Transcendent Game

Night had fallen, and the moon hung deep in the sky.

Drifting clouds obscured the moonlight, but Baijiang City remained brightly lit. The neon lights of its skyscrapers flickered like a dazzling ribbon, while pedestrians thronged the streets and alleys. The night market had just opened, presenting a lively scene.

The brilliant lights could not cover the entire city, nor could the bustle.

At a corner on the city's outskirts, a streetlamp flickered erratically. Its dim yellow glow slipped through a half-closed window and cast a long halo across a second-floor bedroom, clearly illuminating the uneven cracks in the ceiling.

Beneath the dim yellow light, Mu Yuan sat upright before the flickering computer screen, his fingers nimbly tapping the keyboard and producing a crisp clatter.

He stared at the computer. The flickering light fell across his angular profile, emphasizing the solemnity of his face.

"This world isn't quite normal!"

Mu Yuan was a native of Baijiang City in the Xuan Kingdom. He was a transmigrator, complete with the standard transmigrator background.

His name and appearance were the same as before his transmigration, and his circumstances were similar as well. The Xuan Kingdom's culture and technological level were much like those of his previous world, so adapting had not been difficult.

...That was what Mu Yuan had originally thought.

But—

"Shocking! A man mysteriously dies late at night, with dozens of bite marks found on his body. Who could have done this?"

"An eighty-year-old woman dies tragically at home. Investigation reveals her true identity to be that of a young woman."

"A man in Beijiang dies after his skin, flesh, and blood peel away. Experts claim it is a new type of disease and recommend naming the illness after the man."

"A two-meter-tall direwolf appears in Galan Country! Pictures and proof included!"

One horrifying, uncensored image after another appeared before Mu Yuan. He frowned in thought.

"Information online can be true or false. Faking images like these wouldn't be difficult, but... I know very well that these rumors aren't fabricated. At least, not all of them."

"Because..."

A few days ago, on the very first day after he transmigrated, he had witnessed a "supernatural death."

A burly man suddenly widened his eyes as blood sprayed from his waist. His entire body was severed in half.

It had happened without the slightest warning!

From that moment on, Mu Yuan had continuously searched for similar information. As expected, he found more and more bizarre death cases. The victims were both men and women, though most of the deceased were young.

He had also seen a rumor on a certain forum.

—"All these sudden deaths were caused by a game. They were lucky enough to obtain game access, but unfortunately, they failed to survive the crises within the game. When their game characters died, their real bodies... naturally died along with them."

The replies below were all mocking.

"You're so good at making things up. Why not go write novels?"

Not only did few people believe the rumor about the game, hardly anyone believed the rumors about the sudden deaths either. Very little information circulated outside, and truth and falsehood were mixed together. If Mu Yuan had not witnessed it with his own eyes, then even if he had come across it in a short video, he would at most have smirked cynically.

"What era is this? Who still believes in this stuff?"

"This explanation does line up with all those bizarre sudden deaths. It sounds ridiculous at first glance, but I've already transmigrated. The existence of a mysterious game in this world is perfectly reasonable."

With this information as his lead, Mu Yuan began searching again.

The moonlight in the night sky grew even dimmer. The scattered lights between the residential buildings went out one after another, leaving only the light in Mu Yuan's room still burning.

Late into the night, Mu Yuan made himself a cup of instant noodles and added two sausages.

He carried the noodles to the computer, slurping them as he studied the Secret Forum displayed on the screen.

"This mysterious game is probably real."

"According to the rumors, this mysterious game is connected to a vast world. There, players can control their own characters and command countless troop types... But the truly insane part is that the rare treasures players discover in the game can be manifested in the real world!"

"The game world is completely real!"

"Not only that, players can also wield supernatural power through the game. They can split mountains and shatter rocks, overturn rivers and churn seas!"

This mysterious game was the key to entering a supernatural world.

Did he yearn for it? Of course he did!

The Secret Forum Mu Yuan had found contained quite a bit of information about the Transcendent Game. Some players shared their firsthand experiences, while even more ordinary people could only beg for something they could not obtain.

One Rich Man had offered a sky-high price of ten million in hopes of obtaining game access.

Yet he still failed to get it.

Obtaining game access seemed to be completely random. Only a tiny number of people could acquire it by chance. They were the ones chosen by the world—the Heaven Chosen, the chosen lords, the naturally Lucky Ones.

"But is being chosen by the game really lucky?"

"Set aside the temptation of supernatural power and look deeper, and what you find is an exceedingly dangerous world where one could lose their life at any moment."

"Taking treasures from the game world into reality and obtaining supernatural power is the game world's gift. The corresponding price is... once the character representing you in the game dies, you will die in reality in the same manner."

And surviving in the game was extremely, extremely, extremely difficult.

Players would appear in an abandoned village upon first entering the game. That village would become the player's territory. Players would also possess a small number of initial soldiers, perhaps ordinary troop types such as spearmen, archers and crossbowmen, bandits, or goblins.

Players had to defend their territory and, even more importantly, ensure their own survival.

However, danger lurked all around their territories. Monsters would harass and attack them from time to time. Some players got a game over right at the start. Others could repel the enemies that attacked initially, but as time passed, their soldiers were injured one after another and their combat strength steadily diminished. In the end, they still failed to hold on.

The game world was far too dangerous!

Being chosen by the game—no one could say whether that was fortunate or unfortunate.

Mu Yuan naturally yearned for supernatural power. At first, he had even hoped that game access would descend upon him.

Yet whenever he thought of the players who had died one after another, the blood streaming from their bodies and the fear they could not conceal in their eyes, he felt somewhat reluctant.

If obtaining game access meant living in constant anxiety day after day, then it would be better not to obtain it at all.

At least the Xuan Kingdom in this world was stable, and ordinary people could live comfortably as long as they had money.

"Rather than coveting game access whose chance of appearing is extremely low—and whose authenticity is uncertain—it would be better to find a way to make money. Making money is what matters."

"Ding!"

A resounding chime, like the voice of heaven and earth, suddenly exploded beside his ear.

Howling winds swept past, scattering the drifting clouds and revealing the boundless land below. Ancient trees stood tall and rugged, while enormous birds soared past and perched in their branches. Towering cities rose in the distance, solemn soldiers guarding their walls and pointing their drawn swords toward the distant tide. Withered trees and parched earth stretched elsewhere, while red mist drifted and spread, radiating an ominous aura.

A vast world suddenly unfolded before him.

Characters resembling molten iron appeared one after another, profound and ancient.

"White mist shrouds the land, filth runs rampant, the armies of epic legend trample the firmament, and undying spirits resound throughout eternity."

"Young one, you have been chosen and have entered the Eternal Continent. Now, fight to save the world."

The ancient characters slowly faded away. His viewpoint rapidly shifted from far to near, finally settling on a village containing only a few dilapidated wooden houses.

Mu Yuan abruptly jolted awake.

The vast world shattered with a crash like flowers reflected in a mirror or the moon reflected in water. He seemed to have awakened from a dream, his entire body drenched in sweat. Yet when he looked at the game that had begun running at some unknown point and the ruined village on its screen, all Mu Yuan could say from the bottom of his heart was:

"Ah?"

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P.S. A new book is setting sail! This newbie begs for your support, collections, and follow-up reading QAQ~