The night was dark, the wind was high, and inside a secluded mansion, the door to the master bedroom creaked open.
A figure swaggered in.
He wore a thick, floral cotton jacket on his upper body, but paired it with glaringly pink shorts—the kind you'd expect from a Barbie doll's worst nightmare. On his feet were mustard-yellow Crocs riddled with holes.
The outfit couldn't be described as simply ugly—it was ugly in a very special way.
But the most eye-catching detail was the oversized yellow dog-head mask on his face, its cheeky grin carrying an inexplicable air of mockery.
The "dog-head man" strolled straight to the desk, powered on the computer, and pulled a USB stick from his pocket, slotting it in. Immediately, a progress bar popped up on the screen.
While waiting, he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket.
"Yo?"
"Du Mu, this is Nick Fury. What's your status?"
"I've infiltrated the target location. Currently acquiring the mission objective."
"No one's spotted you, right?"
Du Mu was just about to answer when the bathroom door inside the bedroom clicked open. A man with a scruffy beard, wrapped in a bathrobe, stepped out and froze in shock.
"Who the hell are you?! How did you get in here?!"
"Guards! Guards, some—"
Bang!
A gunshot cut him off, crisp and final.
The dog-head man calmly holstered his pistol and spoke into the phone."Relax. No one's going to find out."
"..."
There was a pause on Fury's end, his voice dropping lower. "When the mission's over, report back to HQ."
"Okay-dokey!"
Du Mu hung up just as the computer dinged. The progress bar had finished. He yanked the USB out smoothly.
And then—
[Daily Mission: "Steal Classified Intel" Complete!][Rewards: EXP +500, S.H.I.E.L.D. Reputation +10, C4 Explosives ×1]
"Tch. What garbage rewards again."
Du Mu clicked his tongue, glancing at the corpse on the floor. He couldn't help but mutter, "Still, this game is ridiculously well-made. Just look at the NPC's death feedback—it feels way too real. If the game devs haven't actually killed someone before, I'd be shocked."
In truth, Du Mu was immersed in a full-dive VR game called Marvel World.
By the year 2065, full-dive virtual reality technology had become mainstream, offering players an experience nearly indistinguishable from reality.
Du Mu himself was a hardcore veteran gamer, with millions of fans online. Having beaten countless games, he was considered a well-known figure in the international gaming scene.
Two months ago, Marvel's gaming division approached him. They invited him to beta-test a supposedly "unprecedented, ultra-high-freedom" title. The prize for clearing it in one run? A cool ten million.
Honestly, Du Mu wasn't that into Marvel.
By his era, Marvel had gone through so many reboots and updates that the original characters had long faded from memory.
The most popular hero of the day was the seventh-generation Iron Man—"Iron Heart of Darkness." She was a Black single mother with gender dysphoria, chronic alcoholism, morbid obesity, a history of multiple sex reassignment surgeries, three divorces, and five kids.
She was married to the eighth-generation Captain America—a gay, vegetarian, eco-activist, feminist, Catholic, with one-eighth Native American blood. Together, they loudly proclaimed "family above all" every chance they got.
That kind of politically-overloaded superhero duo was a hit overseas, but to Du Mu, it was painfully unappealing.
Still, he signed the contract without hesitation and climbed into the company's top-grade VR pod.
Why?
Because the money was just too damn good.
At the start of the game, the system had presented him with several identity choices: Hydra Agent, S.H.I.E.L.D. Operative, Stark Industries Employee, Hell's Kitchen Resident, Midtown High Student.
He'd tapped one at random.
And so the game began.
After two months of playing, Du Mu had to admit—the game's freedom was insane.
There was no tutorial, no guidance whatsoever. Every move, every plotline had to be figured out by the player alone.
The weirdest part? After all this time, he still hadn't seen even a shadow of a main storyline!
If not for the system's repeated assurance that there was one, he would've thought this was just a glorified spy-simulator.
"Come to think of it… this game doesn't have a logout button, does it?" Du Mu muttered.
Right on cue, the system chimed in:
[Apologies. A minor issue occurred when the game launched, resulting in a BUG. We are currently working to repair it.]
"I'm not gonna, like… die, right?"
Du Mu's heart skipped.
[Please rest assured. The VR pod monitors your vital signs 24/7. Should any abnormality be detected, you will be forcibly ejected immediately.]
[Additional Note: The in-game to real-world time ratio is 362:1. The VR pod and high-efficiency nutrient fluid you are using will safely sustain your metabolism for over ten years. Neither time nor safety is a concern.]
[If you insist on quitting, you may log out at any time. However, you will permanently lose eligibility for the one-run clearance prize.]
[Do you wish to log out?]
"No way!"
Du Mu instantly refused.
What a joke—until he beat the game and claimed that ten million, there was no way he was logging out.
Just then, hurried footsteps echoed from outside—the guards had clearly heard the earlier gunshot.
Shaking off his doubts, Du Mu quickly pulled up the in-game map, locked onto the coordinates for "S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ," and clicked.
Teleport!
By the time the guards burst into the bedroom, only a corpse and a ticking C4 remained.
"Holy shi—!"
BOOM!!!
The Triskelion, Director's Office.
Nick Fury was seated behind his desk, skimming through a thick stack of reports.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. budget adjustment request?" he muttered.
"Budget report?" a voice echoed suddenly.
Fury's head snapped up—only to see a giant yellow dog head peering over his documents.
Du Mu: (乛ᴥ乛)
"Motherf—!"
Fury nearly leapt out of his chair, swearing on reflex.
But then he recognized the culprit. His face darkened."Du Mu! How many times have I told you—dress normally when you're in HQ! At least look human!"
Du Mu huffed in protest. "What are you talking about? This outfit's awesome! And the stats are actually pretty solid."
Fury's mouth twitched.
Did you leave your sense of fashion back in the womb?
He was about to lose his temper when Du Mu suddenly jabbed a finger at the report.
"Wait, Director. Something's off here. Why are there multiple massive expenditures with no clear source? Don't tell me… someone's embezzling funds?"
"Cough! Cough, cough!"
Fury hacked violently, slammed the file shut, and stuffed it into a drawer. He forced a straight face. "That's top secret. I'm personally handling it. Not something a Level 5 agent should be nosing into."
"Oh."
Fury quickly changed the subject, stone-faced. "I've got an important mission for you."
He pulled another file from his desk and slid it across.
On the cover was a smug-looking man with a neatly trimmed goatee. Below, his name and identity were clearly printed.
Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Industries.
"Three months ago, Tony Stark was ambushed by unidentified militants in the Middle East. His status remains unknown."
"I need you to head to Afghanistan immediately. Find out if he's alive. If he is, bring him back safely."
As Fury's words fell, the system chimed again:
[NPC Nick Fury has assigned you a new mission][Mission: The Birth of Iron Man][Objective: Travel to the Middle East, locate Tony Stark, and bring him back safely][Main Storyline Quest Triggered! Complete it to receive rich rewards!]
Main story quest?!
Du Mu's eyes widened in excitement.
At last!
The long-awaited main quest had finally arrived!
"Iron Man? Sounds like a superhero alias… could he be an important character?" Du Mu speculated.
He didn't know much about Marvel, but he at least knew it was all about superheroes.
Yet in all his time playing, he hadn't met a single one.
Fury, though… he did kind of feel like one.
What would his hero name be?
Cyclops?
Or… Motherf—Man?
"Du Mu! Are you even listening?!"
Fury's blood pressure was spiking just watching him daydream.
Du Mu blinked back to reality. "Sorry, sir, what did you just say?"
"I said…" Fury pinched the bridge of his nose. "Never mind. Skip the cutscene."
Fury: 눈灬●