He fell for it!
By the time Hua Hualong realized it, it was already too late.
What’s the mark of a successful lie?
One that actually fools people — that’s success.
Mixing lies with a bit of truth greatly increases the chances of a deception working.
This self-proclaimed shameless lowlife had finally run into someone even more shameless — namely, the QQ group members Fortress Lieutenant Communications Officer and Spirit of the Wind.
Out of ten thousand con tricks, there’s one classic: the double act.
…
Let’s take a look at what’s happening now.
At 2:29 PM, Hua Hualong witnessed a second miracle.
One minute before entering the dark world, he finished creating his game character — a cute girl, just like the “senior member” in the QQ group had suggested.
But of course, it wasn’t going to be that simple.
He’s a scumbag — and he knows it.
The fact that Li Dajiang is his only friend says it all.
From elementary school to college graduation, Hua Hualong was always a thorn in the teachers’ side: sleeping in class, not doing homework, skipping school, bottom of the class, getting into early relationships.
Why wasn’t someone like that expelled?
That has to do with the school administration.
Since middle school, he showed an unusual kind of cleverness for someone his age — but used it in all the wrong ways.
First, he targeted several private schools for admission.
Then he started researching the school administrators, stalking them, and quickly dug up dirt.
Everyone has things they don’t want exposed, and Hua Hualong was great at finding and using that information to threaten school officials.
As a result, he lived three years on campus free of charge.
He was given the best dorm option — the smallest two-person rooms — and the teachers’ cafeteria food.
As long as he didn’t create a massive scandal, he was untouchable.
The reason he managed to get along with the school leaders until graduation boiled down to one boundary: he never accepted even a penny in “hush money.”
He only asked for shelter and protection until he graduated.
Though the administrators cursed him as a little bastard behind his back, they were still forced to comply, constantly walking on eggshells — and surprisingly, he did keep his word.
After reading Andersen’s Fairy Tales and Grimm’s Fairy Tales six times, Hua Hualong had a maturity beyond his years.
But that same maturity also became a kind of wall, separating him from his peers.
He couldn’t help but look down on the classmates still striving to score a 60 on their exams.
It was a mindset he couldn’t change — like an adult watching little kids play hide and seek.
…
So naturally, he didn’t fully believe the “senior member” in the QQ group.
In Snow White from Grimm’s Fairy Tales, there are many classic deceptions — disguise, poison…
That senior had warned him: “Trust no one.”
So Hua Hualong made sure to include him in that warning too — he never intended to trust the guy completely.
Creating a character was a strange thing.
In a game, it might be normal.
But in the real world?
This was straight-up sci-fi.
Following the senior’s instructions, he privately messaged the group owner and sent the phrase: “Buy character.”
(Private Chat 3) [Shenzhu]: Are you sure you want to buy a character? Please reply with “Confirm” or “Deny.”
(Private Chat 3) [BookletNa]: Confirm
And then — he witnessed a miracle! The next second, he fell flat on the floor.
Just a second ago he’d been sitting at his desk, looking at the monitor.
But after replying “Confirm,” he was instantly teleported into a pure white space — only he was transported; his chair didn’t come along, so the fall was inevitable.
WTF! Oh s*! Aish! Kami-sama!**
Above him floated a translucent control panel, like a holographic projection.
[Newbie Tip: Think of a character in your mind and tap the confirm button in the air to manifest them.]
He started panicking.
But with the last bit of playfulness left in him, he imagined Obama’s face and tapped the manifest button — and immediately, a lifelike American talk show host–style Obama appeared before him.
Not. Funny. At. All.
Hua Hualong’s legs turned to jelly.
He might act shameless and obnoxious most of the time, but when faced with the real deal — he panicked.
He didn’t believe he was about to become some all-powerful protagonist.
If that QQ “senior” hadn’t been lying, then he was about to get thrown into some death game in a dark world.
What was happening now erased any joy or excitement he might have had — all he felt was fear.
In a frantic state, he kept trying to create characters — maybe to calm his nerves.
He conjured up funny ones, like Shinnosuke (Crayon Shin-chan), Nezha from One Hundred Thousand Bad Jokes, Sakamoto from Haven’t You Heard?
I’m Sakamoto, the comedian Yoko Hikasa, and even Putin the Russian traveler.
But even with such a ridiculous lineup, he still couldn’t laugh.
The fear was too strong.
While there was still time, he summoned a few more characters — Inori Yuzuriha, Reimu Hakurei, Rikka Takanashi, Yuno Gasai — then dragged his weak legs over to peek under their skirts.
Yeah, still nothing.
This hardcore otaku saw his waifus brought to life before his eyes… and felt absolutely nothing.
That should tell you how close he was to a complete mental breakdown.
In fact, after summoning the last one, his fear got even worse.
No matter what, he had to create a character.
The character creation system in this world was a bit like customizing an avatar in a game.
As long as you thought of a character in your mind and tapped the confirm button floating in the air, that imagined character would materialize.
It could even be broken down into parts — for example, if you imagined just a leg, it would still appear.
You could then assemble the body like putting together components.
But that alone wasn’t enough.
You also had to touch the leg with your finger, and in the pop-up window, define that “leg” as a leg — only then would it be considered successfully installed.
Trying to find system bugs, Hua Hualong imagined Superman’s leg and hit confirm.
Sure enough, Superman’s leg appeared, and judging by the half-visible red underwear worn on the outside, it was definitely Superman’s.
The system seemed to pick up on what he was thinking, and some words appeared in the air:
“This space is for appearance creation only. None of the body parts retain the original abilities — only their visual form is replicated.”
Not only were powers excluded, but there were also no attribute settings, such as muscle strength or bone density.
The only settings available via numeric input were age and height.
Everything else had to be imagined through appearance alone.
He knew very well the importance of appearances.
After all, he’d relied on his own harmless-looking face to lie, cheat, and manipulate his way through life.
Most people are trapped by their assumptions — like babies can’t drive, humans can’t leap to the third floor, elementary school kids can’t beat me in a fight, or women have to squat to pee.
People believe these things without question, and it leads to faulty judgment.
From a young age, Hua Hualong had used his age as a cover to commit all sorts of shady acts.
He fully understood the power of appearance.
So…
He decisively began creating a cute girl character based on the ideal in his mind.
He deliberately ignored some of the advice given earlier by Fortress Lieutenant Communications Officer in the QQ group.
That guy had said: “Don’t use pink hair” and “Set the age between 20 and 25.”
Hua Hualong wisely avoided the pink hair — too conspicuous — and chose black hair, a classic, safe choice in China.
He had his reasons: colorful hair gives off the vibe of a delinquent girl — a dangerous signal.
Since he planned to rely on looks to survive, a graceful and refined appearance was the best bet.
In today’s world, where many women couldn’t open their mouths without shouting “F*** you,” he figured a soft-spoken, ladylike princess type would stand out — and be far more appealing.
The age selection was strategic, too.
Different ages had specific limitations.
For instance, a 15-year-old girl character had a height range between 135 cm and 160 cm.
There was another rule: the character’s age must be within 10 years of the player’s actual age.
In other words, 25-year-old Hua Hualong could create characters no younger than 15 and no older than 35.
This rule was crucial.
You could even reverse-engineer the player’s real age from the character’s.
For example, a 10-year-old character could only be created by someone aged 20 at most — meaning the player’s true age could be deduced from their character’s settings.
And that in turn could hint at whether the player had real-life experience or not.
But…
There was another rule:
The first character costs 100 points.
The second costs 1,000 points.
The third costs 10,000 points.
With each new character, you could again adjust the age range up or down 10 years.
So a 40-year-old could create a 30-year-old character first… then a 20-year-old as their second.
In other words, someone with a young-looking character could actually be an old veteran — someone who had survived long in the dark world and likely killed countless others.
In the end, Hua Hualong chose to make his character 16 years old, with a height of 156 cm — not too tall, not too short.
As for bust size, C-cup was enough — no need to go overboard.
A character that seemed weak would be perfect for dramatic performances.
He already sensed victory on the horizon — it felt within reach.
The fear that had clouded his mind was now dissipating, driven out by the thrill of anticipated success.
After one last inspection of this “perfect” character, he placed his hand on the confirm button, ready to press it.
Why not make a shota (young boy) instead?
A shota also had the advantage of appearing weak — why insist on a refined ojou-sama (young lady) type?
That’s because…
A cute girl could offer… “companionship” in critical moments.
For someone like Hua Hualong — who would do anything to survive — playing a female character was no big deal at all.