Lin's lungs had frozen.
All the sounds in the seventeenth-floor office vanished, replaced by a sharp ringing in his ears.
He was staring at his phone, but he no longer saw a mere glass screen. He saw a gateway to an incomprehensible madness.
A sarcastic laugh had turned into a blood oath of loyalty from a "Demon Monarch."
An enticing message from a "Dark Fairy Queen" promised him everything.
And now... silence. A heavy, expectant silence from beings who could, apparently, make their text messages "tremble."
"No, no, no," he whispered in a broken voice, his eyes darting between his phone's screen and his colleague in the next cubicle, who was cleaning his nails with bored indifference. "This is impossible. It's a sophisticated virus. A trick. An incredibly elaborate prank."
His mind tried to cling to logic. Maybe they were a group of genius programmers who hacked his phone? Maybe this was an app that used AI to generate dramatic responses based on—no, that didn't explain how his message was "translated."
He hadn't written "Hahahaha," he had written "hhhhhh." There was a difference. A cosmic difference.
His cold fingers moved frantically. He had to close this thing. Now.
He pressed the home button. Nothing happened. The demonic chat interface remained fixed on the screen, the bone throne in the background seeming to mock his desperate attempt.
"Okay..." he muttered, feeling his pulse hammer in his throat. "Force restart."
He held down the power button and the volume down button, the last resort for any tech support staff facing a stubborn device. He waited two seconds, five, ten.
The screen did not respond. The image of the purple throne glowed with a terrifying stillness.
True panic began to seep into his veins, as cold as ice.
This phone was no longer his.
In the chat group, a new message appeared from Queen Xue, as soft as silk and as venomous as a viper.
[Dark Fairy Queen Xue]: My Lord, your silence is as deep as the sea... Are you testing our patience? Or are you preparing your first move that will shake the realms?
Yuan Lin felt dizzy. Testing their patience? He could barely breathe!
In a state of absolute panic, he did the only thing he could think of: he tried to remove the battery. But his phone was a modern model, a single piece of polished glass and metal that couldn't be opened.
He slapped the phone against his other palm in frustration. "Damn it! Work!"
And suddenly, the phone worked. But not in the way he wanted.
The screen flickered violently, colors streaking and blurring into chaotic lines.
Then, as if someone had changed the channel, the entire dark, gothic chat interface transformed.
The throne vanished, the member list vanished, everything vanished.
What appeared in its place was a pure blue screen, eerily similar to the infamous "Blue Screen of Death" from old Windows systems.
But this screen was more... elegant. The fonts glowed with a silvery-white light and flowed smoothly.
Words appeared in the center of the screen, one line after another, accompanied by a faint, calm, electronic clicking sound.
[...Initializing Primary Guidance System...]
[Welcome, Host No. 99. Or as you should now be addressed: Lord of Eternal Chaos.]
Yuan Lin stared at the words, his mind completely blank. Host No. 99? Were there 98 others before him? What happened to them? He didn't dare think about the answer.
[Analyzing Host's condition: Confusion (98%), Fear (85%), Curiosity (17%), Hunger (5% - a snack is recommended after completing the guidance).]
Lin felt insulted and angry for a moment. Was this system reading his thoughts... and his stomach?!
[Clarifying Primary Mission: This device is not merely an "app." It is an "Artifact Nexus Tool," a bridge connecting your reality (Primal World C-73) and the Chaos World (Cultivation World A-01).]
[Your Role: You, Yuan Lin, have been selected due to your soul's compatibility with the residual will of the lost "Lord of Eternal Chaos." Your mission is to embody this role. You must act as their master, think as their master, and command as their master.]
[The Goal: Every successful interaction that maintains your prestige as the "Lord of Chaos" will grant you "Chaos Points" (CP). These points can be used to unlock real skills, purchase items from the Cultivation World, or be converted into wealth in your world.]
At the word "wealth," Yuan Lin's eyes widened slightly. The rhythm of his frantic breathing slowed.
[Penalty for Failure: If your true identity is exposed, it will be considered a failure to uphold the legacy. The severity of the failure will determine your punishment, ranging from "erasure of system-related memories" to "complete soul erasure."]
The icy wave of cold returned. Soul erasure. This wasn't just a threat of data loss. This was a threat of a Ctrl+Alt+Delete on his entire existence.
[System Advice: The group members await your response. Prolonged silence can be interpreted as wisdom... or weakness. Testing the latter option is not recommended.]
[...End of Primary Guidance. Good luck, My Lord.]
The blue screen vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and the demonic chat interface returned, as if nothing had happened.
But everything had changed.
Yuan Lin was no longer looking at a joke. He was looking down the barrel of a gun pointed at his head—a gun that promised him riches if he danced to the right tune.
"Wealth..." he muttered. "And real skills..."
He looked around at the grey office, at his uncomfortable chair, and remembered his dream about the paper jam. What kind of life was this? Even if this was a deadly trap, wasn't it more interesting than the slow death here?
He took a deep breath, trying to calm his heart. He understood the rules now.
He had to act. He had to be the best actor in the history of the universe.
He looked at Queen Xue's message. "Are you testing our patience? Or are you preparing your first move?"
What would a real demon lord say in this situation?
Probably something vague, arrogant, and full of false wisdom. He summoned every fantasy novel he had ever read, every movie he had ever watched.
His fingers, which had been trembling minutes ago, now moved with a steady, cautious purpose over the screen.
[Lord_of_Eternal_Chaos]: Patience is a virtue of the weak, Xue. As for us, we do not wait... we set the stage. The grand design unfolds in its own time. Watch and learn.
He hit "send" and felt like he had just jumped out of a plane without a parachute.
His translated message appeared, more grand and colder than the original.
[Lord of Eternal Chaos]: Patience is the shield of mortals, Xue. As for immortals such as us, we do not wait... we set the stage. The grand plan manifests according to its own rhythm. Watch, and contemplate.
The chat trembled with reactions.
[Demon Monarch Wu Tian]: I understand! The Lord is telling us to remain calm and trust his plan! It is wisdom beyond our comprehension! I will go meditate on these words at once!
[Dark Fairy Queen Xue]: ...Your words touch an ancient chord, My Lord. I will watch... with great pleasure.
At that moment, a small, private system notification appeared, visible only to him.
[A masterful act that preserves the Lord's dignity. +10 Chaos Points.]
[Current Balance: 10 Chaos Points.]
Yuan Lin felt a strange rush of satisfaction. He had succeeded! He got 10 points! He didn't know what to do with them, but it seemed better than nothing.
Then another notification appeared.
[First successful achievement detected. "Beginner's Gift" has been granted. Would you like to open it?]
Yes! Lin thought excitedly. A new window appeared before him, displaying a black treasure chest decorated with rubies.
[Beginner's Gift: Choose one reward]
1. Primary Body Strengthening Pill (Increases physical body strength by 20%).
2. Spiritual Sensing Technique (Allows you to feel faint spiritual energy around you).
3. Instant Wealth Conversion (Convert 10 Chaos Points into your local world's currency).
Lin hesitated for a moment. Body strengthening and spiritual sensing sounded tempting, but they were strange and frightening concepts.
Money, however... money was something he understood. Something he desperately needed.
He chose the third option.
[Wealth Conversion selected. Current exchange rate: 1 Chaos Point = 10,000 Yuan. Do you confirm the conversion of 10 Chaos Points into 100,000 Yuan?]
His heart stopped. One hundred thousand Yuan? That was more than his salary for an entire year.
Could this be real? It could be the final step in a scam to steal his information. But what did he have to lose? His bank account barely had enough to pay next month's rent.
[Please enter the bank account number for the transfer.]
With trembling hands, he entered his account number.
He pressed "Confirm."
For a second, nothing happened. Then, his phone suddenly vibrated. It wasn't the demonic app's vibration; it was a normal, familiar vibration.
A notification from his banking app.
He opened the notification, his eyes wide.
"An amount of 100,000.00 Yuan has been deposited into your account. Your current balance: 103,452.81 Yuan."
Yuan Lin stared at the number. He closed the app and opened it again.
The number was still there. Real. Tangible. One hundred thousand Yuan.
He looked out the window at the sprawling city. It no longer seemed like a dreary place, but a world full of opportunities.
He looked at his desk. It was no longer a cell, but a starting point.
True, he was stuck in a deadly trap with a bunch of crazy demons. And true, his life could end if he made a single mistake.
But for the first time in years, he felt something other than boredom.
He felt a dangerous mix of pure fear... and absolute greed.
This was the most dangerous game in existence, and he had just become a player.
And he had to admit... the cage, suddenly, was looking very golden.