Fear, fear, fear.

A military three-wheeled motorcycle, commonly called a “sanbengzi,” was rolling across a barren wasteland.

Chen Shou, male, 24 years old.

Height: 181 centimeters; weight: 111 kilograms; profession: designer; single.

As a player in the Endless Corridor, he had completed two official storyline missions—one success, one failure.

He was now on the brink of bankruptcy.

At this moment, he was undertaking his third script.

Chen Shou sat on the back seat of the sanbengzi, his plump body fitting snugly into the seat.

As the wheels rolled over the scattered stones, the flesh on his full face bounced like a lively little sprite.

“I say...” Chen Shou squinted his eyes and asked, “Director Tong, right? When you got on, you knew there’d be a vehicle to use, didn’t you?”

Li Nuo, sitting in the front passenger seat, turned his head and replied, “Yeah, the main force is heading to the factory, but they can’t transport that many people. If a player is ruthless and avoids relying on the resistance, they can surely find a reason to get a sanbengzi. Actually, I was aiming for that abandoned car tucked away in the corner of the camp, but considering the terrain around here isn’t suitable for a four-wheeled civilian vehicle, I had to settle.”

This guy... was strange.

Chen Shou followed Li Nuo mainly because he had heard mention of a “hidden mission.”

His management of gold coins had been irrational, leaving him with no reserves.

So he was taking a gamble.

But this sanbengzi... didn’t make sense.

“Oh, and don’t call me Director Tong anymore, that title’s too much trouble,” Li Nuo smiled. “Just call me Li Nuo.”

Probably a pseudonym, Chen Shou thought, then heard a grunt from the driver’s seat.

“Marje.”

“Uh huh... nice to meet you both.” Chen Shou nodded.

Thus, a trio formed their temporary RPG-style exploration team—one clutching a folding stool, one wearing a Doraemon mask, and one honest, plump fellow.

The sanbengzi carried them across the scarred earth.

The world of Nier: Automata was a wasteland.

Unlike the polluted ruins left by nuclear explosions, this landscape had returned to its most primal natural state.

Only the seemingly dilapidated but stubbornly standing high-rise buildings covered in grass hinted at a civilization that once existed here.

The world inside the Endless Corridor was no longer a 3D model but a restoration of true visuals. Compared to the eerie abandoned houses seen during the newbie screening, the natural scenery here was even more striking.

Yet in this desolate city, there was only silence, oppression, and loneliness.

Compared to tens of thousands of years ago, the city’s rulers now were a group of mechanical beings called Mechanical Lifeforms. They appeared cute and simple, resembling somewhat mindless androids.

On July 4, 5012 AD, aliens invaded Earth.

By 5024 AD, aliens had occupied North and South America—known as the “Night Lands”—and created and deployed new weapons called Mechanical Lifeforms.

By 11306 AD, the aliens were extinct, wiped out in the invasion of the Mechanical Lifeforms.

As time passed,

By 11942 AD—the present—the Earth’s masters had become these Mechanical Lifeforms. They had developed thought and imitation abilities and were the sole inheritors of human civilization.

They mimicked human behaviors, lifestyles, thoughts, and philosophies.

They even developed religion, family, and nations.

In this abandoned city,

Beneath a low wall overgrown with plants, a Mechanical Lifeform lay on the ground.

It was nearing the end of its life due to strange phenomena, while its “younger brother” anxiously searched for a way to save it.

[I will save you—I will save you.]

The younger Mechanical Lifeform carried a bucket and hopped toward a water source.

[Water source—I must find water—water—drinking water can prolong life...]

Bang!

A speeding sanbengzi struck it, sending it flying!

“I think we just hit something...” Chen Shou, sitting on the back, squinted and glanced at Marje in the driver’s seat and Li Nuo beside him.

“Marje, drive carefully... this vehicle has no suspension,” Li Nuo warned.

“Hmph, no traffic lights anyway.”

Li Nuo took out a notebook and jotted down a note: Mechanical Lifeforms can be killed by vehicles, so the current enemies are temporarily classified as “realistic.”

Chen Shou then asked, “Uh... where exactly are we headed?”

“It’s been over six minutes and twenty seconds since departure. We should have entered the area where the Jiye Unit disappeared, as the resistance said,” Li Nuo scanned the surroundings and said, “Compared to the game, the world here looks very different.”

Marje said, “Obviously. If the barrier between reality and the virtual breaks, what we see in the end is the real world—and reality isn’t structured like a miniature garden game.”

Li Nuo silently surveyed the scene.

The destruction looked fresh, as if a fierce battle had just taken place nearby.

“Hmph—!!!”

Suddenly, Marje slammed on the brakes, nearly sending Li Nuo sprawling.

“There’s something.” Marje warned. Following his gaze, they spotted a human hand protruding from a dense patch of grass not far off.

After getting out, they found a badly damaged android.

It wore a resistance uniform, with both legs and the left arm twisted backwards. A gaping hole in its ribs revealed the mechanical structures inside.

A satchel lay nearby. As Li Nuo frowned and reached to pick it up, a system voice sounded:

[Side quest triggered]

[Rescue the wounded]

[Mission level: lv15]

[Reward: 1200 XP, random card x1]

“A side quest too?” Li Nuo stroked his chin.

“Yeah... didn’t expect side quests to yield experience points,” Marje agreed.

Chen Shou was surprised: hadn’t they encountered side quests before?

Li Nuo replied, “Didn’t I tell you at the camp? This is my first script mission.”

Chen Shou paused: so he hadn’t been lying?

Li Nuo squatted beside the resistance android to examine it carefully.

Chen Shou came over to look as well. “Whoa... it’s all mechanical inside?”

“Androids have all the organs of humans, but they operate mechanically,” Li Nuo said, pointing at pools of blood on the ground. “For example, their blood is actually coolant.”

Saying that, Li Nuo dipped his thumb into the still-wet blood, sniffed, then licked it.

“Definitely not blood.”

“You... didn’t need to verify that...” Chen Shou said weakly.

“Brother Shou, curiosity about everything deepens understanding. For example...” Li Nuo picked up a stone and said, “Take this...”

He jumped a few times.

“Hey... what exactly are you doing?” Chen Shou’s gaze said it all. This guy must be out of his mind.

Li Nuo smiled, “For example, filling the system backpack beyond capacity doesn’t affect actions.”

He put the stone into his backpack.

Suddenly, an invisible heavy hand seemed to press on his shoulder. With a thunk, he dropped to his knees!

“God...” Chen Shou pressed his forehead and sighed, feeling his facial muscles twitch.

“See? The consequence of exceeding the backpack limit is being unable to move. You don’t learn this without trying.”

Chen Shou was speechless, helplessly squeezing out a few words: “Lesson learned... shall we continue the mission?”

“Alrighty.”

Li Nuo pulled out a burlap sack from the sanbengzi’s storage, filled with supplies he had scavenged from the camp before departure.

He took out a dark green military water canteen and poured water into the android’s mouth.

“The only energy source for androids is water. As long as they have water, their core furnace keeps running,” Li Nuo said, tightening the cap. “This is mentioned in the Nier: Automata anime and manga.”

“That’s pretty impressive,” Chen Shou said, secretly admiring Li Nuo’s knowledge of such trivia.

“Hmph, the Jiye Unit androids are stronger. They can produce water inside their body cavities—they’re self-sufficient,” Marje said. When he mentioned the Jiye Unit, Chen Shou couldn’t help but feel some sleaze leaking from beneath Marje’s Doraemon mask.

Does the Jiye Unit have some special meaning?

At that moment, the android suddenly opened its eyes. The only movable hand grabbed Li Nuo’s collar.

“This world… has a problem…”

“Ah?” Li Nuo asked.

The android screamed hysterically like a madman:

“This world has a problem... problem, problem, problem!!!”

“Ah! Hahaha, haha... hahahaha, hahahahaha!!”

“I’m free!!!”

Marje frowned and pulled a startled Chen Shou back a step.

Though the android could no longer move, its twisted face told everyone it had lost its mind.

“Scared.”

“So scared.”

“Scared, scared, scared, scared, scared, scared, scared, scared, scared, scared, scared, scared, scared, scared, scared.”

“Hey, Li Nuo...” Chen Shou called out.

As he moved to grab Li Nuo—

Li Nuo picked up a stone from the ground and struck the android’s face hard.

Again and again.

Giving no chance to catch its breath.

Worried about killing it,

He dropped the stone.

“Scared, huh?”

Then he struck the android’s head repeatedly with his fists, screams filling the air—a gruesome scene.

“When it faints, it won’t be scared anymore.”

Only when he was sure the android was silent did Li Nuo stop.

The other two silently watched Li Nuo’s ruthless act.

Chen Shou’s face had paled somewhat. Li Nuo had initially seemed a curious, reasonably polite peer, but now Chen Shou had three thoughts:

Where did this madman come from...

What exactly does this madman want...

Should I have come here at all...