Chapter 1

The scorching sun baked the vast expanse of yellow sand, and in the stifling heat, a faint, nauseating stench of decay could still be detected.

"Where... where am I?"

Luo Jie, holding his forehead, stood up from the ground. Before him lay an endless desert, the road beneath his feet scorching hot, and at the end of the distorted scenery, the outline of a city was clearly visible.

His head throbbed slightly, and fragments of memory flickered in and out of his mind like a faulty light bulb.

Around him, nearly a hundred men, women, and children began to awaken one after another, creating a scene of collective confusion that was almost comically reminiscent of a variety show.

Luo Jie suddenly found this scene strangely familiar.

As if a key piece of a puzzle had fallen into place, a flood of fragmented memories began to reassemble in his mind.

A moment later, when he opened his eyes again, his face was filled with disbelief.

"I've actually been reborn..."

Luo Jie recalled everything.

It was the seventh year of his life as a virtual world player. Having fallen to the status of a mercenary, he and a few companions had taken on a mission posted by a major guild to protect the illegitimate child of the guild's president in the "Yaren" virtual world, helping the child complete a class advancement.

Whether it was due to a leak or the child's bad luck, they unexpectedly encountered the main force of an opposing guild in the virtual world.

What no one had anticipated was that the child, though not particularly powerful, possessed an EX-level one-time-use item from the "Butterfly Effect" virtual world, the "Remnant Pages of Ivan's Diary," which triggered a temporal anomaly, leveling the entire city.

Luo Jie couldn't fathom how he had survived the terrifying temporal storm, given that his best equipment was merely a B-level single-person power armor, which could not possibly withstand the destructive force of the temporal rift.

Zzzt!

A sharp electrical sound interrupted Luo Jie's thoughts and drew the attention of everyone present.

"Hey, sir, please return my megaphone..."

A young tour guide, who looked like an apprentice, blushed as she asked a sunglasses-wearing, muscular man for the mini megaphone. Unfortunately, her petite frame made her look quite comical as she tiptoed and jumped to reach him.

"Alright, I got it. I'll return it after I'm done. Be a good girl."

The muscular man, with his large hand like a fan, patted the tour guide's head playfully, making her feel both amused and frustrated.

Listening to their familiar conversation, Luo Jie felt a sense of déjà vu, as if he were living in a different era.

After seven years, many trivial memories had faded.

He only remembered that the muscular man with the sunglasses was the only experienced player present, and if not for his sharing information about the virtual world, few would have survived.

Of course, the man's actions were not out of altruism but rather a forced adherence to certain rules.

"Hey, everyone, gather around me, please. Thank you for your cooperation!"

The muscular man tested the microphone, nodded in satisfaction, and the megaphone worked well, allowing nearly a hundred people to hear him.

The confused crowd, seeing someone take the initiative to speak, instinctively gathered around.

"You can call me Sunglasses, though it's just a nickname." The muscular man tapped his black-gray sunglasses to help everyone remember. "Who I am isn't important. If you're lucky enough to leave here, you'll understand. Now, let me explain the situation you're facing."

"Remember the dark purple fog that suddenly appeared on the highway? It wasn't smog but a special area similar to a temporal gateway, connecting to a parallel world known as the 'virtual world.'"

"The cause of the virtual world remains a mystery, but its content often comes from all forms of human creative works, including history, mythology, drama, film, literature, anime, and games."

"Each virtual world has its own set of rules, but the most basic universal rule is datafication. In the virtual world, everything can be measured and expressed in data, including yourselves. If you still can't understand, think of the virtual world as a large VR game, except everything in this game is real... including death."

The muscular man's explanation did little to dispel the crowd's doubts. Many began searching for hidden cameras, assuming this was a prank reality show set.

It wasn't their fault for being so slow to react. Anyone waking up in a strange place wouldn't immediately think they had left Earth.

"Are you done messing around? Tell me where the exit is! I have an important contract to sign this afternoon, worth millions!"

A man in a suit, carrying a briefcase, looked extremely agitated, checking his watch several times.

With the suit leading the way, others began to join in the commotion, most of them having their own things to do and no interest in a "reality show."

The muscular man didn't get angry. He smiled and gestured, saying mockingly, "If you think this is a set, you can leave now. If you can get out, I'll admit defeat."

"Fine, I'll go! Do you think I'm scared?"

The man in the suit walked out a few meters, but seeing no one follow, he hesitated for a moment and then slunk back.

After all, the man wasn't stupid. The sand and vegetation on the ground clearly indicated this wasn't a set. Even if he didn't believe in the concept of a parallel world, he knew he couldn't survive the vast, desolate desert without any equipment or supplies.

The corner of the muscular man's mouth twitched, but there was no hint of mockery. When he first entered the virtual world, his reaction wasn't much better than the man in the suit's.

However, being caught in the virtual world twice, the muscular man felt his luck had run out.

"Thank you for your trust. Now, I'll teach you the most important step for survival in the virtual world—silently think, 'Open the main panel' or something similar."

Finally, it was this moment.

Luo Jie, familiar with the process, silently thought, "Open the main panel," and a faint light flickered in his black pupils.

A large screen, like a game menu, projected onto his retina, with a light blue, semi-transparent hue that gave it a futuristic sci-fi feel.

Name: Luo Jie

Rank: Zero

Constitution: 75 (related to strength, stamina, physical resistance, speed, etc., with the maximum value for a standard human being 100)

Spirit: 180 (related to mental power, mental resistance, reaction, perception, etc., with the maximum value for a standard human being 100)

Suddenly, like the others who saw the attribute panel for the first time, Luo Jie's eyes widened in disbelief.

On his attribute panel, which should have been completely reset, there was an additional item.

[Yaren]

Type: Bloodline

Quality: EX

Level: LV1

Skill 1: New Human (Passive) — Base spirit attribute +100% (non-upgradable)

Skill 2: Death Rebirth (Passive) — Revive in perfect condition within a certain time after death (10 seconds + 30 seconds per percentage of body damage), while clearing all positive and negative effects.

Skill 3: Black Phantom (Active) — Summon a black phantom, a physical entity, invisible to the naked eye, with a strength of 100% base spirit attribute (due to unknown reasons, the black phantom's mind is damaged and cannot act independently).

Description: Death is eternal.

Luo Jie was stunned for a long time.

Where did this bloodline come from?

He was certain that his attribute panel before rebirth did not have this item.

Could it be...

Luo Jie's heart suddenly raced. He remembered a strange rumor that circulated among virtual world players before his rebirth.

It was said that in the "Yaren" virtual world, there was a hidden Easter egg. If a player died in any way within the virtual world, there was a very small chance of obtaining an EX-level rare bloodline—[Yaren].

Of course, no one was foolish enough to die for an unverified rumor, and no one who died in the virtual world had ever been seen to come back to life with full health.

Thus, even before his rebirth, this rumor was just a joke among players.

But now, it seemed he had hit the jackpot, a grand prize that cleared the entire pool.

"An EX-level bloodline..."

Luo Jie murmured almost inaudibly, his expression complex.

For someone who had never even had A-level equipment before his rebirth, the psychological impact of the EX-level [Yaren] bloodline was significant.

Strictly speaking, EX-level did not represent a specific rank but rather "special, difficult to evaluate."

The basic attributes of EX-level equipment varied greatly, from the highest SSS to the lowest F, and many were even slightly below similar equipment.

However, EX-level equipment often had one or several extremely special skills, allowing them to achieve super-rank effects under certain conditions.

In simpler terms, they were the best of their rank.

However, the [Yaren] bloodline before him was clearly more than just "the best."

Setting aside the not-so-obvious Skill 1 and the damaged Skill 3, the [Death Rebirth] effect of Skill 2 alone was enough to make anyone's eyes pop.

To put it in perspective, Luo Jie remembered that before his rebirth, the S-level item [Phoenix Tail], which had a similar revival effect, cost about 100,000 points and was often unavailable.

[Death Rebirth] was equivalent to an infinite-use [Phoenix Tail].

Luo Jie quietly closed the attribute panel, closed his eyes, and took several deep breaths, forcing himself to remain calm.

To be honest, even among EX-level items, such an unreasonable characteristic was rare, clearly touching the edge of some fundamental rule.

But before his rebirth, he had seen too many underdogs rise and powerful figures fall, and he had learned a lesson—never to place absolute trust in any ability or equipment, no matter how powerful it seemed.

Immortality does not equal invincibility.

Revival is only an insurance policy, not a habitual dependency.

Of course, while remaining vigilant, this was still a good thing.

If rebirth gave Luo Jie an unexpected surprise, then the EX-level [Yaren] bloodline was the icing on the cake.

With the experience and information from his previous life and the powerful EX-level bloodline as a starting point, Luo Jie was full of confidence for the future.

The peaks he could only look up to in his previous life were now within reach, and he could finally stand at the top and look out at the distant scenery.

Even the legendary and mysterious sequence was within his reach.

—Top Player.