Chapter 1

" Ding~ Congratulations on defeating the [Dark Dragon Emperor Iguno] (Level 255, 255-star Super God Boss) with players [Muchen] and [Ruoxi], gaining 280 billion experience points! "

As the system notification sounded in his ears, the massive body of the Dark Dragon Emperor Iguno fell from the sky, collapsing unwillingly in front of Zhang Yi.

Bending down to pick up a golden scroll fragment from the mountain of loot that had dropped from the boss's body, Zhang Yi said excitedly, "The last piece, finally complete!"

Speaking, he opened his spatial bag, took out the other eight scroll fragments identical to the one in his hand, and fused the nine fragments together, forming a complete golden scroll in his hand!

" Ding~ Congratulations on obtaining the 255-star Super Artifact [Dragon Blood Scroll]! "

Excitedly looking at the scroll he had obtained after great hardship, Zhang Yi turned around, only to be suddenly stabbed through the chest with a sword.

His smile instantly froze as Zhang Yi looked at Muchen, who held the sword piercing through his body, with a face full of disbelief: "Muchen, you..."

"I'm sorry, brother. I'll keep the Dragon Blood Scroll and take care of Ruoruo for you." With that, Muchen pulled the blood-soaked sword out of Zhang Yi's body, and along with Ruoxi, a girl magician in white robes, calmly watched as Zhang Yi fell to the ground with a thud.

" Ding~ You have been attacked by player [Muchen]'s [Critical Slash] skill, losing 32.68 million health points. The system has detected that you have no remaining resurrection opportunities, and you have died! "

As the final system notification sounded, Zhang Yi, lying in a pool of blood, gradually closed his eyes.

Muchen squatted down, about to pick up the Dragon Blood Scroll clutched in Zhang Yi's hand, when he saw the scroll, soaked in Zhang Yi's blood, transform into golden light and merge into Zhang Yi's body, which then disappeared in a white light!

"How could this happen!"

Muchen stared at the bloodstain left on the ground, dumbfounded...

In a rented apartment in Linhai City, a young man suddenly sat up in bed.

"Muchen, Ruoruo, why did you betray me!"

Zhang Yi let out a roar of immense frustration and anger, then noticed that something was off about his surroundings.

"Where... is this?"

Zhang Yi was stunned for a moment, quickly got out of bed, and looked around the familiar yet strange small apartment.

Isn't this the place I rented after graduating and starting work?

Seemingly realizing something, he turned to look at the calendar on the bedside table, which showed: August 28, 2025!

Zhang Yi was shocked: I... have been reborn!

Still not quite believing it, Zhang Yi hurried to the living room and turned on the TV. As expected, every channel was broadcasting the same news—

"The [Tianqi] world gate will open in 2 hours and 12 minutes. Players from all over the world, are you ready..."

Running to the window and opening it, he saw countless promotional vehicles with [Tianqi] posters slowly driving on the road, blaring their horns, and passersby chatting and laughing, all discussing [Tianqi] and the posters hanging on buildings.

Only at this moment did Zhang Yi dare to believe: he had indeed been reborn, from the year 2033, eight years after the [Tianqi] apocalypse, back to 2025, and the exact time was the day [Tianqi] began!

In 2025, a large-scale online game [Tianqi], developed by the famous domestic game company [Tianyun Group] in collaboration with over a hundred listed game companies abroad, and designed by thousands of top game designers from home and abroad, costing 30 billion RMB and taking five years to complete, officially announced its beta test.

Breaking the traditional game model, [Tianqi] was said to allow players to enter the game world through special equipment, experiencing 100% virtual reality, thrilling and exciting game scenes!

Moreover, [Tianyun Group] announced that players could convert in-game currency into RMB according to an exchange rate!

With these two features, [Tianyun Group] immediately ignited global excitement when they announced the beta test of [Tianqi] in May 2025, set to begin at the end of August.

However, what no one expected was that the [Tianqi] game, which everyone was eagerly awaiting, would bring a global apocalypse!

Zhang Yi recalled his previous life.

On August 28, 2025, the day of the [Tianqi] beta test, all players who entered the game encountered the same problem: they could not log out and were trapped in the game forever.

No one knew how this happened, only that dying in the game meant real death.

Humanity faced the end of the world.

Don't think that not entering the game could avoid this disaster; those who did not enter the game were the first to perish.

The first to discover this was a player who, while performing a quest in the game, found an NPC that looked exactly like a friend in real life. Not only that, almost all NPCs in the game were modeled after people in the real world who had not entered the game, meaning those people had likely been eliminated by the [Tianqi] system and turned into NPCs in the game!

In his previous life, Zhang Yi, as a player who entered the game, survived for eight years in the [Tianqi] apocalyptic world, only to die at the hands of his best friend and the woman he loved.

Reborn, Zhang Yi vowed to make the traitorous couple pay for their actions in his previous life!

Checking the time: 6:00 PM, only two hours left until [Tianqi] opened at 8:00 PM!

Seemingly remembering something, Zhang Yi shivered and quickly left his apartment in shorts and slippers, running to a nearby convenience store: Old Li's Convenience Store!

In his previous life, there were several sensational news stories before the game's launch, and Zhang Yi remembered one: a fat otaku in Lanhai City found a [Tianyun Group] god-level talent card, one of only ten in the world, in a pack of instant noodles at an unassuming convenience store called Old Li's!