Yu Hua was dreaming. In his dream, someone was saying to him, “You can ignore the lives of this person and this dog and kill me again. You can also enter this little world for the sake of rescuing them. Everything will return to the very beginning. You’ll be at everyone’s mercy.” 

The Yu Hua in the dream was very cold, as cold as a piece of ice. He heard “himself” haughtily say, “According to time law, the master of the law also has to return to the very beginning and be in the middle of things. It’s unavoidable.” 

“I know, so my main form is already inside waiting for you,” said the man wearing black clothes and holding an umbrella who seemed to come from an earlier time. 

“You’ve always liked doing superfluous things,” Yu Hua said, walking directly towards a twisted space. 

When Yu Hua was about to step into the space, the man in black suddenly said, “So you would willingly return to a time when you had nothing, all for the sake of rescuing a dog and a child. Are you telling me you don’t know that in this little world, everything is fake, and only death is an unalterable truth?” 

The Yu Hua in the dream paused and smiled scornfully. “What is there worth saving about a damn dog and a strange child? I only want to tell you that if you come back again, I’ll kill you again.” 

He turned his head to look at the man in black. Written in his eyes was, “The disparity between you and me can’t be made up by trying again.” 

Faced with Yu Hua’s taunt, the man in black smiled faintly. “Arrogant, despotic,  controlling… You’re still you. In all these years, you haven’t changed. Since you’re so self-confident, be sure not to undo your seal. After all, given the current situation, if you undo the seal, then…” 

Then what? Yu Hua woke with a start. He tapped on his own head. Why couldn’t the dream continue a little longer? 

The self in the dream was completely different from the self in his memories. Yu Hua was a rather idealistic university graduate. He had always been class monitor in high school, on good terms with his grade. Throughout university, he had been president of the student union, and the year he had graduated, he had tested to become a teacher in underdeveloped areas, wanting to go to remote locations to teach. 

His disposition was good. He was friendly with his fellow students and did what he could to help them and his teachers, and he regularly organized activities for his class. He would never treat anyone coldly. 

But the self in the dream was like the man in black clothes had said—arrogant, cold, unfeeling. 

Everything must be backwards in dreams. He could never become like that. Perhaps the dream had been caused by what he had thought about during the day. 

After all, he was currently deeply sunk in a survival game. He didn’t know when he could return to his original world. 

He got up off the grass and patted the dog by his feet. 

The dog was a husky. It was sleeping soundly, hugging a little boy. When Yu Hua patted it awake, it still looked groggy. It rubbed its head against the little boy’s neck. 

This dog and the little boy Liu Junjun had come to this strange world along with him. Yu Hua had instinctively thought that he had a duty to look after them and had done everything he could to help them. 

Right now, they had to sleep out in the open, gathering grass from the surroundings to cover up their scents. The nights were cold, and the child wasn’t as resistant to it as an adult. Luckily Junjun had brought a dog. The husky’s fur was lush. It was a natural large-scale hand warmer. Junjun went to sleep hugging the dog every night, and he slept better than the others. 

“I told you to keep watch at night. How come you were sleeping more soundly that I was?” Yu Hua said, poking the dog’s head. 

The husky opened its eyes blearily. The instant in saw Yu Hua, its blue eyes filled with fear. It hid behind Junjun with a swoosh, tail tucked tightly between its legs, as though Junjun’s body could shield its large form. 

Since meeting on this level, this dog had been mortally afraid of him. Yu Hua remembered that he had always gotten along pretty well with small animals. He hadn’t expected that to this rather good-looking husky, he would appear so terrifying. This made Yu Hua feel somewhat defeated. 

He called out to wake his companions, instructing them, “Go wash up and eat your energy provisions. Brace yourselves. The matches continue today.” 

His companions got up with difficulty. They hadn’t eaten the night before, and in the morning their strength was inadequate. 

This was Yu Hua’s eleventh level. The first ten had been on newbie mode. Most of the missions had just been to survive. People with good physical conditions, luck, and brains were highly likely to survive. For example, in one world there had been a homicidal maniac hidden in a school; all you had to do was survive until the homicidal maniac was caught. The lucky levelers didn’t run into the homicidal maniac and made it through without lifting a finger. The ones in good physical condition encountered the homicidal maniac and ran away. The ones with brains analyzed the clues to find out who was the homicidal maniac and succeeded in capturing him. 

The strange thing, Yu Hua didn’t have a very deep impression of the previous ten levels. Thinking about it carefully, he did have vague memories of passing those levels, but he couldn’t remembers the details, as though these things had happened long, long ago. He had taken less than half a year to pass those ten levels. Why did feel like it had been thousands of years? 

 During the first ten levels, he had fought alone most of the time. On the eleventh level, team mode had started. Their team had to face off against an opposing team in all kinds of contests, for which team members were chosen at random. There were physical ones, gambling ones, tactical ones, and so on. The victorious team could attain food, articles for daily use, even comfortable housing. The losing team would not only get nothing, they might also be attacked by a wild beast during the night. 

Not every team member could draw a sort of game that they were good at. Yesterday they had lost very badly. Luckily, Yu Hua had made a tactical decision not to eat all the food from the last victory, leaving some behind. This way, they could still eat today, so that if they encountered contests of strength they wouldn’t fail because their energy failed. 

Yu Hua wasn’t clear about how his teammates were distributed. When he had entered the level, there had been many teammates passing the level with him. None of them knew how to pass it. They only knew that they had to keep competing. Maybe they would pass when there was an outcome to the contests. 

Apart from him, new members were gradually added to the team. Everyone spent each day in confusion with a feeling of living day to day. 

Yu Hua had a great deal of confidence. His arrival filled his teammates with new vigor. He was a tactical leveler. He had passed his first ten levels by finding loopholes in them. He thought that there definitely had to be a way for everyone to pass. He just had to look for it patiently. 

He quickly became the spiritual leader of the team. Everyone had a good deal of faith in him. 

The little boy Junjun and the husky had arrived in this level at the same time as Yu Hua. This child and dog team was very strange. Junjun had no answers to any questions. He didn’t have memories of his first ten levels. He said that he had been walking the dog in his estate, and while he’d been walking, he had suddenly arrived here. He didn’t know anything. 

The dog was an oddity. The System had taken the husky and the little boy as a single leveler. In a physical contest the day before yesterday, it was the husky that had helped Junjun escape and win, gaining quite a bit of emergency rations. These provisions had helped them hold out for two days. 

In reality, the husky had won enough food for it and the little boy to eat for a week. But divided among everyone, it was just a mouthful a day. 

Yu Hua didn’t want to bully a little boy and a husky, but he knew that if they shared, they could preserve some food. If they insisted on guarding this bit of provisions, starving people might snatch their food, causing even more harm. 

“Junjun, Xiao Ha, I made the decision to take most of the food you won. That was wrong of me. I’ll help you win it back,” Yu Hua told the little boy and the dog while they were washing up by the river. 

They had lost in the contest yesterday and had been thrown out of a room like a hotel room out into the wild to sleep on withered grass and use river water to do their washing. They had heard that there were wild beasts at night. Yu Hua had told the husky to stand guard, and instead the dog had slept more soundly than the humans. They were alive because their luck had been good. 

After apologizing to the child and the dog, Yu Hua also stroked the dog’s head and used the river water to do a cursory cleaning of the husky’s face, scaring the dog into looking like it had seen a ghost. 

Yu Hua thought that he needed to say something to Junjun. He said, “Xiao Ha may be on its guard against me because I took the food it won. Xiao Ha really dislikes me.” 

While he said this, the husky shook its head wildly, indicating that it was merely a dog, how could it be in a position to dislike Yu Hua? Though its furry face couldn’t make a “deadly earnest” expression. Junjun and Yu Hua both took its head shaking to mean loathing and resistance. 

“I’ll calm it down. Xiao Ha has always been clever, and very reasonable. It’ll definitely be able to cooperate with Yu Hua-gege,” Junjun said, nodding. “And Mom and Dad taught me that when you have something tasty, you should share it with other children. That’s what I’m supposed to do.” 

“You aren’t supposed to do it. There’s no sense in sharing the food you won for yourself with others. Not sharing it is reasonable,” Yu Hua explained to this pure child. “But in these circumstances, sharing is more likely to protect your life and safety than not sharing. You shouldn’t be kinder than the Virgin Mary, and you also shouldn’t be cold to the point of being ruthless. This is the doctrine of the mean in group relationships. Do you understand?” 

“Not really, though I’ll do what Yu Hua-gege says.” Junjun smiled brightly. He was as innocent as though he hadn’t experienced the first ten levels. 

Yu Hua didn’t understand how Junjun had arrived in this level. Maybe he was a luck type leveler. 

Junjun stealthily got a piece of milk candy out of his pocket and offered it to Yu Hua. “Yu Hua-gege, this is from my private stash of White Rabbit candy. My mom says that my permanent teeth are growing in, and I’m only allowed one piece of candy a week. Though I hid a few when she wasn’t looking. This is for you. The others won’t find out about it.” 

Junjun normally ate some while he was walking Xiao Ha, so there were always a few pieces of candy hidden in his pockets. 

Yu Hua hesitated, then put away the child’s milk candy. He stroked Junjun’s head. “I’ll definitely take you through this world.” 

After putting the candy away, Yu Hua felt dimly that something was wrong. He thought about it, then said to Junjun, “Did you call me…gege?” 

“Yes.” Junjun put another piece of candy into his own mouth to replenish his strength. 

“I just graduated from university. It’s normal for you to call me gege,” Yu Hua said, frowning. “But why do I think that you ought to be calling me uncle?” 

“No way. Gege is too young,” Junjun said naturally. “Though you have the same name as Xiao Ha’s main owner, Uncle Director Yu Hua. You just look different.” 

Hearing Junjun call Yu Hua “young,” Director Ha wildly dug a hole in the ground and buried its head inside, as though it didn’t want people to see its expression. 

His name wasn’t very rare, so Yu Hua didn’t take much notice. He only doubtfully touched his face, wondering why he should think that he wasn’t that young. 

He was barely over twenty. 

After warning Junjun about some things he ought to take note of in the group, Yu Hua got out the food he had personally hidden and gave everyone a portion. There wasn’t much food. Everyone only had half a piece of bread. But it was enough to give them energy. 

After breakfast, they still had an hour before the start of the new contest. When the time came, they would be taken to a contest space. 

This hour was so everyone could vote on whether or not to take part in the contest. They weren’t forced to take part, and not taking part wouldn’t impact their other teammates. But if the System randomly chose a team member who wasn’t in the contest space, it would automatically determine that that team member had lost. No one was going to pass up taking part in the contest. It wasn’t only because they did not want to hold their teammates back; it was also because the space supplied seating and warm water. Those participating could at least drink some warm water. 

An hour later, the seven people and one dog on the team were all in position. They were taken to the contest space. The team members, who had slept on grass and had sore, aching backs, rushed towards the reclining chairs and poured themselves cups of warm water, drinking to warm themselves and letting out sighs of contentment. 

Junjun, however, first put out a cup for Xiao Ha and warned Xiao Ha not to drink scalding water. Then he carried over a cup for himself and drank it slowly. Though he was only an eight-year-old child, he was self-disciplined. He could take good care of himself and the dog. 

Yu Hua also hydrated himself and kept his eyes fixed on the big screen on the wall, waiting for the System to pick a contestant. He had been in the eleventh level for three days, and he hadn’t been chosen yet. 

While he was thinking this, the writing on the big screen began to constantly change. One screen showed the team member who could be chosen, and the other showed the types of contest. The team members themselves had to press the pause button to choose who would take part. 

If no one pressed the button and chose a member within ten minutes, and the other side had already chosen, then they would be forfeiting the match. 

But who would go press the button? No matter who was chosen, the responsibility would fall on the person who had pressed the button. They would bear the anger of whoever was chosen to participate. 

Yu Hua advised everyone to put their hands on the button together, chorus “1-2-3,” then all press down. This way, no matter who was chosen, everyone would have one seventh of the responsibility and wouldn’t blame anyone. 

Seven hands and one paw piled up on the button. After the chorus of “1-2-3,” the constantly changing writing on the big screen changed, showing that the contestant was Yu Hua, and the contest event would be of the physical type. 

Yu Hua didn’t show much of an expression. In fact, it ought to be his turn. 

Different teams couldn’t see each other’s names and appearances. They would go into the contest arena wearing masks to wait for the System’s orders. 

Yu Hua picked up a silver mask and was taken to the arena. Through the mask, he saw a male contests wearing a white mask with hair dyed rainbow colors coming in. 

For some reason, the instant his opponent appeared, Yu Hua’s heart skipped a beat. 

---

Author's Note

The husky: I’m weak, pitiful, and helpless. I don’t see anything. 

You Zhengping: Falling in love at first sight~