At dawn, sunlight gently spilled across the waking city. In the urban village downtown, hardworking shop owners were already setting up their breakfast stalls. Nine-to-five office workers poured out of their apartment buildings, picking up fried dough sticks and steamed buns from roadside vendors on their way to the subway.
As soon as the dough hit the hot oil, it began to sizzle, adding another note to the lively rhythm of the morning.
In a rented apartment in one of the residential buildings, the ringing of a phone woke Tang Xiao, who had only just fallen asleep after staying up half the night.
Tang Xiao groggily lifted his head and glanced at the phone beside him. The caller ID showed Little Li. It was a video call, too.
A slender hand with long fingers swiped across the screen, and a handsome face he had known since childhood appeared.
“Those dark circles are awful. Did you stay up late again last night?”
“Mm. Double gifts last night.” Tang Xiao yawned. His dark circles were bad enough to qualify him as a national treasure.
Li Mu clicked his tongue on the other end of the call. “Your roommate said you skipped class yesterday?”
Tang Xiao opened a game as he replied in the hoarse voice of someone who had stayed up far too late, “Are you really that bored? You even have time to keep tabs on me?”
“A little. The project at the lab I’m working at failed recently, and the boss has been in a foul mood. Luckily, we got some unexpected results during the experiment, so we’ve switched to working in that direction... Wait! You still haven’t answered me!” Li Mu had nearly let himself get sidetracked.
Tang Xiao switched the phone to his other hand. “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing. Besides, I’m not planning to rely on this major to make a living. I just need to graduate.”
“Yeah, I guess. If things really don’t work out, you can always go work at your family’s company...” Li Mu muttered from the other end. Seeing that Tang Xiao had already made up his mind, he couldn’t be bothered to say anything more. His childhood friend certainly wasn’t going to starve. “If you really want to become a gaming streamer, you should try a game that’s been huge lately. It’s insanely difficult, and even a lot of professional players have failed at it. If you can beat it, you might become famous overnight.”
At the mention of a difficult game, Tang Xiao immediately became interested. “What’s it called?”
“Fungal Era.”
Tang Xiao closed the game he had just opened and checked his inbox. It was full of spam, but one email immediately caught his eye.
Fungal Era invites you to join the closed beta.
“They really did send it,” Tang Xiao muttered as he began searching online for information about Fungal Era.
Strangely, although the game had sparked widespread discussion online, very few videos or images had surfaced. After searching for a while, Tang Xiao managed to find only some basic information. Supposedly, the game was set in a world overrun by fungi, where humanity struggled to survive in scattered survivor bases.
Suddenly, Tang Xiao’s hand froze on the mouse. His finger stopped just before scrolling past.
It was a rare image that had made its way online. In it was a strange, blood-red little creature.
A red life-form about the size of a dinner plate.
Yes, a life-form. Some people even questioned whether it could be called an animal, because it had neither normal fur nor skin. At a glance, it was obvious that it could never have come from nature. To the naked eye, it resembled an irregular ball of tangled muscle fibers. As the fibers pulsed, several hidden eyeballs were exposed, staring toward the camera with a vicious, ferocious gaze.
With just one glance, Tang Xiao was captivated by the strange life-form.
His tastes had always been unusual. Fluffy creatures that most people adored held little appeal for him. Instead, he liked things ordinary people found terrifying, such as newborn aye-ayes and star-nosed moles.
He was fascinated by their absurd, otherworldly beauty—something that seemed to lie beyond the limits of human imagination.
His phone’s photo album was filled mostly with high-definition images of Lovecraftian creatures. When filling out his college applications, he had inexplicably listed biology as his third choice because, deep down, he had wanted to search for the eerie creatures that might—or might not—exist somewhere on Earth.
Of course, once he was actually assigned to the major, he discovered that real biology was nothing like what he had imagined. The various monsters found in games, on the other hand, suited his tastes much better.
After staring at the picture for five full minutes, Tang Xiao slowly exhaled and tapped Save.
He was already looking forward to the game.
***
Three days later, the full-dive helmet arrived.
Tang Xiao immediately put it on and launched the game.
The login screen was fairly ordinary, rendered in a futuristic shade of tech blue. There was no character creation and no class selection, only a disclaimer.
“This game is currently in closed beta. If you experience any discomfort while playing, please exit the game immediately. There is currently no respawn function, so proceed with caution.”
“Please treat this world as your second life.”
That was an interesting disclaimer.
Tang Xiao hadn’t spent the three days waiting for his gaming helmet doing nothing. He had searched online for all kinds of guides and information. Supposedly, the game was monitored entirely by AI and imposed no fixed style of play. It was essentially a completely free and realistic sandbox game, and even each player’s main quest was different.
Most importantly, the game was difficult.
Extremely difficult.
According to complaints from players, there was no respawn mechanic whatsoever. If you died, you were dead. Some players had even been killed by monsters the instant they entered the game, without ever figuring out what had happened.
A high-difficulty game.
It had undoubtedly piqued Tang Xiao’s interest.
His lips curled beneath the helmet. He tapped the button confirming that he had read the disclaimer and started the game without hesitation.
“May you survive in safety, and enjoy the game.”
A cold, mechanical voice sounded in his ear. Tang Xiao opened his eyes in the darkness...
“Hurry up. Take off your clothes.”
Was it going to get intense right from the start?
Tang Xiao looked around and found himself in a room decorated in cool tones, something resembling a changing room or disinfection chamber.
“Take off your clothes and disinfect yourselves.” There was another person in the chamber, dressed in a white lab coat like a researcher, with a badge pinned to their chest. They glanced coldly at Tang Xiao, who still hadn’t moved. “Are newcomers this useless these days? How did someone this dazed even get selected?”
[Ferdinand Babbit, Researcher for the Third Eye Organization]
Tang Xiao’s mouth twitched. He had no choice but to follow everyone else’s lead, disinfect his hands, take off his jacket, and put on the lab coat that had been prepared for him.
Once everyone had finished disinfecting themselves, the guards left. Babbit led them into the corridor outside, explaining the situation as they walked:
“You’re fortunate to have been selected by the Third Eye to work as experimental assistants. There are many rules in the laboratory...”
Tang Xiao listened for a while and eventually managed to piece together some information.
The character he was playing was a low-level employee who had just joined this research institute—a future lab drone.
The Third Eye, meanwhile, was a notorious evil research organization within the game, a gathering place for mad scientists who specialized in developing all manner of biological weapons.
Who would have thought he would be dropped straight into the boss’s lair the moment he logged in?
What was this, hell mode right from the start?
It looked like his main quest would take place inside this research institute. But what would it be? Destroy the institute? Go undercover?
As Tang Xiao wondered how to trigger the main quest, Babbit led the group into the laboratory’s central area. A sly smile appeared on his face.
“You’re lucky. You’ll get to see this before it’s disposed of.”
“Take a good look, newcomers. This is one of the experimental subjects from the Third Eye’s primary research project. If this project succeeds, the entire world will tremble beneath His might.”
Everyone looked up curiously. Tang Xiao did the same, gazing into the area enclosed by bulletproof glass.
At first glance, his pupils contracted.
The game’s real-time monitor showed his heart rate rising.
It was even more to his taste than he had imagined.
A photograph and seeing something with your own eyes were ultimately two very different things.
The little blood-red monster slowly writhed on the other side of the laboratory’s bulletproof glass, leaving sticky strands behind as it moved. Only after seeing it in person did Tang Xiao realize that those fibers weren’t muscles at all, but threadlike strands resembling fungal hyphae.
Like delicate blood vessels, they seemed to have peeled away from the inside of its body and skin, lying separately exposed to the air. Between the clumps of hyphae, orange-yellow vertical pupils could just barely be seen. Like a non-Newtonian fluid, they could surface on any part of its irregularly shaped body.
Bizarre and uncanny.
Fungus? Animal? Plant?
It was impossible to say. It seemed to possess characteristics of all three, yet was entirely unlike any of them. It completely contradicted everything he had ever learned about biology. None of the existing systems of biological classification could contain it; it seemed to exist entirely beyond the boundaries of science.
There was even a primal fear that seemed to surge up from deep within their genes, screaming at them to stay away.
Everyone’s expression changed, as though they had suddenly encountered a natural enemy standing far above them on the food chain.
Tang Xiao’s expression changed as well.
A flush crept across his cheeks, and the muscles around his eyes twitched involuntarily. Reason and madness pulled against each other: reason told him to get away, while madness clamored for him to move closer.
To get a better look...
At this beautiful monster.
Tang Xiao unconsciously took a step forward, standing out from the other newcomers. He didn’t even notice the ventilation system slowly working overhead.
At that very moment, the airflow shifted.
The monster froze for two seconds.
Then, to everyone’s astonishment, the plate-sized creature shot out from the corner of the laboratory and slammed into the bulletproof glass almost instantly.
Several newcomers standing nearby jumped in fright, nearly stumbling into the lab tables behind them.
Tang Xiao also snapped out of his trance.
Against the transparent glass wall, the mass of blood-red fibers writhed. The eyeballs pressed against the glass and rolled around as the creature sniffed like a wolf that had caught the scent of meat, using its olfactory receptors—if it even had any—to detect every scent molecule in the air.
The hairs on the back of Tang Xiao’s neck stood on end.
His heart rate spiked, nearly triggering a warning from the game.
What was it... smelling?
Tang Xiao instinctively retreated into the crowd.
The newcomers around him whispered among themselves, but he couldn’t feel the slightest sense of safety.
Because that strange orange-yellow vertical pupil was staring directly at him.
Tang Xiao’s palms began to sweat.
For some reason, when his gaze met that of the blood-red monster, goosebumps nearly broke out all over his body. That single eye contained an intense emotion that any human could easily understand—so vicious and ferocious that Tang Xiao’s heart sank lower and lower.
It was overwhelming...
Greed and hunger.
At that moment, even though the monster was locked inside the laboratory, Tang Xiao didn’t feel safe at all.
Instead, he felt as though he were the prey trapped in a cage, waiting to be cleaned, plated, and served as the monster’s dinner.
Everyone present was breathing heavily with fear. The blond man asked curiously, “Dr. Babbit, is this bulletproof glass sturdy? Can it see us from inside?”
“No, it can’t,” Babbit said gravely. “Don’t worry. This entire experimental area is made from the strongest materials. Even the ventilation ducts are made of PESA material... There’s no way it can smell us.”
“PESA material...” The blond man visibly relaxed at those words.
Babbit strode over to the control panel and pressed a button.
A powerful electric current suddenly surged through the inner layer of glass. The monster clinging to the wall was instantly scorched by the heat and recoiled from it.
“It’s always been half-dead. I don’t know why it’s so excited today. All right, don’t worry. 428 can’t break out of this cage. It’s nothing more than a failed specimen. They’ll dispose of it in a few days.”
[Main Quest Unlocked]
As Tang Xiao’s gaze met the eyeballs on the other side of the room, a game panel suddenly appeared.
[Main Quest: Raise 428 to become the King of Fungi and max out 428’s affection.
Reward: Title: “Keeper of the King of Fungi” (Note: Holding this title grants partial control over fungal creatures)]
Tang Xiao froze.
What was this?
Who was 428?
This monster?
Wait, was this some kind of dating game?
And the romance target wasn’t even human?
Had the gaming world really gotten this wild?
“You said it was a failed specimen? Isn’t it part of the main research project?”
Just as Tang Xiao was reeling from the sudden appearance of the main quest, the blond man from before asked another question.
“I said if. Unfortunately, the experiment has failed. We’ve already wasted too much time, and the higher-ups have run out of patience. This experimental subject will be disposed of as well.” Babbit didn’t sound particularly regretful as he spoke. “When I said ‘main project,’ I meant the common objective of this research institute. There are plenty of laboratories working on related research. This is only one of them. But that’s not something you need to worry about. We don’t even know which laboratory you’ll be assigned to yet.”
Hearing this, the others immediately relaxed.
No one wanted to waste their life in a laboratory that was destined to be shut down. They were still dreaming of promotions and raises.
Tang Xiao, however, furrowed his brow.
Dispose of it?
What would happen to his quest if they did?
But he had no time to think about it.
After this little interruption, Babbit no longer seemed interested in lingering there. He led the newcomers away.
“Come on. I’ll show you the other areas.”
The others eagerly followed Babbit out.
Tang Xiao brought up the rear.
Just before the door closed, a strange tugging sensation made him turn his head and look back.
The monster, its blood-red hyphae clumped together, had lifted most of its body off the cold floor. Its orange-yellow eye had been scorched black from pressing too close to the glass. The eyeball had sunk back into the fibers, but the tips of its hyphae were still writhing in the air, inching toward the doorway—
Toward the place where Tang Xiao stood.
Tang Xiao felt a faint tingling at the back of his head.
He hurriedly turned around and caught up with the others.
And so he failed to see the blood-red monster slowly crawling into the ventilation duct after everyone had left.
The material sealing the joint, which should have been incredibly sturdy, began to slowly dissolve beneath the acidic substance secreted by the monster.