"With an Orc Army numbering in the tens of thousands, can Kara Holy City hold out?"

"It's hard to say. Although the Tieba Kingdom has plenty of troops, their high-level combat power is insufficient. The Orcs have a Level 40 War Lord, while the City Lord of Kara Holy City is only Level 39..."

"Aren't there reinforcements from Great Xia? I heard they sent two Level 39 powerhouses."

"Are two Level 39s enough? The opposition still has a Prophet and a Sword Saint."

"One of them is supposedly named Lin Feng, the one who single-handedly slaughtered through five thousand Yellow Turban Army soldiers. I heard he's very formidable."

Chen Hao was about to close the bullet chat when he suddenly saw this message, and his finger froze.

Lin Feng? That Lin Feng from Beacon Fire County? He's come to Kara Holy City?

Chen Hao quickly scrolled back to take a closer look at that bullet chat message.

"Didn't Great Xia send two Level 39 powerhouses? One is Liu Zhenshan, and the other is Lin Feng. I heard they're very powerful."

Chen Hao's mind went blank for a moment. Lin Feng is here too? Then this battle... I absolutely have to watch it!

His impression of Lin Feng was too deep—slaughtering through five thousand Yellow Turban Army soldiers alone, a Third Rank Lord, and that Wildfire Spear; he was incredibly cool.

He had watched the Beacon Fire County livestream countless times before, taking screenshots of every single frame to save them.

Now that Lin Feng had gone to Kara Holy City, wouldn't tomorrow's siege be Lin Feng's new battlefield?

Chen Hao didn't hesitate to click "Follow Livestream" and set a broadcast reminder: "As soon as this war starts, send me a push notification immediately."

After doing all this, he took off his "Phantom Generation 7" immersive glasses, stood up from the sofa, and walked to the kitchen.

He opened the cabinet, which was neatly lined with a row of energy bars in various flavors.

He took out a chocolate-flavored one, tore open the wrapper, took a bite, and suddenly remembered something while chewing.

He grumbled indistinctly with his mouth full, "Some 'luck-changing ritual' that was... fasting... you bastard, you think you're going to the hospital for a check-up!"

He laughed at himself after swearing, sat on a kitchen stool, and nibbled on the energy bar bite by bite.

Today, Kara Holy City, Lin Feng—he had to set his alarm in advance.

...

Tieba Kingdom, a certain city, an ordinary residential community.

At 7:10 AM, Jim put on his backpack and walked down from the third floor.

The stairwell was a bit dark; the lightbulb had been broken for two weeks and no one had fixed it yet. He stepped onto the familiar stairs, going down one by one.

He had math class this morning and PE in the afternoon; as usual, it was a simple commute between two points.

Ever since he wasn't chosen to become an Awakened during the Nightmare Awakening ceremony over a month ago, this is how his days had been.

Before the day of the Awakening ceremony, he had fantasized countless times about standing in front of the podium, being enveloped in purple light under the gaze of all his classmates, and becoming that one-in-a-hundred-thousand.

He imagined becoming a powerful Lord with his own territory, expanding his borders in the Nightmare World, and being revered by thousands.

He had even secretly drawn his territory's flag in his notebook: a hawk with its wings spread, its talons clutching lightning.

But that purple light did not fall upon him.

After the ceremony ended, he stood at the classroom door, watching those few chosen students from other classes being led away by teachers, their figures disappearing at the end of the hallway.

He lowered his head, clutching his backpack straps, and stood there for a long time.

Then he left, returning to the classroom with the other unchosen students to continue his lessons.

There wasn't a single Awakened in the class. The teacher on the podium was somewhat disappointed, saying, "Our class has bad luck this year," and never mentioned ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) it again.

Jim quickly adjusted his mood. He recognized reality: he wasn't the protagonist, and the Blue Star didn't revolve around him.

Life went on as usual—attending classes, taking exams, preparing for the college entrance exam, and commuting between school and home.

So when the news said that after the Nightmare World rules were adjusted, Adventurers would be randomly selected every month, he just gave an "oh" and didn't take it to heart.

The probability was even lower than Awakening; it would never be his turn.

He walked out of the building entrance. The morning light shone from the east, falling on his face, feeling warm.

He squinted, just about to walk toward the community gate, when suddenly a pillar of pale golden light descended from the sky, landing precisely on him.

The moment the light pillar swept over him, he felt a surge of warm power pour in from the top of his head, flowing through his blood vessels to his entire body.

The feeling was very strange—not painful or itchy—but it felt as if his entire being had been reassembled by something.

【System Notification: You have been selected as an Adventurer by the Nightmare World. Assigned Territory: Kanggar Town, Tieba Kingdom.】

【Please select an attribute affinity: Strength, Agility, constitution.】

Jim was stunned. His mouth hung open, his mind was a complete blank, and his finger subconsciously tapped Agility in the void.

【Attribute affinity confirmed: Agility +20%.】

【Current Level: LV5.】

【Equipment issued: One set of White quality armor, one White quality dagger.】

Jim remembered the entry method he'd seen online, took a deep breath, and uttered those four words: "Connect Nightmare."

A glimmer of light flashed.

He, along with his clothes, backpack, and the bus card clutched in his hand, instantly became translucent.

Jim opened his eyes.

Above him was not a blue sky, but a patch of pure black.

The air was dry and cold, and a wind blew from the west, carrying a strange, indefinable scent.

It wasn't the smell of car exhaust in the city or the oily smoke from the school cafeteria; it was the scent of withered grass in the wilderness, with a faint, lingering stench of rotting meat.

He was standing on a training ground. It wasn't large, the ground was covered in gravel that crunched underfoot.

All around him were people just like him, wearing simple white leather armor and carrying White quality weapons.

Sabers, swords, bows, daggers—some people were still looking over their equipment repeatedly.

Some were pinching their faces to confirm it wasn't a dream, while others squatted on the ground, seemingly still recovering from dizziness.

Jim looked down at his hand; a dagger with a cold-gleaming edge felt heavy in his grip.

Standing around the training ground were several Level 6 militia holding torches, wearing simple leather armor and white turbans wrapped around their heads.

Their expressions were calm, but there was something in their eyes Jim couldn't quite name—not numbness, but more like the exhaustion of having seen it all before.

He turned his head to look at the western side of the training ground.

That area should have been a residential zone, but right now it was pitch black—no lights, no cooking smoke, no voices.

With the help of the torchlight, he could faintly see doors and windows of houses wide open, doorframes skewed, and bedding and clothes scattered on the streets.

It looked as if they had been abandoned in a panic.

The entire town seemed to have been hollowed out from the inside, leaving only an empty shell.