Matrix Survival: I Get A Random Chest Every Day

"A physiological age of sixteen, but an IQ of only three?" Li Zheng's eyebrows twitched wildly. How the hell is this supposed to be calculated?

Count as a three-year-old child and avoid the Matrix's criteria for recruitment?

Or count as an ordinary sixteen-year-old?

If it's the former, that's fine. Even if the Matrix's so-called "proper placement" is just a soothing claim, the country will certainly take action given such a significant event worldwide.

It's only a matter of time before Lin Longxuan is discovered, and someone will naturally look after him then.

But if it's the latter...

Then there's no need for Lin Fengjiao to keep searching. Whether his IQ allows him to open a water bottle or a can, his probability of survival is infinitely close to zero.

Li Zheng couldn't possibly imagine how desperate it must be for a boy with the IQ of a three-year-old who might not even know how to leave his capsule residence!

For a moment, Li Zheng didn't dare to respond, fearing what he might say would be too cruel.

Could Lin Fengjiao not have thought of this?

She surely thought about it...

She just refused to admit it, didn't want to face reality.

Lin Fengjiao turned her head to look at the sea: "No matter the result, I won't give up searching for Xiaoxuan. Even if he's dead, I want to find his body and bring him back!"

Li Zheng felt a complex emotion, as he had lived with his grandmother after losing his parents at a young age.

When he was seventeen, his grandmother was hospitalized with a severe illness. They sold the house they lived in for over a decade to pay for treatment, but it didn't save her.

The day his grandmother passed away, Li Zheng held her cold hand, in a daze.

He couldn't put into words how he felt at the time, only that the world before him seemed shattered, and he had lost the reason to live.

After that, he couldn't remember how he managed to arrange her funeral, just that he went back to school and lived in the dormitory.

He dropped out of school in the next semester.

Then began wandering, working, wandering and working, in a long cycle.

During that period, he often thought, maybe it's better to just die.

Until later, when a kind-hearted landlord took him in and he got a silly dog, his life gradually got back on track.

So, he understood how Lin Fengjiao felt now.

Li Zheng comforted her: "Don't worry. Your brother might not have entered the Matrix yet. There's no need to be so pessimistic."

"Maybe..." Lin Fengjiao sighed, clearly aware that this possibility was slim.

"Oh, by the way!" Li Zheng suddenly remembered something and asked, "I saw your avatar photo; you seem young. Where are your parents?"

"Uh... actually, I just have a baby face. My actual age might be older than yours." Lin Fengjiao suddenly became shy.

Li Zheng pulled up her avatar and took another look: "No matter how much of a baby face, you look around twenty, right?"

Lin Fengjiao said, "Twenty-eight, and my parents should be fifty-three or fifty-four this year... They have been in prison for so long, I forgot their exact age."

Li Zheng: "...Your family is really something."

Lin Fengjiao sighed: "Yeah, really something, who could have thought that a seemingly honest middle-aged couple could be underworld bosses behind the scenes?

If not for the national crackdown on crime, even I, their biological daughter, wouldn't have known about their identities."

"...Wow!" Li Zheng was shocked. How is this plot getting more and more intriguing?

This family could be written into a novel, but readers might criticize it for being too unrealistic in its setting.

How could the biological children not know their parents are underworld bosses?

This level of concealment must have been quite intense!

Li Zheng suddenly thought of a popular online joke about testing the offspring of rich families, which seemed quite similar.

He even felt that the Lin Family might have the same idea, grooming their child to be the successor.

Except before the underworld successor even took over, the old Lin couple was first taken in by the state...

This little digression lightened Lin Fengjiao's mood considerably.

After chatting for a while longer, Li Zheng noticed that Xiao Siyuan had been staying inside the capsule residence without any intention of coming out, so he finally decided to take his leave.

"If you two ever want to return to Channel 879, get in touch with Old Xiao, I have things to do, so I'll head out first."

"This... you're leaving already?" Lin Fengjiao was somewhat reluctant.

Li Zheng took out the Star Thief, entered the target channel number, and said, "I have to find that guy who can heal me. See you."

The Star Thief activated, and Li Zheng vanished along with Sakura and Pink Poli.

"Goodbye." Lin Fengjiao waved, moved to the entrance of the capsule residence, leaned against the wall, and gazed at the sea, lost in thought.

In a particular room on Channel 9595995, a creature covered in sharp thorns was sleeping.

Suddenly, a ripple disturbed it, and upon opening its eyes, it saw two bizarre creatures appearing out of nowhere.

The one without wings spoke something toward it.

The next moment, two stone pillar-like spikes shot up from the ground, piercing through it directly.

"Nice job." Li Zheng praised as he approached the corpse of the Gold Level spike-armored monster.

"Awoo~"

Sakura proudly raised its head, realizing it had grown strong enough to fight in its owner's stead.

From now on, its owner wouldn't have to fight alone anymore!

One day, Sakura could protect its owner just like its owner protected it!

"Polili~"

Pink Poli fawned over Sakura.

Li Zheng chuckled, "Protect me? Sure, from today on, any creatures below Platinum Level are for you two to handle, okay?"

"Awoo!" Sakura was full of confidence.

"Polili!" Pink Poli continued its flattery.

Seeing this, Li Zheng promptly made the decision: "Then it's settled!"

Previously, Li Zheng didn't let Sakura fight because, at first, the little creature was too weak and couldn't face any opponents.

As it grew slightly stronger, Li Zheng thought to leverage battles to enhance his own experience and master various abilities more quickly.

And now?

Unless the opponent's Tier reached Platinum, whether they were Gold or Black Iron mattered little to Li Zheng, not even qualified for practice.

[Decomposed the spike-armored monster, obtained: Hard Spikes +20, Carapace +10, Acidic Corrosive Liquid 500ml]

No blood, no flesh, of very low value, Li Zheng promptly packed them up and tossed them into the trading hall, pricing them at one Gold Level Active Core.

He recently discovered that these items, useless for him, barely sold when listed individually.

Resolving to sell them as a bundle to try boosting sales.

After decomposing, Li Zheng curiously looked around, finding this channel's environment no different from other places.

There were also six metal doors, with various environments and terrains tailored to the creatures.

Opened the regional channel, and unsurprisingly, the entire channel was desolate, with no names on the power rankings.

"Next, I have to figure out how to find the special room where the doctor is," Li Zheng muttered, pulling out the business card and trying to look for clues.

"Huh?"

Upon holding the card, Li Zheng was surprised to find the text scrambled, forming twelve arrows pointing in one direction.

"Does this mean, follow the guidance, and I'll find the doctor?" Li Zheng thought for a moment and then took out the Mysterious Declaration.

A second later, looking at the business card again, those arrows were completely disordered, spread all over the card's surface, pointing in all directions.

"The Mysterious Declaration interferes with the card's directional effect. I've come too early, haven't I?"

He guessed that after reaching this channel, it wouldn't be possible to directly arrive at the doctor's location, so he specially saved the ten exploration opportunities provided by the Mysterious Declaration to try taking a shortcut.

Unexpectedly, the outcome turned out like this.

This indicates that even with no other players in this channel, activating the Mysterious Declaration would randomly change the paths behind the doors.

Hastily advancing could very well lead to moving farther from the doctor, becoming counterproductive.

Stashing away the business card in disappointment, Li Zheng took the lamp and approached the nearest metal door, wanting to test the accuracy of the Mysterious Declaration.

[Behind the door, a player is currently taking a break.]

"Huh? What's going on?" Li Zheng was shocked.

Clearly, a playerless channel, yet the information provided by Lao Pu indicated the presence of a player?