The deep blue sky was like a clear sheet of water, yet, against all reason, it had no clouds, sun, or birds, giving it the beautiful unreality of a fleeting illusion.
Li Wei couldn't help glancing at the enchanting sky again. After clicking his tongue in admiration, he turned his attention back to the chaotic scene before him.
The garden was in an uproar. Neighbors who had heard the commotion rushed over to help, joining together to restrain a young, lame woman in a white lab coat, with silver hair cut to her shoulders.
"626! 6!"
The woman, delicate and pretty but unusually frail and petite, was still struggling and shouting at Li Wei, as though she hoped those three numbers would somehow wake him up.
An empty syringe lay on the lawn in the yard. The liquid inside it had already been injected into his body before Li Wei officially took over it.
From the memories lingering in his mind, Li Wei could more or less piece together what had happened.
His name in this world was Liang Xincheng. He'd grown up in this small town, with not only a happy family and eighteen healthy, carefree years behind him, but also an exceptionally handsome face.
Li Wei had no mirror to check just how good-looking he was now, but the memories concerning his appearance were all wildly exaggerated.
Even so, this seemingly perfect life had suffered an unpleasant mishap today.
"Liang Xincheng," who had just celebrated his eighteenth birthday yesterday, had planned to go out that morning and meet a friend to play ball.
Then the lame woman before him had rushed into his family's yard and jabbed him with a needle while "Liang Xincheng" stood there, bewildered.
Their neighbor Auntie Zhang had happened to see it while preparing to go out and buy groceries. She let out a terrified scream, and within seconds, her shouts had brought a crowd of kindhearted people rushing over to subdue the deranged woman.
It was also then that Li Wei, a game tester, entered the game and became "Liang Xincheng."
That's right. Li Wei was actually testing a game.
Before entering the game pod, he had signed a mountain of liability waivers. After all, this was the world's first virtual-reality game project, so no one could know what kind of accidents might happen.
But everything before his eyes made it clear to Li Wei: no accident had happened!
The company's latest project had gone off without a hitch. This experience, more real than the real world, would absolutely astonish all of humanity once it was released!
The only issue was that the surroundings were a little different from the game's setting he'd been promised.
Wasn't there supposed to be magic, dragons, elves, and goblins?
With great interest, he continued observing the kindhearted neighbors around him. They had joined together to restrain the lame woman, seemingly intending to take her to the Police Department.
Auntie Zhang stood beside him, looking tense as she fussed over him. She was treating him with even more concern than she showed her own son.
Li Wei had been jabbed with a needle for no apparent reason, but he didn't feel anything wrong with his body. He could run and jump, and even do a round of the third set of broadcast exercises. He was as healthy as could be.
Before long, his in-game parents got word while they were at work and hurried home.
They both looked grim, but, strangely, the parents who usually doted on "Liang Xincheng" didn't show him much concern.
As soon as "Dad" returned, he sat on the steps outside the house, staring at the flower beds in the yard with a deeply furrowed brow as he chain-smoked.
"Mom" looked very upset, but it wasn't because she pitied her son. She sat nearby, wiping away tears again and again, though no one knew what was troubling her.
There was something strange about this family.
Li Wei wasn't "Liang Xincheng." From a third-person perspective, he could clearly tell that something was wrong.
The kindhearted neighbors who had gathered around all went their separate ways once "Dad and Mom" returned.
At last, "Dad" spoke up to comfort Li Wei.
"Nothing's going to happen, Xin Cheng. I've already called Doctor Fang. He'll be here soon to examine you."
Doctor Fang was their family doctor.
Sure enough, just as "Dad" had said, Doctor Fang arrived at the house less than five minutes later, drenched in sweat and carrying a medical kit. He swiftly gave Li Wei a full examination.
Li Wei just had the odd feeling that the doctor was being perfunctory. He'd merely gone through the motions, checking his blood pressure and heartbeat.
"Go rest in your room for a while. Nothing's going to happen. Your mom and I are here."
"Dad" spoke reassuringly, but it sounded more like he was trying to send Li Wei away.
Li Wei was very interested in how the story would unfold, but his main focus in the game was testing the various player functions.
Now that he had somewhere quiet to examine the player panel, he was happy to oblige. He obediently left "Mom and Dad" and the doctor to their privacy.
After Li Wei left, "Dad" gave "Mom" a look. "Mom" nodded with a gloomy expression, then went upstairs and stood guard outside Li Wei's room, to keep him from overhearing anything he shouldn't.
"Everything happened so suddenly. That young lady just barged into the testing facility and injected the key into Xin Cheng!"
Doctor Fang clutched at what little hair he had left, looking furious.
"Security failed spectacularly! That young lady was supposed to be kept under safe protection. She shouldn't have discovered this place! The company shouldn't have lied to her, telling her we were going to erase Xin Cheng's mind and turn him into a rich man's pleasure doll! That lie panicked her and made her completely reckless!"
"Dad" lit another cigarette. His hand trembled faintly. Clearly, he was also doing his best to suppress his fury.
"I don't want to know whose fault it was! I just want to know what we do now."
"You're a researcher too. You know that under the treaty, if a bio-person is given the key, he'll be classified as [Extremely Dangerous]. It's a taboo—an unpredictable taboo!"
Doctor Fang looked utterly pained as he said this.
The hand holding "Dad's" cigarette shook violently. He glared at Doctor Fang.
"This isn't just the result of our hard work! The lives of more than a thousand people at the testing facility, seventeen years of their lives, are all riding on him! And you saw how he acted just now. He didn't show any signs of being dangerous. He was as obedient and well-behaved as ever!"
"You can't judge whether he's changed by appearances! Who knows if he's still the Xin Cheng we know? He might be pretending, putting on an act! And before I came, the company executives learned what had happened and gave me an order."
Doctor Fang met "Dad's" bloodshot eyes. He took a deep breath and repeated the order.
"The taboo item should have been confiscated by the Scientific Management Precept Bureau, but Xin Cheng is special. We can't hand him over, and we can't risk keeping him! We have to burn him to death! In front of everyone at the entire testing facility—not a single drop of blood can be left behind!"
The living room fell silent.
After a long spell of stillness, the cigarette butt in "Dad's" hand burned his fingers. Only then did he force the word out through clenched teeth.
"Fine!"
Doctor Fang stood up from the sofa and picked up his suitcase.
"I'll go see Xin Cheng and get things ready."
He went upstairs and gently knocked on Li Wei's door. When he heard Li Wei answer from inside, he opened it and went in.
Only "Dad" and "Mom" remained in the living room.
They sat in silence, merely exchanging a look.
"Do you remember the worst-case plan we discussed before?" "Dad's" voice had grown strangely hoarse.
"Mom" wiped the tears from her face and slowly nodded.
"I'll get things ready too."
After reaching the room upstairs, Li Wei tried summoning the player panel in the game.
He didn't know whether the central system was lagging or something else was going on, but it took five or six seconds for a string of player information to appear in his mind.
[Class: Player] [Attributes: Constitution 12, Intelligence 10] [Class Trait 1. Great Blessing: You can designate a location as a blessing point. Each blessing point must be kept a considerable distance from the others. If a player dies, they will revive directly at a blessing point (Note: Death deducts 70% of experience)] [2. Transcendental Physique: Your physique is extraordinary, and you have an all-around mind and body (Note: Under reasonable circumstances, you can learn the skills of other classes)] [3. One for All: When someone makes a request of you, you have a chance to unlock a "quest." Completing a "quest" grants the corresponding reward] [Class Skills: None] [Class Advancement: Joyful Player] [Advancement Method: Your class advancement will be converted into leveling up with experience. You can advance every 10 levels (Current way to gain experience: accumulate money; legal channels, 1:1; illegal channels, 100,000:1)] [Level: 1 (0/1000)] [PS: You're just like a real player, free to do whatever you want in this world]
Staring at the four words after [Class Advancement], Li Wei couldn't help suspecting that the plot team was a spy sent by a rival company!
Damn it, what kind of class advancement was "Joyful Player" supposed to be?
They weren't even trying to hide it!
Li Wei cursed out the company's plot team in his mind. Such a stupid game panel was a real waste of the technology team's astonishing achievements.
Besides, what kind of game had a class literally called [Player]?
And weren't all those so-called traits just invisible functions that players were supposed to have in the game anyway?
While grumbling to himself, Li Wei still tried using the only player trait he could actively activate: [Great Blessing].
Once he confirmed it, a faint flame that only he could see kindled in the room. The very next second after he activated [Great Blessing]...
There was suddenly a knock at the door. Doctor Fang's voice followed.
"Xin Cheng, is it all right if I come in? Just to be safe, I still need to give you an antibiotic shot."
A new author with a new book. Thanks for reading!
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