Chapter 1

"Welcome to the Electronic Sports Channel..."

"Up next, we have the live broadcast of the 10th Star Origin World Heaven Rank Tournament, the round of 16."

"The 16 players currently on the stage are all the top-tier封神 players in our Star Origin World!"

A TV screen, flickering with static, was broadcasting the sports channel.

In front of the TV, Tang Zheng's chopsticks, which were about to pick up a mouthful of instant noodles, slowly froze in mid-air.

"Hehe, the first-ranked player in the King Group, Ye Wushuang? The [Cold Mist Silk] he's holding is the dark gold weapon I dropped from the hidden boss in the Ice Secret Realm last year. He hasn't even changed it after a year?"

"The third-ranked player in the King Group, Su Lin, is wearing the [End of the Horizon] set, which took me four and a half months to obtain..."

"Nice, nice, the guy who just bought the [Wandering] cloak from me is already the fifth-ranked player in the Diamond Group?"

"Hey, the seventh-ranked player in the Diamond Group... that's [Wind and Rain Unbound]... and [Cang Jun], [Nirvana], [Solitary Step], hmm, that necklace is [Deep Candle Shadow]... what were those rings called again? I can't remember..."

After he finished watching the 16 players on the stage, Tang Zheng's chopsticks finally stirred the bowl of noodles again.

The bowl of instant noodles was already completely cold.

Tang Zheng put it in the fridge, then took out his phone and transferred the money he had just received into his mortgage account.

From the TV, the cheers of the fans continued to ring out.

Of course, they were cheering for names like Ye Wushuang and Su Lin, who were famous in the gaming world.

As for Tang Zheng?

A professional player who made a living by selling gold and equipment, who would care about him?

Instant noodles, mortgage, work...

These were his life!

Tang Zheng walked over, pressed a button, and turned off the TV.

The match of the封神 players wasn't really worth watching; their skills were far below his standards.

"Full, time to work, still owe a lot of money..." Tang Zheng smiled, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and opened the dusty game pod, skillfully climbing inside.

Just as he was about to close the pod's door, the hollow smile in his eyes gradually faded...

On the inside of the pod's door, a row of neat small characters was engraved.

Although ten years of wear had made the characters almost illegible, he remembered every stroke and turn clearly.

"One day, I won't have to run around for money anymore. At that time, I will make the whole world remember who I am! — Tang Zheng."

Bang.

The pod's door slammed shut.

Soon, the login prompt light inside the pod lit up.

Tang Zheng had just completed his account login when he suddenly felt a severe dizziness.

Ten years of unhealthy diet and high-intensity work seemed to converge into a fierce lightning bolt, striking him on the head. The familiar login interface shattered like glass, piece by piece, in front of Tang Zheng...

In the void, a dialog box titled [You Died] appeared before him.

A. Reborn to ten years ago, on the day Star Origin World opened?

B. Go to a strange world and face the unknown?

...

Joke?

A consciousness on the verge of dissipation made a choice.

A meteor streaked across the night sky, falling to an unknown distance.

...

Tang Zheng opened his eyes and instinctively gripped the dagger in his hand.

Dagger?

No, there was no dagger! His hand was empty.

Moreover, his body felt chilly. Looking down, he realized not only was the dagger missing, but all his clothes were gone too.

Tang Zheng's first reaction was that he wasn't dead; the dialog box was just a Trojan, and he had been hacked!

But he soon noticed that he wasn't completely naked—there was a belt around his waist.

It was a purple-gold belt!

A special space item in the game for storing gold bars!

No hacker would be so foolish as to take away all his equipment but leave him this most valuable belt, filled with gold bars.

"Popup command: Attributes page." Tang Zheng snapped his fingers.

No response.

Tang Zheng's eyes narrowed: "Shutdown command: Restart."

Still no response.

"Popup command: Friends list."

"Popup command: Skill list."

"Popup command: Inventory."

"Summon command: GM!"

No matter what system command he issued, there was no response...

The only sound in Tang Zheng's ears was the rustling of leaves in the quiet forest.

"Wow, for real..."

That's right! Tang Zheng had chosen option B: Go to a strange world and face the unknown!

His mind wasn't feverish; he was very clear that choosing A meant comfort, while choosing B meant hardship.

Rebirth was definitely a safer choice. Rebirth meant he would know everything about the next ten years, allowing him to buy lottery tickets, bet on football, play the stock market, and enjoy luxury cars, mansions, top-tier beauties, and the adoration of Star Origin World fans...

And then? The end of the story?

Tang Zheng shook his head, remained silent for a few seconds, and then stood up from the damp ground.

He confirmed again that he didn't recognize this place, and in the game, there was absolutely no place he didn't recognize.

In other words, he could be sure he was no longer in the game!

"What a waste, my half bowl of instant noodles..." Although he grew up in an orphanage, he still had some attachment to his previous life—spending ten seconds saying goodbye to the half bowl of instant noodles in the fridge.

Then, he scratched his head and picked up a branch from the ground.

Whoosh!

A gust of wind was stirred by his own movement!

He spun on both feet, the branch in his hand drawing a half-circle as he shouted, "Bone-Piercing Ice Blade!"

The action was perfect, but unfortunately, only a shallow scratch remained on the tree trunk.

He quickly retreated, his right hand sinking, turning, advancing, and thrusting upward: "Throat Sealing!"

Only a few leaves drifted down from the branch...

"Spinning Thrust!"

"Dragon Spine Cross Slash!"

Tang Zheng tried several skills with 100% proficiency, brushing the leaves off his head, and finally confirmed the most important thing: "It seems the skills really can't be used."

System commands didn't work, skills couldn't be used, and as for equipment...

"I wave my sleeves, and not a single thing do I bring, quite eco-friendly." Tang Zheng chewed on a leaf in his mouth, using a branch to pick up the purple-gold belt from the ground, and smiled: "So, it's just you left, old buddy?"

The purple-gold belt.

The only thing that came with him to this strange world.

This belt was the equipment he had used the longest. A gold farmer could lack top-tier equipment, but they must have a large-capacity space belt—otherwise, moving gold bars from the warehouse and trading them would be a nightmare.

"But, old buddy, opening you requires mana, and I don't have a single drop," Tang Zheng squatted on the ground in a rather awkward position, talking to his purple-gold belt, "Even if I could open you, I don't know if the gold bars inside are still there. Even if they are, I don't know what this place uses for transactions. Maybe... hey, they use shells?"

A rustling of wings came from the tree, but Tang Zheng only twitched his ears, not even lifting his head, and easily dodged the bird droppings that fell from above.

At least, his PvP skills hadn't deserted him.

Tang Zheng continued to squat on the ground, organizing his current situation as if he were sorting through game data.

The best scenario would be if the purple-gold belt could be opened, the gold bars were still there, and they could be used. Even in the worst case, the craftsmanship of the belt should be enough to trade for a few months' worth of food.

"Already not bad. So, let's start?" Tang Zheng stood up, raised his head, and shielded his eyes from the glaring sun.

Then, he lightly jumped, grabbing a thick branch with his left hand, and swung his body up, catching another thick branch with his right hand.

Up, and up.

In just a few moments, he was standing steadily on the top of a tall tree.

The treetop was soft and swayed with the breeze.

But Tang Zheng stood on the swaying treetop more steadily than on the ground!

"Ha, a master, that's how it's done..." Tang Zheng's words were cut short as he awkwardly adjusted the belt to cover his modesty, "Ahem, first, find some clothes."

The tree was tall, and the view from the treetop was excellent.

In the distance, there was a large field of flowers.

Large, unknown golden flowers swayed lazily in the sunset, stretching out in a vast expanse like a huge carpet woven from the sunset's beautiful light. The ripples stirred by the breeze seemed like enticing spirits dancing joyfully.

Following the path through the flower field, it looked as if the path led to the end of the sky...

Next to the golden flower field was a small village.

"Chime, found a newbie village. Unfortunately, no auto-pathfinding..." Tang Zheng whistled, talking to himself as he jumped down from the tree and adjusted his belt, "Alright, let's go!"

Even if he sat on the ground and cried, it wouldn't bring him back to life.

Since he chose this path, he had to walk it with a smile, until...

Tang Zheng moved toward the village, not very fast.

Just because the sun had set, and the temperature had dropped several degrees with the onset of night.

The dappled shadows of the trees swayed in the wind, and a sinister atmosphere gradually spread in the dark.

It was as if the surroundings were suddenly shrouded in a fog, sometimes clear, sometimes blurry.

Fortunately, the distant village was dotted with flickering lights, which looked particularly warm and easy to recognize in the night.

"I wonder if I can make it in time for dinner?" Tang Zheng quickened his pace to the village entrance.

On the stone at the village entrance, the words "Fengmen Village" were carved.

Tang Zheng stepped into the village.

As soon as he entered, he tightly gripped the half branch in his hand.

The warm lights he had seen from a distance were not from the homes but from the burning paper money at the doors of every household!

No lights were on in any of the houses.

There was no sign of life in the village!

The night wind was very light...

It was as if something invisible was whispering in his ear...

——————

New book uploaded, please click, recommend, and collect!

Previous page AD starts

Previous page AD ends