Professional power-leveler Mu Sichen was played. After falling for a scam, he finds himself transmigrated into a full-dive holographic game.

The game depicts a world post-catastrophe, a wasteland crawling with Eldritch abominations. These nameless Entities have carved the world into isolated towns where human survivors cling to a desperate existence. In this realm, the only way to survive is to offer one’s faith to the monsters and discard one’s sanity.

The System tells him: “Here, take this pickaxe. Work hard to build your own ‘Ideal Town’ and provide a sanctuary for the survivors of this world.”

Mu Sichen swung his pickaxe, pulverized an Eldritch horror, and seized its territory. He then patted a survivor—who was barely clinging to human form—and offered some encouragement: “Dry your tears. Pick up the pieces of your brain, grab a tool, and let’s start working toward self-sufficiency!”

The tearful survivor took the tool and asked expectantly, “Aren’t you going to lead us in building our home?”

Mu Sichen replied, “I’m just a power-leveler. You have to build your own ‘Ideal Home’ yourselves—I’m only responsible for seizing the land.”

And so, Mu Sichen traversed the various towns with his pickaxe, conquering territories as he went. In a moment of accidental overachievement, he even made off with the master of a town, Qin Zhou—an Eldritch Entity himself.

Looking at Qin Zhou, who was clinging to him tightly, Mu Sichen was stunned. This “person” seemed… remarkably willing to be abducted.

Qin Zhou, the lone guardian of humanity, harbored a secret. He was on the brink of madness.

Every “Domain” user is destined to eventually devolve into an unspeakable monster. To delay the inevitable, Qin Zhou had grown increasingly frail and weary.

Until one day, a man wielding a pickaxe arrived at the Safe Zone, conquering everything in his path. Qin Zhou immediately threw himself into the man’s arms and whispered: “Take me away. Fast.”

The man gave Qin Zhou’s tentacles a squeeze. “I can take you with me, but could you loosen your suckers? I can’t breathe.”

“Oh,” Qin Zhou agreed—and then hugged him even tighter.