Chapter 1: I Only Need 72 Hours To Fall In Love With You (I)

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Chapter 1: I Only Need 72 Hours To Fall In Love With You (I)

“I curse you to never have a peaceful death!”

Because of one woman’s curse, Shang Ke was hit by a car and left in a vegetative state. Then, to top it all off, he found himself bound to a Heroic Death System.

Shang Ke had been wronged beyond belief! He had always kept his nose clean and had never deceived anyone’s feelings, okay? The only reason that woman had cursed him was because of that bastard Qi Chen.

Qi Chen was his childhood friend and the textbook definition of a playboy. From childhood to adulthood, he had dated enough women to form a line around China. None of that should have had anything to do with Shang Ke. The problem was that every single time Qi Chen broke up with a girlfriend, he used the exact same excuse: I actually prefer men. Shang Ke is the man I like.

Like me, my ass! On the very day Shang Ke got dragged into the crossfire for the nth time, that bastard was still out joyriding in a sports car with some beautiful woman! Qi Chen got to live it up while all the resentment of the women he dumped landed squarely on Shang Ke!

If Heaven ever gave him another chance, he was definitely going to kill that bastard!

As it happened, he really did get another chance. Sure, this whole Heroic Death System business sounded like one enormous scam, but at least it was an opportunity, right?

The System would send him through different worlds so he could experience the “thrill” of being a hero.

When he first heard about it, it sounded quite classy. But in fact, the purpose was to have him go and die, and he must—【Die Heroically. Die Bravely. Die Dramatically】

Every time he died, he would receive corresponding rewards and abilities. These mainly included improvements to his constitution, memory, mental power, appearance, lifespan, and various talents such as martial arts, cooking, painting, carving, musical instruments, acting, computer skills, and more. Talents would still require practice before he could fully master them. Once he completed every mission, he would be able to return to the real world, bringing the skills he had acquired along with him.

Hearing that made Shang Ke feel a little better. At least there would be rewards for his efforts. If he had to die, he might as well make it worthwhile.

【There are two rules governing the missions.】

【1. You may not commit suicide. 2. You may not die a peaceful death.】

Shang Ke: “…” Are we sure this System isn’t just here to screw me over?

The System added: 【If the Host survives three death missions within the same world, the two rules above will no longer apply, and the Host may live out the remainder of that life however he pleases.】

Dying once wasn’t enough—he had to do it three times? Even if surviving all three meant he could live however he wanted afterward, he had absolutely no intention of dying three times in the same world!

【If a mission fails, additional missions will be added. Each failure will add two more.】

So the punishment was nothing more than dying two extra times. He could live with that. There were rewards to be had, after all. If it meant returning at full health, he was going all in!

【To help the Host adapt as quickly as possible, the System will provide “a mission that can be completed with 100% certainty just by sitting there” as a special benefit for the first world.】

“A mission that can be completed with 100% certainty just by sitting there”? Shang Ke hadn’t expected the System to be so considerate.

【The Host will also receive a complimentary “Perfect Expression Pack (Permanent),” along with an automatic 50% reduction in pain perception (first world only), to assist the Host in successfully completing the mission.】

A 50% reduction in pain? It couldn’t get any better than that! With this, even dying didn’t seem quite so terrifying anymore.

But what exactly was a “Perfect Expression Pack”?

【Perfect Expression Pack: No matter how much pain the Host is in, how distorted, haggard, disheveled, irritable, or hysterical the Host becomes… the Host will always display the legendary flawless expression from every possible angle, allowing the Host to achieve beauty on another level, beauty of profound depth, and beauty breathtaking enough to shake the soul.】

Shang Ke: “…” What the actual fuck is this?

Once the System finished its explanation, Shang Ke entered his first world brimming with fighting spirit.

The System had said his first mission was 100% completable and had even reduced his pain perception by half, so Shang Ke figured he probably wouldn’t suffer too badly this time.

And yet— this fucking thing was screwing with him!

Unless his eyes were deceiving him, he was currently sitting in—a fucking torture-interrogation chamber!

Metal walls surrounded him on all sides. Shang Ke was strapped into a chair, with strange restraints locking down his neck, waist, and limbs—and the damn things were high-tech, too.

At that moment, the System began transmitting the basic information about this world.

In the year 3100, the Draconis Empire fell under the control of House Kruse, which began implementing authoritarian and brutally repressive policies. The country was transformed into a cold-blooded machine that monitored every aspect of its citizens’ lives and speech. The slightest hint of dissent could bring suspicion or even elimination. The people of the Draconis Empire were completely trapped beneath House Kruse’s dark rule.

To overthrow the regime, General Utrecht endured humiliation and hardship for fifteen years while secretly cultivating capable people and planting them one by one throughout the Empire’s ruling hierarchy. In this way, he built a formidable resistance network and alliance, waiting for the opportunity to launch a decisive counterattack.

However, before General Utrecht could finish his preparations, Military Command took notice of him. To protect the other members of the resistance, he resolutely chose to take his own life rather than risk accidentally revealing information about them under brutal interrogation and torture.

After General Utrecht’s death, House Kruse carried out a sweeping internal purge. The resistance lost many brave members, but its main forces survived. The rulers merely tightened their surveillance over every sector of society.

The protagonist of this world, General Ravel, carefully laid his plans beneath layer upon layer of surveillance, preparing to launch the final battle.

But five days before the operation was set to begin, something unexpected happened.

General Utrecht’s son, Cage, had originally been secretly sent to the remote planet of Tayma, where he lived under an assumed identity. Not long ago, however, he slipped away from Tayma. Less than two days after arriving on Draconis Planet, he was captured by House Kruse’s men.

According to the original course of events, after Cage was captured, he gave up the names of numerous resistance members before his interrogators had even seriously begun torturing him. Although they had all changed their appearances and identities, Cage identified them through images, allowing House Kruse to follow the trail and almost completely uproot the organization General Utrecht had built. Countless members of the resistance died in the ensuing upheaval, while the number of other casualties was beyond counting. The bloody slaughter continued for three full months. More than a decade of effort was destroyed in one stroke, and Ravel was forced out of the center of power.

And all of it happened because Cage confessed.

It was not until ten years later that Ravel finally regrouped and completely overthrew House Kruse’s dark regime. Cage did not die at the hands of House Kruse. Instead, after Ravel came to power, he tracked Cage down in the slums, dragged him before the graves of the fallen resistance members, and publicly cut off his head.

Shang Ke’s current identity was precisely this unlucky young man named “Cage.” He had just been captured by House Kruse’s men and imprisoned in Central Military Command’s underground detention complex, where an interrogation could begin at any moment.

And his mission was: Do not confess, even if they beat you to death.

As expected of “a mission that can be completed with 100% certainty just by sitting there.” Well, wasn’t he sitting right now? More importantly, the System hadn’t given him any information he could possibly betray, so no matter how brutally House Kruse tortured him, there was nothing he could confess.

Shang Ke could practically foresee the miserable ordeal awaiting him. Fortunately, the System had reduced his pain perception by 50%. Otherwise, he seriously doubted he could keep playing this game.

Just then, a middle-aged man’s voice sounded through the room. “Young Master Cage, have you thought it over? Have you decided whether you’re going to confess?”

Of course I’m not confessing! Shang Ke remained expressionless.

The voice continued, “As long as you confess, we can guarantee you a comfortable life from now on. Didn’t you return to Draconis precisely because you couldn’t stand the poverty on Tayma?”

So that was why he came back? Talk about courting death. If Cage had only waited another seven or eight days, then as the son of General Utrecht, founder of the resistance, he would have had endless wealth and status ahead of him, along with the respect of countless people. He could have lived as an outrageously powerful second-generation elite.

Instead, of all possible times, he had chosen to show up right before the uprising—and then gone and sold everyone out.

Shang Ke guessed that Tayma was simply too isolated and poorly informed. Cage probably had no idea what was happening here, which was why he had rashly come over.

“Cage, you’re only twenty-two this year, aren’t you?” The middle-aged man continued trying to coax him. “You’re in the prime of your life. Wouldn’t it be a shame to die like this?”

“Are you done with the bullshit?” Shang Ke replied coldly. His slightly raised brow carried a hint of arrogance, and his previously timid demeanor suddenly came alive, leaving the people watching from outside the cell baffled. Just moments ago, he had looked scared half to death. How had he suddenly grown such a backbone?

The System had reduced his pain perception by 50%. Shang Ke figured he could handle the remaining half.

As long as he held out for seventy-two hours, he would complete the mission perfectly.

The other man clearly had no intention of wasting any more time. When Shang Ke refused to confess, his previously mild tone immediately turned cold. “In that case, don’t blame us for getting rough. Bohr, inject him with the sensory amplifier.”

Sensitizer? What the hell is that?

“You should know what a sensory amplifier is, shouldn’t you?”

Absolutely no idea. And there’s really no need to trouble yourself explaining it, thanks.

But the man dutifully explained anyway. “Once the sensory amplifier is injected, all of your senses will be amplified tenfold. Even a light pat will feel as painful as being struck by a heavy object.”

Why the hell would you develop something this inhumane?! No wonder everyone wants to overthrow you. You fucking deserve it!

Several strange mechanical sounds reached his ears. A robotic arm extended from behind the chair, a syringe emerging from its tip before plunging into Shang Ke’s neck.

Shang Ke felt an icy liquid flow through his veins and spread through his body. Within seconds, his mind snapped into startling clarity. His hearing, smell, touch, and vision all became extraordinarily sharp—so sharp that he could almost hear the breathing of the people outside his cell.

“We’ll start by letting you experience ten times the normal pain,” the middle-aged man said, a hint of cruelty in his voice.

Ten times the pain? So what? His pain was reduced by 50%… Wait! Ten times the pain? Let him calculate this. Ten times the pain, reduced by 50%, leaving 50%… Fuck! That was still five times the normal amount of pain!!!

Shang Ke nearly wanted to drop to his knees. Could this System possibly screw him over any harder?!

He had been completely conned by the System’s so-called “mission that can be completed with 100% certainty just by sitting there” and its “50% reduction in pain perception”!

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