Chapter 1

【Welcome to the first station of Endless Paradise — the Testing Grounds】

【Exploration, survival, and resource gathering are the eternal themes here... To survive, to become stronger, plunder with abandon!】

【Character data has been completed. Whisper 'System' to bring up the interface.】

【Please promptly claim your starter pack — Bronze Chest, Bronze Summoning Ring.】

【Newbie Protection Countdown: 600 seconds】

...

Lin Chu had just turned on the old computer at home, preparing to play Diablo 2, which he hadn't touched for a long time. Suddenly, everything went black, and when he came to, he found himself standing on a desolate plain under a sky of dark clouds.

Looking around, he saw nothing but barren hills with sparse weeds.

He pinched himself silently.

Yeah, it hurts.

"Not dreaming? Traveled through time?"

Lin Chu fell silent for a few seconds, quickly accepting the reality.

As a 21st-century youth bombarded with internet information day and night, his psychological adaptability was exceptionally strong.

Time travel doesn't need a reason, just like a rugged life doesn't need an explanation.

Based on the information that flashed through his mind just now.

"First... System!"

He whispered, and a bright blue system interface suddenly appeared before him!

【Character: Lin Chu】

【Combat Rating: 1.08 (The average for a bare-handed adult male is 1)】

【Summoned Creatures: 0】

【Equipment: None】

【Skills: None】

【Items: Bronze Chest (1), Bronze Summoning Ring (1)】

"No health bar or strength and agility attributes? Just a combat rating, how vague... Luckily, I haven't neglected my physical training, so I'm still at a normal level."

Lin Chu pondered.

"The Bronze Summoning Ring, can it summon something? I wonder if the contents of the chest are random or fixed, and what I can get from it..."

He noticed that besides the character tab, there was another selectable page in the interface.

Selecting it with his mind, the page changed like turning a book.

【Testing Grounds Forum: Current Online Users 500/500】

【Friendly Reminder: Forum discussions can be anonymous. Each user can post 10 times per day (limited to 80 characters). Completing a trial grants an additional 10 posts.】

【089 Anonymous: What the hell is this place? It's like a video game with a system and a forum.】

【005 Anonymous: Could it be that aliens are experimenting on us? Like how humans put ants in ant farms.】

【021 Anonymous: Now that you mention it, it's really scary to think about.】

【192 Anonymous: I was just practicing traditional crafts and didn't even have paper when I got here... By the way, did you also get a Bronze Chest and a Bronze Summoning Ring as a starter pack?】

【331 Anonymous: +1, I mean the starter pack.】

【121 Anonymous: Looks like everyone got the same starter pack.】

【Liu Mingyang: Why are you all anonymous? I can't tell who's who.】

【192 Anonymous: I don't know, just felt like it.】

...

Besides himself, four hundred and ninety-nine others were also brought here.

The forum was filled with anonymous users chatting and joking, occasionally interrupted by a few non-anonymous newcomers.

Lin Chu flipped through the chat records.

It was clear that these people were all new arrivals like him, and their conversations didn't provide much valuable information.

He decided to try out the items in the inventory first.

【Bronze Chest: Opens to randomly obtain survival supplies. (A blessing for the lucky, a curse for the unlucky; luck doesn't save the unlucky, and money doesn't change fate)】

【Bronze Summoning Ring: Wearing it randomly summons a low-level creature (non-intelligent, non-humanoid, can grow). It will be your most loyal companion, helping you survive in this harsh testing ground.】

As expected.

The Bronze Summoning Ring is indeed for summoning creatures.

"I wonder what it can summon."

With a thought, the ring transferred from the inventory to his palm.

He put it on his right pinky finger.

A sensation like an electric shock traveled up his arm to his brain.

The ring emitted a strong bronze glow.

This glow converged on the barren ground at his feet, and a skeletal hand burst through the soil. A small skeleton soldier slowly emerged from the ground.

The skeleton soldier's deep-set eye sockets burned with a dim blue soul fire, and it held a tattered longsword. It stood still, silently gazing at its master.

"This..."

Lin Chu was a bit stunned: "My summoned creature is a skeleton?"

It looked so weak, as if it could be knocked apart with one punch.

Wait, are skeletons considered creatures? Undead creatures?

【Detected the summoning of an undead creature! Obtained hidden class: Necromancer!】

【Current class level 1, with 1 skill point to allocate.】

Hidden class? Necromancer?

It sounds so much like a class from Diablo 2.

Lin Chu brought up the interface to check.

Sure enough, besides the 'Character' and 'Forum' tabs, a new 'Necromancer' tab had been added.

【Necromancer: Level 1】

【Currently unlockable skills: Skeleton Resurrection (summoning), Bone Armor (defense), Teeth (spell attack), Amplify Damage (curse)...】

Besides the unlockable skills, there was a row of skill panels at the bottom.

They recorded: Summoning Spells, Poison and Bone Spells, Curses — three major modules.

Exactly like the skills of a Necromancer in the game!

"Damn, it really is a Diablo 2 class?!"

Lin Chu was both surprised and delighted. This is his golden finger?

When he used to play Diablo 2, his favorite class was the Necromancer.

For no other reason, it was both convenient and powerful.

Other classes had to constantly click the mouse and press keys to fight monsters, while the Necromancer could just lead a bunch of skeleton minions around the map, casually casting a few spells, and easily picking up the loot that dropped.

Without hesitation, he allocated his skill point to Skeleton Resurrection.

Why should he do the fighting when his minions can do it?

As a person with no combat experience, it would be difficult for him to fight monsters head-on. It would be better to summon several fearless skeleton soldiers to fight on the front lines while he cheered them on from behind.

【Skeleton Resurrection Level 1: Summons a skeleton warrior from a corpse.】

【Effect: Currently, only one skeleton warrior can be summoned (this skill has no cooldown, no duration, and can exist permanently. Increasing the skill level will enhance the skeleton warrior's strength and the maximum number of summonable warriors).】

After unlocking the 'Skeleton Resurrection' skill, Lin Chu's mind was suddenly filled with a long incantation.

As long as he focused on a corpse and recited the incantation, he could summon a skeleton warrior.

"Where can I find a corpse?"

This became the first challenge he faced.

Looking around the vast, desolate desert, he couldn't see a single soul.

Forget it, let's open the other chest first and see what survival supplies it contains.

He selected the Bronze Chest in the inventory with his mind and tried to open it.

A faint bronze glow flashed, and three items appeared before him.

【Crowbar (1): Renowned as the holy sword of physics, it can be both a versatile tool and a handy weapon, essential for home, travel, and all sorts of nefarious deeds.】

【Functional Beverage (3 bottles): Feeling down? Take a sip to replenish water and various vitamins.】

【Beef Jerky (2 pounds): Not the tastiest, but it provides ample protein and is easy to store and carry.】