Re-entering the Game

"Cough, cough. Could someone be directionally challenged?" Lu Yang suddenly asked.

Shen Mengyao instantly blushed. Being terrible with directions had been her greatest lifelong annoyance, and she had not expected someone to expose it. Fortunately, they had reached the girls' dormitory.

Shen Mengyao quickly walked to the entrance, then turned around and glared at Lu Yang indignantly. The little beauty was clearly in a very bad mood.

"Crybaby, thank you for walking me back to the dorm," Shen Mengyao said, puffing out her cheeks at the dormitory entrance.

"..." Lu Yang was embarrassed.

"I didn't cry. Something really just got in my eye."

"Mhm, mhm. I know, I know." Shen Mengyao said so, but the expression on her face made it clear that she did not believe him.

"Fine, Crybaby it is. My name is Lu Yang. Lu as in continent, Yang as in sunshine."

"My name is Shen Mengyao. I'm really happy to have met you today. I hope we can meet again. My roommate is still waiting for me, so I can't talk with you much longer. I should go up now," Shen Mengyao said apologetically.

"Go on up," Lu Yang said.

Watching Shen Mengyao's retreating figure disappear into the dormitory, Lu Yang happily thought, Silly girl, we'll meet again very soon. We're classmates, after all, and before long, you'll come looking for me yourself.

In reality, the walk from the school gate to the girls' dormitory only took five minutes, but Lu Yang had led Shen Mengyao around nearly half the campus. He believed she would figure it out soon enough.

In his memories, their past-life connection had begun with asking for directions. He had not expected it to be the same in this life. Lu Yang could not help clenching his fists. This time, he absolutely could not leave behind any regrets.

But then Liu Jie's cold smile suddenly surfaced in Lu Yang's mind. Thinking of how Liu Jie would take everything that belonged to him five years later, Lu Yang felt an overwhelming sense of urgency. He had to become stronger to protect it all, and the only thing he could do now was enter Second World as soon as possible.

Checking his phone, Lu Yang saw that there were only thirty minutes left before the game servers opened. He turned and headed back to the game helmet specialty store by the school gate.

Game helmets came in three grades: A, B, and C, corresponding to visual clarity. Although the cheapest C-grade helmet only allowed players to experience seventy percent of the game's visuals, it still cost 1,000 Credit Points. Lu Yang did not have much money, but a C-grade helmet was enough for him.

After returning home and locking the door, Lu Yang lay on his bed and put on the game helmet. In an instant, the helmet's bioelectric waves connected to his brain.

"System scan in progress..."

"First login. Brainwave scan. Binding... Information input..."

"Binding bank card..."

After a series of sounds that were both familiar and unfamiliar from his previous life ended, Lu Yang entered a hall radiating golden light.

A massive screen appeared before him, and a mechanical voice came from it.

"Dear player, welcome to Second World. The game helmet has already been bound to your basic information. The game will begin in three minutes. Would you like to create an account?"

"Yes."

The screen flickered, and three castles with distinctly different banners appeared before Lu Yang.

"Please select your race."

Second World had three major races. The first was the human main city, St. Gall City, which flew blue-and-white banners. The second was the beast race's main city, Dominion Fortress, where blood-red battle flags fluttered. The third was the Elf Race's main city, Golden City, marked by golden banners.

"Human."

Seven distinctive characters appeared on the screen.

"Please select your class: Mage, Warrior, Rogue, Hunter, Priest, Warlock, Paladin (Human-exclusive)," the mechanical voice asked.

"Mage."

Lu Yang had also played a Mage in his previous life, specializing in fire magic. He had invested far too much into this class, and he knew every Fire Mage skill, every class quest, and every trick. His passion for Fire Mages bordered on obsession.

"Class selection complete. Please enter a name..."

"Lu Yang."

"Would you like to adjust your appearance?"

Players could adjust their in-game appearance, but they only had one chance. After thinking it over, Lu Yang decided to use his previous-life appearance. Wherever he had fallen, he would rise again from that very place.

"Appearance modification complete."

"System generation in progress. Please wait patiently..."

Three seconds later, a human Mage character dressed in apprentice cloth robes and holding an apprentice staff appeared on the giant screen.

Beside it were the Mage's attributes.

Name: Lu Yang

Class: Mage

Level: 0

Stamina: 3

Strength: 1

Intelligence: 10

Agility: 3

Constitution: 4

Health: 64

Mana: 120

Physical Damage: 1–1

Spell Damage: 10

Defense: 3

Physical Critical Hit Chance: 0

Magic Critical Hit Chance: 0.1%

Spell Recovery Speed: 1 point/5 seconds

"Character generation complete. Server opening countdown."

"5."

"4."

"3."

"2."

"1."

"The game has begun. Would you like to enter the game?" the mechanical voice asked.

Lu Yang firmly replied, "Yes."

The scene shifted. Lu Yang merged with his character and was transported to an enormous city—St. Gall City.

The familiar sights from his previous life entered his view once more: the blue Mage Tower that soared into the clouds, the solemn golden cathedral, the Warrior training grounds brimming with blood and passion, the cold and austere assassin base, and the massive, magnificent royal castle.

"Wow, it's so beautiful!"

"This city is huge!"

Quite a few players appeared in the square, marveling at the beauty of St. Gall City's buildings.

Looking out from the square, four straight streets stretched so far that their ends could not be seen. NPCs filled the streets, chatting, trading, and carrying out actions no different from those of ordinary people.

"These characters are way too lifelike." Some players tried talking to the NPCs and discovered that their conversational patterns were almost indistinguishable from real people. They could answer any questions about everything they knew of the Holy City. If there were no other players around, players might have believed this was reality.

As he watched the growing number of players and listened to their constant exclamations, Lu Yang revealed a nostalgic smile.

"It really is nostalgic. St. Gall City, I really have returned."

Without lingering in sentiment, Lu Yang ran toward the north side of St. Gall City. He knew all the beginner quests and monster-grinding locations, but he had no intention of doing those quests.

Having been reborn, if he still leveled up by doing quests like ordinary people, would that not be far too pathetic?

What Lu Yang intended to do now was a quest he had regretted missing for ten years in his previous life. Only by obtaining this quest's reward first would he have a chance to save himself and his family, and perhaps lift the curse of fate that seemed to hang over him.

St. Gall City stood upon the vast Flower Whisper Plains. Where the Holy City's northern gate met the plains stood an enormous, bottomless canyon.

Lu Yang ran all the way to the cliff's edge. After checking that no one was around, he went to the spot he remembered from his previous life and decisively jumped down.

Jumping from a bottomless cliff should have meant certain death, but shortly after falling, Lu Yang was caught by branches growing from the cliff face.

Crack! The branch snapped.

-7

Though it could not stop Lu Yang from falling, it slowed his descent. He continued plummeting and, before long, crashed through another thick branch.

-5

-5

Each time he hit a branch, Lu Yang took damage. Just as he was about to die, he finally landed on the ground. A heavy -20 damage left him with exactly one point of health.

Lu Yang could not help patting his chest as he thought, Good thing I still remember where I fell from in my previous life. Otherwise, I'd have had to fall to my death seven or eight times before getting down here.

System Prompt: You have discovered Sunset Canyon.

Looking around the valley, it was exactly as it had been in his previous life. Sheer cliffs surrounded the canyon. Beneath one side of the cliff stood an enormous golden tree laden with round, golden fruits. Their skins were thin and translucent, with the juice inside clearly visible. Even someone who was not thirsty would have their appetite stirred by the sight and want to taste what that tender juice was like.