A certain university, a certain classroom, during a class break.
Qiu Wenjian's roommate got up to use the bathroom.
"Hey, mind if I log into my QQ on your computer?"
"Sure, go ahead."
"Thanks."
Taking the laptop, Qiu Wenjian opened the QQ login screen.
But what popped up instead was an ancient-looking dialog box.
"Do you wish to understand the meaning of life? Do you truly want… to live?"
That's what it said.
"Well, obviously not. This has 'virus' written all over it. Clicking that's just asking for trouble."
But curiously, there was only one button.
Yes.
No way to choose "No." What's the point of even asking, then?
Qiu Wenjian simply ignored the dialog box and left it hanging. After all, he was just logging into QQ a little pop-up wasn't going to bother him if he didn't touch it.
He double-clicked the QQ icon again, and this time, the login screen appeared normally. Playing it safe, Qiu opted for QR code login through his phone.
Just as he logged in, a string of notification beeps sounded.
"You've been invited to join the group chat: 'Newbie Reincarnators Pecking at Each Other.'"
Wenjian froze. First it was a mysterious pop-up from the so-called "Lord God's Space," and now there was this reincarnator group invite?
Could it be that his QQ was really infected?
He thought about it for a moment and decided to enter the group to investigate.
The moment he clicked "Yes," everything around him came to a halt.
Not just the computer literally everything.
The classmates milling about after class, the teacher wiping the blackboard all of them were frozen in place.
Then, several masked figures in black rushed in through the door, wielding strange-looking weapons that were probably meant to be guns or something similar, and aimed them directly at Wenjian.
"We're from the Security Division!"
The leader, holding a gun-like device, barked at him.
"Are you 'HandsomeGuyOopsIDidItAgain'?!"
(That was Wenjian's online alias.)
Hearing it called out, he reflexively replied,
"Uh, yeah, that's me."
"Did you just try to join a group chat?!"
"It popped up on its own!"
"Answer the question directly!"
The muzzle was pushed closer to his face, making Wenjian tense up. Time was still frozen he was the only one who could move.
This bizarre situation left his mind spinning, but on instinct, he chose to cooperate. Whatever these people wanted, he had to play along for now. Survival first figure out the rest later.
"Yes, I did try to join."
"Verify your identity!"
"…How?"
Wenjian was stunned. He was himself how exactly was he supposed to prove that?
"Did you see a pop-up asking about the meaning of life?!"
So they were related to that thing. He quickly replied,
"Yes."
"Did you choose not to click anything?!"
"Yes."
"Then did the group invite appear afterward?!"
"Yes! Like I said, it popped up on its own!"
"What was the name of the group?!"
"How am I supposed to remember that right away?!"
The lead figure pulled back the slide on his weapon with a metallic click.
"Answer the question!"
The sound of a bullet chambering made Wenjian frown.
If this was some kind of prank, they were really going too far. But if it wasn't…
He knew there was no chance of escape. Cooperation was his best shot at staying alive.
"I think it was something like… 'Newbie Pecking'? 'Newbie Reincarnators Pecking at Each Other Chat Group'?"
"Very well. Identity provisionally confirmed. You may be eligible to join our group but we still suspect you might be a spy sent by the Lord God. We need to run further checks."
Pointing to the computer, the man asked,
"Do you recognize this device?"
"Yes, it's my friend's laptop."
"You accessed the internet through it?"
"Right. I was just trying to log into QQ."
"Do you know what the Lord God's Space is?"
"No idea."
He fired off three questions in a row, and Wenjian answered them honestly.
"Final question. Are you a spy sent by the Lord God?!"
"…What?!"
"Are. You. A. Spy. Sent. By. The. Lord. God?!"
Wenjian looked at them like they were insane. If he was a spy, why would he admit it now?
"No!"
"Then, identify which of the following behaviors is considered normal."
They showed him four images.
The first was from League of Legends a team had already pushed to the enemy base, but they were all charging into the enemy fountain instead of ending the game.
The second was from an anime he knew Sasuke trying to assassinate the Five Kage.
The third featured a familiar scene Gilgamesh getting dragged into Unlimited Blade Works by Shirou.
The fourth image was more recent. From the anime Cautious Hero, the protagonist was mercilessly beating a slime into oblivion with skill spam.
Normal? Wenjian thought the person asking the question must be the abnormal one. What kind of choices were these?
The only pattern he could see was that the first three were reckless to the point of stupidity. The fourth guy, at least, was cautious.
If it were up to him, he'd always go with a safer, more measured approach. Going full YOLO always led to disaster.
So, taking a wild guess, he chose the fourth image.
"Okay. Verification complete. Congratulations, HandsomeGuyOopsIDidItAgain. You are now an official member of the 'Newbie Reincarnators Pecking at Each Other' chat group."
The man tapped Wenjian lightly on the forehead.
"You can't refuse an invitation from the Lord God's Space. But only cautious individuals hesitate instead of clicking right away. You've shown us that you qualify to join. And our tests confirm you weren't lying. You may now connect to our group chat via thought-link."
After a pause, the man continued, his voice suddenly stern despite the mask.
"But before we officially welcome you, there are rules you must know."
Even with his face covered, Wenjian could feel the weight of his seriousness.
"Act with caution. Avoid reckless decisions. The stability of our chat group depends on the prudence of its members."