Arrival

Earth exploded.

Yang Ming remembered clearly that Earth had exploded just about half an hour ago.

The fiery clouds surged across the sky. He had been sitting in his childhood home's living room, holding his parents and younger sister close as they faced the flames erupting from the cracks in the earth. The agony of the fire engulfing them had plunged his consciousness into a dark abyss.

Is this what dying feels like?

Yang Ming was surprisingly calm.

Starting three days ago, television, the internet, and text messages had announced that Earth's civilization was on the verge of collapse and humanity had entered its final countdown. High-energy rays had suddenly appeared in the outer solar system and were heading straight for Earth, unhindered. Earth's technology had been powerless to stop them, and civilization's order had crumbled at a breathtaking pace. (This information did not come from direct detection.)

Human civilization, which had yet to leave Earth, was gone just like that.

Before Earth exploded, an absurd theory had spread online: Earth was under attack by the rays because of a virtual-sensory, interstellar exploration holo-game called Abyss.

The game Abyss, which Yang Ming had been obsessed with since college, had launched its "Abyss Descends" story arc three months earlier. The climax had called on players around the world to unite and face the threat of the Ninth Cataclysm, with their home planet's base at stake.

How could players from all over the world possibly unite?

The main story wasn't anything special, after all.

For three months, the fleets had continued to wage war against one another. Everyone had already assumed that when the expansion's countdown ended, the developers would send in a "ghost army" to crush the powerful NPC fleet.

As it happened, three days ago, the Ninth Cataclysm's main fleet broke through the outer defense line and arrived near the home planet of humanity in the game world. It fired a planet-destroying missile at Earth, humanity's home planet.

Players around the world were kicked out of the game at the same time.

Less than half a day later, extraterrestrial satellites in the real world detected that same high-energy ray, and human civilization on Earth entered a three-day countdown.

Was it really a coincidence?

Wasn't that a little too convenient?

During those three days, Yang Ming saw plenty of conspiracy theories and analytical posts claiming that humans were a common species throughout the universe, that Abyss was a trial of civilization administered by a higher human civilization, and that Earth's humanity had been destroyed because it had failed.

But Yang Ming simply couldn't accept the absurd idea that I blew up Earth by playing a game.

But all of that was in the past now.

Though Yang Ming couldn't open his eyes, he could still remember and think, and he could feel that he had a body.

Was he now...

In heaven? Or had he fallen into hell?

If the burning pain he'd felt earlier hadn't been so agonizing, Yang Ming might have been willing to believe it was all a dream.

"Professor."

Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching and a man and a woman talking.

The man was addressed as Professor. His voice was low and forceful.

The woman sounded middle-aged too, with a gentle voice.

"Dr. Lina, how is our Third Mate doing?" the man asked.

"Hanton is out of danger. His vital signs have returned to normal, but his head was badly shaken. He might suffer some aftereffects."

"Poor fellow. He was instrumental in helping us shake off the Humanity Association's survey ship. Don't skimp on medical resources."

"Don't worry, Professor. I'll take good care of Hanton."

Hanton?

A survey ship from the Humanity Association?

What was all this nonsense?

Yang Ming tried to think. A string of memory fragments surfaced in his mind.

The jumbled, illogical images suddenly assailed his brain. The intense pain made his whole body convulse.

Yang Ming immediately understood.

If he couldn't withstand the onslaught of these memory fragments, he might become an idiot. He could even lose the personality known as Yang Ming!

Ignoring the agony in his forehead, he tried to distract himself, repeatedly recalling his short life as Yang Ming.

At last, the pain began to fade. The memories from this body grew indistinct and docile.

He'd won.

Yang Ming breathed a sigh of relief. Before he could examine the extra memories, he heard another set of hurried footsteps.

"What's wrong with him?"

The professor asked in a low voice.

"Possibly a central nervous system disorder... It's worse than we thought. I'll need to run another examination."

"Let me take a look."

Two cold fingers in leather gloves pried Yang Ming's eyelids open.

The light was blinding. A dark cloud loomed in front of it—a head leaning over from the side.

Yang Ming shuddered.

He knew this Middle-aged Man!

The Mechanical Eye that glowed red, and the left half of his face, where the mechanical framework was exposed, had left a deep impression on Yang Ming.

The dark red scars where the mechanical shell met his natural skin looked even more revolting up close.

He... he was...

A name almost escaped Yang Ming's lips.

Brother Ji!

Holy shit, wasn't this Brother Ji, the hidden boss in the level-thirty Empire-faction epic dungeon in Abyss?

He dropped rare skills for bioweapon classes and core components for orange gear usable by any class!

His real name had been... right, Geglov!

That level-thirty epic dungeon was called Voice of the Abandoned.

Voice of the Abandoned was the second squad-based epic dungeon players took on after leaving humanity's home planet. It had also been the most difficult dungeon at the time. Wave after wave of players had died at the final stage, at the feet of the Valkyrie, and defeating her had become the hottest topic on the Abyss forums.

Ah, the pure, powerful, incredibly gorgeous Valkyrie.

After clearing the dungeon, Yang Ming had gone out of his way to take newbies through it every day, just for the chance to see the beautiful Valkyrie.

Though less than half a month later, he'd fallen for someone else and started spending all his time with the busty class instructor in Minx Port...

Uh, now probably isn't the time to think about that.

The two cold fingers released his eyelids, and Yang Ming's vision plunged into darkness again. Someone gently moved his arms and neck, then attached a few metal plates to him.

Yang Ming tried to recall every detail of the Voice of the Abandoned dungeon. He'd played it dozens of times.

The dungeon's opening introduction had gone something like this...

[An exploration vessel has discovered a Survey Ship abandoned on the outskirts of a desolate resource planet. The Research Ship's internal life-support systems have not been completely destroyed, and signs of life remain in several compartments.

The ship bears the emblem of the Sherman Empire.

Further exploration has revealed deranged monsters created through Gene Modification. They possess strength that exceeds the limits of Carbon-based lifeforms.]

Yang Ming's mind raced.

At the start of the dungeon, a blonde, blue-eyed virtual NPC dressed as a nurse guided the players. As they progressed, the story introduced the person in charge here: Professor Gigrov.

It then gradually revealed the most powerful being on board: the out-of-control Valkyrie.

Thirty years earlier, the Research Ship had encountered a crisis. The powerful Valkyrie, created through Gene Experiment, had broken free of their control and triggered a biohazard, with Modified humans slaughtering the crew.

To keep this Valkyrie, with her potential for infinite evolution, from becoming the Empire's nightmare, Geglov had decided to use non-directional instantaneous jump technology to head for a black hole near the star lane. But the Valkyrie had destroyed the ship's propulsion system, leaving it stranded in this desolate region of space.

Right, that was the background of the Lost Voice dungeon!

Gene Modification, war machines, experiments exploring the limits of Carbon-based lifeforms!

After defeating the Valkyrie, players could continue exploring the story and encounter the hidden boss: Brother Ji, Geglov, who had transformed himself into a monster in order to destroy the Valkyrie.

Wait!

Something didn't seem right.

Yang Ming clearly remembered that the hidden boss Geglov in the Lost Voice dungeon hadn't looked middle-aged.

He should have been a stooped, emaciated old man with a bald spot, messy white hair, and a muddled mind. After swallowing a red pill, he'd turn into an ugly mass of tumors!

The Research Ship had encountered a crisis thirty years ago...

So had Yang Ming been reborn in Abyss, thirty years before the game even launched?

The Valkyrie hadn't started her rampage yet. The Research Ship was still traveling through Sherman Empire territory, carrying out its wicked human Gene Modification experiments.

And he was... he was...

Hanton, one of the Third Mates aboard this Research Ship, a regular enlisted serviceman in the Empire with the rank of Captain. He'd been aboard for two years, mainly responsible for repairing the ship, solving certain technical problems, and maintaining the fire-suppression system.

To put it simply:

[A random crewman about to be slaughtered.]

Hardcore sci-fi. This is my first attempt, and I'm trying to push the boundaries of my writing. I hope you readers enjoy it. Since I uploaded this new work on a whim while running two projects at once, I probably caught the editorial team off guard. The contract will be delayed by a few days, and there won't be much promotion. If you like it, please recommend it to your friends!