Chapter 1: Sudden Car Accident
Press a button, receive a massive cash prize—and randomly kill someone close to you.
I pressed it. That same night, my best friend was killed by a truck.
One hour later, one million yuan appeared in my bank account.
He died right beside me. His face covered in blood, he still grabbed my hand and entrusted his daughter to me.
This was a game called "Dare to Play."
On my first trial run, I easily earned one million.
When I received another invitation from the game company, asking if I wanted to formally participate—I signed up without hesitation.
Early the next morning, a bus from the game company pulled up outside my apartment.
Besides me, there were about twenty other people on board.
They were all like me, people who had passed the initial test.
Some had killed their parents, others their lovers.
Or like me, someone who had killed a childhood friend of over ten years.
Their eyes ranged from numb to guilty, with some even looking eager.
I glanced around and reached a conclusion.
Every single one of these people was dangerous.
Clearly, winning the ultimate prize of one hundred million wouldn't be easy.
I stashed my luggage and grabbed a window seat.
The bus drove for a while, then stopped again.
A guy about my age climbed aboard.
He wore a backpack and a tracksuit, grinning like he was heading out for a hike rather than a death game.
The only empty seat left was next to me.
He plopped down beside me. "Hey, I'm Quinn!"
I gave his hand a perfunctory shake. "Alex."
Anyone with half a brain could tell I wasn't interested in talking.
But Quinn either couldn't tell or didn't care. He kept chattering nonstop.
I finally just closed my eyes and leaned against the window, pretending to sleep.
By the time the bus stopped again, we'd arrived at our destination.
Outside was a spacious parking lot filled with dozens of buses just like ours.
My heart sank—there were far more contestants than I'd imagined.
I grabbed my luggage and followed the crowd off the bus.
At the door stood several staff members, all wearing terrifying rabbit masks that covered most of their faces, leaving only their mouths visible.
The moment I stepped off, someone placed a blindfold over my eyes.
Someone on my left patted my shoulder.
I memorized that seemingly random signal.
Then, a staff member's voice boomed through a megaphone.
"Everyone, hold onto the shoulder of the person in front of you. Stay close, don't fall behind!"
Since my eyes were covered, my hearing had become sharper.
I recognized the voice behind me—it was Quinn, the guy from the bus.
He kept muttering, "Oh man, this is so thrilling! It's like a real-life escape room."
I rolled my eyes behind my blindfold and decided to keep my distance from this guy.
The line started moving. We seemed to transition from outdoors to indoors.
The footsteps around me grew clearer, echoing off the walls.
We walked down a long corridor, rounded several corners, and entered a darker room.
The line finally stopped when the blindfolds blocked out every last glimmer of light.
A broadcast crackled to life: "Welcome to Rabbit Academy. The theme of this game is school-based escape challenges. All contestants must assume the role of new students, absolutely obey all school orders, and follow all rules. Failure to comply will result not only in disqualification, but also in severe punishment. Next, we will conduct an entrance test. Only those who pass the test will have the opportunity to formally enroll..."
"Now please listen carefully to the following question: Those who had their shoulders tapped earlier, remove your blindfolds and turn around."
I was about to pull off my blindfold when a thought struck me.
Someone had patted my shoulder while I was putting on the blindfold.
But the broadcast never specified when the shoulder taps occurred.
What if I acted too hastily—would it trigger a trap?
The moment that thought crossed my mind, I heard a mechanism activate. A sharp whoosh—something had been fired.
Then came a scream of pure agony.
It sounded like a thousand blades slicing into flesh.
Each scream was more gut-wrenching than the last.
My whole body went rigid. Even Quinn, who'd been babbling behind me, fell silent.
Aside from the screams, the room was dead quiet. Even our breathing grew cautious.
After what felt like an eternity, the screams gradually weakened until they stopped altogether.
The broadcast chimed again: "Now that you've entered the hall, those who were NOT tapped on the shoulder, please remove your blindfolds and turn around."
I processed the instruction carefully.
Then I yanked off my blindfold and turned around.
The instant I turned, I caught Quinn raising his hand, about to remove his own blindfold.
I grabbed his wrist without thinking and hissed, "Don't move!"
Quinn froze, clearly confused.
But he was quick—he didn't ask questions. He stood still for a moment, then quietly lowered his hand.
Worried about being seen, I released my grip and surveyed the room from the corner of my eye.
Sure enough, the people who had turned around followed a clear pattern.
It was like filling empty slots.
Since I was the one who'd removed my blindfold and turned around, the pattern suggested—
Quinn should be the one staying put.
But this was just my guess.
If I was wrong, Quinn could be killed by a trap.
A twinge of guilt hit me, but then I thought—better him than me.
One less competitor.
I waited in silence. No killing mechanism activated.
I exhaled in relief, though part of me felt disappointed.
Quinn, still blindfolded, couldn't see my expression.
He whispered, "Thanks."
I laughed silently. "Don't mention it."
2
This time, everyone had learned their lesson. No one died.
I scanned the survivors' faces.
Most looked as disappointed as I was that no one else had been eliminated.
While the broadcast stayed quiet, I used the dim floor lighting to study our surroundings.
We were in a sealed square room with roughly twenty-some people.
In other words, my entire bus group was here.
I recognized a few distinct faces from earlier.
They met my gaze without lingering—clearly, I hadn't left much of an impression.
But when they spotted Quinn across from me, their eyes lingered a few seconds longer.
After what had just happened, Quinn was noticeably more serious. The carefree act from the bus was gone.
I mentally counted the buses in the parking lot.
There had to be close to a thousand contestants.
Given the prize ratio and participant count—
These first two tests were mere warm-ups. The real horrors lay ahead.
And elimination meant death.
In the corner, I spotted a crumpled corpse.
All its skin and flesh had been stripped away, leaving only bones.
A pool of black liquid pooled beside the skeletal feet.
The lighting was too dim to identify the substance.
I frowned, thinking.
Had the trap not fired arrows at all?
Instead, something like acid, highly corrosive—
The broadcast interrupted my thoughts.
"To proceed smoothly, everyone must form pairs. We've randomly assigned your partners. First, to improve teamwork with your partner, let's play a quick game. Contestants without blindfolds have one minute to ask questions of blindfolded contestants. Blindfolded contestants may only answer yes or no, and must answer truthfully. After one minute, the un-blindfolded contestant must state the answer..."
The broadcast paused, then added, "Oh right, one contestant was just eliminated, so someone in this room is unpaired."
At those words, everyone instinctively looked sideways.
The man standing beside the empty spot began trembling. "What... what are you doing! Ah—!"
Before he could finish, the floor tiles beneath him split open.
With no time to react, he plummeted straight down.
We all listened to his scream growing distant.
About three seconds later—BANG. The sound of a heavy object hitting bottom.
His scream cut off instantly.
Then the tiles slid shut, concealing the trap below.
I should have been glad one competitor was gone.
But right now, all I felt was pure terror.
The game hadn't even officially started, and two people in our room were already dead.
The stench of death spread silently through the air.