The Game Invitation

After a flash of white light, Bai Shuang slowly opened her eyes.

The first thing she saw were three unfamiliar figures.

The man in glasses subconsciously adjusted the frames on his nose.

On the surface, he pretended to be calm, observing his surroundings, but from his slightly tense shoulders and rapidly moving eyes, it was clear he was nervous.

Beside him, a middle-aged man looked dazed, his gaze vacant as he stared at the scene before him, as if he hadn’t yet figured out what was happening.

On the far side stood a curly-haired girl.

Bai Shuang stared at her for a few seconds, feeling like she had seen her somewhere before.

She thought back, and fragments immediately flashed through her mind.

‘Oh right, isn’t that a classmate from my class? And she was the leader of the first group of three who came to find me.’

As for why she was here, Bai Shuang knew perfectly well.

It started a few minutes ago.

At the time, although she was holding the Sword of Promised Victory, she hadn’t actually planned to unleash a Noble Phantasm or anything like that.

After all, she was at home.

No matter how reckless she was, she wouldn’t actually demolish her own house.

Halo’s worry back then was completely unnecessary.

But Bai Shuang really did need a place where no one would find her, so she could consume more Protagonist Points in exchange for Villain Points.

Her original idea was to go to Eternal Night City, where there were no people, making it perfect for her purposes.

But before she could make up her mind, Halo proactively prompted her.

[Non-official personnel entering Eternal Night City within Huaxia’s borders without authorization will automatically attract the attention of local Huaxia officials.]

That left Bai Shuang a bit frustrated.

She and those officials were, in a sense, colleagues, and she didn’t want to cause them trouble.

But she couldn’t go to school like this tomorrow!

The class’s invisible girl suddenly turning into a beautiful girl and showing up at school, that was too anime-like!

However, Halo gave her a new suggestion.

“Game Invitation?”

Bai Shuang’s red eyes flickered with confusion as she repeated the unfamiliar term.

Halo: [Yes.]

“What is that?”

[For humans in this world to obtain special abilities beyond others, they must first acquire a Game Invitation,] Halo explained patiently. [These invitations are sent to eligible individuals through various means.]

[When one actively accepts the invitation’s summons, or passively waits seven days, the invitee is pulled into the corresponding instance.]

[Every player must go through three novice instances. These are safety mechanisms where no deaths occur.]

[However, if a player fails any of these instances, they will have all memories related to the game wiped, returning to their ordinary life as if the game never existed.]

After hearing this, Bai Shuang immediately understood.

“Seems like this death game is pretty lenient.”

During her retirement, she had read novels of this genre when bored, so she wasn’t unfamiliar with the concept.

Halo: [You can think of it that way.]

Bai Shuang: “You mean I should go into this instance game and consume Protagonist Points, right?”

“Yes.”

Bai Shuang nodded slightly.

“I get the logic, but where am I supposed to get this so-called Game Invitation?”

Before Halo could respond, Third Mom, who was nearby carrying a tray of heated food, spoke up first.

“A Game Invitation? That’s easy.”

Bai Shuang turned her head and saw Third Mom smiling as she handed her an envelope that looked very luxurious.

“Here, go play.”

Bai Shuang silently reached out to take the envelope, a hint of bewilderment in her red eyes, her expression a bit dazed.

‘Kind of felt like… giving pocket money to a kid and telling them to go out and play?’

“Um… do you all know why you’re here?”

A sudden voice interrupted Bai Shuang’s memories.

It was the young man in glasses who had spoken earlier.

He adjusted his glasses, his gaze sweeping over Bai Shuang, the curly-haired girl, and the middle-aged man.

The curly-haired girl, who was in the same class as Bai Shuang, hesitated upon hearing this, then asked softly, “Is it… because of that letter?”

“Letter?”

The middle-aged man reacted immediately, frowning as he recalled.

“You mean that letter with ‘Game Invitation’ written on it?”

The man in glasses nodded slightly in confirmation.

The curly-haired girl’s voice trembled involuntarily, a bit panicked.

“I thought… it was just some otaku’s prank. I didn’t think it was real…”

Bai Shuang: ???

‘Did otaku steal your rice or something?’

The middle-aged man sounded annoyed.

“I saw the letter said something about a game invitation, but I didn’t take it seriously at the time.”

“I have to work overtime until midnight every day. I’m exhausted to death. Who has the energy to care about some game?”

Hearing this, the young man in glasses sighed, a complex expression on his face.

His gaze swept over the panicked curly-haired girl and the tired middle-aged man, finally landing on Bai Shuang.

But when he took a good look at Bai Shuang’s face, he couldn’t help but freeze.

The light around them hadn’t been very bright earlier, so he hadn’t paid much attention to the others.

Now that he focused entirely on Bai Shuang, he immediately realized how extraordinary this girl was.

She had long, jet-black hair that hung straight down to her waist, as smooth as fine silk.

She wore a black-and-red JK-style skirt, the hem just reaching her knees, making her figure look slender but not frail.

Her face carried little extra expression, yet it somehow gave off an extremely calm feeling.

Especially her unusual red eyes, clear and deep, as if a single gaze could draw in one’s mind, robbing it of the ability to think.

She was beautiful, the kind of extreme beauty that even the stars on screen couldn’t compare to.

At least, the young man had never seen such a stunning appearance.

But soon, he snapped out of his awe and realized something more critical.

This long-haired beauty was far too calm.

Faced with this strange situation of being dragged into an unfamiliar place, she showed no panic at all.

In fact, her red eyes even held a faint, almost imperceptible hint of… boredom?

Seeing this, the young man formed a guess.

He steadied himself and took the initiative to ask Bai Shuang, “Student, did you also contact an official organization?”

Bai Shuang was taken aback, then nodded slightly, replying calmly, “You could say that.”

Hearing the confirmation, the man in glasses immediately became excited, his voice rising.

“I knew it!”

The curly-haired girl beside him was startled by his reaction and couldn’t help asking, “What do you mean by contacting officials? What’s going on?”

Realizing he had gotten carried away, the man in glasses cleared his throat, steadied his emotions, and introduced himself.

“Sorry for scaring you. My name is Zhang Wei, a sophomore in college.”

“After I received that Game Invitation, I immediately sensed something was off.”

“So I contacted the police right away. I figured if the letter was real, the authorities would know something about it.”

“Sure enough, not long after I contacted the police, someone came to find me. They gave me a series of training sessions and some assistance.”

Zhang Wei didn’t elaborate on the training or the specific help, cutting off there.

But though he didn’t say it, Bai Shuang had already guessed a few things through observation.

Zhang Wei was wearing a loose casual jacket, but through the unzipped part, she could vaguely make out something wrapped in leather.

That object clung to the line of his shoulder and extended to his armpit.

It wasn’t clothing; instead, it was something Bai Shuang was very familiar with.

‘Hmm… a pistol?’