Entering

In the blazing heat of July, the sun hung scorching in the sky.

Even heavy curtains could not completely block out the fierce sunlight.

The sunlight slipping through the gap in the curtains formed a square beam of light, bringing the room its only illumination.

Ring, ring, ring!

The phone rang once again.

After ringing three times in a row, it automatically switched to voicemail.

"Is this Qin Ran? I'm Doctor Wang. You have one year until you turn eighteen. If you don't begin genetic treatment now, you'll lose your chance forever!"

His tone was polite and formulaic, as always.

Qin Ran ignored it indifferently and lowered his head to focus on the Game Memory Card in his hand.

It was bright red and no bigger than his thumbnail.

After confirming that there was no mistake, Qin Ran inserted the Game Memory Card, which had cost him all his savings, into the card slot of the Virtual Helmet.

Beep!

With a crisp sound, the indicator light on the Virtual Helmet changed from red to green.

"Beep! Beep! Beep! No game developer detected. Security unknown. Please proceed with caution!"

A warning prompt sounded from the Virtual Helmet's speaker.

However, Qin Ran paid it no mind.

An Underground Game naturally could not possibly have any so-called developer or security guarantees.

A year ago, this game, rumored to have one hundred percent realism, had appeared on the market.

Logically speaking, a game with one hundred percent realism, far surpassing the virtual games currently popular with only thirty or forty percent realism, should have received immense acclaim.

But the result was exactly the opposite. Before it could officially launch, it was banned.

Because the game was too real!

So real that if someone died in the game, they would die in reality as well!

Of the three thousand beta testers, fewer than one-tenth survived the test and exited the game.

The deaths of more than a thousand people naturally meant that the game could never be released. Later, Qin Ran heard that some wealthy people had joined the game in pursuit of thrills, allowing it to operate once more and become a true "Underground Game"—one that only a small number of people could access.

Aside from its secret purchase channels and exorbitant price, the fact that death in the game meant death in reality also deterred even more people.

But Qin Ran did not care.

Because if he could not gather the three million yuan needed for treatment within a year, his Genetic Virus Syndrome would certainly kill him.

Three million yuan was naturally nothing to the rich, but to Qin Ran, it was an astronomical sum.

Ever since he had first been diagnosed with Genetic Virus Syndrome three years ago, Qin Ran had worked hard to save money.

But... it was a drop in the bucket!

Qin Ran had been fourteen three years ago, an ordinary middle school student in the Federation. He had no qualifications or special skills. Even manual labor was entirely beyond his reach because of his age.

He could only take odd jobs.

But no matter what kind of odd job it was, it could never cover the treatment fee of three million yuan.

Even though he slept only five hours a day and worked three part-time jobs, Qin Ran had saved only thirty thousand yuan in three years.

That was exactly one percent of the medical expenses.

It had driven Qin Ran to despair!

Qin Ran had too many hopes and fantasies for life, so... he did not want to die.

But reality insisted that he had to die!

Then, he heard a rumor from the Gold-farming Studio where he had originally worked—a rumor concerning the "Underground Game."

It was said that any top-tier piece of equipment could sell for more than a million yuan!

After confirming that the rumor was true, Qin Ran went all in.

He used the savings he had accumulated from working since the age of fourteen for three years to buy the memory card for this Underground Game, preparing to take a gamble.

Success or death!

Qin Ran thought silently.

Putting on the helmet, Qin Ran lay down on the bed.

His vision went black, and a string of text appeared along with a voice—

[Identity ID verification in progress...]

[Identity ID confirmed: Qin Ran, seventeen years old, orphan, currently residing in Federation welfare housing...]

[Attribute scan in progress...]

[Welcome to the Underground Game. The game is about to begin...]

[Entering Solo Instance!]

[Background: War suddenly swept through this city. People were completely unprepared. Most died beneath the bombardment, while the remaining civilians, including you, struggled desperately amid the city's ruins. The intermittent gunfire left you panicked and helpless—the Rebel Army and the rioters had no intention of stopping. Their eyes were bloodshot, and with murderous intent, they sought to destroy everything!]

[Main Quest: Survive Seven Days, 0/7]

[Side Quest (Optional): Rescue more civilians before the war ends. Each civilian rescued can improve your completion rating.]

(Tip: The Beginner Instance is a rare opportunity for every player!)

After all the text had appeared and paused for roughly three minutes, leaving Qin Ran enough time to read it, his vision suddenly flared with blinding light. It was unbearably painful even with his eyes closed, making Qin Ran raise a hand to shield them. Then, he felt his entire body enter a weightless state, accelerating downward.

The entire process lasted only one or two seconds.

When Qin Ran felt everything return to normal, he lowered his hand and opened his eyes.

His eyes immediately widened.

Less than a meter in front of him, an eviscerated corpse was leaning there. Its head was tilted slightly upward, and its clouded eyes happened to be looking directly at Qin Ran, as if they were staring at each other.

Qin Ran's breathing immediately quickened.

From childhood until now, Qin Ran had never seen a human corpse.

At most, he had seen blood during fights.

Now, a corpse had appeared before him, and in such a face-to-face posture. Qin Ran was instantly overwhelmed by panic and fear.

Terrified, Qin Ran instinctively backed away until he slammed into the wall behind him.

Bang!

The pain from his back hitting the wall made Qin Ran bare his teeth.

However, the pain eased some of his previous terror and restored a trace of reason.

"This is a game! This is a game! Even if it's one hundred percent real, it's still a game!"

That trace of reason reminded Qin Ran of where he was.

He had not truly encountered a corpse. He had merely entered an instance in the game.

But the realism before his eyes, along with the bloody stench and rotting odor filling his nose, forced Qin Ran to seek more direct evidence to convince himself.

"Character!"

Qin Ran said.

Having once worked odd jobs at a Gold-farming Studio, Qin Ran was no stranger to operating virtual games.

Fortunately, some game rules were universal, and the Underground Game was no exception.

As Qin Ran spoke, an attribute panel visible only to him appeared before his eyes.

The attribute panel had three pages—

[Name: Qin Ran]

[Age: 17 (Male)]

[Bloodline: Human]

[Title: None]

[Health: 100%]

[Stamina: 100]

Qin Ran swept his gaze over it. The first page showed basic character status, while the second page contained character attributes.

[Strength: F]

[Agility: F]

[Constitution: F]

[Spirit: F+]

[Perception: F+]

The third page contained the skill, equipment, and inventory tabs, but they were all currently empty.

[Skills: None]

[Equipment: None]

[Inventory: Empty]

(Evaluation: A complete newbie, not even as useful as cannon fodder!)

Even though the final evaluation was full of mockery, Qin Ran wore a smile.

Because the appearance of the system panel undoubtedly proved that everything before him was a game!

Even if it was one hundred percent real!

Qin Ran took several deep breaths, dispelling the lingering fear and forcing himself to calm down completely.

Once Qin Ran had calmed down enough, he subconsciously looked toward the eviscerated corpse!

In reality, corpses inspired fear and panic, but in games, corpses represented something else: game coins and equipment!

Qin Ran naturally had not forgotten why he had entered the Underground Game—to obtain enough money to treat his Genetic Virus Syndrome.

That required one prerequisite: enough strength within the game.

Only great strength would allow him to acquire more game coins and sufficiently good equipment. Only by relying on those game coins and good equipment could he exchange them for money in reality.

And with such low attributes, empty skills, equipment, and inventory, and an evaluation that said he was worse than cannon fodder, he naturally did not possess such strength.

Therefore, he needed time to grow stronger.

And he did not have much time!

Only one year remained in reality!

As for inside the game?

Qin Ran could not judge for now, but based on the time ratios of previous virtual games, it would not be much longer than reality.

Therefore, he needed to seize every opportunity to become stronger.

And right in front of Qin Ran was such an opportunity.

Suppressing the discomfort in his heart, Qin Ran slowly approached the corpse.

Even knowing that everything before him was part of a game, the one hundred percent realism made it no different from rifling through a real corpse.

Especially the rancid stench of congealed blood, which made Qin Ran retch repeatedly.

He even subconsciously avoided meeting the corpse's clouded eyes. As for the gaping wound in its abdomen, he did not look at it even once, merely using both hands to keep feeling around the body and searching it.

A moment later, Qin Ran, whose head was slightly turned away, suddenly brightened.

Then, he abruptly looked at the strap his left hand had found. With a slight tug, he pulled a backpack off the corpse.

The backpack had been hidden very well. Combined with the corpse's sitting posture, it would have been difficult to find through visual inspection alone if Qin Ran had not searched carefully.

Since it had been concealed so thoroughly, there should naturally be something good inside.

Subconsciously, Qin Ran stared at the backpack in his hands with heated eyes.

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