Isn't This a Game? Why Are You All Cultivating for Real!

Chapter 69: Chapter 69: Nationally Selected, Use with Confidence

Song Jiulai had arrived.

She looked at the newly arrived players. Each one was a little leek, waiting to be harvested—ahem.

Her face overflowed with a gentle, loving kindness.

This was already her third time. Even with her clumsy acting, she could now imitate the essence of an immortal’s bearing.

As was customary, she began with a meaningless opening speech.

"Welcome, new disciples, to my Longevity Sect..."

After finishing her long-winded speech, Song Jiulai cut to the chase and distributed the inner cores for Opening Spiritual Roots to the newcomers.

This time, she even decided to put on a bit of a show.

She flew away.

After all, having entered the Qi Refining Middle Stage, she could manage basic Qi Manipulation Flight. Flying a short distance wasn’t a problem.

The new players watched as Song Jiulai flew away, floating with an immortal’s grace. Lin Yuyu was clearly one of the captivated, waiting until Song Jiulai’s figure had completely vanished before adding, "She’s so beautiful."

Lin Baobao, cupping her chin, sighed in agreement. "Yeah."

The next second, Lin Yuyu said, "Quick, quick, let’s start Opening our Spirit Roots! I want to see what kind of talent I have!"

Song Jiulai had just explained it very clearly.

The process was the same for all new players.

After their Spirit Root was opened, they would be forcibly logged out.

"THUMP—"

At home, Tan Jie’s eyes snapped open.

He let out a heavy sigh.

He didn’t immediately take off the VR glasses on his face, instead touching them gently.

Only after confirming that the sensation was real did he remove the VR device.

While playing the game, he hadn’t felt anything on his face at all, and his entire perception had been dominated by the game world.

He couldn’t hear the sounds of reality, couldn’t feel the existence of reality.

It had completely blocked his senses.

For a soldier who had trained for many years, this was completely unimaginable.

’This VR device isn’t the key to getting in,’ he thought. ’It’s more like a disguise for a connection channel.’

Tan Jie took out his phone and immediately called a colleague.

He had told them earlier not to contact him unless he sent a message first.

"Yes, please inform Minister Wei that I have something important to report. Yes, I’m on my way now."

「Two in the morning.」

The base was still brightly lit.

Wei Jun looked at Tan Jie with a serious expression. "Can you guarantee that everything you’ve said is true, without the slightest falsehood?"

Tan Jie’s expression was just as solemn. "Reporting to the Minister, I am willing to stake my life on it. Not a single word of what I said is false."

Wei Jun was suddenly overcome with a sense of exhaustion.

His head was starting to hurt again.

As he lowered his head slightly, he pinched the bridge of his nose to hide the symptom of his headache.

"This is a major incident..."

Over the past two days, Xiaoqing had already asked the Ministry of Technology, and the answer that came back was this:

With the world’s current technology, it was completely impossible to achieve what this game advertised.

At least, it was impossible for Huaxia at its current stage.

And if Huaxia couldn’t do it, one could infer that almost no other country could either.

If ’they’ possessed such technology, given their hostile attitude toward Huaxia, subverting the nation wouldn’t be out of the question. Why would they bother letting such technology appear in Huaxia?

The people at the Ministry of Technology even suspected that Wei Jun and his team were just messing with them, wondering why they would ask such a question.

If he had held any doubts before, now that Tan Jie had staked his life on his testimony, it told Wei Jun everything he needed to know.

He had to believe it, whether he wanted to or not.

He had already met with Liang Xueyao.

But Liang Xueyao wasn’t part of the base, after all. The truthfulness of his words couldn’t be fully guaranteed.

Now, Tan Jie had proven it.

"All the data is here. There’s nothing more in-depth."

Xiaoqing came over with a file and spread it open in front of Wei Jun.

"Through facial recognition comparison, we’ve determined that the facial similarity between the in-game Song Jiulai and the real-life Song Jiulai is ninety-seven percent."

"Song Jiulai, 24 years old, from Qiu City, Huaxia. An orphan with no parents, raised in an orphanage. Died in a car accident on September 25th while saving a cat. Because she had no relatives, the funeral home cremated and buried her remains. At least several hundred people witnessed the process and can testify. The video files and records are all intact. We haven’t found any issues on that front."

"In other words, we can conclude that the real-life Song Jiulai is indeed dead."

Hearing this, Wei Jun looked at Tan Jie. "You saw her in the game?"

Tan Jie nodded, his eyes falling on a photo of Song Jiulai that Wei Jun was holding.

Tan Jie’s eyes narrowed. He then said, "The Sect Master in the game, Song Jiulai, has a slightly thinner face, and her skin is flawless. She’s like a perfected version of the real-life Song Jiulai."

After all, the previous Song Jiulai was just an ordinary person. The girl in the photo had a delicate, pretty face.

Only her eyes were large and full of spirit.

In this ’posthumous portrait,’ she was also smiling at the camera, giving off the feeling that she had a rather lively personality.

But it was nowhere near as impressive as the real person in the game.

"Games optimize models. The 3D model would definitely be in a perfect state," Xiaoqing added, then continued, "But if she really is just a model, then who put her in the game? And that’s assuming this really is a game."

Her two sentences seemed to be stating the obvious.

But both Wei Jun and Tan Jie understood what she meant.

Wei Jun sighed. "Xiaoqing, consolidate all the information regarding Song Jiulai and the game. I’ll go see the leadership in the morning. It’s late today. Thank you for your hard work."

Xiaoqing immediately nodded. "It’s no trouble, Minister. It’s what we’re supposed to do. I’ll continue consolidating the data now."

Wei Jun nodded, then turned to Tan Jie. "Tan Jie, from now on you have only one mission: play this game well. Build good relationships with the ordinary players and try to learn everything you can about this game and Song Jiulai. Just don’t reveal your identity. Act like a normal player."

Tan Jie immediately saluted. "Yes, sir! I will complete the mission!"

Wei Jun thought for a few seconds before adding, "For now, just stay at home. I’ll have a team of experts sent over."

In the game, the system also told Song Jiulai that there had been a small problem with this round of player selection.

"It’s obvious your country’s government tried to cheat, but I stopped them," the system said, very pleased with itself. "Luck is a part of strength. They’re the government, how could they have the nerve to cheat?"

Song Jiulai was a little surprised. "The government is already onto me this quickly?"

System: "Of course! If a technology that’s ahead of its time appeared, wouldn’t you investigate it? They’ve probably confirmed it over and over, and I bet your file is already on someone’s desk."

Song Jiulai pinched her chin. "Doesn’t that mean they’ll try everything they can to insert their own government agents to investigate?"

System: "Are you scared?"

Song Jiulai slapped her thigh. "Scared my ass! I couldn’t ask for anything better! If soldiers come in, that’s prime combat power. I’ll send them all to the First Mountain. If civil servants get in, that’s even better. Anyone who can get into the game at that level must be something special. They’ve all passed five trials and slain six generals to get their government jobs, and they’ve even passed political reviews. Hand-picked by the state to be my Sect managers? I’d use them with peace of mind."

System: "..."