Li Ping'an stared in horror at his surroundings, illuminated by the faint moonlight outside the house, his face a picture of shock.

The familiar 888 dormitory from Hehuang University was nowhere to be seen; instead, a strange, abandoned Buddhist temple came into view.

Old and dilapidated wooden beams and pillars, a leaky roof, and tiles overrun by wild grass were everywhere. The place was filled with dense spider webs and the smell of rotting wood.

At the center of the temple was a five-meter-tall Bodhisattva statue seated in a meditative pose, its radiant aura majestic.

However, what Li Ping'an found incomprehensible was that the Bodhisattva's head was that of a ferret, its left hand holding a Flying Dragon Staff, and its right clutching a Three-Pronged Steel Trident with the head of Bodhisattva Lingji hanging from it, covered in bloodstains.

Beneath the Lotus Platform, a distressing pile of skulls built up like a small hill. The fallen plaque was inscribed with: Bodhisattva King Huang Feng, Dharma Protector Deity Shi Gandang of Little Mount Sumeru. The scene was bizarre and terrifying.

Corpses...

Four or five bodies lay beside the well in the open space outside the temple's main entrance, strewn about in disarray, some still bleeding.

The thick, fresh blood spread and flowed across the ground with the rainwater, the intense smell of blood hitting the senses head-on.

The scenes both inside and outside the temple were horrifying, but the dire predicament was even more distressing.

A row of iron cages, meant for livestock and reeking of a foul odor, were filled with blood-stained rags, and faint calls for help and intermittent screams echoed throughout the decrepit temple.

He looked down at his body and gave it a thorough check, finding scabbed-over wounds everywhere.

Especially the large swollen bump on the back of his head, when Li Ping'an pressed lightly on it, the pain made him grimace.

"Who the hell ambushed me and locked me up here? What is all this about?"

At that moment, a huge figure shrouded in black qi entered through the side of the door; only when it got closer could he see the creature's true form:

A bald man's head, but the body of a dog standing over three meters tall with needle-like black fur. It wore a yellow monk's robe and a gold-embossed kasaya, a Buddhist Blade dripping with blood in its left hand, thick with Demonic Qi.

It effortlessly picked up three prisoners from the cages in front of Li Ping'an, walked to the wellside, and in the rainy night proceeded to behead, skin, and disembowel each prisoner one by one—and Li Ping'an was next!

Li Ping'an's slightly dazed mind was jolted fully awake; his heart started to pound uncontrollably, as though it wanted to leap out of his throat. His hand hidden within his sleeve trembled uncontrollably.

He didn't grow up in Northern Myanmar—the sight of a Demon Monster skinning humans alive and the ground littered with corpses was way beyond his tolerance.

With a fierce bite to his lip, Li Ping'an struggled to suppress the panic that was creeping into his thoughts. He tried hard to recall how he ended up in the dire situation before him.

Thirty minutes earlier, as the first person in the world to gain access to the beta version of the mobile game "Black Myth: The Fated One," Li Ping'an excitedly downloaded the game and, with joy, booted up the interface to start playing.

[Welcome to the world of "Black Myth: The Fated One"!]

The game's screen was as dark as an abyss, the blood-red text seemed like fresh blood, slowly melting and soaking the entire screen; a series of new words, pulsating with black flames, appeared.

[Li Ping'an, you will play as a "Destined One," seeking to uncover the truth behind ancient legends, embarking on a journey to the West filled with danger and surprise.]

[The game world and the real world you inhabit are interconnected. Death in-game means death in reality.]

[As a reward, everything in the game, such as Cultivation, Divine Skills, Side Techniques, Magical Treasures, Elixirs, Weapons, and more can be brought back into the real world.]

[The game can be paused and saved at any time. We look forward to your next login, Destined One. However, you must log in at least nine times within a month.]

"Monkey God, activate!"

Then he opened his eyes and confirmed a fact—he had transmigrated and had entered the mobile game world of "Black Myth: The Fated One," becoming a prisoner and food to Demon Monsters.

"Am I playing the game, or is this damn game playing me?"

"Could it be karma for often stealing kills in games?"

Having recognized his reality, Li Ping'an knew he had to escape. Outside, the Human-Headed Dog Demon had finished skinning all the humans and was now approaching him.

With the belief that if his head could fit through, so could his body, Li Ping'an stretched his head through the bars of the cage. The closer the demon got, the more frantically he tried to wriggle free.

But even with his head scraped bloody and his body drenched in sweat, he could not escape the cage until the demon was upon him.

The Human-Headed Dog Demon leisurely opened the cage and effortlessly yanked Li Ping'an out, engulfing him in a vast shadow. To the demon, Li Ping'an was like a little chick, not even as thick as the demon's thigh.

The Human-Headed Dog Demon pinned Li Ping'an's trembling shoulder with its left claw, raised the Buddhist Blade with its right, and smiled with malicious glee,

"You dirty, stupid creature, you think you can escape from your grand-doggy? Since you're so eager to die, this king will offer you to the temple of the five viscera!"

As soon as the Human-Headed Dog Demon finished speaking, a Flying Sword suddenly stabbed out from the last cell in the row. In a flash, it took advantage of the demon's lack of attention and pierced its back, with the bloodied tip appearing before Li Ping'an's eyes.

"That beast! Daring to ambush your grandpa! Unfortunately, ordinary weapons can only injure me but cannot kill me!"

Despite the intense pain, the Human-Headed Dog Demon's face twisted into a hideous snarl, its bloodshot eyes gleaming with a murderous light. Enraged, it decided to kill Li Ping'an before killing the prisoners in the next cell.

The furiously enraged Human-Headed Dog Demon lifted Li Ping'an high, and before the Buddhist Blade even struck, its steel-trap-like claws nearly crushed his shoulders.

Pain! Pain! Pain!

Apart from the heart-piercing agony, all that was left was an abyssal fear:

Damn it! I'm about to die! Soon, this Demon for no reason will kill me!

From now on, there will be no Li Ping'an in either the real world or the game world.

Even the pain I'm feeling right now, the terror in my heart, will vanish like smoke.

No!

I don't want to die!

I don't want to die in such an absurd way!

At this life-and-death moment, the cusp of doom, Li Ping'an's strong desire to survive seemed to trigger a response, and a very simple Attribute Template suddenly appeared in his mind:

Cultivation: 0%

Divine Skills: None

Survival Time: 30 minutes

This Attribute Panel was as simplistic as it gets—no instruction manual, no indication of its specific uses.

Then came the next moment's game notification sound:

"The Fated One, Li Ping'an, has successfully survived for 30 minutes. Survival time can automatically be converted into the corresponding Cultivation. Remaining survival time can be exchanged for weapons, equipment, elixirs, to enhance one's various attributes."