I clamped my hands over my ears and shouted at myself: "Stop being crazy!!!"
To my surprise, the voice—which I'd just screamed at—suddenly became articulate.
"Your roommate! Kira!"
The words hit like a bell.
They resonated through my entire brain, leaving me rooted to the floor.
Kira.
My roommate.
That's right.
Just now, she'd posted something that violated the rules. I'd been so worried.
I was supposed to call her and stop her!
So why...?
My hands trembling, I reopened my call history.
A phone number shimmered, blurred, and finally resolved into "Kira" in my contacts.
I gathered my courage and dialed.
Cold automated voice: We're sorry, the number you have dialed is not in service.
Wind cut through the dorm.
This summer had never felt so cold.
I replayed every moment—how my memory of Kira had grown blurry, chaotic, even fading.
Even that senior had called her "the cute one" instead of by name—Jiang Yun Miao, reduced to a generic "Jiang."
I finally understood.
Kira had broken the rules.
And the price of breaking them—
Was vanishing without a trace.
Erased from this world.
Even erased from memory.
7
Cold sweat soaked my back.
If I still didn't grasp the horror of this app, I wasn't crazy—I was stupid.
Divine punishment? Extraterrestrial intelligence from a higher dimension?
I didn't have time to care.
I forced myself to calm down and re-examined the rules.
First: "adding friends" was the primary task.
Whether by sending a request that gets accepted, or by searching an ID and adding directly—either worked.
Meanwhile, being on the receiving end of a friend request was not recommended—or worse, it would result in being erased from existence.
But here was the unquantifiable question: how many friend requests triggered the punishment?
I recalled that my memories of Kira had faded gradually.
So I could infer: it wasn't a single friend request that got you killed.
At least not just one.
That figured out, I checked the clock.
12:50.
Ten minutes left.
My brain raced while my fingers flew across the forum, typing a post.
I had to survive.
But how do you make someone willingly accept your friend request?
For survival?
Looking at the forum, most students weren't taking it seriously.
But the frequency of new posts was dropping.
I had a sick feeling that people were disappearing, silently.
Time was running out. I stared at the excited posts on the forum and finally had an idea.
Everyone downloaded this app for money.
The fundamental motivation was greed.
So let the desire return to its essence.
[I found a hidden withdrawal channel! You can check your earnings early! This is just a referral app!
If you want to add me as a friend, like this post and I'll add you one by one to show you the secret withdrawal channel!
Note: Only accept friend requests from ME!
If you've already accepted someone else's request, DO NOT add me—consequences are your own!]
8
The second hand on the wall clock kept spinning.
My breathing grew ragged.
But the likes on my post weren't increasing.
That's wrong!
Was my post buried under too many others?
As I watched it slide down the feed—
Suddenly, a massive blaring sound invaded my ears.
An air-raid siren—high-pitched, piercing—like a wild beast's howl hunting for prey.
My heart lurched. My throat tightened as if an invisible hand were crushing it. I could barely breathe.
I heard myself murmuring:
"I am an ant."
"I am prey."
...
My brain went numb from lack of oxygen.
The siren lasted thirty seconds, then stopped abruptly!
I gasped for air.
My whole body was drenched in sweat.
What just happened to me?
What was that siren?!
Before I could process it, the massive voice returned.
This time, it was a disembodied, genderless "voice."
"One minute remaining in this round of testing."
"Countdown begins: 60, 59, 58..."
The voice was flat, but deeply sinister.
With each number, my blood ran colder.
What was waiting for me?
I hadn't even graduated yet—was I about to be erased from existence?
A pitiful whimper escaped my throat.
But then—
Just over ten seconds later, my phone exploded with vibrations!
My post had been flooded with dozens of comments and likes!
No time to read them. I frantically clicked through the avatars, adding the users who'd liked my post one by one.
Friend requests were accepted in rapid succession.
Messages flooded my inbox.
I couldn't keep up.
That eerie voice was still counting down:
"10, 9, 8... 3, 2, 1."
"Countdown complete. Total users who passed this round: 73."
"Congratulations to all!"
Seventy-three... less than a tenth had passed...
That meant over seven hundred people had...
I scrambled to check my phone. My contact list was nearly empty.
Including the senior who'd come to check on me.
They'd all been erased from this world.
It said "congratulations," but I only heard mockery.
A monster toying with its prey before eating it!
The voice vanished. For a few seconds, the world fell silent.
The forum and my message board looked like they'd been sliced apart.
I pinched my own cheek.
I... still existed.
But before I could feel relieved—my phone buzzed again.
The Administrator had sent a second-round announcement.
[Second round testing: Users must receive one tip/gift within one hour.]
Whether a tip/gift is valid will be determined by the system through photo or video verification with the Administrator.
[Second round countdown: 59 minutes]
[End time: 14:00 on the 29th]
[Yi Nian v1.1.1, participants: 73]
A tip/gift system?
What hidden rule lurked beneath this new feature?
I rubbed my temples. My brain felt like it was cracking.
But the Administrator hadn't finished. Another direct message followed.
[Congratulations on finishing first in the first round of testing. You have received 2 system rewards.]
[Yi Nian ×1]
Through conversation with the Administrator, receive the answer to one question you most want to know.
[Yi Hang ×1]
Through conversation with the Administrator, receive one body repair. Valid only during testing.
9
I stared at the screen.
A question? A body repair?
Body repair?
I hesitated, then tried messaging the Administrator.
"How do I pass the tests?"
"Invalid question."
Damn.
I typed again.
"Who are you?"
"Question level too high. Not within answer scope."
So there was a tier system for questions?
This app's framework was more sophisticated than I'd imagined.
Which meant I'd need to figure out how to use this reward carefully.
I had to ask the right question—the most critical one.
Suddenly, the voice in my head returned.
Fuzzy. Accompanied by excruciating pain.
It was like a cement mixer churning inside my skull.
I clutched my head, doubled over.
Just then, the dorm door burst open.
In came my two remaining roommates and a guy with a buzz cut.
"You're alive!"
Seeing me on the floor in pain, our dorm leader Jessie hurried over.
She helped me up. "Did you pass the first round too?"
I nodded, my eyes on the guy.
Jessie explained, "Trent—from the architecture department next door. He just saved us."
"What happened out there?"
I asked through the pain.
"It's... dangerous outside!"
My other roommate, Lauren, was gasping, tears in her voice.
She slumped against the doorframe, chest heaving.
"What kind of danger?"
I spoke—only to realize my voice was hoarse from the headache.
"Aria—she..."
Aria was the campus beauty queen. We barely knew her. Why bring her up?
I looked at Lauren, confused.
But before Lauren could open her mouth—
A muffled thud echoed from the hallway.
Like a ball bouncing off the floor.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The sound was getting closer.
All three of their faces went pale.