This Naruto is too easily persuaded.

The living

A cold wind swept up a thick fog.

The wandering samurai wielding a fine steel katana was hunched over, cautiously groping his way through the dense forest.

Leaving the embrace of the golden tree, the sky here appears exceptionally gloomy and gray.

The air was so oppressive it was almost suffocating.

The thick fog obscured his view ahead, but the towering golden tree phantom behind him, like a lighthouse, guided him home.

Suddenly, two eerie green lights appeared in the mist.

A burly wolf, with foul-smelling drool dripping from its mouth, pounced without warning!

Come on!

The down-on-his-luck samurai roared, gripped the hilt of his sword tightly with both hands, and swung it down in front of him.

puff.

The samurai's katana ruthlessly tore a huge gash in the wolf's belly, but at the same time, the wolf's sharp teeth also viciously bit through his calf.

"Aaaaaah!!"

The intense, unmistakable pain caused him to let out a piercing scream.

The intense pain blurred his vision.

In a daze, the face of the woman with whom he had made a promise in his previous life seemed to float before his eyes.

This lingering obsession ignited a beast-like madness in the samurai's eyes.

"I will definitely—I will come back to see you alive!!"

But the fear of death was ultimately overwhelmed by the desire for "resurrection".

He completely abandoned his defenses, allowing the wolves to tear his flesh apart.

He gripped the hilt of the knife tightly with his right hand and plunged the katana into the wolf's throat through its gaping maw.

With a bloodcurdling howl, the massive wolf crashed to the ground.

Its corpse did not bleed; instead, it transformed into countless golden specks of light that drifted away in the wind.

Then, a double reward arrived.

A tiny halo of light, as if drawn by a magnet, merged into the samurai's body.

Points earned: +20

On the ground, where the wolf's corpse had disappeared, lay a scroll quietly.

The scroll had the words "Chakra Extraction Scroll" written on it.

The moment his fingers touched the scroll, a message naturally appeared in the samurai's mind, making him understand how to use it.

The samurai trembled slightly with extreme excitement.

Without any hesitation, he crushed it, and the scroll transformed into a stream of light that entered his body.

In that instant, he felt a sensation he had never experienced before while he was alive—the feeling of chakra flowing within his body!

He was of mediocre talent in his lifetime and had no access to methods of chakra training; he was nothing more than a slightly stronger mortal until his death.

And now, in this afterlife, he actually has chakra!

Moreover, the feeling of this power is so real.

The samurai gasped for breath, ignoring the excruciating pain from the broken bone in his leg, greedily savoring the surging power within him.

"Chakra—I can become stronger—I really can be resurrected!"

He stared intently into the depths of the mist, his eyes flashing with a terrifying light.

In the monitoring room in the void, Orochimaru stood in front of the massive instruments, gazing at the data inside.

Seeing the soaring numbers, his eyes narrowed with excitement.

"This is wonderful!"

Orochimaru watched the image of the wandering samurai laughing maniacally amidst his blood on the split screen: "The fear and pain that samurai experienced in the life-or-death struggle, and the almost insane ecstasy after receiving the reward—"

—”

"These extreme emotional fluctuations have become the best nourishment for this spiritual world."

"And all we have to give up is a tiny reward, and—hope."

He couldn't help but laugh out loud: "This is truly an excellent deal."

Blacksmiths who can't fight can work hard in safe zones to make money by forging iron, providing a small but lasting amount of mental energy.

Meanwhile, the warriors, yearning for resurrection, fought desperately in the wilderness, clearing land and shed blood, thus providing a large amount of spiritual energy.

There's absolutely no need to drive them away.

The desires of these spirits will drive them to find the most suitable way to work, and they will willingly dedicate everything to this place.

The test has concluded successfully.

Orochimaru turned around, his expression becoming extremely respectful.

He held up a login device with both hands, which had an extremely simple design and looked like a motorcycle helmet, and presented it to Naruto.

Naruto sat on the throne, picked up the device and glanced at it. He casually decided on a name as simple and unpretentious as the helmet's appearance: "Don't attract too much attention, so let's call it — [Game Helmet]."

The helmet's external structure is extremely simple; all the seemingly complex internal mechanical components are merely for concealment and to prevent disassembly and leakage of secrets.

The true core is actually a hidden psychic rune.

Naruto pushed up his glasses, the lenses reflecting a faint light: "Next, mass-produce a large batch of helmets, and then begin large-scale internal testing by the Mutual Aid Association."

Two weeks later.

The border area, Golden Tree Square.

When Shuiyue's consciousness felt a slight sense of weightlessness and successfully logged in, she raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Because the square was no longer the empty and desolate place it once was.

Beneath the enormous phantom of the golden tree, a hundred or so people had gathered, creating a lively scene.

These people are all members of a mutual aid society in real life.

Some were members of the security team who had just finished get off work and gave up their rest time to log in; others were logistics personnel who took advantage of their rare day off to put on helmets and come to experience the "100% realistic virtual game".

The entire square resembles a large online game city, teeming with life.

Some people squatted by the roadside and set up stalls, loudly hawking the inferior leather armor and herbs they had obtained from the wild;

Some people stood at the exit of the mist, shouting to recruit teammates: "Wolves are spawning on the outer edge of the mist, looking for a bro who knows Fire Release!"

"The points obtained will be split equally, and ninjutsu scrolls will be allocated as needed! Anyone who's not afraid to die, come and try!"

Unsuspecting soldiers in the North would simply assume that the people around them were like themselves, all comrades who had logged in wearing game helmets.

However, Shuiyue, who was in a high-ranking position, knew some inside information that ordinary people did not.

His gaze fell on a stall in the corner.

Shuiyue had a deep impression of the old man who was selling kunai with a fawning expression.

Just half a month ago, Shuiyue personally led a group to the mass grave and dug up the old man's newly buried grave!

Unexpectedly, the two have now reunited in this bizarre world in such an absurd way.

Shuiyue stopped in her tracks, looking at the bizarre scene around her where it was impossible to distinguish between the living and the dead, yet it was incredibly harmonious and full of the atmosphere of the marketplace. Her lips twitched involuntarily.

The dead are setting up stalls here, selling things in hopes of some elusive resurrection.

The living, wearing helmets, excitedly entered and teamed up with the ghosts that crawled out of the graves to fight monsters.

"Tsk—"

Shuiyue scratched her white hair, looked up at the golden tree that radiated a sacred light, and couldn't help but sigh from the bottom of her heart: "What kind of damned world is this?!"