Entering

July blazed beneath a scorching sun.

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

Sunlight slipped through the gaps in the curtains, forming a narrow rectangular border that provided the room's only illumination.

Ring, ring, ring!

The phone rang again.

After three rings, it switched automatically to the answering machine.

"Qin Ran? This is Doctor Wang. You'll turn eighteen in another year. If you don't start gene therapy soon, you'll lose your chance for good!"

Polite and formulaic, as always.

Qin Ran ignored it impassively, lowering his head to examine the Game Memory Card in his hand.

It was bright red and about the size of his thumbnail.

After checking it, Qin Ran inserted the Game Memory Card he had spent all his savings on into the Virtual Helmet's card slot.

Beep!

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

"Beep! Beep! Beep! No game manufacturer detected. Safety unknown. Please exercise caution when playing!"

The warning came from the Virtual Helmet's speaker.

Qin Ran paid it no mind.

An underground game could hardly have a legitimate manufacturer or any safety guarantees.

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

Logically, a game with one hundred percent realism, far surpassing the popular virtual games that offered only thirty or forty percent, should have been wildly sought after.

But the outcome had been precisely the opposite. It had been banned before its official release.

Because the game was too real!

So real that dying in the game meant dying in reality!

Of the three thousand beta testers, fewer than a tenth had survived the test and logged out.

Thousands of deaths had naturally ensured that the game could never be released. Later, however, Qin Ran heard that some wealthy thrill seekers had joined the game, getting it running again and turning it into a true "underground game"-one accessible only to a select few.

Besides the secretive purchasing channels and steep price, the fact that death in the game meant death in reality deterred even more people.

But Qin Ran did not care.

Because if he failed to scrape together three million for treatment within a year, his genetic virus syndrome would kill him without fail.

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

Ever since being diagnosed with genetic virus syndrome three years earlier, Qin Ran had worked hard to save money.

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

Three years ago, Qin Ran had been fourteen, an ordinary middle school student in the Federation. He had no qualifications or special skills, and his age disqualified him even from manual labor.

He could only take odd jobs.

But no odd job could possibly cover the staggering three-million treatment bill.

Even sleeping only five hours a day and working three part-time jobs, Qin Ran had saved just thirty thousand over those three years.

Exactly one percent of his medical expenses.

It had left Qin Ran in despair!

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

Yet reality left him no other option!

Then, at the gold-farming studio where he worked, he heard a rumor-one about the "underground game."

A rumor that any piece of top-tier equipment could sell for over a million!

After confirming the rumor was true, Qin Ran staked everything on it.

He spent the savings he had accumulated over three years of working since the age of fourteen on a memory card for this underground game, ready to take his chance.

Either I succeed or I die trying!

That was Qin Ran's silent thought.

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

His vision went dark, and text began to appear, accompanied by a voice-

[Checking identity ID...]

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

[Checking attributes...]

[Welcome to the underground game. The game will begin shortly...]

[Entering solo instance!]

[Background: War swept through this city without warning. Its people were completely unprepared. Most died under shellfire, while the remaining civilians, including you, struggled to survive amid the city's ruins. Sporadic gunfire left you terrified-the Rebel Army and the thugs had no intention of stopping. With bloodshot eyes and murderous intent, they sought to destroy everything!]

[Main quest: Survive seven days, 0/7]

[Side quest (optional): Help more civilians survive until the war ends. Each civilian saved will improve your completion rating.]

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

Once all the text had appeared, it remained for about three minutes, giving Qin Ran ample time to read. Then his vision suddenly flared with light, so dazzling that even closing his eyes brought no relief. He instinctively raised a hand to shield his eyes. Then he felt his whole body plunge downward, accelerating in a weightless fall.

The entire process lasted about 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, a disemboweled corpse sat propped against something. Its head tilted slightly upward, its cloudy eyes pointing straight at Qin Ran, as though meeting his gaze.

Qin Ran's breathing immediately quickened.

In all his life, Qin Ran had never seen a human corpse.

At most, he had seen blood drawn in a fight.

Now a corpse had appeared right in front of him, seemingly staring into his eyes, and Qin Ran immediately succumbed to panic and fear.

In his terror, Qin Ran backed away almost instinctively, stopping only when he hit the wall behind him.

Thud!

The pain of his back striking the wall made Qin Ran grimace.

But that pain eased his terror slightly, restoring a shred of reason.

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

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

He had not actually encountered a corpse. He had merely entered a game instance.

But the lifelike sight before him, along with the bloody stench in his nose, forced Qin Ran to seek more direct evidence to convince himself.

"Character!"

Qin Ran spoke the command.

Having worked odd jobs at a gold-farming studio, Qin Ran was familiar with the controls of some virtual games.

Fortunately, certain game conventions 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 consisted of three pages-

[Name: Qin Ran]

[Age: 17 (male)]

[Bloodline: Human]

[Title: None]

[Health: 100%]

[Stamina: 100]

Qin Ran scanned it. The first page showed his basic character status, while the second displayed his attributes.

[Strength: F]

[Agility: F]

[Constitution: F]

[Spirit: F+]

[Perception: F+]

The third page contained his skills, equipment, and inventory, but all of them were currently empty.

[Skills: None]

[Equipment: None]

[Inventory: Empty]

(Evaluation: A complete rookie, worth less than cannon fodder!)

Despite the blatant mockery in that final evaluation, Qin Ran smiled.

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

Even if it was one hundred percent realistic!

Huff!

Huff!

Qin Ran took deep breath after deep breath, dispelling his lingering fear and calming himself completely.

Once he was calm enough, he instinctively looked at the disemboweled corpse!

In reality, corpses inspired fear and panic, but in a game, they meant something else: game currency and equipment!

Naturally, Qin Ran had not forgotten why he had entered the "underground game": to earn enough money to treat his genetic virus syndrome.

That required one thing first: sufficient strength within the game.

Only with great strength could he obtain more game currency, better equipment, and the like. Only by relying on that currency and equipment could he earn money in the real world.

With his low attributes, empty skills, equipment, and inventory, and an evaluation that ranked him below cannon fodder, he clearly lacked that strength.

So he needed time to grow stronger.

And he did not have much time!

Only one year in reality!

As for in the game?

Qin Ran could not judge that yet, but based on the time ratios of other virtual games, it would not be much longer than real time.

Therefore, he had to seize every opportunity to grow stronger.

And just such an opportunity lay before him.

Suppressing his revulsion, Qin Ran slowly approached the corpse.

Even knowing everything before him was a game, its absolute realism made it no different from searching an actual corpse.

The stench of congealed blood, in particular, made Qin Ran gag repeatedly.

He even instinctively avoided meeting the corpse's cloudy eyes. He refused to look at its disemboweled wound at all, merely running both hands over the body as he searched.

A moment later, Qin Ran's eyes suddenly lit up, his head still turned slightly aside.

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 well concealed. Combined with the corpse's seated posture, it would have been difficult to spot by sight alone had Qin Ran not searched carefully.

Something hidden so well ought to contain something good.

Instinctively, Qin Ran looked at the backpack in his hands with a hint of eagerness in his eyes.