It stood nearly a meter and a half at the shoulder, covered in greasy, matted, gray-black fur. Its muscles bulged, and corrosive saliva dripped from its jaws, burning white smoke into the floor.
Most striking were its eyes—cloudy yellow tinged with an unnatural crimson—and the abnormally developed, scythe-like bone protrusions extending from its forelimbs.
It was clearly very unhappy with the little snacks loitering outside its den.
"Holy shit! What the hell is that?!" Tax Bro exclaimed.
"Who cares! Attack!"
[Schrödinger's Loyalist] was filled with absolute resolve in that moment. With a shout, he took the lead and hurled the steel pipe in his hand like a javelin!
The steel pipe smashed into the beast's shoulder blade with a dull thud. The beast roared in pain, but clearly hadn't suffered a fatal wound; instead, it was utterly enraged.
The beast's hind legs pushed off the ground, launching it like a cannonball at Schrödinger Bro!
"Dodge!" Zeke sidestepped and swung his steel pipe, viciously sweeping it toward the beast's ribs.
Tax Bro attacked the beast's hind legs from the other side.
Combat erupted instantly.
There were no flashy skills, no precise marksmanship, only the most primitive and clumsy chopping, smashing, stabbing, and dodging.
The beast's roars, the clashing of steel pipes, and the players' shouts all blurred together.
Zeke felt his arms go numb from the recoil, his adrenaline pumping wildly.
The beast's strength was immense, and it wasn't slow either. The scythe-like bone blade grazed his jumpsuit, leaving a tear and a burning pain. His stats didn't drop much, but a [Mild Pain] status prompt appeared.
Schrödinger Bro made a misstep and got swiped on the thigh by the beast's claws. Although he avoided the bone blade, it still left a gash. Blood seeped out, and his movements immediately became sluggish.
"I'm hit! Bleeding status!"
"Hold on! Attack its eyes and joints!" Tax Bro roared, thrusting his steel pipe near the beast's eye socket. He didn't hit the eye, but he forced the beast to jerk its head away in pain.
Zeke seized the opportunity. Using all his strength, he violently drove the sharp, broken end of his steel pipe into the side of the beast's neck, exposed when it turned its head!
Squwelch!
Warm, foul-smelling liquid sprayed out.
The beast let out a shrill howl of agony, its struggling strength abruptly weakening.
Tax Bro and the wounded Schrödinger Bro immediately pounced, using metal shards, their boots, and anything they could find to frenziedly attack the beast's wound and head.
A long while later, the beast finally stopped moving.
The three collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily, covered in dust and blood.
The wound on Schrödinger Bro's thigh was still bleeding, and his face was somewhat pale.
"We won... we actually killed it!" Tax Bro's face was a mix of lingering fear and excitement.
"Quick, see how much money this thing is worth!"
Suppressing his nausea, Zeke checked the System, focusing his attention on the beast's corpse.
[Discovered: Mutated Mine Hyenadon (Deceased)]
[Evaluation: Rich in unstable biomass; some mutated glands may possess low value; bones and fangs can serve as basic materials; recyclable; meat is slightly salty. Estimated Total Value: 69 Imperial Coins.]
"69 coins!"
The three of them exclaimed simultaneously. Their fatigue was swept away, and their eyes shone brightly.
"We struck it rich!" Schrödinger Bro even felt like his leg didn't hurt as much anymore.
They performed basic first aid on Schrödinger Bro's wound, then used an immense amount of effort—fashioning a makeshift stretcher out of rope and poles—to drag the heavy beast corpse back to Workshop 7.
When they appeared dragging a beast that was clearly a trophy, the entire submission point was thrown into a frenzy.
"Holy shit! They killed a mob!"
"How much money did it drop?!"
"It looks disgusting... but does it look expensive?"
"Group up! We have to group up and go hunting! Mining is way too slow!"
Under the envious gazes of the crowd, the three submitted the Hyenadon corpse.
[Submission Complete... Earned: 69 Imperial Coins.]
"Split it evenly?" Zeke looked at his teammates.
"Of course!" Tax Bro and Schrödinger Bro agreed without hesitation.
[Trading Function Enabled]
[Eternally Loyal to the Emperor transfers 23 Imperial Coins to Pay the Tithe Even if the World Ends and Schrödinger's Loyalist respectively.]
[Transfer Complete]
An income of 23 coins each!
Combined with their previous mining earnings, Zeke's Imperial Coins reached 23.7, while Tax Bro and Schrödinger Bro both surpassed 20.
More importantly:
[Ding! Quest: A Laborer's First Step Completed.]
[Reward Issued: 10 Imperial Coins received.]
[Aurelian Language (Advanced) Unlocked.]
[Store Material Exchange List Preview Activated.]
New prompts popped up in the vision of all three players, and a faintly glowing [Store] icon appeared.
"The store is open!"
"Quick, see what's inside!"
Zeke couldn't wait. He focused his mind and clicked the icon.
A concise but incredibly informative list appeared in his mind.
His eyes rapidly scanned from top to bottom:
Synthetic Nutrient Paste, Purified Water... Okay, basic survival goods.
Forged Miner's Pick, Metal Cutter... Tool upgrades.
Crude Pistol, Hunting Knife... Weapons!
Basic Physique Enhancement (Type I), Neural Reflex Optimization (Type I), Sensory Acuity (Type I)... Gene enhancements?!
"Wilderness Survival Basics," "Basic Mechanical Identification and Dismantling"... Skill books?!
His breathing gradually sped up.
The names of these items, their descriptions, even that blunt, utilitarian 'Type I' labeling style...
When his eyes fell on the descriptions for the enhancements: "Slightly increases maximum strength and endurance," "Requires training and adaptation, and may cause minor aesthetic changes to the vessel"...
When he saw the price tag set at a steep 100 Imperial Coins...
When he connected it all to the mutated Hyenadon they had just fought, this dilapidated industrial world, Imperial Coins, the Survival Tax, and that cold System voice...
A theory he was desperately trying to deny—like a seed nourished by the whispers of a Chaos God—violently broke ground and began to spread wildly in his mind.
"No... no way..."
Zeke felt his heart pounding fiercely. Cold sweat seeped into his palms.
"This UI style... this upgrade path... the oppressive tone of this entire world... and Imperial Coins..."
"It's a coincidence... It has to be a coincidence!"
"The game is called Epoch 40k: Mecha. It's completely normal to borrow some elements!"
"Yes, borrowing elements!"
"How could this possibly be that universe? It's impossible. Absolutely impossible."
He stared intensely at the store list, as if trying to find evidence to disprove his own theory.
But what he saw were the unlock requirements tied to "Gene-Sequence Development Progress," the notes about "minor aesthetic changes to the vessel," and those item names completely devoid of aesthetic beauty, oozing with cold pragmatism... The flavor is way too strong!
Beside him, Schrödinger's Loyalist was already exclaiming:
"Holy crap! Gene enhancements! Isn't this the path of... the Astartes? Though they get nineteen surgeries and a gene-seed, while ours seems like a simplified budget version?"
Tax Bro, meanwhile, was looking at the crude pistol and pouting. "This thing... give me a lasgun! Even the worst Lucius pattern would do! Black powder? What era is this? Oh, right, the game's setting might be post-apocalyptic..."
Post-apocalyptic? Isn't the Warhammer 40k universe basically one giant post-apocalypse for the humans living in Hive Cities?!
Zeke roared internally.
He violently closed the store interface, his expression shifting rapidly.
"Heresy!" He yelled at himself in his mind. "This thought is too heretical! There's no double-headed eagle! There are no Ecclesiarchy prayers! There's no mention of any Primarchs or Chaos! The mechas were sci-fi style! The dev team must just be making a joke! A high-tier troll! Or... or maybe it's some kind of alternate universe setting? Yes, an alternate universe! Like a 'What If' timeline where the Emperor focused on the technological path instead of the psychic one?"
He tried desperately to convince himself.
But that theory, much like Nurgle's blessing, once it took root, it dug in stubbornly and refused to be removed.
He looked up at the eternally dim, yellow sky outside the workshop, shrouded by polluted clouds, and then at the colossal, tombstone-like steel structures of the Hive City towering into the clouds in the distance.
A chill crawled up his spine.
"I don't believe it... I don't believe it... I don't believe it..."
He muttered to himself, as if chanting an incantation to ward off daemons.
"Until I personally see the Emperor, until I meet an Astartes, until I hear a battle cry of 'For the Emperor', until I face a Chaos daemon directly..."
Zeke gritted his teeth, his eyes regaining their determination, even carrying a hint of paranoia.
"I, Eternally Loyal to the Emperor, will absolutely never open my mouth to admit that this terrifying possibility exists! This... is just a slightly hardcore, slightly dark mecha game that borrowed some Warhammer 40k elements!"
–
TL/Note: I have a simple question for all the readers: would you want a fully immersive VR experience of being a baseline human in a Hive City?