Gate

Lin Qi pulled a cleaning cloth from beneath the sink and carefully wiped down the surface of the Exoskeleton Armor.

Like staring at plums to quench thirst, he used it to distract himself from the urge to clean his body.

"Xiao Ai, reconnect to the network. Send my father a message tomorrow morning. I'll be going back on my day off—tell him to prepare a Micro-nuclear Powered Heart at the Cybernetic Clinic. I'll pay him the Credit Points."

Lin Qi prepared to continue his deep disguise. No one would suspect that a heavily cybernetically modified person was a Wizard.

As for the Micro-nuclear Powered Heart? It would be perfect for upgrading the power supply of his limb Exoskeleton.

As an L-level Researcher at Liu Heavy Industries, Lin Qi had more than enough hands-on ability.

After pushing open the bathroom door, Lin Qi returned to his room, lay on the bed, closed his eyes, and meditated.

Wizard was an ancient profession, even older than professions such as Knight and Martial Artist.

As for how Lin Qi had obtained the Wizard profession, that went back to a rainy night in his childhood.

A rainy night, an old Wizard, a pursuit, near death, an inheritance.

It was a very short story, one sentence enough to summarize it all.

Lin Qi absorbed the "Analyzed Object" gifted by the old Wizard, became a First Rank Wizard, and gained an ability called Psychic Vision.

Relying on his Wizard abilities and the discipline he had maintained since childhood, Lin Qi completed all the education available to ordinary citizens at the age of eighteen. He then entered the Weapon Research Institute of Liu Heavy Industries and became a researcher.

At Liu Heavy Industries, Lin Qi worked while pursuing more advanced studies.

"Recently, my meditation efficiency seems to have improved slightly. Could it be related to the Witch Hunt?"

Within Psychic Vision, Lin Qi possessed absolute perception. He could "see" particle-like energy being absorbed into his body. This was the essence of Wizard meditation, and Lin Qi called them Spiritual Energy Particles.

Recently, the concentration of free Spiritual Energy Particles in the surrounding area had risen slightly.

Just as Lin Qi was pondering this, a sudden sense of clarity emerged from the depths of his consciousness. A [Gate] appeared within his Psychic Vision.

"It has finally appeared completely? Could the increased concentration of Spiritual Energy Particles be related to this Gate?"

Lin Qi was not surprised to see the [Gate]. It had appeared in his mind alongside his transmigration.

Only after he acquired the Wizard profession and began his first meditation did the [Gate] generate a pulling sensation, as though it were gradually descending into reality.

"Should I push it open?"

Within Psychic Vision, the [Gate] floated directly before Lin Qi, less than twenty centimeters away from him.

Without moving the Gate, Lin Qi could not even get out of bed.

The instant the thought of "pushing it open" arose, Lin Qi felt a suction force from the [Gate].

His body experienced weightlessness, and the [Gate] opened.

It was as though he had passed through darkness, yet it also seemed as though his vision had merely blurred for an instant. The scene around Lin Qi changed.

He was still lying on a bed, but the ceiling and the room's furnishings had changed.

A yellowed round ceiling lamp, a wooden desk, an old-fashioned laptop, and... a young man beside the computer whose heart had stopped beating.

[Xiao Ai reminder: Network connection has been disconnected.]

The Brain connected through miniature electrodes behind his ear was still there. The missing network signal told Lin Qi that he was no longer in Red Fruit City.

"The [Gate] in my mind is still here. It needs to restore its power. I'll automatically return in twenty-four hours."

"Disappearing from Red Fruit City for twenty-four hours? That will be troublesome, but my identity can resolve it."

Only after confirming that he could still sense the [Gate] and that additional information about it had appeared in his mind did Lin Qi relax and carefully inspect his surroundings.

The scene around him felt somewhat familiar. It resembled the era before Lin Qi had transmigrated to the Cyber World.

Lin Qi got out of bed and walked over to the desk. When his gaze landed on the young man, he was somewhat surprised.

The young man's face was ninety percent similar to his own.

Lin Qi suspected that he had returned to the world from before his transmigration, yet the environment in his memories was different from this place.

After moving the young man's corpse aside, Lin Qi sat before the laptop and tried to obtain information through it.

"An operating system I've never seen before, but the writing is still Chinese characters."

"The network has been disconnected? Why would there be no network?"

Lin Qi could not obtain any intelligence from a device disconnected from the network. The only thing he could confirm was that this place was definitely not the world from before his transmigration.

After closing the laptop, Lin Qi noticed several books on the desk. He casually picked one up and flipped through it, and a card slipped out from between its pages.

An identification document?

"Name: Lin Qi. Native place: Dragon Nation..."

This young man was actually named Lin Qi as well. It seemed he was Lin Qi from a parallel world.

Having already experienced transmigration once, Lin Qi accepted this quickly. After all, he had looked nearly identical before and after transmigrating, and even his name had remained the same.

"The network signal in this world isn't complicated. With simple adjustments, I can use my Brain to access it."

"But doing so would leave traces in the Brain. I absolutely cannot use my own device to access this world's network."

Lin Qi sat in the chair, deep in thought. Whenever networks were involved, Lin Qi was extremely wary of Guangleng, the leader of the Mercenary Group who had convened the meeting.

Guangleng's control over networks was simply unimaginable.

Moreover, Guangleng had initiated the meeting, and every member of the Mercenary Group had been invited by Guangleng. That meant Guangleng knew all of their real identities.

His identity as a Wizard could not be hidden, but the secret of the [Gate] absolutely could not be glimpsed by Guangleng as well.

As he pondered, the Exoskeleton Armor disguised as cybernetics suddenly issued an alarm.

[Attack detected. Automatic defense mode activated.]

His arms and legs moved on their own, rising and blocking in one fluid motion.

The Exoskeleton Armor blocked an attack from the corpse for Lin Qi.

The corpse?

Lin Qi glanced slightly toward the young man's face. According to the equipment's scans, it was indeed a corpse.

Had it turned into a corpse monster?

The young man let out a low growl from his throat, his body twisting as he charged at Lin Qi again.

"A Zombie?"

A term from films in his previous life surfaced in Lin Qi's mind.

The Zombie Boy attacked again, only to be automatically blocked by the Exoskeleton once more.

"Interesting. Let me see what exactly you are."

The instruments might not be able to identify it, but that did not mean Lin Qi could not.

His Wizard ability unfolded, and Lin Qi entered the state of Psychic Vision.

In the state of Psychic Vision, Lin Qi clearly saw that the number of Spiritual Energy Particles in the surrounding air was more than ten times that of the Cyber World.

Aside from the Spiritual Energy Particles, a highly concentrated mass of Spiritual Energy Particles surrounded the Zombie Boy's head.

"An Extraordinary Item?"

Extraordinary Items were Analyzed Objects.

Wizards obtained abilities by analyzing Extraordinary Items.

Judging from what Psychic Vision showed him, the Extraordinary Item in the Zombie Boy's head was exactly First Rank.

Wizard advancement differed from that of other professions. It could not be achieved through hard work alone, nor even through expensive cybernetic modifications.

For a Wizard to advance, he needed to analyze a sufficient number of Extraordinary Items.

At every stage, at least four Extraordinary Items of the corresponding rank had to be analyzed before one could advance to the next rank.

In the Cyber World, Extraordinary Items suitable for analysis were scarce. Most Wizards were stuck at First Rank.

"Blow his head off and take the Analyzed Object!"

Lin Qi felt no pity for that face ninety percent similar to his own.

With a single punch, he blew it apart.