Rape

When Kirk and Little Fatty read this far in the diary, they both shuddered. To their utter surprise, they received a System Prompt: "Contractor 4444 and Contractor 4445, you have triggered and been forced to accept the Dark Gold Hidden Main Mission—Origin of the Cataclysm. This is a Dark Gold Hidden Main Mission, the ultimate secret hidden in every world. It is tied to the development of the entire world's plot and can be completed once—and only once. If your temporary team completes it, no other Contractors will be able to trigger or complete it.

"Warning: once a Dark Gold Hidden Main Mission is triggered, Contractors cannot refuse it. Its difficulty is unpredictable and may far exceed your current abilities, leading to unforeseen consequences.

"Special Notice: the highest possible reward for this Main Plot is—Artifact fragments."

Kirk and Little Fatty stared at each other for a long time. Mori and T-Dog, being Plot Characters, naturally knew nothing about the System Prompt. They assumed the two young men had finally snapped after struggling in a miserable hell day after day. Little Fatty was the first to speak, his voice trembling: "B-b-brother, we've hit the jackpot! Hahaha, we're finally rich! Artifact fragments!"

Kirk wore a pained expression and fell silent for a moment before nodding. "That mission name is ridiculously long. Dark Gold, Hidden, Main Mission—it sounds incredibly badass. Artifacts really are amazing, too. But I think we'd better discuss what happens after we die. This time next year will be the anniversary of our deaths."

Little Fatty asked, "Why? Aren't you happy, big brother?"

Kirk said, "How would you rate our strength? Be honest."

Little Fatty was still honest about it. "Big brother, to tell the truth, we're weak. If ten or more Walkers came at us right now, all we could do is run."

"High rewards mean equally high risks. So why should two rookies like us be able to complete a Dark Gold mission with Artifact fragments as its top reward? Why would a mandatory Dark Gold mission appear during a newbie trial? This isn't a trial! This is rape and murder, plain and simple!" Kirk roared. "They're forcing us into it without giving us a choice, then sending us off to die!"

Little Fatty was terrified. He checked the mission prompt and sure enough, at the very end of the instructions, he found a line of tiny text written in the most despicable way: "Please find the door matching the key and enter the mission area within one hour. If Contractor No. 4444 and Contractor No. 4445 have not found or entered the mission area after one hour, they will be executed!"

It was like getting a call from a mob boss: "Hello! Congratulations, you've won the grand prize of two hundred million! It's an incredible prize with an unbelievably low chance of winning. To claim it, you need to pay two million in taxes. Please prepare the cash and transfer it to account ********* within one hour. Otherwise, you'll be asking for trouble, and we'll kill your whole family!"

Little Fatty finally got it. He slapped himself across the face. "So this isn't some protagonist's lucky break at all. They're sending us to our deaths! Why did I have to be so damn careless? Damn it, I'm not ready to die! Fuck you, Space! How can you force us into this?!"

Kirk and Little Fatty cursed at the sky. They were only a step away from jumping up and grabbing Space itself to give it a proper taste of its own medicine.

Mori and T-Dog shook their heads. The two kids had finally snapped in this twisted world.

Perhaps their furious shouting had reached Space, because another prompt appeared: "Considering that Contractor No. 4444 and Contractor No. 4445 are novices with low overall combat ratings, the estimated death rate for this mission is above 99.999999%. (Kirk thought bitterly, You might as well just say Little Fatty and I are guaranteed to die. Why rub it in?) In accordance with the principle of not assigning Contractors missions with a death rate above 95%, and the applicable newbie protection principle, this Dark Gold Hidden Main Mission has been downgraded to a Silver Hidden Main Mission, with a corresponding reduction in rewards. After the difficulty reduction, your estimated death rate has fallen to 97.6%! (Kirk cursed, Bullshit! That still means we're screwed! As if forcing us into it weren't enough, now you're forcing us into it twice!)

"Since the mission is still too difficult, Space is temporarily opening one-time item and medicine exchanges for five minutes. Contractors may exchange for medicine and other supplies to improve their odds of survival. The mission system will open once the estimated death rate falls below 95%. If Contractors still die, Survival Points will not be refunded."

Space's "no discussion, no protection, no responsibility" policy—the "three-no, finish-inside rape" routine—broke the two rookies all over again. (Kirk sobbed softly: "And we have to pawn everything we own just to buy the 'morning-after pill' ourselves, or someone's going to end up dead.") But no matter how badly they broke down, they still had to survive. Kirk shouted, "Fuck it! When you die, you're dead! Better to die late than leave your parents without a son!" Little Fatty was at his wit's end, too. He yelled, "Fate is like rape. If you can't fight it, then spread your legs and enjoy the thrill!"

"Good brother!" The two men clasped hands tightly, their friendship burning bright. Mori and T-Dog were finally shocked. Their two precious disciples had gone from psychologically twisted to physically twisted.

With bruised and swollen faces, Kirk and Little Fatty walked along, grinning foolishly as though they shared the same thought. Mori and T-Dog couldn't even be bothered with the two good-for-nothings anymore. At Mori's suggestion, the team set off toward the hydraulic door described in the diary.

Earlier, at Kirk's suggestion, he and Little Fatty had exchanged all their team Contribution Value for weapons. Fortunately, the team had originally come to clear the prison of Walkers, so it had a plentiful supply of weapons and ammunition. Kirk spent 30 Contribution Value to get a sharp SEAL Team Special Military Knife from Mori. It was a white-grade dagger that specialized in attack power, with a base damage of 15–20—far better than the pathetic 5 damage of the weapon he had now. He gave the remaining 9 Contribution Value to Little Fatty. Little Fatty, in turn, spent the rest of his 50-plus Contribution Value on a powerful M16 automatic rifle and plenty of ammunition!

The two of them also took advantage of the five-minute window Space had opened to exchange for a large number of one-time items and medicines. Kirk and Little Fatty pawned everything they owned, turning every resource into immediate combat power. As Kirk put it, even if they were going to die, they'd die spectacularly. A wise old Northeastern philosopher once said, "The most painful thing in the world is when you die with money left unspent."

Kirk had 5,600 Survival Points, and Little Fatty had more than 3,000. That sounded like a lot, but facing the threat of death, they finally understood why Space's currency was called Survival Points!

One bottle of High Protein Potassium Injection, which fully restored health over five seconds when used in combat, cost 2,000 Survival Points and one precious Skill Potential Point!

One bottle of Cat's Agility, which increased movement speed by 30% for three minutes, cost 500 Survival Points!

One bottle of Stone Skin, which increased physical resistance by 30% for three minutes, also cost 500!

The prices of every item made the two tightwads suffer more than torture. These were the kind of unlucky guys who wouldn't use a potion even when they were sitting on the ground in the middle of a fight. Completing a Main Mission only earned them 1,000 Survival Points. Downing one of these massive health potions was like chugging two bottles of Hengshui's finest, Laobaigan.

After a buying spree, Kirk stared red-eyed and panting at the few bottles of medicine in his hands, so furious he could have killed someone. He'd risked his life and spent every last point he had to exchange for two bottles of High Protein Potassium Injection, one bottle of Cat's Agility, one bottle of Stone Skin, and one bottle of Black Mamba Sea Snake corrosive poison, which could be smeared on a dagger and was extremely corrosive. Those five little bottles were all he had to show for five days of fighting for his life in this world.

Little Fatty exchanged for one bottle of High Protein Potassium Injection, three slices of Delicious Toast—the same kind he'd fed Kirk last time—and one bottle of Adrenaline Stimulant, which increased shooting damage by 30% for three minutes. The highlight was that, in a burst of creativity, he also spent 500 Survival Points on a top-quality potion called Polymorph.

Polymorph potion: Turns you (Kirk shouted, "Read that carefully—it's not the enemy!") into a cute, chubby Alpine Sheep for three minutes. While transformed, you cannot attack and can only run around with 5 Agility. Each attack you take deals exactly 1 damage. While transformed, you will attract enemies' attention first. When you return to human form, you immediately enter a near-death state.

As you can see, this was a top-quality life-saving potion, full of imagination. So Kirk beat up the cautious Little Fatty.

The two brothers finally understood the truth: money could buy you more life. Now they were broke, with no Contribution Value left and less than 100 Survival Points between them—poorer than when they'd first entered Space. Little Fatty had also given Kirk the High Protein Potassium Injection they'd received as a mission reward.

Kirk still had 9 Skill Potential Points and 7 Base Attribute Points. Gritting his teeth, he decided to spend the Base Attribute Points, too. After checking, he learned that when an attribute was below 5, one Base Attribute Point could be exchanged for one attribute point; between 5 and 10, it took three Base Attribute Points to exchange for one attribute point; above 10, it took five. Kirk spent 2 Base Attribute Points to gain 2 Agility, bringing his Agility to 5 (the 1 point from the 50% newbie bonus didn't count). Combined with Gonzalez's Feather Boots, his Agility reached 8, finally letting him escape the fate of being kited endlessly by Walkers. He then spent 3 Base Attribute Points to gain 1 Stamina. Staying alive was important. He saved the remaining Base Attribute Points for later. He kept his 9 Skill Potential Points, not because he was unwilling to exchange them for skills, but because upgrading skills also cost a substantial number of Survival Points. They were both broke and couldn't afford any upgrades. Compared with skills, one-time-use medicine offered better value for immediate combat power and explosive potential. Dead men didn't need skills.