The male supporting character was actually myself.

Living in a slum with few decent clothes and no beautiful women around, Si Anrui couldn't resist such temptation. Before being lured to a secluded forest and tied up, he thought it was his own charm that attracted the beauty to throw herself into his arms.

It's too late to regret it now. The vehicles and equipment that cost 60,000 gold coins to buy don't have any binding function, meaning whoever takes them can keep them.

Even if M Technology Company has a purchase record, it's useless. Equipment dropped during a fight can be considered loot. He was tempted to do something indecent and turned off his personal camera. Without evidence, and with a professional robbery team able to dispose of stolen goods quickly, once the equipment is lost, it's impossible to get it back.

"Crack!" A whip lashed his body, and a pretty woman with leopard-print spots on her face bent down, a mischievous smile on her face, and breathed sweetly into his ear, "Handsome boy, is that all you have? You really didn't hold back?"

Si Anrui, who was tightly bound, struggled and glared at the other party, which drew laughter.

"Damn it, you're willing to spend 100,000 yuan on a helmet, but all you have is this much equipment?" The burly man with a face full of scars spat.

Another man who was tidying up the car advised, "It's not bad. Don't you know what our girl is capable of? If it weren't for the fact that her skin is naturally so hard to peel off, she could have left this kid with nothing!"

Leopard Girl was clearly not very satisfied either. "Only people who don't know anything about these things would spend so much money to buy them in the system store. You buy them for 60,000 yuan and sell them for less than that. They're just fancy gadgets that look nice but aren't practical at all."

She simply stood up and stomped her leopard-print high heels on the other man's face, the heel grinding hard and making Si Anrui gasp. "Little brother, are you new here? You paid your tuition so readily without making your sister worry, so your sister won't treat you unfairly."

Let me tell you a survival rule from "Perfect World"—it's even more chaotic here than outside. After all, everyone's covered up, and you can't even tell men from women, young from old. It's a dog-eat-dog world, and only the capable can make money.

"If you're rich and foolish and can't spend all your money, you can ask your older sister to help you squander it..."

As she spoke, her eyes flashed with a fierce light, and the whip in her hand tightened around Si Anrui's neck. She said coldly, "In order to completely eliminate the traces, I can only make you suffer a little. No need to thank me, I'm willing to let you personally experience what it's like to be the 'first kill'!"

Chapter Four: How to Make Friends

"Help, help me!" Although he knew that death in the game would not involve physical harm, the real fear of suffocation terrified Si Anrui.

He struggled and managed to spit out some of the stuff stuffed in his mouth, then immediately let out a scream as if he were being choked, "Help!"

The burly man was about to urge them on when he was suddenly blinded by the car headlights and couldn't see anything clearly.

Realizing something was wrong, he immediately activated a teleportation talisman, slammed it on the ground, and shouted, "Run! Someone's coming!"

Hearing the roar of the motorcycle, the Leopard Girl didn't linger. She whipped her whip back and disappeared into the lush jungle.

"A robbery gang?" Jiang Chen spotted his target the moment he turned the corner on his motorcycle. He had a strong memory of robbery gangs from the original owner's past. In just one glance, he drew his gun and started shooting without even aiming.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

The car headlights illuminated the moment the guns were drawn and the burly man and his companions were teleporting.

The bullets grazed the ground twice and disappeared into the jungle, while Jiang Chen began to brake and prepare to stop.

The professionalism of the escort was immediately apparent. Upon seeing the wealthy man's brake lights illuminate, none of the drivers behind dared to overtake; they all slowed down and eventually got out of their cars to watch the spectacle.

"Oh, have we run into a robbery gang?" Jiang Chen's motorcycle was bound to his equipment, so he wasn't worried about it being stolen. He parked it on the side of the road, grabbed his gun, and headed into the woods.

Everyone else habitually put away their non-binding equipment to avoid having their cars stolen in the chaos. When they saw the boss's bright headlights shining on Si Anrui, who was tied up like a dumpling, they laughed and gathered around to watch the spectacle.

"Heh, no signs of a struggle. Looks like the robbery went smoothly this time."

"He's obviously a newbie. Judging from his appearance, he's probably scanned based on his own image and then edited. What an idiot."

"Young people are naturally a bit narcissistic because they think they're handsome. After hanging around in 'Perfect World' for a while, they'll behave themselves and definitely save up some money to change their faces so that no one will know their real identities."

"Another immature teenager who believes the promotional video and thinks this place is a pure land..."

…………

Those who were drawn there were hardly any kind-hearted people; upon seeing this, the crowd pointed and whispered, mocking and ridiculing them.

Si Anrui blushed so much he wanted to disappear into the ground. The arrogant eighteen-year-old boy, who knew nothing of his own limitations, was eager to prove himself and slap others in the face. He was as proud as a peacock, and he couldn't bear such humiliation.

But he really had no experience. Who knew that after being bound in the virtual world, he wouldn't even be able to return to his birthplace?

"I've been robbed! Let me go, I need to call the police!" To ease the awkwardness, Si Anrui struggled to ask for help, but what he said was no different from an order.

Jiang Chen toyed with the vintage-style engraved pistol, walked over to him, kicked it, and laughed loudly, "Did you hear that? He said he's going to call the police!"

The crowd erupted in laughter. A scantily clad woman with a lip piercing and bright eye makeup stepped forward to film the incident and shared it on the community's social media. "Poor kid, what do you think this is? This den of iniquity is a lawless zone! You actually wanted to call the police?"

"That's hilarious. If you're not good enough, stay in the safe zone and don't wander around." Another blue-skinned guy, who had grabbed the most gold coins and was already a bit drunk, made a provocative gesture, took a photo with him, uploaded it to social media, and then flicked him on the head, laughing, "Tsk tsk, nothing left except the bound skin and equipment. Hopefully you have money in the bank. Otherwise..."

Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Chen added, "Otherwise, you'll have no choice but to work to save money to buy equipment."

Si Anrui felt a chill in his heart upon hearing this, and then he angrily vented his anger on his aunt.

If that woman hadn't refused to tell me even the most basic rules of the game, I wouldn't have ended up in a lawless area and been robbed!

Damn it, other people's parents start teaching their children from a young age, summarizing their experiences so that they don't have to take detours.

My aunt has worked at "Perfect Country" for so many years, but she hasn't shared any experience with me at all.

This made him wonder if his aunt, that idiot, had never even left the repair shop? Clinging to a dead-end job until death, she was truly a fool!

Old Wang downstairs, despite his advanced age, still knows how to exploit loopholes to register a female account, create a pretty face and a great figure to flirt with people. He earns more than my aunt by working as a bar hostess for two days.

She was originally a fairly good-looking woman, but she didn't know how to use her advantages to make money. No wonder she's been so poor all these years that she can't even afford a new helmet...

To ease the awkwardness and distract himself, Si Anrui cursed under his breath. Jiang Chen saw his eyes darting around and his silence, and thought that after suffering some setbacks, he would temporarily restrain his arrogant nature. So she untied him and prepared to complete the mission.

Rescuing someone is easy, but what constitutes a successful friendship?

With only ten minutes to spare, and judging from the protagonist's resentful and defiant expression, he'd have to force himself to accept the offer. He certainly wouldn't proactively ask to add him as a friend; that's how virtual games make friends...

"Then what should I do? Am I just supposed to accept my bad luck?" As soon as the ropes were untied, Si Anrui jumped up to untie himself. Without even saying thank you, he said urgently, "I spent 60,000 yuan on this new equipment, and I haven't even had a chance to use it properly yet. No way, I can't swallow this!"

The little white cat perched on its host's shoulder and rolled its eyes. "How rude! It can't even say thank you. Host, this protagonist is probably doomed. Let him be destroyed already."

The snowball-sized fluffy ball emitted a tender meow, immediately attracting Si Anrui's attention.

He had heard that you could raise pets in virtual games, but the common ones that everyone got were nothing special, and the rare ones were extremely rare. This was the first special pet he had ever seen.

"Was this cat bought or caught somewhere? How much is it worth?" Si Anrui was indeed naive and had a strong curiosity about everything in the virtual game.

Seeing that this cool and stylish player took the initiative to help, which was a stark contrast to the others who were jeering and mocking, he subconsciously felt that this was a very easy person to talk to.

As he spoke, Si Anrui reached out his hand towards the fluffy ball, wanting to touch it.

"Hey! You ill-mannered brat!" The fluffy ball glared at him and stretched out its sharp claws to scratch him back. "You actually dared to touch this cute little kitten! Get your stinky hands off me! Don't be angry, host, just wait till I scratch his face!"

With a single swipe of its claw, a realistic bloodstain was immediately left on Si Anrui's hand.

Before he could react, the little white cat tiptoed over and pounced, scratching his face with its short paws.

"Damn it! That cat actually scratched me!" Feeling the pain on his face, Si Anrui cursed and took a few steps back to avoid the attack from the other cat's pet.

Jiang Chen's face darkened, and he raised the gun in his right hand, pointing it at the man's forehead and pulling the trigger. "You're so arrogant, you won't even know how you died."

"boom!"

A gunshot rang out, and Si Anrui's face showed deep surprise and confusion as his body slowly fell backward.

After he lay down on the ground, he was teleported back to his birthplace after his first death, and his whole body dispersed into blue light spots and disappeared.

"Meow? The mission is already complete?" The little white cat was a bit confused when it heard the notification. It scratched its ears, feeling incredulous. "How strange. The best supporting actor clearly killed the protagonist's virtual avatar, so how did the mission complete?"

Jiang Chen blew on the smoking gun barrel and laughed, "I just kindly escorted him back to the city, and he hasn't even thanked me yet."

As for making friends, there are more ways to make friends in the game than just adding friends. Being added to the enemy list after being killed is another way to make friends!

He distributed some more gold coins to appease the followers, then opened the social circle of his home and used the backend operations of M Technology Company to buy a trending topic for the protagonist, Si Anrui.

The immature teenager who's obsessed with showing off is using his real face as a skin. If this gets hyped up, Si Anrui will be in big trouble both in "Perfect World" and in the real world.

More importantly, the video of him being robbed will be publicized so that his aunt can see it. In this way, Si Anrui's theft of money will be exposed, and the other party will not have to wait until she is seriously ill and needs money to find that she has no way out.

However, judging from the timeline in the story, the aunt who raised such an ungrateful child is most likely already showing symptoms of the illness.

But like many thrifty elders, she was unwilling to spend money on treatment in order to save money, always thinking that she was still young and there was no big problem and she could just tough it out.

“Repair shop… Poor aunt doesn’t even deserve a name. No name, no specific clues. There are so many repair shops, big and small, in ‘Perfect Country’. Where am I supposed to find one?” Jiang Chen sat on the top of a skyscraper, enjoying the breeze. He flipped through the script for a long time but couldn’t find any useful information.

The topic was still trending on the community's social media, and within just over ten minutes, Si Anrui had even posted funny memes about it, but still no clues about his aunt could be found.

"Forget it, let's go meet our female lead, Lin Ruochu, first." It's easy to check Si Anrui's personal information using the backend program of M Technology Company, but after all, it's just a technology company and its collection of real-world personal information isn't comprehensive enough to find someone immediately. He had no choice but to leave the search running and see what kind of person his competitor, Lin Ruochu, really was.

The script doesn't provide much detail about her.

In summary, she lives with her precocious younger brother. She is only twenty years old this year, but she is already a senior technical executive at G Technology Company, the rival of M Technology Company. Her gaming talent is naturally top-notch. After concealing her true identity, she is doing very well in "Perfect World".

Lin Ruochu's task was to find the top secret hidden in "Perfect World" and steal the game's core so that G Technology could develop an even better holographic game based on it.

To put it bluntly, the female lead, Lin Ruochu, is a business spy.

As a senior executive at G Technology Company, she lived a very comfortable life, residing in a large villa and flying a helicopter.

After Si Anrui became famous for obtaining the map of Treasure Island, Lin Ruochu approached him to complete her undercover mission. They became lovers after a fight and eventually helped each other gain control of the game "Perfect World".

During the process, she discovered G Technology Company's conspiracy, resolutely broke with them, and engaged in a long chase and entanglement in the real world before finally getting rid of the crisis, marrying Si Anrui, and living a happy life.

The script only briefly touches on what kind of conspiracy G Technology Company is plotting.

The story doesn't explain what happened to the last two large tech companies that controlled 90% of the wealth.

Jiang Chen felt it was necessary for him to get to know Lin Ruochu before the main character to influence the subsequent plot development.

Skull Island.

The island in the stormy sea of ​​"Perfect Country" is filled with both bloodshed and opportunity.

As its name suggests, the island resembles a giant skull when viewed from mid-air.

Apart from a few safe areas, the island is filled with skeletons of different levels, and the specific rules of the game are closer to those of traditional games—you can get virtual resources such as equipment and coins by defeating monsters.

Risk and opportunity coexist; those who can hunt monsters here are all seasoned hunters with extensive experience.

Killing monsters can yield generous rewards, but dying here will also randomly drop equipment, and you might end up losing both your loot and your life.

Therefore, without a reliable team, no one dares to easily set foot in the heart of Skull Island.

"Zizi!"

Two sparks flew out as Lin Ruochu, wearing a helmet, skillfully used a welding machine inside a safe house converted from a bus carriage, located on a cliff face.

She wore black overalls and a red short-sleeved bodysuit that accentuated her slender figure and soft waist. Her bare feet tapped on the floor to the rhythm of the welding machine. Under the control of her black gloves, she quickly completed a uniquely shaped and sharp crossbow bolt.

"Good luck!" With the crossbow finished, Lin Ruochu took off her helmet, letting her long, flowing black hair sway behind her head. She casually put the helmet down, a smile appearing on her face. "Come and see how my improvements are going!"

Lin Ruochu's virtual avatar was very ordinary; it was the kind of person you wouldn't recognize if you threw her into a crowd in real life.

As an undercover agent, she had to ensure that her false image had no resemblance to her real appearance and preferences in order to pass through M Technology Company's repeated rigorous investigations.

As a senior technical executive, Lin Ruochu did not think that going undercover was a despicable thing. After all, in business warfare, there is no such thing as benevolence or morality, as long as it is useful.

Real business battles are often simple, unpretentious, yet highly effective.