Free Web NovelChapter 1: Coffin Calamity
Darkness.
Not the ordinary kind that came with closing your eyes at night.
This darkness felt heavy.
Wet.
Breathing.
Shen Yu stared upward, but all he could see was a slab of black wood inches from his face. The smell hit him first—a thick mixture of mold, incense ash, and rotting flowers. It clogged his throat like damp cotton.
His heartbeat slammed against his ribs.
"...What the hell?"
The space around him was suffocatingly narrow. His shoulders pressed tightly against hard wooden walls. His legs barely had room to bend.
A coffin.
The realization exploded inside his mind.
Why am I in a coffin?
Panic surged through him. He shoved upward with all his strength, but the lid didn’t move even a centimeter. Something heavy pinned it shut from the outside.
His breathing quickened.
No. No, no, no—
A mechanical voice echoed directly inside his head.
[Welcome to the Horror Realm.]
Shen Yu froze.
A pale blue screen flickered before his eyes.
---
### HORROR DUNGEON: COFFIN CALAMITY
[Dungeon Instance: Coffin Calamity.]
[Difficulty: Silver.]
[Objective: Survive until midnight.]
[Current Survival Rate: 0%.]
----
PLAYER STATUS
Name: Shen YuLevel: 1HP: at 0Status: Critical Death StateClass: None
Clear Rate: 0%
---
Shen Yu froze.
A dungeon?
His eyes widened.
He remembered now.
The horror realms.
Three years ago, cracks had appeared across the world. People called them Horror Gates—doorways connected to cursed dimensions filled with ghosts, monsters, and impossible rules.
Those chosen by the system became Players.
Some gained fame.
Most died screaming.
Shen Yu had only entered low-level beginner dungeons before. Safe ones. Tutorial-grade horrors.
So why was he suddenly inside a Silver-rank nightmare?
Another notification appeared.
[Solo Instance Detected.]
[No Win Records Found.]
[Fatality Rate: 100%.]
Then another memory surfaced.
Yura.
His girlfriend.
No... not girlfriend anymore.
That lying gold-digger.
"She sent me here..."
The realization settled into his stomach like ice.
Yura had convinced him to challenge a "safe" solo dungeon after learning about his dead parents’ hidden inheritance. She had acted worried, supportive, affectionate.
All fake.
If he died inside a horror realm, the system would erase him completely. No investigation. No corpse. No evidence.
Clean.
Perfect murder.
Shen Yu laughed bitterly in the darkness.
"Damn. I really got played."
Then something moved beside him.
He stopped breathing.
Slowly, very slowly, his eyes shifted to the left.
Someone was lying beside him inside the coffin.
A woman.
He couldn’t see her face clearly in the darkness, but he saw long black hair spread across her body like spilled ink. Her skin was deathly pale beneath a tattered red wedding dress.
A ghost bride.
Cold air flooded the coffin.
Shen’s pulse thundered.
The woman’s head twitched slightly.
Then the system notification appeared again.
---
### RULES OF COFFIN CALAMITY
1. Do not make loud noises.
2. Do not touch the bride.
3. Survive until midnight.
---
Shen Yu swallowed hard.
"...Easy enough."
Then another line appeared.
---
### Additional Warning:
The bride awakens when disturbed.
---
"...Not easy at all."
A scraping sound echoed from beside him.
The bride’s fingers twitched.
Shen Yu immediately held his breath.
Silence filled the coffin.
Seconds crawled by like hours.
Then another mechanical voice suddenly rang inside his mind.
**[Fastest Death Draw System activating.]**
Shen Yu blinked.
"...What?"
Blue screens exploded across his vision.
---
### Congratulations!
You have awakened a hidden system.
### Beginner Gift Pack Activated!
Rewards:
* 999+ Revival Chances
* Death Card Draw Function
* Beginner Draw Ticket x1
---
Shen Yu stared blankly.
"...Revival?"
Before he could process it, another screen appeared.
---
### Draw your first card.
---
"What kind of garbage game system is this?"
The screen remained motionless.
### Draw.
"...Fine."
He mentally pressed the glowing card.
The card flipped.
Golden light burst through the darkness.
---
### CARD DRAW SUCCESS!
Reward:
Revival Function Activated
---
The moment the message appeared—
CRACK.
The bride’s head suddenly twisted toward him.
Too fast.
Her eyes opened.
Pitch black.
Her lips stretched into a horrifying smile.
Shen’s entire body went cold.
"Oh, crap—"
Her fingers pierced straight through his throat.
Pain exploded through him.
Blood flooded his mouth.
His scream never escaped.
Everything went dark.
---
Then—
Shen Yu gasped violently.
Air rushed back into his lungs.
He was alive again.
Inside the coffin.
Exactly where he had died.
The bride was lying silently beside him once more, as if nothing had happened.
A notification blinked calmly before his eyes.
---
### You Have Died.
Revival Count Remaining: 999+
### Death Reward Triggered!
Drawing Card...
---
A silver card appeared.
---
### Reward Obtained:
Kilo Strength Skill
---
Shen Yu stared.
Then he touched his throat.
No wound.
No blood.
No pain.
"...I actually revived?"
His heartbeat accelerated.
Not from fear this time.
Excitement.
A slow grin spread across his face.
"This... is insane."
Most Players feared death more than anything.
But if death made him stronger—
Then this dungeon wasn’t a death trap.
It was a treasure vault.
The ghost bride beside him shifted slightly again.
Shen looked at her.
Then at his system.
Then back at her.
A dangerous idea formed in his mind.
"...One death equals one card draw?"
Silence.
Then he started laughing quietly.
The bride’s head twitched again.
Shen Yu immediately lowered his voice.
"Right. No loud sounds."
He studied her carefully now.
Every movement.
Every reaction.
When he breathed too loudly, her fingers twitched.
When he shifted too hard, the coffin temperature dropped.
Pattern detected.
The rules were real.
"As long as I stay quiet, she won’t attack."
Then he smiled wider.
"But now I kinda want her to."
The bride slowly turned her head toward him again.
Even in the darkness, he could feel her murderous stare.
"Silver-rank ghost bride..." Shin whispered. "Sorry, but today you’re my beginner gift pack."
The temperature inside the coffin plummeted.
Her jaw cracked open unnaturally wide.
Shen Yu grinned.
"Come on, sis. Help me farm a little."
The ghost attacked instantly.
Her nails tore open his chest.
Agony exploded through his body.
Blood splattered across the coffin walls.
He died smiling.
---
### You Have Died.
Drawing Card...
### Reward:
Silver Armor Fragment
---
Revival.
Again.
The ghost bride stared at him.
This time, there was confusion in her black eyes.
Shen Yu burst out laughing.
Quietly.
Very quietly.
"You mad already?"
The bride lunged again.
Death.
Revival.
Draw.
Death.
Revival.
Draw.
The cycle repeated over and over. frёewebnoѵēl.com
Each death gave him:
* stat boosts
* equipment fragments
* skill cards
* experience
And every time he revived, the bride looked more disturbed.
"What are you?" she whispered at last, her voice sounding like dry paper tearing apart.
Shen Yu blinked.
"Oh? You can talk?"
The ghost bride recoiled slightly.
No player had ever reacted like this before.
Everyone else begged.
Screamed.
Cried.
This human?
He was farming her.
"Killing me helps me grow," Shin said honestly. "So... could you do it again?"
The bride stared at him in horror.
"You’re insane."
"Correct."
She slashed his neck off.
A system notification appeared calmly.
[Death Confirmed.]
[Revival Consumed: 1]
[Remaining Revivals: 999+]
Then—
[Card Draw Available.]
Shen Yu stared silently for several seconds.
Then slowly...
A grin spread across his face.
"Oh, this system was made for me."
The bride actually moved backward inside the coffin.
Fear.
A ghost was afraid of him.
"What monster are you...?" she whispered.
Shin leaned against the coffin wall casually despite the blood covering his body.
"Nah," he said. "I’m just a guy trying to survive."
Then he pointed at her.
"But you?"
His smile widened.
"You’re about to make me ridiculously overpowered."
The bride looked like she regretted everything about this encounter.
The system window flashed again.
[Would you like to draw a card?]
Shen Yu’s smile widened.
"Draw."
Golden light erupted before his eyes.
And somewhere inside the cramped coffin—
A ghost bride suddenly felt fear for the very first time.
