Chapter 1 Global Rule-Tale Descends, I Can Exploit System Bugs

The lights all over the world went out in the same second.
No warning. No earthquake. No power outage notice.
Billions of lights across cities plunged into total darkness in an instant.
The next moment, a cold, emotionless mechanical announcement echoed inside every human’s mind, covering the entire globe.
[Global Weird Dungeon has been forcibly activated.]
[All humans are pulled into random rule-tale scenarios automatically.]
[Current Dungeon: Midnight Private Hospital.]
[Survival Rules refreshed. Abide strictly. Violators: Immediate Erasure.]
As the voice faded, the world spun.
Chen Yu felt the light warp and space fold beneath him. The asphalt road under his feet turned into cold, damp hospital floor tiles.
Pungent disinfectant mixed with rotten, fishy stench flooded his nostrils.
Flickering incandescent lights buzzed overhead, on the verge of shattering. The long corridor stretched endlessly into pitch-black darkness. Half-open ward doors lined both sides, and countless things peered quietly from within the shadowed cracks.
Fear seized everyone’s heart at once.
The corridor was packed with ordinary people ripped from peaceful cities. Office workers, students, elders, drivers… people from all walks of life had been dragged into this hellish nightmare.
Their faces drained of color, bodies trembling, they stared helplessly at the blood-red rule panel floating mid-air.
Midnight Hospital Survival Rules:
1. Between 00:00 and 03:00, do NOT meet the nurse’s eyes.
2. If you hear crying from a hospital bed, never turn around.
3. Do not trust doctors in white uniforms.
4. When corridor lights flicker, freeze where you stand immediately.
5. Never open Ward 307.
Five blood-red rules, each one deadly.
Everyone who read them went cold, scalp prickling.
It was clear to all. This was no mission.
It was a death game where they gambled with their lives.
“What the hell is this?”
“A rule-tale dungeon? Erasure? What have we gotten ourselves into?”
“Who understands these rules! How do we survive?!”
Panicked cries and shaky questions burst out one after another. Decades of peaceful modern life crumbled in an instant.
Everyone sank into utter chaos and despair. Only Chen Yu stood calm.
Not that he felt no fear.
The moment the dungeon descended, a one-of-a-kind talent awakened in his mind.
[Talent: Vulnerability Analysis (Unique)]
[Effect: Detect rule loopholes, fake rules, hidden traps of rule-tales.]
[Allows exploiting bugs to alter partial dungeon logic.]
To everyone else, the rules were shackles that brought death.
But to Chen Yu, every rule glowed with dense red garbled code. Countless flaws, loopholes and false prompts laid bare.
He swept his gaze across the five official rules, understanding instantly.
[False Rule Detected!]
[Rule 1 is a reverse trap: You get erased instantly if you avoid eye contact with the nurse.]
[Rule Loophole Detected!]
[Rule 3 carries a logic bug: Doctors in white are the only trustworthy entities.]
[Hidden Plotline Detected!]
[Ward 307 is the sole escape route, not a death trap.]
In just one second, the five rules treated by everyone as lifelines were fully seen through by Chen Yu.
Half of them were fake! Half hid fatal traps.
A cold sneer formed in Chen Yu’s mind.
No wonder the survival rate for those who entered rule-tale dungeons neared zero.
Because the rules themselves were made to kill.
Ordinary people who obeyed faithfully would only die faster.
Right then —
Bzzzz —
The overhead lights flickered violently, strobing bright and dark across the corridor.
Pale white light cast twisted, terrified faces on every person.
All instantly remembered Rule 4 — [Freeze on the spot when lights flicker.]
In the next breath, thousands of people along the corridor stiffened, not daring to breathe loudly.
The air turned deathly quiet.
Light, dragging footsteps echoed slowly from the far end of the corridor.
Tap… Tap… Tap…
Steady and eerie.
A red-cloaked nurse stepped out of the darkness.
Her skin was deathly pale, eyes pitch black with no whites. Her mouth split wide to her ears in a ghastly grin as she scanned the crowd slowly.
Every heart stopped. They clung to the rule — Never meet the nurse’s eyes!
Everyone ducked their heads or looked away, none dared make eye contact for even a split second.
Only Chen Yu lifted his head slowly.
His gaze steady, he stared straight into the nurse’s hollow black eyes.
Someone gasped quietly in the crowd:
“He’s crazy!”
“Look down! You’ll get erased!”
“Is he going to get all of us killed?!”
Chen Yu ignored the horrified shouts, his expression unchanged. His mind crystal clear.
He knew.
The moment everyone ducked and avoided her gaze, they were already dead.
The red nurse’s hollow eyes twitched. Her horrifying grin stretched wider.
She raised her pale hand and pointed at one person in the crowd who kept his head lowered.
[Violator Detected!]
[Failure to make eye contact with nurse. Erasure protocol triggered!]
A soft sound.
That person vanished on the spot, not even a scream left behind.
Silence crashed over the corridor.
Eyes exploded in shock. Despair washed over them.
The rules… were fake?!
Chen Yu looked at the crumbling crowd and spoke calmly, his voice carrying through the whole corridor.
“Stop hiding.”
“This set of rules was written to trick you into dying.”
“If you want to live, listen to me.”