3.67 Million High-Quality Men

"How are we supposed to make a move? If we don't have the right channels, and we rashly let it slip that we kept Xin Cheng's kidney, the company won't let us off!"

After everyone had dispersed, "Mom" and "Dad" wiped the sorrow from their faces and turned toward the house.

"Mom" looked nervous. Having worked for the company for nearly thirty years, she knew all too well what happened when someone violated a ban.

"Dad," on the other hand, was clearly the type who became calmer the more serious things got. He lit a cigarette.

"If you're really scared, then just pretend we didn't take anything from Xin Cheng's body. I'll find a buyer as soon as possible, while that kidney is still viable."

"Mom" nodded absently, not noticing "Dad" glance at her out of the corner of his eye.

He'd had enough of that stupid woman long ago. He'd find a chance to get rid of her later.

When it came to dividing the spoils, the safest arrangement wasn't for Heaven, Earth, you, and me all to know the secret.

It was for him alone to know.

"Hurry back and pack. The experiment failed, so the company will definitely make other arrangements for us."

The two of them pushed open the door together, but as soon as they stepped inside, they heard the sound of a gas stove burning something.

"Dad" frowned.

"Were you heating water before you left?"

"Mom" looked bewildered and shook her head.

"No, I didn't go into the kitchen."

She started toward the kitchen to see what was going on.

But before she could take a single step,

a boning knife plunged through her back!

"Mom" stared in a daze at the knife tip protruding through her body. Her eyes hadn't even had time to register what was happening before the light of life vanished from them!

"Thud!"

Her body crashed to the floor. In that instant, "Dad" reacted in horror, but before he could turn around to see who the killer behind the door was,

a wooden stick, torn from a chair, slammed into the back of his neck!

Before darkness swallowed his consciousness and sight completely,

he thought he saw a familiar figure behind him take out an apple and bite into it, expressionless!

Li Wei didn't even look at "Mom's" corpse as it began to grow cold. He took another crisp bite of the apple, grabbed "Dad" by the back of his collar, and dragged him to the kitchen doorway.

Just then, a notification suddenly appeared in his mind, catching Li Wei's attention.

[Kill confirmed. Acquired 730,000 in illegal assets. Experience: 7.3]

[Experience: 7.3/1000]

Staring at the experience bar as it changed, Li Wei froze for a moment. Then he looked down at "Mom," whose blood had pooled beneath her.

So he didn't have to spend money. Killing someone counted as looting their assets and granted experience for leveling up?

But wasn't a conversion rate of 100,000 in illegally acquired assets to 1 experience point absurdly low?

His stomach growled, pulling his thoughts back to the present. He stopped paying attention to the experience bar and went into the kitchen.

The food was still warming on the stove.

After reheating the millet porridge left over from breakfast, Li Wei enjoyed the game's taste simulation.

"Mom" wasn't much of a cook, but it was hard to make a simple bowl of porridge taste bad.

Honestly, it was only after dying once that Li Wei truly realized how realistic the game was—and that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Even though he knew it wasn't real, the sensation of his consciousness fading into an abyss and his body perishing had left him shaken.

He'd have to put this in his report. Everything else could be realistic, but the sensation of death and the pain players could endure absolutely couldn't come anywhere close to the real thing.

After all, nobody played games to suffer.

Once he'd tossed the apple core and finished the porridge,

Li Wei found a length of rope, tied "Dad" up tightly, and finally threw a basin of cold water over him.

"Dad" had a nightmare.

He dreamed that Xin Cheng, the son he'd raised for seventeen years, stood before him with nothing below the waist but a bloodied hole that wouldn't stop bleeding. Crying, Xin Cheng begged him, "Dad, it hurts so much. My body hurts!"

"Dad" tried to run. He wanted to get as far away as he could, but the blood pouring from the hole in Xin Cheng's waist kept swallowing him up.

At last, he jolted awake—and saw the exact same face from his dream!

It was a face crafted from 3.67 million high-quality men and hailed as perfect.

Many of those wicked rich people had once been willing to give up more than half their fortunes just to buy that face.

But despite its astonishing beauty, the instant "Dad" realized this wasn't a dream, his pupils contracted and his heart stopped!

He cried out in disbelief.

"Y-you, who are you?!"

Li Wei had already pulled out the boning knife that had pierced "Mom's" heart. Looking at "Dad's" face, twisted with terror, he crouched down with a beaming smile.

"I'm Xin Cheng, Dad. Your dearest son."

"Pfft!"

As Li Wei finished speaking, the gleaming boning knife plunged straight into "Dad's" waist!

"Argh!!"

Without any drugs to numb him, the agony of a sharp blade piercing his organs made "Dad" howl.

But aside from the crippled woman still kneeling in front of the warehouse that had burned to ruins, everyone else in town had long since moved away from this building. No matter how horribly "Dad" screamed, nobody could hear him.

Scarlet blood spattered like plum blossoms across Li Wei's jacket. He slowly pulled out the boning knife.

"Dad, you promised to give me back twice as many kidneys."

"Xin Cheng... Dad... I was wrong! Please, please spare me. Whatever happens, I raised you for seventeen years. Killing you wasn't my decision. I do have feelings for you..."

"Dad" sobbed and pleaded, his face crumpled with desperation.

He had no idea why Li Wei, who'd been burned to death right in front of everyone, was alive now!

And his body was perfectly intact, without a single wound!

So what had the kidney he dug out half an hour ago been?

He couldn't make sense of it, but he was terrified of dying—terrified beyond words!

Li Wei chuckled and wiped the bloodied boning knife on "Dad's" white shirt.

"The debt you owe me for raising me is one thing. Keeping your word is another. You taught me that, didn't you?"

"Dad" only wept. He knew Xin Cheng was a kind boy who cherished his relationships and was easily moved. That was the only chance he had of surviving.

Sure enough, Li Wei's tone shifted.

"Still, I suppose I could let you off the interest and leave you one kidney." Li Wei gave him a faintly amused look.

At those words, "Dad" stopped crying at once, clinging to that last straw for survival as he stared into Li Wei's eyes.

"I-I'll do anything, Xin Cheng! Just... just let me go, please!"

Li Wei calmly pointed at himself.

"What am I?"

"Dad" was about to answer, but suddenly fell silent.

The company's strict rules flashed through his mind. He knew very well that the experimental subject asking that question touched on the most forbidden of taboos!

Li Wei could see his hesitation and fear. He didn't rush him; he simply pointed the boning knife at "Dad's" still-intact left kidney.

At that moment, "Dad" cast aside his doubts completely.

He'd already broken a taboo by taking a kidney from Li Wei before choosing to burn him alive. Now that he was about to die anyway, what did it matter if he broke one more?

"You're Biological Subject Patent No. 626 from the [Central] Biology Institute! You're a new human created from 3.67 million outstanding men!"

"Dad" spoke without a moment's hesitation, his breathing ragged and his words rushed.

His heart pounded as he revealed Li Wei's identity from the files, but he didn't dare mention the secret hidden behind them.

He'd die before he told!

Li Wei could tell that he was too terrified to lie.

The revelation that he was an artificial human surprised Li Wei a little, but he didn't care much. After all, the game had to give players a background and identity that made sense.

"Why am I here?" Li Wei continued.

By now, he'd already realized that this town was fake.

The collapsed half of the sky and the houses being torn down in the distance proved that this so-called town was nothing more than a fake stage.

And "Xin Cheng" was the protagonist of the play, completely unaware of everything around him!

"Dad" didn't dare look away from Li Wei's gaze. Blood continued pouring from the hole in his waist, and his voice had grown noticeably weak.

"The department head suspected Patent No. 626 still had flaws because of your psychological denial and distortion of your identity as a biologic. He wanted to create a gentle environment for you and control your upbringing, hoping to fix those flaws!"

At that, Li Wei narrowed his eyes.

"If all he wanted was a gentle environment, he could've hidden my origins and had a family adopt me. Why go to all the trouble of constructing a fake town? It sounds like you're not telling me the whole truth."

Noticing the change in Li Wei's expression and the knife in his hand, "Dad" was terrified. He shrieked as he tried desperately to explain.

"I'm telling the truth! That's the reason the department head gave us! When he came to us seventeen years ago, that's exactly what he said! I've told you everything I know! I have!"

Li Wei showed no sign of whether he believed him. He simply continued questioning him.

"Who was the person who injected me today? Why did that shot kill me?"

"Feng Zi! Her name is Feng Zi! She comes from a powerful family! She's a genius! She's also an agent of the [Central] Physics Institute, and the team leader of the Gravity Physics Group at Tian'en Company! Patent No. 626 is the only sample of its kind still in existence! Her father gave you to the department head! But she's never accepted that. She came all the way from the [Central] to take you away!"

"She injected you with a key! The Biological Taboo Treaty clearly states that any biologic given a key is an extremely dangerous item! The ultimate taboo! They have to be destroyed within an hour! The department head gave the order. He declared the experiment a failure and ordered you destroyed!"

"Dad" told him everything he knew without holding anything back. He looked at Li Wei pleadingly, placing all his hopes in Li Wei keeping his promise.

After spending more than ten seconds thinking it over and fully absorbing the information, Li Wei turned back to meet those timid, fearful, pleading eyes.

"Of course I keep my word. What you've told me is enough to pay for your other kidney."

"Dad" let out a long breath of relief, as if he'd been granted a pardon.

But before he could draw in a breath of fresh air, the boning knife that had been resting at his waist suddenly sank into his chest!

His eyes widened. He stared at Li Wei's cold face in disbelief.

"You... you promised me..."

"Right. I promised to leave your corpse with the other intact kidney."

Li Wei pulled out the willow-leaf knife again. Blood gushed out, staining his white lab coat completely red.

"See? I keep my word."

But "Dad's" unfocused eyes clearly could no longer offer heartfelt thanks for Li Wei keeping his promise.

Another experience notification popped up in Li Wei's mind.

[Kill confirmed. Acquired 910,000 in illegal assets. Experience: 9.1]

[Experience: 16.4/1000]

The experience from killing people barely made a dent in the bar, but Li Wei hadn't expected to level up.

He was just a game tester. He'd experienced pretty much all the story content by now. It was time to leave the game and return to his miserable day job of writing reports.

Looking at the ruin around him, Li Wei knew it was only a game and that he'd caused all of this himself.

Even so, the bloody scene before him was so realistic that he couldn't help feeling sick.

He cast one last disgusted glance around the room. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Feng Zi still kneeling in front of the burned-down warehouse.

Li Wei clicked his tongue. He felt that if the story went any further, the girl would definitely become important to what came next.

But none of that had anything to do with him. His work for the day was done.

Imagining how nice it would be to go home after work and make himself a bowl of noodles with a fried egg, Li Wei cheerfully brought up the player information. He was about to select the little gear icon in the bottom-left corner and confirm his exit when

his body suddenly went rigid.

He stared at the string of player traits and read them over twice more. At last, Li Wei was sure he wasn't seeing things!

Forget the game's exit button. There wasn't even a gear icon anywhere in the plain text description!

Li Wei stood frozen as an absurd thought surfaced in his mind.

Am I trapped in the game?