"Calamity" OL, Imminent! (Thanks to "Xiangfei Jingjing" for the Silver Alliance!!)

"Calamity" Online Is Coming Soon! (Thanks to Xiangfei Jingjing for the Silver Alliance!)

Earth.

In an inconspicuous bedroom, a 14-inch OLED screen emitted a faint glow identical to that of a Magic Array, illuminating a pair of square, rimless glasses.

A teenage boy wearing thick prescription glasses sat before the computer, meticulously browsing a mysterious webpage he had accessed through unknown means.

His name was Zhao JinYan, an utterly ordinary high school student.

If there was anything that set him apart from others, it was probably that he was a little shorter, his lenses a little thicker, and his personality a little more introverted and withdrawn.

But no one was born that way. He had been awesome once, too.

Back when he was in elementary school ten years ago, everyone respectfully called him Brother Zhao. Who would have thought that not long after he entered middle school, that nickname would become Experience Bro? After that, it was best left unmentioned.

In short, he had about had enough of this garbage game called "Reality Online."

Just as he was killing time online with that thought in mind, a suspicious advertisement suddenly appeared before him.

...The most realistic, fully immersive virtual reality online game in history! The first closed beta is about to begin! Want to start your second life in another world? Join us now!

"Calamity" Online is coming soon!

Official Website link: NNN.XXX...X.ysj

A domain name he had never seen before.

It did not even start with www... Was it a private server? No matter how he looked at it, the webpage was full of suspicious elements, yet the hand holding the mouse still could not resist clicking it.

As for why...

Perhaps it was confidence in his ability to reinstall his computer system and yank out the power cord at lightning speed?

And besides, what if it was real?

He wanted to see just how realistic this so-called fully immersive virtual reality online game was.

At that moment, Zhao JinYan did not realize that what truly moved him was another line in the advertisement—

Want to start your second life in another world?

To be honest.

He kind of did.

Past Events Like Smoke

After entering that ID on the registration page, Zhao JinYan immediately got down to business, intending to download it and take a look.

Yet after searching the entire site, he found no client to download—not even a demo file or promotional PV.

Seriously, they had not even started selling the dream yet?! With nowhere to vent his urge to complain, he opened the forum in the upper-right corner of the Official Website and discovered that he was not the only fish on the hook.

Quite a few people were already complaining here!

Visitor666: "What kind of game is this? Wait, where's the game?"

Free and Easy: "Why is there nothing here except this crappy website?"

Don't Argue With Idiots: "Hello? Is the developer around? Come out and say something!"

Developer: "Hello, everyone. I'm the developer. Since my team ran off, game development has come to a standstill. I urgently need some money. Transfer 5,000 yuan to account XXX. Once I awaken one hundred thousand Terracotta Warriors and successfully restore my nation, I'll immediately take you as my godson and make you crown prince."

Announcement: Account "Developer" has been muted for 6666 days. The forum administrator once again reminds all players not to trust scam messages or engage in private monetary transactions...

"Holy shit?"

"So there really is a moderator."

"Wait, that guy was just making a joke, right?! Was he banned by mistake?"

"I think it was because of the account name. I suggest this brother register a new one. (Smirk)"

"..."

He had not expected this shabby Official Website, which did not even have a demo, to have so many people on it. New posts popped up every minute, and they did not look like bots.

Maybe everyone was just bored.

Still, Zhao JinYan guessed it was probably because the development team had only just started hyping things up, so everyone came to join the fun.

Once a few days passed and nobody saw anything real, they would probably disperse.

Since everything he wanted to complain about had already been complained about, he did not make a post. Instead, he began browsing the setting guide on the Official Website's information page.

In the distant First Era, the mortals of the Os Continent forged divinities with Faith Power and sealed away the chaotic Extraordinary Power, thus opening the age of mythology.

Legend had it that in that distant age, whether holy light or Dark Energy, life or death, or even elemental power, all belonged equally to every living being in the Mortal World. The Gods each performed their duties, while mortals sang of Their stories, just as recorded in the epics.

Yet every grand epic was inevitably brought to an end by worldly desire. All believers on earth yearned for the God they served to be the greatest of them all, while ambitious nobles and monarchs stood behind them.

The Os Empire was the first to break the balance.

The Emperor chosen by the Gods led his iron cavalry beneath Saint Siss's protection, sweeping across the entire continent in an unstoppable advance. The first to fall was the God of the Underworld. From then on, death and reincarnation were no longer equal for all things; noble souls were born different, inherently above others.

After that, the primary Gods of the elements, who controlled elemental power, fell one after another... Their shattered divinities turned into spiritual essences drifting through nature, unconscious wandering souls.

Saint Siss, who governed light, joined forces with His allies to divide the glory that had once belonged to all Gods and forge new divinities. The authority people had once used to restrain Extraordinary Power ultimately became shackles placed around the necks of all the living and the dead.

Thus, the age of mythology came to an end, replaced by the Second Era, crowned in the name of faith...

Zhao JinYan read the setting guide from beginning to end. There were so many things to criticize that, for a moment, he did not even know where to begin.

How should he put it?

It was a very standard setting.

There was a clearly defined villain, and the contradictions and conflicts were obvious. If the editor in charge of the script was at least competent, the development of the main storyline should still be worth looking forward to.

However, its shortcomings were equally obvious.

Today's gaming market was no longer in the era of Dark X God, Hero X Evil Dragon, and Happy X Landlord.

Whether single-player games or online games, the range of genres was vast and flourishing, as lush and varied as the Erdtree in Elden Ring.

At least in his personal opinion, this game's setting still seemed somewhat thin compared with the various popular RPG blockbusters on the market.

Unless—

The developers could really create the so-called fully immersive virtual reality online game.

But was something like that even possible?

It was probably just a gimmick the developers had put out.

This world was cruel. If one was not careful, they would end up being fed shit.

Game developers only needed to think about how to sell their games, but players had far more to consider.

Tossing a potato chip into his mouth, Zhao JinYan tapped his index finger on the table for a long while before finally giving a fair assessment.

"Doesn't feel as good as Ming Shen..."

He just hoped the actual game would bring him a surprise.

"Leon... Leon... wake up. The graduation ceremony is about to begin."

Mm... huh?

A familiar voice echoed beside his ears. Leon's pupils gradually regained their clarity, yet his face remained filled with confusion.

More than an hour had passed since the ritual's success.

By now, he had washed up and changed into the formal wear that had been tucked away in the corner of his wardrobe, and he was standing in the plaza before the grand auditorium of Demon Lord Academy.

However, although he was already standing here, he felt as though his soul was still lingering in the shock he had experienced an hour ago.

What the hell was this "Calamity" system?

And that God of Machines...

He had lived in this world for eighteen years, yet he had never once heard of that title!

And that was not all—

There was also the game called "Calamity Online," the Official Website forum projected onto the giant stone tablet deep within his Sea of Consciousness, and the information on the First Era and Second Era posted on that forum...

Those things did not seem fabricated, yet they were completely different from everything he had heard over the past eighteen years.

The immense flood of information washed over him like a tide, leaving him unsure where to even begin processing it.

Leon took a deep breath and sorted through the tangled thoughts in his mind one by one.

First, there was Lin Te.

This man's strength was likely not merely that of a demigod, as Professor Evan had guessed. Both feet had already stepped fully into the realm of the Gods—

He had forged a godhead with a mortal body!

Although no historical records could prove it, after studying the so-called "Calamity" system, Leon immediately believed the man's claims.

There was no other reason!

This system could actually connect to the internet on Earth, his hometown!!!

Through the stone tablet deep within his Sea of Consciousness, Leon successfully logged into the Official Website for "Calamity Online" and even saw a group of enthusiastic netizens actively posting on the forum.

Although it was the only website he could access, and he could only browse without making posts, seeing the words of his homeland again after eighteen years was enough to make him ecstatic! Besides accessing the Official Website, Leon could also check his status panel and switch to the player management page by touching the symbols on the stone tablet.

However, since the current "Number of Players" was 0, he could not yet test the "GM privileges" granted by the system. As for what use players would ultimately have, that still required further observation.

Beyond that, the system also had an important parameter called "Faith Points."

According to the system, Faith Points could be consumed to raise one's Soul Level without side effects!

According to the Soul School's theories in Hell's academic circles, Soul Level directly determined the upper limit of the Extraordinary Power a person could possess! Although this world also had methods such as demon ascension and undead transformation that could forcibly raise a person's Soul Level, all such unorthodox rituals came with extremely severe side effects.

The most typical consequence was gradually going mad after fusing with too many souls that did not belong to oneself, or completely becoming another person.

Raising one's Soul Level without side effects...

That was something only Gods could accomplish!

Although Lin Te's mental state worried him somewhat, for the moment, this system did not seem like a bad thing for him. More importantly, he saw hope in it for breaking through his bottleneck!

Watching Leon, who had only just woken up before falling into a daze again, Ige's face showed a trace of concern as well. He reached out and waved a hand before Leon's eyes.

"Hello? Are you okay?"

Noticing the hand waving in front of him, Leon first froze, then jolted back to his senses and laughed awkwardly.

"Me? Ahaha... I'm fine. I just got distracted."

He had delved too deeply into the realm of the spiritual world and had nearly forgotten that he was still in the Demon Capital!

High-level Demons were everywhere here. With the slightest trick, they could take advantage of any opening... Fortunately, Ige was the one standing beside him.

No—

He needed to be wary of this guy too! Unbothered by Leon's suddenly heightened vigilance, Ige smiled with relief when he saw Leon pull himself together.

"That's great. As long as you're all right... I thought perhaps Mai Jinli or Mia had done something to you, Senior."

"Don't worry. I'm not that easy to fool."

Putting on a bright smile, Leon swiftly ended the conversation and turned his gaze toward the towering, sinister castle directly ahead.

That was the grand hall of Demon Lord Academy, and also where the graduation ceremony would soon be held.

It was said that the castle had been converted from a genuine war fortress, and the scars left behind by wars centuries ago could still be seen on its battlements.

At the castle entrance stood an enormous black iron gate, covered in savage reliefs and chilling incantations.

Ferocious gargoyles and imposing headless knights clad in iron armor stood along both sides of the stone path, looking down on everyone entering the castle. They looked as though they might come alive at any moment and devour any rule-breaker whole.

Strict. Terrifying...

Those two words were enough to describe the castle.

Leon usually did not like coming near this place.

It was not because of the lifelike, eerie statues. The main reason was that the ornamental pool, which was basically a moat, was filled with lava.

Which genius had come up with using freaking lava as an ornamental pool?! He had wanted to complain about it from his very first day at the academy!

Though so far, he seemed to be the only one complaining.

The plaza was packed with people, a vast sea of black.

Besides the fourth-years attending the graduation ceremony and the third-years being hurriedly pushed into service, the second-years and first-years had also come to join the excitement and see their Seniors and Senior Sisters off to the front lines.

As the bell chimed on the hour, the castle gates slowly opened, and the motionless crowd began surging forward.

"Senior... it's time for us to go," Ige quietly reminded Leon, who remained standing still.

"I know... Don't worry about me. I'm really fine," Leon muttered. Then, he silently took a crystal sphere from his robes and held it toward the castle before him.

It was a Recording Crystal.

Once infused with magic power, it could record the optical image reflected on the surface of the crystal sphere. It was even more convenient than a camera.

Ige gave Leon a puzzled look, but did not say anything.

After all, graduation only happened once in a lifetime. It was perfectly normal to want a photo as a memento, and quite a few Demons nearby were doing the same thing.

However, Ige did not know that Leon was not doing this to preserve a memory. It was purely because the system calling itself "Calamity" had issued him a newbie quest—

Quest: Film a game promotional PV and upload it.

Reward: Depending on the quality of the PV, receive between 1 and 100 Closed Beta Qualifications.

Though he had no idea what the judges liked or what their evaluation criteria were, this scene of demons dancing in chaos definitely had enough style! —(Thanks to brother Jingjing for the Silver Alliance donation!!! Thanks to readers 20171130004559159, hhhzz6, Pet the Puppy and All Worries Vanish, Ayanami Little Angel, Luoyu, and brother Tiger for the Alliance Leader donations!!! The masked torture is over; I can finally show my face again T.T)