The night was dark and windy, at a secluded manor.
The door to the master bedroom slowly opened, and a figure swaggered inside.
This person wore a thick, brightly patterned quilted jacket, but his lower half was clad in neon-pink board shorts, with a pair of sickly yellow Crocs on his feet.
This outfit couldn't be described as particularly ugly; it was ugly in a very particular way.
What was most jarring was the enormous yellow dog's head mask covering his head, its cheap expression radiating a sense of inexplicable mockery.
The Dog-Head Man walked straight to the office desk, turned on the computer, took a USB drive out of his pocket, and plugged it in. A progress bar immediately popped up on the screen.
While waiting, he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket.
"Yo?"
"Du Mu, this is Nick Fury. What's your current status?"
"Have infiltrated the target location, currently acquiring the mission item."
"You haven't been discovered, have you?"
Just as Du Mu was about to answer, the master bedroom's bathroom door suddenly opened with a click, and a bearded man wrapped in a bathrobe stared at him in horror.
"Damn it! Who are you? How did you get in?!"
"Guards?! Guards! Guar—"
Bang!
A crisp gunshot rang out.
The Dog-Head Man calmly holstered his pistol and said into the phone, "Don't worry, no one will find out."
"..."
Nick Fury was silent for a few seconds on the other end, his voice low: "After the mission, report back to headquarters."
"Okey-dokey!"
Du Mu hung up the phone just as the progress bar on the computer screen finished. He neatly pulled out the USB drive.
The next moment, a cold, mechanical voice sounded in his mind.
[Daily Mission: "Steal Important Intelligence" Settlement Complete!]
[Reward: Experience +500, S.H.I.E.L.D. Reputation +10, C4 Bomb * 1]
"Tsk, just this junk reward again."
Du Mu curled his lip, his gaze sweeping over the corpse on the floor. He couldn't help but sigh, "But this game is truly amazing. Look at this NPC's death feedback; it's just like the real thing. I wouldn't believe the game planners haven't killed someone."
In fact, he was immersed in a full-holographic virtual game called "The Marvel World."
In 2065, full-holographic virtual gaming technology had long been widespread, allowing players to experience a virtual world that was nearly one hundred percent real.
As a veteran player with a million fans, Du Mu had cleared countless games and had a small reputation in the international gaming circle.
Two months ago, a gaming company under Marvel sought him out, inviting him to test their new title, touted as having an "unprecedented, ultra-high degree of freedom." They promised a ten-million-dollar prize just for clearing the game in one go.
To be honest, Du Mu didn't know much about Marvel.
After all, in his era, the Marvel stories had gone through who knew how many generations of updates, and the original characters had long since faded away.
The hottest superhero now was the seventh-generation Iron Man, named Iron Black Heart—a Black single mother with gender dysphoria, severe alcoholism, morbid obesity, multiple sex changes, three divorces, and five children.
She had formed a family with the eighth-generation Captain America, who was a gay, vegetarian, animal rights, environmental activist, feminist pioneer, practicing Catholic, and one-eighth Native American, and they constantly chanted "Fa-mi-ly."
Du Mu wasn't interested in this kind of superhero combination, which was stacked with political correctness buffs and only watched with relish across the ocean.
That being said, Du Mu signed the agreement without a second thought and lay down in the top-tier virtual gaming pod they provided that very day.
He couldn't help it.
They gave him way too much!
At the start of the game, the system offered several identity options: Hydra Spy, S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent, Stark Industries Employee, Hell's Kitchen Resident, Midtown High School Student.
Du Mu casually clicked on one and began the game.
After two months of playing, Du Mu had to admit that the game's degree of freedom was indeed ridiculously high.
There was no tutorial, no guidance; all actions and plot developments had to be figured out by the player.
The most bizarre thing was that after all these days, he hadn't even seen a shadow of a main mission!
If the game system hadn't repeatedly guaranteed there was a main questline, Du Mu would have suspected he was playing a spy simulation game.
"Speaking of which, this game doesn't seem to have a quit button," Du Mu wondered.
The system's voice chimed in just then:
[We apologize, but a small issue occurred when the game started, leading to a system BUG. We are currently working hard to fix it.]
"Will I be okay?"
Du Mu's heart skipped a beat.
[Player, please be assured that the gaming pod monitors your vital signs 24 hours a day and will immediately force a wake-up upon detecting any abnormality.]
[Additional explanation: The time flow ratio between the game and reality is 362:1. The top-tier virtual pod and highly efficient nutrient solution you are using can ensure stable basal metabolism for over ten years. There is no need to worry about time or safety.]
[If the player insists on quitting the game, they may do so at any time, but they will permanently forfeit the qualification for the one-time completion bonus.]
[Does the player wish to quit the game?]
"No, I will not quit!"
Du Mu decisively refused.
Are you kidding me? He would absolutely not quit the game before clearing it and getting the ten million dollar prize!
Just then, dense, hurried footsteps came from outside the door. Clearly, the gunshot just now had alerted the manor's guards.
Du Mu dismissed the slight doubt in his mind, quickly brought up the game map, and locked onto the coordinates for the "S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters."
Click, teleport!
By the time the guards arrived, the master bedroom contained only a cold corpse and a beeping C4 bomb.
"Holy Sh*t!"
BOOM!!!
At the Triskelion, in the Director's office.
Nick Fury was sitting behind his massive desk, reviewing a thick stack of documents.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. Fund Allocation Report?"
A voice abruptly piped up.
Nick Fury snapped his head up, only to see a huge yellow dog's head leaning in close to the document.
Du Mu: (乛乛)
"Motherf**ker!"
Nick Fury jolted all over and shouted the word out of pure instinct.
But he quickly recognized the person, his face darkening as he said, "Du Mu! How many times have I told you! Dress normally when you're at headquarters, at least look like a human being!"
Du Mu instantly took offense: "This combination is clearly very cool, and the stats aren't low either."
Nick Fury's mouth twitched.
Did you leave your sense of aesthetics behind in the embryo when you were born?
He was about to lose his temper when Du Mu suddenly pointed at a section of the document.
"By the way, Director, this report looks a bit off. Why are there a few extra large expenditures with no source? Is someone secretly embezzling public funds in the bureau?"
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Nick Fury suddenly coughed violently a few times, slammed the file shut, stuffed it into a drawer, and said earnestly, "This is top secret, and I am personally handling it. It's not something a Level 5 Agent like you should inquire about."
"Oh."
Nick Fury put on a stern face and forcibly changed the subject: "I have an important mission for you now."
With that, he took out another file from a different drawer and pushed it toward Du Mu.
On the cover of the file was a picture of a flashy, mustachioed man, with his name and identity listed below.
Tony Stark, Chairman of Stark Industries.
"Three months ago, Tony Stark was attacked by unidentified armed militants in the Middle East. His status—dead or alive—is still unknown."
"I need you to leave immediately for Afghanistan to find out the whereabouts of Tony Stark. If he is still alive, bring him back safely."
As Nick Fury's voice trailed off, the system's voice simultaneously rang out.
[NPC Nick Fury has issued you a new mission]
[Mission: The Birth of Iron Man]
[Objective: Travel to the Middle East, locate Tony Stark, and bring him back safely]
[Player has triggered a Main Storyline Mission! Upon completion, the player will receive a generous reward!]
Main Quest?!
Du Mu's eyes widened in excitement.
It's here!
The main mission he had been looking forward to for so long was finally here!
"Iron Man? Sounds like a superhero title. Is he an important character?" Du Mu guessed.
Although he knew very little about Marvel, he knew it was a superhero comic company, and the core was naturally focused on superheroes.
However, Du Mu hadn't heard of any superheroes since he started playing, much less met one.
On the other hand, the Nick Fury in front of him did have a bit of a superhero vibe.
So what was his heroic title?
One-Eye Man?
Or Motherf**ker Man?
"Du Mu! Are you even listening to me!"
Nick Fury looked at the dazed Du Mu, feeling his blood pressure rising.
Du Mu snapped back to attention: "Sir, what did you just say?"
"I said—"
"Never mind, it's not important, skip cutscene!"
Nick Fury: 😡