Mr. G

Before "Cyber World," the cross-era holographic online game, was released, players were incredibly excited. No matter what kind of games they played, they all had high hopes for it.

"Lord Cyber is here, so the blue skies have returned!" "Lord Cyber is here, so Blue Star will be at peace!"

As it turned out, as a cross-era masterpiece, "Cyber World" truly did not disappoint its players. Its outstanding quality, excellent combat system, varied civilization systems, and grand worldview captivated countless players. Even in the late stages of the game, players remained incredibly excited.

How could they not be excited? Being made into tin cans, injected with artificial dopamine every day, and used to generate biological electricity made it rather difficult not to be excited.

The reason Gao Gong had avoided ending up as a tin can, and had even become the leader of an emerging level-six civilization who participated in the final storyline against the Three Great Disasters, was that he had somehow transmigrated. Otherwise, he would still have been on the road to becoming a guide for the invaders.

For someone this shameless, a self-introduction was necessary.

Gao Gong, originally named Gao Gong, was an unemployed young man living at home, a hardcore otaku, and a master doujin artist. In nude scenes, his outstanding skill at depicting the human body even surpassed that of most original authors. People had given him such nicknames as the tentacle monster of fanservice, the wife-lover, and the young-wife killer. In the eyes of countless doujin enthusiasts, he was the universally acclaimed leader of the sp fan club.

In order to seek inspiration and keep up with the times, he had resolutely decided to join this game and search for new directions among its countless intelligent species.

As the saying went, a mountain did not need to be tall; if it had breasts, it was divine. Water did not need to be deep; even nonhumans would do.

Universal love was the path to Gao Gong!

Bearing such a great dream, Gao Gong, whose in-game name was "Mr. G," entered Cyber World and became an ordinary doujin player.

"Cyber World" had tens of thousands of races and professions, belonging to different types of civilization technology trees and scattered throughout the universe like stars. According to their types, civilizations could be divided into four major categories.

Mechanical worlds, carbon-based sequences, energy realms, and information seas.

In other words, there were four civilization systems: mechanical, carbon-based, energy, and information.

Machine-Crack Star belonged to the sphere of influence of a certain mechanical civilization. Its primary life-form was carbon-based humans, and it had a post-apocalyptic style. It possessed basic professions from three major systems: mechanical, carbon-based, and information.

Mechanical Modifiers, Cyberbody Security Guards, and Mecha Knights belonged to the mechanical system.

Androids (Basic Template), Symbiont Soldiers, and Beast Soldiers belonged to the carbon-based system.

Neural Coders belonged to the information system.

Bearing his lofty ideals, Gao Gong naturally was not like ordinary vulgar players. He did not choose the mechanical system, where every version produced a new god, nor the carbon-based system, which was superhuman in every version. Instead, he chose the relatively obscure Neural Coder class—the cyberpunk version of a hacker.

What followed was a series of major and minor plot events. At the instant Machine-Crack Star was swallowed by a planet-destroying weapon, he completed the main quest and snatched a ticket aboard a ship bound for an extrasolar colony. Afterward, he completed his second-tier class advancement, abandoned his flesh completely, programmed himself, and changed class into a core AI.

If the experiences of the first stage were still somewhat similar to those of other players, then Gao Gong completely began to let himself go after that.

While others leveled up and fought monsters, he was customizing faces.

While others roamed across the stars, he was developing the "Sugar Mommy Sponsorship" Type I virtual companion.

While others pursued mechanical ascension, he was researching custom-made beautiful-girl figurines.

While others participated in interstellar wars, with warships and shells flying everywhere, he was developing a large-scale cross-species virtual dating platform.

While others were being hunted by advanced civilizations, he had already successfully broken the reproductive barrier between "carbon-based species" and "information lifeforms," providing one-stop services for virtual girlfriends, electronic wives, and data descendants. (Even your anime wife could have children.)

While others became interstellar disasters, he had already created a paradise for the fantasies of countless interstellar shut-ins.

When players, this "special race," were classified as an interstellar disaster and hunted throughout the universe, he had long since become an honored guest of the six level-nine civilizations.

By the late stages of the game, he was respectfully called by believers from various planets—

Lord of Figurines, Doujin Wholesaler, Advanced Sensory Experience Merchant, Reproductive System Modifier, Mentor of the Heart, Lifelong Ally of All the Universe's Degenerates, and Sovereign of Virtual Experiences.

He was also the leader of a level-six virtual civilization recognized by the Civilization Council, the Lord of Hyperconnection of the Hyperexperience Realm—Mr. G!

But no matter how powerful he was, with only ten drops of health left, he could not suddenly awaken a hidden power!

His hands and feet grew increasingly cold, and his consciousness grew increasingly hazy. Even the sound of the tires turning seemed to grow more distant.

Gao Gong was desperately racking his brains for a way out!

Beep beep beep—

Quest: Desperate Dash

Difficulty: Normal

Quest Brief: As an outstanding mechanical hunter, you have encountered a sudden battle. The battle ended with your death. Was it really an accident? The most pressing matter now is figuring out how to save your sorry hide.

Quest Objective: Return alive to Black Rose Gas Bar or find Black Rose

Quest Reward: 1500 experience, one dog's life

A quest flashed across the game panel. Gao Gong glanced at it, and the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

One dog's life. This new system was quite the joker.

However, this triggered quest did not help Gao Gong's current condition in the slightest.

Even if he gained 1,500 experience, it would not be enough to level up his main class, Mechanical Modifier.

Wait!

Gao Gong's gaze suddenly fixed on one of the attribute fields.

Secondary Class: Factory Worker Lv4 (You were once a child laborer in a human modification factory, but ambition drove you down another path.)

In "Cyber World," players had two class systems: a main class and secondary classes. They could have only one main class, while theoretically, they could have any number of secondary classes. In planetary civilizations, the level cap for main classes was level 30, while secondary classes capped at level 20.

But secondary classes were not to be underestimated. In other words, they should not be treated as ordinary life professions in a typical game.

Main classes advanced once every ten levels. Not only did the class level have to reach its maximum, but the body also had to undergo deep modification. Depending on the direction of the modification, the class's development path would differ as well.

Successful modification meant soaring potential. Failed modification meant being worse than a dog.

The modification direction of the main class was determined by the secondary class.

Unlike main classes, which advanced once every ten levels, secondary classes advanced once every five levels. Gao Gong's Factory Worker secondary class had just reached the threshold for advancement.

NPCs without system templates could only close their eyes and wait for death. NPCs with system templates, naturally, could show off their moves!

With a thought from Gao Gong, all the experience the original owner had accumulated—not including quest rewards—was poured into the secondary class.

[Factory Worker increased to Lv5, repair success rate +3%]

[Factory Worker advanced to Junior Worker of Factory No. 4, Strength +1, Endurance +1, gained 1 attribute point]

['Basic Maintenance' advanced to 'Beginner Mechanical Repair']

Beginner Mechanical Repair: Can perform a certain degree of assembly, adjustment, and upgrading on low-level machinery, as well as replace components.

[You unlocked the knowledge field Materials Science]

[You unlocked the knowledge field Mechanical Modification]

At the same time as the class advancement, a vast amount of mechanical knowledge and scenes of cybernetic modification flooded into his mind as if poured over his head.

The five main attributes—Strength, Agility, Endurance, Intelligence, and Perception—each increased health by 5 points per point, but each attribute had a different focus.

Strength was reflected in muscle explosive power and muscle density.

Agility emphasized aerobic and anaerobic metabolism.

Endurance was reflected in the strength of the respiratory system. Intelligence was the information-processing efficiency of the brain.

Perception, meanwhile, was the length and breadth of the nervous system.

Gao Gong barely hesitated before assigning his only attribute point to Perception.

In an instant, his hazy consciousness became extraordinarily clear, while a warm current surged from every part of his body.

Nausea, intense pain, exhaustion, soreness, and itching washed over him. Gao Gong clenched his teeth hard, his jaw muscles taut, and swallowed the scream that nearly escaped his mouth.

At the same time, sounds, visual signals, scents, temperature, and vibrations—all this sensory information—came surging in like floodwaters bursting through a breached dam.

Health: 25/115 (Severe Physical Injury) (Critical Mechanical Damage)

Physical body state changed from 'Dying' to 'Severely Injured.'

Gao Gong continued to "play dead," his head drooping as he was pinned against the back of the seat, but a cold glint shone from the corners of his eyes.

His palm, meanwhile, quietly found the military dagger. Slowly, bit by bit, he pulled it free.

Then—thrust it back in!

[You lost 2 health]

[You lost 3 health]

[You lost 1 health]

[You lost 3 health]

[You entered the Bleeding state, Strength -2, all damage taken increased by 10%]

[You are performing mechanical repairs on yourself]

The blade entered the wound again from another angle. Fresh red flesh peeled outward, like two intersecting smiling faces.

Gao Gong was drenched in sweat as he painstakingly and carefully twisted the hilt, as if stirring something inside.

He was performing a makeshift mechanical repair on himself.

Flesh and blood could not suddenly awaken hidden power, but an electric motor could be overloaded.

"Bzzzt." "Bzzzt."

The tiny electric motors inside his body began to spin faster.

One mineral transport truck after another was driven away. The wounded lying on the ground were continuously executed, while a few bodies caught the soldiers' interest and were dragged away.

These people would be turned into human vegetables and soaked in low-grade nutrient fluid. Once an artificial soldier's body suffered irreparable damage, the body would be taken out, the head cut off, and an electronic brain transplantation performed.

Fewer and fewer artificial soldiers remained behind.

There were four left: one beside the truck, one in the west, and two in the north. The one beside the truck was leaning against the door and smoking. The two in the north stood at a high point with guns, surveying the area. The one in the west was saying something into a communicator.

"Number 201, aren't you leaving yet?" one of the northern artificial soldiers shouted.

"Wait until I finish this cigarette. I found a pretty good implant host."

"Oh? Is that so? Male or female?"

"Does it matter?"

"True enough."

"Hopefully, the next time I see you, you'll have become a beautiful woman."

The laughter was rough and dry, like metal scraping against metal. It made one's skin crawl.

The cigarette butt hit the ground, and the half-ruined car door was violently ripped open.

An adult man had a score of 5 in each of his five main attributes, while an artificial soldier had 9. Without undergoing modification, an artificial soldier's cloned body had already reached the upper limit of a normal human.

However—

"Where is he?"