Click…

The crunch of boots on gravel echoed faintly.

A youth in a tailored charcoal-gray trench coat moved slowly through the dim area.

It had been two or three minutes since he’d been teleported to this bizarre place.

He was growing impatient—unable to summon the game map meant he had no clue where he was.

Worse, the surrounding temperature kept rising. That shouldn’t be possible; *Oscillation* had no temperature-sensation mechanics.

“What kind of hellhole is this?”

Mu Yi frowned at the thickening mist rolling toward him. The deeper he walked, the denser the white fog became.

“Aiva, open my character panel. Check for abnormal status effects.”

He crouched, scooped up a handful of soil, and sniffed it lightly.

This earth was softer than where he’d started, heavy with dampness.

>

The Ultimate Rare Electronic Sprite hovering beside him projected his stats, its voice calm. Infrared beams scanned the environment from its electronic eyes before locking onto the mist ahead.

>

“Hot springs?”

Mu Yi lifted his head at Aiva’s alert.

Hot springs in this pitch-black place? Hah. The devs’ twisted sense of humor, no doubt.

“Aiva, did the latest patch notes mention adding ‘temperature sensation’?”

Feeling the heat climb steadily, he turned to the sprite.

>

The sprite gave a simple reply. Seeing Mu Yi lost in thought, it floated quietly behind him without further comment.

“A hidden easter egg?”

*Did the devs set this up for players to discover?*

No. This level of precision—every pore sensing heat—wasn’t normal.

“Huh?”

Mu Yi froze mid-step. The game announcements tab had vanished.

It was as if it had evaporated from his interface.

“A BUG???”

He flipped frantically through his menus, but the announcements section remained pitch-black.

>

A blinding red light flashed atop the sprite’s head. Its alarm blared, shattering the silence.

A violent gale ripped through the mist like a dragon’s maw. A roar—deep as a demon’s snarl—shook the earth.

“Die!”

A woman’s voice cut through the fog, icy with fury.

A beam of deep-purple light pierced the haze, carrying annihilation. Flames swallowed Mu Yi whole in an instant.

The explosion sent thick smoke billowing. Scalding energy vaporized the hot spring water on contact. Shards of rock tore through the air as the ground trembled violently.

In a single breath, the valley’s edge turned to scorched earth.

The smoke cleared within seconds, scattered by swirling gusts.

*Cough… cough…*

“I thought I’d met a fellow gamer,” Mu Yi muttered, stepping from the haze with a hand over his mouth. Soot coated his clothes. “Turns out it’s just a dungeon monster.”

*Thanks to her,* he thought grimly, *now I know exactly where I am…*