Lin Mo felt that his personal life ideal was very simple.
Lying down.
If conditions permitted, it was best to lie in an air-conditioned room with a bottle of cola in his left hand, potato chips in his right hand, and a pretty girl nearby.
Of course, if the girl could also lie down and watch shows with him, that would be even more perfect.
As a junior in the Art Department, he had successfully carried this philosophy of life to the extreme.
While his roommates were grinding their GPA, grinding internships, and grinding for the graduate entrance exams, he was "grinding the blanket" in bed.
Tonight, he was practicing his ideals.
The other three beds in the dorm were empty, and his three roommates had rushed off to the internet café early to pull an all-nighter gaming.
The twenty-square-meter double room was his personal kingdom at the moment.
A new anime was playing on the computer screen, short videos were scrolling on his phone, and a half-read manga was spread out at the head of his bed.
Lin Mo half-reclined in his chair in a carefree manner, holding half a bag of potato chips in his left hand while swiping the mouse with his right.
This is what you call life...
He sighed with satisfaction, completely unaware of the strange pop-up window that had appeared in the bottom right corner of the computer.
That pop-up window had no emotion whatsoever, with a pitch-black background, and only a single line of silver-white text upon it:
[Do you yearn for true power?]
"No yearning, thank you. I yearn for the soy milk and youtiao for tomorrow's breakfast." Lin Mo clicked close without even looking.
The pop-up window vanished.
Three seconds later, it popped up again.
[Are you weary of the hypocritical mundane routine?]
"Not weary, the hypocritical mundane routine has wine and meat, it's wonderful." Closed it again.
Five seconds later, the pop-up window appeared for the third time.
[Are you willing to become someone who changes the world?]
Lin Mo finally stopped the action of feeding potato chips to his mouth, narrowing his eyes as he stared at the screen:
"Viruses nowadays are all this philosophical?"
He moved his mouse, preparing to perform a thorough cleanup.
Yet just at the moment when the cursor was about to click the close button, the text on the pop-up window changed.
[Soul fluctuations meeting the criteria detected]
[Forced link initiated]
[Global Internal Test Players: 10000/10000]
[Adapter for this region: 1]
[Welcome to Destiny]
"Wa--"
Lin Mo didn't even have time to finish saying "wait a minute" before the entire world went black.
Immediately following that, a grand synthesized voice that seemed to come from the deepest depths of the universe suddenly rang out with a boom in the deepest recesses of his mind:
[Rule recitation, this once only:]
[One, this is the realm of reality; pain, hunger, and death are all real.]
[Two, the internal test period is thirty days (in-realm time). Every day from Zi Shi to Chen Shi (midnight twelve to eight in the morning in the mundane world), your soul will be drawn here. The mundane fleshly body sinks into an unconscious slumber.]
[Three, internal test players have only a single chance at resurrection. A second death means the extinction of the mundane fleshly body.]
[Four, those who fail to complete the 'occupation advancement' within thirty days will be obliterated.]
[Five, three days here equates to one day there. Time flows at a difference of three times.]
[Survive, or annihilate. It all rests upon your own selves.]
[Countdown: ten, nine, eight...]
Lin Mo's scalp tingled as he tried to shout, only to find that he couldn't even control his own lips.
It was as if his soul was being pulled out, and he could only watch helplessly as those golden numbers of the countdown leaped ruthlessly within his consciousness.
What the hell? A game? Internal test? Death? Obliteration?
[Three, two, one.]
[Descent.]
Golden light suddenly flared, then violently contracted and extinguished.
A sensation of weightlessness washed over him, accompanied by a wave of unbearable tearing dizziness.
Lin Mo felt like a rag doll thrown into a washing machine, spinning head over heels with his internal organs about to be shaken out of his throat.
He did not know how long had passed, perhaps an instant, perhaps ten thousand years.
"Ugh--!"
His knees went soft, and he dropped straight to his knees, retching dryly.
His nasal cavity was filled with a scent mixed with soil, decaying vegetation, and some kind of unfamiliar wild flower, and the icy air poured into his lungs, provoking a fit of coughing.
As the dizziness subsided slightly, Lin Mo managed to raise his head and take in his surroundings.
This was not his college dorm that was as messy as a dog kennel.
Before him was a sparse woodland, the trees of somewhat bizarre shapes, their branches and leaves presenting an unnatural ink-green under the dim daylight.
Beneath his feet was damp soil covered in moss, and a winding dirt road with chaotic ruts could be seen not far away.
The sky was a deep leaden gray, with neither sun nor moon visible, only a depressing gloominess.
In the distance, the outlines of low, crooked thatched roofs were faintly visible.
"I really transmigrated..." Lin Mo muttered, his voice dry.
He lowered his head to look at himself, finding that the salted-fish-themed home T-shirt printed with the words "Don't rush, I'm lying down" and the wrinkled pajama pants were gone.
Replaced in their stead were a set of coarse, grayish-brown hemp cloth clothes, stiff to the touch and with seams so large they could chafe the skin.
On his feet were a pair of toe-exposing straw sandals, the icy earth-chill stabbing straight upward.
He subconsciously touched his face, then raised his hands to look closely.
His fingers were still his own; because of long-term drawing and digital painting, his finger joints were slightly deformed, and there was an old callus on the web of his right hand.
Yet beneath his skin, some kind of unfamiliar "sense of power" seemed to be flowing.
Almost the moment this thought arose, a semi-transparent light blue light screen unfolded silently before his eyes.
[Name: Lin Mo]
[Race: Human Race]
[Level: 1 (0/100)]
[Status: Healthy]
[Health: 100/100]
[Attributes: Strength 10, Agility 10, Constitution 10, Spirit 10, Charm 10]
[Occupation: None (Vagrant)]
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