Chapter 1

WARNING: Spoiler ahead, there’s graphic description of suicide in this chapter, so be warned. Other than that, there’s no more sensitive issues, I think. Anyway, go ahead and enjoy!

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Galaxy Year 4075, federal planet C14.

After a heavily armed force surrounded the highest federal laboratory and destroyed all the robots that were trying to resist, the commander of the operation came to the office of Dr. Eric, the first genius of the Federation, with a solemn expression.

“You are finally here, please come in.” A gentle and polite voice came from behind the door, not at all like a vicious thug.

“Dr. Eric, you were arrested for subverting the federal government. Because of the seriousness of the crime, you will lose the right to appeal. Come with us.” The commander announced coldly.

“Subverting the Federation?” Dr. Eric, sitting behind the bench, scoffs, “It’s nonsense! Sooner or later you will know that my actions will make the world a better place!”

“The system you loaded in our brains made us lose our combat effectiveness. You know, it’s fatal! Lei Feng, who is that? But a piece of false history and a fictional character! If everyone is like him, our world will be destroyed sooner or later! Doctor, I think you are crazy!” The commander frowned in disgust, waved to the sergeant behind him, “Grab him.” 

The sergeant complied, trying to push a mind-limiting injection into Dr. Eric’s vein Dr. Eric has no abilities and no other animal bloodline, but his mental power is the highest in the entire Federation. In order to ensure that he is arrested and brought to justice, every person involved in the operation has been strictly elected and can bear great mental pressure.

Surprisingly, Dr. Eric did not resist, quietly watching the blue liquid enter his body. Before he fell into a coma, he said word by word in a hateful tone, “Since you cold-blooded races cannot be changed, you should all be destroyed! Go to hell!” 

The commander frowned, with an ominous premonition in his heart. You know, they are facing the legendary figure from the Federation, and their actions shouldn’t be so smooth.

“It’s not good, sir, we found a 300-pound ion bomb in the basement! We have no way to remove the level 10 energy membrane!” A rapid voice came from the communicator.

“All personnel retreat immediately!” The commander yelled, then looked at the subordinates who tried to move Dr. Eric in a panic, “Don’t move him!”

Unfortunately, it’s too late. At the moment when Dr. Eric’s body slipped off the chair, the pressure transmitter placed under the cushion activated the ion bomb and removed the energy membrane. A dazzling white light flashed, and the highest federal laboratory and all the life in it turned into floating ions and dissipated in the air. The gray sky was torn apart by the huge energy, a dark crack appeared, and it disappeared in a flash.

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Earth, country C, year 201X.

A thin teenager sat at a computer desk and flipped through the pages. His skin is very pale, his hair is not short, and although his facial features are beautiful, his lifeless gloomy eyes overshadow most of his looks.

He clicks the mouse mechanically, browses all kinds of game web pages without expression, and finds out the strategy game that can be completed by himself without communication with others.

A beautifully made advertising pop-up caught his attention, and he stopped pressing his finger on the mouse.

【From infinity to eternity, the cycle of life and death! The most shocking adventure game of the year is officially launched! Galaxy Battleship, you deserve it! Dear, try it for free for one month and receive Taobao coins!】The nondescript, patchwork advertising slogan completely lowered the quality of the gorgeous pop-up. The teenager was a little disappointed, so he moved the mouse and chose to turn it off.

The pop-up window is still there, the boy continued to click, and after repeated several times, he finally determined that his computer was corrupted. He stared at the screen blankly, his dark eyes like a pool of stagnant water, without any emotions of anger, frustration, or anxiety. The blue light from the screen shrouded his wooden face, and the atmosphere in the room was strange.

The boy sat still for a moment, moved his fingers, and chose【Try Now】. An electric current rushed to his fingertips along the mouse, his eyes went dark, and fell silently into the swivel chair.

The scene changed too suddenly. The last second he was in his room, but the next he appeared in a student dormitory. The boy who is extremely lacking in expression couldn’t help but open his eyes wide.

But he calmed down quickly and touched the canopy bed beside him with his hands, the touch was very real!

The teenager didn’t care about his situation at all. He didn’t want to know where he was, or how to go back or explore the mystery, the world was meaningless to him. He lives just to live.

He looked around the narrow bedroom, saw the laptop opened on the desk, walked over slowly, and continued his unfinished business—browsing the game web page.

A few minutes later, there was a sound of footsteps, the door of the dormitory was pushed open vigorously, and five fifteen or sixteen-year-old teenagers came in happily.

“Han Zhuoyu, I brought you a meal. Today you have your favorite braised spareribs.” The tallest teenager walked over and put the lunch box on the desk.

“Has the fever gone?” another teenager asked worriedly.

Everyone gathered around and expressed their concern one by one.

The teenagers appeared inexplicably, Han Zhuoyu looked at them blankly. These five people’s faces are familiar, they are his classmates. But he couldn’t call their names.

He didn’t answer, turned around, and continued to stare at the computer screen.No one will care about Han Zhuoyu, and Han Zhuoyu doesn’t need other people’s care, so everything in front of him is fake! No matter how real the touch is, it is fake!

Confirming this, the teenager continued to browse the web, leaving a group of people around him noisy and laughing. He is in a world of his own, and no one can integrate into it.

“Enough!” The tall teenager suddenly unplugged the power and said solemnly, “It’s not good to be addicted to the Internet, and you still have a fever. Let’s eat quickly. Sleep under the covers after eating, I asked for a day off for you.” 

The other four teenagers also tried their best to persuade him. From their intimate tone, it is not difficult to see that they have a very good relationship with their roommate, ‘Han Zhuoyu’.

Han Zhuoyu looked at the black computer screen blankly. A few minutes later, he picked out a bed at random, leaned on the pillow, and fell asleep.

The five teenagers thoughtfully lowered the volume of their conversation, and someone tucked the quilt for Han Zhuoyu.

After waking up, Han Zhuoyu began to live in a different space. This is the No. 1 Middle School of City H, which is no different from reality. He repeats the boring life of going to school, after school, eating, and sleeping every day. Although he keeps silent all the time, his roommates don’t seem to care about him at all.

On this day, Han Zhuoyu returned to the bedroom and found that the teenager sleeping on his upper bunk was crying. He saw someone coming and quickly wiped off his tears, his eyes were red.

If you are a normal person, you will definitely ask “what’s the matter with you?” But Han Zhuoyu didn’t ask anything, he opened the lunch box and ate in silence. He set aside the vegetables and meat separately, ate a mouthful of rice, ate a mouthful of vegetables, ate a mouthful of rice, and ate a mouthful of meat, his eating movements were regular. This is a repetitive stereotyped movement unique to autistic patients.

Han Zhuoyu, as if he hadn’t heard of the boy’s crying voice, finished his meal, cleaned the lunch box, and opened his laptop to play games.

It was only when other roommates came back one after another that the heartbroken boy was comforted. His father went bankrupt and was charged with commercial fraud.

The teenagers who had not experienced any pain were silent, and the breath of sadness filled the dormitory.

Han Zhuoyu yawned and climbed to bed for a nap. He is always at odds with everything around him.

A few days later, the crying boy was taken away by his family. When he came back, he was already very thin, with a white cloth tied to his right arm. His father committed suicide for fear of punishment and his mother hastily fled, leaving him to his elderly grandparents.

From this day on, the original happy dormitory atmosphere was replaced by despair. Fifteen or sixteen-year-olds are most likely to be influenced by the outside world. When they listen to too many pessimistic remarks, their mood will naturally become very depressed. Even a little frustration will be magnified hundreds of times, and suddenly the idea of having nothing to love arises.

So-and-so is heartbroken, so-and-so has a quarrel with his parents, and so-and-so fails in exams…the whole world seems to be against them.

Han Zhuoyu turns a blind eye to their changes. When they get together to talk about the darkest fear in their hearts, he still plays games quietly.

One night, the boy who lost his father said quietly, “What’s the point of living like this? It’s better to die.” 

The suffocating silence spread. Everyone looked at each other, and after a while, someone agreed, “I want to know what it’s like to die, whether I will become a soul floating in the air.”

“You are right, there is really no point in living, maybe it’s more fun to die!” Someone agreed.

“I want to die too, but I’m afraid of pain,” said the most timid young man.

“It won’t hurt if you take sleeping pills.” The boy who lost his father said calmly.

After a moment of silence, everyone agreed.

Han Zhuoyu played the game blankly.

The teenagers used all kinds of methods to collect sleeping pills. The scattered pills were hidden in the public piggy bank in the dormitory, and the piggy bank was next to Han Zhuoyu’s computer.

Finally one day, enough sleeping pills were collected for everyone to commit suicide. The bereaved boy locked the door, lit white wax, and distributed the pills to everyone. Even Han Zhuoyu got more than 20 pills.

“Let’s eat, we’re still good brothers down there.” The boy who lost his father put a handful of sleeping pills into his mouth and filled it with water.

Seeing his fearless action, the other four teenagers seemed to be infected. They took pills one after another, lay down on their respective beds, and threw themselves into the embrace of death with the most relaxed posture.

When the bedroom was completely silent, Han Zhuoyu turned off the computer and stared at the twenty or so sleeping pills he was holding in a daze. A few minutes later, he swept the pills into the trash can and fell asleep in his bed. He didn’t think about persuading them, joining them, or calling 120 to save their dying lives.

His world has always been his own, and others have nothing to do with him. What’s more, he clearly knows that all this is false.

When he woke up the next day, he dressed slowly and went to class normally, turning a blind eye to the five corpses lying on the bed. The teacher in charge of the morning self-study kept asking why his roommate didn’t come, but he ignored it, just stared dazedly by the scenery outside the window.

The teacher left angrily and hurried to the bedroom to check the situation.

The shrill police siren resounded across the campus, and the murder of five teenagers in the C14 dormitory caused a shock throughout the city. As the only survivor, Han Zhuoyu was under the most severe investigation. But he didn’t say a word of defense and didn’t admit his guilt. The case was closed a month later, five teenagers were convicted of suicide, and Han Zhuoyu was acquitted.

That morning, an inorganic electronic sound sounded in his mind 【C14 dormitory is completely out! Player Han Zhuoyu has reached the conditions and will be bound to the system soon! The countdown starts, 10, 9, 8, 7…】

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Translator’s Note:

Hi guys, this is a new story, from the same author of FoD and How To Say I Like You (if I get that right), both stories can be found in NU. This one is fairly easy to translate but I still plan to stock up chapters so unfortunately, I still have to update once a week. I’m thinking, maybe, every Monday? Is that alright with you? Let me know in the comments what you think.