A 100%-Realistic Virtual Game

"Lin Feng, cough, cough... from today onward, you are the tribe's new chief! Cough... The tribe is in your hands now!"

"I hope you can lead those children and survive. If you truly can't make it, go seek refuge with the Baimu Tribe."

The old chief coughed violently. After delivering his final words, he breathed his last.

Lin Feng looked at the old chief's body, then at the five little kids beside him, their eyes brimming with tears as they stared at him. He let out a long sigh.

He had crossed over to this world, known as the Barbaric Continent, three years ago.

The Barbaric Continent was home to countless races, where the strong preyed on the weak. Without any powerful racial talents, the Human Race occupied the very bottom of the ladder.

The Human Race, scattered across the continent, either became vassals or slaves to powerful races, living under their protection, or hid in desolate corners, barely scraping by.

Lin Feng had been lucky. He hadn't crossed over into the territory of some powerful race. Instead, he'd ended up on an island in the East Sea Region of the Barbaric Continent.

It was a gigantic island.

According to the old chief, it was called Fangzhang Island.

The tribe was located in the eastern part of Fangzhang Island. Their lives had been hard over the past three years, but they hadn't encountered any major setbacks.

Lin Feng had gone hunting every day with the tribe's able-bodied men to make a living. They'd passed three peaceful years, until the tribe was attacked by a band of Jackalmen a day ago.

Jackalmen had never been seen in the eastern part of the island. Lin Feng guessed they'd migrated from the north or south.

The tribe had only a little over thirty people, men and women, young and old combined. They had no chance of resisting dozens of Jackalmen.

The tribespeople had fought to the death to hold off their pursuers, giving the old chief and Lin Feng time to escape with five children to this gourd-shaped valley.

The old chief had been badly wounded during their flight. After reaching the valley, he used the last of his strength to give a few instructions, then passed away.

Now only Lin Feng and the five children remained.

The oldest was twelve, and the youngest was only five.

"Brother Lin Feng, what do we do?"

The five children looked at him through their tears. Right now, he was their only support.

Lin Feng scratched his head. Surviving on this perilous island with five children was almost impossible for him.

The best option was to seek refuge with the Baimu Tribe.

Even though he couldn't stand the Baimu Tribe's chief.

That man was a complete bloodsucker!

But right now, the Baimu Tribe was the only one capable of protecting them.

Just as he was about to tell the five children that they should go to the Baimu Tribe, a "ding" rang in his mind.

"Congratulations, host! You have become a tribe chief. The 'Human Race Rising' system has been activated!"

Lin Feng was startled, then overcome with joy.

Over the past three years, he'd complained more than once. As someone who'd crossed into another world, why hadn't he gotten any of the perks that came with it? Where was his system?

Even if he didn't get a system, some other cheat would've been nice!

Now it seemed he hadn't been without a system after all. It had simply needed him to become a tribe chief before it could activate.

What a rotten deal!

If the Jackalmen hadn't attacked the tribe and forced him to take over in a crisis, he wouldn't have become chief even if he'd waited another hundred years!

"Brother Lin Feng?"

When Lin Feng remained silent, the children called to him again.

"Don't worry. Let me think it over."

Lin Feng pretended to ponder, but his mind was already inside the system.

A moment later, he'd familiarized himself with the system's functions. His fists clenched with excitement.

This system was incredible!

Its greatest function was to connect to another world and create a virtual game there.

People in that world could enter this one as players through the game, helping him develop the tribe and grow it into a powerful force!

"Would you like to connect to another world?"

The system's voice echoed in his mind.

"Connect, connect, connect!"

Lin Feng answered without hesitation.

He'd finally gotten a system. Only an idiot would refuse to connect.

"Randomly connecting to another world. Please wait..."

"Connection successful!"

Once the connection was established, information about the other world appeared in Lin Feng's mind.

It was a world much like Earth. Its people lived on a planet called Blue Star, and its level of technology was roughly equivalent to Earth around 2020...

"Game creation successful. Please name your game."

"Human Race Rising!"

Lin Feng thought for a moment before answering.

"Game named successfully. Official website generated successfully. You can recruit players through the website."

"The system is granting you one promotional pop-up. Please select a country to advertise in."

The names of over two hundred countries on Blue Star appeared before Lin Feng.

"Xia Country!"

Lin Feng made his choice without hesitation.

There were two reasons he'd chosen Xia Country.

First, Xia Country had the largest population on Blue Star.

Second, Xia Country's civilization was very similar to Earth's Chinese civilization, so communication would be easier.

Blue Star, Xia Country.

In a detached villa, Chen Qing slurped instant noodles as he searched for games on a portal website.

He was a veteran online gamer, and he'd played just about every well-known game on the market.

In every game, his ID was "Da Qing."

He was a big spender in-game. Whenever he found a game he liked, dropping hundreds of thousands was nothing unusual. And with plenty of free time, he was the very definition of someone who both grinded and spent.

The ID "Da Qing" was fairly well known in gaming circles.

"What kind of garbage are these new games? They're all the same, without a shred of innovation!"

Looking at the latest games on the website, he couldn't help complaining.

He didn't even need to play them. He could click on their official websites, take one look, and guess most of the content and gameplay. They couldn't make him feel the slightest desire to download them.

Just as he was about to close the webpage, a game advertisement popped up in the lower-right corner of his desktop.

He instinctively moved the mouse over the little X on the pop-up, ready to close it.

These game ads were usually for browser games, with crude graphics and simple gameplay. The screen was always packed with top-up promotions, and they held no appeal for him.

Just as he was about to close the pop-up, a few flashing words made him pause.

"Human Race Rising!"

"A 100%-realistic virtual reality game!"

"Give yourself a second life!"

His mouse stopped moving.

"Are game ads really this shameless nowadays?"

"'100% realistic'? They actually dare to claim that!"

Curious, he clicked the ad to see what kind of nonsense this game was.

The game's official website opened. There was no button to start playing and no option to download a client, only an introduction to the game's setting and gameplay.

The game was set on a barbaric continent where countless races lived side by side and the Human Race was in decline. Players would need to help the Human Race rise.

It looked pretty good.

The official website featured several CG images from the game. They showed a valley steeped in a primitive atmosphere, and it looked incredibly real.

"The CG looks good. Could a small browser-game company really have this kind of technology? Did they film an actual valley and pass it off as game footage?"

Chen Qing wondered.

He'd seen too many games that didn't live up to their promotions. The promotional videos and images were one thing, while the game itself was something entirely different. It was ridiculous.

He continued reading.

To play, you had to put on a game helmet and enter a 100%-realistic virtual game world.

???

A string of question marks appeared in Chen Qing's mind.

A game helmet?

A 100%-realistic virtual game world?

What kind of nonsense was this!

He could understand a game helmet as a fully enclosed VR headset, but even the most advanced VR technology couldn't claim to be 100% realistic, could it?

Sight and sound could be simulated, but what about touch, taste, and smell?

He'd tried all the better VR games on the market. Honestly, he'd been very disappointed. They hadn't given him anything like the experience he wanted.

It was like playing house!

At the very bottom of the official website was a reservation button.