5: The whole internet is mocking them? These lunatics are playing Minecraft in the wasteland!

'Beep beep beep beep—!'

The message notification sound rang out frantically like a death knell in the smoggy, illicit internet cafe.

On the computer screen...

The post titled 'This Game Allows Cash Withdrawals' had already surged to the forum's front page.

It was red-hot.

But Li Qiang's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.

'Is the OP crazy for fame? How can you brag about such cheap, fifty-cent special effects?'

'Verified: the video is synthesized. Look closely at the soda can crushing action at the 3-second mark; there are obvious signs of editing. Marketing accounts these days really have no shame when it comes to chasing traffic.'

'Evolution? I think you've got water on the brain. I suggest the OP see a neurologist and book a bed at a psychiatric hospital while they're at it.'

Even worse, a big-shot blogger with the ID 'Li Zhongke' posted a long article providing a frame-by-frame analysis:

'I work in film post-production. The viscosity of that zombie's blood clearly doesn't follow the laws of physics; it's likely some low-quality red paint. Also, that Alipay screenshot shows heavy signs of photoshopping; the edge pixels are all blurred. In conclusion, this is a clumsy, bottomless hype job meant to attract attention.'

*Bang!*

Li Qiang slammed his mouse onto the table.

The plastic casing cracked, and a screw popped out.

'Bullshit! It's all bullshit!'

He trembled with rage, pointing at the screen and cursing, 'A bunch of frogs in a well! I'm feeding you a meal and you insist it's shit? Fine! Believe it or not! Just wait until you're begging and calling me daddy; see if I pay you any mind then!'

Though he talked tough,

the suffocating feeling of being condemned by everyone still made his chest feel like it was blocked by a massive boulder.

Truth...

...often lies in the hands of the few. At the same time...

Hailan City, at a secret base that didn't exist on any map.

Inside an infirmary filled with the smell of disinfectant.

Dead silence.

Only the heart monitor emitted a rhythmic 'beep, beep' sound.

An old military doctor in a white coat held a freshly printed physical examination report, his wrinkled hands trembling uncontrollably.

'This... this is impossible...'

The old military doctor took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, and put them back on.

The data hadn't changed.

'What's wrong?'

Retired Soldier King sat by the bed with his upper body bare; his granite-like muscles were covered in crisscrossing scars.

Those were medals.

And also old injuries.

'Captain, your waist...'

The old military doctor swallowed hard, his voice dry. 'That old lumbar spine injury that's been with you for five years... it's gone.'

'And your bone density and muscle fiber strength have increased by 3% overall compared to last month's physical test data.'

3%.

It sounded like a negligible number.

But for a soldier king like Retired Soldier King, whose physical fitness had already been developed to the human limit, every 0.1% increase was a challenge to the iron laws of physiology!

Moreover,

it was only overnight!

And merely because he played a game for three hours!

'Are you sure the data is correct?'

Retired Soldier King's voice was terrifyingly calm, but in the depths of his eyes, a stormy sea had risen.

'The equipment self-tested three times; it's absolutely correct.'

The old military doctor looked at him as if he were looking at a monster. 'Captain, what... what exactly did you do last night? Did you inject some kind of prohibited drug that's still in the experimental stage?'

Retired Soldier King didn't answer.

He silently put on his faded military green shirt and fastened every button until the collar hook was perfectly aligned.

He turned around.

He walked over to the red secure telephone.

He picked up the receiver.

'Connect me to the General Staff.'

'This is Retired Soldier King.'

'Activate the "S-rank" supernatural event contingency plan.'

'That game... is real.'

...[Void Realm].

Wasteland Shelter.

Five white lights flashed.

'Whew—'

The familiar stench of rot, the familiar sandstorm.

But this time,

no one complained about the harsh environment anymore.

Five pairs of eyes, like wolves that hadn't eaten for half a month, stared fixedly at the NPC standing in the center of the shelter—Su Mu.

Their eyes were filled with a green glint.

'Brave warriors, how was your rest?'

Su Mu stood with his hands behind his back, wearing his trademark, inscrutable smile.

No one spoke.

They were all still savoring the shock brought by the changes in their real-world bodies.

'Since everyone is full of energy, then...'

Su Mu snapped his fingers.

A pale blue holographic screen slowly unfolded before them.

[Shelter Elementary Resource Exchange List (Trial Run)]

A dazzling array of icons.

**[Black Bread (100g)]**: 1 Contribution Point. (Note: Although it tastes like chewing sawdust, it will keep you alive in this godforsaken world.)

**[Clean Drinking Water (500ml)]**: 2 Contribution Points. (Note: Radiation-free, with a hint of sweetness.)

**[Rusty Machete]**: 50 Contribution Points. (Note: Although it carries a risk of tetanus, it's a good helper for chopping off zombie heads.)

Their gazes moved down,

until they landed at the very bottom of the list.

Everyone's breathing stopped in that instant.

**[Elementary Gene Optimization Fluid (Defective Version)]**

**[Price: 1,000 Contribution Points.]**

**[Effect: A biological agent derived from Wasteland technology. Can slightly improve the Physique of carbon-based organisms, repair old internal injuries, and enhance cellular activity.]**

**[Special Note: This item possesses the 'High-Dimensional Interference' property; the effect is halved when used on the physical body in reality.]**

*Boom!*

That line of red notes was like a nuclear bomb, directly blasting through everyone's psychological defenses.

Official confirmation!

It really can be brought back to reality!

If it was just speculation before, now this exchange list was a ticket to a transcendent world!

'Aaaaaah!'

A scream broke the silence.

Lin Xiaowan rushed to Su Mu like she was crazy, her delicate little face flushed red with excitement:

'Buy! I want to buy!'

'Brother Su Mu! Can I top up? I'll pay a million! No, five million! I want that potion!'

As the daughter of the richest man, she knew the value of this item all too well.

If this were put up for auction, those death-fearing old tycoons would empty their entire fortunes for it!

Su Mu took half a step back, maintaining his cold NPC persona, his tone indifferent:

'I'm sorry, warrior.'

'This shop does not offer credit and does not support real-world currency; we only accept Contribution Points.'

'Want to become stronger?'

'Then go work, go fight.'

In one sentence, he blocked all shortcuts.

Lin Xiaowan was dumbfounded.

This was the first time in twenty years she had encountered a situation where her 'money power' failed.

'No money... what do we do if we don't have Contribution Points?'

The Passerby player [Only I Am Most Wavy], who had been silent, muttered to himself, his eyes vacant.

'Grind!'

A single word, spoken with conviction.

The bespectacled man [Is This Melon Ripe??], who was always acting mysterious, stepped forward.

He pushed up his non-existent glasses, and a light of wisdom flashed across the lenses (if there were any):

'Stop blindly carrying bricks; it's too inefficient.'

'I'm a Materials scientist.'

He pointed at the pile of stinking zombie corpses on the ground, then at the peeling limestone in the corner of the shelter.

'Zombie bones contain a high concentration of calcium; quicklime can be obtained through high-temperature calcination.'

'Combine that with the red clay here and the fat inside those zombies...'

'We can hand-craft "Corpse-Oil Cement"!'

'The bonding strength of this primitive cement is definitely ten times stronger than simply stacking stones!'

'As long as we build the fortifications well, the System will definitely award more Contribution Points!'

Madman.

He was definitely a madman.

But at this moment, no one found him disgusting.

Under the temptation of the 'gene potion,' this group of players exploded with a level of initiative that would make even a capitalist weep.

The tone shifted abruptly.

What was originally a grim and terrifying survival game had turned into a Wasteland version of 'Minecraft.'

'Fire! Someone, start a fire!'

'Crush the bones smaller! Otherwise, they won't burn through!'

'You, Rich Woman, don't just stand there watching! Go fetch water! Don't you want to get stronger?'

Lin Xiaowan gagged while wrapping several rotten bones in her 50,000-yuan Hermes scarf, throwing them into the fire with teary eyes:

'Waaaah... for beauty... for my skin... I'll endure this!'

Li Qiang became a human pile driver, tirelessly stirring that indescribable 'corpse-oil slurry.'

Retired Soldier King was in charge of laying the wall; his standard military-style bricklaying made this defensive wall, which should have been crooked, take on the embryonic form of a fortress.

Su Mu stood on high ground, watching the bustling labor scene.

The corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

'What a bunch of... lovely chives.'

On the backend data panel, the energy value was slowly but steadily ticking up.

However,

the good times didn't last long.

Three hours later,

just as that half-man-high 'corpse-oil defensive wall' had been completed.

The ground suddenly began to tremble.

'Hum—'

The slight vibration caused the pebbles on the ground to dance.

On the distant gray horizon, a trail of yellowish-brown dust shot into the sky, as if an invisible dragon had plowed across the earth.

'What is that?'

Li Qiang straightened his back, wiped the mud from his face, and squinted into the distance.

The next second,

his pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinheads.

A zombie tide.

Not one, not ten.

But hundreds, even thousands!

Densely packed zombies, like a black tide, surged frantically toward the shelter with a suffocating sense of pressure!

And at the very front of the zombie tide,

a massive figure over three meters tall dragged a broken lamppost in its hand, leaving a deep pit in the ground with every step.

[Severe Warning!]

[Regional BOSS 'Skull-Crushing Zombie King' has locked onto the shelter's location!]

[The zombie tide's vanguard will arrive in 10 minutes!]

[Mandatory Mission Change: Defend the Shelter to the Death!]

[Reward Mechanism: Rewards doubled for every ordinary zombie killed! Kill the Zombie King, and everyone will be rewarded with one 'Gene Optimization Fluid'!]

The rewards were generous,

but they only had one life.

'How... how are we supposed to fight this?'

Lin Xiaowan's legs gave out, and she slumped to the ground, her face as pale as paper. 'There are only five of us... and there are thousands of them...'

Despair.

That kind of numerical disparity couldn't be overcome by passion alone.

Even Retired Soldier King, gripping the rusty iron pipe he had just exchanged, had cold sweat seeping from his palms.

'This isn't a game.'

He gritted his teeth, his voice hoarse. 'This is a war.'

'We... will die.'

The atmosphere dropped to freezing point.

Just as everyone was preparing to give up resistance or even force a logout to escape,

a faint voice suddenly echoed in everyone's ears.

It carried a hint of demonic temptation and the majesty of a god.

'Are you afraid?'

At some point, Su Mu had walked onto the low wall.

The gale whipped his black trench coat, making it snap loudly.

With his back to the zombie tide, he looked down at the five trembling players from above.

'Do you want to live?'

'Do you want... to possess that transcendent power capable of tearing through steel and crushing fear?'

Buzz—

Su Mu slowly spread his arms.

Three spheres of light in different colors condensed out of thin air in his palms, hovering and rotating.

Red, as violent as blood.

Blue, as deep as ice.

Silver, as illusory as a phantom.

They were the manifestation of power.

It was a miracle that transcended Mortal understanding.

'Given the urgency of the battle, after careful consideration...'

Su Mu leaned down slightly, his deep eyes reflecting the players' faces, which had instantly become fanatical:

'I hereby authorize the trial access for "Class Awakening".'

'Now, tell me.'

'Do you want to be cowards who only know how to carry bricks for the rest of your lives...'

'Or do you want to be... for just one second...'

'Heroes?'