The Only Player in 'Child of Stardust'

At the edge of the rooftop stood a crow, its feathers gleaming with an oily black sheen. What was strange was that the crow's eyes were a vibrant blood-red, like glistening rubies.

The crow tilted its head and stared at Zhou Yuan.

Zhou Yuan also stared at the crow.

"Oi!"

Zhou Yuan stomped his foot fiercely, trying to scare the crow away, but the crow remained calm and unmoved. It lazily spread its wings and flew away after several seconds.

"Quite bold..."

Zhou Yuan muttered as he walked back to the elevator. That crow looked quite plump and wasn't afraid of humans. It was probably someone's pet.

He didn't give it much thought and started patrolling down floor by floor.

When he reached the 18th floor, a female employee wearing a work badge called out to him by the water dispenser, "Hey, can you help lift a water barrel?"

"Sure." Zhou Yuan took the empty barrel and walked towards the storage room.

Inside the storage room, just as he put down the empty barrel, a thunderous explosion erupted from above, followed by a violent shake that rocked the entire building.

Was this an earthquake?

Zhou Yuan's nerves instantly tensed up. He was on the 18th floor!

He immediately rushed out, but what he saw in the hall left him standing there, stunned.

Both the ceiling and the floor were pierced by a scorched pit, with the edges of the hole glowing a fiery red. The dozens of office workers in the area had all vanished, and the air was filled with a burnt smell.

The female employee who had asked Zhou Yuan for help was lying at the edge of the hole, the right side of her body completely severed, the wound's edges burnt black and smoking, her body twitching violently on the ground.

The heat radiating from the edge of the scorched pit was terrifying, igniting everything flammable. The flames spread and engulfed the female employee, and she soon stopped struggling.

The piercing fire alarm blared as the overhead sprinklers burst open one by one, turning the scene into a torrential downpour.

Terrified by the ordeal, Zhou Yuan's mind went blank for a moment, and then he bolted towards the stairwell, fleeing downwards as fast as he could.

As he reached the landing between the 12th and 11th floors, crack!

The wall on the lower left side suddenly shattered, and a slender, black-and-red shadow zipped past. The metal fire door on the 11th floor groaned under the strain and was instantly sliced in two. Then the staircase and the opposite wall—those supposedly indestructible steel-reinforced concrete structures—were easily cut through as if they were tofu.

What was even more bizarre was the red-and-black substance oozing from the cuts, making a sizzling sound, as if it were highly corrosive.

What the hell...

Cold sweat trickled down Zhou Yuan's back, and he instinctively swallowed a mouthful of saliva. He had narrowly avoided being sliced.

What was that...?

First, an attack powerful enough to pierce through the entire building, then another that could effortlessly slice through metal and reinforced concrete... Within just a few minutes, Zhou Yuan felt his worldview was collapsing.

And why was Stars Network, a mere gaming company, under such an attack?

He didn't have time to ponder; survival was his priority. He leaped over the broken staircase oozing the red-and-black substance and landed in front of the shattered fire door.

The fire door was already open, so Zhou Yuan could see what was happening on the 11th floor.

A wave of heat hit him, making it hard to breathe. Raging flames had spread across the entire floor, and all he could see was a sea of red.

The flames were unusually strange; the water from the sprinklers couldn't extinguish them. Instead, the sprinklers had melted into molten iron. Amid the inferno, a few people were fighting fiercely.

As a company security guard, Zhou Yuan recognized one of them instantly: the chairman of Stars Network, Nangong Yi!

Besides Nangong Yi, there were three others, all dressed in red robes. One of them held a long blade, its blade enveloped in a red-and-black aura.

Zhou Yuan's eyes widened in shock, and his perception of the world completely shattered.

These people... were superhumans!

After the initial shock, Zhou Yuan turned and ran. The immediate priority was to get out of this danger zone and avoid being killed by the residual fight.

He dashed down the stairs to the 7th floor. As he wondered why he hadn't encountered any employees along the way, a wolf's howl came through the fire door on the 7th floor, followed by a man's terrified scream.

A dull crashing sound followed, mixed with the muffled thuds of a heavy object falling and the man's increasingly anguished wails.

Zhou Yuan's heart pounded like a drum, and terrifying images sprung to mind.

He tried to calm his nerves, moved quietly, held his breath, and carefully descended the stairs, praying he could avoid detection by the vicious wolf.

But luck was not on his side. A few seconds later, bang! The fire door was violently smashed open by a pitch-black figure.

"I've been discovered!"

Zhou Yuan's heart tightened, his back drenched in cold sweat. He quickly ran to the 6th floor, pressing his thumb against the fingerprint lock. With a click, he locked the fire door.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The massive impacts came from the other side of the door. The metal fire door shook continuously. That black wolf was most likely an extraordinary creature; this door wouldn't hold for long.

"There's another fire escape on the other side. Hopefully, I can get out from there..."

Without stopping, Zhou Yuan's mind was a mess, and the feeling of panic grew stronger.

Boom!

Suddenly, a deafening boom came from above, like a bomb exploding. The horrifying force caused the entire building to quake violently. The nearest several floors disintegrated from the blast, sending steel and concrete shards flying in all directions.

The ceiling above shattered, and the floor beneath him collapsed simultaneously. Zhou Yuan lost his balance and fell hard.

His vision went black, and his consciousness flickered. When he came to, he found himself buried under rubble.

Pain shot through every part of his body, bringing tears to his eyes. He groaned in agony, struggling to crawl out from under the debris. The pain in his left leg was particularly severe. He turned to look and saw it was severely fractured.

"Howl..."

The low growl of a wolf echoed at that moment.

Zhou Yuan looked over in horror and saw the black wolf also buried under the rubble, trying to break free!

"What should I do?"

"What should I do??"

"That wolf is an extraordinary creature. Even if it isn't, killing a wolf is not something I can do, especially with my leg broken..."

"I can't run. I'm going to die... I'm going to die..."

Countless thoughts flashed through Zhou Yuan's mind. His chest heaved, and he panted rapidly. Unwillingness, helplessness, despair, and the fear of death overwhelmed his logic, slowly engulfing him.

He didn't want to die.

With a little more time, he could pay off his debts and live a free life. There were many sights he hadn't seen, many things he hadn't enjoyed, and many things he liked but didn't own.

He really didn't want to die...

"Caw."

At that moment, Zhou Yuan heard a raspy bird call.

He saw the same red-eyed crow from the rooftop flying towards him, holding a high-tech-looking golden card in its beak.

The crow landed and tilted its head, looking at Zhou Yuan, whose face was covered in tears.

Zhou Yuan stared at the crow blankly.

Then the crow hopped forward a couple of steps and pressed the exquisite golden card against his face.

In an instant, the golden card disappeared.

And the crow also vanished into a puff of black mist with a "pop."

Zhou Yuan didn't have time to be puzzled about what was happening. As soon as the golden card touched him, a flood of information poured into his mind. Brilliant golden data streams surged through his eyes.

[—The basic elements that make up our bodies were once forged in the brightest stars of the universe.

The iron in our red blood cells came from the radiant explosions of supernovas.

The zinc in our blood originated from dust ejected into the cosmos when two neutron stars collided.

The trace amounts of copper witnessed the death of a white dwarf star.

Even the tiniest cobalt came from nebulas billions of light-years away.

We are Children of Stardust, miracles of the grand universe.]

["Child of Stardust" Player System installed. Enjoy your game.]

[The beginner player gift pack has been issued. Please check it.]

[Event detected, generating task...]

[Task: "Survive"]

[Task Objective: Survive.]