It was a dark and windy night at a secluded estate.
The master bedroom door slowly opened, and a figure swaggered inside.
He wore a thick, floral-padded jacket, but paired it with a pair of hot-pink shorts and mustard-yellow clogs.
You couldn't call the outfit especially ugly. You could only say it was ugly in a very special way.
Most eye-catching of all was the enormous yellow dog-head mask on his head, its smug expression radiating a peculiar air of mockery.
The dog-headed man walked straight to the desk, turned on the computer, and pulled a USB drive from his pocket and plugged it in. A progress bar immediately appeared on the screen.
As he waited, he felt the phone in his pocket vibrating.
"Hello?"
"Du Mu, it's Nick Fury. What's your status?"
"I've infiltrated the target location and am retrieving the mission item."
"Has anyone spotted you?"
Du Mu was just about to answer when the bathroom door in the master bedroom suddenly clicked open. A bearded man in a bathrobe stared at him in horror.
"Damn it! Who are you? How did you get in?!"
"Security! Where are the guards?! Guar—"
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, sharp and clean.
The dog-headed man calmly put away his pistol and said into the phone, "Relax. No one will find out."
"..."
Nick Fury was silent for a few seconds before his voice dropped. "Come back to headquarters after the mission."
"Okay!"
Du Mu hung up. The progress bar on the computer finished at the same moment, and he swiftly pulled out the USB drive.
The next moment, a cold mechanical voice rang in his mind.
[Daily mission "Steal Important Intelligence" complete!] [Rewards: Experience +500, S.H.I.E.L.D. Reputation +10, C4 Bomb*1]
"Tsk, it's the same lousy reward again."
Du Mu curled his lip and glanced at the corpse on the floor. He couldn't help remarking, "Still, this game is unbelievably realistic. Look at that NPC's death response—it's just like the real thing. I'd believe it if someone told me the game developers had killed people before."
In fact, he was immersed in a full-dive virtual reality game called Marvel World.
By 2065, full-dive virtual reality gaming technology had long since become commonplace, allowing players to experience virtual worlds that were nearly one hundred percent lifelike.
As a hardcore gamer with a million followers, Du Mu had beaten countless games and even gained some renown in the international gaming community.
Two months ago, a game company under Marvel had approached him and invited him to test their new title, touted as having "an unprecedented degree of freedom." They promised him a ten-million-dollar prize if he beat it in a single run.
Du Mu knew little about Marvel, and knew even less about its story.
After all, by his time, the Marvel stories had been rebooted and updated who knew how many times. The original characters had long since disappeared from the spotlight.
The hottest superhero of the day was the seventh-generation Iron Man: a Black single mother with gender dysphoria, severe alcoholism, morbid obesity, a history of multiple sex changes, three divorces, and five children.
The eighth-generation Captain America, who was gay, a vegetarian, an animal-rights and environmental activist, a feminist pioneer, a Catholic, and one-eighth Native American, had formed a family with him. Together, they shouted "family" every day.
That sort of superhero duo, loaded to the brim with politically correct buffs, might have been fascinating to audiences across the ocean, but Du Mu couldn't work up any interest in them.
That said, Du Mu had still signed the agreement without hesitation and climbed into the state-of-the-art virtual reality pod they provided.
He had no choice.
They were offering way too much!
At the start of the game, the system offered several identity options: Hydra spy, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Stark Industries employee, Hell's Kitchen resident, and Midtown High School student.
Du Mu picked one at random and started playing.
After two months of gameplay, Du Mu had to admit that the game's freedom really was absurdly high.
There was no tutorial and no guidance of any kind. Players had to figure out all the controls and storylines for themselves.
The most ridiculous part was that, after all this time, he hadn't even caught a glimpse of a main quest!
If the Game System hadn't repeatedly assured him that a main quest existed, Du Mu would've suspected he was playing a spy simulator.
"Come to think of it, this game doesn't seem to have an exit button." Du Mu frowned.
The system's voice promptly rang out:
[We sincerely apologize. A minor issue occurred when the game began, causing a system bug. We are currently working hard to fix it.] "Then nothing's going to happen to me, right?" Du Mu's heart skipped a beat. [Please rest assured. The game pod monitors the player's vital signs around the clock and will immediately force a wake-up if it detects any abnormalities.] [Additional information: The time ratio between the game and reality is 362:1. The state-of-the-art virtual reality pod and high-efficiency nutrient solution you are using can keep your body's basic metabolism stable for more than ten years. There is no need to worry about time or safety.] [If the player insists on leaving the game, they may do so at any time, but they will permanently forfeit eligibility for the one-time completion prize.] [Would the player like to exit the game?]
"Not leaving!"
Du Mu refused without a second thought.
As if! He absolutely wasn't leaving before beating the game and getting that ten-million-dollar prize!
Just then, a rush of hurried footsteps came from outside. The gunshot had clearly alerted the estate's security guards.
Du Mu put aside his lingering doubts and quickly brought up the game map, locking onto the coordinates for S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters.
Click. Teleport!
By the time the guards arrived, all that remained in the master bedroom was a cold corpse and a beeping C4 Bomb.
"Holy shit!"
Boom!!!
The Triskelion Building, the director's office.
Nick Fury sat behind his spacious desk, reviewing a thick stack of documents.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. budget allocation report?"
A voice abruptly spoke up.
Nick Fury jerked his head up and saw an enormous yellow dog head leaning over the documents.
Du Mu: (乛ᴥ乛)
"Motherfucker!"
Nick Fury jolted and shouted instinctively.
But he soon recognized who it was and scowled. "Du Mu! How many times have I told you? Dress normally at headquarters! At least look human!"
Du Mu immediately took offense. "But this outfit looks cool! And it's pretty strong, too."
Nick Fury's mouth twitched.
Had you left your sense of style in the womb when you were born?
He was about to blow up when Du Mu suddenly pointed at a section of the documents.
"By the way, Director, something's off with this report. Why are there several large expenses with no source? Could someone be secretly misappropriating public funds?"
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Nick Fury suddenly broke into a violent coughing fit. He snatched up the documents, shoved them into a drawer, and said with a straight face, "This is top secret. I'm handling it personally. It's not something a Level 5 agent like you should be asking about."
"Oh."
Nick Fury put on a stern expression and forcibly changed the subject. "I have an important mission for you."
As he spoke, he took a file from another drawer and pushed it in front of Du Mu.
The first page showed a photo of a flashy man with a small mustache. His name and identity were printed beneath it.
Tony Stark, chairman of Stark Industries.
"Three months ago, Tony Stark was attacked by unidentified armed men in the Middle East. His fate is still unknown."
"I need you to leave for Afghanistan immediately and find out what happened to Tony Stark. If he's still alive, bring him back safely."
As Nick Fury spoke, the system's voice rang out at the same time.
[NPC Nick Fury has given you a new mission] [Mission: Birth of Iron Man] [Objective: Go to the Middle East, find Tony Stark, and bring him back safely] [The player has triggered a main storyline mission! Complete it to receive generous rewards!]
A main quest!?
Du Mu's eyes widened with excitement.
It was here!
The main quest he'd been waiting for had finally arrived!
"Iron Man? Sounds like a superhero name. Could he be an important character?" Du Mu guessed.
Though he knew very little about Marvel, he knew it was a superhero comic-book company, so naturally its central focus was superheroes.
And yet, despite all the time he'd spent playing, Du Mu hadn't heard of a single superhero, let alone seen one.
Nick Fury, standing right in front of him, did have a bit of a superhero air about him.
So what was his superhero name?
One-Eyed Hero?
Or Motherfucker Hero?
"Du Mu! Are you even listening?!"
Nick Fury looked at the staring Du Mu and felt his blood pressure rising.
Du Mu came back to himself. "Sir, what were you saying just now?"
"I said—"
"Never mind, it's not important. Skip the cutscene!"
Nick Fury: 눈灬●