My cyberpsychosis is a task prompt

Chapter 171: Cyber ​​Age

Inside the Danny Street Apartments.

Angelica stretched her legs and curled up on the sofa, reaching out to push her wet blonde hair out of the bath towel, and gave herself a pump of hangover medicine, saying with a smile.

"Recipe? Did I hear you right?"

“Yep.”

John was half naked, with his hands resting on his head, and a headband in standby mode hanging around his neck.

"Fresh food is expensive, so the price on the menu is definitely not cheap. You can't spend so much money to make it into a mushy soup and pour it into instant food bags and hand it to customers, right? Well, at least it should be something decent served on a plate..."

He looked at the ceiling, and the scene when Oros took him to meet the top management of Gaia Cell emerged in his mind.

The ingredients used by the company executive who cooked the meal himself were a bit scary, as they were cloned human tissues. However, he was still impressed by the atmosphere of the on-site dining and the appearance of the food served.

John thought from the bottom of his heart at that time:
Dining decently is a pleasant thing. I didn’t feel this way when I was doing transport work or working as a mercenary, but once you have experienced it, you will yearn for it.

"I asked my employees to come to your bar to learn how to cook? The fees will be settled according to the market price."

“I made the stuff.”

Angelica tilted her head and smiled brightly.

"Dear Mr. John, how much are you willing to pay me to be your personal chef?"

One sentence put a stop to the matter.

John couldn't get Angelica to come to him, and she didn't have enough time and energy to spend on him.

"Where did you get this technique?"

He decided to try a different approach.

Angelica did not hide it and gently touched the headband around her neck to wake it up.

"Have you ever played immersive games? I'm not sure. You don't look like the kind of person who would... well, play pixel machines, or drink and play billiards. I'm not sure what your hobbies are."

"Absolutely not."

John shook his head honestly.

Tiebang Logistics has a very heavy workload.

The tasks and performance requirements of grassroots company dogs are abnormally demanding. Employees in the transportation echelon can only take a break during the freight breaks to ensure a minimum level of happiness and mental health.

Super-sensing chips and various tools are developing rapidly.

But there are indeed people like John who don't have time to contact and experience it.

Angelica switched the device mode.

The rendering machine on the ceiling ejected a super-sensory chip and began to connect to the headband to load the game, adjust the wearer's sensory connection, and calibrate data transmission...

Angelica's recipes and rare chips that record landscapes of various places were all exchanged from a game called "Cyber ​​Age".

The origin region is Asia, and it is currently the game with the highest deep-dive market share, with both its online scale and degree of freedom being incredibly high.

"Those guys wearing headbands on the streets of Eden City are either watching porn chips or playing games. Everyone has a Cyber ​​Age account, and electronic headbands of more than three generations are even pre-installed in the device."

"Hey, wait, online range?"

John is not a hacker, but he still has some basic common sense.

After the old network was completely paralyzed, the new network built based on the black wall was very sensitive. It was basically covered by a local area network, and cross-regional communication was difficult. It was necessary to overcome two major barriers: political and technical.

“I don’t know the exact developer, but basically all the companies you can name on the market have participated in the Cyber ​​Age project. Once you play it, you’ll understand why it can make hostile companies put aside their grudges.”

Angelica helped John log into the virtual account.

"The image and information are virtual, don't worry about it. You have to remember to never use your real name online. Cyberspace is the territory of hackers and Internet censors, and for a game with a mature server, registering with your real name means running naked in front of the company."

[Device connection calibration... iris projection... secondary central nervous system connection... subsystem information confirmation...]

A bright light burst from the device hanging from the ceiling.

The apartment scene in front of John peeled away piece by piece, transforming into a torrent of data and an indescribable roar.

The system is calibrated.

His consciousness was cast into a strange body, and his higher nerve center could control his body in reality.

You can take off the headband anytime you want.

John's visual system has been restarted.
In front of him was a hazy street scene. Tall buildings were hidden in the darkness, emitting distant spots of light. Under his feet was a wet zebra crossing, with a red light on the opposite side that would never switch.

A virtual screen popped up in front of John, and the process and operation were very similar to the training at Haven Company.

Angelica's equipment is very expensive, and the rendering accuracy is not low, but it is only at the level of a high-end virtual cinema. The room used for training in the safe haven should be of military grade.

John's image is that of a tall, stocky black guy.

The core gameplay of "Cyber ​​Age" is the career system, which has free initial characters and high-end starts that can be purchased for a fee - the subsequent process is to obtain points through tasks, life planning, and random events during free exploration.

For example, if you choose the bartender profession, you will have to create recipes with different flavors to please customers simulated by data, and there will also be assessments of your bartending movements.

Points can be exchanged for skills of other professions.

These "skills" are not flying, cyclops, and super magic, but completely real expertise and replicable action chips.

Angelica earned points as a bartender, exchanged them for some meat cooking recipes, and then used hacking technology to transfer the knowledge in the warehouse into the separation chip.

John thought of the advertisements posted all over the city.

【Welcome to the Cyber ​​Age】

Angelica is very rich. She has game accounts with different professions and often changes her identities to experience life.

John is currently using a boxer

The main way to earn points is by arranging matches, but you'll also frequently encounter battles during your daily operations.

"I can't give you the formula chip for free."

Angelica said that the missions in Cyber ​​Age are distributed according to professions.

The "Boxer" and "Speed ​​Racer" professions she has both triggered a random plot. If she fails to pass it, the account will be stuck in the task in an infinite loop.

"I'll figure out other professions later. Just help me with these two virtual accounts. How do you think about that?"

[Mission target update]

[Clear the game plot. 0/2 (Not achieved)]

John didn't have any objection. He did the task almost every day anyway, and he found it a bit novel.

Consciousness synchronization is completed.

The standby interface in front of John collapsed, and the wet streets were covered with industrial smoke.

He blinked uncontrollably.

The perspective immediately switched to the interior of a luxuriously decorated boxing gym.

The sparring robot on the ring went out of control, electricity sizzling all over its body, and it ran around the venue like crazy. The boxers who were closer were lying on the ground with blood on their faces.

Onlookers formed a human wall to block the way.

John tried to interact but found that he could not escape or communicate with the audience. Even if he squeezed out of the encirclement, he would be pushed back into the boxing gym by the infinitely refreshing passers-by.

"Well, due to the venue limitations, I really can't get out of the cycle unless I destroy this thing."

John tried to exchange a few punches with the robot, but found himself a little weak. After careful inspection, he realized that the implants and equipment in reality could not be imported, and the physical fitness was entirely based on the game data.

"Is it just a matter of skill?"

John tried to read the chip memory, but unexpectedly a firewall warning popped up on the game interface immediately.

"Fighting chips are also banned?"

He finally understood why Angelica was stuck.

When all equipment and chips are disabled, only those who have the basics of fighting and have accumulated their own skills into memory and instinct can use them. John sighed slightly, took two steps back to adjust the distance, and dodged two fierce attacks thrillingly but accurately.

Things haven't gotten to the point of being difficult.

After all, we have to risk our lives every day in reality, and there is no resurrection mechanism.

John rushed forward and fought with Iron Lump. He gradually found his form and adapted to the special touch of the game.

Each hit in the upper right corner will add points.

John became more and more proficient, his score reached the passing line, and the black numbers turned golden.

A stream of data flashed through the character's pupils.

The black light suddenly went berserk!

boom!
John's fist-swinging movement froze on the spot, and it seemed as if a wall of air in front of him was shattered. A black data wave burst out with himself as the origin, and the scene began to flash frequently with bugs.

Sizzle, sizzle—

Along with a piercing noise, the scene and characters all turned into black and red cyberspace. The broken gaps were filled with data, and various symbols and numbers were exposed in the air like stuck gears.

【Countdown: 10s↓】

[Hacking detected, data upload/default]

John's image changed from a game character to his real appearance, and without hesitation, he took off the headband before the countdown ended.

The data space faded away from my sight.

Angelica sat astride John and patted his cheek, then breathed a sigh of relief when she confirmed that he was okay.

"Huh~ what the hell happened?"

The rendering equipment was flashing red lights and the operation panel was full of garbled characters.

"It's a game!"

John sat up straight.

He frowned and endured the side effects of the black light's rampage, recalling and sorting out what had just happened, and organized his words to explain to Angelica.

"Cyber ​​Age was forcibly uploading user data, which conflicted with the countermeasures installed in my body, and the game crashed directly."

"Are you ok?"

Angelica didn't care whether the equipment was damaged.

John was surprised at her calmness.

"You know the problem with the game?"

"Hmm~ But I never expected that your program would conflict with the game. I've never heard of such a thing. Uploading user data is an open secret in Cyber ​​Age. It's also circular logic."

For example, Angelica’s profession of “bartender”, in the process of completing the task, she invisibly provides recipes, lines of speech, and signature moves, which are uploaded to the server and turned into knowledge.

The delicious recipes she exchanged for were actually knowledge provided by another player, or even multiple players with the chef profession.

The game disables external devices and cannot load the chip.

"Now do you understand why this game has enabled arrogant multinational corporations to reach cooperation? Companies are working together to plagiarize players' skills and absorb and divide up huge data assets."

"...Fake."

John frowned and remained silent for a long time, then finally smiled bitterly and shook his head.

The task progress is not updated.

He chose to connect to the cyber age to continue his mission. Uploading the combat data would not cause any loss to John. His limited combat power would not make any waves when thrown into the ocean of information.

Angelica immediately refused.

"Don't worry about the save file. I'm just teasing you. My account warehouse is in Gino's hands. I've asked her to prepare the chip for you."

"It's ok."

John waved his hand to interrupt, lay back down on the sofa, and activated his headband to load the game.

Blacklight can control rendering devices through device management.

Angelica looked at the machine that had been beeping and had all red lights on and started working again. She felt like something was wrong, but before she could figure it out, she was distracted by the headache from the hangover.

【Connection completed】

[Data calibration in progress, upload allowed/yes]

The world of data is collapsing and sliding.

The chaotic boxing gym reappeared in front of us.

The fighting machine ran out of the corner twitching, and according to the plot, rushed towards a boxer with a broken leg in the corner.

boom!
A mass of dumbbells toppled the machine.

The electric arc collapsed and burned a black mark on the edge of the floor mat.

John stepped over the obstacle and struck the machine with his knee, knocking it over first and then swinging the silver barbell in his hand towards the joint.

In an instant, sparks flew, exaggerated explosion patterns popped up, and the points in the upper right corner soared with the combo.

The boxing machine leapt up under the attack, trying to use the broken edges to force back the enemy next to it.

John didn't shy away at all.

His chest was torn apart and the electric arc jumped onto his face. He quickly inserted the barbell diagonally into the damaged part of the machine.

[Health: 46%↓]

If you ask John what the life of a mercenary has taught him, it is that you should never be afraid of death when you have to fight for your life, let alone in a game.

John's character doesn't have an alloy frame or guns, so he can only pick up equipment on the ground as weapons, and the effect is really good.

He fought the robot to the death with his fearless mentality, and finally defeated it before he died.

[Congratulations on the kill. Random event completed! ]

A string of words popped up in front of John.

He blinked in a daze before realizing that it was the game prompt message of "Cyber ​​Age". He then frowned and felt inexplicably frightened when thinking about the task prompt message.

Boxing gym incident resolved.

The onlookers dispersed, the account cycle ended, and the points settlement interface and more map options popped up.

[The incident case has been recorded, click to view details]

John swiped open the information details, which recorded the results of other players' encounters with the boxing gym.

On a whim, he sifted through the area to the city of Eden.

[Ranking: 213]

"Wardfa!?"

John thought he handled the situation quickly, but he didn't expect that there were two hundred other players in Eden City who did better.

There are definitely corporate soldiers and super lone wolves in there.

John briefly familiarized himself with the game operations, logged out of his account and reported the situation to Angelica, and they chatted about the game content while leaning against each other.

He often lost himself in thought, looking out the window at the darkening night.

The holographically projected advertisements were crystal clear, rising into the clouds right next to the landmark building, like beacons erected in a steel wasteland. Countless brilliant colors and fleeting lights and shadows flashed across the glass.

John looked away.

He recalled Angelica's operation and switched the character information of Cyber ​​Age to the "Racing Gang" account.

(End of this chapter)