes to sand.
A lot of sand.
Hot, gritty sand that immediately got into his mouth because apparently he'd spawned face-down.
"Ugh—ptuh—what the—"
He pushed himself up, spitting sand, blinking against harsh sunlight that felt too bright and too still.
Beach. He was on a beach. Weird instance, but okay.
{Ming'Bao!!!!!!}
{SOLO SPAWN? RIP}
{C-rank but he's only D-rank player??? system trying to kill him fr}
{My man spawned like a GTA ragdoll}
Countless live barrage comments sprawled across his vision, making Ah'Ming blink. He'd finally been able to figure out how to see comments, thanks to the help of both Aliya and the system. He waved at the air, spawning countless more hyper reactions.
Before long, Ah'Ming grew out of his social anxiety, and turned back to examine the beach. It was a pretty damn nice beach, with blue water and pale white sand.
But something was wrong.
The air was too quiet. No sound of seagulls. No waves crashing. No winds either.
Ah'Ming stood slowly, brushing sand from his clothes, and looked around.
The beach stretched in both directions, pristine white sand meeting water that was...
He stared.
The ocean was still. Perfectly, impossibly still. No waves at all, not a single ripple. It was like someone had poured liquid glass and forgotten to make it move. The surface was mirror-flat, reflecting the pale sky without a single ripple.
"That's not right," Ah'Ming muttered.
He walked closer to the water's edge. He wrinkled his nose.
No smell. Ocean water was supposed to smell like salt and seaweed and usually of life. This smelled like nothing. Like the absence of smell.
He crouched down and grabbed a handful of sand, tossing it into the water.
The sand sank straight down to the perceived bottom (since it was dark enough that you couldn't really see the bottom). No splash. No ripples. Just gone. Like it fell into the backrooms or something.
Like the water had swallowed it up.
"Okay," Ah'Ming said to the empty beach. "This is officially creepy."
|System agrees
|This instance has usual environmental parameters. Most instances use psychological fear as an intimidation tactic.
"You think?"
Movement caught his eye.
Down the beach, maybe fifty meters away, was wreckage.
A helicopter. More like what was left of a helicopter. The frame was twisted, blackened by fire, half-buried in sand. The rotors were bent at impossible angles. It looked like a very sad skeleton.
And scattered around it were supplies. Boxes, crates, equipment.
All rummaged through, though. All opened and emptied, which wasn't very good for him.
Ah'Ming approached cautiously, antennae twitching, trying to sense anything. But there was no vibration in the air. No heartbeats. No breathing. Just eerie, suffocating silence.
The helicopter's door hung open. Inside, the seats were empty. No bodies. No blood. Just empty seats and scattered papers.
The supply crates nearby had been thoroughly looted. Medical supplies scattered and useless. Water bottles punctured. Food containers empty.
"Someone's been here," Ah'Ming said quietly.
|Correct
|Recent disturbance detected in sand patterns
He looked down.
Footprints.
Multiple sets, leading away from the helicopter, across the beach, toward—
A forest.
Or, what looked like a forest.
Trees rose beyond the beach, but they were wrong too. The leaves didn't move. The branches were too still. Even from here, Ah'Ming could see how brittle everything looked, like the whole forest was dried out, dead, waiting.
The footprints led straight into it.
"Of course they do," Ah'Ming sighed. "Of course the creepy footprints lead into the creepy forest."
|System suggests broadcaster investigate
|This appears to be the main scenario trigger
"Can't I just... stay on the beach?"
|No
"Worth asking."
Ah'Ming followed the footprints.
The sand gave way to rough grass that crunched under his feet like it hadn't seen water in years. The temperature dropped as he entered the tree line... not gradually, but suddenly, like walking through a temperature barrier.
And the silence got worse.
No birds. No insects. No rustling leaves.
His antennae twitched frantically, searching for vibrations in the air.
Nothing.
The only movement he could detect was the slight swaying of grass and brittle tree branches—but even that felt wrong. Like it was moving on its own, not from any wind.
Because there was no wind.
The footprints continued deeper into the forest.
Ah'Ming's claws extended unconsciously, his body preparing for threats his conscious mind hadn't identified yet.
"Steve, this is really unsettling."
|Agreed
|Broadcaster should remain on high alert
|Environmental anomalies indicate potential reality distortion
"In English?"
|This place is wrong
|Be careful
That's when the system panel expanded:
|INSTANCE ASSIGNMENT: RECEIVED
|INSTANCE TYPE: Investigation/Survival
|INSTANCE RANK: C
|SCENARIO BRIEFING:
|You are Detective Ah'Ming, part of a private investigation team hired to locate a missing exploration group. The original team was sent to investigate unusual readings from this island six weeks ago. They stopped reporting two weeks into their mission.
|Your team was sent to find them.
|Something went wrong.
|MAIN OBJECTIVE: Discover what happened to the original exploration team
|SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: Survive
|OPTIONAL OBJECTIVE: Uncover the island's secrets
|WARNING: This instance features environmental hazards, reality distortion, and hostile entities
|WARNING: Communication with other team members may be difficult
|WARNING: Not everything is as it appears
|Good luck, Detective!
The panel faded.
Ah'Ming stood very still in the silent forest.
"Steve?"
|Yes?
"Where's my team?"
|...Unknown
|Broadcaster appears to have spawned separated from party members
"So I'm alone."
|For now
"In a creepy forest."
|Yes
"With hostile entities."
|Presumably
"And reality distortion."
|Confirmed
Ah'Ming looked at the footprints leading deeper into the dead forest.
Looked back at the beach with its impossible water.
Looked at his hands, where claws were already starting to emerge.
"You know what? Fine."
He pulled out a fidget cube from his inventory and started clicking it anxiously.
"Let's go find some missing explorers."
|System appreciates broadcaster's courage
"I'm not courageous. I'm just too committed to finishing things I start."
|Same thing
"Really not."
He followed the footprints deeper into the forest, fidget cube clicking steadily, claws ready, every sense screaming that something was watching.