Liam White frowned. "What is this?"

　　Panel: [Your gameplay will appear on a small screen in the Newcomer Zone of the player lobby for other players to watch. However, currently, no one is watching your gameplay, and no one has spent money on your game process. You are currently unknown and obscure.]

　　Liam White started to understand—it was like being a game streamer. But none of that mattered to him; his focus was on the monetization rate: "If someone spends money on me, can I get points?"

　　Panel: [Yes]

　　[The game will now begin. Good luck, new player.]

　　The panel disappeared from Liam White's vision in a flash of white light, like a TV screen being turned off.

　　Meanwhile, in a certain game lobby, a small screen suddenly lit up, displaying Liam White's refined, fair face. Around this screen were many others, each showing various new players' terrified and broken expressions. Some were wailing and pounding on the screens, seemingly unable to accept reality and wanting to escape. Others were curled up, clutching their heads, as if in total denial.

　　But Liam White showed no sign of being frightened, making him a complete outlier among the panicked new players.

　　Everyone looked up at this newly lit screen, discussing it with interest.

　　"Another newbie has entered. Wonder how many days they'll last."

　　"Look at the background—is that the 'Siren Town' game instance?"

　　"This batch of newbies is really unlucky. The death rate for new players in 'Siren Town' is super high. Didn't a hundred people enter last time, and only one survived?"

　　"Random game instances for newbies have been way too hard lately. Still, watching these newbies freak out and run around is pretty funny..."

　　"Wow, you're so mean! But this newbie will probably be bawling their eyes out soon..."

　　"Wait!" Suddenly, a passing player seemed to notice something extraordinary and approached Liam White's small TV screen. Staring at Liam White's character panel, he spoke in disbelief: "There's a new player who entered with a mental value of one hundred!"

　　"What?!"

　　"What!! Move, I want to see too!"

　　"Damn! Are newbies all this OP now?! Mental value of one hundred?!"

　　"The last person who entered with a mental value of one hundred is in the top ten of the overall game leaderboard now, right?"

　　"Wow, a potential star! Let me take a look too!"

　　Liam White's small TV flickered, and a mechanical voice reported flatly:

　　[Fifty people are crowding around to watch player Liam White's TV screen. Player Liam White has achieved the 'Rising Star' achievement and unlocked the One-Click Triple Interaction system.]

　　[Twenty-eight people have liked player Liam White's video. Fifty-six people have favorited player Liam White's small TV. No one has tipped player Liam White yet. Please keep up the good work, player Liam White.]

　　……

Chapter 2: Siren Town

　　Liam White was lying on his side in the last row of a minivan. It was cramped and narrow, making it hard to even turn over. When he moved, he saw a necklace slip from his neck, but his clothes were exactly the same as before entering the game: white shirt, black pants—the typical daily outfit of an office worker. The only new thing was the necklace.

　　The pendant was a one-yuan coin with a hole punched through it. As soon as Liam White touched it, the game panel popped up, just like before, with no extra information.

　　This must be something like a game manager.

　　Liam White tucked the necklace inside his shirt. He didn't like seeing damaged coins.

　　Liam White poked his head out from the back seat. It was a seven-seater minivan. Besides Liam White lying in the back, there were four people in front. As soon as he looked out, someone looked at him in surprise: "Liam White, hey, my little sweetheart, you're finally awake!"

　　Except for Liam White, the other six people all clearly looked like foreigners. The one calling Liam White "little sweetheart" was a girl with big, wavy brown hair, red lips, and brown eyes, wearing hot pants and a tank top. The moment Liam White saw her, the coin on his chest triggered the panel, displaying character info:

　　[NPC Name: Lucy]

　　[Character Introduction: Your classmate, really likes your type of guy. Last night, you two tried to have sex, but you were too shy in front of the taller and bolder Lucy, so it didn't work out (lol).]

　　Liam White's gaze lingered subtly for two seconds on "didn't work out" and that "(lol)", then quickly looked away, lost in thought.

　　It seemed that in this game, triggering NPC panel info required the player to actually look at them—just like in online games, where you have to hover the mouse to see info. The player's eyes now worked like a mouse or game controller.

　　He pondered—at the very least, he couldn't afford to lose his eyesight in this game.

　　Lucy winked at Liam White. "Hey, baby, did I wear you out? You started sleeping the moment you got in the car."

　　Whenever Liam White looked at Lucy, the "didn't work out" prompt would pop up in his mind. As a lifelong single office worker, Liam White felt a bit complicated: "……."