He Returned Home

Shi Youqing, frail since childhood, found even stepping outside a luxury after a severe illness.

His mother began to play chess with him.

As the first piece was placed, everything became unsettling.

With each game’s end, the chessboard altered until the day he won, turning blood-red.

His mother, with pale eyes, asked him, “Youqing, do you prefer black or white?”

…

The world twisted bizarrely, birthing a Black World and a White World after a strange explosion.

In the Black World, indescribable monsters lurked, waiting to pounce.

The White World, devoid of the supernatural, hid countless dangers and malice.

Selected players, exhausted and cautious, suffered through brutal games until they met a fragile, sickly beauty, always with a thermos.

Initially met with disdain, annoyance, pity, and sympathy, someone recognized him.

“Wait, what! This guy was my teammate, dragged away by a ghost right before my eyes!”

“I’ve seen him! He chose the wrong food in the White World’s second level and melted into a puddle! I swear it’s true!”

“Wasn’t that you who fell into the lava before?”

“Aaaah, I watched him get devoured by zombies in the Black World…”

“It’s him – Shi Youqing!”

…

Confused, Shi Youqing huddled in a corner: “Where is this? Why do you all recognize me?”

Everyone: “…”