“What’s going on…?”
Gao Yi snapped out of the darkness. When he reopened his eyes, he was no longer in the subway car from before.
Standing up, he rubbed his right arm, which was aching from overexertion, and began to observe his surroundings.
The first thing that caught his eye was a row of shelves, or more precisely, a row of shelves with items haphazardly and disorganizedly placed.
Half of them were hung with various fried snacks and sandwich cookies, while the other half were crammed with large bags of pet food.
Lifting his gaze, he saw identical shelves neatly arranged in rows, turning further in the distance and extending all the way to two cashier counters.
Through the gaps in the shelves, several figures could be seen, either leaning or standing, but none appeared to be shopping.
Although the lighting was somehow dim, he could tell from the text and signs on the walls that this was undoubtedly a small chain Supermarket.
It’s worth noting that the surrounding text was clearly not Chinese, yet Gao Yi could instinctively recognize and understand it.
And the chain Supermarket brand on the wall, named “Hui Rong Supermarket,” was also unheard of.
All signs indicated that this was no longer the Nankang City Gao Yi was familiar with—in fact, it was very likely no longer in the world Gao Yi was familiar with.
Suddenly, the light strip above his head emitted a “sizzling” sound, flickered twice, and then fully lit up, finally dispelling the unsettling darkness.
It was at this moment that a plump man in a light blue uniform ran out of a small side door, panting, and shouted with a smile into the Supermarket:
“Everyone, Manager Yamada here, I just started the backup power, everything’s fine now!”
His tone carried a clear hint of seeking praise, like a child showing off to his mother in the morning that he hadn’t wet the bed last night.
Unfortunately, for some reason, a sense of despair permeated the entire Supermarket, and clearly no one was in the mood to pay him any mind.
Taking advantage of the situation, Gao Yi also looked up to take in the layout of the entire Supermarket.
Although it was indeed a “chain,” the total area of the entire Supermarket was only three or four hundred square meters.
The goods on the shelves were not neatly arranged, the categorization was chaotic, and there were also some agricultural products in woven bags for sale, with handwritten white card labels.
The production dates on the goods surprisingly had a maximum difference of over a year, making it unclear how long they had been stored there.
All signs indicated that this was a small Supermarket far from the city center—if it could truly be called a Supermarket and not a grocery store.
But so far, these were all rather ordinary elements; an irresponsible Manager and untrained staff were hardly news.
However, on the other side, the tightly locked glass door, the scattered meat and bloodstains on the floor, and the customers with “seen a ghost” expressions were standard horror movie equipment.
Just as Gao Yi was wondering whether to approach someone to inquire about what had happened, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his wrist.
Turning his left hand, Gao Yi was startled to discover that a bizarre red tattoo had appeared on the skin of his wrist at some point.
It encircled his wrist like a bracelet, with some ominous-looking twisted characters written between two line segments, resembling some ancient cipher.
The stinging pain slowly subsided, and as Gao Yi frowned in thought, a light curtain projected from the inside of his wrist, appearing before his eyes.
【Player: Novice Player TC130】
【instance Name: Heart Demon Mist】
【Game Type: holy grail 5 (Solo)】
【Main Quest Triggered】
【I: Survive twelve hours in Hui Rong Supermarket】
【II: Escape the mist】
【III: ???】
【Main Quest Reward: One return ticket, a slight increase in player evolution rate, a small chance to obtain a random item, a high chance to obtain a random potion (rewards will vary based on the level of main quest completion)】
Following the instructions, he waved his hand to switch the light curtain, finding that the 【Attributes】 and 【Inventory】 options on the side could not be opened.
Clicking them only displayed 【Unlocked after completing the first game】.
The Supermarket maintained a fragile, restless calm, and Gao Yi took the opportunity to compare his memories with the current situation.
The black-clad madman he encountered on the subway must have been one of the players of this strange game.
His crazy ramblings, combined with what he was seeing now, could be roughly understood.
“Player,” “instance,” “holy grail,” “game.”
“So, I’ve replaced that person and entered this so-called instance as a ‘player’…” Gao Yi concluded.
Suddenly, he remembered something and began to focus his consciousness.
【Name: Gao Yi】
【Equipped Tags (2/2): Reporter Lv3 (Normal), Heartbroken Person Lv1 (Normal)】
【Tag Abilities: ① Night Walker: Higher probability of encountering various unexpected events and breaking news; ② Truth Above All: Randomly receive a confidential document weekly; ③ Ex-lover: Gain stronger empathy, able to comfort those in extreme emotional distress】
【Daily Tag Mission: Undercover investigation of a criminal group with over a hundred members, and obtain evidence of their crimes (Completed)】
【Unequipped Tags: Debtor Lv1 (Normal), Good Person Lv1 (Normal), Professional Internet Surfer Lv1 (Normal), Friend of Elderly Women Lv2 (Rare)】
【Possessed Traits: Deception (Normal), Act of Courage (Rare)】
【Remaining Normal Item Lottery Chances * 3】
【Synthesis Function Unlocked】
It was this Tag System that lured him into the game with rewards.
However, it now seemed that he was still judged to have completed the previous special mission, and the limit for equipped Tags had become two.
There were also three lottery chances, best to use them immediately…
But just as Gao Yi was still immersed in his new gains, the brief calm in the Supermarket was suddenly shattered.
Near the cashier counter and exit, a middle-aged woman with a somewhat hoarse voice was being blocked by several people at the door, seemingly arguing about something.
Gao Yi’s journalistic intuition immediately kicked in, and he naturally wouldn’t miss a good opportunity to gather information, so he quickly approached the center of the dispute.
“No, my daughter is still at home, I must go back!”
The middle-aged woman irritably ran her hands through her hair, shouting in an agitated tone.
She was dressed in loose, casual home clothes, wearing sunglasses late at night. She didn’t look very old, but her unmaintained skin already showed wrinkles.
“Ms. Naijia, you saw the man who just went out, he…”
Responding to her was the Manager who had just sought praise, with “Manager Yamada” written on his name tag.
At this moment, sweat incessantly beaded on his greasy, fat face, his hands clasped and rubbing together, his back hunched as he tried to persuade the other party.
“Besides, isn’t your husband still at home? What is there to worry about?”
At this point, another Middle-aged Office Worker blocking the door stepped forward, patiently trying to comfort the middle-aged woman called Ms. Naijia.
There was actually no basis for calling this man a Middle-aged Office Worker; it was purely Gao Yi’s guess based on stereotypes.
Wearing a suit to a chain Supermarket late at night, with a tired face, and a faint sense of world-weariness and reliability.
Other than a worker after overtime, he couldn’t think of many other possibilities.
But the Office Worker’s comfort didn’t work this time; Ms. Naijia became even more agitated:
“No, you don’t understand! My husband… if he stays with my daughter, something even worse will happen!”
The few people exchanged glances, clearly somewhat puzzled, but they still stubbornly blocked her attempts to leave with their bodies.
Gao Yi turned to look at the door. Outside the glass wall, the entire Supermarket was enveloped in a thick white mist, with visibility no more than twenty centimeters.
Lights, screens, cashier counters—it seemed all products of human technology were confined to this Supermarket.
And beyond that, it already belonged to another world.
Just as the middle-aged woman became increasingly agitated and tried to force her way out the door.
The entire Supermarket floor suddenly shook violently, and the hanging lights above began to flicker and sway.
Amidst a chorus of exclamations, Gao Yi and several customers gathered by the door simultaneously saw strange black shadows appearing in the white mist.
They were several times the size of humans, looking blurry and indistinct, and they surrounded the Supermarket at an extremely fast speed, yet stopped at a certain distance, hiding in the mist, making them impossible to see clearly.
“Monsters… the monsters are here again…”
The plump Manager, who had fallen due to the tremor, struggled to get up, trembling as he pointed outside the glass wall.
The Supermarket, which had just become a little lively, quickly fell into a deathly silence again. Even Ms. Naijia was frightened and no longer dared to speak of leaving.
“So, after all this… it’s a copy of ‘the mist.’”
Gao Yi stepped back slightly, finally understanding the situation.
But at this moment, the Tag System in his mind sounded again.
【Special Mission Triggered: Explore everything that happened in Hui Rong Supermarket and uncover the truth of the disaster】
【Reward: Random Rare Trait * 1, Random Normal Tag * 1, Normal Item Lottery Chance * 2】
【Time Limit: Twelve hours】
........................................