Starting the Game

What had happened to the original world? Had they truly crossed over?

Li Wen only discovered after joining the Strategy Group that the players at the forefront had been discussing this all along.

A player within the group who had achieved considerable results in divination had announced their reading. The results suggested that the original world's situation was likely far from optimistic, though exactly how dire it was remained unknown.

Thus, between a familiar game world whose historical development she roughly understood and the original world, about which she knew nothing at all, Li Wen naturally knew which to choose.

Besides, this was precisely why Li Wen had been reborn. That was the meaning of Urd's Thorn.

While thinking, Li Wen still made an anonymous post on the game forum, briefly explaining the game and the crossing-over situation. She used a throwaway account she had created on the spot and did not advise anyone against playing "World Tree: Origins." She merely reminded them to participate more actively in the game, lest they cross over with low levels, be too weak, and die an untimely death.

After posting it, Li Wen deleted the account.

As for what effect it would have and what consequences it might cause, those were beyond Li Wen's control.

"Thirty minutes until class. Please mind the time! Thirty minutes until class..."

At that moment, the intelligent assistant M2 popped up, reminding Li Wen that she was still a student.

Li Wen immediately ordered M2 to enter standby mode. After some thought, she took out her phone and searched through her contacts on social media. It took a while before she found the account of her now-unfamiliar homeroom teacher, then wrote and sent a leave request.

"World Tree: Origins has been live for two days already. But according to the course of my previous life, most players are still feeling their way through things right now, dying over and over. With my memories from my previous life, even being two days late won't affect me in the slightest. With the Strategy Group's accumulated knowledge, I should soon become one of the players at the very forefront.

"In other words, there's still time."

Li Wen considered this calmly.

After the great chaos at the beginning of the crossing, players had already fantasized about how they would start if they could return to the beginning of the game—how they would swiftly raise their levels and acquire rare equipment through the advantage of foresight.

The people of the Strategy Group went even further, especially after Urd's Thorn became known. Specialized players in the group began compiling and summarizing strategies with the ultimate goal of resisting the Twilight of the Apocalypse.

In the end, only one theoretically feasible path had been found.

Li Wen still remembered the exact contents of that guide.

"First, you need to create a female character..."

*

Because game accounts for "World Tree: Origins" were bound to a person's real DNA, and created characters were based on one's real appearance, casually creating a female character as in other games was impossible in "World Tree: Origins."

However, many problems in this world could be solved with money. Although WG Corp strictly prohibited the trading of game accounts, it still could not stop secondhand dealers. If anything, it fueled their greed, since scarcity drove up value.

Li Wen searched the most popular secondhand trading platform of the time and found a local seller with a fairly high reputation.

After some negotiation, Li Wen ultimately bought a bound game account with no character yet created for 13,999, along with GS Corp's limited-edition gaming equipment.

The standard edition of "World Tree: Origins" was priced at 598, the deluxe edition at 798, and the gaming equipment—namely the dedicated console and VR device GS Corp had developed for the game—cost less than 4,000. Even the limited edition would cost at most twice the original price.

In other words, the seller was treating Li Wen rather like a fool with money to burn.

However, Li Wen did not mind.

First, the seller promised to ship it as quickly as possible, and it would arrive in Li Wen's hands within an hour at most.

Second, Li Wen was not from a wealthy family. She was, in fact, rather strapped for cash. But she would cross over in a year anyway, so there was no point in saving money. She should spend it when necessary; delaying would be troublesome.

Lastly, the account's original owner had been an early buyer and was already dead. That meant Li Wen at least did not need to worry that the original owner would reclaim the account she had painstakingly developed. Although GS Corp accounts were bound to their equipment and could not be recovered across devices, things might be different if the original owner went to GS Corp headquarters and recovered it through DNA verification.

All in all, Li Wen found it acceptable to spend a modest sum to eliminate some unnecessary trouble.

While waiting for the delivery, the slightly hungry Li Wen casually made herself something to eat. To be honest, she had not enjoyed the taste of technologically processed fast food in a very long time.

By the time Li Wen finished eating, the delivery had arrived, just as promised, without exceeding the stated time.

Li Wen opened the package. Inside was a not particularly large silver box with GS Corp's logo printed on its surface.

There was not much inside the box: a console that could only be called crude, a VR headset, and several unidentified cables.

"Whether it's the console or the VR headset, they're nothing more than a smokescreen."

Li Wen shrugged, then connected the console to her computer and attached the VR headset as well. That completed the installation.

She checked the time. It was 8:24 in the morning.

Li Wen took a deep breath, lay down on the bed, put on the VR headset, pressed the start button, and waited quietly.

It did not take long before everything Li Wen could see was swallowed by darkness. She felt as though she had been pulled out of some swamp or somewhere else, then poured into an unknown ocean that was icy cold but not harsh.

Welcome to our company's product. Authentication retrieval in progress. Please wait.

Retrieval complete. Confirmed citizen ID: th437***18. Name: *Liang. Gender: female.

Starting game...

Program started. Game will load in ten seconds. We wish you an enjoyable experience...

A ray of light appeared in the pitch-black world at some unknown moment. By the time Li Wen reacted, indescribable brilliance was blooming before her eyes.

When the light subsided, an enormous tree, almost taller than the Sky Dome itself, appeared before her.

"World Tree... Yggdrasil..."

Li Wen felt lost. Her firm conviction actually wavered slightly at that moment, but she quickly cast aside that hesitation.

She raised her head. Above her were cosmic stars that reality could scarcely offer, a vast and incomparably dazzling sight that was difficult to look away from. Li Wen, however, had long since grown used to it and instead looked beyond the World Tree.

At the boundary between heaven and earth, she could vaguely see some enormous thing encircling the World Tree, yet no matter what she did, she could not make it out with the naked eye.

Li Wen withdrew her gaze. A mirror appeared out of thin air before her, and when she saw herself in the reflection, even she, who had weathered so much hardship, could not help but feel a small shock.