Uniqueness

Torrential rain poured down as the rolling black river surged endlessly, rising and falling again, shattering across the water's surface.

Bai Heng gripped Constance by the throat as they sank together.

The icy river water thoroughly soaked Bai Heng's clothes, while a powerful sense of suffocation and weightlessness spread through his body.

Bai Heng even began to suspect that this was not an illusion at all.

"Don't you have anything you want to ask?" Bai Heng had not expected to still be able to speak in this state. Though he was drenched and felt as if he were wrapped in cold liquid, none of it poured into his mouth or nose.

Even with her throat being clutched, Constance's flawless face still bore a composed smile.

She had already recovered from her earlier shock. Extending a delicate hand, her slender fingers wrapped in black silk sleeves gently stroked Bai Heng's cheek as she said,

"In my illusion, I can easily tell whether you're lying."

"I originally thought you had merely obtained it by chance. But now it seems that the light piercing through the clouds, the toppled tower, the golden death... You witnessed all of that firsthand. It seems you are closer to 'Destruction' than we are."

"Afrit originally wanted me to kill you, but now I have a new idea. Since we are both fugitives walking the path of 'Destruction,' why bother distinguishing between you and me? Join the Annihilation Gang, or marry into my family. I can let you go either way."

Bai Heng tilted his head and flicked away the slender finger against his cheek. His grip around Constance's throat tightened as he smiled.

"One second ago, you wanted to turn me into a puppet, and now you want me to marry into your family? Miss Constance, I'm having a hard time keeping up with you."

Yet Constance, whose throat Bai Heng was gripping, did not seem to feel any pain. Instead, she revealed an even more excited smile.

"You only get one chance to choose. If you choose wrong, you'll die."

Watching this, Bai Heng's heart tightened, and he cursed inwardly.

Is this woman a masochist!?

As they continued sinking, the sensations of weightlessness and suffocation grew increasingly pronounced.

Bai Heng knew he could not drag this out any longer, so he prepared to let go.

But then, he suddenly noticed a pendant hanging from Constance's chest.

And the pendant looked like... an Aetherium Chip?

When the Annihilation Gang came to Punklorde this time, they had not only taken the Stellaron from that auction. They should have also taken the Aetherium Chip belonging to that Punklorde Sage.

Could the one hanging from Constance's chest be it?

With that thought, Bai Heng reached toward Constance's chest. The instant his fingers touched the chip—

A voice suddenly rang out.

Due to contact with the relevant medium, this special simulation has been unlocked.

This simulation is unique. If you miss this opportunity, you will permanently lose the ability to conduct this simulation.

The rewards of this simulation are unique.

This simulation has fixed Life Talent traits.

This simulation will consume only one second of real time. During the simulation, you will be in a state of absolute safety.

You have three seconds to decide whether to enter the simulation.

Three...

—Confirm. Enter this simulation!

Almost without any thought, Bai Heng chose to agree.

This was his only way to survive.

Your innate Life Talents have been locked.

Punklorde Spirit (Five Stars): You possess an extremely high talent for hacking.

Frail Health (One Star): Compared to others, your body is weaker and more prone to illness.

King of the Kids (Two Stars): You mature earlier than other children, but maturing early is not necessarily a good thing.

"Punklorde Spirit, Frail Health, and King of the Kids have been locked. Beginning simulation."

Simulation begins.

Consciousness transfer in progress. Random scenario generation in progress.

...

Punklorde, a hacker city where the boundary between reality and illusion had been completely blurred.

The entire city could be divided into three regions: the Great Wilderness, Scrap Mountain, and Oasis District.

In Punklorde's ancient days, this place truly was, as its name suggested, a region unsuited for human habitation.

But with the emergence of Aether Editing technology, people used Aetherium Chips to edit reality and improve their living environment.

Even so, the Great Wilderness remained a symbol of poverty. It produced the explorers for which this planet was famous.

Oasis District, meanwhile, symbolized prosperity and advancement.

Every kind of light pollution, rows of glass skyscrapers, massive data displays, holographic projections of celebrities and officials, chaotic streets, and the red lights of drone swarms filling the night sky and linking into lines all proclaimed its prosperity.

As for Scrap Mountain, if the Great Wilderness was this city's foundation and Oasis District was its heart, then Scrap Mountain was Punklorde's true garbage dump, its sewer, its bottomless gutter.

Here, gangs colluded with one another, handling the matters that officials and socialites of the upper class were unwilling to deal with personally.

Of course, chaos was also an opportunity. Adventurers from the Great Wilderness, as well as those living at the very bottom of Oasis District, came here to seek a way out and find high-paying work.

At one year old, you were born in District 86 of Punklorde's Great Wilderness. The midwife carried your tiny, skinny body out of the delivery room and told your father that you were a boy and that both mother and child were safe. Once the worry hanging over him was finally lifted, your father gently held you, played with you, and sincerely hoped that you would grow up healthy.

You lived in District 86 of the Great Wilderness. Your father was the local executor, overseeing all affairs in District 86. Since he had been elected by the people of District 86 as their administrator, everyone loved and respected him deeply, and they all offered blessings for your birth.

Your mother, meanwhile, was a young lady from Oasis District. The disparity in their backgrounds had brought countless obstacles to their marriage. Yet in the end, your mother gave up her identity within The Family and came here with your father to settle down. Two years later, they had you and named you Bai Heng.

However, your mother, who had once lived in comfort, found it difficult to immediately adapt to the Great Wilderness. During the first two years, she clearly struggled with the environment and often fell ill because of it. As a result, when you were born that year, you inherited not only your mother's beauty but also her frail constitution.

High fevers, coughs, and all kinds of illnesses from the wilderness often tormented you. Several times, the doctors of District 86 declared that you might not survive the night, but you still stubbornly lived on.

At two years old, you made it through the hardest period. In District 86 of the Great Wilderness, your father, despite being its administrator, lived frugally and served the residents under his jurisdiction with all his heart. That was why he was so beloved.

However, your father's excessive frugality nearly left the family unable to afford food. Even the allowance allocated by those above him would be used to aid people in District 86 who were in difficulty.

Your mother lectured your father about this many times, yet she never stopped him from doing it. Sometimes, when natural disasters struck the Great Wilderness, your mother would even take out the dowry she had secretly brought from The Family and let your father use it for disaster relief.

At three years old, you could already walk and speak fluently. Your mother, who came from a scholarly family, personally taught you how to write and do arithmetic, hoping that you would become even more capable than your father in the future.

At four years old, although you still fell ill more easily than children born in the Great Wilderness, your parents discovered that you possessed a talent for numbers and arithmetic far surpassing that of other children. For that reason, they gave you a chip editor called an Aetherium Chip ahead of schedule and taught you how to use it.

You discovered that you could use the chip to move heavy objects and even heat or cool things like in fairy tales. Your mother said it was the Aetherium Chip's ability to edit reality, but you preferred to believe it was magic.

After studying for some time, your mother was astonished by how suited you were to Aether Editing. Even in Oasis District, where she had once lived, it was rare to find a child more talented than you in this regard.

At five years old, a severe natural disaster broke out in District 86 of the Great Wilderness. Many people became orphans because of the disaster, which had been caused by an irresistible force. Your father, as the administrator of District 86, spent a long time contacting officials in Oasis District, but they kept passing the buck over disaster relief. Your mother therefore took out all her savings and even humbled herself to contact the family she had left behind. Only then were deaths from starvation among the civilians of District 86 reduced as much as possible.

As the year-end festival approached, you and your mother were preparing a simple holiday dinner at home when your father returned, covered in snow. In his arms, he held an infant still wrapped in swaddling clothes.