Frozen Era Open Beta Begins

"Axing, Big Brother is dead!"

"They say it was because of unpaid construction wages; he was beaten to death by a group of workers at the site!"

Good riddance, hahaha. Inside an office building in Hong Kong.

Cao Xing heard someone calling his name and cast a faint glance at the person—a young man in a suit with his hair slicked back.

Then, Cao Xing lowered his head again.

He was playing a survival adventure game on his tablet called Frozen Era. The art style was realistic, making it a rather hardcore survival game.

Damn, I see ads for this every day. Well, now I'm playing it because of those ads!

Players start by a campfire. Due to the extreme sub-zero temperatures in this world, you can only move safely within the radius of the fire.

If you stay away from the fire for too long, your character will freeze to death.

Players need to build shelters and unlock various basic structures.

These structures can be upgraded by collecting materials; for example, a campfire can be upgraded into a large bonfire, a furnace, and in the late game, even an energy tower.

Besides that, players can develop military forces or research technology within their territory to unlock different playstyles...

According to the developers, a team mode will be released later.

However, since the game is currently in closed beta, Cao Xing hasn't seen anyone else playing it around him, and he couldn't even find anything about it online.

Just then, a notification appeared on the tablet screen.

The game will enter maintenance mode in two hours for the official public launch.

More content is being unlocked, so stay tuned...

Is the public launch finally starting?

Cao Xing felt a stir of excitement. At this moment, the young man with the slicked-back hair sat down next to him quite naturally.

Wu Jiahui threw an arm around Cao Xing's shoulder. "Axing, you followed Big Brother for a while, at least. He was your boss, after all."

"He's dead. Don't you feel sad?"

Cao Xing put down his tablet, glanced at him, and said, "Give it a rest. Once he established Yongsheng Group and went legit, he cut ties with us."

"After all these years, I was just his personal driver. There wasn't much of a bond there."

"Besides, his heart was black to begin with. Getting beaten to death is just business as usual for someone like him."

"I suppose that's true." Wu Jiahui nodded.

At this point, a meaningful smile appeared on his face. "It's a pity, though. Big Brother spent so many years chasing Liu Muxue, and just when he finally won her over and was ready to get married, something like this happens."

"Come to think of it, Liu Muxue really is a rare beauty!"

"That figure, those long legs... tsk tsk, anyone would be dazed just looking at her."

"Too bad Big Brother didn't live long enough to enjoy it..."

Cao Xing didn't pick up on that topic because his phone vibrated.

After seeing the message, Cao Xing stood up from the sofa and turned to leave.

"Axing, where are you going?"

Cao Xing spread his hands. "I'm a driver, where else would I go? Obviously, I'm going to pick someone up."

Cao Xing arrived at the underground garage of Yongsheng Group and skillfully located a dark brown Maybach among a sea of luxury cars.

Opening the door, the interior was incredibly opulent.

The value of this car, including the interior, was at least seven million.

Of course, this car definitely wasn't his.

Cao Xing was all alone with no one to rely on. In a city like Hong Kong, just staying alive was difficult enough.

Let alone having the money to buy a luxury car like this.

Half an hour later, the Maybach pulled up in front of a five-star hotel in the city center.

Cao Xing took out his phone and sent a message.

"Ma'am, I've arrived downstairs."

A message came back from the other side.

"Mm."

A few minutes later, a tall woman wearing a long black dress walked out of the hotel entrance.

Her demeanor was dignified, and the tight dress outlined the perfect curves of her body. As she moved, her slender legs looked like exquisite pieces of jade.

This woman was Liu Muxue.

Cao Xing didn't get out of the car. The woman naturally climbed into the back seat of the Maybach.

"Axing, to the funeral home."

Cao Xing nodded, and the car started.

Halfway there, Liu Muxue took a phone call, her delicate brows furrowing as if she had encountered something troublesome.

"I already said, agreeing to marry into Yongsheng Group was something you demanded. Now that Chen Jiang is dead, I have no relationship with him whatsoever."

"Don't even think about using me as a bargaining chip for your interests again!"

She seemed quite angry, but because of her refined upbringing, she quickly calmed the rage in her heart.

"Axing, I'm sorry." Liu Muxue said softly.

Cao Xing shook his head.

He knew Liu Muxue's personality; she wasn't the type to berate those beneath her just because of her status.

On the contrary, her attitude toward subordinates had always been good, and her reputation in the outside world was excellent.

Ever since Liu Muxue rose to fame, the media had reported extensively on her family background and personal history.

Her original family was not considered wealthy.

But due to her outstanding looks and figure, she became an overnight sensation after reaching adulthood.

Naturally, she attracted the attention of many people with ulterior motives.

The chairman of Yongsheng Group, Chen Jiang—who was also Cao Xing's older brother—was one of them.

Soon, the car arrived at the funeral home.

Before getting out, Liu Muxue forced herself to put on a sorrowful expression.

She knew that no matter how much she loathed that man inside, she still had to keep up appearances.

Cao Xing remained in the car to wait.

An hour later, Liu Muxue returned to the car.

It was clear she had cried; her makeup was slightly smudged, giving her a faint smoky-eyed look.

Amidst her elegant temperament, she radiated a sense of decadence, possessing a unique kind of beauty.

Liu Muxue returned to the car, her expression calm once more, and said, "Axing, take me back to the hotel."

"Alright."

Cao Xing nodded.

But just as he was about to start the car, his vision suddenly went black.

Then, everyone heard a mechanical, synthesized voice in their ears.

"The Frozen Era new version update is complete, officially launching the era of public beta. In one minute, all humans on Blue Star will be thrust into this game."

"Game Notice: This is a world where the sun does not shine. The territory is vast and boundless, but it is shrouded in bitter cold all day long. Your task is to strive to survive in this world."

"After the game begins, you will appear beside a campfire. This is your Survival Fire. Remember! Do not easily leave the range illuminated by the firelight!"

"Your goal is to collect more supplies, expand your territory, and develop more units."

"The new version is a family survival mode, organized by family units with a maximum of 4 people per group."

"Those without relatives will be randomly grouped with people nearby."

"Now, I wish you all the best in striving to live on in this brand-new world..."

When Cao Xing regained his vision, he suddenly found himself in a world of ice and snow.

Before him was a vast expanse of white; everything in the world was covered by ice and snow.

"What the hell, where's my Maybach?"

Before the words left his mouth, a bone-chilling cold struck him.

Cao Xing felt as if he were about to be frozen stiff on the spot in an instant.

"Hiss!"

Cao Xing took a deep breath, instinctively rushing toward the burning campfire in front of him, only then feeling a trace of warmth.

At this moment, a character panel appeared before him.

Name: Cao Xing Race: Blue Star Human

Level: 1 (0/100)

Class: None Health: 100

Strength: 4, Agility: 3, Spirit: 5, Constitution: 5

Lord Interface: Not Opened Current Status: Cold Current Temperature: -31℃

"Damn... this system panel is exactly the same as the one I played on my tablet!"

Then, a second system prompt appeared.

"All survivors, please choose your class system as soon as possible."

"There are currently five major systems: Cold Iron Mechanic, Polar Warrior, Frost Mage, Aurora Knight, and Snow Hunter."

A look of joy flashed in Cao Xing's eyes.

You may choose a class!

Clearly, these classes were the same ones he had played before.

Of course, Cao Xing knew that these five classes possessed very little combat power in the early stages.

For instance, the Cold Iron Mechanic's early-game skill was summoning a small self-destructing robot, the power of which was inferior even to the firecrackers we used to blow up outhouses when we were kids.

As for the Polar Warrior, it only had a simple slash move.

The Frost Mage was slightly better, possessing an initial Ice Bolt spell.

As for the Aurora Knight and the Snow Hunter, they had Purification and Hunter's Perception, respectively.

To truly possess extraordinary power, one needed to continuously develop and acquire more skills.

Cao Xing pondered, When I played this game before, I experienced all five classes.

The strongest is naturally the Mechanic, but it is a late-game class that consumes too many materials.

In the early stages, the Polar Warrior and the Snow Hunter are both very strong, but they become quite weak in the late game.

At this moment, a look of realization appeared on Cao Xing's face.

So that's it. The reason this game introduced the so-called family survival mode is to allow us survivors to reasonably distribute classes, safely navigate the early, middle, and late stages, and survive better.

However, Cao Xing glanced to his side.

Other than himself, there was only Liu Muxue here.

Although he didn't know why he had been assigned to a group with her, now was not the time to think about that.

At this moment, she was looking at the campfire with a blank expression, seemingly trying hard to digest the information from the system prompts.

Cao Xing understood, It seems that achieving a four-person cooperative mode is impossible.

Then... what class should he choose?

After a moment of thought, Cao Xing directly chose the Frost Mage.

A system prompt appeared.

"Congratulations! You have successfully chosen the class: Frost Mage. Elemental Affinity has been unlocked, Cold Resistance has been slightly increased, and your starting equipment has been placed in your storage box."

Cao Xing let out a sigh of relief, and just as he was about to look for his starting storage box, a second system prompt appeared solemnly!

Detected that survivor 'Cao Xing' has a destiny compatible with this world; personal talent: Eternal Power has been activated.

Eternal Power (Hidden Unique Talent): Causes all friendly units within the territory to permanently gain buff effects instead of temporary ones.

I thought the protagonist's cheat was just that he was the only one who had played the beta version—which was already a huge advantage, equivalent to being a reincarnator—but it turns out there is another powerful cheat. It's like playing League of Legends with a map hack and then getting a combat power multiplier on top of that. Honestly, with a cheat like this, if he still encounters opponents with similar combat power later on, it would only mean the protagonist is bad. Cao Xing was stunned for a moment, then exclaimed, "Holy crap! I have a cheat!"