Dark Magician Isekai: Return and make Fantasy World into a VR Game

Earth time, October 25, Friday.

The temperature in G Province was starting to cool, and in the depths of the mountains, adjacent to magnificent scenery, stood a convalescent care facility.

With a briefcase in hand, Lu Yiyun led a younger man up the second floor of the facility with practiced ease. After rounding a corner, they soon arrived at a ward bearing a nameplate that read "Liu Yaowu."

"You're here, Aunt Lu." A young lady seated by the bed, browsing on her phone, quickly got up when she saw the two visitors entering. She hurriedly grabbed cups and poured water.

"Why are you still here, Xiaoyun? Don't you have school?" Lu Yiyun asked in surprise.

"Aunt Lu, you've forgotten, I graduated earlier this year," Liu Xiaoyun said with a smile. "I was planning to look for a job, but then Dad needed someone to take care of him."

"Look at me, all muddled. I still keep thinking that you are barely twenty." Lu Yiyun chuckled as she patted her own forehead. She set down her briefcase, took a seat by the bed, and leaned over with concern. "How's Old Liu's condition?"

The middle-aged man lying in the hospital bed had been smiling at Lu Yiyun since she entered, but his movements seemed restricted as if his neurological responses were impaired. Although he opened his mouth as if trying to speak, no sound was produced. Instead, some saliva trickled down from the corner of his mouth.

"My dad's been in a much better mood these few days," said Liu Xiaoyun as she poured two cups of water for the visitors. Then she retrieved her phone, pressed the play button, and happily exclaimed, "Look, Aunt Lu, this is a video my dad recorded. He's especially lively in the game, just like before!"

The phone in Liu Xiaoyun's hand displayed a water surface with a reflection of a skeleton on it.

This skeleton reflection on the water's surface was speaking rhythmically. Although the skull didn't show any expression, the spirited energy in its voice was evident—

"Xiaoyun, don't listen to your mom and keep accompanying me here. I'm doing well. You should focus on your own stuff. You're all grown up now; it's time you got yourself a boyfriend.

"Help me tell Caregiver Li not to keep placing the bedpan underneath the bed. Even if there's no smell, it's still uncomfortable."

Old Liu was actually still rather clear-headed and could understand everything. It was just that he couldn't move or speak, and half a year of being bedridden had greatly diminished his spirit. Just a year prior, he could easily keep up with the youngsters at construction sites, but this year, he had grown skinny and was a shell of his former self.

Lu Yiyun hadn't recognized Old Liu the first time she had seen him on the hospital bed. This was the same expert engineer who had overseen many construction projects of roads and bridges in the country.

It wasn't until she saw him in the "game" that Lu Yiyun once again witnessed the vitality of this seasoned master engineer.

The Old Liu in the video chatted away energetically, and the Old Liu lying on the bed recognized his own voice and flashed a bright smile at Lu Yiyun.

"He does seem more spirited," Lu Yiyun chuckled, patting Old Liu's shoulder gently. "Old Liu, rest well and cooperate with the treatment to regain your strength. Even if you can't stand, at least be able to sit up. Let's think of a way together. Who knows, maybe we'll develop technology that allows communication without speaking and it will become easier."

Old Liu strained his facial muscles to try and say something, but no sound came out. In the end, he blinked his eyes as a sign of agreement. Then, he shifted his gaze and looked toward his eldest daughter expectantly.

"Dad, you've been online for eight hours today. Save some time for later, alright?" Liu Xiaoyun understood her father's intent and leaned over while coaxing. "Next time, when it gets dark in the game and there's nothing urgent to do, log out for a bit. It isn't too good to be playing for such long stretches at a time."

Old Liu could only helplessly blink several times.

"Look after your dad well," chuckled Lu Yiyun as she rose from her seat. "I'll go visit Uncle Geng. Old Liu, take care and recover well."

"Mm, alright. See you later, Aunt Lu." Liu Xiaoyun got up to see her off.

Old Geng's ward was on the fifth floor. Due to his advanced age and the fact that his wife was not exactly young either, air conditioning was used when heating wasn't in operation. The temperature in his ward was also higher than in Old Liu's.

"You're here, Xiao Lu."

Mrs. Geng got excited seeing their visitor and grasped Lu Yiyun's hand. "I am truly… grateful to you, Xiao Lu. Thank you for remembering Old Geng. He's been in much better spirits these past few days, and he's even eating properly now. He has also been cooperating with the doctor's check-ups. Thank you so much, Xiao Lu!"

"Please don't say that, I can't handle such gratitude. If we're talking about thanks, I can't even hold a candle to the list of people who wish to thank Uncle Geng," Lu Yiyun responded.

A hoarse, aged voice came from inside the ward. "Alright, alright. Stop holding up Xiao Lu, let her come in."

Mrs. Geng hurriedly invited Lu Yiyun inside. Lu Yiyun took a quick scan of the room and was pleasantly surprised to find that Uncle Geng was actually sitting up, propped against a pillow. He held a tablet in his hand and beamed with joy when he saw Lu Yiyun.

"Oh my, Uncle Geng! T-this… Isn't this a huge improvement?" Lu Yiyun exclaimed in delight.

Lu Yiyun also had the medical records of Geng Jianguo and Liu Yaowu. The attending doctors of these two patients reported to the expert task force daily, though Lu Yiyun hadn't gotten to see those two in person before. Right now, she was in slight disbelief at how well Geng Jianguo had recovered.

"Nah, it's not a huge deal. Just so-so." Old Geng did seem to be in high spirits and had quite a hearty smile. However, his voice was still weak, unlike the vigor he had in the game. "I spend less time in pain daily, so wouldn't my mood be better?"

Liu Yaowu had been paralyzed waist down due to a major accident on a construction site six months ago. His head had also been impacted, causing neural damage which resulted in abstract signal cognitive disorder, commonly referred to as a loss of speech function.

However, his brain's micro-electric signals were quite active, not that far off from those of a normal person. After an evaluation by the expert task force, a bold attempt was made, and Liu Yaowu was indeed able to "log into the game" normally. Moreover, within the game, he had his pre-accident speech function restored. This result provided a new direction for the expert task force's research.

Old Geng's situation was different. He had fought against a debilitating disease with determination for many years. Chemotherapy had been effective, but age had caught up with him. His body and mind were gradually weakening, exacerbated by the development of drug resistance from long-term pain relief medication. Regardless of how strong his spirit and resilience were, he couldn't endure such a prolonged struggle…

Liu Yaowu was a master engineer, who devoted three decades of his youth toward national construction. Old Geng, on the other hand, was a military veteran who, after the Vietnam War, had spent over twenty years in the far northwest.

Despite the shortage of helmets for patients with cognitive disorders undergoing "stimulation therapy," the expert task force had managed to eke out two helmets to accommodate these two.

Old Geng proudly showed Lu Yiyun a video he had recorded within the game, of the canteen he and Old Liu built which had been very well received. Even Old Liu's amateur cooking skills had earned him the awe of "NPCs." Old Geng got the itch to participate as well, and he showcased his soup-making skills, which received an equally enthusiastic response.

"It's a pity that I can't taste as a skeleton and can only rely on my sense of touch. Otherwise, I would also have become a culinary god along with Old Liu."

Old Geng, who was in his seventies, proudly showed his gaming abilities with the enthusiasm of a child.This made Lu Yiyun and her accompanying assistant break into warm smiles.

Having met with these two, Lu Yiyun and her assistant then went to meet the attending doctors for the two patients.

On the way back to the research institute, Lu Yiyun, who was driving, fell silent midway and let out a sudden sigh.

"Director Lu?" Her assistant turned toward her.

"It's nothing." Lu Yiyun smiled faintly but didn't say anything else.

This convalescent care facility hidden deep within the mountains of G Province housed several other patients who had made significant contributions to the country, besides Liu Yaowu and Old Geng.

These helmets couldn't cure illnesses directly, but they could provide a sense of emotional comfort to these now helpless individuals who had contributed so much, as well as offer relief from some of the physical suffering, much like what was happening with Old Geng.

However, the research institute had a limited number of helmets, while there were a significant number of patients with consciousness disorders awaiting clinical treatment.

Lu Yiyun, who was leading the expert task force, couldn't help feeling that this was rather regrettable.

There were just too few helmets. Were there more, there wouldn't be a need to struggle over who to prioritize.

During the period where goods and supplies were given to the "target," the expert task force hadn't been idle… All necessary actions had been taken.

After the necessary actions were taken, the expert task force confirmed that the "target" could indeed transfer real-world supplies into the "game world." However, it seemed that living beings couldn't be transferred.

The BeiDou satellite locator beacon attached to the tricycle carts went offline about four hours after the container exchange. Afterward, Ji Tang managed to locate the still-operational satellite locator beacon on a tricycle cart within the "game."

Firearm components hidden in different tricycle carts were also successfully brought into the "game." After discreetly collecting and assembling these components, Ji Tang conducted test firing, and their functionality remained unaffected.

The experts had also intentionally placed a cage with two mice in one of the containers. When Old Geng, who had logged into the game two days after the exchange, located the container with the special mark, he discovered the corpses of the mice.

Afterward, Professor Yin Zhengliang of the expert task force took over Lu Yiyun's forum account, offering various offers and all sorts of excuses to test the other party's resolve. Unfortunately, the "target" was adamant about cooperation being limited to the exchange of helmets and refused any other form of collaboration.

After several rounds of negotiation, the "target" hinted that the supply of helmets couldn't be increased endlessly, but had some sort of restriction.

What exactly this restriction was, Professor Yin Zhengliang couldn't find out…

Facing such a cunning and crafty counterpart gave Professor Yin Zhengliang a headache.

One step at a time, I guess, sighed Lu Yiyun inwardly, trying her best to suppress the rising restlessness in her heart.

That night, Yang Qiu returned from the other world back to Earth. As usual, after showering and having supper, he browsed the forum, giving upvotes to informative posts as well as warnings and suspending forum users who mindlessly flooded the forum with requests for accounts.

Over the last two days, the hottest topic on the forum was discussions about civilian NPCs. The newly added NPCs in the "main city" maps of Exile Town and Desolate Outpost had captivated the interest of casual players. Various speculations about these NPCs were flooding the forum.

Well… this wasn't out of the ordinary. Compared to the various "advanced NPCs" that behaved quite unrealistically, "civilian NPCs" were indeed closer to the understanding of humans that players from Earth had…

Yang Qiu scrolled through these analytical posts by casual players one by one. His main purpose was to ascertain whether anyone had some crazy idea to try something absurd—like testing if they could kill civilian NPCs, even though Identify showed civilian NPCs with green names and incapable of dropping any equipment. If anyone showed signs of such reckless behavior, Yang Qiu wouldn't hesitate to drop the ban hammer on them.

As of now, things seemed to be going relatively well. The wilderness around Desolate Outpost and the Spider Cave at the underground passage in Exile Town were teeming with monsters that could satiate players' aggression. Moreover, the announcement during the settlement of the [Rebellion Suppression] quest made it clear that attacking NPCs outside of quests would result in the deduction of all reputation and an account ban. As a result, OtherWorld players, who cherished their accounts, weren't prepared to risk trying anything.

After browsing through the forum, Yang Qiu checked the administrator back end as he usually did.

During this period, "Director Lu" had been sending him emails almost daily, using various tactics to try and extract information from him. While Yang Qiu was a tad annoyed, he couldn't simply ignore or cut ties after receiving large amounts of supplies. If he acted ungrateful now, it might become difficult to request anything in the future.

In today's email, "Director Lu" mentioned that there was a surplus of several hundred tons of grain in a certain granary in the southern region of G Province and asked if Yang Qiu would be interested.

Yang Qiu. "…"

Is this fellow testing if I have any intention to establish dominance and rule…? Yang Qiu didn't show any excitement but stroked his chin instead while contemplating. The civilians brought back from Camore and the Holy Legion cavalry visiting Exile Town have made these guys certain that the "game" is indeed another world. Could they be considering my next moves?

To be honest, when given the choice of whether he wanted grain, Yang Qiu definitely did.

However, it was pretty obvious that there was a change in the person behind this "Director Lu" email account. It wasn't the same scientist who was single-mindedly focused on research as before. Getting their grain would come at an equivalent cost—and it wouldn't be handed over for free.

And this was where Yang Qiu faced a dilemma. He hadn't yet advanced to Archmage, and his Imprint Matrix couldn't be "expanded" yet. As of now, he couldn't provide them with more helmets.

After some consideration, Yang Qiu replied that there was currently no need for the grain, citing the reason being no storage space.

This stance of his was neither denying nor confirming their guesses.

Having thrown out this ambiguous stance, Yang Qiu peacefully went to bed.

The next morning, when Yang Qiu woke up and logged into the forum administrator back end once more, he found another email from "Director Lu."

In this email, "Director Lu" made a shockingly straightforward and revealing statement—"Due to a certain mechanical factory in X Province having arrears, there is a surplus of cement production lines, fertilizer production lines, thermal power generator units, and other supporting equipment. Are you interested?"

Yang Qiu: "…"

What sort of factory can accumulate so many complete sets of equipment overnight! Do they think I'm retarded?!