Game World

(Brain storage.)

(Once again, thanks to all the readers who have supported me. Thank you!)

(This is a fictional world. There are no countries, only guilds. Please do not compare it to reality.)

"The universe is boundless and contains countless worlds. The world we live in is called the Game World."

Chen Yi was a little annoyed. Who was secretly playing a video while he was sleeping? Didn't they know hospitals prohibited external audio?

Besides, he had only just turned sixteen. Where had more than twenty years of overtime experience come from?

Chen Yi groggily opened his eyes. Who was that bald man at the podium? He seemed to be the homeroom teacher.

His deskmate, Wang Zhanbo, had a pencil clenched between his lips, using his lips and nose to keep it from falling. But the pencil clearly had ideas of its own and slipped away.

Noticing Chen Yi's gaze, Wang Zhanbo gave a tactical cough.

He leaned close to Chen Yi and whispered, "The homeroom teacher is going over the same old stuff again. I already knew all this in elementary school. By the way, you've seemed out of it these past few days. Are you feeling any better?"

Chen Yi: "?"

Who was this guy?

Seeing Chen Yi remain silent, Wang Zhanbo seemed to realize his attempt to change the subject had failed. Still, he stubbornly insisted, "Actually, my best record is keeping it up for an entire class. I just didn't perform well this time..."

Before he could finish, a piece of chalk smacked him hard on the head.

Wang Zhanbo clutched his head with both hands, tears springing to his eyes from the pain. "Hiss! Homeroom teacher, you almost made Blue Star lose its most precious genius!"

The homeroom teacher snorted. Although these students were about to graduate, as long as they had not graduated, even for one more second, they were still his students.

Whispering under my nose? You've gotten pretty bold!

"Since genius Wang Zhanbo enjoys talking so much, then he can teach this class. If you explain anything incorrectly, you can have a good talk with your parents about it."

"And call me Homeroom Teacher!"

Wang Zhanbo immediately apologized. "Sorry, Homeroom Teacher! Um... could you... not call my parents?"

"I was only worried about Chen Yi just now. Homeroom Teacher, haven't you noticed he's been fainting a lot lately?"

At the mention of Chen Yi, the homeroom teacher's tone softened. "Chen Yi, are you feeling dizzy again? You should go rest in the infirmary. Having a healthy body before entering the Game World is what matters most."

It perfectly illustrated the difference in treatment a homeroom teacher gave poor students and excellent students.

Chen Yi shook his head, and clarity returned to his eyes. "Teacher, I'm fine now."

The homeroom teacher saw that Chen Yi did not appear to be pretending, so he said nothing more. He turned and glared fiercely at Wang Zhanbo. "Start talking!"

Wang Zhanbo was angry but dared not voice it. He flashed a fawning smile. "Yes, Homeroom Teacher. No problem, Homeroom Teacher."

"Several hundred years ago, the sky split apart, and one 'door' after another descended across the planet. Blue Star entered the Game Era, and every Blue Star resident over the age of sixteen could enter the Game World through those 'doors.'"

"Some places in the Game World are preset programs, with fixed NPCs and monsters."

"Others are real worlds."

"But without exception, all of those worlds are enhanced by the Game System. By defeating monsters and completing quests, you can gain Experience Points and equipment, becoming stronger, just like playing an actual game."

The homeroom teacher nodded and decided to let Wang Zhanbo off for the moment. "Now I'll tell you something you don't know."

"The first time you enter the Game World, you will be given a choice of Realism. In truth, it is a choice of pain sensitivity. You can freely choose anywhere from 0 to 100%. Once you choose, it cannot be changed."

At this point, the homeroom teacher paused, his expression grave. "After today, you will be adults. Let me say something a homeroom teacher probably should not say: I hope you raise your pain sensitivity as high as possible."

The classroom instantly erupted, though the commotion did not last long.

After spending several years together, the students still trusted this teacher greatly.

The homeroom teacher unconsciously rubbed his hands beneath the podium, as though trying to convey something. "I believe all of you have played games, so you naturally understand the importance of equipment. But do you think your families can afford to provide you with suitable equipment?"

"Even if you emptied your family's savings to buy equipment, would you be able to keep it?"

"Sometimes, the greatest threat in the Game World is not monsters, but other players!"

Having said that, the homeroom teacher calmed himself slightly. "The moment you enter the game, the gap between people has already appeared."

"To make up for that gap, you can only work on two things: effort and Realism."

"Higher Realism reduces the materials needed for level breakthroughs. Those materials can save your families a great deal of money."

"Otherwise, you might end up like me. Even after using up all my Resurrection Coins, I still couldn't gather enough breakthrough materials. I no longer had the courage to step through the door again... and could only waste away at level nineteen for the rest of my life..."

This "failure" was doing his best to pass on his experience.

"Although it is called the Game World, once you raise your Realism, it is no longer a game. It is a battlefield!"

"If you lack that courage, I would honestly advise you to remain an ordinary person. If you never possessed it from the beginning, perhaps you will not feel so disappointed."

"Finally! Never, ever set your Realism to the maximum! Even at 99%, what enters the game is only a Soul Projection."

"Once Realism reaches 100%, it means your actual body enters the game. The tasks assigned by the game become exceptionally difficult, and I've heard that there is no Resurrection Coin option in the Novice Village."

"In other words, once you die, you truly die!"

The classroom remained silent even after the homeroom teacher left.

This was completely different from the game-related information they usually knew, and conflicted expressions appeared on many faces.

Chen Yi felt that the homeroom teacher was responsible. He could easily have kept quiet and let the harsh realities of the game teach the students a lesson.

He could also have painted a rosy picture for these children who were about to enter the Game World and sent them happily through the doors.

But the homeroom teacher had chosen to reveal the world's cruelty.

In truth, the homeroom teacher had much more to say. He knew that even the first and easiest Novice Village would eliminate a great many students, because they lacked the proper mindset and had not learned the necessary skills...

Fairness had never existed from the beginning. It was not merely a matter of equipment, but of knowledge as well.

Children from ordinary families would use up their Resurrection Coins in the Novice Village, then lack the courage to step through the door again and continue playing.

It was like this every year, without exception.

After a brief moment of thought, Chen Yi made his decision.

Perhaps Meng Po's Soup had cut corners. Despite living sixteen years, Chen Yi actually remembered the memories of his previous life.

Chen Yi was still Chen Yi, but his mindset had changed completely.

In his previous life, he had struggled through days whose end he could see at a glance, working day and night for a few scraps of money.

It was not until he lay on a hospital bed that he realized he had worked his entire life yet could not even afford his medical bills. At that moment, he felt like a joke.

That day, he firmly refused to use his parents' coffin money. He pulled the needles from his body, and pain wracked him everywhere, yet he smiled happily instead.

Because at that moment, he felt as though he was truly alive for the first time.

In his youth, he had once harbored ambitions that reached the clouds, calling himself the finest in the world.

No one lived just to work overtime.

If I had a choice, I definitely would!!!

After school, bigmouth Wang Zhanbo kept chattering. "Hey, Chen Yi, do you think I'll awaken some once-in-a-century Talent after entering the game tomorrow? Then all the major guilds will fight to recruit me. Which one should I choose? Hehehe..."

"I can already see myself becoming a CEO, marrying a rich, beautiful woman, and reaching the peak of life. Just thinking about it gets me a little excited~"

Chen Yi was speechless.

Still, Chen Yi was very patient with Wang Zhanbo.

In this life, he had started out as an orphan. If Wang Zhanbo's parents had not occasionally helped him, it was questionable whether he could have grown up safely at all.

Chen Yi grabbed Wang Zhanbo, who was about to let his imagination run wild, his expression serious. "Listen. Go home today and honestly discuss the Realism issue with your parents. This could very well be a turning point in your life. You must! Must! Must! take it seriously!"

Seeing the serious look on Chen Yi's face, Wang Zhanbo finally realized that the issue seemed quite serious.

Those who had never experienced a turning point in life could never understand its importance.