"他真是个充满热情的人,"张博不禁赞叹道.
"又一个爱国傻瓜,"邱然冷笑着反驳道,眼中却闪过一丝怜悯,"不管他多么热情,都注定要失败."
"你不是认真的吧?黑客通常只会被判几年监禁."张博被CEO的强硬表态震惊了.
"通常情况下,确实如此.如果我们出手干预,他本来可以安然无恙.但那个白痴竟然到处宣扬他的'辉煌战绩'.现在,就算政府不除掉他,日本人和美国人也不会放过他.只要稍加调查就能证实,他说的每一句话都是真的."
"他真的有那么强的能力吗?"
"张总经理,他怎么可能不担心?"邱然语气严肃地问道,"你觉得我们的防火墙比白宫的垃圾防火墙还糟糕吗?"
"不,当然不是!"
邱然无视张博的尴尬,按下一个按钮."启动主机自检系统,删除错误指令."
三十秒后,一个机械的,雌雄莫辨的声音单调地响起:"自检完成.错误指令已删除.未检测到异常.所有系统正常...所有系统正常!"
"呼."邱然终于松了口气."看来我们躲过了黑客攻击."
"是啊,谢天谢地.真是'有更高的山峰'啊."张博长舒一口气,赞同道.
"张经理,您能意识到这一点很好,我很欣慰.我们的努力让我们领先于全世界,但这只是暂时的.我们必须更加努力才能保持领先地位."邱然说道,眼中闪烁着雄心壮志.
"董事长说得完全正确.但是人才难得...真是浪费,"张博叹息道,脑海中仍然萦绕着那个黑客.
"够了.我知道那个大胡子男人很有才华.你以为那些政府里的老奸巨猾之徒不知道吗?"邱然话锋一转,透露出更大政治算计的一小部分.
张博眼睛一亮,"董事长,您的意思是政府会招募他?"
"我没说过那样的话,"邱然翻了个白眼,立即澄清自己与那番言论无关.
"哦,对对.董事长什么也没说!呵呵."张博傻笑着说.
事实上,他们的猜测部分正确.半个月后,那个留着大胡子的男人吴菡果然因泄露国家机密被枪决.虽然最初舆论哗然,但公众的注意力很快就被下一批"人生幻境"账户的消息所转移,吴菡也很快被人遗忘.
Meanwhile, the 150,000 captured hackers were sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for five years. This meant that as long as they stayed out of trouble for five years, they wouldn't serve time. More incredibly, when their real identities were posted online, over a hundred thousand major corporations immediately threw job offers at them. In less than five days, all 150,000 'talents' were snapped up. This whole debacle was ironically nicknamed on the internet: "The Hacker Catching Convention? More like a Massive Talent Recruitment Fair!"
But that was all background noise. Now, back to me, following the system's recovery.
"Because… because you are one of the ten lucky players, you may select a Hidden Profession…" Nuwa's voice finally returned to normal.
The standard five classes—Warrior, Archer, Thief, Mage, Priest—were joined by a list of seven or eight new names, including Taoist, Jack-of-All-Trades, Sword Dancer, and Fortuneteller.
Too lazy to browse, I went straight for the pragmatic question: "Which one earns the most money?"
Idiot! She's just a program, how would she know that? I inwardly scolded myself.
To my surprise, she replied: "Please select the Jack-of-All-Trades profession. A Jack-of-All-Trades can learn all the Life Skills in the game."
"Fine! I choose Jack-of-All-Trades!" I didn't understand 'Life Skills,' but if it involved life, it involved money.
Profession locked. Character generation complete.
System Prompt: Ding! Player 'Liu Yun,' because you are the first player to intentionally reduce your appearance by 30%, the system awards you +3 Luck and deducts -3 Charm.
System Prompt: Ding! Player 'Liu Yun,' because you are the first player to select the Jack-of-All-Trades profession, you shall receive a System Reward: One Life Skill promoted to Advanced Level... Please select your Life Skill.
A long list appeared: Smithing, Alchemy, Gathering, and so on. My eyes instantly locked onto Gathering.
Gathering? That's just picking up trash, right? I mused. My old job. Might as well stick with what I know.
I selected Gathering.
System Prompt: Ding! Player 'Liu Yun,' Gathering skill has been upgraded to Advanced.
Do you have any further questions?
Are you ready to enter the game?
Two options appeared. As a total rookie, I had an infinite list of questions.
"How do I convert Gold to RMB?"
"…"
"How do I use a potion?"
"…"
"How do I—"
"…"
"How do I—"
"…"
I kept asking, from how to eat to how to go to the bathroom. I was too embarrassed to ask other players, but the System couldn't judge me.
After finally exhausting my immediate curiosity, the System chime rang again:
System Prompt: Ding! Player 'Liu Yun' has asked more than 50 unique questions. Hidden Achievement 'Thorough Inquirer' triggered! +1 Comprehension!
"What?!" I hadn't even processed the free Luck when I got another bonus for being annoying! If asking questions earned rewards, I should have asked hundreds!
But the System gave me no further chance. A flash of white light enveloped me, and I was abruptly kicked into the game.
After the light faded, I found myself standing in a small village. This must be the Beginner Village.
System Prompt: Ding! Congratulations, Player 'Liu Yun.' Due to your Special Account status, the System grants a random item Reward…
Another reward! Delighted, I opened my storage bracelet. Besides the standard gray novice clothes and wooden sword, there were three black pills: Skill Pills!
I focused my attention on one, and the description materialized:
Skill Pill – System Reward: Special Consumable. Upon consumption, one selected Life Skill level is permanently increased by +1.
Afraid they might vanish, I immediately crammed all three pills into my mouth. Better safe in my stomach than anywhere else.
System Prompt: Ding! Player 'Liu Yun,' consuming Skill Pill. Gathering skill level +1… Upgraded to Master!
System Prompt: Ding! Player 'Liu Yun,' consuming Skill Pill. Gathering skill level +1… Upgraded to Grandmaster!
System Prompt: Ding! Player 'Liu Yun,' consuming Skill Pill. Gathering skill level +1… Upgraded to Immortal-Grade!
Gasping, I immediately pulled up my Attribute Panel!
Character: Liu Yun
Class: Jack-of-All-Trades Level: 0 (0% EXP)
[ Core Attributes ]
Strength: 30
Constitution: 10
Agility: 1 (True value 0; System minimum 1)
Intelligence: 1 (True value 0; System minimum 1)
[ Combat Statistics ]
HP: 100/100 (Constitution x 10)
MP: 10/10 (Intelligence x 10)
Physical Attack: 150 (Strength x 5)
Physical Defense: 30 (Constitution x 3)
Magic Attack: 5 (Intelligence x 5)
Magic Defense: 3 (Intelligence x 3)
Speed: 10 (Agility x 10)
[ Other Status ]
Stamina: 100/100
Hunger: 0/100
Weight Limit: 300 (Strength x 10)
[ Life Skills ]
Gathering — Immortal-Grade!
Proficiency: 0/100,000,000
"Holy crap… is this for real?! That many zeros?" I couldn't help but shout upon seeing the proficiency requirement.
(The 100 million proficiency requirement was actually normal. Starting at Elementary (1,000), each subsequent grade required ten times the proficiency. The final level naturally required a monumental amount.)
In Life's Mirage, skills were graded: Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced, Master, Grandmaster, Immortal, and Divine. Each level had a bottleneck that players had to break through, much like a martial artist's bottleneck in cultivation novels. This mechanism was designed to prevent absurdly overpowered players from appearing early on—but clearly, it didn't account for extreme, concentrated luck like mine. I only needed one point of proficiency gained from a successful use of the skill.
Weapons and items also had tiers: Common, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Dark Gold, Immortal, and Divine. (Note: The Skill Pill was a special system reward and outside this conventional tiering.)
"Look! What's that guy doing, standing around naked?"
"Hee hee, how embarrassing! Why isn't he wearing clothes?"
"Did an exhibitionist glitch into the game?"
Young female players passing by giggled, covering their mouths and scurrying away shyly.
Exhibitionist? I looked down. Crap! My novice gear is still in the bracelet!
I quickly fumbled to equip the novice clothes, desperate to escape. But the moment I tried to move, I was greeted by a chorus of laughter, realizing I was moving in agonizingly slow motion.
This was the moment I finally understood what Agility was for.
Oh, come on! The God of Misfortune hasn't left me yet! I inwardly cried out, ignoring the mocking glances.
I continued my struggle towards the village exit. The laughers soon lost interest and dispersed, but their mockery hardened my resolve: I must be faster. I must be stronger.
Finally, after five minutes of excruciating, turtle-like movement for a journey others completed in thirty seconds, I reached the village gate.
新手村出奇地冷清.我听到路人说游戏已经运行了六个小时（角色创建区域内显示的游戏时间与现实时间比例相同,但现在是4:1）.无论是老玩家还是新手,都早已外出练级,只剩下几个人在入口附近猎杀兔子,小鸡和小鸭.
鸡鸭自由自在地漫步,剩下的几个玩家对它们视而不见.我兴奋地拔出木剑,开始缓慢地向附近的一只鸡走去.
但这些低级小怪的速度似乎至少有20——比我快十倍.每次我靠近,它们就飞快逃走,快把我逼疯了.它们好像特别讨厌我.附近一个女孩很快就被一群热情的小怪围住了,而我却毫发无损.
"等一下!"
正当我意识到出了什么问题时,女孩尖叫一声,化作白光消失了——她死了,被送回了重生点.
唉,受欢迎并不总是好事.
我坐在树下休息.突然,一只兔子朝我冲过来.也许是它太笨,也许是它跑得太快,也许是我运气不好——不管是什么原因,它一头撞在了树干上...然后立刻昏了过去.
我愣愣地盯着,一脸茫然.但一只又大又肥,昏迷不醒的兔子就躺在我面前.我怎么能错过这样的机会呢!我毫不犹豫地挥下木剑.