The Arrival of a Mysterious Helmet

The room was dim, its curtains drawn tight, with only a few faint rays of light struggling through.

Jia Youcai lay curled up on the battered old sofa, his whole body radiating laziness.

He wore a faded old T-shirt, his hair sticking up in a complete mess. His empty gaze stared at the mottled wall ahead, while his thoughts had long since drifted toward some unknown distance.

Jia Youcai had no house, no car, no girlfriend, no interest in going out for fun, and very few desires. He had just been fired from his job, yet he possessed a huge amount of savings.

"Beep beep beep..." A shrill phone ringtone suddenly tore through the silence of the room.

Jia Youcai shuddered at the unexpected sound, his body jerking violently. Frowning impatiently, he groped around on the sofa and, after quite some effort, finally found the discarded phone in a corner.

"Hello?" Jia Youcai's voice carried a hint of laziness and exhaustion.

A somewhat mechanical voice came from the other end of the line, the familiar yet unfamiliar tone of a delivery driver. "Hello, your package has been left outside your door."

Jia Youcai froze for a moment. His mind raced as he tried to recall whether he had bought anything online recently.

But he quickly gave up thinking about it. Getting a package was not a bad thing, anyway. He answered, "Oh, okay. Thanks." His voice was flat, without the slightest ripple.

After hanging up, Jia Youcai lingered on the sofa for a while longer before reluctantly getting up. His legs had gone numb from staying in one position for too long, and every step felt like he was walking on cotton, soft and powerless.

Dragging his heavy steps, he slowly made his way to the door.

When he opened it, Jia Youcai saw a large box sitting outside under the dim yellow hallway light. The box was nearly half a person tall, square and neatly shaped, wrapped in sturdy cardboard and wound round and round with tape. It looked extremely heavy.

Jia Youcai squatted down, gripping both sides of the box tightly as he tried to lift it. But it was far heavier than he had imagined. He used every ounce of strength he had, his face turning red from the strain, before barely managing to move it into the room.

After setting the box on the living room floor, Jia Youcai panted heavily, fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. Wiping the sweat away, he circled the box several times, filled with curiosity.

What exactly was inside this box? He crouched down and carefully examined the label, but aside from a blurry tracking number and delivery address, there was no information about the item.

Jia Youcai found a pair of scissors and began carefully opening the package. The sound of the scissors slicing through tape rang especially clearly in the silent room. As layer after layer of packaging was peeled away, a brand-new helmet gradually revealed itself.

The helmet had a highly distinctive design. It was a deep black overall, its surface as smooth as a mirror. Two blue indicator lights were embedded on either side, currently blinking with a faint glow.

Jia Youcai's eyes widened in surprise. He recognized it. This was X Company's latest product—the Immersive Virtual World Helmet!

He had once read an introduction to this helmet in a technology magazine. Supposedly, putting it on allowed one to enter an incredibly realistic Virtual World, where people could experience all sorts of adventures and pleasures impossible to achieve in reality.

Suddenly, he seemed to remember something. Wasn't this what he had snagged from the official website a few days ago? This thing was worth a hundred thousand yuan.

How had he forgotten something so important? Jia Youcai could not help smacking his forehead and mocking himself. "Looks like I had too much action in bed last night. My brain's broken today."

At that thought, Jia Youcai became so excited that both hands trembled slightly. He eagerly picked up the helmet and examined it closely.

The helmet's material was highly unusual, soft yet elastic to the touch, as though it had been custom-made for the human head. Its interior was densely packed with sensors and soft foam padding, allowing it to fit perfectly around the head and provide the most comfortable wearing experience.

"A hundred thousand yuan, a hundred thousand yuan," Jia Youcai could not help sighing.

Then, following the instructions in the manual, Jia Youcai charged the helmet and connected it to the wireless network.

Afterward, he slowly put the helmet on his head. In an instant, a faint electric current spread through his entire body, making him shiver. Then everything before him went black, and he seemed to be standing in an endless universe, surrounded by twinkling stars and mysterious nebulae.

"Welcome to the Virtual World!" A pleasant voice rang out beside his ear. Jia Youcai widened his eyes, excitedly taking in everything before him.

A massive screen appeared in front of him. In the center was a huge input box, while text on the left read: Please bind your bank card number.

Jia Youcai took a look. It seemed he could not proceed without entering it.

Seeing that he had to bind his bank card number, Jia Youcai immediately became uneasy. This isn't a scam, is it?

But then he thought about how he had already spent a hundred thousand yuan on this device. He could not just give up halfway here, could he?

After thinking it over, he entered the number of a bank card containing only a few thousand yuan, then clicked Next.

Then, a screen appeared welcoming him to Douluo World. A few seconds later, options appeared on both sides, with a line of text at the top: Please choose your development route.

On the left: Crush Demon King Tang San. On the right: Crush Spirit Hall.

Jia Youcai thought about it. If he chose the right side, he would probably just follow the original plot, which would be completely pointless.

So, he chose the left side.

Then, a flash of light swept past.