[Brain Storage Center (Store and receive a trillion-dollar fortune, unparalleled beauty, wish fulfillment, blessed beyond measure)]
"Youth, if you were to be suddenly transported into a post-apocalyptic wasteland struck by a bizarre catastrophe, and had to choose two out of the six rewards below, which would you pick?"
1. Immortality (But you can't awaken any special powers, forever an ordinary person; injuries will self-heal)
(After each healing, the next recovery speeds up, halving the time and energy required, with effects stacking infinitely)
2. A top-notch beautiful doctor who loves you (Extremely skilled in medicine, but an ordinary person)
3. A supermodel in black stockings who listens to you (Absolutely obedient, but an ordinary person)
4. A Leopard 2A7 tank (Nuclear-powered, with unlimited ammo)
5. A monster-killing card system (Cards can be obtained by killing monsters, capable of summoning anything)
6. Random awakening of a special ability (Awakening is random, purely based on luck, with a high chance of getting a useless ability)
"Unbelievable, they keep churning out this clickbait content. It's so overdone, zero originality."
Richard lay comfortably in bed, watching a short video with a post-apocalyptic wasteland theme on his phone, disdainfully quipped at the blood-soaked text on the screen.
Then, he opened the empty comment section and left the first comment.
"This may look like a choice, but it's really just an IQ test. Since it's a post-apocalyptic wasteland struck by a bizarre catastrophe, options 2, 3, and 4 are immediately out. Ordinary people would only be a burden, and the last thing a wasteland would lack is women. A tank? One person can't operate it, and ordinary people wouldn't know how to drive it anyway, so that's out too. Option 6 is also unreliable. Just from the description, it's clear you'll probably end up with a useless ability, leaving you crying with no one to complain to.
Choose option 1, you get immortality, at least you won't die. Option 5, the monster-killing card system, is also based on luck, but it's the most suitable option. So I'd pick 1 and 5; it's the best combination available right now.
If you dare, send me into a post-apocalyptic wasteland. I'm already itching to see what it's like!"
Richard tapped out a long comment with two fingers and hit send with a look of contempt.
But then...
In a flash.
A sudden eerie blood glow shot out from his phone screen, enveloping Richard as he lay in bed.
"Holy crap! You're serious?"
With a shout of surprise, Richard vanished from his cozy bedroom.
………
"Holy crap!!!"
Richard's vision blurred, and when it cleared, he found himself in a spacious office of over a hundred square meters. His phone had disappeared. Fortunately, his gray pajamas hadn't vanished, and he even had a pair of blue flip-flops on his feet.
"No way! I was just watching a short video, and you really threw me into a post-apocalyptic wasteland struck by a bizarre catastrophe?"
After ranting internally, Richard, looking bewildered, began to survey his surroundings.
He wasn't alone in the office. There were five others, two men and two women.
"Where the hell is this?" a blonde kid in branded sportswear yelled at his surroundings. "Is this a kidnapping? Tell me how much you want, my family has plenty of money!"
Not far away, a burly man in a black suit with a crew cut glanced expressionlessly at the blonde kid before scanning the area. A young woman with big curls, wearing black stockings and a tight skirt, crouched in the corner, her artificial-looking face filled with terror. Near Richard stood a short-haired schoolgirl in a Japanese school uniform, clutching a small black backpack as she cautiously observed the others.
"Did these people get transported here after watching a short video, just like me?" Richard wondered. Instead of guessing, he decided to ask directly: "How did you all get here? I was just lying in bed watching a short video."
Of course, he kept his secret to himself.
"How did I get here?" The blonde kid glared at Richard, "I was just sleeping in bed with my girlfriend, then everything went black, and I woke up here."
"Oh!" Richard scrutinized the blonde kid up and down. "Maybe you died having too much fun with her."
"Holy crap! What did you say?" The blonde kid, not pleased with Richard's words, glared at him. "I was just sleeping, you get it?"
"Who knows how 'proper' you were sleeping? Maybe you got too excited and, in a snap, got transported here." Richard teased with a smile.
"Kid, what did you say? We got transported?" The burly suited man, alarmed by Richard's words, asked loudly. "How is that possible?!"
"What else could it be? Do you remember how you got here?" Richard countered, looking at the man who resembled a Ma Dong-seok lookalike from Korea.
"I remember being at a bar, drinking, then I ran into an enemy..." The man trailed off, suddenly realizing something, muttering, "Damn it! I got shot by my enemy!"
The man began patting his chest, checking his body as he spoke.
"Could it be, I really died from too much fun?" The blonde kid, hearing the man's words, fell into deep thought, doubting himself.
At this moment, the woman in the tight skirt and black stockings stood up, raising her head to weakly say to the others:
"I remember I was getting robbed, stabbed multiple times, and then I ended up here."
Hearing this, the blonde kid and the burly man froze, both turning to the short-haired schoolgirl in the Japanese school uniform.
"What about you? Did you die too?"
"I... I was depressed and jumped off a building, then I ended up here." The short-haired schoolgirl, looking pitiful, replied.
"Seems like everyone here died before getting transported here." The blonde kid, now calm, suddenly realized and looked at Richard.
"Wait! How did you die just from watching a short video?"
At this point, Richard understood. The other five had all been transported after dying, but he had been transported while watching a short video. This meant he was the only one who received the two rewards, so he had to keep this secret!
Having figured everything out, Richard awkwardly laughed, "I was using an off-brand phone, charging it while watching a short video, and it exploded!"
He even made a hand gesture mimicking an explosion.
"Really?" The blonde kid asked suspiciously.
"Come on! Why would I lie?" Richard rolled his eyes at him.
"We need to figure out where we are and why we've been revived," the burly man pointed out the key issue.
"Right, let's introduce ourselves first. I'm Zheng Haolong, 42 years old, owner of a logistics company."
The blonde kid followed suit.
"I'm Liu Yang, 17, a student. My dad is Liu Jianjun, a billionaire from N City with over 30 billion in assets."
"I'm Tingting, 23, a waitress at Supreme Bar," Tingting added quickly. "A regular waitress, I'm just working to support my sick mom..."
"Alright, alright, I've heard it all before," Liu Yang cut her off with a wave. "Not interested in hearing your sob story now." He then turned to the short-haired schoolgirl standing by the window.
"Hey! You in the Japanese school uniform, introduce yourself."
"Me?" The short-haired schoolgirl, lost in thought as she stared out into the night, snapped back to attention and quickly introduced herself: "I'm Lingling, 16, just started high school this year."
Before Liu Yang could respond, Richard jumped in, "I'm Richard, 18, currently taking a break from school."
"Um... everyone," Lingling suddenly pointed to the window, addressing the group, "I think something's off with the sky outside. You should take a look."
At her words, the five of them hurried to the window, peering out into the night sky.
Walking behind them, Richard began to ponder the short video he'd seen earlier.
Was the six-out-of-two selection real? Or did he die and get transported like the others?
Immortality and a monster-killing card system. There's no way to test immortality right now—he wasn't about to start stabbing himself, just in case it's not real, that'd really kill him.
So, Richard decided to try calling out in his mind.
"Monster-killing card system? Are you there?"
