Chapter 48
It felt like he had been “targeted”… yet also not.
Wasn’t he supposed to be a total workaholic? Shouldn’t someone like him get a BGM like “Borrow Another 500 Years from Heaven (by Han Lei)”? If not that, even “Those Who Struggle Will Win (by Yeh Chi-tien)” would do—he wasn’t picky.
How could it possibly be “I Don’t Understand”— no, “He Doesn’t Understand”?!
Sister Xia and the others didn’t know what was going on. When they saw Jiang Jitang smiling awkwardly, they thought something had gone wrong and immediately tried to comfort him:
“You don’t like it? Want to try again?”
“It’s fine. Have you all tried it?” He couldn’t believe it. They must’ve gotten weird cards like his too, right? Otherwise, could this BGM generator really be picking on him specifically?
“We tried. Mine was ‘Our Fields’ (by Girl Group – Hei Gezi).” Minister Jiang smiled and showed her card.
“Two other teammates tried as well. One got ‘Lofty Aspirations’ (by Lu Yi), and one got ‘Glorious Years’ (by Boy Band – Beyond). Maybe it’s related to their professions—one was a former fighter pilot, the other a former peacekeeping soldier.”
Everyone else’s BGMs were that serious?
Jiang Jitang refused to accept this. He straightened his face. “I don’t know whether BGMs are permanent or change with status. I’ll go in and test it again.”
“Of course.”
Sister Xia and the others also felt he should try. If one person could have multiple BGM cards, then in future dungeons they would have more options to choose from.
So Jiang Jitang used the BGM generator a second time. Ten minutes later, he came out holding “How Much Love Can Come Again” (by Dick and Cowboy), returning it with a heartbroken look.
Good news: One person CAN generate multiple BGMs depending on their mood or condition.
Bad news: The BGM generator was clearly targeting him.
“You worked hard today.”
Minister Jiang sighed deeply. She had previously asked him if he wanted to split the work into three days, but he insisted on finishing in one. She had been worried, but today she realized that worry was unnecessary.
The morning patients were all severely injured players and had to be treated one by one. The afternoon ones weren’t as serious—things should speed up.
And indeed they could. Jiang Jitang planned to finish within two hours and then head to Sun Glory Base.
First: earn some extra money treating people.
Second: look for a good shop location.
With the son of one of the country’s top real estate developers right there, why should he go anywhere else to search for commercial property?
“The Minister gave me such good treatment—how could I sit here without giving my all?” he said with a smile.
Even though Jiang Jitang was technically an outsourced contractor, his benefits were extremely good, nearly equal to Minister Jiang’s—just without actual authority.
And that was only the official part. Privately, he had rejected even more perks like bodyguards, secretaries, drivers, and housing.
“Are you sure you really don’t need a bodyguard?” Minister Jiang couldn’t help asking again. Every time she thought about her precious treasure wandering outside alone, her heart wouldn’t settle.
No matter how safe C-Nation was, no matter how strong the surveillance system, there were always blind spots.
“I don’t need anyone following me around.” Jiang Jitang said. He wanted to be a carefree delivery guy, enjoying the everyday warmth of the mundane world.
“Okay.” Minister Jiang said that—but in her heart she was already planning to “secretly arrange it.” Jiang Jitang’s existence was more important than an entire hospital; absolutely nothing could be allowed to happen to him.
“Everything else you can refuse, but not Sister Xia as your assistant. If you need something and it’s hard to buy on the market, she’ll get it for you. Same goes if you run into trouble.”
Jiang Jitang looked at Sister Xia. She gave him a sincere, radiant smile.
“Then I’ll trouble Sister Xia.”
She smiled even more sincerely.
“Oh right, Jitang, if you have travel plans recently, especially trips abroad, put them on hold for now.”
“Why?”
Minister Jiang never spoke without reason. She must have something in mind.
“You know five hundred thousand new players are entering. And because cooperative games cannot exceed solo games, the first run must be solo. The elimination rate is extremely high.
“Some may eventually accept the loss of their children, but others—losing their heirs may drive them insane, leading to terrifying actions.”
A normal person “attacking society” might at most harm a few people. But these individuals possessed massive resources. If they chose to take revenge on society, the casualties would be catastrophic.
Of course, since most of them had multiple heirs, they wouldn’t usually go to that extreme. But you never know. In just the last two days, quite a few wealthy heirs had died—and many of them were only children.
The authorities were monitoring these people, guarding against worst-case scenarios.
That was just domestic. Within the country, the ruling party could contain the situation. But abroad—in nations where monarchies, corporations, religious groups, or gangs held true power—losing an heir could destabilize the entire nation.
They received intelligence that certain individuals who lost their children planned to attack civilians, choosing airplanes, high-speed trains, buses—public transportation.
Jiang Jitang felt his heart leap. Putting the pieces together, wasn’t she basically saying someone intended to take revenge on society via airplanes?
He immediately checked his mother’s flight.
Thank goodness—it had landed safely.
Otherwise, he really would’ve “taken revenge on the revenge-seekers” himself, and those people’s nine generations would learn what true family bonds were.
“But don’t worry too much—it’s a small-probability event.” Minister Jiang added.
“I’m only telling you as a precaution. Ever since the Cube World appeared, all regions have tightened management to prevent retaliatory attacks. There are even new defensive items now. Ordinary people won’t be affected much—just foreign countries being unreliable.”
“I understand. Don’t worry.” Jiang Jitang replied.
—
After Minister Jiang and Sister Xia left, he pulled the curtains of the cabin shut and unfolded the reclining chair into a small bed.
He lay down and thought about their conversation.
He still felt uneasy. He really needed to gather materials to make protective charms. That thought made him subconsciously reach up and touch his head through his cap.
Leaves of the Tree of Life would’ve been perfect—but they were energy manifestations, not physical objects.
So his best hope was the task world.
“Relying on you now, dear system. Give me a treasure-hunting quest in the wilderness. Love you~” he said dramatically, forming a heart shape with his hands.
The “busy when needed, absent when not” dialog bubble: …
Maybe the system actually loved him—because the next day, he really received three tasks related to frontier development.
Task 1: Send Baji Home.
Reward: 730 credit points (? 3,650 yuan)
Note: “Thank you.”
Difficulty: ???
Timer: 23:17:43
Task 2: Help an injured farmer harvest wheat.
Reward: 50 credit points (? 250 yuan)
Note: Recover at least 1 ton.
Difficulty: ??
Timer: 18:36:14
Task 3: Prepare a relay meal for the workers cleaning the river channel.
Reward: 70 credit points (? 350 yuan)
Note: Make sure they eat well and are full.
Difficulty: ?
Timer: 17:57:01
These three tasks all took place in the wasteland’s late era—early New Century—when the nation was rebuilding, and humans born in the wasteland faced new challenges.
“All three need to be done today. Strange, why is the first one rated so difficult? And the budget is so irregular.”
If it were just escorting a lost person home, a helicopter would do—definitely not worth three stars.
He opened the details.
Baji, an ordinary soldier who died in Red Valley after the Republic was founded. Collect his remains and bring him home—a barren Gobi region.
This is a last-wish order. Funds come from all of Baji’s belongings.
Difficulty ???: Red Valley’s land is territory of the Wolf-type Beasts, a mid-sized pack with thirteen wolves—man-eating. The skies belong to the Golden-Eagle Beast—also man-eating.
Retrieve Baji’s body before the beasts discover and consume it.
Since the corpse would be consumed, the timeline must be shortly after Baji’s death, when the “death factor” was still active.
Jiang Jitang didn’t know why Baji died there, or what danger he encountered—but he knew the danger wouldn’t be limited to beasts.
Whatever killed Baji could kill him too—maybe even more easily. Fog, venomous insects, snakes… or humans.
And besides the death factor, there were the beasts. He had seen wasteland beasts—several times the size of normal animals, sometimes dozens of times.
He didn’t know how much wolves and golden eagles would scale—but rats had grown to the size of wild boars. Wolves and giant eagles would be terrifying.
If it were wolves, he might escape through the air. But a golden eagle? Even a helicopter was useless. Helicopters traveled at 250 km/h. Golden eagles could dive at 300 km/h.
In both speed and power, a mutated golden eagle would crush a helicopter.
So… was it worth taking such a dangerous task for just 15 points?
With the special task income he had now, points weren’t scarce. He mostly accepted tasks hoping for a wish star.
But a corpse couldn’t give him wish stars—unless Baji had descendants who were unusually grateful.
And this was a last-wish order with a pitiful budget. Descendants were unlikely. A big-shot background was even less likely.
“Well, I’m free anyway.” He found an excuse—but really, he had a soft spot for soldiers. Upright, steadfast, disciplined… all the things he lacked. Other people’s “rice” always smelled better.
Decision made—next came solving the dangers.
After some thought, he decided: instead of hiding, he should be proactive.
Jiang Jitang was a man of action. He immediately went to the local livestock market and bought a live goat. This would be bait. If wolves or golden eagles appeared, he would throw the goat first.
The adult mountain goat weighed 42 kg and cost 980 yuan.
When food was abundant, top predators preferred fresh, live prey.
Though the task said they’d eat Baji’s corpse, that didn’t guarantee they’d be distracted by frozen meat. So a live goat it was.
Next, he used points to buy a tranquilizer gun and darts.
A high-powered tranquilizer gun that ignored defenses and pierced armor—nearly 300 points. The darts contained enough sedative to drop an elephant instantly.
Third: coffin, sewing tools, clothing.
As a former rebel leader, he had once learned corpse collection and stitching techniques from mass graves to recruit a lich. He didn’t need the transformation process now, but he would almost certainly need to sew and clean remains.
As for the coffin—every dead person deserved dignity.
Real wooden coffins were rare now due to cremation, but coffin shops had created new cardboard coffins—thick cardboard with a thin wood veneer for appearance.
Light coffins were mostly for cremation, sometimes used as haunted-house props.
He bought a black metal-pattern cardboard coffin—380 yuan, bargained to 280. No delivery.
Riding a borrowed tricycle, he left the old street coffin shop, wind catching the woven sack wrapped around the coffin. Neighbors were curious, but no one asked.
He prepared everything, put on desert-camouflage, gloves, gas mask, and protective fluid suit.
Just as he was about to enter the task world, he saw the beautifully blooming fire-colored rose on the balcony, turned back, and plucked one.
“Submit task.”
