When Ruan Bai opened her eyes, she was no longer in her dorm room.

At this moment, she was sitting on a bus. It was a mystery as to where she actually was. The inside of the bus was pitch-dark, but she could faintly make out the silhouettes of seven or eight people. Outside the bus, there was only a thick blanket of fog.

The bus slowly inched forward, the non-stop shaking making Ruan Bai feel even more out-of-sorts, uncomfortably letting out two coughs.

Looking at her surroundings, Ruan Bai was a little amazed. This was her first time being transported to such a place.

In the previous few worlds, if she wasn’t sent as some pretty and innocent employee in a bar, then she’d arrive lying on a luxurious and enormous bed, a black card by her side.

Thinking about the name of this world as compared to her previous worlds, Ruan Bai guessed that this might be an unconventional White Lotus Cultivation world.

She lowered her gaze and noticed that instead of the white skirt she usually arrived in, she was dressed in a pair of pants, with a pair of sports shoes on her feet!

How could this be!?

Ruan Bai immediately opened up the system’s marketplace and spent 9.9 points on a few pairs of simple but tasteful white skirts and a pair of white flats.

At the same time, she quickly pulled her hair free of the hairband on her head, before pulling her hair into a simple and cute ponytail.

No matter what the situation was, earning points was the ultimate goal. No matter the time, her white lotus act was not to be forgotten!

One by one, the passengers on the bus started to awaken.

Ruan Bai discreetly scanned her surroundings, apart from her there were about fifteen other people on the bus. Ten were male and five were female, with their ages falling somewhere between teenagers to thirty-somethings.

What mystified her was that everybody was dressed plainly, there was no man in a suit with leather shoes, nor was there a red-lipsticked model-like lady.

A fellow female student realised that something was not quite right and let out a shout. “What happened, why am I here!”

Following right after, the other passengers started to get restless.

“I was clearly sleeping at home… …”

“What the hell is this place!?”

Three or four teens were crying or making noise, pacing about the bus as if they were possessed.

What kind of plot was this?

Ruan Bai looked at the people screaming loudly, before turning her gaze to the other people sitting there calmly. As she took it all in, she felt more and more unsettled.

Not seeing the male lead and the evil female second-lead was whatever, but putting her with such a strange group of people on top of that? What was the system doing?

However, if she heard it right, it seemed like someone was brought here while sleeping… …

– – Wait a second, was this a reality show!?

The first world that Ruan Bai experienced took place in the entertainment circle, and in that world she had also been part of such sudden reality show programmes.

… … Although she had performed poorly at that time, her final evaluation score was still a C.

Believing she had figured it all out, Ruan Bai felt like she could suddenly view the situation in a clear light.

The ones running around were probably first-timers, she reckoned, and probably weren’t prepared to be thrown into such a situation. And the calmer ones probably understood what kind of situation they were in.

As to the reason why some of them looked so pedestrian and didn’t really suit the entertainment circle, it was easily understandable. Some reality shows liked to invite outstanding professionals in other fields as guests, and were not purely limited to the entertainment circle.

She didn’t see a director, nor did she see cameramen with their equipment. She figured that they were probably concealed in order to fully capture the realistic reactions of the guests.

To preserve her image, Ruan Bai maintained a smile on her face, calmly sitting back down on her seat.

Hoping that the scene of her redoing her hair over and over again wouldn’t be edited in by the director… …

Maybe her performance was so good that a nearby bespectacled and bookish man made his way towards her.

He settled in the seat right next to her, and involuntarily sighed. “Who would’ve thought that there would be so many new people this time, looks like it’s a mess. Don’t know how troublesome this is going to be.”

He’s complaining?

As a white lotus, talking behind other people’s back was something she definitely had to stop, even more so on a reality show. Did he really think she would take the bait?

“They’re probably just scared, Ruan Ruan was scared at first too.”

Ruan Bai narrowed her eyes, but let out a puzzled and innocent expression. “And Brother, how could you talk about them like that? What about troublesome this or troublesome that, it’s too much. Aren’t we a team? It’s only right for us to help one another.”

After going through a few worlds, Ruan Bai already clearly understood what these sorts of NPCs liked. The more clever or weak her words were, the more they liked it, and the higher a score she could get.

She was willing to guarantee that after he heard her words, the man would feel endlessly ashamed and apologize to her. He would come to fall in love with her, believing she was pure and unpretentious, good and cute.

Bespectacled man: “... …”

Bespectacled man: “Sorry, I’ve got some stuff on, I’ll go first.”

What Ruan Bai would have never thought was that after hearing her reply, the other party pursed his lips and without saying anything more, stood up and walked away.

Ruan Bai: ? ? ?

At this moment, R uan Bai heard a sneer from behind her.

Right after, a male stranger’s voice – –

“This is a game of escaping death, do you not know that?”

His words were slow, with the last word being dragged out. It gave a feeling of arrogance and indifference.

Ruan Bai was momentarily dumbfounded. She turned her head and saw what seemed to be a twenty year old man standing behind her. He glanced at her up and down, seemingly evaluating her.

His appearance was commanding yet pretty, with pale white skin and black hair, his nose ridge high and straight.

He had a pair of deep and pitch-black eyes, and his thin lips were pursed. Paired with his arrogant expression, he gave off an indifferent and distant feeling.

He seemed to have been watching Ruan Bai’s interaction with the bespectacled man just now, though Ruan Bai was unsure of how much he had seen.

Seeing her turn to look at him, the man’s lips lifted into a slight smile.

“You’re new?” He asked. “My name is Gu San, if you want, why don’t you team up with me.”

“I’m Bai Ruan Ruan.”

After seeing Gu San, Ruan Bai’s eyes lit up, and she nodded her head. “This is Ruan Ruan’s first time, I don’t know anything, what do you mean by escape game? Can you explain it to me?”

Based on her experiences in the past four worlds, the more good-looking the man, the higher the possibility of being the male lead or the second male lead.

The appearance of the first and second male lead would trigger all sorts of random tasks, as well as a rapid increase in points. She couldn’t let go of this chance!

“Death-escaping game, it’s pretty much what it sounds like. Just a game.”

Gu San couldn’t really understand what Ruan Bai meant, and gave a short introduction. “As a player, you just have to follow the tasks given and clear the game, and that’s how you stay alive.”

You can only stay alive if you clear the game?

Ruan Bai looked at Gu San, then looked all around her, and asked tentatively: “Then… What happens if I lose the game?”

“Then you die, of course.” Gu San answered indifferently.

Die?

Ruan Bai was shocked motionless.

The setting of this reality show… … Why was it so bizarre?

“Yes, that’s right, as long as you lose the game, you will also die in the real world as well.”

Seeing Ruan Bai’s hesitation, Gu San let out a chuckle. “Of course, if you don’t believe me, you can go test it yourself, I won’t stop you.”

“– – I want to leave! Let me go, I don’t want to be a part of this godforsaken game!”

Right as Gu San was explaining the situation to Ruan Bai, there were other veteran players explaining the games to the few newcomers.

One of the men seemed very defiant, and even waved his hand to break off the other player. “Driver, stop the bus! Let me off, let me off!” He angrily yelled.

Upon hearing his words, the nearby players let out a sneer. The bus driver sitting in front, seemingly listening to him, stopped the bus.

In the next second, the bus abruptly stopped. The doors at the back of the bus swung open, and beyond the doors there was only a thick white fog.

The youth saw the scene, his face becoming wild with joy.

He made a beeline outside, and behind him, two other newcomers could not help but stand up.

These people were preparing to rush out as well, but Ruan Bai’s heart could not stop thumping, feeling like it couldn’t be that simple.

Just as expected, not long after, she heard a shrill cry from outside.

The sound was unbelievably piercing, like the howls of countless vengeful ghosts. It sank directly into their heads, leaving Ruan Bai’s whole body covered in goosebumps.

Accompanying the blood-curdling scream was a stream of blood pooled at the exit of the bus.

That crimson red was bone-chilling, permeating the vision of all on the bus.

After seeing this spectacle, Ruan Bai understood that that youth had died.

What Gu San said wasn’t wrong, this place would actually kill people.

Those who had thought about leaving started to gradually sit back down, under the glare of the overhead light, everybody’s face was deathly pale.

Among all these people, Ruan Bai’s face had taken on the worst colour.

Even if she was slow, after that newcomer’s death, she felt that something was not right.

This, was this really a reality show?

And those around her, were they NPCs, or were they hosts bound to systems just like her?

She didn’t know the answer, nor did she know how to proceed.

All she could do was sit quietly in her seat, and wait for the bus to reach its destination.

“Oi, we’ve reached!”

After some time, a man suddenly proclaimed.

Ruan Bai looked out the window. Unbeknownst to her, at some point the fog had completely dispersed, and before them a bleak and desolate village appeared.

There weren’t many people at the village, some elderly were sitting in their courtyards under the sun. She didn’t know if she was seeing correctly, but in the distance there seemed to linger an unspeakable black smog.

In the moment when Ruan Bai saw the village, a string of big red words exploded in front of her.

【You have reached the “Mermaid Village” destination】

【Task: Stay alive for 3 days, and find the secret of the Mermaid village】【Task progress: 0】

【Game countdown: 71 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds】【Player count: 15】

【All players take a seat, the game “Mermaid Village” starts now!】