[Memory Recall: Where It All Began]
Real World. Haicheng. A Stormy Night.
The rain was pouring down hard, as if God were dumping his footbath water over the human world. The world was a blur of white, swallowing even the light of the streetlamps.
I stood under a deserted bus stop, shivering, clutching a broken umbrella with only three ribs left. I wasn't shivering from the cold, but from fear and despair.
My name is Lynn, 24 years old. Just three hours ago, I lost my job. At the same time, my phone was blowing up—student loans, credit cards, Huabei... text messages from debt collectors flew in like snowflakes, the total sum enough to suffocate me.
Just as I was staring at a puddle on the roadside, debating whether to buy a bottle of cheap liquor to drink myself to death or to jump off a bridge for a more dignified exit, that lawyer appeared.
He seemed to grow right out of the rain, wearing a trench coat so black it reflected the light, his face as pale as if he had just been soaked in formalin.
"Mr. Lynn." His voice was raspy, like two rusty pieces of metal rubbing together. "Congratulations. Your Great-Uncle, Mr. Lin Fugui, who has been missing for ten years, has designated you as the sole heir to his estate."
"Great-Uncle? Lin Fugui?"
I froze. That old swindler in my memory who was always babbling about going abroad to mine gold and then never returned? He's still alive? And he left me an inheritance?
The lawyer handed me a cold envelope and a heavy brass key.
"It is a hotel with independent property rights." The corner of the lawyer's mouth pulled up into a grotesque arc; his smile looked malicious no matter how you looked at it. "As long as you sign here, everything there—including the debts and the authority—will be yours."
My mind was so full of thoughts about repaying my own debts that I didn't even hear the word "debts." My hand trembling, I signed my name on the document.
"Very good." The lawyer put away the document and pointed to the bus stop sign behind me. "Wait for the bus there. Remember, this bus waits for no one."
With that, he took a step back and literally melted into the curtain of rain, leaving not even a shadow behind.
"Gh... Ghost!"
I was so scared I fell onto my butt, nearly throwing the key away.
I wanted to run, I wanted to call the police, I wanted to leave this godforsaken place.
But just then, two pale headlights pierced the darkness, locking onto me dead on.
A pitch-black, old-fashioned double-decker bus, making absolutely no engine noise, glided silently in front of me like a giant iron coffin.
Hiss—
The pneumatic door opened, emitting a strange sound like a heavy sigh.
I looked up at the LED display on the roof of the bus. It didn't show a terminal station, only a line of flashing, crimson garbled code:
BUS NO. 404 DESTINATION: NULL
A cold, gloomy wind blew out from the bus door, carrying the metallic scent of rust and damp earth.
My instincts were screaming: Don't get on! You'll die if you get on!
This was definitely not a normal bus! Who drives a hearse like this in the middle of the night?
"No... I'm not getting on..."
Clutching my broken umbrella, I stumbled backward, turning to run into the rain. Screw the inheritance, screw the hotel! I'd rather die poor than meet a ghost!
However, my feet felt like they had taken root; I couldn't move an inch.
A cold hand—no, it wasn't a hand, it was some invisible force—shoved me violently from behind.
"The heir cannot be late."
The lawyer's ghostly whisper seemed to drift through the air.
"Ah—!"
I screamed as my body lunged forward uncontrollably, like dust being sucked into a vacuum cleaner, straight into the open bus door.
Bang!
The door slammed shut behind me, fast enough to swallow me whole.
I fell awkwardly onto the floor of the carriage, my knees throbbing with pain.
There were no lights inside, only the occasional flash of lightning outside illuminating the cabin. To my horror, I discovered that the bus... was full of people.
No, those weren't people.
They were wearing clothes from various eras—Republic of China long gowns, 80s work uniforms, and even hospital gowns... They were all expressionless, their faces pale, staring blankly ahead with hollow eyes, their bodies swaying stiffly with the movement of the bus.
And the driver's seat... was empty.
The steering wheel was turning by itself!
"H... Help..."
I wanted to scream, but my throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton; no sound came out. I tried to bang on the window to escape, only to find green streams of data flowing across the glass, solid as an iron wall.
The bus accelerated violently.
A strong force pinned me firmly to the floor. The scenery outside the window began to twist and stretch; the familiar city buildings turned into frantically flashing lines and color blocks.
Reality was collapsing. I felt like my soul was being flung out of my body.
I don't know how long passed—maybe a minute, maybe a century.
Hiss—
The door opened again.
A massive force hit me, and I was thrown out like a piece of trash.
"Ugh—"
As soon as I landed, I lay on the ground and retched violently, nearly vomiting bile. The dizziness of traveling through space-time left my mind blank.
A soft pop sounded behind me.
I looked back. The No. 404 bus vanished into thin air like a soap bubble.
Dead silence surrounded me.
Trembling, I stood up and looked around, my heart turning cold.
This wasn't Haicheng. This didn't even look like Earth.
It was a gray wasteland. The sky was a chaotic mass of static noise; no stars, only heavy, oppressive gray fog. The air smelled of burnt circuit boards and rotting flesh.
And right in front of me stood a building.
This was the "legacy" I had inherited.
It looked like a massive, half-finished building that had been half-burnt. The outer walls were covered in black vines that pulsed like veins. The windows were shattered, looking like hollow, dark eye sockets staring coldly at me.
The neon sign at the entrance was broken, wires exposed, emitting a sizzling sound of electric current and flashing frantically with red light:
SH_D_W H_TEL
Below the sign, a line of bright red LED scrolling text stung my eyes:
Error 404: System Not Found Warning: Illegal Area
"W... What the hell is this place..."
My teeth were chattering, my legs soft as noodles.
Fear. Absolute fear.
I would rather go back and face those vicious debt collectors than stay in this ghostly place for one more second.
"Is anyone there? ...Help..."
I tried to shout, my voice echoing across the empty wasteland, sounding exceptionally desolate.
The only answer was a low, hungry growl from deep within the fog.
Roar—
The sound wasn't like a beast; it sounded more like countless vengeful spirits scraping their throats. And it was getting closer.
I saw several pairs of crimson eyes light up in the fog, like wolves hunting for food.
Run? Run where? It was all fog. The only cover was this broken hotel in front of me that looked like it would collapse—or was haunted—at any moment.
"Great-Uncle... you really pitted me to death here..."
I cursed with a sobbing tone, clutching the only key in my hand—the one the lawyer gave me, now my only lifeline.
Even if this was a haunted building, it was better than being eaten by whatever was outside!
The chill of being targeted by a predator numbed my scalp. I hesitated no longer and scrambled towards the hotel entrance.
My hands were shaking so badly I missed the keyhole several times before finally sliding it in.
Click.
The lock opened.
The roaring was right at my ears; I could even smell the foul breath.
I slammed the door open, rushed in, and then dead-bolted it shut, leaning against the door panel, gasping for air.
The ear-piercing sound of claws scratching against the door came from outside, but thankfully, the door held.
I was safe for now.
But before I could catch my breath, I was stunned by the sight before me.
There were no lights in the lobby, only faint illumination provided by data sparks occasionally flashing on the walls.
It looked even more dilapidated than the outside. The walls were clipping, and there were void holes in the floor.
The moment I touched the counter, my phone suddenly vibrated crazily in my pocket. The screen lit up automatically, emitting a harsh red light.
A blood-red dialogue box popped up with only a few lines:
[Welcome to Error Code 404 Area.] [Administrator Identity Bound.] [Current Survival Countdown: 3 Hours.]
I stared at that countdown, my mind completely blank.
I thought I came here to inherit a fortune and become a rich second-generation heir. Turns out, I came here to be a scapegoat?