Chapter 1

In July, the scorching sun blazed overhead.

Even with the heavy curtains, they could not completely block out the intense sunlight.

The sunlight that seeped through the gaps in the curtains formed a square of light, bringing the only brightness to the entire room.

Ding ling ling!

The phone rang again.

After three rings, it automatically switched to voicemail.

"Is this Qin Ran? I'm Doctor Wang. You will be eighteen in a year. If you don't start gene therapy soon, you will lose the chance forever!"

The tone was polite and formal, as always.

Qin Ran ignored it, lowering his head to focus on the game memory card in his hand.

It was a bright red, about the size of a thumbnail.

After confirming it was correct, Qin Ran inserted the game memory card, which he had spent all his savings on, into the slot of the virtual helmet.

Drip!

A crisp sound, and the indicator light on the virtual helmet turned from red to green.

"Drip! Drip! Drip! No game manufacturer detected, safety unknown, please use with caution!"

A warning message came from the virtual helmet's speaker.

However, Qin Ran did not pay attention.

An underground game, of course, would not have a manufacturer or safety guarantees.

A year ago, this game, rumored to be 100% realistic, appeared on the market.

Logically, such a 100% realistic game, far surpassing the 30-40% realistic virtual games that were popular at the time, should have been highly sought after.

But the result was the opposite; it was banned even before it was officially released.

Because the game was too realistic!

So realistic that if you died in the game, you would die in real life too!

Out of the 3,000 beta testers, less than one-tenth survived the beta test and managed to exit the game.

Such a high death toll of over a thousand people naturally declared that the game would never be released. Later, Qin Ran heard that some rich people, seeking thrills, joined the game, making it truly an "underground game" that only a few could access.

Apart from the secret purchase channels and the high cost, the fact that death in the game meant death in real life also deterred many people.

But Qin Ran did not care.

Because if he could not raise three million for treatment within a year, he would die for sure, suffering from a gene virus.

Three million was nothing to the rich, but for Qin Ran, it was an astronomical figure.

Since he was diagnosed with the gene virus three years ago, Qin Ran had been working hard to save money.

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

Three years ago, Qin Ran was fourteen, an ordinary middle school student in the Federation, with no education, special skills, or even the qualifications for manual labor due to his age.

He could only do odd jobs.

But no matter what kind of odd jobs he did, he could not afford the three million treatment cost.

Even if he only slept five hours a day and worked three part-time jobs, in three years, Qin Ran had only saved 30,000.

Just one percent of the medical expenses.

This made Qin Ran feel desperate!

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

But reality forced him to die!

At this moment, he heard a rumor from the gold farming studio where he worked—about the "underground game."

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

After confirming the rumor's authenticity, Qin Ran took a huge risk.

He used the savings he had accumulated from working since he was fourteen to buy the memory card for this underground game, preparing to take a big gamble.

"Success or death!"

Qin Ran thought to himself.

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

His vision went black, and a text message, accompanied by a voice, began to appear—

[Identity ID verification...]

[Identity ID confirmed: Qin Ran, 17 years old, orphan, currently living in a Federation welfare house...]

[Attribute verification...]

[Welcome to the underground game, the game is about to start...]

[Entering single-player dungeon!]

[Background: War suddenly swept through this city, leaving people unprepared. Most people died in the bombardment, and the remaining civilians, including you, are struggling in the city ruins. The occasional gunfire makes you panic—rebels and bandits are not planning to stop, their eyes red with the intent to destroy everything!]

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

[Side quest (optional): Rescue more civilians until the end of the war, rescuing each civilian will improve your completion rating]

(Notice: The beginner dungeon is a rare opportunity for every player!)

When all the text appeared and paused for about three minutes, giving Qin Ran enough time to read, his vision suddenly brightened, blinding him even with his eyes closed, forcing him to raise his hand to shield his eyes. Then, he felt himself in a state of weightlessness, accelerating downward.

The entire process lasted about one to two seconds.

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

Immediately, his eyes widened.

Less than a meter in front of him, a gutted corpse lay there, its head slightly raised, its cloudy eyes staring directly at Qin Ran, as if making eye contact.

Qin Ran's breathing became rapid.

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

At most, he had seen blood from fights.

At this moment, a corpse appeared in front of him, in such a direct gaze, immediately plunging Qin Ran into panic and fear.

In this panic, Qin Ran instinctively backed away until he hit the wall behind him.

Bang!

The pain from the collision with the wall made Qin Ran wince.

However, the pain helped him slightly recover from his panic, regaining a bit of rationality.

"This is a game! This is a game! Even if it's 100% real, it's still a game!"

A bit of rationality made Qin Ran realize his situation.

He was not really encountering a corpse; he had only entered a game dungeon.

But the realism before his eyes and the smell of blood and decay in his nose forced Qin Ran to seek more direct evidence to convince himself.

"Character!"

Qin Ran said.

Qin Ran, who had worked part-time in a gold farming studio, was not unfamiliar with the controls of some virtual games.

Fortunately, some game rules were universal, and the "underground game" was no exception.

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

The attribute panel was divided into three pages—

[Name: Qin Ran]

[Age: 17 (male)]

[Bloodline: Human]

[Title: None]

[Health: 100%]

[Stamina: 100]

Qin Ran glanced over the first page, which showed the basic character status, and the second page began with character attributes.

[Strength: F]

[Agility: F]

[Constitution: F]

[Spirit: F+]

[Perception: F+]

The third page was for skills, equipment, and inventory, but all were currently empty.

[Skills: None]

[Equipment: None]

[Inventory: Empty]

(Evaluation: A complete newbie, even worse than cannon fodder!)

Even though the final evaluation was mocking, Qin Ran smiled.

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

Even if it was 100% real!

Huff!

Huff!

Qin Ran took several deep breaths, dispelling the remaining panic and calming himself down.

When Qin Ran was sufficiently calm, he subconsciously looked at the gutted corpse in front of him!

In reality, a corpse was terrifying and panic-inducing, but in a game, a corpse represented another meaning: game gold and equipment!

Qin Ran naturally did not forget his purpose for entering the "underground game"—to earn enough money to treat his gene virus.

This required a prerequisite: having enough strength in the game.

Only with great strength could he obtain more game gold and good equipment, and only with these could he exchange for real money.

But with his current low attributes, no skills, equipment, or inventory, and an evaluation worse than cannon fodder, he clearly lacked such strength.

So, he needed time to become stronger.

And this time was not much!

Only one year in reality!

As for in the game?

Qin Ran could not determine it for now, but based on the time ratio of previous virtual games, it would not be much longer than real time.

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

And in front of Qin Ran was such an opportunity.

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

Even knowing it was a game, the 100% realism made it no different from handling a real corpse.

Especially the stench of congealed blood made Qin Ran gag repeatedly.

He even subconsciously avoided eye contact with the corpse's cloudy eyes and did not look at the gutted wound, only using his hands to search the corpse.

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

Then, he looked at the strap he had felt with his left hand, tugged slightly, and pulled a backpack off the corpse.

The backpack was well hidden, and with the corpse's sitting position, it would be hard to notice just by looking.

Such a hidden placement naturally suggested it contained something good.

Subconsciously, Qin Ran's eyes glowed as he looked at the backpack in his hand.