Chapter Two: The Newcomer (1)

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Section Two: The Task Assigned to Tang Xiaoxiao (Only Differences Listed)
“Number 19571, you have accepted the contract and gained permission to enter the Infinite World.”

...

Mission Difficulty: Grade C (Ordinary)
Main Mission Completion Reward: 1500 universal points.
Main Mission Failure Penalty: 1500 universal points.
Note: People have different abilities, so they are assigned different roles. What you are supposed to do is not the same as others. Therefore, it is forbidden to disclose any information about mission difficulty, rewards, or related matters to anyone.
At the end of the notice, four large red characters, seemingly grinning with malice, warned: Otherwise, you will be erased.

Reading the notification, Tang Xiaoxiao—the woman in professional attire, glasses on her nose, looking about twenty-five or twenty-six—pressed her hand to her forehead.

She felt dizzy.

What on earth was going on? Was this real?

No matter what the situation, she decided it was best to just do what needed to be done.

Earlier, they had each introduced themselves. The youth who seemed somewhat fierce—likely someone with blood on his hands—was named Yang Wentian. He had been brash at first, but then unexpectedly, the one holding a gun—Zhu Cunjia—seemed to take charge.

The other two: the timid one was Zhou Yingxiong, and the one who appeared innocent and a bit childish was Wang Luo.

Zhu Cunjia had explained that usually, one had to begin the mission within a few hours of entering a scenario; having seventy-two hours was very rare. He suggested they each go their own way to search for clues.

The men hadn’t asked for her opinion before leaving. But now was not the time to dwell on such things.

Fortunately, her handbag was still with her, along with all her weapons.

She took out her facial cleanser, but there was no water around, so she put it back. Resigned, she simply applied a bit of lotion and moisturizer.

Then came the concealer, foundation, eyeshadow, eyeliner, and lipstick... There wasn’t much time, so she couldn’t complete the entire makeup routine, but with the help of a mirror, she managed to apply a decent amount of makeup.

She had come in wearing a pale yellow suit. It would be hard to find suitable clothes to change into, so she might not be able to show off her full allure. She unbuttoned the first button of her top and adjusted the angle of her skirt.

Meanwhile, as she put on her makeup, she had already started thinking:
The four men had left in three directions. Two of them—the ones who sounded like veterans—had headed west; Zhou, whose name she barely remembered, went east; the medium-built, resolute-looking one—Wang Luo—headed north.

It would be best to follow the experienced pair, but their expressions...

They were like managers and bosses dealing with important issues; following them would only invite scorn, reprimand, or perhaps worse.

Zhou Yingxiong looked as if he was afraid of being fired, while Wang Luo seemed like the type who would quit at the slightest dissatisfaction.

That left her only one option. Hopefully, luck would be on her side.

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August 15, 1993, 8:14 a.m.
280 meters north of the assembly point, Nost Street

“Wait for me!” Even though Wang Luo wasn’t walking fast, she jogged to catch up, making sure to present herself in the best light. She ran until she was shoulder to shoulder with him, then, slightly out of breath, angled herself conveniently toward him. “What do you think?”

“It’s a bit chilly... If I’d known, I’d have worn more,” Wang Luo replied, not looking directly at her—he was probably glancing at her from the corner of his eye. Was he just shy, using such words as an opening?

He was holding a book in his hand—where had he gotten that? She was curious, but now wasn’t the right time to ask.

She looked at him kindly, sizing him up for a few seconds. His immaturity was obvious, but she wouldn’t be surprised if he suddenly turned fierce—she’d seen such changes plenty of times before. He looked to be about twenty-four or twenty-five, with some work experience, setbacks, a temper, but also a bit of talent.

Emotionally, he seemed earnest, opinionated, not one to settle—someone who wouldn’t send signals unless he was truly desperate...

So, very naturally and without any awkwardness, she tightened her jacket and carefully chose her words—just enough to gain a touch of goodwill without paying any price. “How much do you think they’re hiding?”

“Probably a lot... Who knows?” Wang Luo rubbed his nose. “Are you excited?”

What did he mean—was he talking about her? Oh, he was too innocent to say something like that. He probably meant the current situation...

Good grief, who would be excited about this kind of trouble? “I feel a bit dizzy.”

“I’m happy. It’s new, exciting; finally, I can do something out of the ordinary, finally experience something different, maybe even live the life I’ve dreamed of... perhaps...”

A bit of madness, but not all bad. “So, what do you plan to do?”

“Walk around and take a look,” Wang Luo waved his hand. “Observe, see if there’s anything we can use—no investigation, no right to speak.”

Hmm, it was the Selected Works of Chairman Mao, Volume One. She noticed the title of the book in Wang Luo’s hand.

What kind of person carries such a book around? She searched her past experience for an answer and didn’t like what she found.

She noticed Wang Luo never looked at her directly. He probably didn’t dare—just like the young men when she first joined the company, all dressed up.

This was good; such people were easy to handle. With this judgment, Tang Xiaoxiao said nothing more.

She had already opened his conversational floodgates.

“Umbrella Corporation—that’s from Resident Evil, right? But we’re not in that; this is ‘Mutation Crisis’... I know a bit about the plot. At that time, the Cold War had just ended, America was at its peak, 9/11 hadn’t happened. The government still had power, ambition, and control; in this era, a mere company could create such dangerous things... From a human nature perspective, it doesn’t make sense.”

“This company doesn’t exist in reality—but so what? It’s greedy, evil, and insane. The U.S. has countless big corporations; any company that could reach such scale, its bosses and managers would be just as greedy, evil, and insane. They wouldn’t tolerate one company monopolizing such powerful weapons. And those banks, conglomerates, political families—each could imagine the value of these bioweapons. If they controlled them, they’d use them; if their enemies had them, they’d be in grave danger.”

“I don’t know if this world follows the game company’s wild imagination or if there’s some truth in its construction. Is this a real world or a data-based one? If we knew, we could devise many targeted strategies and sometimes gain a major advantage.”

“What do you want to do?” Are all newcomers sent here like this? Or am I just unlucky to have run into one?

“My point is... this crazy, greedy, evil American empire—they’re obsessed with themselves, always expecting someone to save them. But why should I, a Chinese, save them?”

“But the mission says we’ll be erased if we fail!”

“Of course we have to complete it. Do you remember what the mission says? Resolve. The. Problem.”

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“Do you have any other solutions?” Maybe there really was another way; sometimes madmen have broader ideas.

“Kill them all and the mission will be much simpler, right? Dead people probably won’t turn into zombies?”

Expecting a madman to come up with a good idea was my mistake... “How can you think like that? They’re all human beings.”

“Our bodies are probably all data-based now.” Tang Xiaoxiao saw Wang Luo clench his fist. “I don’t really understand what that means, but... it should make us stronger, right?”

He swung his fist at a small tree by the roadside. The tree shook, but didn’t break—just a few leaves fell.

Pathetic. She thought of her gym coach, who hadn’t been data-augmented but could still break several bricks with ease.

“It hurts a bit. Not as strong as I imagined. Maybe I’m just not good at this... America, the evil empire. Americans, members of the evil empire. They’ve long enjoyed the resources plundered from all over the world, so they should pay the price. For every person who envies and wants to join their country, there are several, dozens, hundreds more who feel their plundering and hate them with their souls.”

Nice subject change—so he’s not just a nutcase, but a fervent nationalist. Maybe I shouldn’t assume there’s a difference.

These must be his true feelings. She’d met plenty of young men eager to share their inner thoughts with her, as if that would win her favor—not realizing it was what women disliked most.

Her disgust reached such a height it was nearly visible on her face. In work and life, she was always clever and composed, never panicked, able to deal calmly with classmates, friends, family, and bosses. No one could find fault with her. She always believed everything she did was proper and reasonable, which made her all the more repulsed by this man’s agitated tone and pointless words.

“A bunch of Americans run into trouble and expect a clear-headed Chinese to save them? If I were just an onlooker, I’d laugh and think they deserved it! But since I’m involved, I don’t mind joining forces with any evil power to take them down. For the martyrs of Korea, for the humiliation of the Galaxy, for the dead in Yugoslavia, for 81192, for the hostility and sabotage in Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang... For the suffering in Egypt, Syria, Ukraine, Afghanistan! For all the crimes of this empire I know and don’t know! For the dollars and warships plundering the world! For... Ha! To send me here! To make me save them! Just watch—they’ll pay for all their crimes!”

He really managed to spill all that nonsense in one breath. Tang Xiaoxiao sighed inwardly; her opinion of this man had plummeted.

Why? Why is it that I can only ever run into this sort of man? She felt a deep sadness. She had never minded the admiring looks from young men after she dressed up to showcase her femininity—in fact, she rather enjoyed it. Sometimes, she even threw them a bone—they weren’t to her taste, but the successful, masculine type she truly admired had never pursued her.

So sometimes, she had to make do with less ideal candidates.

Thrown into this unfamiliar world, she had hoped to find a protector, or at least someone to take the fall for her. But she couldn’t control her anger and disgust. This kind of man, full of communist and nationalist ideas, was the most useless kind.

They didn’t understand progress or propriety. Sometimes they appeared obedient, but were fundamentally unreliable and prone to betrayal. They had nothing, yet always assumed themselves equal to the men she admired; some even dared to challenge or attack those she wouldn’t dare confront.

With great effort, she barely managed to suppress her aversion. It was not the time or place to show it. If she ever got the chance, she’d make him pay for it! With this thought, she slowed her pace, letting him ramble on ahead.

“To kill, Qin Shi Huang killed millions and is a great man, emperor, hero of history; Genghis Khan killed tens of millions and is a conqueror, a commander; but Light Yagami killed maybe a few thousand, and he’s an evil, lowly criminal, helpless before a few detectives, forever trapped in a small, ridiculous circle, a waste, a scumbag, an idiot!”

“The difference between them: the key, the core, the most important part is whether there’s a grand and powerful ideology and system behind them. With such a system, they have enough support—kill some so that others may live better; more importantly, so that humanity as a whole may live better. That’s the difference between being written into history or onto a wanted list.”

“In any case, you have to act openly and aboveboard... Huh?”

She had already turned back, walking away.

Who else was suitable? Yang Wentian or Zhu Cunjia? The latter was stronger, but the former, being younger, should be easier to control... but...

She was still considering this, not hearing the last part of Wang Luo’s rambling. Nor did she notice that his “huh?” wasn’t because he saw her leave, but because he spotted a little girl who had somehow climbed onto the roadside wall and was about to fall. Upon noticing, Wang Luo rushed over, diving to the ground and barely managing to catch her.