Night fell dark and windy over a secluded manor.
The master bedroom door eased open, and a figure swaggered inside.
He wore a thick, gaudy padded jacket, Barbie-pink shorts, and mustard-colored Crocs.
This outfit wasn't just ugly—it was creatively atrocious.
Most eye-catching of all was the oversized yellow dog-head mask on his face, its mocking expression radiating pure insolence.
The dog-headed man strode straight to the desk, powered on the computer, pulled a USB drive from his pocket, and plugged it in. A progress bar appeared instantly.
While he waited, his phone buzzed in his pocket.
"Hello?"
"Daniel, this is Nick Fury. What's your status?"
"I've infiltrated the target location. Retrieving the mission item now."
"No one spotted you?"
Daniel was about to answer when the bathroom door suddenly clicked open. A bearded man in a bathrobe stared at him in terror.
"Damn! Who are you? How did you get in?!"
"Guards! Guards—"
Bang!
A crisp gunshot.
The dog-headed man calmly holstered his pistol and spoke into the phone. "Relax. No one's going to find out."
"…"
Nick Fury stayed silent for several seconds before his tone dropped. "Return to headquarters after the mission."
"Okay!"
Daniel ended the call. The progress bar on the monitor finished at the same moment. He pulled out the USB drive with practiced ease.
The next second, a cold mechanical voice echoed in his mind:
[Daily Mission: 'Steal Classified Intel' complete!]
[Reward: EXP +500, S.H.I.E.L.D. Reputation +10, C4 Explosive ×1]
"Tch. Another trash reward."
Daniel clicked his tongue, glanced at the corpse on the floor, and muttered, "But this game really is next-level. Look at this NPC death feedback—feels practically real. No way the devs haven't killed someone before."
In truth, he was inside a full-immersion VR game called Marvel World.
By 2065, full-dive virtual reality was widespread, granting players near 100% realistic physical simulation.
As a veteran gamer with millions of fans, Daniel had cleared countless titles and earned a modest international reputation.
Two months earlier, a Marvel-affiliated game studio contacted him, inviting him to test what they claimed was a groundbreaking sandbox game with unprecedented freedom. They promised a massive payout—ten million—as long as he completed a single full run.
Honestly, Daniel barely knew anything about Marvel.
In his era, the franchise had been rebooted dozens of times; the original characters had long faded from public memory.
The hottest hero of the day was the seventh-generation Iron Man: "Iron Black Heart"—a Black single mother with gender dysphoria, severe alcoholism, morbid obesity, multiple transitions, three divorces, and five children.
She was married to the eighth-generation Captain America—a gay, vegetarian, environmental-activist, feminist, Catholic with one-eighth Native American ancestry—together forming a politically over-optimized power couple beloved overseas but utterly uninteresting to Daniel.
Still, he signed the agreement on the spot and climbed into the top-grade VR capsule they provided.
After all…
They offered far too much money to refuse.
At the start of the game, the system provided several identity options: Hydra Operative, S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent, Stark Industries Employee, Hell's Kitchen Resident, Midtown High Student.
Daniel chose one at random and began.
After two months of gameplay, he had to admit: the game's freedom was absurd.
No tutorial, no guidance, no handholding. Every mechanic and storyline had to be discovered manually.
The wildest part? He hadn't seen even a trace of a main quest.
If the system hadn't repeatedly assured him that one existed, he would've assumed he was playing a spy-simulation sandbox.
"Come to think of it, there's no logout button." Daniel frowned.
Right on cue, the system spoke:
[We apologize. A minor issue occurred at game start, causing a system bug. Repairs are underway.]
"I'm not going to die in here, right?"
Daniel felt a chill.
[Please rest assured. The VR pod monitors your vitals 24/7. Any abnormality triggers immediate force-exit.]
[Additional note: Time ratio is 362:1. Your premium VR pod and high-efficiency nutrient supply can safely sustain your body for over ten years. No danger or time concerns.]
[If you insist on exiting, you may do so at any time. However, you will permanently lose eligibility for the one-run completion bonus.]
[Do you wish to exit the game?]
"No!"
He rejected instantly.
No way he'd quit before getting that ten-million reward.
Just then, hurried footsteps approached from outside—the gunshot had alerted the manor guards.
Daniel set his worries aside, opened the map, and selected "S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters."
Click. Teleport.
When the guards burst into the room, all they found was a corpse and a beeping C4 charge.
"Holy sh—"
BOOM!!!
Triskelion Building, Director's Office.
Nick Fury sat behind his massive desk, working through a stack of documents.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. financial allocation report?"
A voice sounded nearby.
Fury jolted upright, spotting a massive yellow dog head peering at his paperwork.
Daniel: (乛乛)
"Motherfu—!"
Fury nearly jumped out of his skin, shouting on instinct.
But he quickly recognized the intruder and scowled. "Daniel! How many times have I told you? Dress normally in headquarters. At least look like a human."
Daniel huffed. "This outfit is stylish. And its stats aren't bad."
Fury twitched.
Were you born without a sense of aesthetic?
He was about to lose his temper when Daniel pointed at the report.
"Director, this doesn't look right. There are several large, unexplained expenditures. Someone skimming funds?"
"Cough—cough—!"
Fury snatched the file, slammed it shut, stuffed it into a drawer, and said stiffly, "That's top-secret. I'm handling it personally. It's not something a Level-5 agent needs to worry about."
"Oh."
Fury cleared his throat, forcing a topic change. "I have an important mission for you."
He opened another drawer, pulled out a dossier, and slid it across the desk.
The cover photo showed a flashy mustached man. Beneath it was his name and identity:
Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Industries.
"Three months ago, Tony Stark was attacked by unknown militants in the Middle East. His status remains unknown."
"I need you to depart for Afghanistan immediately. Confirm his condition. If he's alive, bring him back safely."
As Fury finished speaking, the system chimed:
[NPC Nick Fury has assigned you a new mission]
[Mission: Birth of Iron Man]
[Objective: Travel to the Middle East, locate Tony Stark, and return him safely]
[Main Story Mission unlocked! Substantial rewards upon completion!]
A main quest!?
Daniel's eyes widened.
Finally!
The main quest he'd been waiting for had arrived!
"Iron Man? Sounds like a superhero codename. An important character, maybe?" Daniel wondered.
He didn't know much about Marvel, but he knew it revolved around superheroes.
Yet he hadn't encountered a single one so far.
If anything, Nick Fury himself seemed vaguely superhero-like.
What would his hero title be?
One-Eyed Man?
Motherf— Man?
"Daniel! Are you even listening?!"
Fury watched him spacing out and felt his blood pressure spike.
Daniel snapped back. "Sir, what did you just say?"
"I said…"
"…Never mind. Skip the cutscene!"
Fury: 灬●