"???," Feng Mu was shocked.
Watching the progress bar on his retina continuously rising, Feng Mu's mouth dropped open, his heart pounding as if it were about to leap out of his throat.
What the hell?
Is the game about to become reality?
Am I, a poor student who can't afford the citizenship exam, about to transform into the founder of Destiny, the globally wanted villain boss, Feng Mu?
Damn, won't the authorities be breaking in the next second?
When the game was just a game, Feng Mu once fantasized about it replacing reality, but when the dream really came true, he instinctively felt danger!
Red danger!!!
There's a Chief Constable from the Patrol Office sitting at home, is my first step in changing jobs to boss going to be to kill my father to prove myself?
"Uh, if I could really ascend in one step, bearing some guilt, it seems... not impossible, ahem~"
Feng Mu's mind was a mess of wild thoughts, the light screen on his retina swirling, forming the models of two 3D characters.
One model was unmistakably Feng Mu's face, dressed in the school uniform he was currently wearing, standing in the light;
The other was Feng Mu sitting on the throne of Destiny, his face faintly visible, seated in shadow.
The two 3D models stood to the left and right, with their shadows seemingly twisted and entangled by some eerie pull, a download transfer icon appearing between them.
[Inheritance Progress 0%!]
[Inheritance progress not yet activated, complete the activation task - Blood and Iron.
Blood and Iron: You need to bathe in blood and iron, completing a death sacrifice, to demonstrate your resolve and rebirth.
Completion rewards: 1. Activation
2. Inherit Iron Eater
3. ???
The sacrificial ritual is as follows...]
A task pop-up window suddenly appeared in Feng Mu's eyes.
[Blood and Iron], [Death Sacrifice]?
The first two keywords made Feng Mu's scalp tingle, and he couldn't focus on the rewards and task steps that followed.
"I can't sacrifice others, nor can I sacrifice myself~"
Feng Mu was indeed eager to inherit the game, but the bloody words felt like a cold shower drenching him thoroughly.
Sacrifice oneself - suicide;
Sacrifice others - death penalty;
No matter which option, Feng Mu felt the danger was too high. He was afraid that before completing the task, he'd already fool himself to death.
Feng Mu was willing to inherit the game, bearing the guilt, but that's to inherit first and then bear.
The activation task, however, was to bear first and then inherit.
The former gets the benefits first and then sees the situation to take risks, the latter bears the risk first and then sees the situation to get benefits?!!
Goddammit, reversing the sequence changes the nature completely.
Feng Mu took a few deep breaths, irritably minimized the game interface on his retina.
He opened the curtains, looking out through the narrow window, the thick smoke from exhaust pipes mixing with the polluted air into a greasy color.
"It's like a rotten garbage dump, with countless colorful maggots growing and breeding inside, and I'm a malnourished one among them!" he thought.
By the way, the night in Lower City isn't strictly night, because what lights up the sky isn't the sun, but the butt of the Upper City.
Lower City people are more used to calling it - lights out!
...
Waking up from a night's sleep, Feng Mu had two dark circles under his eyes.
He didn't sleep well, every time he closed his eyes, all he saw in his dreams were game scenes.
He hastily ate a few mouthfuls of food and rushed out.
It was only after he left that Feng Ju came out of the bedroom.
Wang Xiuli saw the worried look on her son's face and said with some concern, "The boy didn't sleep well. You shouldn't have spoken to him like that yesterday; it hurt his pride."
Feng Ju took a bite of steamed bun, dismissively said, "Which word of mine wasn't the truth yesterday? His root bone is poor, he's not promising, isn't it a fact? Don't be fooled by this kid not retorting, he's actually simmering inside."
Wang Xiuli was surprised, "You know it, yet you provoke him?"
Feng Ju snorted, "I'm doing it to extinguish that flame in his heart. "
Feng Ju's tone wasn't like he was speaking to a son, but more like to prisoners he's punished, with a hint of cruelty, "For people with talent, suppressing that energy is ambition; for those without it, it will only harm themselves."
Wang Xiuli wanted to speak but stopped.
Feng Ju threw his chopsticks on the table, indisputable, "To survive in Lower City, one must recognize oneself. I have to help him extinguish that fire inside, only then can he give up on unrealistic ideas, earnestly help support Yuhuai."
Wang Xiuli was just a housewife, didn't understand these principles, only sighed, "But the boy suffers."
"Suffer?" Feng Ju sneered, "As long as Yuhuai can make something of himself, what's a bit of suffering for him as a brother? Besides, for people like us of lower class, who doesn't suffer, being alive is already a blessing."
Feng Yuhuai, rubbing his sleepy eyes, came out from the bedroom, "Dad, when are you taking me to buy a watch?"
Feng Ju put on a stern face, pretending to be angry: "Thinking about a watch all day, I'll buy it for you on the way to school later. Once you're in the advanced class, make sure to work hard and don't let me and your mother down."
Feng Yuhuai smiled like a blooming flower: "I will definitely work hard, and when I get into Upper City, I'll become a person of status, and then I will surely bring the whole family up with me."
....
"Next Monday, the school will start entering the registration information for the citizen exams. Students who are not participating can go to the academic office to register for early graduation this week."
During break, Counselor Dong Kai came in to announce the notice.
As Dong Kai spoke, his eyes scanned around the classroom and paused for a moment on the bowed head of Feng Mu, with not much turbulence in his heart.
"Starting next week, a third of the classroom will be empty," thought Dong Kai.
Every year, as the citizen exams approached, there would be a batch of students graduating early, and he was accustomed to it.
The underlying reasons, he couldn't be bothered to explore in detail, were nothing more than lack of talent, no hope in sight, or inability to afford the exams... In short, they were eliminated by the citizen exams in advance.
"Wow, early graduation, how tempting, it's basically a euphemism for expulsion~" a murmur came from the corner of the room.
Then it triggered a burst of laughter.
The laughter wasn't necessarily mocking but the sense of superiority couldn't be hidden.
At this moment, the entire classroom was divided into two circles, one laughing with heads held high, the other silent with heads bowed, distinctly separated like two different worlds.
Ding ling ling——
"Alright, the next class is at the Martial Arts Dojo, don't waste time," Dong Kai reminded them and turned to leave the classroom.
A few playful students followed out, and suddenly, someone turned and laughed, saying, "Those not participating in the citizen exams, please don't take up the equipment resources, there's not enough for everyone, thanks~"
The martial arts courses required various equipment, and due to the limited resources of Academy 47, usually a few students had to share a set.
After these words fell, several figures who were about to get up froze and quietly sat back down.
The classroom quickly fell into a deathly silence, time seemed to freeze, and each sitting figure was rigid and silent, with Feng Mu forming a part of the oppressive atmosphere.
After a while, a hoarse voice said, "People are different from birth. When my dad first told me this, I didn't understand, but now I do."
A numb voice chimed in: "My mom also told me that wealthy people have the fate of wealth, poor people have the fate of poverty. Fate must be accepted, and those who accept their fate live longer, that's the rule in Lower City."
A bitter voice said, "I just resent this rule. Why does the government grade everyone? And what's more ridiculous is that only those who pass the citizen exams initially get rated in the government system, while people like us are a blank slate in the system. Do you know what blank means?"
A voice full of sorrow and resentment answered, "It means we're only fit for the hardest work, receive the lowest wages, enjoy no benefits, can't cross districts, can only buy standing tickets on trains, have medicine rationed when we're sick, and even after death, can't buy a burial plot."
A rational voice added, "This was because after the great catastrophe, with the planet's resource scarcity, the unified human government designed a [Blood Replacement Elimination System], skewing resources towards Upper City, as Upper City represents humanity's future, while Lower City enters a low-energy consumption era, and the grading system becomes more detailed."
A tearful voice supplemented, "Grading represents potential and contribution to human survival. The higher your grade, the more resources and benefits you receive. For most people, the citizen exam is the most crucial initial grade. Having a grade at least indicates value for human survival, while being blank means—worthless, waste blood in the recycling system of humanity, even breathing is a waste of resources, and should be expelled."
A humble voice said, "It is said that at the beginning of the New Era, blank slates would be collectively sent to the [Sleeping Area]. Now, 200 years have passed, and humanity has restored humanitarian civilization, allowing people like us a chance to contribute a tiny bit of value to human survival in our humble remaining years. We should be grateful."
The emotions vented by everyone were silenced by dry silence.
"You're right, we should be grateful. Next month, I'll take over my dad's position, handling Calamity Corpses at the incinerator. I'll go to the academic office now, who's coming with me?"
"Yeah, I'll go with you. I'm kind of scared of burning Calamity Corpses, so I'll go find a construction site and carry bricks instead."
"Yeah, let's go, to the academic office."
"I don't want to live like this my whole life. It's pointless. I want to venture out and one day, I want to take a look at Upper City. It's said that the water in Upper City is pristine, and the air is sweet. So, I plan to sign up for the Advanced Team under the Investigation Corps."
"Luo Ji, you're crazy. The Advanced Team is cannon fodder, you'll die."
"I'd rather seize that slim chance than live like this. At worst, it's just death. I'm just afraid the Advanced Team won't want a lousy life like mine."
"A good death is better than a bad life, sigh…"
During the conversation, one figure after another walked out of the classroom.
"Feng Mu, aren't you coming?"
"Hmm, coming."
Feng Mu responded without expression, still glued to the chair, his black eyes like the gloom before a storm, oppressive and stifling.
"Not afraid of dying, but afraid of having no chance to die?"
Feng Mu stood alone in the empty classroom, the stuffy air made more annoying by the fan's stirring, and he absent-mindedly swirled his water cup.
A thick layer of sediment had accumulated on the filter, which was the additive to neutralize radiation factors.
The upper layer wasn't clean and clear, and the lower layer was full of turbid pollution.
"Maybe the next second, I'll just die from drinking water. This world, haha, what am I hesitating about?"
Feng Mu took a long drink of water, grabbed his backpack, and walked out of the classroom. He glanced in the directions of the academic office and Martial Arts Dojo, turned his head, and walked in the opposite direction.
That was not the path he would follow, his path was one that only he could see.
[Blood and Iron: You need to bathe in blood and iron to complete a death sacrifice to proclaim your determination and rebirth.
Completion Rewards: 1, Activation
2, Inherit the Iron Eater
3, ??
Sacrifice Ritual: Eat 1 pound of iron raw and use fresh blood to draw the pattern of destiny.]
(PS: Fearless and insane people bathe in their own blood for rebirth; cowardly but vicious beasts devour the blood of their kind to resurrect. Different choices forge different destinies!)
...