SWBG - Chapter 1

Volume 1: First Steps in to Infinity

From birth until now, Gu Jing Sheng had always believed that meteorites falling from the sky only existed in poorly concluded novels. But when she actually encountered a swarm of massive, menacing rocks descending from the heavens with a burning debuff, all she had time to do was shout, "I wasn't the one who abandoned the story!" before swiftly delivering her life's GG.

—"Natural disasters are commonplace in life. Heroes, please rest in peace with a smile."

Perhaps it was her spirit of cracking jokes even as her HP hit zero—this refusal to be serious even in death—that Gu Jing Sheng was lucky enough to not die completely. Then, whether by fortune or misfortune, she was selected by a system called "Happy Tabletop Games," a name indistinguishable from trashy browser games.

—Wait, no. Trashy browser games at most scam you out of money, but this thing might very well scam you out of your life.

Her not-particularly-rich life experience told Gu Jing Sheng that any system forcibly bound and impossible to uninstall was, without exception, malware. Moreover, the word "happy" preceding "Tabletop games"—with all interpretive power belonging solely to the other party—was, in all likelihood, purely decorative.

She was now in the room assigned by the system, where the floors, walls, ceiling, and even the bed and desk were all stark white. Gu Jing Sheng felt that if she lay down and pulled the blanket over her face, she could cosplay as a cadaver in the morgue without needing any Photoshop.

The wallet she'd originally carried in her pocket had long been sacrificed to the meteorite. On the table, however, lay a brand-new retro-style phone with a full battery—but alas, no signal. At a glance, it seemed only useful as a blunt weapon.

Perhaps sensing Gu Jing Sheng's sarcasm, the phone's signal light blinked, displaying a new text message:

[Sender: Happy Tabletop Games
Participant 08321-6, please enter the game lobby to prepare for the Tabletop game.
Note: Participants are advised to carry their phones for communication purposes.]

Gu Jing Sheng: "...Can't even auto-block spam. One-star review."

Though she didn't know the significance of "08321-6," as long as there wasn't some invisible roommate lurking in her space, it had to refer to her.

After a pause, Gu Jing Sheng chose to reply: "Is it possible to leave Happy Tabletop Games?"

The system replied instantly, with professionalism rivaling Taobao customer service:
"Participant 08321-6 has not passed the preliminary round and cannot unlock inquiry permissions."

Hmm, about as unreliable as customer service... Wait, that might be too harsh. Finding humor in her predicament, Gu Jing Sheng clasped her hands, closed her eyes, and bowed her head in a silent apology to Taobao's service staff.

Shrugging, she did as the message said and pocketed her phone. Then, with hands in her pockets, she pushed open the room’s only door and stepped out, lazily kicking it shut behind her.

She applied a bit of force, but the door closed without a sound.

Outside was a lobby with a nearly ten-meter-high ceiling. Though she couldn't spot any lights, the illumination was surprisingly ample.

The door Gu Jing Sheng had exited was just one of seven encircling the lobby. Staring at the "6" at the end of her "08321-6" designation, she started to contemplate.

Less than half a minute later, the door third to her left opened, and out stepped a man in a brown jacket, his brow furrowed.

When the man saw Gu Jing Sheng, his gaze lingered for a moment as if he meant to greet her. But just as his lips parted, she cut in: "Not bad. You're the most promising of this batch of newcomers."

"?!"

At her words, the man's solemn expression instantly turned ashen, his eyes widening in disbelief: "Y-you..Y-you—"

Not expecting to meet someone who got the reference in a transmigration scenario, Gu Jing Sheng hurriedly explained: "Just a joke. Sorry."

"..."

The man studied her for a while—perhaps gauging her gender, or perhaps contemplating punching her—before letting out a bitter laugh. "Actually, it might not be entirely a joke." He reached into his pocket, then seemed to remember something and aborted the motion, his eyes nervously darting around. "I'm Jiang Yan. Is your number 6 or 5?"

"Cheng Ye Jing, No. 6." Gu Jing Sheng tossed out a pseudonym, then added after a moment, "You're No. 2? Is the last digit of our numbers related to room order?"

Jiang Yan: "Not sure. Just a guess."

Gu Jing Sheng nodded slightly.

With seven doors and her own number ending in 6 while Jiang Yan's ended in 2, she guessed that starting from the left, the others' numbers would be "08321-7," "08321-1," "08321-2," "08321-3," "08321-4," and "08321-5."

Gu Jing Sheng didn't wait long before others emerged from the remaining doors.

08321-1 was a young woman in a sky-blue dress, her hair styled into an elegant updo. Despite her light makeup, her face betrayed unmistakable fear. Her room was to Jiang Yan's right, while to Jiang Yan’s left stood a stern-looking man with a square jaw, dressed in a dark blue shirt and black pants, appearing around 27 to 30 years old.

08321-4 was the youngest male participant, seeming rather shy.

08321-5 was a man dressed so sloppily he bordered on disheveled, with unkempt hair and dark circles even his black-framed glasses couldn't fully hide.

08321-6 was Gu Jing Sheng herself.

08321-7 was also a woman, with thick black shoulder-length hair. From the moment she stepped out, she'd been unconsciously twisting her fingers, her back rigidly straight, lips pressed tightly together.

Apart from her initial exchange with Jiang Yan, Gu Jing Sheng remained quiet the entire time.

Once all seven participants had gathered, her phone vibrated twice with a new message.

[Sender: Happy Tabletop Games
All surviving participants of Room 08321 have assembled. Please strive to pass the upcoming game to unlock full participant privileges.
Note: Before the game begins, you have fifteen minutes to converse.]

"...So, is no one going to give an explanation?"

The first to speak was 08321-5, whose appearance screamed "otaku." His voice trembled slightly.

08321-4 had one hand in his pocket while the other tugged at his hair, his expression troubled. "No idea how, but I suddenly ended up here. Probably a transmigration, right?"

Jiang Yan suggested, "Since we have fifteen minutes to talk, why don't we get to know each other first?"

The moment he finished, 08321-3 immediately fixed Jiang Yan with a sharp gaze and declared, "So you're the official moderator hiding among us?"

In the age of information overload, most netizens were familiar with the concept of transmigration. But when faced with inexplicable phenomena themselves, their first instinct was still to approach it scientifically.

Jiang Yan opened his mouth, then smiled bitterly. "I'm the same as all of you—I just suddenly wound up here."

08321-3 pointed out his flaw: "But you seem much calmer than the rest of us."

Jiang Yan paused, then after a moment of silence, said, "Because before arriving here, I was in a car accident. By all rights, I should've died on the spot. So no matter how strange things get, they can't be worse than that."

08321-3 froze, then murmured, "Me too."

08321-4 suddenly understood: "Wait, did we all get here through car accidents?"

Gu Jing Sheng quickly spoke up in her own defense: "No. You might not believe it, but there's also someone here who got hit by a meteorite."

"..."

08321-5: "As for me... I was going out to fetch a package when I, uh, fell down the stairs."

His voice grew quieter, as if slightly embarrassed by the end.

08321-3 frowned. "Staying up late to play games harms your health and affects your studies."

"Sorry," 08321-5 reflexively apologized, then asked in confusion, "How did you know I stayed up late gaming?"

08321-3's frown deepened. "I'm a teacher. If there are kids who skip class in order to go to internet cafés, in another 10 years, they'd probably look just like you."

Gu Jing Sheng offered the teacher another possibility: "With luck, they might also turn out like me."

"True enough," Jiang Yan agreed, seeming to share the sentiment.

All-night gaming, skipping class, and internet addiction instantly bridged the gap between them, lightening the tense atmosphere. Gu Jing Sheng soon learned that 08321-1 was Zhou Qing Qing, who'd drowned; 08321-3 Ren Song Sheng was the teacher who'd merely dozed off on a bus before his world ended; 08321-4 Wei Jia Shi was an English major still in college, diverted onto the road to the underworld by an unlicensed motorcycle at an intersection; 08321-5 Lin Shen He had unlocked his life's ending CG after completing a game; and 08321-7 Xia Xiao Yun had the misfortune of being hospitalized by an ex-boyfriend.

As 08321-6, Gu Jing Sheng felt justified in her uniqueness—while the others' deaths belonged to society-page headlines under "human fragility," hers was meteorological news, standing out under "freak acts of nature."

"Happy Tabletop Games" had gathered this group of beings who'd never be allowed in domestic horror films to play games together—a true case of finding joy in death.

[Sender: Happy Tabletop Games
Detected that Room 08321 is initiating its first game.
Game selection: Random --> "Marvelous"
Difficulty: Lowest
Players: Seven
Note: Please keep an eye on your rabbit.
In infinite worlds, rabbits not being herbivores is as much common knowledge as the Four Heavenly Kings always having five members.]

When the fifteen minutes elapsed, without warning, Gu Jing Sheng's vision blurred. Like the others, she was involuntarily arranged into a circle around the lobby's center and forced into a seated position.

Gu Jing Sheng had every reason to believe the system space harbored power beyond human comprehension—otherwise, there was no explaining where the chair beneath her, the table in front of her, and the small white rabbit on it had materialized from ==.

Wei Jiashi's surprise was palpable, but he soon forced a relaxed smile. "Luckily it's Tabletop games. In infinite transmigration scenarios, this counts as gentle and harmless."

Jiang Yan agreed: "Not just gentle and harmless—it's practically community outreach."

Compared to the many infinite-stream predecessors who'd battled non-humans across history from the very start, Tabletop games did seem far more approachable.

Gu Jing Sheng hesitated—though Tabletop games were often associated with leisure, the third message's mention of "all surviving participants" still gave her an ominous premonition.

Translator's Notes

打出了人生的GG (dǎ chū le rénshēng de GG)

• Literal: "quickly typed out life's GG"

• GG ("Good Game") is a gaming term used to concede defeat (like "I give up"). Here, it humorously refers to the protagonist’s death, implying she "lost the game of life."

"弃坑" (qì kēng)

• "Abandoning a pit," is slang for quitting an unfinished game/story (like dropping a novel or leaving an online game). The line is a meta-joke—the protagonist blames her death on someone else "abandoning the story" (as if her life were a poorly written fiction story).

"熬夜修仙" (áo yè xiū xiān)

• Literal: "staying up all night to cultivate immortality"

• Slang for staying up extremely late (like a Taoist immortal "cultivating" through the night). Often used for gamers/binge-watchers who pull all-nighters.

Meaning of "CG"

• CG = Computer Graphics (计算机图形, jìsuànjī túxíng), a term borrowed from gaming/anime culture. In games, CGs are pre-rendered cutscenes or artwork that play at key moments (e.g., endings, major plot twists). The line humorously treats real-life death as a game’s ending cutscene.By saying Lin Shenhe "unlocked his life’s ending CG," it implies his death was as scripted and inevitable as a game’s finale.

四大天王有五个 (Sì Dà Tiānwáng yǒu wǔ gè)

• Literal: "the Four Heavenly Kings always have five members"

• This refers to a meme about inconsistent group counts (e.g., "Five-Man Band" tropes where a 4-person group has a 5th member).

Oath Here~~~ This is a side project that I am starting, a different genre from my other work. Hopefully, I can update this at least once a week. Everyone please enjoy reading!!!