Chapter 2

His name is Lin Lei, an excellent geologist who lives in Xi'an, China. He is in his thirties, has a son and a daughter, and a well-educated and understanding wife. His family is happy, his career successful, and his life fulfilling. However, he suddenly fell into a mysterious pit and woke up as a babbling infant, his name changed from Lin Lei to Lin Feng.

Unexpectedly, this was a world different from Earth.

Everything here was unfamiliar to Lin Lei.

There were powerful earth warriors and earth mages, magical beasts, and respected weapon masters. Science did not exist in this world; at most, there was a slightly related field of natural philosophy, but it was considered a minor path and not highly regarded. Instead, the paths of cultivation and weapon mastery were enthusiastically pursued.

The path of cultivation was the way of the masses, while the path of weapon mastery was the way of the few. Only a select few possessed the talent for weapon mastery, such as Xiao Ran.

Strictly speaking, Lin Feng's father, Lin Tao, was not yet a weapon master but a blacksmith.

Weapon masters had a strict hierarchy: blacksmith apprentice, blacksmith, craftsman, weapon master, grand weapon master, and the revered weapon saint, who had disappeared into the annals of history. A one-star weapon master represented a blacksmith apprentice, a two-star weapon master represented a blacksmith, and so on. However, a four-star weapon master was considered a true weapon master, capable of forging powerful mundane weapons. Lin Tao's disciple, Xiao Ran, was a genuine weapon master, rated at four stars. This was the result of a special assessment Lin Tao had taken him to in the county town.

No one expected that only Lin Tao would return from the county town.

Lin Feng could only piece together the truth from Lin Tao's drunken ramblings.

He couldn't hate Xiao Ran. Not only were the two brothers and Xiao Ran like close siblings, but their bond was incredibly strong. Xiao Ran's personality was also generous and sunny. However, he had been determined to become a revered grand weapon master since childhood. When a rare opportunity arose, he chose his ideal over the bond between master and disciple.

Perhaps he had struggled internally, but the facts were undeniable.

"It's been a year, I wonder how Brother Xiao is doing at the Weapon Master Academy. I heard it's very far from Shuanglong Town, not even on the Greenwood Continent, but on another continent across from it." Lin Feng couldn't remember the name of that continent, only vaguely recalling someone mentioning it once.

When Lin Feng came to his senses, he felt a sharp pain in his hand. Looking down, he saw his finger was already a bright red, having been cut by a sharp metal shard. Blood was seeping onto the surface of the metal shard.

The ordinary metal shard was emitting a faint blue glow.

"Game One is at your service."

"What?"

But his vision blurred, and in an instant, he found himself in another place.

The scene was incredibly strange.

"Where am I?" Lin Feng frowned. There was nothing around him, and the ground was like a soccer field, a green lawn stretching to the horizon. He tried shouting, "Metal shard, was that you speaking?"

"This is the附属 space of the game card, which you can call Space One. Your blood triggered the game card's recognition condition, and it successfully bound to you. The game card then opened Space One and automatically brought your consciousness here." The voice sounded like the friction of stones, somewhat stiff, but Lin Feng could swear it was pure Mandarin.

As he spoke, a transparent figure appeared in front of Lin Feng, gradually solidifying into a tangible form in a few breaths.

To his amusement, it looked exactly like him.

Lin Feng suddenly became very curious about 'Game One.' What was it, and why was it here?

"Are you Game One?"

"I am the intelligent core of Game One."

"What does Game One mean?"

"Game One is the name of the game card. It is a product developed by the Earth Federation Academy of Sciences in the year 5050, designed to enhance intelligence and reaction speed through thousands of games like Gomoku."

Was it similar to the game consoles from his previous era?

Lin Feng felt a bit disappointed and couldn't help but mock himself, "Ha, I was overthinking it."

But he quickly perked up. To encounter a game console from his homeland in this unfamiliar world was already a blessing. What more could he complain about?

Thinking of game consoles, Lin Feng, despite his adult mind and soul, still missed the games from his homeland.

He was eager to feel the taste of home, to experience that familiar feeling, so he almost pleaded, "One, can I play a game? Oh, do you have board games like chess?"

For a moment, the eighteen years of suppressed longing for his homeland burst forth.

"Sorry, the main database of the game card has collapsed and is being repaired. Currently, only the basic game 'Elimination' has been successfully restored."

Lin Feng asked, "How could the database of such an advanced game card collapse?"

"Sorry, unable to analyze."

"Well, having one game is better than nothing." Lin Feng shrugged helplessly, "Something is better than nothing."

He said to One, "Please bring up 'Elimination' and explain the rules to me."

'Elimination' is a level-based mini-game. Within a set time and number of moves, you must eliminate a specified number of small animals, similar to 'Everyday Elimination' from his previous era, but much more challenging. Lin Feng couldn't help but marvel at how remarkable the children of the 51st century were, able to play such difficult games, and this was just the basic version. The intermediate and advanced versions would be even more challenging.

"It's starting." Lin Feng focused intently on the virtual screen in the air.

His personality was such that he was very focused on anything he did. Once he calmed down, he could continue without stopping, tirelessly.

Five hours later, Lin Feng felt a deep sense of defeat and couldn't help but ask himself, "Can't I even match a child?"

In such a long time, he had only passed the first level out of a hundred, and the difficulty increased exponentially. He even doubted whether he could finish all hundred levels in ten years, let alone whether he could do it at all.

He wanted to ask the game designer, "Why make the game so difficult?"

Heaven, this was just the basic version. Thinking of this, his sense of defeat grew even stronger.

Fortunately, he was resilient and tenacious, becoming stronger in the face of challenges. The harder the game, the more interested he became.

"One, another round!" Lin Feng said.

Suddenly, he added, "Wait, One, how long have I been playing?"

"5 hours and 23 minutes. Do you want to continue playing 'Elimination'?"

Lin Feng was stunned, "So long."

Although he was still engrossed, it was almost dawn, and the blacksmith shop needed to open for business. He couldn't continue playing.

"One, how do I get out?"

"Close your eyes and use your mental power to touch the game card. The method to enter Space One is the same. However, the game card has turned into a digital stream and is now in your body, in your dantian. You need to use your mental power to sense the game card in your dantian to enter Space One."

Lin Feng followed the instructions. The next moment, he felt a chill all over his body, a cold sensation rising from his feet to his head, and his nose started to run. Although his consciousness was in Space One, his body was still outside, standing in the cold night for five hours. It was no wonder he was cold.

Fortunately, he was in the blacksmith shop, or he might have frozen to death.

"So cold."

Lin Feng's teeth were chattering, and his body was shivering.

But then he noticed something odd. After five hours, it should have been dawn, but the sky was still dark, the moon high in the sky, and it was still far from morning.

Back in his room, lying in bed, Lin Feng immediately entered Space One.

"One, didn't you say it had been five hours?" Lin Feng asked, "Why isn't it dawn outside?"

One appeared in the same way as before, with no change in appearance.

To Lin Feng's question, One provided a good answer: "Due to your mental strength of 20P, which meets the standard for 2x time acceleration, Space One automatically activated the time acceleration function. The time flow in Space One is twice that of the outside world. Therefore, five hours have passed in Space One, but only 2.5 hours have passed outside."

Lin Feng's eyes lit up, "There's this benefit too?"

Mental strength could be explained as mental power, which Lin Feng could understand.

"Since you passed the first level of 'Elimination' Basic Edition, your mental strength has increased by 1P, and the time acceleration effect has increased to 2.1x. For every 1P increase in mental strength, the time acceleration effect increases by 0.1x."

Hearing this, Lin Feng's spirits lifted, "Passing the game also rewards mental strength?"

If so, his life might undergo a dramatic change, as earth mages relied on mental power!

"This is not a reward," One corrected, "It is the result of your own efforts. During the 'Elimination' game, your intelligence and reaction speed are exercised, specifically manifested as an increase in mental strength. The first level increases by 1P, the second level by 2P, the third level by 3P, and so on, cumulatively, until the last level."

Since 'Elimination' was selected by the Federation Academy of Sciences and included in the game card, it proved its exceptional quality.

After all, the purpose of the game card was to help players develop intelligence and improve reaction speed.

"If I pass the last level, my mental power..." Lin Feng hesitated, "I might be able to compete with those particularly powerful earth mages?" This meant that he, Lin Feng, also had the potential to become a revered earth mage. Even with ordinary earth affinity, he could still become an outstanding earth mage with strong mental power.

This was probably the first good news he had heard in eighteen years.

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