Re: Blood and Iron - Chapter 232: Pride is the Root of All Evil

“What the fuck? What is going on? Have I completely lost it?”

As I stare panicky at the dot unable to decide what to do, the white dot disappears and a line of text appears in its place.

[Installing files. 1% done…]

As I watch the text in shock, the percentage gradually increases. […2%...3%...4%...]

I move to the living room in a zombie-like manner, too shocked to think clearly and lie down on the couch.

“Something is wrong with me; I think I finally lost my sanity…”

[…12%...13%...14%...]

Unable to affect the situation in the least, I stare dejectedly at the percentage increase, while my mind starts exploring the possible explanations. In the end, as the percentage hits 90%, I narrow it down to three possibilities.

The first possibility is that I am in fact still unconscious and this is all a product of my mind. I pinch myself and whimper at the pain, as in my nervousness I used almost all my strength.

Nope, the first is out.

The second possibility is that I have completely lost my mind and am suffering from delusions. Hmm, I cannot exclude this, but while possible, I don’t think that this is it. The only thing out of the ordinary is that fucking line of text.

The third possibility …

[Installation successful!]

The text disappears and a new message appears in my eyes…

The third possibility … is that I gained a system. I read the message with my mouth agape at the implications.

[Welcome user, to the Perverted Daddy System!]

Fuck…

In 2173, the world’s first Full-World Virtual MMORPG game ‘Astral Online’ went on sale globally, forever changing the blue planet Asteria!

With its revolutionary Digital Capture System, astonishing graphics and ability to scan yourself into the game with up to 20% beautification, countless defenders rallied to play the game.

Fifty million players logged in on launch. There were no queues or lag on launch, leaving countless critics impressed and willing to try the game. Because the game used a 6-hour play limit a day, it allowed even working adults to keep up with young students and the unemployed.

A resounding success, as more people poured onto the game servers, families and friends alike. Astra Online became a household name overnight.

One month later, the game opened its first RMT system, which made earning a living from the game easier... Thus began the Astral rush!

Professional players formed guilds and factions to increase their profits, but nobody could know this prosperity was a mere joke.

One year later, players fused with their avatars, gaining powerful abilities in the real world, which tipped the power and caused chaos.

Two years later, demons and monsters from inside the game invaded the real world.

Three years later, over 90% of humanity perished, leaving the rest to hide like rats, unable to fight back in fear.

Four years later, this world is no longer ours. The demons march on our last bastions, one by one. They exterminated us.

Zell was an average player who liked to collect beasts in the game and evolve them into humanoids, as they were primarily females.

He spent most of his life working two jobs to make ends meet.

Thanks to the excellent healthcare of his country, there were no crippling debts. There was only emptiness.

When the end came, he was powerless and alone. His only companions were his cute pets and Rika, his cherished Flame Rabbit.

She was the only beast he evolved to a humanoid form after his late start to the game.

He died saving the life of a strange girl with white wings and his pet Rika, the sad eyes of Rika and the girl’s sorrow floating through the air as he slowly passed away.

However, instead of dying, he awoke inside an empty white room with a single computer and a strange, game-like screen that allowed him to edit his IRL avatar and persona.

Who offered him this second chance?

For what reason did they help him?

Can he meet Rika again?

Zell could never know; he only knew his second life’s goal.

Survive!

I, Ning Daoran, have achieved what I have today step by step, relying solely on my own efforts!

While reading a novel, Fu Erdie thought more than once that if she arrived in an apocalyptic world, she could only wait for death.

The cars could not be driven, roads could not be recognized, they could not even cook food.

There was also physical strength involved…there was no need for her to encounter a zombie because with just a sudden drop of temperature, she could get a cold and fever and die from it.

As a useless person of the new century, she sincerely hoped that the whole world would be prosperous and free of disease and calamity. At the same time, she could just draw at home and earn living expenses while muddling through.

As a result, God played a joke on her.

After a shower of rain, the world changed. There were zombies and dead plants everywhere.

She looked down from a window on the 10th floor and saw the crowd panicking. The cars rammed and blocked the road, and the small noodle shop she often went to was now stained with blood… Everything pulled back Fu Erdie from her fantasy.

The world had truly changed.

Fu Erdie decided to go out to find her relatives, and she would bet on whether she would become a zombie or an alien. She gathered her courage and opened the door, then stepped back and closed it. The zombie neighbors in the corridor were horrible! It is impossible to fight zombies, you can only wait to die in a wretched manner. And any chance, there was a lot of stored food at home that she could eat for a month.

But her ending was probably one of the two choices she had in her mind, to die now or die in a month. And she chose to lay down and continue her everyday normal life. She would just wait to meet the upcoming water and electricity cuts.

On the first day, everything was the same. The next day, everything was the same. The next day after, everything was still the same. The next…

A month later, it was time to pay the utility bill. The internet got disconnected and she did not pay the bill. The rest of the building was pitch black.

But her room was still bright.

The flush toilet could be used as usual. The natural gas could be used for her luxurious bathing. The small kumquats, small peppers, and shallots planted and grown on the balcony even thrived at a rate that did not conform to the laws of nature.

Fu Erdie suddenly found out that she had not mutated, but her own house had mutated?!

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