1: Chapter 1: Starting with Swinging on a Swing

[Congratulations on entering the secret realm "Big Red Brain Hanging High"]

[Brain Depositary]

...

"H-H-H... Help, help me..."

Chu Hong's hands gripped tightly onto the rope around his neck, the intense feeling of suffocation depriving his brain of oxygen, just as he was about to lose consciousness.

A violent crash suddenly shattered the door of his dormitory, sending the entire door flying open.

"Bang!!!"

Carrying massive force amidst a whistling sound, the door panel slammed intimately and parallelly against Chu Hong's distorted face caused by suffocation.

Chu Hong, who was hanging from the rope, was blasted right off the rope on the spot by this door panel.

Then, he was heavily pinned beneath the door panel.

"Brother Hong! Brother Hong! Don't die! Don't die, it's not worth killing yourself over that woman Liu Yanyan, Brother Hong, Brother Hong!"

A miserable and anxious crying voice came from atop the door panel pressuring him.

Chu Hong rolled his eyes back, nearly having his ribs broken on the spot by the immense weight.

"You, fatty, you, you f***..."

...

"Brother Hong, I was just too anxious, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I heard that because your awakened initial skill was unranked, you were dumped by that woman Liu Yanyan, and she even humiliated you publicly, so I felt things were going to go wrong..."

In the medical room of Huangshan No. 1 Source Energy Middle School in Huangshan Base City.

Looking at the blushed youth Wang Laowu with a big potbelly who was bowing and scraping with an apologetic face, Chu Hong's hollow eyes still carried the confusion of having survived a disaster.

Did I f***ing time-travel just like that?

The memories inherited from his predecessor in his mind began to gradually recall and merge.

The chattering fat man in front of him, who looked very rich and very easy to bully, was this body's best friend named Wang Suming. It was said that when his name was given, it was patterned after some delicate young actor.

But clearly, this appearance must have broken some mother's heart into pieces.

Chu Hong looked gloomily at the scenery outside the window of the school infirmary.

A massive human settlement city built on the mountainside—its high walls, reaching seven to eight hundred meters like a black ring-shaped cliff isolating the mountains from the outside world—looked particularly clear from Chu Hong's perspective.

This world named Blue Star was undergoing a massive transformation.

"Brother Hong, Brother Hong... What are you thinking about? I'm talking to you."

The voice of the fatty Wang Suming pulled back Chu Hong's wandering thoughts.

"What's wrong?"

"Brother Hong, what is your awakened initial skill? Even if it's unranked, some unranked skills are actually quite popular. Even if you can't become a Pioneer, setting up an industry in the base and doing some business isn't bad..."

Initial skill, huh...

Chu Hong's gaze drifted for a moment, and he shook his head gently.

"It's not any particularly special skill, just the unranked [Investigation]."

As he spoke, he raised his hand slightly, and a light screen appeared before him.

Inside, not only was there a complete 3D modeling projection of himself marking various vital signs, but in one column of the personal skill bar, a white text icon was flashing with light.

[Investigation]: Unranked operative skill, conducts an Investigation on a specific target to randomly obtain a small amount of intelligence on the other party.

Wang Suming opened his mouth.

Seeing this information, the little bit of hope originally in his heart was also shattered.

However, looking at his sworn brother who was still on the hospital bed, he gritted his teeth and forced a smile to comfort him.

"Brother Hong, don't worry, this is just an initial skill. At worst, we'll just be more careful when entering the secret realm. What if we search and find some purple or even golden items inside, wouldn't that make us stronger?"

That's what he said verbally.

However.

Wang Suming couldn't help but be clear that the initial skill was unranked.

And it was also a trashy intelligence slot.

Chu Hong could almost be said to have completely bid farewell to the path of a Pioneer.

After comforting him with a few more words, Wang Suming checked the time, brought food for Chu Hong, and left the school infirmary.

"Secret realm, search, fight, extract?"

In the school infirmary, only Chu Hong was left alone. Looking at the lingering sunset glow outside the window like the setting sun beyond the frontier, faintly within the clouds, one could still see what seemed like some pillar-supporting giant beast flashing past.

A trace of solemnity couldn't help but flash across the depths of his eyes.

In this world where experts are as numerous as clouds and high-tier secret realms constantly shatter, spewing out all sorts of absurd and terrifying monsters, even a city heavily guarded and backed by city walls like Huangshan Base City...

cannot be said to be one hundred percent safe.

He took a deep breath and casually picked up a magazine named "Secret Realm Zhijia" from the bedside.

This was a magazine with a considerable circulation that almost all Pioneers subscribed to. Inside, besides the latest news from the outside world, there was also a large amount of intelligence regarding secret realms.

Opening the first page, the first piece of content that met his eyes made Chu Hong's expression pause.

"Forty miles west of Huangshan Base City, an alleged apocalyptic sci-fi side secret realm has appeared, codename: Cliffside Epidemic Hospital"

His gaze was just about to look at the editorial content below when suddenly a sharp sound echoed in his mind, causing his body to involuntarily tremble.

[Ding! Investigation area "Cliffside Epidemic Hospital" discovered, whether to enter into the Special Service Department Action Department?]

Chu Hong: "..."

After his brain crashed for a few seconds, looking at the light screen still present before him, the hand holding the magazine trembled a few times.

"Brother Tong?!"

His face was full of ecstatic joy, and after taking deep breaths for a long while, he finally calmed down from this huge surprise.

"System, what does entering into the Special Service Department Action Department mean?"

[Ding! Entering the Investigation area into the Special Service Department Action Department, the host can enter the Investigation area through the Special Service Department to conduct search, combat, and extraction in the Investigation area]

[Different Investigation areas may have "Normal", "Confidential", "Top Secret", "Hell", "Unknown" levels. The host can freely choose the difficulty to enter the area. Entering the Investigation area through the Special Service Department, the host will not truly die if killed in battle, but will lose the vast majority of carried items]

Looking at this information, Chu Hong couldn't help but recall those online games of the search-combat-extraction genre he had played in his past life.

Thinking about the current situation of Blue Star.

According to the memories from his predecessor that he received in his mind.

The secret realms in this world didn't have any saying like "dying in battle won't actually kill you". Pioneers had high returns, but risks also grew geometrically.

Except for some major forces that possessed precious special items allowing people to evacuate from the secret realm without passing through an extraction point,

all Pioneers entering the secret realm were hanging their heads by their trouser waistbands.

Gambling their lives for a future.

Gambling with their lives!

Gambling on drop rates!

Thinking of this, Chu Hong's heart couldn't help but heat up.

He quickly flipped through the magazine in his hand.

In his mind, the system prompts sounded densely as one piece of news about secret realms after another in the magazine flashed past.

[Ding! Investigation area "Black Demon Cave" discovered, distance is too far, unable to enter into the Special Service Department Action Department]

[Ding! Investigation area "Abandoned Spirit Mine" discovered, initial difficulty is higher than the host's level, unable to enter into the Special Service Department Action Department]

[Ding! Investigation area "Goblin Village" discovered, distance is too far, unable to enter into the Special Service Department Action Department]

[...]

After finishing the magazine, Chu Hong's brows frowned slightly.

"It looks like this system triggering dungeons not only requires distance, but also has requirements for my level."

Thinking of this, Chu Hong no longer hesitated.

"Enter [Cliffside Epidemic Hospital]!"