Even standing before Vincent Sherman's door, Renee Kane still hadn't quite snapped out of it.
The voice she'd heard before she died was real—she had been reborn before the game's beta test even started!
As she was lost in thought, Vincent Sherman opened the door, reeking of alcohol.
His cheeks were flushed and his eyes dazed as he fell against Renee Kane, his lips brushing against her neck. "Renee? Am I dreaming? Why would you come looking for me of your own accord..."
The wet, hot sensation on her neck instantly gave Renee goosebumps. Before she could even process it, she had already slapped him across the face!
With a soft "tsk," Renee felt a flash of annoyance. 'Couldn't hold back.'
But anyone in her shoes, who had been swindled out of their family fortune by so-called "relatives" and forced into a hellish start in the survival game in their previous life, would have done the same.
Vincent Sherman, despite clearly grinding his teeth in fury, turned back to her with a wronged expression. "So it really is a dream..."
Before Renee could react, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against him. His expression turned sinister, but his words were pleading, "Since it's a dream, Renee, Renee, I can't hold it in any longer. Help me..."
Smothering Renee's mouth against his chest, Vincent Sherman forcefully dragged her into the room and locked the door.
The sudden violence shocked Renee, but it also made her realize something. 'If he hadn't gotten the beta test invitation code, was the Vincent Sherman of my last life planning to use his drunkenness as an excuse to force himself on me in my room?'
'That bastard!'
'He knew all along that Theo Sherman was his real father!'
'He'd stop at nothing to gobble up the family inheritance, even specifically choosing tonight, the very day she turned eighteen... Should she say her scumbag father, Theo Sherman, had taught him all too well by his own example?'
Seeing that Renee wasn't resisting at all, Vincent Sherman curled his lips in satisfaction. 'So Renee is into me after all. I guess all those years of simping for her weren't a total waste.'
'He knew he was Theo Sherman's son, but so what?'
'Renee was gorgeous, so it wasn't like he was losing out on the deal.'
'He'd just wait until he got his hands on the one billion inheritance from Renee's mother, then he'd cut her loose.'
'But before that... he was going to have... his... fun!'
Vincent Sherman loosened his grip on Renee, gnawing at her neck as he pushed her toward the bed.
But not only did Renee not resist, she even gently cupped his face.
Seeing the triumphant smirk he couldn't suppress, Renee gave a cold smile and slammed her forehead into the bridge of his nose!
Vincent Sherman let out a muffled grunt, instinctively clutching his nose. But a second later, it felt as if a sledgehammer had struck his heart and brain, and he collapsed, convulsing.
Tossing aside the stun gun, Renee picked up a nearby baseball bat, swung it in a wide arc, and smashed it right into Vincent Sherman's most vulnerable spot!
Vincent Sherman only had time to let out a short, piercing scream before he fainted dead away.
Renee wiped her neck in disgust, dragged the unconscious Vincent Sherman into the bathroom, and pulled out his phone.
A new text message sat quietly in his inbox, containing only a URL and an invitation code.
"Congratulations on receiving a beta test spot for the Infinite Train game! Log in to www.infinitetrain.com to join the beta. Invitation Code: 741886."
After taking a screenshot and sending it to herself, Renee formatted Vincent Sherman's phone, smashed it, and threw the pieces into the toilet. Then, she used a Traction Rope to tie him securely to the toilet bowl.
After stuffing two smelly socks into his mouth and thoughtfully locking the door from the outside, Renee quickly returned to her own room.
She changed into a black tracksuit, put on a backpack, packed the property deeds and some essentials, and walked straight out of the villa.
It wasn't that she didn't want to kill Vincent Sherman, but the beta test was only seven days away, and Renee had no intention of wasting that precious time as a fugitive.
In her past life, this family had tricked her into giving Vincent Sherman the entire fortune her mother had left her, all in exchange for resources during the beta test.
A disastrous start was bad enough, but she was also inexplicably forced to be Vincent Sherman's scapegoat and was relentlessly hunted.
She had been so close to finishing Vincent Sherman off right before her rebirth. A shame.
'No matter. Once the game officially starts, I'll settle this score for good.'
*
At 1 AM, the city's urban village was still bustling with activity.
Renee spent two thousand yuan to get a rush-ordered fake ID and an unregistered SIM card. After snapping her real ID card in half, she found a small internet cafe.
She went to the website. It was a plain white page with an old, green-skinned train in the center.
Taking a deep breath, Renee entered her ID number and the invitation code.
She hit Enter, and a scrolling banner appeared on the screen.
[Congratulations, Player Renee Kane, on successfully binding your beta test account. An exclusive beta gift package has been sent to your inventory. Please check it!]
At the same time, a chibi-style avatar popped up on the screen, wearing the exact same clothes as Renee.
She clicked on the avatar, and sure enough, a glittering gold gift package was sitting in her inventory.
[Open exclusive gift package? (Yes/No)]
Renee clicked "Yes" without hesitation.
[Congratulations, player! You have obtained: Initial Static Space x1 (10,000m³, upgradable), Basic Physique Transformation Card x1, Initial Life Value x1000, Limited-time Discount Card x1.]
A genuine smile spread across her face.
On the coming apocalyptic train, the only currency would be Life Value. When your Life Value hit zero, you died.
In her past life, Renee had boarded the train with nothing, possessing only 90 Life Value. After barely surviving the first natural disaster instance, the little Life Value she managed to save was almost entirely spent on healing, forcing her to remain in the lowest-class carriage.
This time, she had a god-tier start. If she still failed, it would be an insult to her rebirth.
She clicked the discount card, and the entire screen erupted in a brilliant golden light!
[Congratulations, player! You have drawn the ultimate discount! For the next 24 hours, all top-ups and purchases are 90% off!]
Renee was ecstatic. 'It seems my luck has improved since I was reborn!'
Keeping only enough for living expenses, she mortgaged the property deeds and all her remaining cash. She also used the IDs of Theo Sherman's family of three to creatively rack up three million in online loans, converting every last cent into game currency.
After the discount, she had a staggering 11.23 billion game coins. 'I've never fought such a well-funded war!' Renee thought.
She first spent one hundred million on ten High Level Physique Transformation Cards and also bought a billion cubic meters of space. Then, she spent another four million to max out her Life Value.
She opened her character panel.
[Character: Renee Kane (Female, 18)
Life Value: 5000
Strength: 30 (+101) (Are you a Trisolaran or something?)
Agility: 22 (+101) (Holy crap, a human lightning bolt!)
Defense: 26 (+101) (A body-cultivation master... terrifying!)
Physical Strength: 37 (+101) (The inexhaustible strength of an ox!)
Items: Static Space]
'Now this looks promising!'
Once her preparations were complete, she clicked to enter the game.
Except for the lack of living people, the in-game city was identical to reality. Renee didn't waste a word; she just began a frantic hoarding spree!
Rice, flour, grains, oil, fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, clothes, appliances, medicine, weapons, water purifiers, oxygen supplies...
When she discovered she could buy entire streets of shops just by selecting an area, Renee went completely wild!
While others might hoard goods, she was hoarding entire supermarkets and wholesale markets. Since she'd bought numerous generators, she also snatched up more than a dozen gas stations in one fell swoop.
By choosing not to preserve the original layout of the stores, all the goods and building materials were automatically sorted and arranged by category—a very user-friendly feature.
After a mad dash all over the city, by the time Renee had bought an entire reservoir and custom-ordered a set of safe houses in various models, the sky was already beginning to lighten, and she was left with only four billion game coins.
Though she hadn't slept all night, Renee left the internet cafe feeling invigorated. She chartered a car and headed straight for a small county 300 kilometers away, where she found another internet cafe that had private rooms.
While Theo Sherman's family was waking up in horror to a crippled Vincent Sherman, a mortgaged house, and a barrage of threatening calls from online lenders, all while being unable to find Renee anywhere—she was comfortably holed up in a private room at the internet cafe, continuing to sweep the city for anything she might have missed.
Stir-fries, barbecue, lobster, spicy hot pot, bubble tea... she started with at least ten thousand servings of each. She even got her hands on a large number of bladed weapons and firearms, plus twenty armored vehicles!
'There's no end to it! I can't possibly hoard it all!'