Chapter One: Forced Login at Midnight

“We can't reach him,” Lin Yao said. “He wins in seven seconds.” Gu Chen stared at the sealed control room. “Pei Jin. Does that room count as enclosed?” The magician coughed blood and snapped his fingers. He appeared beside Gu Chen holding the core. The enemy assassin took his place, trapped behind locked glass. 【Blue team victory.】 As the world dissolved, a red frame marked one defeated player. The man shook his head, pleading across a collapsing world. Gu Chen awoke on his apartment floor at 00:11. A silver coin lay on his desk, engraved with ECHO and coordinates. Four unknown accounts had joined him in a chat named Midnight Five. Lin Yao wrote: “Do you remember the red player called Chen Tuo?”