Chapter 1

"Hiss…"

Liang Chao slowly opened his eyes, sucking in a breath of cold air through his teeth. The icy sensation on his skin made him shiver involuntarily.

The first thing he saw was a bathtub.

The water inside was faintly red…

What was even more bizarre was that there were ice cubes of various sizes floating in this red water, and even more bizarre was that he was lying naked inside it!

Liang Chao shook his dizzy and swollen head. If he remembered correctly, he had been drinking with a group of friends, played a life simulation game, and then fell asleep…

Did these scoundrels really have to do this to me?

He glanced at the ice cubes in the bathtub, felt the chill throughout his body, and realized that staying any longer would be unbearable even for a strong body.

Regaining his senses, he quickly grabbed the handrail to try to get up, but the pain in his lower back made his face pale, almost causing him to fall back into the bathtub.

"Hiss… This is… too much…"

Liang Chao gritted his teeth and touched his lower back. As soon as his hand touched his skin, he felt a sutured wound, the source of the excruciating pain!

He was stunned, feeling utterly bewildered as he touched his lower back again, even scratching the edges of the wound with his nails…

This… This wound isn't a sticker, it's real!!

"Can't be…"

He murmured, as if realizing something, his Adam's apple moving up and down as he swallowed dryly. He tried to turn his head to see the wound on his lower back but found the angle insufficient…

So, he endured the intense pain, held his lower back, and stepped out of the bathtub. He sidestepped to the mirror in the shower room, took a deep breath, and then released his hand.

In the mirror, he could clearly see a wound about ten centimeters long on his lower back, crudely sutured. Perhaps due to the ice water, the wound, which had turned white, was oozing blood threads!!

I… I damn…

My damn kidney has been removed!!

Liang Chao's breathing hitched. When he first noticed the wound on his lower back, he had a vague sense of foreboding.

Now, in the internet age, news of "bait and switch" and "kidney thieves" is common, and he never thought it would happen to him!

Are those scoundrels not afraid of going to jail?

No…

Liang Chao's gaze sharpened, looking at the person in the mirror with a hint of fear. His attention had been entirely on the wound on his lower back, but now that he had regained his senses…

Who the hell is this person in the mirror…!!??

He knew exactly what he looked like, and it was definitely not the person in the mirror, who had a gloomy expression!

He reached out to touch the mirror, and the person in the mirror did the same. He touched his own face, which was sharp and angular, and his rough hands, which had calluses, were gone!

Liang Chao seemed to have an idea, staring blankly at the person in the mirror, muttering, "Am I dreaming? Or have I really traveled through time?"

At this moment…

The double shock of "visual perception" and "world recognition" made the pain in his lower back seem insignificant.

He stood in front of the mirror for two full minutes.

A cool breeze blew past, and goosebumps appeared on his skin. He came to his senses, quickly found a bathrobe to wrap around himself, and covered his lower back as he left the shower room…

The room's layout was very familiar, but he was very sure he had never seen such a room before.

On the table were a stack of blue bills, a signed agreement, and a note.

Liang Chao hurriedly walked to the table to look for clues.

The stack of blue bills were all 100 denominations, with the issuing code on the right side, which read "Tianwei Federation Central Bank."

The agreement was a "Voluntary Kidney Transplant Agreement," signed by Liang Chao with a red fingerprint…

The note was written in a flowing hand: "Thank you for providing your left kidney. 20,000 Federation Credits as compensation."

"…"

They left money and a "thank you note," quite polite.

But… is my kidney only worth 20,000?

Liang Chao threw the note back on the table, frowning as he sat on the edge of the bed, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes, trying to recall what had happened before.

His mind was muddled, and his memories were significantly distorted, like two intertwined ropes. The more he recalled, the tighter the ropes intertwined…

My name is Liang Chao, that's right.

But I remember I went to the army after high school, why do I feel like I was sent to the Federation University?

Is this… the memories of two people?

Liang Chao frowned, got up from the bed, and followed the scattered fragments of his memory to a cabinet. He opened it, and inside lay an old diary.

He had a vague feeling that this diary could help him understand himself!

The diary was much thicker than he imagined. For some reason, it seemed like another scene appeared in his vision!

[Contacting a time anomaly, absorbing its entropy…]

[Glory Evolution Simulator is initializing, loading…]

[1%…10%…30%…65%…100%…]

[Simulator has finished loading…]

[Simulator has started…]

[Relevant Notice: The world in the simulator is virtual/other universe/dimension/timeline. The host's death in the simulator will only terminate the training and will not affect reality.]

[Relevant Notice: The psychological shadow caused by death in the simulator is the same as in reality. Please do not become addicted to the simulator and take the necessary precautions during training to avoid mental trauma.]

[Relevant Notice: After each training session, the simulator will provide an evaluation and corresponding rewards.]

The simulator's prompts echoed in his ears as Liang Chao stared, wide-eyed, at the simulator panel projected in his vision.

The panel was extremely simple, with only three categories: [Training World], [Simulator Mall], and [Personal Information]. It looked like a low-budget game.

Those low-budget games at least had some unrelated erotic images to attract perverts, but this simulator had nothing…

You… You're using this to test cadres?

Which cadre can't withstand such a test!?

Liang Chao mentally complained, feeling no burden from the appearance of this "golden finger"…

After all, he had woken up in a different time and place, and had his kidney removed. Such absurd things had already happened, so a "golden finger" didn't seem so unbelievable.

Regaining his senses, he focused on the [Training World] category in the simulator panel, and the scene in his vision began to change like a projection screen.

[Lower City Conquest]: Reference Difficulty: Easy-.

[Upper City Turmoil]: Reference Difficulty: Hard-.

[Central City Decision]: Reference Difficulty: Hard+.

The simulator currently had only three training scenarios open. The [Lower City Conquest] scenario was surrounded by green, while the [Upper City Turmoil] and [Central City Decision] scenarios were faintly red, the word "Hard" seeming to bleed, making him feel uneasy just by looking at it.

Liang Chao looked at them, thinking that since he couldn't die, he might as well try a training session. But just as he selected the [Lower City Conquest] scenario…

[Relevant Notice: Detected that the host is in an injured state, with only 32% of peak physical function, below the 50% threshold. It is not recommended to immediately participate in training.]

"…"

Not mentioning the "injured state" would have been better. Now, his lower back was throbbing again.

Those damn kidney thieves…

Since the simulator had warned him that it was not suitable for training, Liang Chao didn't think about forcing his way in. He shifted his attention to the second category, [Simulator Mall].

Perhaps because the simulator had just opened, the mall was shrouded in a gray mist, making it impossible to see anything.

The last category was [Personal Information].

Apart from the "injured state" (32%) after "Liang Chao," everything else was blank.

Well…

The golden finger is temporarily useless…

The current priority is… to get my kidney back!

Liang Chao thought carefully for a moment, took the diary, and sat down on the bed…