Simans Chamber of Commerce

The three of them chose to ignore the fatal question.

Wang Zhong, Tax Brother, and Xue Brother sat together in the corner of the workshop, looking at their Imperial Coin balances. Reason won out over impulse.

"Pistols cost 20 coins, hunting knives cost 5, but what we need most right now is this."

Wang Zhong pointed to the top of the shop list. "Synthesized Nutrient Paste, 0.3 coins. Purified Water, 0.3 coins. A Basic Medical Kit, 1.5 coins. Xue Brother, you need to take care of that wound."

Only then did he remember his own injured leg. He immediately grabbed it and cried, "Fuck, my leg hurts like hell!"

Schrodinger's Loyalist grimaced. The makeshift bandage around his thigh was already soaked red with blood.

The three quickly completed their purchases.

A faint white light flashed—probably the only game-like special effect this crappy system had—

and three grayish tubes, three sealed bags of water, and a crude canvas pouch appeared in their hands.

The nutrient paste tasted indescribable, like a mash of starch, protein, and some kind of industrial flavoring. Its texture was coarse, but the fullness in their stomachs after swallowing it was unmistakable.

[Minor Hunger Status Removed]

The purified water had a faint metallic taste, but it was enough to soothe their parched throats.

[Minor Thirst Status Removed]

Inside the medical kit were several rolls of disinfected bandages, a small jar of what looked like antibiotic ointment, and a few painkillers. There were no instructions.

Xue Brother treated his wound as best he could. The sting of the ointment made him suck in a sharp breath, but it soon gave way to a cool sensation. His bleeding status finally changed to [Wound Being Treated, Slow Recovery].

"This pain feedback... is incredible."

Xue Brother swallowed a painkiller. "I believe now that this game uses some kind of direct neural interface."

"Obviously. Otherwise, how would we feel hunger and thirst?"

Tax Brother licked the last traces of paste from the rim of his tube, still wanting more. "There's just not enough of it. Like they're feeding us to the birds."

"Be grateful. It only cost 0.3 coins."

Wang Zhong glanced at his stamina. Sure enough, it had begun to recover slowly from 51%. It wasn't fast, but at least it had stopped falling.

Their activity drew the attention of the players around them.

Seeing the three of them eating and treating their wounds, the eyes of those who hadn't managed to scrape together 1 coin turned green with envy.

"Holy crap, they can afford food!"

"The beginner quest rewards 10 coins! Hurry, I'm only 0.2 coins short of 1!"

"Come on, guys, keep it up! We'll have money for food once we finish the quest!"

"For nutrient paste! Charge!"

The effect of dangling a carrot was immediate.

The player crowd, previously listless with exhaustion, seemed to have been injected with a stimulant.

Throughout the mine, the sounds of footsteps hauling loads, picks striking rock, and metal being pried loose rose up again, blending into a noisy, lively symphony.

Another hour or two passed. As the sky deepened into a darker yellow, most of the players had completed the [A Laborer's First Step] quest.

White flashes of purchases appeared now and then inside and outside the workshop, followed by all kinds of exclamations:

"This nutrient paste tastes fucking awful! Even worse than the compressed rations I ate in the military!"

"Water! Give me water! This stuff leaves my mouth feeling like it's been plastered with cement!"

"At least we have food! My stamina just dropped to 30%. I can barely walk straight!"

"Who bought a medical kit? Lend it to me! I cut my finger on a piece of sheet metal!"

"Get lost! It costs 1.5 coins! Buy your own!"

Wang Zhong paid the life-saving 0.3-coin survival tax. The system deducted it straight from his account without even giving him a receipt. Seeing his balance drop to 32.8 Imperial Coins finally put his mind at ease.

At least the system wouldn't punish him today.

Night fell completely.

Night came quickly on Aurelian IV. The star sank behind the distant silhouette of the Hive City, and the sky shifted from gray-yellow to deep purple, before finally settling into an ink-blue hue washed out by industrial light pollution.

There was no moon, only a few dim stars barely visible through gaps in the clouds.

The workshop's few fluorescent lights were weak, illuminating only the central area.

Most of the players who had completed their quests chose not to stay in the crowded interior. Instead, they spread out in small groups across the platforms outside the workshop and around the mine, sitting or lying on the cold metal floor as they searched for somewhere to rest.

More than four thousand players were scattered throughout the mine at that moment, while nearly a thousand had chosen to remain inside the workshop.

A dozen or twenty members of Wang Zhong's little group from the real world, "Terra Underground Network Tavern (Non-Heretical)," had entered the game. They naturally gathered together in a relatively flat area at the edge of the mine.

They sprawled on the cold ground, leaning against heaps of scrap machinery or ore. They were too tired to move, yet their minds were unusually energized.

"I'm definitely exhausted..." said a player whose ID was [Did White Scars speed today]. He had worked the hardest hauling loads today and had earned nearly 2.5 coins, not counting the quest reward. "But this sense of realism... I still can't believe it."

"What kind of technology do you think this is?"

[Mechanicus Oil-Lover on the Run] was a programmer in real life, and his voice was full of professional confusion.

"VR? AR? A brain-computer interface? Which of those could do something like this?"

"Even hunger and pain are simulated so realistically. Isn't this way beyond entertainment?"

"I feel like I've really been working at a construction site for eight hours." [Want Silent King's Crown but cannot afford] rubbed his aching arms.

"Could our country have discovered some alien technology on the far side of Luna?" [Soul of Cadia] lowered his voice, excitement tinged with conspiracy theories. "Maybe they're using us as guinea pigs?"

"Come on, alien technology?"

[Tau-kun, you are right, but Bolter is righter] scoffed. "If they had tech like that, they'd give it to the military first. Why would they let us play games?"

"Maybe it's a military training system they're testing for civilian use?"

[I'm not the Lord Regent, just Guilliman passing by] speculated. "Look, this game encourages teamwork, survival, and resource management, and it even has some combat elements..."

"But where are the mechs? Where are the mechs they promised?"

[Emperor's Sword but very dull] couldn't let it go. "I came here to pilot a mech, not to work as a miner!"

"Maybe mechs are late-game content?" Wang Zhong joined in. "Those genetic enhancements in the shop look like they're meant for combat."

"They cost 100 coins each, which is ridiculously expensive, but they must have a use."

"Speaking of which..." [Schrodinger's Loyalist] suddenly sat up, looking perplexed. "Did you notice that something new appeared at the bottom of the panel after we completed the beginner quest?"

At that, everyone focused on bringing up their interfaces.

Sure enough, a new option had appeared beneath the line [Today's Survival Tax: Paid (0.3/0.3)]:

[Safe Logout (Current Status: Available)]

A line of small print appeared beside it:

[Warning: After logging out, your vessel will enter an unconscious maintenance state. The system is not responsible for guarding or protecting your vessel while you are offline. You are responsible for any losses caused by damage, disappearance, theft, or other circumstances beyond the system's control.]

[We recommend logging out in a completely safe environment or entrusting your vessel to a trusted party.]

"So... our bodies just get left here?"

Tax Brother's eyes widened. "Can other people strip us naked while we're logged out?"

"Looks like it."

[Mechanicus Oil-Lover on the Run] said, "That's a hardcore mechanic."

"Either find someone to watch your body, hide it somewhere, or don't log out."

"What if we actually die?" [Soul of Cadia] asked.

"That's why we need to save up money, or try not to die."

Wang Zhong summed up, "This game keeps pushing us to play. Either you grind or you pay, although they haven't opened up purchases yet."

"The dev must be a reincarnated miser—or a Warhammer 40k version of one."

[Want Silent King's Crown but cannot afford] lamented, "I owed the system 0.3 coins. Oh, no, it's already been deducted."

"But we'll have to pay another 0.3 tomorrow, day after day, forever... Isn't this exactly what life is like at the bottom of a Hive City?"

"Don't say that..."

[Tau-kun, you are right, but Bolter is righter] covered his face. "I'm starting to think this game's setting is seriously messed up..."

"By the Emperor, don't say that word!"

Wang Zhong interrupted almost reflexively. "It's just a game! It borrows some elements! Parallel universe! An alternate timeline!"

His voice had risen a little. Several players from other groups nearby turned to look.

Wang Zhong cleared his throat and lowered his voice. "Anyway... don't jump to conclusions without solid evidence."

"What if we're right? How bad would that be for our mental health?"

"What if it really is that universe?"

Xue Brother asked in a hollow voice. "What are we now? Chaos Cultists? Heretics? Or some new kind of Warp corruption?"

"Shut up!"

Tax Brother joined in, trying to suppress the conversation. "I reckon—ah, damn it, I mean, I think we're just ordinary players! It's just a game. Don't scare yourselves!"

The topic changed in a strange, unspoken accord.

They began discussing how to make more money tomorrow, whether to form a permanent team, whether to keep mining or explore and hunt, and which shop items offered the best value...

The night grew deeper.

High in the distant night sky, a point of light unlike the Hive City's illumination silently glided above the clouds.

It was a reconnaissance aircraft, its hull painted matte black and its side marked with the emblem of the Alu Pharmaceutical Group:

A gene helix entwined by a serpent. Beneath the emblem were two lines of tiny text, almost impossible to make out:

"Alu Pharmaceutical Group."

"Wholly owned by Simans Chamber of Commerce."