"What the—!?"
Tony and Yinsen were so startled by the sudden development that their hearts nearly stopped.
Especially Tony—he hadn't slept for two days to rush progress. This scare almost made him pass out on the spot.
Under their shocked gazes, Daniel swiftly climbed out of the pit, patted the dust off his clothes, and casually hoisted a pixel-style pickaxe onto his shoulder.
[Item: Diamond Pickaxe]
[Effect: Greatly increases mining efficiency; can rapidly harvest/destroy most ores and rocks.]
[Comment: If Andy Dufresne had this pickaxe, he could've saved 27 years of his life.]
"Who are you!?"
Tony was the first to recover and stared warily at the strange man before him.
Daniel grinned. "You're Tony Stark, right? I'm here to get you out."
"You were sent by the military?"
"Nope, I'm an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Here's my card."
Tony accepted the card and took a look.
Federal Bureau of Investigation – Senior Agent Daniel.
"?"
"Uh—sorry, wrong one."
Completely unfazed, Daniel pulled the card back, then reached into his coat and fished out a stack of various business cards.
Department of Defense.
CIA.
NYPD.
IRS.
Tony: _
"Found it."
Daniel finally picked the right one and handed it over.
Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division – Senior Agent Daniel.
Tony stared at the ridiculously long agency name, feeling like the author was padding word count.
He eyed Daniel suspiciously. "And how many people did your… Strategic Homeland… something-something send?"
Daniel answered confidently, "Just me."
"???"
Tony's face darkened.
Was this guy here to rescue him, or troll him?
But Daniel didn't care about Tony's reaction at all—his gaze had locked onto the rough, bulky steel armor on Tony's body.
[Mark I Armor (Bound to Tony Stark)]
[Description: A power armor handcrafted by Tony using scrap materials inside the cave. Requires large amounts of energy.]
"Nice stuff."
Daniel's eyes lit up.
No man could resist the allure of a power suit—this was the ultimate romance of masculinity.
Too bad it was bound to Tony, the main story character. Otherwise, he'd try to see if it could drop loot.
Daniel sighed regretfully.
He had already confirmed that NPCs in this game had no respawn mechanic.
Once an NPC died, they disappeared permanently, and all associated quests vanished.
So it was best not to lay hands on main-plot characters.
But maybe during New Game+ he could give it a shot.
Daniel silently took note.
Tony felt a chill from Daniel's fiery yet dangerous stare. Just as he was about to speak, a burst of shouting erupted from outside the cave!
Tony's expression changed instantly, and he looked toward the corner monitor.
The terrorists had clearly spotted the disturbance and were closing in fast.
"They're coming! Hurry!"
Tony ignored Daniel and shouted at Yinsen.
Soon, terrorists reached the cave entrance, pounding on the metal door and yelling in an unknown language.
"Boom—!"
The moment they forced the door open, a deafening explosion blasted through the cave.
Tony and Yinsen's pre-set bomb detonated, leaving several charred corpses on the ground amid smoke and debris.
But before they could breathe in relief, heavier footsteps rapidly approached from the distance.
"Damn it!"
Tony was frantic—the terrorists were coming far sooner than expected.
"Yinsen, start the power system! Now!"
"But the suit isn't fully calibrated—"
"No time! Do it!"
Tony knew forcing a startup was dangerous, but he had no choice.
If they waited any longer, they wouldn't even get a chance to fight back.
Yinsen gritted his teeth and followed Tony's instructions. The progress bar on the computer began to rise painfully slowly.
Outside, the terrorists' shouts and running footsteps grew louder.
"It's too late!"
Yinsen took a deep breath, grabbed a rifle from a corpse, and said firmly, "I'll hold them off!"
Without hesitation, he dashed out of the cave.
"Yinsen! Come back! Stick to the plan!"
Tony shouted desperately, but Yinsen was already gone.
Crack—crack—crack.
At this heavy, tragic moment, an utterly inappropriate sound echoed through the cave.
Daniel was casually shelling sunflower seeds he had somehow produced, happily watching the scene of life-and-death unfold.
"Nice cutscene. Plot's a bit cliché, though."
He spat out a shell and commented.
Based on his vast experience with game storylines, this NPC named Yinsen was almost certainly a sacrificial character.
Wait… why did this plot feel familiar?
Daniel suddenly sensed something off and eyed Tony suspiciously.
Now that he thought about it—crafting a power suit out of scrap in a cave was completely unscientific. It was shamelessly cheating.
Plus, there was the "sacrifice companion to awaken protagonist" trope.
This treatment… only protagonists got this kind of setup.
"System, don't tell me the main character is this guy with the goatee. I'm supposed to be the wandering camera NPC, not the protagonist."
[Please rest assured. This game has no preset protagonist. The system will not interfere with your choices. Players are free to participate in any part of the story.]
[Whether you become the protagonist, side character, or background passerby is entirely up to you.]
"Good."
Daniel let out a breath of relief.
He had no intention of becoming some mobile camera drone whose only job was to pass out every night.
Tony looked at Daniel leisurely eating sunflower seeds while they fought for their lives, and he almost exploded from rage.
They were risking everything, and this guy was snacking?
But thinking again—this guy claimed to be an agent. Surely he had some combat ability.
Clinging to a final shred of hope, Tony shouted desperately, "Hey—Agent—whatever your name is! Stop Yinsen! Don't let him do something stupid!"
Yinsen—a gentle scholar with zero combat ability—vs. a horde of armed terrorists.
He was guaranteed dead.
Upon hearing Tony's plea, Daniel snorted. "Hah. Who do you think you are? I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. If I just did whatever you told me, wouldn't that ruin my dignity?"
[NPC Tony Stark has issued you a new quest.]
[Quest: Save Yinsen]
[Objective: Ensure Yinsen survives.]
[Reward: 1000 XP, Tony Stark Favorability +20, 1 Random Rare Item]
"But then again, as a model citizen, how could I stand by and watch someone die? Don't worry, I'll handle this quest!"
The disdain vanished from Daniel's face, instantly replaced by righteous determination.
The speed of this face-turn left Tony completely dumbfounded.
As for morals?
Daniel believed firmly that players didn't need such things.