1: Want to play Chapter 1 again? You'll need to spend money!

"You mean..."

Director Li Guoan's voice was a bit dry. He pointed at the behemoth in the corner of the lounge, trying to use his half-lifetime of knowledge to understand the scene before him.

"You killed this 'chicken' in the game, and it appeared in the real world?"

The hen stayed quietly in the corner, but its size was anything but restful.

It was nearly two meters long, with an estimated weight of two hundred pounds.

Its thick legs were comparable to an adult's thighs, covered in a hard stratum corneum.

Its dark yellow beak shimmered with a metallic luster. If not for the bright red comb still present, who would dare call this thing a chicken?

That's a freaking chicken?!

Director Li Guoan had lived for over fifty years and handled eighty to a hundred bizarre cases, but none could compare to the one before him.

This had already exceeded the bounds of common sense and entered the realm of mythology.

Chen You looked at the steady middle-aged man before him, knowing full well that he was currently his only hope.

He nodded heavily, his expression incredibly serious.

"Yes, Director Li. It's absolutely true."

He had to make the other person believe him.

Because of that game, he didn't dare touch it anymore.

"Actually... this chicken was quite hard to kill."

Chen You added a sentence, his tone carrying a hint of lingering fear and a desire to complain.

Just this morning, while cleaning the house, he found a strange bracelet.

He thought it was left behind by the previous tenant and casually slipped it onto his hand.

Then a small screen lit up on it, displaying an icon that said "Enter Game."

He liked playing games himself, so he subconsciously clicked it.

No download, no installation, not even a registration process.

Once he clicked in, his consciousness was directly pulled into a realistic otherworldly realm.

【Welcome to the Source Realm. Beginner Tutorial Quest: Kill ten chickens in the Novice Village.】

Chen You was amused at the time.

Kill chickens? Isn't this the standard for beginner quests? He could do it with his eyes closed.

As it turned out, reality gave him a loud slap in the face.

The chickens in the game were exactly like the one before him—huge, fierce, and a single peck would take a large chunk out of his health bar.

He drank all five small health potions the system initially gave him, giving it his all.

Finally, with only a sliver of health left, he barely managed to take down the first one.

At the time, he was frantically complaining, wondering if the game's balance designer had used their feet to design the stats.

With this level of difficulty, who could even keep playing?

Physically and mentally exhausted, Chen You had no intention of continuing the quest and chose to exit the game directly.

The next second, his consciousness returned to his body.

Then, he saw the corpse of the giant hen he had killed appear out of thin air in his cramped rental room.

In that instant, Chen You's soul almost flew out of his body from fright.

After the shock, a chilling speculation emerged.

If things from the game could be brought into reality, did that mean...

If he died in the game, would his real self die as well?

He absolutely could not play this game again!

That was his first reaction.

But immediately after, he realized that this game, which could manifest virtual items into reality, was an unimaginably massive treasure trove.

Wealth? Power? Or even more incredible things?

Immense fear and immense temptation were laid out before him simultaneously.

After a brief internal struggle, Chen You decided to hand it over to the state!

"An ordinary man is innocent, but harboring a treasure makes him guilty."

Something this outrageous was not something an ordinary person like him could handle.

Rather than living in fear every day, it was better to hand it directly to the most powerful organization.

So, he exerted a tremendous amount of effort to transport the chicken to the nearest police station using a cart.

The police officers were also dumbfounded by the giant chicken. After confirming that Chen You was mentally sound, they immediately reported it up the chain of command.

Eventually, this man named Director Li Guoan arrived.

After listening to Chen You's narrative, Director Li Guoan remained silent for a long time. His gaze moved from the giant chicken to Chen You's wrist.

"This thing on your wrist is the game's login device?"

On Chen You's wrist was a simple silver bracelet engraved with mysterious patterns he couldn't understand.

"Yes, I've studied it for a long time, and I can't take it off." Chen You extended his hand, being very cooperative.

"Others can't touch it either."

Hearing this, Director Li Guoan subconsciously reached out to touch the silver bracelet.

A bizarre scene occurred.

His fingers passed through the bracelet without any resistance, as if nothing were there, like a 3D image projected out of thin air.

Yet the metallic luster reflected by the bracelet under the light clearly told him that this thing existed in reality.

Director Li Guoan's breathing hitched slightly.

Existing and not existing at the same time.

This contradictory physical phenomenon refreshed his worldview once again.

Just then, the door to the lounge was pushed open, and a young Assistant walked in quickly, looking somewhat excited.

"Director Li, the Biological Research Center called. The preliminary test results for the sample are out!"

Director Li Guoan immediately snapped back to his senses, took the phone from the Assistant, and signaled for him to leave first.

As soon as the police station reported the news, a biological sample of this giant hen had been sent to the country's top Biological Research Center through the fastest channels.

Now, the results were in.

Director Li Guoan put the phone to his ear and pressed the speakerphone button.

A slightly aged but vigorous voice came from the other end, carrying irrepressible excitement.

"Old Li! Where did you get this thing? This is the discovery of the century!"

Director Li Guoan didn't answer and asked in a deep voice, "Tell me the results."

"The result is... its genetic sequence doesn't match any known biological gene pool on Earth! Not a single one!"

The voice on the other end rose an octave.

"We compared it against all species in the phylum Chordata, class Aves, and order Galliformes. We even expanded the scope to all known organisms, including DNA extracted from ancient fossils. None of them match!"

"To put it simply, from a biological perspective, this thing... is not an Earth organism!"

Not an Earth organism.

These five words were like a heavy bomb exploding in the small lounge.

Chen You's eyes widened instantly, and his heart pounded wildly.

He guessed that this chicken wasn't simple, but he never expected it to be this extraordinary!

The monsters in the game are alien organisms?

The voice on the other end didn't stop but became even more excited.

"And! There's an even more stunning discovery!"

"In its blood samples, we unexpectedly isolated a highly active special antibody protein!"

"This antibody has shown nearly 100% inhibition and killing effects on various cancer cells, especially lung and liver cancer cells!"

"Old Li, do you understand what this means?"

"If we can decipher the structure of this antibody and achieve mass production... cancer will be completely conquered!"

Boom!

Chen You's head buzzed.

Conquer cancer?

He stared blankly at the hen in the corner that he had complained was "too hard to kill," feeling like the whole world had become magical.

What he had killed with all his might wasn't just a game monster.

It was a gold mine that could change the world!

Director Li Guoan hung up the phone.

The lounge fell into a deathly silence.

He stared fixedly at Chen You for a long time before slowly speaking.

His tone was beyond doubt.

"You have to keep playing this game."

Chen You jolted, snapping out of his massive shock, and the color instantly drained from his face.

Keep playing?

Are you kidding me!

He waved his hands hurriedly. "Director, no way! This game is too dangerous. If I die in there, I'll likely die in reality too! I don't want to die!"

This wasn't an exaggeration but the most logical deduction.

"I understand your concerns."

Director Li Guoan could guess Chen You's thoughts. He walked up to Chen You and said word for word.

"But now, the situation is different."

"A chicken from the Novice Village can bring the hope of conquering cancer."

"What about higher-level monsters in the game? Or rarer materials? What could they bring? Eternal life? Interstellar travel?"

His words were full of allure, each word striking Chen You's heart.

But Chen You was still afraid.

No matter how good those things were, he had to be alive to get them.

"But..."

"There are no buts," Director Li Guoan interrupted him.

"The state will provide you with the highest level of security. We will assemble the top think tanks to analyze data for you and formulate the safest plans. Whatever you need, we will provide."

"You are not fighting alone."

Chen You's heart was in a fierce struggle.

Reason told him that Director Li Guoan was right.

This game was no longer just his personal matter; it concerned the entire country, and even the future of all humanity.

But emotionally, the fear of death still held the upper hand.

Seeing this, Director Li Guoan knew he was wavering, so he continued to press, trying to find the key to breaking the deadlock.

"Is there no safer way to play this game? Or rather, is there a way to make you stronger and reduce the risk of death?"

A safer way to play?

Chen You was stunned.

That's right!

He almost forgot about that!

Chen You's expression became somewhat strange.

Director Li Guoan keenly captured his change. "Did you think of something?"

Chen You looked up at this serious high-ranking official and answered softly in an uncertain, absurd, yet slightly relieved tone.

"There is."

"I need to top up."