Transforming Succubus: Almost Doomsday

A perfectly healthy person wouldn't just commit suicide; this sounded incredibly absurd.

Yet the results indicated by these data were irrefutably undeniable.

...

Twenty-one days ago, someone with the ID KnifeHorseEgg posted a message on a community forum in Songjiang City:

"I don't know how to contact 'us', but I have indeed seen the update content."

"Version 1.01 partial update content: resentful spirits will emerge in the Songjiang Reservoir, and the corruption level of the reservoir will reach level E."

"This is what I saw in my dream. I will be summoned into the 1.01 version of the Songjiang Reservoir and must find a way to survive near the water for four hours."

"After four hours, I will return to version 1.0, roughly back to the real world? I hope this is really just a bizarre dream."

There were not many comments under this post.

Amidst the vast speculations about the version updates, humanity displayed endless imagination.

Some Chinese websites even had novels related to the top ten rankings of monthly tickets.

Numerous dazzling posts made it unclear which ones were credible.

After all, none seemed trustworthy.

But Zhou Baiyu had to pay attention because, after the post, KnifeHorseEgg updated with the following statement—

"Speaking of which, I can see a strange countdown. Could this be the remaining time I have left in version 1.0?"

This was the last sentence. Not long after, KnifeHorseEgg committed suicide.

At the bottom of the post, someone from the same neighborhood mentioned that a few days later, KnifeHorseEgg hanged himself, and his real-life identity was the neighborhood's swimming coach.

The second message related to the countdown was from a driver in Linxiang City, who posted a video on Kuaishou seventeen days ago:

"This is freaking weird, guys! I went out to work today, and the voice of my map navigation changed from Chiling Lin to Guo Degang!"

"He also told me, 'Version 1.03 partial update content: A large number of low-level demons will emerge on Juhui Street, and the corruption level of Juhui Street will reach D grade.' I don't understand it, but it's shocking."

"I need to drive to Juhui Street and escape by car for sixty minutes, oh yeah..."

"I can see a countdown. It just feels... terribly eerie."

All the comments in the video were "Rest in peace" and "Moment of silence."

In the torrent of information, still, only a few people believed what this driver said.

The reason all the comments were these elegies was that shortly afterward, the driver posted a video of himself jumping off a building live.

He became a martyr accusing this cutthroat world through death, but the video was censored.

Zhou Baiyu only learned about the event from the comments under the video.

By this point, he had already discerned some terrifying connections.

Thereafter, Zhou Baiyu found numerous messages related to the countdown. He performed a data analysis on all these messages.

The conclusion was even more chilling.

Every person who posted these messages, without exception, ended up dying, and all by suicide.

Each suicide claimed to have seen a countdown and either saw or heard an update announcement between versions 1.01 and 1.04.

Each person's update announcement was different, yet they each had something in common—

Travel to a mutated area and complete a certain challenge. In those areas, there were either monsters or some bizarre rule.

And so many people committing suicide, with their last messages bearing similarities...

Zhou Baiyu could almost conclude that this was no mere coincidence but a certain "rule" that had to be followed.

"The people who see the countdown are summoned to a future 'version' to participate in some survival challenge."

"Those who fail the challenge, without exception, are forced to kill themselves!"

This was undoubtedly a ludicrous and utterly despairing conclusion.

But Zhou Baiyu couldn't believe that so many people would joke with their lives to stage a "practical joke."

...

...

Time reverted to the present.

Only eight hours were left until the countdown would end.

After leaving the company building, Zhou Baiyu wasted no time and headed straight to the house he had rented not long ago.

It was a loft apartment of about 50 square meters, which Zhou Baiyu used as his secret base for strategizing the "versions."

After returning to the apartment, he quickly turned on his computer.

He had prepared two wills.

The first will was written for his parents and stored in the notes app on his phone.

Succinctly, it read — I'm sorry for having been born human; I'm not sure what hell is like, but life on Earth is torture.

Yes, this was a truly despair-filled "suicide" note.

Zhou Baiyu hoped that in his parents' eyes, he truly died by suicide.

Because whether it was this countdown or the update prompt slogans scattered around the world, they were likely caused by some extraordinary power.

Humanity was perhaps fighting against something terrifying.

If possible, he just wanted his parents to accept the fact of his suicide, and then, after a brief pain, return to a peaceful life.

However, the second will was Zhou Baiyu's true testament.

To be precise, it was a strategy guide.

"To the stranger who finds this post by searching the keyword 'countdown,' hello."

"When you are reading this post, I will have died. Let's skip the pleasantries, and now please remember what I say."

"First, after the countdown ends, you will be summoned to a future version. The higher the version number, the higher the regional corruption rating, and the more terrifying the rules and monsters you will encounter in that region."

"Second, you might access the content of the version updates in various ways; your navigation may speak, your dreams may reveal specifics. Always be attentive."

"Third, this is an experiment. I will put a banana in my pocket, and after entering the 'new version area,' I will either eat it or throw it away.

If you do not find a banana in the pocket of my corpse, it means that items can indeed be brought into the 'new version area.

But if you do find one… well, I ask you to eat the banana, do not waste it."

Zhou Baiyu continued to update his findings.

His job was to save people's lives.

Therefore, even if he was about to die, he at least wanted his death to bring a chance of survival to others.

As time ticked by, Zhou Baiyu did not rest, continually gathering data and updating his will.

But suddenly, a huge ":(" symbol appeared on his computer.

The computer blue-screened.

[:( Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart; we are just collecting some error info.]

Zhou Baiyu instinctively thought of restarting it, but then he noticed smaller text on the blue-screen interface.

"Here it comes!"

His eyes widened with excitement.

He had always been puzzled, seeing that people who saw the countdown got version update announcements in many strange ways.

But he had not seen any "update announcements." He didn't know which version to go to, or what had to be done.

Finally, the announcement appeared!

The announcement itself was a piece of intelligence, and intelligence could increase the chance of survival!

But—

After rereading it several times and confirming he wasn't seeing things, Zhou Baiyu suddenly felt a chill in his heart:

"Version 2.21? A-grade corruption area?"