World Tree: Origins

Li Wen had a distant, painful dream. In it, he gained much, but lost even more. He struggled on the brink of death like a drowning man, yet could not grasp even a single straw.

Until the smart assistant's heart-stopping alarm woke him.

Li Wen lay in bed, drenched in cold sweat. Before his eyes was the familiar yet alien white ceiling.

"I... came back?"

Although Li Wen's mental fortitude could be considered strong, it still took him some time to calm down.

In the bathroom.

Li Wen looked at the somewhat weary face of the young man in the mirror. Beneath those immature features was a mature yet numb soul. He tried to smile, but what appeared was an awkward, unnatural expression.

Shrugging, he picked up his toothbrush and began brushing his teeth.

The smart assistant announced the time, weather, and schedule in a rigid voice:

"Good morning, world! Tianhai time: 07:24:33, June 25, 2050. There are still one hour, five minutes, and twenty-seven seconds until class. The weather is clear. Atmospheric temperature..."

"Shut up."

Li Wen wiped the water from his face, then cut off the endlessly chattering smart assistant.

Fortunately, although Li Wen had forgotten the exact command, the old-model M2 smart assistant was not entirely incapable of understanding human intentions. After Li Wen's warning, it obediently fell silent.

With the only source of sound besides himself gone, Li Wen unexpectedly felt somewhat at a loss.

He swept his gaze around his room. Everything still looked familiar: a plain single bed, a desk and chair, a bookshelf crammed with books, a secondhand computer that could still last another eight years, and an old handheld console gathering dust.

There was no flashy wallpaper or decoration, only basic neatness and simplicity.

Yet Li Wen felt an unprecedented warmth and sense of emotion at the sight.

"I'm back. I really came back..."

Only after confirming once more that he was not trapped in some illusion did Li Wen turn on his phone.

The first thing that caught his eye was a notification saying that World Tree: Origins had surpassed 32 million concurrent players after being online for two days. Only then did he see the social app with 999+ unread chat messages. He opened several group chats in succession, and every single one was discussing that game. The speed at which messages flooded the screen left him amazed, making its popularity plain to see.

That was only natural. As a groundbreaking, era-defining immersive adventure game, World Tree: Origins claimed to offer one hundred percent perfect realism. Super AI monitored the entire experience, providing players with gameplay and freedom comparable to reality—or even beyond it.

That was no empty boast.

From its initial proposal, internal testing, and official release, public opinion surrounding World Tree: Origins had shifted from initial indifference, to widespread doubt and mockery, to explosive popularity upon release. Now, its concurrent player count exceeded similar competitors several times over, more than enough to prove its worth.

Even in this age of rapidly advancing AI technology, hardware limitations and obstacles in the field of human neural science meant that game devices like the implants or neural links found in science fiction had never appeared, much less games built around them.

The moment World Tree: Origins appeared, it had no rivals. It effortlessly claimed the title of best-selling game of the year, while WG Corp rose from an obscure small company to a target of courting and acquisition by major console manufacturers. The sales of its gaming equipment alone were enough to keep it fed for a lifetime.

Things seemed to be developing quite well. Players gained an unprecedented gaming experience, WG Corp made a fortune, and everyone appeared to have a bright future.

But Li Wen alone knew that World Tree: Origins was a trap from beginning to end.

One year after the game launched, every player who had registered an account—even those who had never actually played the game—would be forcibly transported into the game world. Without exception.

At first, most players were delighted, because their in-game levels and abilities were retained. But they soon found themselves unable to rejoice. Those transported over lost their identities as players. The game became reality, death became genuine death, and there was no resurrection mechanic anymore.

The first players who refused to believe it remained immersed in the game, thinking themselves the Fourth Calamity. But reality quickly taught them a lesson. When faced with natives and monsters, huge numbers of them died on the spot.

Only then did the other players become somewhat more restrained.

Players near the top of the level rankings possessed a natural advantage and status. However, as a realistic adventure game, World Tree: Origins did not offer the smooth leveling and ability growth of other RPGs. Most players were low-level casual players who mainly logged in to experience an alternative life.

Li Wen was one of them.

The difference was that Li Wen had only started playing more than half a year after the game's launch, after being strongly urged by his classmates.

Even after starting World Tree: Origins, he had not invested much into the game. He only logged in once a week to check in.

As a result, even after being transported, Li Wen's level remained below ten, still within the beginner stage.

Fortunately, he had the support of his classmates, and his younger sister—his only other relative—was a gaming fanatic with a fairly high level in World Tree: Origins. That was why he had managed to survive the initial chaos after the transportation and ultimately live on in one of the human nations within the game world.

But that was only the beginning. The world of World Tree: Origins was not a peaceful one. Wars between nations and even races, rampaging magical beasts, enemies from beyond the void, and the most terrifying disaster of all—the Tide—threatened the survival of every weak being.

Three years after the transportation, the small town where Li Wen lived ceased to exist beneath an enormous Tide. His classmates, friends, the natives he had befriended, and even his younger sister all died in that Tide. Only Li Wen survived by chance.

Li Wen, who had survived, could not even find a target for revenge. After drifting through life in a daze for a year, he finally learned a little information from a player above level thirty.

It was said that among the high-level player groups, there was a Strategy Group. It only recruited players who met its level requirements. All information and intelligence within the group was shared openly, and most importantly, it possessed secrets concerning the Tide.

To squeeze his way into the Strategy Group, Li Wen constantly sought methods to raise his level and become stronger. He even used rituals that depleted his life force and spirituality to level up.

But another three years passed, and he still failed to reach the required level. His path upward had come to an end. He no longer possessed the potential to level up, and his level was permanently stuck at thirty.

Fortunately, Li Wen still had another path.

The Strategy Group had established a contribution ranking for all players. It hired players to complete commissioned tasks, and those who completed them earned contribution points. Once those points reached a certain threshold, they could become members of the Strategy Group.

Li Wen had continued accepting commissions over the years, even joining a player guild for that purpose. But the contribution points he had accumulated were still far from enough to enter the Strategy Group.

Having already lost his patience, Li Wen decided to take a risk. He accepted an extremely difficult and dangerous commission without authorization. Nearly everyone in the guild refused to participate, except for the companion who had brought him into the guild.

The two set out together. This commission was to subjugate a Frost Giant and seize an item from its hands.

The battle went unexpectedly smoothly. The Frost Giant was easily defeated by the two of them working together. But when Li Wen obtained the item required by the commission, he finally understood that it was a trap from beginning to end.

Just as he was about to be killed by the trap, his companion sacrificed himself and saved Li Wen.

Li Wen returned to their base in a daze. His companion was dead, the commission had failed, and what awaited him was not merely the accusations of the other guild members.

Yet what greeted him was a suicide note. It turned out that his companion had long anticipated that this commission would not be simple. Unable to dissuade Li Wen, he had no choice but to prepare for the worst and write this note.

The contents of the note were simple. If he died and Li Wen lived, all of his contribution points were to be transferred to Li Wen. If both of them died, they were to be transferred to a guild member in need.

The next day, after accepting his companion's inheritance, Li Wen applied to join the Strategy Group.

After a wait so long it drove people to despair, Li Wen's application was approved. On a lightless night, an unfamiliar visitor arrived and guided him into the Strategy Group.

The first thing Li Wen requested after entering the Strategy Group was access to information concerning the Tide. The relevant documents were quickly delivered. After hurriedly reading them, nothing but despair remained in his heart.

The so-called Tide was a precursor to the world-ending disaster known as Twilight of the Apocalypse. When the World Tree withered and died, twilight would kill all life, all existence; not even gods could escape, until everything perished and the world restarted.

And the moment the World Tree withered was now. The Tide had already begun appearing frequently as a precursor. Twilight of the Apocalypse might arrive in the very next moment.

Breaking free from his memories, Li Wen let out a long breath and calmed down again.

He looked at the heated discussions about World Tree: Origins in the various group chats, his heart filled with mixed emotions. These people probably could not imagine that a single game would drag them into a struggle between life and death. And even the strongest players among them would be powerless before Twilight of the Apocalypse.

Li Wen knew how the future would unfold, and he knew those events were inevitable. But even so, he was powerless to stop them.

Even if Li Wen logged onto the game forum now and posted that everyone who had played the game would be transported to another world, warning people not to play it, no one would believe him. They would only see him as a clown seeking attention. He might even be sued by the game company.

Perhaps all he could do was keep himself—and persuade those around him—not to touch that game...?

No. Perhaps that would be a mistake as well.

During the early days after the transportation, because all the transported people had played World Tree: Origins to some extent, no one knew what had happened to those who had never played the game.

One popular claim—or perhaps rumor—was that the original world had already been destroyed, and everyone who had not been transported into the game world was dead.

Some players believed the exact opposite. They were convinced that this was a conspiracy by the unscrupulous development team, who had trapped them inside the game to extort their family and friends in reality.

Li Wen had heard that those people later chose collective suicide. They believed it was the only way to leave the game. As for whether that was true or not, Li Wen naturally did not dare believe it.