MoboNovel Lite
Chapter 1
An egg broken from the inside is life, broken from the outside is food—Hemingway.
Outside the window, several cherry blossom trees are planted for the patients to enjoy.
Summer happens to be a good season for viewing cherry blossoms, but always watching them can inevitably become a bit monotonous.
Yan Cheng rests one hand against the window, his smooth head slightly bowed, revealing a hint of a smile.
Beep…
Beep…
Beep…
The ECG monitor’s fluctuations are unusually normal, yet this still doesn’t allow him to get out of bed and go outside to take a look.
Because he is a mid-stage brain cancer patient.
A man on the brink of death.
He’s only twenty-six years old, having just reached the position of a top salesperson, and hadn’t had the chance to enjoy life before being diagnosed with such an illness.
He doesn’t want to die.
If there’s any way to survive… then it must be to enter the world that has never surfaced before, ’that’ world.
Yan Cheng opens his phone, looking at the disappearance news he has collected over the past month.
【The old beggar who had been guarding under the Jiangdu Bridge for ten years disappeared for half a year and then reappeared, turning out to be the lost son of a billionaire group chairman, inheriting the fortune and making a comeback.】
【The mysterious ritual, the 130-year-old man from Wanhua Village disappears once a year, each time returning as if ten years younger, scientists call it a miracle.】
【The great artist of the 21st century disappeared for seven days, and a twisted, strange painting appeared in his home, collectors offered a billion to buy it, only to find that the paint in the painting was made from the artist’s own flesh and blood.】
In one month, a total of more than four hundred people disappeared.
They either became ‘winners in life’ after disappearing, or died unnatural deaths after disappearing.
Once or twice is a coincidence, but what about more than four hundred times?
Yan Cheng has been paying attention to these things for a long time, perhaps he’s really gone mad.
But he can only believe.
There must be something in this world that hasn’t been revealed, something that can fulfill all desires.
He wants to live, he doesn’t want to die in such a pathetic way!
He must live!
Yan Cheng clenches his fist.
Suddenly, a very pleasant loli voice comes from his mind.
【Congratulations, human full of desires, you have been selected by 《Dungeon》!】
【As long as you can become a player, pass the dungeons, and earn points, you can fulfill all your needs, money, beauty, even mysterious powers beyond ordinary understanding.】
【May I ask, what is your desire?】
It’s here!
As expected…
A glint of light flashes in Yan Cheng’s eyes, his answer without a moment’s hesitation: “I want to live.”
【Then… are you willing to enter 《Dungeon》, to become a 《Dungeon》 player? Whether it’s fear or madness, nothing can separate you from the dungeon, only death can truly set you free.】
Yan Cheng curls his lips.
His life has already started counting down.
If he can live, even if it means a lifetime accompanied by fear and madness, so what?
“I am willing.”
…
【Contract established, judging player’s talent.】
【Player Yan Cheng is consistent in words and actions, with noble character, congratulations on awakening the talent: The Deceiver.】
【Talent confirmed, judging player’s attributes.】
【Player: The Deceiver—Yan Cheng】
【Talent: Your words and actions are consistent, with noble character, everyone will trust you, you never lie, you are the lie itself, when you use your talent, everything including trust and distrust will be calculated as probabilistic events.】
【Talent hidden information 1: For a certain basic event, your statement will enter judgment, the other party has a fifty percent chance to trust, if the judgment is successful, it will change the corresponding cognition and rules of the affected, if the judgment fails, it will be invalid.】
【Talent hidden information 2: For a certain absolute event, if your statement reaches a state of opposing events (either A or B), then regardless of the judgment’s success or failure, it will change the corresponding cognition and rules of the affected, receiving information feedback.】
【Strength: 0.5 (normal adult is 1)】
【Agility: 0.5 (normal adult is 1)】
【Intelligence: 1.7 (normal adult is 1)】
【Evaluation: Your stats are really rare, hurry up and enter the game to die!】
…
【Drawing a novice dungeon.】
【Congratulations on drawing the novice dungeon—single-player dungeon—F-level dungeon 《Incubation City》】
【《Incubation City》 introduction: This is the hometown of a century’s genius, this is a place countless people dream of, whether it’s the residents here or those who have walked into this town, they all become rare talents, social elites, they possess the most perfect brains in the world, the most perfect talents, those who walk out from here, famous around the world, and now, as an archaeologist, you are kindly invited by Incubation Town to explore their culture, to showcase their culture.】
【Novice protection reminder: The beautiful Incubation Town, once night falls, will fall into a mysterious silence, my dear player… if you want to survive, please don’t sleep too soundly, and don’t approach the darkness.】
【Dungeon completion deadline: 3 days.】
【Friendly reminder: Your dungeon process has been entered into the live broadcast room as per the process, you can know the real-time data through your brain, the system will comprehensively recommend your live broadcast to other players based on your dungeon difficulty, live broadcast stickiness, and other data, if you get stuck… satisfying the audience’s requests for rewards is also a good way to survive.】
【Now, the game begins!】
…
Yan Cheng feels a wave of dizziness, rubs his head, and is surprised to find.
His hair has returned?
He feels the jolting of sitting down, looks around in surprise.
The car window is covered with black film, unable to see what’s outside, what’s happening, or which road they’re taking.
The black film allows him to see his own face clearly even inside the car.
Thick hair, soft texture, scattered in front of his forehead.
He wears a pair of black thin-framed glasses, that familiar and delicate face still bears the signature smile, anyone who sees it can’t help but feel good about him.
Really scholarly.
This is how he looked before the diagnosis.
Long time no see.
He’s in a car now?
Seems like he can check the live broadcast situation.
A thought flashes through his mind.
【Live broadcast online viewers: 1 person.】
Seems like there’s also a live broadcast comment?
【Passerby A: A newbie in Incubation City? These stats… hahahahaha!】
【Passerby A forwarded your live broadcast room.】
【Passerby B entered your live broadcast room.】
【Passerby B: Hahaha damn, this is really the most pathetic stats I’ve ever seen, not even as good as a child, definitely doomed.】
【Passerby A: Incubation City is considered the hardest among novice dungeons, no one has ever achieved a HE ending, wonder how this newbie will die.】
【Passerby B: How else? Either get incubated or get killed, boring, whatever, let’s give him some rewards out of pity and leave.】
【Passerby B rewarded you with some points.】
【Passerby A rewarded you with some points.】
【Live broadcast online viewers: 0 people.】
Yan Cheng: “…”
Really, thank you.
Are his stats really that bad? They don’t seem too bad.
But what do they mean by getting incubated?
Just at this moment, without a sound.
A human face suddenly appears in Yan Cheng’s sight, empty eyes showing no emotion, a stiff face like a wooden sculpture, forcing out a strange smile.
“Teacher Yan, we’ve arrived at Incubation Town, you may get off the car now.”
Chapter 2
After Yan Cheng got off the car with his briefcase, the car behind him immediately sped away.
In front of him, a huge wooden plaque bore the large characters “Incubation Town,” with a subtitle below—
“A town where hopes are realized.”
Under the sign, three people were smiling at Yan Cheng.
They smiled warmly and comfortably, appearing to be a family. The middle-aged man, presumably the father, wore a brown checkered shirt, his slightly protruding belly adding to his amiable and honest demeanor.
The wife was a beautiful woman with a thick braid draped over her shoulder.
But the most striking was the teenager standing in the middle.
The teenager, about fifteen years old, wore thick glasses and had a somewhat delicate appearance. His school uniform was spotless, yet he kept his head down, his expression wooden, appearing both ordinary and strangely restrained.
The father extended his hand towards Yan Cheng: “Hello, Teacher Yan, we are from the Incubation Inn responsible for your accommodation. You can call me Old Xie.”
Yan Cheng shook his hand.
Immediately, Xie’s mother complimented: “Teacher Yan, you truly look outstanding. Our Jiaxu has read many of your articles. He aspires to be as excellent as you. Come, Jiaxu, greet Teacher Yan.”
But Xie Jiaxu only lowered his head further, whether out of shyness or something else, he remained silent.
Yan Cheng thought it was his turn to ease the awkwardness, but he accidentally noticed Xie’s mother, still smiling, fiercely pinching Xie Jiaxu’s waist under the table.
The veins on the back of her hand stood out, gripping with great force.
Though Xie Jiaxu gritted his teeth and remained silent, his slightly contorted facial muscles betrayed his pain and fear.
“Jiaxu, what’s wrong… greet Teacher Yan, won’t you?”
Xie Jiaxu finally looked up, his muscles tense, forcing a less than pleasant smile: “Hello, Teacher Yan.”
It didn’t seem voluntary in any way.
Xie’s mother frowned but still maintained a friendly demeanor: “Look at this child, so shy. Teacher Yan, please don’t mind.”
Yan Cheng smiled back: “Of course, I don’t mind.”
The way this family interacted was indeed unusually affectionate.
“Well, it’s getting late, and Teacher Yan must be tired from the journey. It’s time to head back to the inn. Let’s go, Teacher Yan.”
Yan Cheng followed them.
The atmosphere in Incubation Town was quite unique. Along the way, Yan Cheng saw groups of well-dressed young men and women conversing, all with excellent temperament and appearance.
People on the roadside displayed various skills.
Signboards were everywhere, featuring extremely profound content. He even saw a few children under ten sitting quietly playing Go.
They were all exceptionally talented children.
The title of “Town of Geniuses” was well-deserved.
Halfway through the journey, Yan Cheng noticed a huge pit with a stone occupying two-thirds of it. Compared to the pit, people looked exceptionally small.
Passing by, Xie Jiaxu’s expression noticeably darkened.
Xie’s father and mother bowed sincerely, as if praying for something.
Yan Cheng was quite intrigued: “Is this a meteorite?”
Xie’s father shook his head and explained: “No, no, Teacher Yan, this is not a meteorite. Meteorites come from the sky, but this grew from the ground.”
“Grew from the ground?” Yan Cheng narrowed his eyes.
Xie’s father said: “You might not know, but this is the Stone of Talent. Our Incubation Town has produced so many geniuses, all thanks to this Stone of Talent. Since its appearance, the children in our town have become exceptionally well-behaved. You might want to pay your respects sometime, praying for your future child to become an outstanding individual.”
“Is that so?” Yan Cheng re-examined the stone.
It was dull, and if there was any difference from ordinary stones… it was its size and unusual smoothness.
“That’s quite impressive.”
At this moment, Yan Cheng’s live stream had a few viewers, but there was little interaction, with the number fluctuating between one and two.
No tips.
No interaction.
Finally, they arrived at the inn, a duplex wooden house of modest size.
From the outside, it looked ordinary, except for the bulletin board filled with missing person notices.
Xie’s father sighed and said: “Our town is perfect in every way, except that some outsiders don’t know their way around and love to wander off, disappearing without a trace… Their families are worried, and the town tries to help as much as possible, hence the missing person notices. But for so long, no one has been found… So, Teacher Yan, you must listen and not wander off, or else if you get lost… you might not come back.”
Yan Cheng gazed at the missing person notices, smiling faintly.
“Of course, I’m well aware of my purpose here and won’t wander off.”
All the missing were outsiders. He didn’t believe a word of it.
Xie’s father continued to smile warmly: “I’m relieved to hear that. It’s getting late, let me take you to your room.”
“Alright.” Yan Cheng agreed.
…
Second floor.
“Here we are, this is your room. We will bring your meals at noon and six in the evening. If you have any needs, please let us know, and we’ll do our best to help. If there’s nothing else, I’ll head downstairs now. I hope you enjoy your stay, Teacher Yan.”
After being shown to his room, Xie’s father bid farewell and left.
As soon as Xie’s father left, before Yan Cheng could step into his room.
He heard a creaking sound from behind.
Looking back, he saw a pair of eyes peeking through the crack of the door across from him.
They were staring at him eerily.
Yan Cheng smiled naturally: “Hello?”
The next second, the door was slammed shut with a loud “bang.”
Yan Cheng: “Not very friendly, are we?”
From the closed room came an uncomfortable creaking sound, like fingernails scraping on wet wood, sending shivers down one’s spine.
An unbearable noise.
Yan Cheng ignored it and entered his room.
The room was tidy.
Bed, desk, chair, private bathroom, the basic facilities were all there.
Feeling bored, Yan Cheng sat on the chair to experience it.
Then, he noticed.
The wooden desk seemed to have some shallow marks, uneven yet somewhat regular.
Yan Cheng had an idea, opened his briefcase, took out a pencil, and quickly shaded over the shallow marks.
Once filled, the marks became more visible under the reflection of the window light.
Yan Cheng could see clearly.
—There is a strange ritual in this town.
—Do not wander at night, or you will become nourishment for the incubation.
Incubation… nourishment?
Bang!!
As Yan Cheng pondered, a crisp shattering sound suddenly came from below.
Chapter 3
Yan Cheng was startled, realizing that something must have happened downstairs. He quickly erased the pencil marks he had made with an eraser and hurried downstairs.
Before he even fully reached the lower floor, he could hear a harsh voice scolding: ‘If you can’t even do such a simple thing right, can you ever give us a break? How could we have a child like you who can’t accomplish anything but only mess things up? Look at everyone else, they’ve all hatched, and what about you? Just kneel here obediently!’
The voice was unmistakably that of Xie’s mother, though her tone was quite different from her usual kindness, carrying a sense of frustration over unfulfilled potential.
Xie’s father stood beside her, also coldly looking at their disappointing child, too angry to speak, pointing at Xie Jiaxu and scolding: ‘Look at you, you didn’t even greet properly today, always lost in your thoughts. When will you ever give us a break? Hurry up and pick up all this glass!’
The father’s voice was even more authoritative, making the air feel suffocating.
Yan Cheng quickly scanned the scene; it wasn’t anything too serious, just a broken vase.
Xie Jiaxu remained silent throughout, head bowed, showing no change in expression, the atmosphere extremely tense.
Xie’s father took a deep breath, grabbed Xie Jiaxu’s ear: ‘Are you deaf? I told you to pick it up!’
With that, he swung his hand, the sound of the wind indicating the force was not light, and hitting someone’s face would definitely cause trouble.
Slap—!
A loud sound echoed.
The surrounding ‘buzzing’ tinnitus made Yan Cheng feel uncomfortable.
[FlowerFlowerFlower has entered the livestream.]
[WindLaughingSky has entered the livestream.]
[…]
Suddenly, a lot of traffic poured into the livestream.
[Congratulations to the player for achieving the ‘50 people watching the livestream simultaneously’ achievement, rewarded with 10 points.]
[Congratulations to the streamer for a slight increase in livestream data, receiving a fifth-level newcomer recommendation—death-defying streamer—sidebar window recommendation.]
[FlowerFlowerFlower: Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve seen someone dare to block that slap. I remember blocking that slap triggers that plot…]
[WindLaughingSky: Hahaha, how come this newcomer’s attribute panel is so low, worse than an elementary school student, daring to block that slap. Once that plot is triggered, it’s definitely a death sentence!]
[Madman: It’s been a while since I’ve seen a newcomer who can follow this plot. The last one probably had their ashes scattered, tsk tsk, watching this plot isn’t a loss.]
…
Perhaps because his attribute panel was really too low, Yan Cheng felt like his hand, which had rushed to block, was almost fractured, and his head was dizzy.
What was the ’that plot’ mentioned in the bullet comments?
Probably nothing good.
Unfortunately, the livestream couldn’t reveal the plot, otherwise, it would be easier to deal with.
But now, there was no time to worry about that.
He accidentally saw, the moment his hand blocked Xie’s father’s slap, a flash of rage on Xie’s father’s face, veins bulging on the back of his hand.
But it quickly returned to its original gentle and simple appearance, full of guilt and concern, stepping forward to hold Yan Cheng’s hand: ‘Teacher Yan, why are you here? Ouch… that must hurt, let me apply some medicine for you?’
‘No need, thank you.’ Yan Cheng withdrew his hand, then asked: ‘Old Xie, why are you scolding the child like this in broad daylight? What mistake has he made?’
It must be said, that slap really hurt, feeling like it was going to fall apart.
Old Xie quickly sighed: ‘Teacher Yan, you’re just looking for trouble. Our Jiaxu is clumsy, we’re just giving him a small lesson to remember, so he won’t make the same mistake next time. Look at you, blocking it, you’re suffering too, right?’
‘Yes, yes, Teacher Yan, I’ll go get you some medicine.’ Xie’s mother also chimed in.
A small lesson?
Yan Cheng felt he couldn’t bear their medicine, quickly waving his hand: ‘Really, no need, it’s not a big deal. But lessons are lessons, you can’t always educate a child like this, it’ll make them stupid.’
As soon as he said this, he felt the atmosphere around him drop several degrees.
Xie’s father and mother didn’t speak, just pursed their lips, smiling at him.
Even though it was only afternoon, with the sun shining in from outside, casting shadows on half of their faces.
It inexplicably made his back feel cold, eerily uncomfortable.
Suddenly, they spoke in unison:
‘Teacher Yan, this is just our family matter, how to educate our child is something we parents know best, you don’t need to worry too much.’
Their voices were very low, their expressions kind and close, the words indeed reasonable, but it sounded strange.
Probably the next sentence would be, if you meddle anymore, we’ll cut your head off.
Yan Cheng just smiled, saying no more.
Xie’s mother lowered her head, patting Xie Jiaxu, who was still kneeling on the ground, on the back: ‘Jiaxu, mom and dad were indeed a bit impulsive today, we apologize, quickly thank Teacher Yan.’
Xie Jiaxu’s body trembled, his voice also unsteady: ‘Th… thank you, Teacher Yan, next… next time, please don’t meddle in our family matters.’
‘Teacher Yan, look at this child, so inconsiderate, he still has homework to finish, we won’t keep you.’ Xie’s mother smiled helplessly, grabbing one of Xie Jiaxu’s ears and dragging him inside.
Xie Jiaxu’s eyes widened in pain, his pants making a ‘hissing’ sound as they rubbed against the ground.
Yan Cheng still wanted to say something.
But he finally saw Xie Jiaxu’s expression clearly at this moment.
His delicate face was filled with fear, rejection, despair.
How could a teenager, in such a loving environment, have such an expression?
Yan Cheng knew, saying more would be useless, only adding to the chaos.
So he kept quiet.
‘Teacher Yan is a smart person, but… Teacher Yan should sometimes worry more about himself. I’ll take you back to your room, the food is almost ready, I’ll bring it to you as an apology.’
Yan Cheng nodded.
Xie’s father turned and went into the kitchen to tidy up, soon picking up a plate of food and taking Yan Cheng back upstairs.
He spoke kindly to Yan Cheng about some matters, but Yan Cheng’s attention wasn’t on him.
Instead, he heard from the direction Xie Jiaxu was dragged away, Xie’s mother’s frustrated complaints and scolding:
‘How old are you and still haven’t hatched successfully, isn’t this losing at the starting line? Look at so-and-so next door, how they’ve done this and that, really embarrassing us!’
Hatch?
Yan Cheng heard this word again.
At first, he thought it was just a metaphor… but now, he vaguely felt something was wrong.
Finally.
Xie’s father brought him to the door, the kind words of advice gone, handing the food to Yan Cheng.
‘Teacher Yan, were you listening to what I said?’
Yan Cheng then came back to his senses, calmly saying: ‘Of course, I think what you said makes a lot of sense.’
Xie’s father naturally understood.
He smiled helplessly:
‘Forget it, it’s okay if you weren’t listening, telling you so much is useless anyway, because… you probably won’t have this opportunity again in the future.’
This voice seemed to be mocking Yan Cheng.
And Yan Cheng, at this moment, silently purchased a discounted item from the points store.