Chapter 2: The Novice Gift Pack

Wang Ji gazed at the sprawling tech tree on the massive screen, a dazzling array of weaponry. With his current rank of private, he'd unlocked only a handful of personal arms—rifles, pistols, grenades, and the like. Wang Ji stared, practically drooling, his imagination running wild as only a true homebody could. A few minutes later, wiping away the phantom drool, his heart swelled with ambition.

"Show me the weapon with the lowest energy requirement!"

The screen flickered, then displayed a large window. The first item was a military knife, about a ruler’s length. Under Wang Ji’s mental command, the image magnified until the knife was rendered in three dimensions. He wasn’t a military buff, but even he could sense the extraordinary quality of that blade.

N1 Military Knife: Requires 2 energy points to manifest, 0.5 minutes to materialize. Made of titanium steel, this multifunctional knife is designed for a variety of environments, with a serrated blood groove and an overall length of 36 centimeters. Assessment: A novice’s essential—perfect for home, travel, murder, and arson alike.

Sweat broke out on Wang Ji’s brow as he moved to the next weapon—a pistol strikingly similar to the M9, widely adopted in America during the twentieth century.

Intrigued, Wang Ji scrutinized its stats: N1 Pistol: Requires 10 energy points to manifest, 2 minutes to materialize, constructed from refined steel, compatible with standard 9mm rounds, weighs 1.3 kilograms, 15-round magazine, concave iron sights, effective range of 100 meters, with optional tactical light, laser sight, and suppressor. Assessment: A basic sidearm for rookies, but its feeble firepower falls woefully short of meeting the demands of ferocious abominations.

Reading the assessment, Wang Ji broke into another sweat. The pistol’s basic functionality was nothing special, but it was leagues ahead of the stick in his hand—a fine piece of equipment by any measure!

Yet, staring at the daunting cost of ten energy points, Wang Ji felt a wave of frustration.

"Even the cheapest weapon is beyond my reach! With monsters prowling outside, am I supposed to fight with my bare hands?!"

"Attention, Commander," the system intoned. "To ensure your initial safety, the base has prepared a set of starter gear for your early development. Please review these items carefully."

As the voice faded, the screen presented a set of green combat fatigues, a pistol, a dagger, a pair of glasses, and a small box marked with a red cross.

Tears of gratitude welled up in Wang Ji’s eyes as he eagerly examined each item, his mood swinging wildly from exhilaration to exasperation.

N1 Combat Uniform: Commander-series battle attire, crafted from micronanoparticle materials, resists damage from firearms below level six, boasts excellent breathability, and features specially designed knee and elbow pads to ensure agility. Assessment: Three-star gear—rookies, charge forth, but don’t forget to protect your face; this suit doesn’t come with a helmet!

N1 Pistol: Same attributes as previously described.

N1 Military Knife: Titanium steel, dual blood grooves, irregular textured grip, total length 34 centimeters. Assessment: A novice’s indispensable companion, ideal for all manner of chaos!

N1 Multi-Function System Terminal (Goggles): Digital multifunction terminal, connected to the X System’s military base mainframe. Expandable ports: infrared auxiliary system, satellite communications. An indispensable tool for the battlefield. Assessment: Treat it as you would your beloved wife!

N1 Field First Aid Kit: Contains two emergency high-potency hemostatic injectors, two anesthetic injectors, and two rolls of gauze tape. Assessment: For a warrior, this is a second life!

Wang Ji read through all the details in one breath. The system’s tongue-in-cheek evaluations made him chuckle, but their effectiveness was undeniable.

Elated, he asked, "Can I use this equipment now?"

The X System responded, "Affirmative. Commander now has authorization to utilize this gear. However, it is strongly recommended that you familiarize yourself with these items in the command center first."

At that moment, the four pieces of equipment materialized in the open space before Wang Ji within the virtual realm, the pistol accompanied by three fully loaded spare magazines.

Eagerly, he donned the gear under the X System’s guidance, all the while asking, "You said I entered here as a mental projection—my physical self in the outside world is still in grave danger, and I don’t have time to waste here."

The X System replied, "Rest assured, Commander. Time in the mental dimension flows differently than in the real world. The speed of thought cannot be adequately explained in your current terms. Suffice it to say: a year here equates to less than 0.0001 seconds out there.

"Furthermore, Commander, observe the screen: your surroundings in reality are scanned and any dangerous abominations within a kilometer’s radius are marked. Should anything pose a direct threat to you, you will be alerted immediately. For now, your situation is temporarily secure."

On the screen, Wang Ji saw himself lying in the alley’s shadow, the charred body of the hamster nearby. To one side was a live tactical map of the small town—his marker a large yellow dot, while rapidly moving or stationary red dots denoted abominations, and clusters of blue dots represented civilians, some of whom vanished whenever a red dot drew near.

"Given the current situation, we recommend that you complete the Basic Infantry Tutorial to improve your chances of survival," the X System’s voice intoned, as cold as ever.

No longer hesitating, Wang Ji nodded. "Alright!"

"Command confirmed. Entering tutorial simulation room. The first session is free; thereafter, each hour consumes 100 energy points." As the X System finished speaking, Wang Ji’s vision blurred and the scene shifted to an underground training range.

The X System continued, "In this tutorial, you will learn basic infantry physical training, close-quarters combat, individual weapon handling, and vehicle operation, followed by the Basic Infantry Qualification. Here is a demonstration."

A surge of information flooded Wang Ji’s mind: physical tests, hand-to-hand combat techniques, firearm operation, driving various vehicles—even helicopter piloting, all in meticulous detail!

His blood raced with excitement at the X System’s capabilities. Steeling himself, he embarked on his mental training.

"Let’s begin," Wang Ji declared.

Guided by the X System, he tackled the training regimen. Physical conditioning would require real-world practice, but combat and weapon drills left Wang Ji battered and bruised; forty days passed in the mental realm before he fully mastered the material and finally began the qualification test.

"Thirty-second attempt at the Basic Infantry Assessment, commencing."

Within the simulation, amidst the ruins of a post-apocalyptic street, Wang Ji crouched behind a crumbling wall, gritting his teeth as he reloaded his rifle single-handedly. The test required him to single-handedly take on twenty AI soldiers of equivalent rank, each elite enough to rival a real-world US Marine—formidable opponents, every one.

"Come on! This time, I’ll clear it for sure!"

Wang Ji dashed from cover, dropping two AI soldiers with single, precise headshots as he sprinted toward a barrel, tossing a stun grenade in one fluid motion.

"Die!" Using the chaos, he charged into the building, dispatching four more AI soldiers inside, though not without sustaining an arm wound.

"Fourteen left. According to the briefing, three are upstairs, and if I hold this building for fifteen minutes, I’ll pass the basic assessment!" After quickly bandaging his wound, Wang Ji pressed on to the second floor.

Gunfire erupted almost instantly.

Fifteen minutes later, battered and bleeding, Wang Ji slumped against the wall, blood bubbling from his lips. He longed to shout in triumph, but the gunshot wound in his chest left him paralyzed, teetering on the edge of oblivion.

Sure enough, just as Wang Ji felt his mental form slipping away, the X System’s voice finally rang out.

"Ding! Congratulations, Commander, on completing the Basic Infantry Assessment! Score: 60 out of 100."

"System energy reserves are critically low. Prepare to return to reality," the X System announced.

Wang Ji’s consciousness snapped back to the command center. He nodded silently, then felt a wave of dizziness and the pain in his left shoulder—he was back in the real world!

On instinct, Wang Ji whirled to face the hamster looming close, gripping his wooden stick as if it were a razor-sharp blade, and stabbed with unyielding force.

The lunging hamster, jaws wide, impaled itself fully on the stick. The impact sent Wang Ji stumbling back against the wall.

"Damn!" he muttered, having narrowly escaped death. He kicked the convulsing hamster away. After spending several months in the X System, the familiar world around him now felt strangely foreign. Shaking off the disorientation, Wang Ji—now with the composure of a special forces operative—snapped back to alertness. This was no time to relax.

Swiftly, he summoned the starter kit from the X System, opened the first aid box, and injected the potent hemostatic agent near his wound before wrapping it with gauze tape. As the pain quickly receded, Wang Ji smiled and proceeded to don his gear.

Two minutes later, after a brief check, Wang Ji gripped the N1 pistol in both hands, donned the smart terminal goggles, and slipped into the shadowy side of the wall, heading westward.

He quickly devised a plan: the state-owned bank on the western street, with its security measures, could serve as a temporary refuge, after which he’d strategize his next move.

The cold steel of the pistol felt slick in his sweaty palms. Wang Ji exhaled deeply—sweaty hands were a rookie’s tell, and while he’d practiced countless times in the virtual world, the threat to his life still made him nervous.

As he made his way toward West Street, the X System’s combat guidance alerted him to the movements of abominable creatures within a dozen meters, as well as fleeing humans and others hiding in makeshift sanctuaries.

An hour later, crouched behind a trash bin near a small building on West Street, Wang Ji raised his pistol. With the suppressor muffling the shots, three low thuds sounded—a controlled three-round burst, his most reliable attack pattern. Ten meters ahead, a dog-like abomination collapsed in the darkness.

Seeing the red marker vanish from his goggles’ display, Wang Ji knew he’d scored a kill and allowed himself a faint smile.

After an hour of practical trial, he could now seamlessly integrate mind and body, executing his newly acquired skills with fluency.

He cautiously approached within three meters of the abomination’s corpse, triggering a prompt from the X System.

"Initial-grade abomination carcass detected. Default: 2 energy points collected."