Li Po opened his eyes, and all he saw was thick, pitch-black darkness.

In the next second, a light blue ripple flashed across his vision, and at the same time, a cold, mechanical voice sounded in his ear:

[Welcome to the holographic simulation program. Please carefully read and fully understand the following content to ensure your rights are protected.]

Right after, a page filled with dense text appeared in front of him. Li Po didn’t want to waste time, so after glancing at it, he crudely summarized it in four words: “Disclaimer.”

…Tsk, they really don’t want to get blamed for anything.

After selecting “Agree” a selection of weapons appeared before Li Po.

[Please choose a weapon that matches your spiritual power.]

Guns, daggers, bows, bombs, poisons… everything you could imagine, a dazzling array of choices.

Li Po’s eyes lit up. Without hesitation, he raised his hand and clicked on the handgun option.

In the next instant, a gray program window suddenly popped up:

[This weapon requires B-level spiritual power. The system has detected that your spiritual power is E-level, which is a poor match. Please consider switching.]

It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over Li Po’s head. The light in his eyes dimmed significantly. He pursed his lips and was about to select the dagger when he abruptly paused.

Wait… Should he take this opportunity to test his spiritual power? He didn’t have access to the weaponry arsenal, and given the current situation, this was his only chance.

Besides, a faint hope still lingered in his heart—what if the doctor was wrong, and he was actually an A-level spiritual power holder?

Even if not, it would help him give up that dream early.

Li Po was always decisive in action. The moment the thought popped into his mind, it burned like a blazing fire within him.

Even if this move was extremely risky, bold, and might cost him his only weapon.

It didn’t matter, Li Po comforted himself. It was just a drill, not a real mission. Winning or losing wasn’t important.

At this moment, Li Po naively believed that this drill was nothing more than a more realistic, larger-scale version of the ordinary training he had done before. As long as he remembered that everything he faced was fake, there was nothing to worry about.

Confidently, he closed the program window and clicked on the handgun option again.

This time, the program didn’t stop his choice.

“Zzz… zzz…”

The sound of static filled his ears, and in that moment, Li Po lost consciousness.

…

A pitch-black, old street.

Li Po opened his eyes. Lowering his gaze, he touched the nameplate pinned to his chest, his expression calm. This was his first mission, and the goal was to eradicate the pollutants in La’erjiao.

La’erjiao was one of the most chaotic areas in the lower district. It was filthy, dirty, and dilapidated—a favored gathering place for the poor and homeless. It even had a nickname, “Trash Corner.” The locals used to push back on that name, but eventually, they became numb to it. Trash was trash, no point distinguishing between them.

Li Po’s lean body was wrapped in a black combat suit, blending seamlessly with the darkness. His black combat boots stepped silently on the dirty ground, his movements as quiet as a cat.

The stench of garbage flooded in from all sides, but Li Po held his breath and silently moved forward. Soon, a rusty iron door appeared before him. It was nearly three meters high, with a rusty iron lock in the middle.

The lock was just as rusty, and the keyhole was clogged with dust. Even if he could pick locks, it wouldn’t help. But there was no other way around; if he wanted to pass, he had to get through this door.

Li Po frowned and glanced at the silenced handgun in his hand. Without hesitation, he pointed the barrel at the lock and pulled the trigger—

Unexpectedly, there was no sound.

???

For the first time since waking up, the calm mask Li Po had worn broke, showing a genuinely surprised expression. At the same time, a wave of dizziness suddenly hit him, causing him to wobble and almost lose his balance. But he didn’t have time to think about it. He quickly opened the chamber, glanced inside, and his face darkened.

The magazine was full of bullets.

Gritting his teeth, Li Po reassembled the gun and fired again.

…Still no sound.

The dizziness worsened, and Li Po had to lean against the wall to keep himself from collapsing.

Damn, he’d been played.

At this point, there was no point wasting time thinking about it. He tucked the gun behind his waist and steadied himself, focusing on the task at hand. After all, the weapon was useless, but he still had to complete the mission. He didn’t want to be eliminated from Zone S.

First, he measured the height of the iron door with his eyes, then took a few steps back and scanned the surroundings.

Luckily, on his right, he spotted an old wooden crate. It had clearly been there for years, covered in thick dust. Li Po barely touched it, and his fingers were coated in grime. Though he wasn’t a clean freak, his handsome face still twisted in disgust for a moment.

Half a minute later, the tattered crate was moved in front of the iron door to serve as a stepping stone. Li Po dusted off his hands and stepped onto it. Sure enough, it gave him just enough height to reach the top of the door. He let out a breath of relief, but just as he was about to push himself up with his legs, he suddenly heard a creak.

His pupils contracted—bad news!

Before his brain could react, Li Po instinctively grabbed the top of the door. Just as the crate shattered beneath him, he was left hanging mid-air.

“…”

Honestly, it wasn’t his fault for being heavy. The crate just had poor quality.

But Li Po was still a grown man. There was no way he could hang there with just one arm for long. If this went on, both his arms would give out, and he’d be in serious trouble.

With veins bulging on his forehead, Li Po stretched out his other arm, struggling to grip the top. He flexed both arms, pulling himself up with great effort. At the same time, his right leg, clad in black pants, bent and braced against the door, barely maintaining a shaky balance.

“Huff…” Li Po took a deep breath and pushed hard with his right leg. Using the momentum, his arms tensed as he lifted himself higher. When his hips were level with the top of the door, he swung his right leg up and finally straddled the top.

…Ouch, that hurt.

Li Po winced in pain, his eyes watering slightly. He shifted his position and glanced down—

Just one look, and his face turned pale.

On the other side of the iron door, it was packed—completely packed—with dark, dense pollutants!!!

These pollutants were much smaller than normal ones, about the size of a fist. From a glance, they seemed to be some kind of ant species. In the darkness, they moved slowly, casting shadows on the ground that looked eerily similar to the creatures themselves, making it hard to tell which were real and which were just shadows.

Darkness amplified fear. Li Po clung tightly to the door, cold sweat dripping from his forehead. A wave of terror surged through him—if he had shot the lock and walked in, would he have already become a meal?

That thought aside, his current situation wasn’t much better. He had no weapon, and the handgun didn’t work. Even if it did, the bullets wouldn’t be enough.

Suppressing the spine-chilling fear, Li Po took another glance and was shocked to realize that there must be hundreds of these creatures.

Crap.

It was as if they smelled human presence. The originally quiet pollutants suddenly began to stir, with some even starting to crawl slowly toward him.

…Help!

In this situation, the smartest choice would be to run—run as far as he could.

After all, no mission was more important than his life.

But just as Li Po was about to jump back, his mind suddenly went blank. The dizziness surged over him like a tidal wave, and his body swayed, as though caught in a deep whirlpool.

“Drip, drip…” In the empty space of his mind, the only thing he could hear was the sound of water drops.

One drop, two drops, three drops…

His eyes were tightly shut, his face deathly pale. Below him, the ground, once teeming with pollutants, had become less crowded. The mass of creatures was now swarming toward him, a wriggling pile at his feet, eagerly sniffing his scent.

The door was too high for the fist-sized creatures to reach him, but the scent of a living person seemed to trigger something. Though they had no intelligence, they instinctively began to pile up on each other like a grotesque game of “human pyramid.”

It was an utterly terrifying and eerie sight.

Fist-sized black balls formed the base, while more of them climbed on top, creating a second layer, then a third, and a fourth…

The creatures were becoming more adept at this, their speed increasing, and soon, the two-meter distance between them and Li Po was shrinking rapidly.

Just then, Li Po suddenly opened his eyes. His lashes were soaked with cold sweat as he raised a hand to wipe his forehead, breathing heavily.

Then, his boot was bumped.

…?!!!!

As if remembering something, Li Po’s pupils contracted sharply. He quickly glanced down, and nearly let out a scream before forcing it back down his throat. His body’s instincts kicked in, and he swiftly drew the handgun from his waist, aiming downward, his thumb pressing the trigger without a second thought.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Three consecutive shots, all on target.

The two-meter-tall “human pyramid” of monsters instantly collapsed. Though there had only been three shots, their power was immense, wiping out most of the creatures. The remaining ones scurried back into the darkness, blending in completely.

On the other side, Li Po heard nothing.

His legs gave out, no longer able to support his shaky body. His brain had completely shut down, unresponsive to the outside world. He didn’t even notice that he was about to fall.

In the darkness, his figure wobbled, and then he plummeted from the nearly three-meter-high iron door…

At this moment, a cold, mechanical voice sounded faintly:

[Participant’s consciousness fully lost. Training is forcibly terminated. Returning to the simulation chamber—]

[LOSE]

In the holographic simulation training field, a pod suddenly opened, and alarms blared:

[Warning, warning, participant suspected of brain death, immediate medical attention required!]

[Warning, warning, participant suspected of brain death, immediate medical attention required!]

[Warning, warning, participant suspected of brain death, immediate medical attention required!]

In an instant, the entire training field was in chaos.