Player's First Kill

It stood nearly 1.5 meters at the shoulder, its body covered in greasy, matted, grey-black fur. Its muscles were bulging, and corrosive saliva dripped from the corners of its mouth, sizzling against the ground and sending up wisps of white smoke.

The most striking features were its eyes—a murky yellow tinged with an unnatural crimson—and its abnormally developed forelimbs, which featured sickle-like bony protrusions.

It was clearly very displeased with the little snacks standing outside its lair.

"Holy crap! What is that thing?" Tax Brother exclaimed.

"Who cares what it is! Attack!"

Schrodinger's Loyalist was absolutely certain in this moment; he let out a shout and was the first to hurl the steel pipe in his hand like a javelin.

The pipe slammed into the beast's shoulder blade with a dull thud, drawing a pained roar from the creature, but it clearly failed to land a lethal blow and only succeeded in thoroughly enraging it.

The beast pushed off its hind legs, lunging toward Xue Brother, who was at the front, like a cannonball!

"Dodge!" Wang Zhong sidestepped and swung his steel pipe, smashing it hard against the beast's flank.

Tax Brother also attacked the beast's hind legs from the other side.

The battle erupted in an instant.

There were no flashy skills, no precise marksmanship—only the most primitive and clumsy hacking, smashing, stabbing, and dodging.

The roars of the beast, the clanging of steel pipes, and the shouts of the players all blended together.

Wang Zhong felt his arm go numb from the recoil, his adrenaline surging wildly.

The beast possessed immense strength and decent speed; those sickle-like bone blades grazed his work clothes, leaving a tear and a stinging sensation. His status didn't drop much, but a notification for a minor injury had already appeared.

Xue Brother was caught off guard and struck in the thigh by the beast's claw. Although he avoided the bone blade, a gash was torn open, blood seeping out, and his movements immediately became sluggish.

"I'm injured! I have a bleeding status!"

"Hold on! Attack its eyes and joints!"

Tax Brother roared, stabbing his steel pipe near the beast's eye socket. Although he missed the eye, it forced the beast to jerk its head away in pain.

Wang Zhong seized the opportunity, using every ounce of his strength to drive the sharp, broken end of his steel pipe deep into the side of the beast's neck, which had been exposed by its sudden turn!

"Squish!"

Warm, foul-smelling liquid sprayed out.

The beast let out a shrill, mournful howl, and the strength of its struggle suddenly waned.

Tax Brother and the wounded Xue Brother immediately swarmed it, using metal shards, their feet, and anything else they could find to attack the beast's wounds and head frantically.

After a long while, the beast finally stopped moving.

The three of them slumped to the ground, gasping for air, their bodies covered in dust and blood.

The wound on Xue Brother's thigh was still seeping blood, and his face was somewhat pale.

"We won... we actually killed it!" Tax Brother's face was a mix of lingering fear and excitement.

"Quick, see how much money this thing is worth!"

Wang Zhong suppressed his nausea and checked the system.

He focused his attention on the beast's carcass.

[Discovery: Mutated Mine Hyena-Beast (Deceased)]

[Assessment: Rich in unstable biomass; some mutated glands may have low value; bones and claws can be used as basic materials; recyclable; meat is slightly salty. Estimated total value: 69 Imperial Coins.]

"69 coins!"

The three of them exclaimed in unison, their exhaustion swept away as their eyes lit up.

"We're rich!" Xue Brother even felt as if his leg didn't hurt quite as much anymore.

They briefly treated Xue Brother's wound, then used all their might to fashion a makeshift stretcher out of ropes and sticks, dragging the heavy beast carcass back to Workshop No. 7.

When they appeared dragging the beast, which was clearly a trophy, the entire area near the submission point was abuzz with commotion.

"Holy crap! They killed a monster!"

"How much money did it drop?!"

"It looks so gross... but it seems really valuable?"

"Form a party! We have to form a party to go hunting! Mining is too slow!"

Under the envious gazes of the crowd, the three of them submitted the Hyena-Beast carcass.

[Submission complete... Received: 69 Imperial Coins.]

"Split it evenly?" Wang Zhong looked at his teammates.

"Of course!" Tax Brother and Xue Brother agreed without hesitation.

[Trading function enabled]

[Tax to the Emperor, Schrodinger's Loyalist, and Even If the World Ends I Must Pay Tax have each transferred 23 Imperial Coins]

[Transfer complete]

Each person had gained 23 coins!

Including the previous mining gains, Wang Zhong's Imperial Coin total reached 23.7, while Tax Brother and Xue Brother also surpassed 20.

More importantly.

[Ding! Quest: The Laborer's First Step Complete]

[Reward Issued: 10 Imperial Coin credited]

[Aurelian Language (Advanced) unlocked]

[Shop inventory preview function enabled]

New notifications popped up in the vision of all three, accompanied by a shimmering [Shop] icon.

"The shop is open!"

"Quick, see what's in there!"

Wang Zhong couldn't wait; he focused his intent and tapped the icon.

A concise yet information-dense list flooded his mind.

His gaze swept rapidly from top to bottom:

Synthetic nutrient paste, purified water... hmm, basic survival supplies.

Forged miner's pickaxe, metal cutter... tool upgrades.

Simple pistol, hunting knife... weapons!

Basic physique enhancement (Type I), neural reflex optimization (Type I), sensory sharpening (Type I)... genetic enhancement?!

Wilderness Survival Common Sense, <Basic Mechanical Structure Identification and Disassembly>... skill books?!

His breathing grew ragged.

The names of these items, the descriptions, even that crude and simple "Type I" labeling style...

When his eyes landed on the notes for the enhancement projects: "Slightly increases strength and stamina caps," "Requires training and adaptation, may slightly alter the carrier's appearance"...

When he saw the price tag, reaching as high as 100 Imperial Coin...

When he associated it with the Mutant Hyena Beast they encountered earlier, this dilapidated industrial world, the Imperial Coin, the survival tax, and that cold system voice...

A guess he had desperately denied, like a seed nourished by the whispers of a Chaos God, frantically broke through the soil in his mind, growing and spreading.

"No... it can't be..."

Wang Zhong felt his heart pounding violently, cold sweat seeping from his palms.

"This UI style... this enhancement path... the oppressive tone of this entire world... and the Imperial Coin..."

"Coincidence... it must be a coincidence!"

"The name is literally Era 40k: Mecha, it's normal to borrow a few elements!"

"Right, just borrowing elements!"

"How could this possibly be that world? Impossible, absolutely impossible."

He stared fixedly at the shop list, as if trying to find evidence to refute his own conjecture.

But what he saw were the unlock requirements for genetic sequence development, the notes about potentially altering the carrier's appearance, the item names that reeked of cold, utilitarian, aesthetic-less design... the flavor was too strong!

Schrodinger's Loyalist was already shouting from the side:

"Holy crap! Genetic enhancement! Isn't this the path of... you know, the Astartes?"

"Though they usually have nineteen surgeries and gene-seeds, this looks like a simplified, youth version?"

Tax Brother, meanwhile, was curling his lip at the simple pistol: "This thing... give me a lasgun!"

"Even the crappiest Lucius Pattern would do! Black powder? What era is this? Oh right, the game background might be a post-apocalypse..."

Post-apocalypse? Isn't Warhammer 40k just one giant post-apocalypse for the humans in the hive cities?!

Wang Zhong roared internally.

He slammed the shop interface shut, his expression shifting uncertainly.

"Heresy!"

He yelled at himself in his heart, "This thought is too heretical! There is no Aquila!"

"No prayers of the Imperial Cult! No mention of any Primarch or Chaos!"

"The mecha are sci-fi style too! This must be the developers playing with memes! High-level satire!"

"Or... or maybe some kind of parallel universe setting?"

"Right, a parallel universe! Like an 'IF' scenario where the Emperor pursued a technological path instead of a psychic one?"

He tried hard to convince himself.

But that guess, like a blessing from Nurgle, once planted, took root stubbornly and was difficult to excise.

He raised his head, looking at the sky outside the dim workshop—shrouded in polluted clouds, forever a murky gray-yellow—and looked toward the distant hive city, its steel structures towering into the clouds like tombstones.

A chill crawled up his spine.

"I don't believe it... I don't believe it... I don't believe it..."

He muttered to himself, as if reciting an incantation to ward off demons.

"Until I have seen the golden giants with my own eyes, until I have seen the Astartes, until I have heard the cry of 'For the Emperor,' and until I have faced the Chaos demons head-on..."

Wang Zhong gritted his teeth, his gaze turning resolute once more, even tinged with a hint of paranoia.

"I, forever loyal to the Emperor, will absolutely never admit that this terrifying possibility exists!"

"This is just a slightly hardcore, slightly dark... mecha game that borrows a few elements from Warhammer 40k!"