The first thing he felt was the cold.
Not the sharp sting of winter air, nor the damp chill of stone—but something deeper. The cold of weakness. Of hunger. Of a body that had died and only just remembered how to breathe.
He opened his eyes.
A ruined hall stretched around him—cracked walls, broken furniture, and a shattered stone throne half-buried in snow. Wind whistled through a collapsed ceiling. Icicles hung from rusted chandeliers.
He didn’t know his name. Not fully.
Only flashes:
Crumbling towers. Screams in a mountain tongue. The scent of blood on marble. A golden banner with a black stag falling into fire.
And fever. Endless, bone-deep fever.
Then… darkness. And now, this.
He tried to move. His body groaned in protest. His lips were cracked. He was starving.
He was dying. Again.
Then came the voice.
[Initializing: Star Key System]
[Soul Anchor Recovered – Host Status: Marginal]
[Access Level: Zero. Authority: Unrecognized]
[Support Protocol Enabled – Maximum Summons: 5]
[Opening Rift to World ID: Earth]
He blinked, his vision swimming. “Did that say Earth?”
[Summoning in progress… stand by.]
There was a hum, and then—light.
Five pillars of pale blue energy tore into the ruined floor, crackling like silent thunder. The temperature dropped. Static buzzed in his ears.
And then, with a faint pop, they arrived.
The first one faceplanted into a snowdrift, groaning.
The second landed upright and immediately started patting himself down.
The third yelled, “HOLY SH*T, I CAN SMELL THE SNOW!”
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The fourth fell to his knees, scooped up a handful of slush, and licked it.
The fifth just stood there, blinking at the ruined castle. “Okay. This isn’t a cutscene?”
Karl watched from behind a pillar, genuinely unsure whether he was hallucinating. His head was pounding. His stomach hurt. His fingers were turning blue. And now there were… people?
They were all dressed similarly—rough-spun tunics, leather boots, basic belts and pouches. Standard peasant-wear, but new and clean. And strangely… fitting.
And each of them had a different hair color.
One had brilliant white hair, spiked upward like an anime character.
Another had sea-green curls.
The tall one had glossy black hair tied into a ponytail.
The fourth sported bright violet streaks down their sides.
The fifth had a gradient of neon blue to orange like some absurd virtual influencer.
They looked like the worst stealth party imaginable.
Karl just stared.
The green-haired one spun in a slow circle, arms wide. “This is insane! Look at this place! The air has temperature layers! I can feel humidity gradients!”
The one with white hair crouched down, sniffed the stone floor, and licked it. “Yup. Granite. Slightly alkaline. Maybe limestone content. Jesus, the mineral fidelity’s off the charts.”
The one with violet streaks started touching the walls like a pervert in a cathedral. “This brick texture is individual. Like no two bricks are the same. Do you realize how insane that is? That’s not procedural generation. That’s handcrafted detail.”
Karl squinted. “…They’re all mad.”
Another voice piped up—this one from the tall guy with the ponytail.
“I told you guys this game was next-gen. Pain slider to 10, remember? It hurts, but it’s worth it.”
The neon-haired one rubbed their shoulder. “I stubbed my elbow on that column. I think I have tendon trauma. That’s… that’s amazing.”
Karl slowly stepped out from behind the pillar.
“…Can you hear me?”
All five heads turned in sync.
“Whoa!” “Voice acted?” “No way.” “Is that the quest-giver?” “Nice hair, dude.”
Karl looked down. His clothes were half-rotten, his boots had holes, and his hands were trembling.
“I need help. Food. Firewood. This place is—”
“Tutorial NPC,” the green-haired one declared. “Yep. Definitely.”
They all nodded.
“Let me try talking to him.” The ponytail guy stepped forward. “Greetings, noble one. How may we assist?”
Karl blinked. “What?”
The white-haired one tapped the air. “Hold up, I got a system prompt.”
[Quest Acquired: The Broken Keep]
[Objective: Assist Local Survivor in Rebuilding Ruins. Reward: ???]
Violet-hair clapped. “LET’S GO! First real quest!”
Neon-gradient whispered, “Oh my god, the immersion is disgusting. I can taste the dust.”
Karl stared at them. “Are… are you people cursed?”
They didn’t answer. They were too busy exploring the hall.
“Yo, is that a fireplace? Can we light it?”
“Don’t touch that, it might be a lore object!”
“I swear I saw something flicker in that painting.”
Karl watched as they tore through the ruins like squirrels on espresso. One tried to open a locked chest with a rock. Another jumped repeatedly to try and glitch through a half-collapsed wall. One sat down and began scribbling in the snow with a stick, drawing what looked like tactical layouts.
He rubbed his temples. “They’re insane. I summoned lunatics.”
[System Notice: Summons Generated – Class: Explorer – Level Sync: 1]
[Note: Physical templates adjusted for world compatibility.]
[Cosmetic Modifiers Detected – Max Range Applied (5%)]
[Reproductive Module: Omitted]
[Explanation: Energy Conservation in Low-Tier Summons]
One of the players suddenly froze.
“…Hey. Hey, guys? I just realized. I don’t think I have a dick.”
Everyone stopped.
“What?”
“I checked just now. I thought maybe it was some kind of ‘no nudity in cutscene’ thing, but it’s not there.”
Neon-hair looked down at themselves. “Wait. Me neither.”
Karl took a cautious step back.
The system chimed again.
[Upgrade Host Authority to unlock full anatomy privileges.]
The white-haired one nodded seriously. “That makes sense. Dick physics probably cost extra GPU.”
The violet-streaked player muttered, “Immersion ruined.”
Karl sat down on the cold floor, burying his face in his hands.
“为什么是我。”
他们继续工作。
不是因为他告诉他们这样做。不是因为他们明白冻死的危险。而是因为他们认为这是一个任务。
其中一人开始用打捞来的木板在墙上修补一个洞。另一个人用碎砖建造了一个火坑。第三个人在一个桶里发现了一些长满苔藓的土豆干，并宣布这是“战利品”。
Karl 凝视着火焰，它们闪耀着生命。
温暖触碰到了他的手。他的肚子仍然因饥饿而扭曲。他的思绪缓慢而分散。但自从醒来以来，他第一次不想立即死亡。
或。。。只是也许......
在他身后，一名玩家对另一名玩家低声说：
“嘿。你注意到王座了吗？
“是的。破损，但皇家风格。
“还有他的移动方式。他的演讲。他的脸。
“你觉得他是......？”
Karl 伸手拿起一块半冻的面包皮，试图咀嚼它。
就这样，那个不记得自己全名、除了冻伤、发烧和一把破椅子之外一无所有的男人——意外地从另一个世界召唤了五个白痴。
他们感到困惑。
他饿着。
他们都没有能用的裤子。
他们要一起重建一个堕落的王国。
可能。
