Since all these rules and superstitions are outdated, what's wrong with me indulging in some me

At 10:30 p.m., Lu Changsheng had just put the small stools from his stall into a bag when his phone rang.

It wasn't a phone call, it wasn't a text message, it was a forced pop-up window.

At the same time, all electronic devices in the entire night market square lit up—cell phones, electronic screens, and even the mini electronic screens on the cash registers were all covered with scarlet text in the same second.

"Global Rules of the Strange Game, Round 47 Player Draw in Progress—"

The night market fell silent for a second, then erupted in chaos.

"Here we go again!"

"Who's going to be unlucky this time? Please, not me, and not my family either!"

"All the new players who won the game in the last draw died, I don't want to die..."

Lu Changsheng stood there, watching this scene repeat itself every few weeks, and silently packed up the things on his stall.

The red text continues to flash:

[Selection complete. The list of candidates from China for this election is now released.]

The world seemed to freeze for a moment; everyone held their breath, staring intently at their phone screens.

Zhang Li, male, 31 years old.

"..."

"Lu Changsheng, male, 22 years old."

Lu Changsheng was stunned. He rubbed his eyes. Could it be that he had such bad luck? He could win with a one in several hundred million chance.

It's a shame not to use that kind of luck to buy a lottery ticket.

Five names popped up one after another, and Lu Changsheng heard the sighs of relief from the crowd around him.

"Phew—thank goodness, I wonder which unlucky person won the lottery."

"I wonder what's going on with this group. Hopefully they don't die too quickly!"

"Yeah, the last few batches of new recruits were all too weak; not a single one made it out alive!"

"Sigh, at this rate, China has already fallen far behind in the standings. If this batch of new players doesn't perform well, China might be finished..."

Three years ago, the global live-streaming game "Rules of the Strange" descended upon Earth. Every few weeks, it would randomly select new players based on the population of each country to enter the game. Players would gain points based on their performance in completing dungeons, and lose points if they failed.

The game uses countries as the unit of points, with each country starting with 100 points. When the points are cleared, the country will receive a corresponding "natural disaster" penalty - earthquake, tsunami, plague or even more bizarre disaster.

In the past three years, seven small countries have been wiped out due to their points being reset to zero.

Because of its massive population, China receives several times more applicants each time, but its newcomer mortality rate is exceptionally high. In just three years, China's points have plummeted to a mere 12.

The large screen in the square displayed China's current total points and its global ranking—fourth from the bottom.

Lu Changsheng's phone vibrated, and the red text kept changing until it transformed into a private notification:

Player Name: Lu Changsheng

[Instance Name: Qing Teng High School]

[Difficulty: ???]

Main Quest: Pass the Final Exam

[Gain a random buff: You can bring one item into the dungeon]

[10 seconds left countdown.]

"Your mother..."

Amidst the strange looks from those around him, Lu Changsheng jumped three feet high.

This game is terrible. In ten seconds, where are you supposed to get equipment? After reading the rules, there are only five seconds left, okay?

【5......4......3......】

His personal belongings? He hurriedly rummaged through his pockets and found a coin, a twenty-yuan note, and half a leftover jianbing guozi from this morning.

【2......1......】

There was a pendant around his neck, which Lu Changsheng hurriedly pulled off.

【0......】

A tremendous tearing sensation came, and Lu Changsheng felt dizzy. Amidst the gasps of the crowd, everything went black.

[Countdown complete, global live stream begins, teleportation initiated]

At the same time.

China Rules and Strange Tales Countermeasures Center.

The control room, spanning over 300 square meters, was surrounded by groups of people, yet it was quiet and somewhat solemn. Directly in front of the control room was a wall full of screens, displaying the live stream of the newly selected players.

Team leader Yan Xiangming stood at the very front, his gaze sharp and unwavering.

"Reporting to the team leader, the five new players are in position, and the current number of viewers in China is 420 million."

Yan Xiangming nodded, his cold and stern face showing no emotion as he stared at the large screen in front of him.

In the scene, Lu Changsheng opens his eyes in the back row of a dimly lit classroom, cautiously looking around, unusually showing no panic or helplessness.

"Retrieve this player's information."

The assistant beside him typed rapidly on the keyboard, and in just a few seconds, Lu Changsheng's file was projected onto the auxiliary screen next to him.

[Lu Changsheng, male, 22 years old, from Shanxi Province, China. Orphan. Adopted by an unknown sect at the age of 6, he went to school at the age of 12 in response to the national call for nine-year compulsory education. At 18, he was admitted to the Department of Philosophy at Tsinghua and Peking Universities. At 19, he was expelled from school because his research direction was "how to use mathematical models to prove the effectiveness of Feng Shui". After that, he had no fixed occupation and made a living by fortune telling at a street stall.]

[Criminal Dispute: A fortune teller told an elderly person's fortune, which resulted in the elderly person's death that night. The person was sued by the elderly person's family and ultimately fined 500 yuan for spreading feudal superstition.]

"What a load of nonsense."

Yan Xiangming frowned. He had seen plenty of information about abnormal people, but this was the first time he had seen someone this abnormal.

Mathematics. Philosophy. Metaphysics.

Putting these three words together on one person would be somewhat eerie in the normal world, but in the world of supernatural tales—

"Keep a close eye on him."

Yan Xiangming closed the document and issued instructions methodically.

"The expert team is always ready to analyze the rules."

"yes!"

When Lu Changsheng opened his eyes again, he felt a lightness in his body and heard a serious female voice in his ear.

Lu Changsheng remained cautiously still, quickly glancing around with the corner of his eye.

He sat in the last row of the classroom by the window. The classroom was clean and tidy, and there were about thirty "students" sitting there, all wearing blue and white school uniforms. They were staring down at the empty desks, expressionless and motionless.

He wasn't the only player.

To my left was a short-haired girl with a slightly pale face and tightly pursed lips.

To my right was a burly man whose muscles stretched his school uniform so tightly it looked like he was wearing a short, shapewear garment, which made him look somewhat comical.

A chubby boy diagonally across the room was covered in sweat, while in the middle of the classroom stood a skinny boy wearing glasses, trembling uncontrollably.

Including myself, there are five players in this exam room.

Lu Changsheng glanced down at himself. His school uniform was a bit too short, revealing a section of his wrists and ankles. His pockets were bulging, and when he reached in, he found the jade pendant he had brought into the game; it felt slightly cool to the touch.

A middle-aged woman stood on the podium, staring expressionlessly at the students in the classroom below.

Next to the blackboard is a thermometer, which displays:

[13 degrees Celsius. Sunny. Excellent air quality.]

Wind direction: Northerly, wind force: Level 2-3

The clock on the blackboard pointed exactly to 8:00 AM.

"bell--"