Chapter 1

Update Time: February 9, 2014

"Hello! I saw your company's job advertisement in the newspaper. May I ask... Oh! It's already full! Well! Sorry, goodbye!"

"Phew—" Lin Zheng sighed helplessly, hung up the phone, and then spread out the newspaper, marking an X on a job listing. It was clear that there were already many red Xs on it. Another morning wasted, Lin Zheng felt a bit depressed. Was it really that hard to find a job? All the morning calls were full, how unfair! Could it be that those guys were just being perfunctory? Hmm, does one really have to go in person to show sincerity? If that's the case, why do these companies post so many job ads?

Thinking about this, Lin Zheng was filled with resentment. Just as he was complaining, there was a "click!" and the door opened.

"Xiao Lin! Come and help quickly!" A sudden shout came from the door. Lin Zheng put down the newspaper and walked over. At the door stood someone whose face was hidden by boxes, and there were quite a few things piled up, a large amount of instant food, and various daily necessities.

"Are you preparing for hibernation or seclusion, you thug? It's too early for hibernation, it's June!?" Lin Zheng stared at the pile of things, speechless.

As Lin Zheng helped take two boxes, a fair face appeared before Ding Bai. It was a beautiful face full of youthful vitality, currently breathing excitedly, completely ruining her image! Just as Lin Zheng called her, she really looked more like a female thug than a lady! She was Yang Qi, Lin Zheng's good friend who lived with him! Due to her various behaviors that Lin Zheng found far from ladylike, and her occasional thug-like remarks, she had earned the nickname "female thug" from Lin Zheng, simply called "thug"! This nickname would make any other girl furious, but what left Lin Zheng speechless was that this female thug didn't care at all!

Yang Qi rolled her eyes, "Less talk, help me move the things, you'll know in a bit!" Although speechless, Lin Zheng still helped move the things inside. After moving the things, Yang Qi plopped onto the sofa, panting heavily, and guzzled a can of juice, then let out a long burp, completely ignoring her image.

"I'm so tired today!" Yang Qi panted, "You don't know! The mall was packed, almost squished me into a pancake! But, hehe—hee—"

"Alright, catch your breath first!" Seeing Yang Qi's almost out-of-breath state, Lin Zheng was really worried she might faint.

"Really? What did you buy that made you so tired? Speaking of which..." Lin Zheng scanned Yang Qi's figure, which could be called the golden ratio, "In such a crowded place, weren't you afraid of being groped?!"

"Hmph—No one has been born yet who dares to grope me!" Yang Qi said proudly. Instantly, Lin Zheng imagined some unfortunate perverts being kicked in the groin, and it was clear that Yang Qi's trip out would definitely result in some unlucky guys! Amen! Hope they don't end up unable to have children!

Lin Zheng mourned for a second for those perverts who wanted to grope the female thug, "Female hero, impressive! But what did you buy?"

"Of course, something good!" Yang Qi took another sip of juice, caught her breath, and then said proudly to Lin Zheng, "You know the game I play?"

"The game you play? 'Phantom Spirit'? I know! Isn't it bankrupt?"

Yang Qi slapped her thigh excitedly, "No, it's back!"

"Back? You look pretty stupid!" Lin Zheng couldn't help but tease her.

"You idiot!" Yang Qi was exasperated, rolling her eyes, "I mean 'Phantom Spirit 2' is out!"

"Oh?" Lin Zheng was a bit surprised, "How long has it been since the first one went bankrupt? How does it compare to the Japanese 'Fantasy'?"

"Can't compare!"

"Then what's the point? If it can't compare, why make it?"

"Hehe!" Yang Qi smiled proudly, "This time it's the other way around! I can't wait to see the reaction of those Japanese operators! Hahaha! Just thinking about it is so satisfying! This time they'll definitely go bankrupt!"

"Oh! That's impressive!" Lin Zheng was interested, "Tell me, what's the deal with 'Phantom Spirit 2'?"

"Two words, 'realistic'!" Yang Qi said, "The first one was in an anime style, and with our country's anime level, it was bound to be crushed. But this new system is super realistic, basically like being transported to another world! How can anime compare! That's why I ran out early to buy the login device!" She pointed proudly at the two boxes they had just moved in. After hearing Yang Qi, Lin Zheng understood what was going on.

'Phantom Spirit' was a groundbreaking online game developed in China. Although it didn't reach the level of true virtual reality in novels, it allowed players to enter the game personally. This groundbreaking invention quickly dominated the global game market, earning China a staggering amount of foreign exchange! The profit was so huge that it made all the world's businessmen and politicians envious!

Unfortunately, the good times didn't last long. There were traitors inside 'Phantom Spirit' who stole the technology, and then the Japanese 'Heavenly God' came out! In the competition of games with anime scenes, the Japanese completely defeated 'Phantom Spirit', leading to its downfall. Now, the Japanese game 'Fantasy' had just started operations, and they had invested astronomical amounts of money without any returns yet, when 'Phantom Spirit 2' suddenly appeared. It was clear that the first 'Phantom Spirit' was just a setup to ruin the Japanese, causing significant losses to the Japanese and the countries behind them. It was unknown which leader came up with this cunning plan, but although it seemed to harm others without benefiting oneself, considering the historical tensions between the two countries, the Chinese people were happy to see this happen!

"Xiao Lin, you haven't found a job yet, right? Don't look anymore, play with me! There are endless business opportunities in this game! Look! I even bought a login device for you!" It turned out one of the boxes was for Lin Zheng. This preemptive move left Lin Zheng a bit stunned, and he said, "I'm not a professional player like you, I don't know anything, how can I make money?"

"Not hard at all!" Yang Qi smiled, "Once you're in, if you don't know anything, just kill monsters, keep killing! Earn gold and materials, and once you reach a certain level, you can earn at least a hundred or two hundred a day, three to four thousand a month, not bad! You know, there are many rich people playing this game, they are too lazy to farm gold and materials, and it costs a lot, so you don't have to worry about the market!"

"Sounds good!" Lin Zheng stroked his chin.

"Of course! Who am I? Would I trick you? Come on, let's set up our login devices!" With that, Yang Qi pulled Lin Zheng to start setting up the devices.

After studying the manual for half an hour, the two finally assembled the login devices. Hmm! They looked a bit like the bio-pods in movies, where you can lie down, and they can adjust in length and width, considering the different body sizes of people.

"Um! The server opens at one, we still have time, let's eat first!" Yang Qi checked the time. Lin Zheng thought of the pile of instant food in the living room and smiled, "So you prepared all this food for this!"

"Of course! But there are even more extreme people! I just saw a guy carrying three times as much as me..."

After eating, it was only 12:30, with half an hour to spare. Lin Zheng didn't want to waste time and searched for the 'Phantom Spirit 2' official website to understand it better, otherwise, he would waste a lot of time figuring out the game. Although he was just a casual player in Yang Qi's eyes, even a casual player needs a bottle!

Finding the website, Lin Zheng opened it and was startled by a sharp sword splitting the screen, almost scaring him. The visual effects were so intense! The sword split the screen, and the spokesperson for 'Phantom Spirit 2' appeared on the webpage, dressed in white, standing with a sword, looking like a fairy descended from heaven! Hmm—look at that face, truly a beauty that could bring down a nation, Lin Zheng could only think of this to describe her, how beautiful! The current popular actresses couldn't compare! Lin Zheng, a normal guy, couldn't help but lick his lips, marrying such a beauty would be a blessing, but envy and jealousy! Men are like that, even if they know they have no chance with a beauty, thinking about her becoming someone else's wife always stirs up a sense of frustration!

"You idiot! Why show me such a level of beauty, how can I find a wife now?!" Lin Zheng sighed to the sky! Hearing this, Yang Qi came over to look, but as they say, beauty is jealous of beauty, even for a female thug like Yang Qi! Seeing the fairy-like figure on the screen, Yang Qi pouted, "It's just better makeup! If I put on makeup, I wouldn't be worse than her!"

Hearing this, Lin Zheng turned to look at Yang Qi. Indeed, although she was a bit of a thug, she was undoubtedly a stunning beauty. But thinking about her thug-like behavior, Lin Zheng shook his head, there was no comparison!

"What are you shaking your head for! Am I not beautiful?!" Yang Qi puffed out her chest, her impressive 34D almost hitting Lin Zheng's face!

"Beautiful, but can a female thug compare to a fairy?!" Lin Zheng shrugged.

"You...!" Yang Qi was speechless, but being a thug, she quickly brushed it off, grabbing Lin Zheng's head and laughing, "Of course not! I'm a free-spirited young beauty, pretending to be high and mighty isn't my style! By the way, this is a big shot, Xiao Lin! If you can get her, you won't have to struggle for the rest of your life! Hehe!" She laughed in a very perverted way, truly a female thug!

"What big shot?!" Lin Zheng was curious, glancing at the beauty's signature, Lan Liuli, the name sounded familiar! And her face had a familiar feel! Well, perverts always feel this way when they see a beauty! Then he heard Yang Qi say, "What's our prime minister's name?"

"Lan Tianzheng!" Lin Zheng answered casually, then paused, both surnamed Lan, could it be, "Is she his granddaughter?!" Lin Zheng was shocked!

"Hehe, surprised, right!" Yang Qi said, "She's a real princess! If you can get her, you won't have to struggle for the rest of your life!"

"Tsk tsk! Real princess! Real princess!" Lin Zheng nodded, looking at our country's princess, she truly had the air of a princess, fitting the image! Look at those Western princesses, they're old ladies and still called princesses, isn't that ruining children's fairy tale dreams! Well! Beauties are endless, let's look at the game's basic information!

The game's world is a magical place with both sorcery and magic, as well as guns and machinery, a bit like Earth being invaded by a fantasy world, with elements from various mythologies.

There are not many initial classes to choose from, just Archer, Warrior, and Mage, but there are many advanced classes. For example, in the Chinese region, the Archer's advanced classes are Marksman, Gunner, Hunter, and Sword Dancer.

Warrior's advanced classes—Swordsman, Heavy Swordsman, Armored Warrior, and Swordsman

Mage's advanced classes—Priest, Mage, Summoner, and Taoist

Among these, the Swordsman and Taoist are not universal classes, they are only available in the Chinese region!

There are already so many classes at the first advancement, and even more at the second. Each first advancement class has two different paths, plus some region-specific classes, making the variety quite extensive!

Lin Zheng just glanced through it, silently choosing a class he was interested in, then browsed other information. Time was running out, and it was almost one, so he quickly turned off the computer and lay down in the game pod. Just as he lay down, Lin Zheng immediately jumped up, holding his head!

"Damn! There's brain stimulation the first time you enter? It hurts so much!" Lin Zheng groaned, rubbing his temples, and after a while, he burst out, "Damn, what's going on..." Then he lay down again as if nothing happened. This time, Lin Zheng didn't have a headache, and his consciousness safely entered the game. He felt a moment of darkness, and when his vision returned, he found himself in a bustling ancient village.

"Welcome to the magical world of 'Phantom Spirit 2', please name your character. Once named, it cannot be changed unless under special circumstances!" Hearing the pleasant synthetic female voice, Lin Zheng came to his senses, setting the character name in the game! Hmm! No matter what, let's set it first!

"Hmm, need a name with some depth!" Lin Zheng thought, and after a moment, said, "Proud Sword of China!"

"Sorry, already registered!"

"Really? Then Great Hero of China!"

"Sorry, already registered!"

"Sun! What about Ximen Chuixue?"

"Sorry, already registered!"

"Damn..."

After about ten minutes, Lin Zheng said helplessly and weakly, "Taoist Yiping!"

"Name available, confirm?"

"Damn, a random name works!" Lin Zheng thought, "But I wanted to play a Taoist, a fake Taoist... turned into a charlatan, damn!" But he didn't want to spend more time on the name, so he confirmed it. He chose the Archer class, and without adjusting his appearance, he ran out of the village to start fighting.