Can't Go Back?

Flames shot up to the top of the velvet curtains, and black smoke swirled across the entire ceiling.

The wooden wardrobe crackled incessantly. The screen inside the gaming pod exploded with a bang, sending sparks and blue-purple arcs of electricity flying everywhere.

The gaming pod had warped from the heat, and its special materials gave off a choking, burnt smell. The machine, engulfed in flames, suddenly let out a piercing squeal, like an electrical appliance screaming and sizzling.

Xiahou, lying inside the pod, still showed no reaction. The flames began to burn his body, and the smell of roasting meat spread through the room.

The whole room was like a red-hot iron pan. Tongues of flame darted through the cracks in the floor, and even the flames floating in midair twisted and writhed like they were performing a ritual dance.

After the firefighters' efforts, the flames inside the room were finally extinguished, but Xiahou had already been reduced to a pile of unidentifiable material.

(Xiahou: Listen to me, thank you! Because of you, all four seasons are warm! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻)

Meanwhile, Xiahou on the other side was still wandering around the streets.

Looking at the graffiti and the rundown neighborhood around him, he marveled at how awesomely the scenery had been constructed! He could even read the English advertisements and signs all around him.

"Awesome! Awesome! I'm an English idiot who can only say hello and thank you, but somehow I can read English just by playing a game! (☆▽☆)"

"Come to think of it, what's with the looks on everyone's faces? Why are they all staring at me like I'm a clown?"

As he spoke, he looked himself over to see if something was wrong.

When he saw that he was wearing nothing but a pair of boxer briefs, it suddenly dawned on him.

"Oh, it's because I'm not wearing clothes! But isn't it normal to wear whatever you want in a game? What's so strange about that?"

"But are these NPCs really that intelligent? They even react to what I'm wearing?"

With that, he ran over and grabbed a Black guy passing by. As the man stared at him in bewilderment, Xiahou asked, "Hello! Excuse me, where is this?"

The Black guy stared in bewilderment at Xiahou, who had grabbed his hand and was speaking words he couldn't understand. His hand instantly went to the small of his back as he said, "What did you say? Yellow m**key! Let go of me!"

"You can't understand me? And yellow m**key? You're actually insulting me? Hey, I've got a bit of a temper! I'm playing a game and an NPC is actually cursing at me? F*ck you!"

With that, he raised his fist and gave the Black guy's face a little tap.

The Black guy hadn't understood the first few things Xiahou said, but the final "fuck you" and the fist swinging toward him made it clear that Xiahou meant trouble.

He instantly pulled the handgun from behind his waist and performed an American-style quick draw, shooting Xiahou to the ground. Then he spat beside him.

"Hey! Yellow m**key, I don't know what you're saying, but you messed with the wrong guy, you hear me? Fuck (→_→)凸." With that, he turned and walked away.

Watching the Black guy leave, Xiahou was speechless at the red health bar that suddenly appeared over his head. Couldn't it have appeared earlier to tell him he was a hostile unit?

"So this is what getting shot feels like? Even at thirty percent pain, getting shot hurts this much! But I guess this is America, all right. There really are gunfights every day..."

"Speaking of which, since this is a game, I should be able to respawn after I die, right? Or will dying kick me straight out of the game?"

"Why am I not dead yet? Shouldn't I have kicked the bucket already? Is it a bug?"

Xiahou called up the game panel in his mind, and a message popped up before his eyes:

Name: Xiahou D Diaomao

Current status: critically wounded and dying, continuous bleeding

"Without this panel, it would feel just like the real thing. This feeling of being unable to move, only able to silently wait for death!"

"I guess I've experienced a real death now, huh? I have to say, this game is awesome!"

"But my life didn't flash before my eyes. I'll have to give it a bad review for that!"

As Xiahou muttered to himself, his life came to an end. His body began turning into points of light and slowly dissipating, giving it an almost dreamlike appearance.

The end.

Well, okay, just kidding. As the glittering points of light slowly gathered together, Xiahou appeared once again in that shabby little alley.

Xiahou slowly opened his eyes and looked at everything familiar before him, then at the clothes and pants on his body.

"Is this the game's spawn point? And did it give me another starter outfit? Wait, why is it light out? It was clearly already afternoon just now. I could even see the sunset! (⊙ｏ⊙)"

Looking at the sun that had just risen overhead, Xiahou felt a sense of unreality, even though he had just experienced death.

"Speaking of which, the NPCs in this game are a little unfriendly! He was the one who insulted me first, and then he disregarded martial ethics and pulled a gun! He's just picking on me because I'm a newbie without any equipment, right?"

"Once I've leveled up and gotten some gear, I'll definitely teach him how to behave! I'll make him see that picking cotton is his ultimate destiny!"

With that, he started wandering around nearby again, ready to look for something he could use to defend himself.

But after wandering around, he found nothing except the starter outfit he had taken off earlier. Looking at the clothes and pants in his hands, Xiahou didn't know what to say.

"Do things not respawn after you die in this game? Or is it not a single-player game, and there are other players? At least give me back my Lockjaw Blade!"

After rummaging around for a while longer, Xiahou finally confirmed one thing: there really was no item respawn in this game. There was nothing around but junk and trash, not a single useful thing, and all he had gained was another starter outfit.

"Should I die a few more times, then sell the clothes to make my first pot of gold?"

"Forget it, forget it. Dying hurts too much. Unless I'm killed in one hit, I'll be tortured for ages. If I can avoid dying, I will!"

"But there isn't even a starter quest or a guide. How am I supposed to play? Should I take a page from Grand Theft Auto? If you're not going to give me a tutorial, at least give me a newbie village chief to hand out quests! Where's Phil Coulson?"

After dawdling for a while longer, Xiahou suddenly remembered that he had entered the game as soon as he finished setting up the gaming pod that morning, and seemed to have forgotten to feed the cat. He immediately decided to log off, feed the cat first, then eat something and think things over properly, or find the gaming pod company's customer service and ask how the game was supposed to be played.

He acted on the thought, calling up the panel in his mind and looking for the option to exit the game.

But he searched one way and found nothing, then searched another way and still found nothing. Aside from the entrances to the game store and the game's prize draw, there was only a personal stats panel and a game inventory.

But he couldn't find an option to exit the game anywhere. He instantly began to panic.

"No way! No way, right? They made a game without an exit option? Are you kidding me?"

"Hey! System! I want to exit the game!"

"Execute command! Exit game!"

"Customer service! Is there anyone from customer service? Your game has a bug!"

"Ahhh~~~ let me exit the game!!!"

Xiahou felt like he was on the verge of breaking down. He was just playing a game; he couldn't be this unlucky, could he? He was actually trapped inside?

Was this trying to copy Sword Art Online? But at least Akihiko Kayaba showed up and explained the conditions for leaving the game! Had this game just thrown him in and left him there?

He no longer had any desire to explore the game. He sat down against a wall and stared blankly into space...