Game Company, Observation Room outside the Sterile Medical Pod.

A man dressed as a doctor, with heavy dark circles under his eyes, reported to the project manager beside him: "Lu Lin has been wrapped in that ice cocoon for over half a month now."

He raised his slightly cooled black coffee, took a sip, and continued, "Manager Li, the amount of Water of Life we've invested in Lu Lin has already surpassed one million dollars. If we don't stop, the finance department might..."

The doctor's words were rudely cut off. With a wave of his hand, Manager Li declared, "You don't need to worry about the finance department. As for Lu Lin, have you already forgotten the company's original purpose?"

"Of course not. The company's goal is for a better tomorrow." Asked that way, the doctor abruptly sat up straight, pulling himself together.

"Good. Then you should also remember that the tomorrow the company speaks of is humanity's tomorrow. The company won't abandon any single person, especially since Lu Lin ended up like this because of her service to the company."

"Based on the reports from Ye Shenghua and Xi, this kid must have encountered a new system bug. Becoming an ice cocoon was likely caused by that Frost Giant Wolf."

"These days, our world is becoming more and more unstable… Were our original choices right or wrong after all..."

While the two were talking, they didn't notice that within the medical pod, that ice cocoon was about to break open, like a butterfly emerging.

Cold. So cold. Her heart was cold.

Lu Lin clutched her chest. Ever since she formed the contract with Frozen Heart, she had gained a massive amount of EXP.

[Experience exceeded version cap. Converted into Skill EXP. All skills have reached max level.]

Furthermore, the contract with Frozen Heart granted Lu Lin a passive skill.

[Passive Skill: Ice Heart Covenant.]

[Description: The contractor's heart will be replaced by an Ice Heart.]

[Effect 1: All effects of ice-attribute magic are increased by 100%. Ice-attribute magic will deal advantageous damage against fire-attribute targets.]

[Effect 2: When the Ice Heart's master receives fatal damage, they will enter a Nirvana State. After a period of time, they will be reborn. The time required for revival is related to the energy absorbed during the Nirvana State.]

[Effect 3: The Ice Heart's master's character level is permanently increased by 10 levels, and can break through the level cap.]

She also gained a skill identical to the Frost Giant Wolf's, seemingly a power the Frozen Heart brought to her:

[Aura Skill: Frost Domain lv10 (MAX)]

[Grade: Transcend]

[Effect: Deals magic damage equal to 10% of Magic Power to all enemies within a 20-meter radius every 10 seconds. Each time damage is dealt, there is a 10% chance to inflict the 'Frozen' effect on enemies.]

[Frozen: Negative effect, all attributes reduced by 10%. This effect can stack up to 4 times.]

[Cost: 500 Magic Value per 10 seconds.]

Yet she couldn't move; she could only remain sealed in ice. It was only then she noticed that her heart was already shattered beyond recognition. If not for the tiny, shimmering golden ice shard inside her heart keeping it frozen together, she might truly have died.

Because she waited and waited, but never got the prompt to log out of the game.

The magical blood flowing from her frozen heart was also suffused with extreme cold, lowering Lu Lin's body temperature bit by bit. She once suspected that when the temperature dropped to zero, she would become an ice sculpture.

Thankfully, gradually, the ice cocoon enveloping her seemed to circulate energy.

‘Is it the Water of Life?’

She greedily absorbed the energy, replenishing her body, and her strength gradually returned.

The ice cocoon was slowly breaking apart.

When the cracks in the cocoon were wide enough to let the light outside through, she pushed and shattered the cocoon.

‘So bright.’

Below her was the login pool from when she entered the game. The surroundings were similar to the company's employee rooms, but the air was saturated with a strong smell of disinfectant.

She raised her head and found a large, transparent glass window high above. It was that project manager she had met once before, along with a doctor with extremely dark eye circles. They were both standing up, staring at her through the glass, their eyes filled with shock.

The project manager's badge read: Li Changqing. The name sounded quite young for a middle-aged man.

‘Hey, is my eyesight really this good?’

After over a decade of studying, Lu Lin's eyes had developed slight nearsightedness. Yet now, across a distance of over ten meters, she could clearly read a tiny name badge.

She was a little dazed. Her unfocused vision made out her own reflection in the large glass window—silvery-white long hair, golden pupils, a curvy figure, and a height that was never coming back.

‘I must still be dreaming.’

Lu Lin collapsed unconscious.

* * *

We now interrupt with a breaking news bulletin:

[This station reports: Purple Glow has appeared at the summit of Mount Tai. The chairman of the Daoist Association calls it a weather anomaly.]

[Mass sighting: A mysterious figure flew into the sky during a thunderstorm in Shanghai. Relevant authorities urgently refuted the claim, stating it was merely animated CGI footage for an advertisement.]

[A mysterious portal appeared in Capital City Square. The military quickly cordoned off the area and evacuated the public. Experts state it is a new equipment test, a temporary drill.]

"Lu Lin, see that? This is how the world has changed after you were unconscious for half a month. It also explains what you encountered."

In the hospital room, Li Changqing's phone, using virtual reality projection technology, displayed all sorts of strange phenomena happening around the world.

"Manager, you mean these game-like scenes happening in reality are all real?"

Manager Li didn't speak. Silence was the best answer.

After a long while, Lu Lin asked, "Why are all the news reports domestic? Are there none from abroad?"

"Hah, of course there are abroad. In fact, the Western forces led by the US are the epicenter of these anomaly outbreaks." Manager Li clenched his fists and said through gritted teeth, "They're still formidable in information warfare, trying to hide their internal conflicts and intensify ours."

Lu Lin didn't understand and asked, "But what does all this in reality have to do with the game?"

"All of this is because of the game. To be honest with you, after our country landed on the far side of the moon, we obtained this game technology. It possesses formidable capabilities in Virtual Environment, Virtual Reality, and Mixed Reality. Our game company was established as an official organization with the directive to decode the technology. But our decoding efforts have only been focused on the Virtual Environment aspect.

Meanwhile, the US and the West failed their lunar landing on the far side of the moon and didn't get the game technology directly. So they secretly bribed criminals within our ranks with weak ideology, or obtained it through other means. The US and the West secretly researched it behind the scenes but completely disregarded the risks, diving directly into Mixed Reality technology.

This caused flaws in the technology that reflected back onto reality. Our original intention in researching the game was to understand that you can't keep technology caged forever. Someone will always open Pandora's Box. We can only take precautions before it happens..."

"Stop, stop, stop." Lu Lin was getting a headache listening to all of this and urgently called for him to halt. "Manager Li, the more you speak, the more confused I get. I was just a game tester. Now not only has my gender completely changed, but things are getting more and more overblown. Honestly, what does all this have to do with me, a prospective college student? Right now, I just want to be alone."

Manager Li frowned. "But you... you're one of the rare few who can carry the game system in reality and use its power. The company needs you, the world needs you, the people need you..."

Lu Lin ignored him and pressed the call button by her hospital bed. She said, "Manager Li, please find someone better suited. Right now, even going to the bathroom is something I need to get used to. Not to mention how I'm supposed to face my old friends, my family, my life… As for the power you mentioned, I hope you have a way to take it back. To me, it's nothing but a burden."

There was a knock on the door outside the ward. The nurse had come upon hearing the bell. The nurse wore the uniform of Kyoto Central Hospital, which meant she was staying at the same hospital as her father.

The nurse pushed the door open and ushered Manager Li to leave. "Manager Li, the patient's condition is unstable and needs rest."

This form of address clearly showed that the hospital was part of the company as well. It was likely that the company had set its sights on Lu Lin after learning that her father was hospitalized here.

"Very well." Li Changqing deflated. Seemingly along with his sigh, the white hairs at his temples became even more grizzled. He turned to leave and, with his back facing her, said, "Lu Lin, the company will handle your new identity information. Since you only wish to be an ordinary student, so be it. As for your power, the company currently has no way to take it back. Your account has become deeply bound to that game profile. The company will think of something."

"And this payment." Lu Lin added.

"Of course." Li Changqing replied. "The company owes you far too much this time. All your loans and your father's medical bills will be taken over by the company. I hope we can collaborate again in the future."

Li Changqing left. Inside the large VIP ward, only the young girl remained, her face full of melancholy as she gazed out the window.

* * *

The sun set, and night gradually deepened.

The girl didn't sleep. She curled herself into a ball, wrapped the blanket around her, and sobbed quietly. Yet her tears turned to ice and froze. Her heart was now made of ice and frost.

‘Who am I now?’ the girl asked herself.

‘Power surges through my body. What kind of thing do I even count as?’ the girl was lost.

[You are Lu Lin. Mage. Professional Assassin. Also, a prospective college student.]

The system was still there too.

That was right. She never heard the successful logout notification, and the logout button had completely vanished.

Could it be that she was still in the game? If she fell asleep and woke up again, would she be able to log out successfully and return to that poor but peaceful life?

Carrying such a thought, the girl gradually fell asleep.