Marvel: Beginning with the Collection of Shinra Tensei

"Boss, it's me, Pietro."

A muffled voice came from swollen lips, and only then did Han Yu realize it was Quicksilver. If Han Yu weren't familiar with his features, he would've struggled to recognize him through the puffed-up cheeks.

"Here, this ointment will make it better in no time."

Wanda huffed lightly, tossing a bottle of ointment to Pietro. He caught it and applied it to his face. Within less than a minute, the swelling vanished rapidly.

The smooth coordination—Wanda throwing the ointment and Pietro catching and applying it—left Han Yu slightly dumbfounded. It seemed like this wasn't the first time Pietro had been beaten up.

"Little sister, you really don't hold back. I'm your brother, you know," Pietro said, rubbing his now-healed face with a look of grievance.

"You keep getting greedy for money! We've done this mission four times now and haven't earned a cent—all because you can't resist picking up dropped cash along the way. This time, I couldn't let it slide," Wanda retorted, her tone sharp.

"Well... a guy's gotta make a living, right? I'm just 100,000 Aurum Coins short of buying a medium-sized villa, so I got a little anxious."

Pietro let out a sheepish laugh and quickly fetched two cans of cola from the fridge, placing them on the table in front of Wanda and Ultron as a peace offering.

The two, of course, weren't truly angry at him. After all, they'd already given Pietro a good beating. If they stayed mad, it would seem excessive, especially since they were all on the same team. Taking the colas, they considered the matter settled.

"This better not happen again."

"Got it, got it!" Pietro replied quickly.

Han Yu sat down at a computer, smiling. "Looks like you three are having a blast. Is the game ready?"

"Boss, as per your instructions, I finished the rushed work over the past few days and published it. The reviews are overwhelmingly positive!"

Ultron, visibly excited, pulled up a website—the official GTA page. Its layout wasn't overly simplistic and had hints of a playful, feminine design. It was clear that Wanda had contributed to the website's aesthetic, likely aiming to attract female gamers.

Wanda had a sharp understanding of the market. Sometimes, attracting female players could indirectly encourage more male players to join. This wasn't part of the original game design plan but was purely Wanda's idea—and it had proven incredibly effective.

"What's this?"

Han Yu pointed to a string of numbers at the top of the webpage, which were continuously changing. He had a hunch about what it might be, but he wanted to hear Ultron explain it.

Hearing this, Ultron grinned and confirmed exactly what Han Yu had suspected. The massive numbers made even Han Yu feel a bit dizzy.

"That's the player count. In just two days since launch, nearly 50 million players have joined the game. The smaller number below it is the current online player count."

Fifty million players, with nearly 10 million online simultaneously!

Han Yu was stunned. In his previous life, GTA's peak online player count had only reached 130,000. Now, this version had surpassed that by leagues, leaving its predecessor far behind.

Han Yu couldn't tear his eyes away from the ever-increasing numbers on the page. The player count and online users were growing by hundreds every few minutes—a staggering rate.

The game included a microtransaction system, where players could purchase weapon skins, outfits, and houses with real money. A game like this would inevitably trigger a sense of competition among players, leading many to spend money on these items.

Even if each player spent just $10 a month on cosmetic items and accessories, multiplying that by 50 million players would result in $500 million in revenue.

This is just the monthly income. Multiply it by twelve months, and that's $6 billion a year!

"You're keeping an eye on the game's operations, right?" Han Yu asked.

Managing a game like this required extreme caution. Any misstep could lead to enormous losses.

"Don't worry, boss. I've got everything under control," Ultron replied with a grin.

This feeling of earning money effortlessly was truly satisfying.

Han Yu glanced at the reviews on the official website. To his surprise, they were overwhelmingly positive. Among the 999+ comments, not a single one was negative; every review praised the game.

"High level of freedom."

"Do whatever you want."

"Total immersion."

"I've already divorced my wife and plan to dedicate myself fully to this game."

That last comment left Han Yu torn between laughter and tears. That was hardly his responsibility! He never imagined his game would disrupt family harmony.

"Boss, come play a round! I can't take this fool anymore—always getting greedy for pocket change," Ultron complained, clearly referring to Pietro. He seemed utterly fed up with Pietro's gameplay style.

"Alright, I'm coming," Han Yu said with a chuckle, quickly booting up the game. He'd been itching to play for a while now, eagerly waiting for the full version to be ready. In his previous life, he'd been a veteran with over a thousand hours of gameplay. Logging in and getting into the game was second nature to him.

"How about we start with a C-level mission to warm up?" Ultron suggested.

Given the game's vast scope, Ultron had divided the missions into five levels—S, A, B, C, and D—for players to better distinguish their difficulty.

Otherwise, players might stumble into overly challenging tasks, spending three or four days stuck on a single mission. That would be frustrating enough to break anyone's spirit.

Han Yu considered this for a moment before asking, "What's the highest-level mission you guys can handle right now?"

Ultron replied, "I can clear A-level missions. Pietro and Wanda can reliably complete C-level ones."

Their capabilities were about what Han Yu expected. GTA was a game that emphasized teamwork. Some missions were split into sub-tasks, labeled as A and B segments, requiring different players to complete each part.

If one sub-task failed, the entire mission had to restart.

So, while Ultron had near-hack-level abilities, even he couldn't carry incompetent teammates indefinitely. Using cheats to help teammates clear missions would defeat the entire purpose of the game.

Wanda was reasonably cooperative, but Pietro—this maverick—always had his own unique ideas, often leading to mission failures.

Normally, failing a sub-task would allow players to retry just that segment. But Han Yu had added a unique feature to the game: the in-game currency, "Aurum Coins," named after Ultron and Pietro, could be exchanged for real-world money at a rate of 100:1.

Even the simplest D-level missions could yield rewards ranging from 1,000 to 50,000 Aurum Coins.

Meanwhile, the highest S-level missions offered millions or even billions of Aurum Coins.

Because of this mechanic, failing a sub-task meant restarting the entire mission, significantly raising the game's difficulty.

This forced players to act with extreme caution. Reckless behavior was no longer an option, as no one wanted to endure their teammates' wrath.

"Let's jump straight into a B-level mission. I'll be fine," Han Yu said confidently.

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