Chapter 1

Yang Rui tidied up the fish stall, putting the last mandarin fish, two carp, and a soft-shelled turtle into the fish basket behind him. The carp were intentionally left by Yang Rui, who planned to make a sour cabbage carp for his sister for dinner, as she particularly enjoyed it.

"Xiao Yang, are you closing so early?"

While Yang Rui was tidying up, a series of old bicycle bells rang from behind him, and he immediately knew who it was! It was Old Li, who had been their neighbor for seven or eight years!

"Oh, Uncle Li!" Yang Rui turned and moved closer.

"Xiao Yang, can you give Uncle Li a carp, a big one if possible?" Old Li was in his fifties but had already gone bald. He was a very nice person and had taken care of Yang Rui and his sister many times over the years.

"Sure thing." Yang Rui smiled slightly, readily agreeing. He turned and picked out a slightly larger carp from the basket, knocked it out, and quickly cleaned off the scales.

Actually, the two remaining carp were about the same size, but Yang Rui unhesitatingly gave the larger one to Uncle Li. On one hand, it was his nature, and on the other, Old Li had taken care of him and his sister many times over the years. Moreover, Yang Rui knew something that would happen to Uncle Li more than a year later...

Yes, more than a year later!

It might sound unbelievable, but it truly happened to Yang Rui—just a short while ago, when he was in a very dangerous situation, he suddenly found himself back more than two years, to the present time!

Yang Rui had truly been reborn once! The story was long, and even today, he had not fully accepted this reality...

"Uncle Li, take care!"

After a few more words, Old Li quickly rode away on his bicycle. Yang Rui tidied up again, drained the water from the tank, washed it, disassembled the stand, cleaned the ground, and moved everything out. Finally, he looked around the 20-square-meter shop and pulled down the roller shutter with a swift motion!

A few days ago, Yang Rui had rented out this first-floor shop, and the contract would start tomorrow. He and his sister lived in a 20-square-meter apartment on the second floor. This shop was almost the only property left to them by their parents.

Yang Rui was deeply attached to the fish stall, even though it didn't earn much money. After his parents passed away in an accident a few years ago, Yang Rui had to run the fish stall to make a living and take care of his bedridden sister!

Thus, Yang Rui had a deep affection for the fish stall. After his parents' passing, he left school and quietly broke up with his girlfriend, relying on this small fish stall to support his sister!

"Come, Xiao Hui, try my signature dish, your favorite—sour cabbage carp! Ta-da!" At dinner time, Yang Rui proudly served the sour cabbage carp he had been busy preparing.

The difficulties and hardships of life made Yang Rui live stubbornly and happily, at least for his sister's sake.

"Hehe, big brother, I smelled it a long time ago! Get the chopsticks, get the spoon!" Xiao Hui rubbed her hands, ready to pounce.

The siblings then quickly devoured the meal, as usual. Since Yang Rui sold fish almost every day, getting up early to buy fish and closing late, dinner time was almost the happiest moment for them.

"By the way, big brother, is the game helmet you gave me for my 18th birthday really as magical as you said? Can I run freely in the game?" After dinner, Xiao Hui couldn't help but ask. In a couple of hours, the game would open, and the helmet would be put to use!

"Of course, Xiao Hui. A classmate of mine works for the game company. He told me that this 'World War' has a 100% virtual reality experience, almost indistinguishable from the real world!" Yang Rui said confidently.

If anyone knew this game best, it had to be Yang Rui! He had been reborn because of this 'World War' and had over a year and a half of game experience!

It was also because Yang Rui inadvertently obtained a valuable piece of information in the game that he was pursued in reality, leading to his rebirth! It was a deeply etched memory!

"Big brother, you went to medical school, right? Did your classmate switch to IT?" Xiao Hui pouted, puzzled.

"Ah, hehe, a high school classmate, a high school classmate!" Yang Rui's words didn't hold up, so he dodged, "Anyway, the game will open in two hours. We'll see when we play, hehe..."

"Big brother, the game helmet is so expensive, I'm worried..." Xiao Hui didn't finish her sentence.

Yang Rui understood what she meant. In his previous life, to fulfill Xiao Hui's wish to walk and run freely in the game and to alleviate her real-life frustrations, he had spent a lot of money on the helmet. He only entered the game himself half a year after it opened!

This time, knowing the business opportunities in the game, Yang Rui almost spent all his money to buy a helmet for himself as well, which was why Xiao Hui was worried about their living expenses!

"Don't worry, Xiao Hui. If it's not as I imagined, I'll quit the game and find other ways to make a living!" Yang Rui reassured her, his eyes filled with determination.

If it were before his rebirth, Yang Rui wouldn't have taken such a risk.

"Okay, I believe big brother!" Xiao Hui answered cheerfully. She wasn't really worried, as her big brother had always been decisive and thoughtful.

Time quickly passed, and it was time for the game to open. Yang Rui helped Xiao Hui put on the helmet, adjusted it to a comfortable position, took a deep breath, and then slowly and firmly put on his own helmet.

"I'm back, Yang Rui! I will uncover the mystery of the pursuit in reality!"

The scene went dark, then bright, and Yang Rui entered the game interface.

His character was in a pavilion, exquisitely crafted with intricate carvings, a perfect representation of ancient China, which made Yang Rui, who had been away from the game for a long time, feel refreshed.

However, Yang Rui didn't waste time on these details. He knew a series of promotional videos and a quiz would follow, so he directly chose to skip them!

Players who participated in the quiz had a chance to gain a talent and influence attribute point distribution. However, according to statistics from his previous life, the number of players who gained a talent was extremely rare, and the total attribute points for each character were always 30, regardless of how they were distributed, to maintain game balance.

"Welcome to 'World War.' You are in the Chinese Three Kingdoms setting. Please name your character!"

After skipping a few interfaces, a beautifully dressed NPC woman appeared before him. The 100% virtual reality experience was impressive, with her slender waist, soft chest, and plump buttocks, making her almost indistinguishable from a real person!

"Lieryang!" Yang Rui answered casually.

"Character identity confirmed. Starting identity binding, please wait... DNA confirmation complete! Brainwave frequency locked! Attribute settings complete..."

"Your character information is as follows:

Title: Lieryang

Talent: None

Class: None

Reputation: 0

Identity: Commoner

Achievements: 0

Level: 0

Strength: 6 Intelligence: 7 Politics: 9 Leadership: 8

...

Money: 100 copper coins...

Confirm?"

"Confirm!" Yang Rui didn't waste time and quickly answered.

Each character had three chances to randomly distribute attribute points. Yang Rui glanced at the four attributes and found the Strength a bit low, but 6 points were barely enough at the beginning, and the health would be a bit thin. To save time, he didn't choose to randomize the attributes again.

The scene changed again, and Yang Rui appeared in the newbie village. The village was still quiet, with most players still interacting with the NPC guide.

He quickly ran to the mayor's position to check in, then followed the mayor's guidance to the medical shop owner for a collection task. He also went to the butcher's stall to accept a task to collect rabbit meat and then quickly ran out of the village.

Although Yang Rui had played the game for over a year, the newbie village was a special area, and he didn't remember much about it. There should have been many newbie guides on the forums, but after the newbie stage, who would care about those things?

Recently, Yang Rui had recalled and organized some newbie leveling information, but he only remembered a few small tasks. He remembered a few classic tasks on the main map, but those would only be available after level 10.

Taking advantage of the low player density in the newbie village, Yang Rui rushed out of the east gate and started attacking the scattered white rabbits, using the "Collection Skill" to gather rabbit meat for the task.

The system provided newbies with a wooden stick with 1-2 attack power, a small pack of bandages, and a set of almost defenseless clothes. Fighting higher-level monsters was just a fantasy, so the most efficient way at the beginning was to fight low-level or same-level monsters.

In 'World War,' except for humanoid NPC monsters, other monsters rarely dropped valuable items. Fortunately, each player had a basic collection skill to gather materials, which could be used to complete small tasks or sold to the system shop for a small amount of money, though the profit was minimal.

After about ten minutes, with one white rabbit after another falling to Yang Rui's wooden stick, he quickly leveled up to level 1 and completed the rabbit meat collection task. Since he was still near the entrance, he quickly returned to the village to turn in the task at the butcher's stall.

Such tasks didn't give much experience, and turning them in at a higher level wouldn't be very effective!

Sure enough, after turning in the rabbit meat collection task, Yang Rui's experience bar was already 70-80% full at level 1, and he would soon reach level 2.

At this point, the newbie village was starting to see more players, some running around looking for tasks, some heading out to bully the white rabbits, and some standing around, still in awe of the game's high virtual reality.

"I wonder which newbie village Xiao Hui is in?" Yang Rui thought as he ran out to complete more tasks.

But it was just a thought. There were so many newbie villages, and the chances of being in the same one as his sister were almost zero. He would have to wait until the main map to meet up with her.