“He’s gone.
Process the death certificate and have the body transferred to the crematorium.” “Understood.” Darius Kane had barely regained consciousness when he heard a man and woman talking nearby.
Gone?
Who are they talking about?
Me?
Confused and alarmed, he tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids refused to move.
He attempted to sit up next, only to discover that the rest of his body was just as unresponsive.
Before he could panic further, a massive flood of memories suddenly poured into his mind.
Darius quickly realized something unbelievable—he had transmigrated.
His previous life had apparently ended courtesy of a speeding dump truck, but instead of waking as a baby or taking over the body of some struggling young man, he’d somehow arrived inside someone who had already been declared dead.
Seriously?
Other people transmigrated into rich heirs, powerful fighters, or at least healthy adults.
Darius had somehow skipped everything and gone straight to being a corpse.
What kind of terrible restart is this?
Did I cross worlds just to get cremated?
Driven by sheer survival instinct, Darius struggled desperately against his frozen body until his eyelids finally twitched.
“Wait!
His eyes moved!” “What?
There’s a pulse again.
Check him immediately!” “Neurological activity is returning…
His other functions are recovering too.
My God, how is this possible?” Hearing the shocked voices around him, Darius finally relaxed slightly.
At least they weren’t sending him into a furnace anymore.
However, another problem immediately entered his mind.
What had happened to this body in the first place?
Was he suffering from some terminal disease?
Had he merely experienced a brief recovery before death?
Maybe he’d die again in ten minutes.
Worse, perhaps he’d survive but remain bedridden or trapped in a vegetative state for the rest of his life.
Before transmigrating, Darius hadn’t exactly lived an amazing life, but this somehow looked even worse.
So I crossed worlds for nothing?
Just as despair began to set in, a strange translucent message suddenly appeared within his dark vision.
[You have obtained residency in Horror Town.] [Confirm residency and move in immediately?] Darius froze.
Horror Town?
He had no idea what that meant, but his instincts told him this might be his only chance.
“Confirm!” [Confirmation received.] [Beginning transfer…] His consciousness disappeared instantly.
A moment later, Darius abruptly opened his eyes and discovered that his body could move again.
The hospital was gone, replaced by an unfamiliar room with almost no decoration.
The floor was spotless, while the only furniture consisted of a wooden table, several chairs, and a couch.
Darius looked around with growing curiosity.
Interdimensional survival game?
Multiverse?
Some kind of supernatural game world?
He had read enough online fiction and played enough horror games to recognize the familiar setup.
For the first time since waking, excitement began replacing his anxiety.
I knew my luck couldn’t possibly be that terrible.
Then he turned around and froze.
Five people were sitting near the couch, silently watching him.
Before Darius could react, three suddenly vanished, leaving only two behind.
One was a heavily built middle-aged man close to six feet tall, with muscular arms that suggested years of weight training.
The other was a woman wearing a black baseball cap and mask, her ponytail extending from the back.
Her face was mostly hidden, though her eyes were striking.
The muscular man spoke first.
“Finally.
We’ve been waiting for you.
Now that there are three of us, we can start.” The masked woman remained silent.
Darius cautiously asked, “Can someone explain what this place is?
Some kind of supernatural survival game?” The man chuckled.
“You figured that out quickly.
Read a lot of novels?” “Enough.” “You’re basically right.
Everyone here is a chosen resident of Horror Town.
You can think of us as players.” Darius nodded.
“So we’re teammates?” “Maybe.
Maybe not.” The man shook his head.
“Three residents are required to activate a trial.
Those three who disappeared earlier were one group.
The three of us are another.” “I see.
What happens after this?” The man was surprisingly willing to explain.
Horror Town sent its residents into different horror-movie worlds, where they had to complete missions and survive whatever events occurred.
Every trial contained at least one main objective and could also include optional missions.
Completing them rewarded exchange points, with more dangerous objectives naturally offering greater rewards.
Horror Town’s time remained synchronized with reality.
After finishing a trial, residents could stay inside the town or temporarily return to their original world, but when the next challenge arrived, they would be forcibly brought back.
Every resident had to complete ninety-nine horror-movie trials.
Anyone who survived all ninety-nine could permanently leave Horror Town by surrendering ninety-nine percent of the power and abilities they had accumulated, allowing them to keep the remaining one percent in the real world.
Even that could be incredibly valuable.
If someone eventually became strong enough to destroy a mountain with one punch, keeping only a fraction of that strength would still make them superhuman by ordinary standards.
Of course, there was supposedly another option.
Become powerful enough to break Horror Town’s rules and escape with everything.
Darius silently absorbed the information.
It wasn’t difficult to understand, and the entire situation happened to fall directly into his greatest area of expertise.
His favorite hobbies had always been horror movies and horror games.
Slashers, ghosts, demons, monsters, found footage—he watched almost everything and could remember the plots of countless American horror films.
His friends had even joked that he was a walking horror encyclopedia.
Unfortunately, enjoying horror movies and actually entering one were two very different things.
Knowing the plot might give him an advantage, but he was still an ordinary person.
One mistake could leave him dismembered by a killer, torn apart by a monster, or reduced to a corpse by some supernatural entity.
The muscular man smiled.
“My advice is to take risks whenever you can.
Optional missions usually give the best rewards.
Fortune favors the bold.” Darius gave a vague nod.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Greater risk meant greater rewards, but it also meant a much better chance of dying.
He wasn’t planning to throw his life away just for points.
The muscular man suddenly grinned.
“Nice.
Ten exchange points.
Easy money.” Darius immediately understood why the man had been so helpful.
Apparently, residents earned a small reward for explaining Horror Town’s rules to newcomers.
He had probably learned the exact same information from someone else during his first trial.
Darius then glanced toward the masked woman.
She clearly knew the rules but hadn’t bothered explaining anything.
Maybe she didn’t care about ten points, or perhaps she simply disliked talking.
Before he could ask another question, she finally spoke.
“It’s starting.” A series of translucent messages immediately appeared before Darius.
[Resident: Darius Kane] [District: 666] [Rank: Unranked] [Title: None] [Placement Trial: TERRIFIER 2] [Main Mission: Survive Halloween night until sunrise at 5:42 A.M.] [Reward: 100 Exchange Points] [Side Mission 1: Permanently kill Art the Clown.] [Reward: 1,000 Exchange Points] [Entering Trial World in 10 seconds.] Darius’s eyes widened.
“Terrifier 2?
Seriously?
That’s the first trial?” As a horror fan, there was no chance he could mistake this movie.
Art the Clown was one of the most vicious killers modern horror had produced, and Terrifier 2 was where his supernatural nature became impossible to ignore.
The story took place around Halloween in Miles County and centered heavily on Sienna Shaw and her younger brother, Jonathan.
The movie itself had become an enormous independent success.
Made for roughly $250,000, it earned more than $15 million worldwide despite beginning with a limited theatrical release.
Watching Art butcher victims from the safety of a screen was entertaining.
Being dropped directly into his Halloween killing spree was something else entirely.
Worse, Horror Town had casually offered Darius a thousand exchange points to permanently kill Art the Clown.
For a rookie placement trial, that was ridiculous.
This was like throwing a brand-new Bronze player directly into a Diamond-ranked match.
Darius stared at the countdown.
How the hell am I supposed to survive this?
[5…] [4…] [3…] Darius clenched his fists.
Whatever happened next, his second life clearly wasn’t going to be peaceful.
[2…] [1…] [Trial commencing.] (End of Chapter)