True Apocalypse Game

"Hey, hey, what are you doing!? Get off me!" Shen Feng shouted, grabbing Jingwei’s shoulders with both hands, trying to pull her off.

"Huh..." Jingwei suddenly hopped off Shen Feng, landing on the floor with her small, bare feet. She raised a hand to touch herself, a pure and innocent expression on her face, and muttered, "What is this feeling? Tingly and itchy... it’s so weird..."

As she spoke, she lifted her bath towel and reached a hand underneath, scratching her thigh while muttering, "Itchy..."

Then, her eyes lit up. She looked at Shen Feng and said:

"Hey, this is interesting! Scratching feels so good, I don’t want to stop once I start! Being human is pretty fun!"

Shen Feng could barely watch.

"Hmph, it’s my first day as a human, you know. I’ll get the hang of it. Speaking of which, humans now have climate-controlled air conditioning. Wearing clothes indoors is just a waste of resources. If you ask me, people should wear clothes to go out and take them off when they come inside. That would make clothes last longer, too. Think of how much money you’d save on clothes every year."

Shen Feng’s face darkened with exasperation, and he couldn’t be bothered to deal with her anymore.

Seeing Shen Feng’s silence, Jingwei couldn’t help but tease him.

"Is Xiaofeng unhappy? What’s wrong? You’re already the Savior, but you’ve still never been with anyone. If the Whisperer found out, they’d die laughing. They’d probably break character in the middle of using Hypnosis on humanity..."

With that, she pouted, tried to put on a deep voice, and mimicked the way the Whisperer spoke:

"...Humans... are not... worth... saving... You want... to destroy... the world... Your... Savior... is a... vir... AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Shen Feng’s face flushed red with anger at her antics, and he tried to argue back.

"How can I start a family before the Xiongnu are vanquished! I’m doing this for human civilization! Besides, are things ever that simple for the Savior...?"

This was followed by a bunch of incomprehensible phrases like "life needs a sense of ceremony," "you have to be responsible for your own life," and "if I do it, the book will get deleted," filling the air with a cheerful atmosphere.

"Alright, stop fooling around. I need to try out my bio-avatar." After they had had their fun, Shen Feng’s expression turned serious. He walked over to his bio-pod and spoke.

Jingwei, wrapped in a bathrobe, was lying lazily on the sofa, eating fruit with her legs crossed. She said:

"Just sink your consciousness, then extend your Consciousness Antennae directly into the avatar’s electronically modified brain. Just treat it like a new Silicon-Based Brain... Ooh, this banana is so big, and so sweet!"

Although she had tried simulating the electronic signals of taste before, it was no match for a real human experience. Now, eating the fruit, Jingwei felt an unprecedented sweetness and couldn’t help but smile, her eyes narrowing in delight.

Shen Feng nodded, submerged his consciousness, closed his eyes, and extended his Consciousness Antennae into the body within the bio-pod.

Then, the body in the bio-pod opened its eyes, raised its hands, and gripping the sides of the pod, stood up from the nutrient fluid.

Looking at his hands and touching his cheeks, Shen Feng felt an equally wondrous sensation.

Right in front of him, his original body was also looking at this avatar.

At this moment, his consciousness was seeing, hearing, speaking, and feeling through both bodies simultaneously!

The body across from him was him, yet not entirely him.

Although he had prior experience controlling Gray Tide doppelgangers with his Consciousness Antennae, the feeling of controlling a bio-doppelganger was completely different.

After all, the Gray Tide doppelgangers lacked these realistic, subtle sensations; they were more like tools.

But a bio-doppelganger was completely different.

Two bodies, one mind.

In a way, he was no longer a single, biological human, but a brand-new hive-like organism—a collective consciousness formed from different individuals!

The two Shen Fengs stepped forward at the same time, high-fived, and said in unison:

"Pretty interesting!"

Jingwei, watching TV off to the side while dangling her fair little feet, said:

"Now that you’ve made it, you should use it often. The thing is based on a biological brain, after all. If you leave it idle for too long, it’ll develop its own consciousness, and that’ll be a pain to deal with. Plus, all its body parts need regular activity, or you’ll get muscle atrophy and stuff."

The two Shen Fengs nodded at the same time and said:

"Understood."

Shen Feng’s artificial human bio-doppelganger then walked into the bedroom, lay flat on the bed, and closed its eyes.

Shen Feng abruptly withdrew his Consciousness Antennae, temporarily taking the bio-doppelganger offline.

Looking at the empty bio-pod, Shen Feng couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.

This technology was completely beyond its time, practically a nuclear-level weapon.

If it were to spread in the world today, there’s no telling how many ethical and criminal problems it would cause.

But if used well, it would be a divine weapon for him, another major asset in the fight against the Whisperer.

Unlike Jingwei, Shen Feng had no immediate use for the bio-doppelganger.

He then stretched, rubbed his slightly throbbing temples, and sat down at his computer, preparing to browse the news and see if anything major had happened around the world.

The missing nuclear bomb in the Middle East, the exposure of the "True Apocalypse Game," and helping Kavan develop a Healing Potion for that Serum No. 0—it all required his attention.

Although entering the internet directly with his Consciousness Antennae was faster, that method was simply too exhausting. Shen Feng had been incredibly busy lately and wanted to rest.

Just then, a gust of wind came from behind him as Jingwei pounced onto his back, clamoring:

"To hell with the internet! Hurry up and take your big sister out for some good food! I used to cook for you every day without even knowing what it tasted like. I’m going to make up for my lost youth! Let’s start with barbecue, wontons, hot pot, and soup dumplings!"

Shen Feng quickly asked:

"What about the Healing Potion for Serum No. 0?"

Jingwei waved her hand dismissively and said:

"It’s just a weakened hybrid virus that humans cooked up themselves. I analyzed it for a bit and figured it out. I’ve already told the leader of that Assassin Sect to mix the medicine and take it himself. After he takes it, the onset of the side effects will be delayed by six months. Then I’ll slowly make him the proper Healing Potion."

Shen Feng couldn’t help but roll his eyes. ’Why do you sound like some quack doctor treating a common cold?’

"Oh, come on, let’s go, let’s go! Come with me to eat, and to school. You need some psychological healing. That old man Li said before that if this goes on too long, you’ll easily develop post-traumatic stress syndrome." Jingwei said, grabbing Shen Feng’s wrist with her fair little hands and starting to drag him out.

"Wait! How are you so strong!?" Shen Feng felt like his wrist was caught in a pair of iron pliers. "Also, are you planning to go out in a bathrobe?"

"Hahahaha, I tweaked my own muscle genes. I’m super strong. Three to five burly men couldn’t even get close to me! Otherwise, what if some bad guy wanted to take advantage of me, being as beautiful as I am? I’ll go change my clothes in a bit."

Watching the girl’s figure disappear upstairs like a gust of wind, Shen Feng couldn’t help but click his tongue.

’She really is... quite beautiful... almost like a work of art...’

...

Forty minutes later, the two of them were at a small street-side eatery.

Jingwei was wearing a baggy men’s shirt and jeans, with a Tai City Senior High School uniform jacket over it. She sat across from Shen Feng, wolfing down pan-fried dumplings and beef with glass noodles.

"Hehe, Shen Feng, this is delicious. Being human is really interesting. I know this is just an electrical stimulation signal produced by a chemical reaction in my body, but it still feels so good," Jingwei said with a chuckle as she ate, her eyes curving into crescents.

Shen Feng reached out and wiped the beef broth from the corner of her mouth, saying:

"Just eat. When you’re done, we’ll go to the next place for hot pot. By the way, this is already the third restaurant. Are you sure you’re okay after eating so much?"

Jingwei smiled with her eyes narrowed and said, "Don’t worry, I’ve tweaked my digestive system too. It’s much stronger than a normal person’s... Aunt Zhang, another bowl of soup!"

The owner, Aunt Zhang, came over with a tray, placed the beef soup in front of Jingwei, and looked at Jingwei’s face with a beaming, unconcealable joy. She said to Shen Feng:

"Xiaofeng, are you dating? Your girlfriend is so pretty! This one looks like a keeper! You’d better treat this girl right..."

Shen Feng’s face darkened with exasperation as he quickly waved his hands and said:

"No, Aunt Zhang, you’ve misunderstood."

Jingwei GULPED down the beef soup, slammed the thick porcelain bowl on the table, and said with a hearty laugh:

"Aunt Zhang, you really have misunderstood. I’m actually Xiaofeng’s fiancée..."

Shen Feng immediately grabbed Jingwei’s wrist and started dragging her outside, paying with WeChat in his other hand as he said:

"Let’s go, let’s go, hurry up. What nonsense are you talking?"

Seeing Shen Feng’s face turn red from her teasing, Jingwei couldn’t help but roar with laughter:

"You’re just too much fun, little brother! Oh my god, the Savior is blushing!"

Time flew by, and by afternoon, Shen Feng had finally managed to temporarily escape from Jingwei and returned to school.

When he walked into the classroom, the students waiting for class to start all gasped in surprise.

"Shen Feng is back!"

"Where on earth have you been? Why were you on leave for so long?"

"Did you go off to inherit another fortune? Man, why don’t my relatives ever die..."

"That transfer student, Wei Miqing, seems to have transferred out again. What’s the deal with you two?"

"Don’t tell me Shen Feng secretly went off to get married? Forcibly kept by a Rich Lolita? I fucking wish that was me!"

A crowd of classmates chattered away, bombarding Shen Feng with all sorts of questions.

Shen Feng chuckled and said:

"I wasn’t feeling well for a while, so I was resting and studying at home. Nothing else, really. So, has anything major happened at school recently? Old Jin, did you have any bad luck? Share it so we can all have a good laugh."

"Go on, get out of here. When did you get so glib? Class is about to start. They’ve handed out a ton of test papers recently; you’ve got a lot to catch up on."

Shen Feng bantered with his classmates as he walked to his seat and sat down.

Suddenly, he felt a deep sense of peace settle over him.

It was as if nothing had changed. He was still that same diligent, hard-working teenager, juggling a part-time job and his studies, waiting to get into college and change his fate.

Those indescribable, unnamable horrors only existed in his dreams.

It was as if this world was still safe, not constantly on the verge of destruction, not about to become another one of those grim, hopeless post-apocalyptic worlds.

The stress and darkness that had been building up recently seemed to vanish in an instant.

Just then, Ji Xin suddenly ran over, threw an arm around Shen Feng’s shoulders, and asked in a low, mysterious voice:

"Old Shen, you were gone for so long. Did you join the ’True Apocalypse Game’?"