Descent

Earth exploded.

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

The sky was a surging, fiery inferno. He had been sitting in his family's living room, holding his parents and younger sister tightly as they faced the flames erupting from the cracks in the earth, eventually sinking into a dark abyss of consciousness amidst the agony of being consumed by fire.

Is this death?

Yang Ming felt surprisingly calm.

Television, the internet, and mobile alerts had begun announcing the imminent collapse of Earth's civilization three days ago, declaring that humanity was on a countdown. High-energy rays had suddenly appeared in the outer solar system, striking Earth without obstruction. Earth's technology was helpless against it, and the order of civilization crumbled rapidly. (This information did not come from direct detection.)

Human civilization, which had not yet managed to step beyond Earth, was simply gone.

Before Earth exploded, a rather absurd theory had circulated online: Earth was being attacked by rays because of a virtual-sensory space exploration holographic game called Abyss.

Yang Ming had been addicted to this Abyss since college. Three months ago, it had reached the "Abyss Descends" story arc. The climax of this arc involved betting the Home Planet base, calling on global players to unite and resist the threat from the "Ninth Cataclysm" legion.

How could players from all over the world possibly unite?

The main storyline wasn't exactly a big deal.

For three months, various fleets continued to war against one another. Everyone had assumed that when the expansion pack's countdown ended, the developers would have "ghost soldiers" sweep in to wipe out the powerful NPC fleet.

It just so happened that three days ago, the main force of the Ninth Cataclysm legion broke through the outer defensive lines, arrived near the origin Home Planet of Earth's humanity, and fired a planet-killing weapon at the game's version of Earth.

Global players were kicked out of the game simultaneously.

Less than half a day later, real-world satellites detected that same high-energy ray, and Earth's human civilization entered its three-day countdown.

Was it really a coincidence?

Wasn't that a bit too coincidental?

During those three days, Yang Ming saw many conspiracy theories and analytical posts claiming that humans were a common species in the universe, that the Abyss game was a civilizational trial given by a higher human civilization, and that Earth's humanity had failed, hence its destruction.

But Yang Ming simply could not accept the fallacy that "I blew up the Earth by playing a game."

However, all of that was in the past.

Although Yang Ming could not open his eyes at this moment, he could still recall, think, and feel the existence of his body.

Where is this now...

Have I arrived in heaven? Or fallen into hell?

If the previous burning hadn't been so agonizingly painful, Yang Ming would have been willing to believe it was all a dream.

"Professor."

Suddenly, the sound of rhythmic footsteps came from beside his ear, followed by a conversation between a man and a woman.

The man was addressed as Professor, his voice deep and powerful;

The woman was likely middle-aged as well, her tone very gentle.

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

"Hanton is out of danger. All his physical indices have returned to normal, though he suffered a severe concussion to the head, which may lead to some sequelae later on."

"The poor fellow. He played an indispensable role in shaking off the Humanity Association's investigation ship. Do not skimp on medical resources."

"Rest assured, Professor. I will take good care of Hanton."

Hanton?

The Humanity Association's investigation ship?

What kind of nonsense is this?

Yang Ming struggled to think, and a series of memory fragments surfaced in his mind;

These mottled, illogical images suddenly slammed into his brain, the intense pain causing Yang Ming's entire body to twitch.

Yang Ming reacted immediately.

If he couldn't withstand the impact of these memory fragments, he might end up a fool, and very likely lose the personality known as Yang Ming!

Enduring the splitting headache, he tried to distract himself, repeatedly recalling the short half-life he had lived as Yang Ming.

Finally, the pain began to recede, and the memory images from this body became blurry and docile.

He had won.

Yang Ming breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. Before he could even review these extra memories, he heard chaotic footsteps again.

"What's wrong with him?"

The Professor asked in a deep voice.

"It might be a central nervous system lesion... The problem is worse than we thought. I need to re-examine him."

"Let me see."

Two cold, leather-gloved fingers pried open Yang Ming's eyelids.

What met his eyes was a blinding light, and in front of the light was a dark cloud—a head leaning in from the side.

Yang Ming was struck with horror.

He had seen this middle-aged man before!

The man's mechanical prosthetic eye flickering with red light, and the left side of his face where the mechanical skeleton was exposed, had left a deep impression on Yang Ming.

The dark red scar at the junction of the mechanical skin and the original flesh looked so nauseating at close range.

He, he is...

A name was on the verge of slipping from Yang Ming's lips.

Brother Ji!

Holy crap, isn't this Brother Ji, the hidden boss of the level 30 epic dungeon for the Sherman Empire faction in Abyss!

He could drop rare skills for biochemical-type classes and core components for orange-tier gear across all classes!

His original name was... right, Professor Gigrov!

This level 30 epic dungeon was called Voice of the Abandoned.

Voice of the Abandoned was the second squad epic dungeon players challenged after leaving their home planet, and it was also the highest-difficulty dungeon at the time. Batch after batch of players died at the hem of the 'Valkyrie' in the final stage, and the progress of clearing the 'Valkyrie' became the hottest topic on the Abyss forums back then.

Oh, that pure, powerful, and stunningly shaped Valkyrie.

After Yang Ming cleared this dungeon, he would specifically go back to carry newbies every day, just to catch a glimpse of that beautiful Valkyrie.

Even though he changed his mind less than half a month later and started lingering around the busty class instructor at 'Minx Port'...

Uh, this doesn't seem like the time to be thinking about that.

Those two cold fingers released his eyelids, and Yang Ming's vision plunged back into darkness. Someone immediately began gently manipulating Yang Ming's arms and neck, sticking on some metal plates.

Yang Ming struggled to recall the various details of the Voice of the Abandoned dungeon; he had cleared it dozens of times back then.

The initial introduction of the dungeon seemed to be...

[A border reconnaissance ship discovered a research ship abandoned on the edge of a desolate resource planet. The internal circulation structure of the research ship had not been completely destroyed, and there were even signs of life in several cabins.

The ship bore the emblem of the 'Sherman Empire'.

During subsequent exploration, genetically modified crazed monsters were discovered inside the ship; they possessed powerful strength that transcended the limits of carbon-based lifeforms.]

Yang Ming's brain was spinning rapidly.

At the very beginning of the dungeon, a virtual NPC with blonde hair and blue eyes, dressed in a nurse's outfit, would guide the players. As the dungeon progressed, the plot would introduce the person in charge—Professor Gigrov;

And gradually lead to the most powerful existence here—the out-of-control Valkyrie.

The research ship encountered a crisis thirty years ago. The powerful Valkyrie created by genetic experiments broke free from their control, triggering a biochemical riot and leading to the massacre of the crew by modified humans.

To prevent this Valkyrie, who possessed infinite evolutionary potential, from becoming a nightmare for the Empire, Gigrov decided to use non-directional instantaneous jump technology to rush toward a black hole near the star path, but the Valkyrie destroyed the ship's power system, leaving the ship trapped in this desolate star sector.

That's right, that was the background of the Voice of the Abandoned dungeon!

Genetic modification, war machines, experiments exploring the power boundaries of carbon-based life!

After the player squad defeated the Valkyrie, they could continue to explore the plot, leading to the hidden boss—Gigrov, who had transformed himself into a monster to eradicate the Valkyrie.

Wait!

Something wasn't quite right.

Yang Ming clearly remembered—the hidden boss Professor Gigrov in the Voice of the Abandoned dungeon did not look like a middle-aged man.

He should have been a hunched, withered old man with a balding hairstyle, messy white hair, and an unstable mind, who would turn into an ugly tumor-ridden monster after swallowing a red pill!

The research ship encountered a crisis thirty years ago...

That meant he had been resurrected into Abyss thirty years before the game even launched?

At this moment, the Valkyrie had not yet launched her riot, and this research ship was still sailing within the territory of the Sherman Empire, engaged in evil human genetic modification experiments.

And he was now, he was...

Hanton, one of the third mates on this research ship, a formally commissioned soldier of the Empire with the rank of Captain. He had been on this research ship for two years, mainly responsible for repairing the hull, solving technical problems, and maintaining the fire suppression system.

Simply put:

[A background crew member about to be slaughtered.]

Pure sci-fi, my first attempt, trying hard to expand my creative boundaries. I hope you sirs will like it. Because this new work was uploaded suddenly and I am writing two books at once, it probably caught the editorial department off guard. The signing will be delayed by a few days, and there won't be much promotional resource. If you think it's good, please recommend it to your friends.