Zafkiel

"Dear player, welcome to the Meta World. The Meta World will become even more magnificent and grand because of your presence!" A crisp voice rang out.

A young woman in plain white Hanfu stood in the main hall, wearing a mechanical smile.

Su Jiang could not help but smile when he saw her appearance.

She wore traditional Chinese Hanfu, yet had the typical appearance of a Western elf—golden hair and blue eyes.

This was because the Meta World's evolution had yet to develop personality barriers, regional barriers, or racial barriers between humans. The current Meta World was merely a mechanical program with no sense of boundaries and no consciousness whatsoever.

Thus, it was perfectly normal for such a guide program that blended Eastern and Western elements to appear.

"Please choose your attribute development focus..." the guide said.

Three options appeared on the screen.

Strength.

Intelligence.

Balance.

Choosing Strength meant that each level-up would focus on improving physical attributes. Later, one could change into physical professions such as Sword Cultivator, warrior, knight, and so on.

Choosing Intelligence meant that each level-up would focus on increasing mental attributes. Later, one could change into magical professions such as Talisman Master, mage, curse caster, and so on.

The last option was balanced development, advancing evenly across all areas.

It seemed like all-around development, but it was not. This option was only suitable for solo players, because advancing evenly meant mediocrity.

Players in parties or guilds could choose the focus they preferred and complement one another, achieving an effect where one plus one was greater than two.

Su Jiang frowned slightly.

With memories of the future, he knew that after choosing an attribute focus came the initial talent draw that every player was required to make.

If one chose an attribute focus, the game would randomly draw one talent from among those suited to that focus.

If a player chose a Strength focus, but the talent best suited to them belonged to the mage class, then they could only miss out on higher-tier talents.

"Can I draw my talent first, then choose my attribute focus based on it?"

The guide smiled. "Yes."

"Click—"

A magnificent roulette wheel instantly appeared before him.

The guide continued, "A notice before the talent draw: a player's initial talent is drawn from the range of talents most suited to the player themselves. However, luck is also a form of strength. What tier of talent you draw depends purely on your personal luck."

"Talent draw probabilities: Common Talent 50%, Intermediate Talent 30%, Advanced Talent 20%. Begin drawing?"

"Let's begin."

"Ding— Congratulations, you have drawn the Advanced Talent 'Dimensional Avatar.'" The game's notification sounded.

The moment he saw this talent, Su Jiang's head suddenly throbbed. His consciousness trembled violently, as though it would burst into countless streams of data in the next instant.

Dimensional Avatar...

Having obtained this talent again, Su Jiang's fragmented memories became more coherent.

It had been this talent in his previous life. Was it the same in this life too...

Su Jiang sorted through part of his memories.

In his previous life, players with the Dimensional Avatar talent had been extremely rare—roughly one in ten million.

And the reason he had been imprisoned was because of this talent...

With this talent, as long as one obtained the core item of a fantasy character, one could transform into that corresponding fantasy character.

For example, Tokisaki Kurumi.

In his previous life, Su Jiang had luckily obtained Tokisaki Kurumi's Angel, Zafkiel. Kurumi's time abilities had allowed him to escape the Overlord's control. Then, in order to change her miserable circumstances, she had constantly hunted monsters and gathered time, trying to return to the past.

Only upon recalling this did Su Jiang realize that last night's Tokisaki Kurumi had actually been his avatar...

So it was inevitable that he had drawn this talent, and in the future, he would inevitably obtain Tokisaki Kurumi's Angel, Zafkiel, once again!

Time and space needed to form a closed loop. This event was bound to happen.

As for the characters he had transformed into in his previous life, Su Jiang could not quite remember them. He even felt a faint, inexplicable sense of disgust.

It was as if some force was preventing him from opening the gates of the abyss.

"Judging by this, after I was captured, I probably turned into a water heater..."

They were both men. How could Su Jiang fail to guess what he had gone through in his previous life?

He then felt rather helpless. Did this count as karma coming full circle?

After his divorce, what Su Jiang had liked doing most was arranging to meet cosplayers for fun...

Fortunately, he did not know whether these memories had been sealed by Kurumi or whether he had deliberately lost them himself. Su Jiang could not recall them. Still, merely thinking that he had gone through such an experience in his previous life made him feel awful.

The problem now was that, to keep him from recalling those depraved memories, he could not even remember which Overlord had captured him.

He had no direction even if he wanted revenge.

"Please choose your attribute development focus."

The guide spoke again.

"I choose balanced development."

Su Jiang answered without hesitation.

He would not need to learn skills in the future. As long as he transformed into a fantasy character, he could possess that character's corresponding skills—both physical and magical.

Thus, balance was the best choice.

"Ding, focus selection complete. May you obtain the life experience you desire in the Meta World."

The guide smiled.

The initial space changed.

The endless white space instantly transformed into a sea of stars.

"Ding—"

System Notification: Because you logged into the Meta World on the first day of its launch, the Meta World officials have decided to grant you an item or skill related to your talent.

Hm?

There was an event like this?

Well, when he had encountered this game in his previous life, it had already been half a year after launch. It was perfectly normal that he did not know about a launch event like this.

After the system notification ended, a shining star emerged from the sea of stars.

He touched it lightly.

Strange ripples filled with rhythm spread outward. The starlight vanished, and an enormous clock appeared in its place.

Dimensional Avatar Core Item: Zafkiel (Golden Epic) (Unique)

Item Description: The core item of the fantasy character Tokisaki Kurumi. It can only be used by those with the "Dimensional Avatar" talent.

Effect: After use, grants the avatar and skill panel of the fantasy character Tokisaki Kurumi. (Note: Some skills may be adjusted for game balance.)

In the Meta World, the rarity rankings for items, skills, and equipment were the same: White Common, Blue Excellent, Purple Rare, Red Legendary, Golden Epic, and Rainbow Mythic.

Some unusual props also had the Unique attribute. In particular, the core items of fantasy characters were mostly one-of-a-kind.

"Ah?"

Su Jiang was completely dumbfounded, utterly unable to express his shock.

This was an item he had only obtained years after the game's launch in his previous life...

Su Jiang was certain that Zafkiel would return to his hands, but getting it right at the start—wasn't that a little ridiculous?

He had obtained an Epic item right from the beginning, and it was even an item that could be used into the late game!

"Gasp... Could it be that in this life, I'm the Meta World's favorite son?"

Su Jiang was stunned.