Ascending to the Heavens

Early the next morning, a bombshell message rocked the 'Machine Rift Planet' section.

[The big-data concept entity 'Cybernetic Giant' has fallen. On this planet, all cybernetic implant attributes -20%, duration: unknown]

'Fuck, you've got to be kidding me! Does that include all cybernetics, even network implant pods? I was just getting ready to farm AI!'

'This isn't scientific! Isn't this planet following the industrial technology tree? Why would a boss dying cause other industrial products to bug out? That's so out of place! Completely out of place!'

'By the way, what is the Cybernetic Giant? What level of boss is it?'

'I saw it once.'

'And then?'

'There was no then. I got insta-killed the moment we met. When I died, my panel showed a debuff called "Cybernetic Restricted Zone." I guess all cybernetic implants are unusable in its presence.'

'Fuck, it's that strong?'

'How did a monster that strong die?'

'Fuck, I finally found a virtual fragment and was about to go in and farm monsters. Then, right at the crucial moment, all my cybernetics got debuffed, and everyone died and respawned in town.'

From Machine Rift Planet's perspective, this was the final lull before the Cybernetic Tide.

From the players' perspective, it was probably an incredibly happy period.

Virtuality and reality had merged, and 'monsters' were spawning everywhere. These half-informational, half-physical monsters could not only be hacked by hackers but could also be damaged with conventional weapons.

Virtual fragments in particular were monster nests. After one run, it was entirely possible to gain one or two levels.

Now, it was no longer just the frontline players reaching level 30. Ordinary players were beginning to reach level 30 as well.

So when this debuff appeared, wails spread across the player base.

Highgineer, who was also aboard a high-end aircraft,