Ancient Moon Village.
Ancient Moon Temple.
Torrential rain poured down, lightning flashed, and thunder roared.
BOOM!!
Thunder exploded across the sky, illuminating the entire ruined temple.
A shattered Buddha statue covered in cobwebs lay on the ground.
Beside it, a small fire burned, with a large iron pot perched over the flames.
Thick soup bubbled inside the pot, filling the air with its aroma.
A boy and a girl stood around the pot. They looked somewhat alike, seemingly brother and sister.
The younger sister stirred the soup with a spoon while her older brother huddled by the fire to keep warm.
Behind them, in a pile of straw in the corner of the ruined temple, lay a young man covered in wounds and grime.
The siblings seemed not to know the young man lying on the ground.
As the girl stirred the soup, she kept glancing back at the young man with concern.
Beside her, her brother stood stiffly, staring at the small fire with a tense expression.
A gust of wind blew through, and the flames shrank at once, flickering unsteadily like a candle in the wind.
The boy immediately grew tense and uneasy, his face full of fear.
BOOM!
Another crack of thunder rang out.
Torrential rain pounded the earth.
Just then, the young man lying on the ground slowly opened his eyes.
"Who am I?"
"Where am I?"
"What am I supposed to do?"
After a moment of confusion, Fang Yue immediately remembered.
He had entered the Blue Sea game!
This was the Blue Sea World!
He looked around...
The rotten wooden eaves above him were old and broken, their grain clearly visible.
The yellow earth beneath him was full of dents and bumps, every detail rendered perfectly.
The torrential rain outside fell hard and fast. Wind howled, and the air was bitterly cold.
The graphics, the sensory simulation—this was truly a groundbreaking game, one that surpassed every full-immersion game on the market!
Tengli Group, you really outdid yourselves! This was the game I wanted!
Fang Yue was thrilled. He got up and took a step forward.
Hiss—
As if electrocuted, Fang Yue let out a scream of pain. His whole body burned with pain.
Wait!
Was the pain simulation really this realistic?
He checked his body in dismay and found himself covered in torn wounds, as if he had fallen off a cliff. He was filthy and looked utterly miserable.
What... was going on?
Hadn't I just entered the game?
Why was my whole body covered in wounds?
"You're awake?"
Just then, a clear, youthful voice came from in front of him.
Only then did Fang Yue notice two people not far away, a boy and a girl.
"...Stay away from her!"
The boy protectively pulled the girl behind him. Beads of cold sweat covered his face as he forced the words out, his voice hoarse and strained.
Do I really look that scary? Fang Yue touched his face, feeling a little vexed.
It was all because this game didn't let you create your own character. Otherwise, I'd have made myself into an absolute heartthrob—handsome enough to turn you gay!
When you played a game, the better-looking your character was, the more pleasing they were to look at. Who wanted to stare at an ugly guy or girl?
Tengli Group really didn't understand what players wanted. Once I logged out, I had to go give them feedback on the forums!
"It's all right, big brother. I was the one who rescued Big Brother from the foot of the mountain, so Big Brother definitely won't hurt me."
So the girl had rescued me.
No, more like she'd rescued the version of me in the game.
Was this a cutscene?
Fang Yue was familiar with this kind of setup.
So every player had been rescued by this girl. We were all the last disciples of the Hong Sect, then.
But... this was so realistic!
Every detail of the girl's expression was lifelike, as if she were a real person.
The surroundings, the wind, the rain, the thunder—it all felt like he'd been transported to another world. There wasn't the slightest hint of a game.
Just as he was thinking this, a system notification sounded in Fang Yue's ear.
"Welcome, player [Night Dawn], to the Blue Sea game."
"Player [Night Dawn] has a Lucky Gift Pack. Would you like to claim it now?"
The Lucky Gift Pack—right, I still had a Lucky Gift Pack!
The game's hyper-realistic sensory experience had nearly made Fang Yue forget about the gift pack.
He silently thought, "Claim."
"Congratulations, player [Night Dawn], you have received a Lucky Gift Pack. Would you like to open it?"
Open it!
"Congratulations, player [Night Dawn], you have obtained the Human-grade Low-tier skill [Analysis Pupil]."
"Name: Analysis Pupil."
"Rank: Human-grade Low-tier."
"Effect: Lock your gaze on a target for a period of time to analyze some information about it. The time required depends on the target. Some targets cannot be analyzed."
"Remark: Uncle, these eyes of mine can see through everything."
Huh? Human-grade Low-tier?
That was all the Lucky Gift Pack gave me?
Fang Yue felt a little disappointed. He silently thought, "Attributes," and a translucent window immediately appeared before him.
"Name: Night Dawn."
"Realm: Mortal."
"Status: Gravely Wounded."
"Health: 5/50 (Gravely Wounded)."
"Force: 1 (Gravely Wounded)."
"Defense: 1 (Gravely Wounded)."
"Talent: None."
"Martial Arts: Analysis Pupil (Human-grade Low-tier)."
"Lifespan: 12 shichen."
Lifespan?
Fang Yue was stunned. What kind of attribute was that?
His passive Analysis Pupil skill activated silently.
"Lifespan: The character's remaining life."
Huh? Twelve shichen was only twenty-four hours. Did that mean I could only live for a day?
Was this stupid game going to charge by the hour? The official site never said anything about that! Besides, where was the recharge portal? There wasn't even anywhere to spend money!
Fang Yue suppressed his frustration and looked at his Gravely Wounded status again.
"Gravely Wounded: Severe bodily injuries reduce attributes and maximum health and continuously decrease health."
Gravely Wounded? Continuously losing health?
What kind of lousy opening was this?
Fang Yue felt a surge of frustration, but soon thought of something.
Wait, I was a new player who'd just entered the game. The system should give me something to remove this status, right? Otherwise, I'd have no chance of surviving!
"Big Brother, are you still feeling unwell?"
Fang Yue was thinking about this when the girl suddenly turned around and ladled out a bowl of thick soup from the iron pot with her delicate, pale hands.
Fang Yue noticed that her fingers were slender, not like those of someone who did rough work. Her background might not be simple; perhaps she was some kind of young lady.
The soup smelled delicious, making his mouth water.
Creak, creak.
As the girl held the bowl and walked over, a strange scraping sound came from her.
At the same time, the flames over the fire seemed to shrink a little more.
"Big Brother, why don't you have some soup? I made this medicinal soup for you. It'll help your injuries heal faster."
So that was it!
Fang Yue, a seasoned gamer, immediately understood.
This was a classic setup common in other games.
An NPC in the game guided players through the basics.
This girl was probably the tutorial NPC.
And this bowl of soup was likely a health potion that could restore my health and treat my Gravely Wounded status.
I knew it. Starting a new player off with a serious injury would leave them no chance to survive.
"All right, thanks, little girl."
As he smiled and accepted the bowl, Fang Yue realized it was hot—extremely hot. He couldn't imagine how the girl had handed it to him so steadily.
Could she be a higher level than me?
No, it was probably because my heat resistance was too low while I was Gravely Wounded.
Perhaps he'd been staring at the soup for too long.
Just as Fang Yue was about to drink it in one gulp, a line of information suddenly appeared.
"Soul-devouring Poison Soup: A deadly poisonous broth made by simmering dozens of poisonous mushrooms using a secret method. Touch it and you die; drink it and your soul perishes!"
"Remark: If you drink just any soup, you won't survive!"
Before you continue