Steve was exceptionally patient. He carefully watched the videos on the screen for a long time until the scenes began to loop. The content seemed to showcase an entirely new world where humans were far more powerful than he, the sole successful subject of the Super Soldier program. They could leap over a dozen meters into the air and even breathe fire and water.
If he were a reader of modern web novels, he would have understood his situation instantly, but Steve remained utterly bewildered. As a man out of time, he had never even encountered the concept of a video game, let alone a virtual reality one.
He read the User Agreement word by word. The sheer volume of unfamiliar vocabulary made it difficult to comprehend. The disadvantages of the English language at this moment were fully apparent; Steve felt as if he were reading a cryptic tome, forced to guess the meaning of entire passages between the lines.
After waiting in place for what felt like an eternity, Steve noticed that the pure white space remained unchanged. The looping video was the only source of sound, providing some small comfort so he wouldn't be too lonely while waiting.
As time passed, the memories in his mind grew clearer. Steve recalled his final battle with the Red Skull. The scene of falling into the glacier was still vivid in his mind. Based on his limited knowledge and common sense, he judged that there was no way he could have survived.
I really am dead. Is this the afterlife?
Steve let out a long sigh. The image of his girlfriend, Peggy Carter, appeared before his eyes. There was still a dance waiting for him, but unfortunately, the chance was gone forever.
In the face of life and death, nothing else mattered—except the pain of a love that could never be. He pressed his hand against the obscure and difficult User Agreement. In the next second, the document transformed into a cluster of faint light and flew into his body.
Steve felt a surge of mysterious energy within him. Before he could examine it closely, the light and shadow shifted before his eyes. When he regained his senses, he found himself standing in an unfamiliar plaza.
The azure sky was as clear as if it had been washed, with a few white clouds drifting in the distance. A warm, humid breeze gently caressed his skin. Everything felt so real.
'So, is this Heaven or Hell?'
Steve's eyes were full of doubt. White lights constantly flickered across the plaza, and every time the light vanished, a person would emerge. Some looked frustrated, constantly muttering things about 'dropping equipment' or being 'just one hit away.'
"Ah, the light! The water! The wind! This is the Second World! Future Technology is awesome!" A young man nearby appeared and started running around excitedly, acting as if he were seeing the world for the first time.
Another person was even more eyesore-inducing. Steve watched as the man felt himself up and then suddenly pulled down his pants. "Holy crap! I can actually take off my pants!"
"What? Seriously? Let me see..."
"I'll try too... It's actually real!"
This behavior spread like a plague. Before Steve could even react, the people around him had instantly turned into a crowd of exhibitionists.
"Excuse me, where did you get that avatar?" A polite voice asked from behind. Steve turned to see a handsome young man standing there, his eyes bright and spirited.
"What do you mean by... avatar?" Steve was full of questions.
"I mean the way your body looks," Matt Murdock, known as Daredevil, said with a smile. "I couldn't find the character customization interface, so I just entered the game with my original appearance. Can you teach me how to sculpt a face?"
The realism of the virtual game brought Matt immense joy. His blindness didn't prevent him from gathering technological information, so he knew very well that this game was a revolutionary product.
What surprised him even more was that he had regained his sight within the game. It is said that one only truly appreciates what they have once it's gone. After losing his vision, not a day went by that Matt didn't wish to see the world with his own eyes once more.
Now, this game had made his dream a true reality. It was no exaggeration to say that the moment he entered the game and saw light, he had wept. He had spent a long time lingering in the starting space to compose himself before officially entering the game world.
"I don't understand what you're talking about. This is my original appearance," Steve shook his head.
"Are you saying you're Captain America?" Matt's lip twitched. Was the man joking? Where was the punchline? Could someone explain the joke?
However, Steve was exceptionally serious as he nodded in confirmation. "Yes, I am Captain America. Though, I seem to have lost my shield."
"..." Matt was speechless.
After some conversation, Matt felt that the person in front of him maybe, possibly, perhaps... actually was Captain America.
What the hell!
Hadn't Captain America been dead for seventy years? Was it possible he had faked his death to live as a hermit, and Matt had just happened to stumble upon him?
But Steve's lack of common sense made Matt very suspicious. The man's understanding of the world seemed to have stopped seventy years ago; he knew nothing of technological developments or social progress.
With the intent of respecting his elders, Matt patiently explained the current situation to Steve, constantly clarifying that Steve wasn't dead and that his body was simply lying on a bed.
Now it was Steve's turn to be full of questions.
Minor details didn't stop their friendship from growing. With Matt's help, Steve successfully accepted the beginner quest 'Kill 3 Wild Wolves Outside the City' from an old man in front of a residence. He also obtained the essential skills: [Primordial Method: Spirit Nourishing Manual] and [Basic Sword Technique].
They spent the night hunting monsters, and Matt was incredibly excited. The feeling of his eyes regaining sight was beyond words, making him enthusiastic about everything, including the tedious process of refining Internal Power.
"This energy called 'Internal Power' is quite amazing." Steve, sitting cross-legged nearby, opened his eyes. He clenched his fist and threw a sudden punch; a nearby tree collapsed in response.
"Indeed. If only this miraculous power existed in reality too." Matt felt the same way. The supernatural strength of Internal Power granted him a powerful physique; every gesture could unleash immense destructive force. He was confident he could take down the real-world version of himself in under three minutes.
'If only I could cultivate Internal Power in reality...' Matt lamented silently. If he could, it wouldn't have taken him so long to fail at dismantling Kingpin's criminal empire.
Hiding nearby and observing in secret, Makiya looked on with surprise. The cultivation speed of Matt and the Captain was truly astonishing. Among the three hundred people currently in the closed beta, these two were progressing the fastest.
Being able to cross the threshold and cultivate their own Internal Power in such a short time marked them as peerless geniuses in a Wuxia world. On the other hand, the Vanko father and son weren't bad either, trailing only slightly behind the Captain. Yinsen's progress was slower, but still much better than an average person.
In this world, there was no such thing as character creation or experience points and leveling up. If you wanted to get stronger, you had to train honestly. Everyone used their own bodies; the helmets scanned physical data in real-time and synced it to the virtual space, which meant Matt and the others were actually cultivating.
"Are protagonists and antagonists all naturally geniuses?" Makiya mused. The causality should probably be reversed—it wasn't that they were geniuses because they were plot-relevant, but that they were plot-relevant because they possessed such exceptional talent.
Perhaps he should look for more plot-relevant characters to enter the virtual world in the future.
"Ah, it's about time. I have to go to work during the day, so I'm logging off now, Steve." Matt checked the time and waved goodbye to the Captain.
The Captain didn't try to stop him. He watched as Matt performed a few actions and his body vanished into points of light. Then, Steve opened his own menu and fell into thought.
If he exited the game, where would he go?
After a moment of hesitation, Steve gritted his teeth and chose to exit. Suddenly, darkness enveloped his vision. After an unknown amount of time, he found he was still in the same spot, with a line of red warning text appearing before his eyes: [SYSTEM: Physical functions have not yet recovered. Logout is temporarily unavailable.]
What does that mean?
Steve blinked, regretting that he hadn't asked Matt to stay. With him there, he might have helped analyze the situation.
In Hell's Kitchen, New York at five in the morning was still immersed in dreams. The people active at this hour were usually those with ulterior motives.
On his bed, Matt opened his eyes and slowly removed the helmet. The return to darkness made him feel a brief sense of maladjustment, but he quickly pushed that small emotion aside because he discovered something far more shocking.
Internal Power!
How do I have Internal Power?!
A special, miraculous energy was coiled within his body. It moved according to his will, following his commands perfectly.
"Hiss... To think I can actually cultivate in the real world too. [Origin Continent], Future Technology... Who are you people, and what do you want?"
Matt thought of the bustling plaza in the game, and a strange feeling surged in his heart. He had a premonition that a great era was about to begin, and he was lucky enough to be standing at the crest of its wave.
So, as the person who started this wave, what exactly did the mysterious chairman of Future Technology want to do?
Makiya was currently harvesting.
He hadn't expected that in less than a day, a closed beta participant would actually die. He thought someone was targeting him and had specifically followed the contract to the scene to investigate, only to confirm that the person died of their own arrogance.
A young man who had just cultivated a tiny bit of Internal Power got too excited. After exiting the game, he grabbed a fruit knife and ran to the next block to find the gang members who frequently bullied him to seek revenge.
Even a top-tier master in a Wuxia world wouldn't dare claim a steady win against an automatic rifle. The young man's fate was predictable; by the time he was staring down a dozen barrels, he realized things weren't as he had imagined, but it was too late. He was instantly turned into a sieve by the hail of bullets.
The meager Internal Power he had cultivated returned to Makiya via the contract. When a contractor dies, their energy is devoured and filtered by the contract predator, perfectly integrating into Makiya's body.
Makiya had underestimated the American penchant for showmanship. Those who kept a low profile and made a quiet fortune were the minority; most chose to act with high visibility.
Or rather, in their eyes, wearing spandex and a mask counted as keeping a low profile.
By the second day of the closed beta, various people in strange costumes appeared across the United States. They claimed to have received miraculous inheritances from the Origin Continent and were now out to show off their skills and act as heroes.
For a time, characters like Hit-Girl, High-Flat Man, Old-Timer Man, and Taco Man took the stage one after another. The news channels were incredibly lively, and journalists from major newspapers were overjoyed, chasing down every superhero for interviews, secretly thinking their commissions for this month were in the bag.
The terms [Origin Continent] and Future Technology were frequently mentioned by the public. Because the combat power shown by those people wasn't very high yet, they hadn't attracted the military's attention. However, Hydra was very interested. Alexander Pierce, a high-ranking official within S.H.I.E.L.D., gave the order to dig out all information regarding this [Origin Continent].
"This power must be in our hands." In a S.H.I.E.L.D. office, Alexander Pierce spoke to Crossbones, who stood before him. "Fury is also investigating. We must strike before he does. The high-level management of Future Technology must be brought under our control."
"Don't worry." Crossbones, a senior Hydra agent, gave a cruel grin. "I'll bring that chairman named Iris to you. You won't mind if she's missing a few limbs, will you?"
"Doesn't matter. Just bring her alive."
At the Future Technology headquarters, inside Makiya's private laboratory, Iris handed a report to him.
"Master, the gangs related to the death of your parents are all listed here. They have a layered outsourcing relationship, but there might be a larger power behind them, hidden very deep."
"Good, this is enough." Makiya glanced at it twice before putting the report away and standing up to walk out of the lab.
"Master, where are you going?"
"To kill people."