Mobilization

Blue Star.

A system announcement, like a depth charge hurled into a tranquil lake, instantly detonated across the entire real-world internet.

[Titan: Genesis Version Preview: Fifth Closed Beta Recruitment Now Open]

[To counter the increasingly severe threat of the Abyss, we need more immune guardians.]

[New slots: 100,000.]

[How to qualify: Random draw across the entire internet.]

[Slots will be issued in 24 hours.]

Only one hundred thousand slots.

For the billions around the world yearning to change their fate, that was a one-in-ten-thousand chance.

In this era, the latest VR gaming pods could be bought with money, and every major e-commerce platform had ample stock. But the "activation qualification" that could power up the equipment and connect someone to the game Titan: Genesis was priceless.

Location: Imperial Capital, Dragon Kingdom — "Wall Breaker" Project Team Headquarters

Ban Jianguo stared at the glaring countdown on the large screen. The cigarette in his hand had burned down to the filter.

"One hundred thousand slots. Random across the internet." His voice was hoarse, his brows tightly furrowed. "That means we can't simply buy them out like supplies."

"Team Leader, the technical department has already tried analyzing the lottery algorithm, but it's a black box. Completely random. There are no backdoors to exploit," the staff officer reported.

Ban Jianguo crushed out his cigarette, his gaze hard as steel.

"If there's no backdoor, then we'll pile up the odds with numbers."

He pointed at a top-secret document on the table—<First Titan Special Warfare Division Formation Plan>.

"Notify every military region. Have all three thousand selected special forces elites log in at the designated time and compete for slots! Also mobilize every off-duty civilian staff member and logistics worker. Fifty thousand people in total. Register them all and enter the draw!"

"Even if the odds are only one in a thousand, we have to get people in."

"And," Ban Jianguo paused, "contact Lei Zhen. Dawn Guild is the top guild in the game and has strong influence. If the official side has bad luck and too few people get selected, we'll need their help absorbing retired soldiers among the independent players and reorganizing them."

"Yes, sir!"

Location: Shen City — Office Building of a Major Internet Company

Li Zihan, Data Maniac, took off his glasses and rubbed his throbbing temples.

His desk was piled high with project requirement documents. In the distance, his supervisor was still roaring, spittle flying as he urged everyone to hurry up.

"Li Zihan! What are you standing around for? This algorithm model has to run tonight!"

Li Zihan closed his eyes.

[Talent Mapping: Cerebral Overclocking]

In that instant, the noisy office around him seemed to slow down and fall quiet. His supervisor's furious, twisted face broke down in his eyes into countless microexpression parameters. Even the signs of endocrine imbalance caused by his supervisor's long-term late nights became crystal clear.

"There's no need to keep writing such inefficient code."

Li Zihan opened his eyes, his gaze terrifyingly clear. He took out a letter he had printed long ago from his drawer and gently placed it before his supervisor.

"My resignation letter."

"Are you crazy? Where are you going?"

"To another world." Li Zihan picked up his coat and walked toward the elevator without looking back.

After leaving the building, he took out his phone and sent a message to a private group called "Code Utopia," filled with top-tier oddballs he had met in coding circles.

"Old friends, stop patching firewalls for capitalists. Remember that game I mentioned last time? The new closed beta is starting. If you get selected, remember to contact me. I'll show you the other side of the world!"

Location: A Large Construction Site

At the bustling construction site, workers were struggling to move cement that had just been unloaded from a truck.

"Ow! Damn it, why is this bag wet? It's heavy as hell!" Two burly men worked together to lift a bag of damp cement, their faces and necks turning red from the strain.

"Move aside. I've got it."

Wang Daqiang, Brute Force Yields Miracles, walked over wearing a hard hat. Without wasting words, he reached out and grabbed the damp bag of cement—then, before everyone's eyes, casually picked up two more dry bags and stacked them on his shoulder.

The total weight was nearly three hundred jin.

Under the horrified gazes of the workers, Wang Daqiang was not crushed flat. Instead, he walked steadily, even freeing one hand to hold his hard hat as he casually carried the load up to the second floor as though it were a sack of cotton.

"Good grief... did Brute Force take some super-strength pills or something?"

After unloading the cement, Wang Daqiang dusted himself off and looked at the stunned workers gathering around him.

"I won't hide it from you guys." Wang Daqiang smiled honestly. "I've been doing pretty well in that game, Titan, lately. This strength came from training there."

"Brute Force, what kind of game is that? Can we play too?" The workers' eyes lit up.

"You can, but this game doesn't cost money. It takes luck." Wang Daqiang scratched his head. "The drawing qualification is hard to get. If you guys have time these next few days, go register and give it a try. A gaming helmet is enough, and those aren't expensive."

His gaze was earnest. "Those of us who do physical labor have good foundations. Even if we get in and become meat shields, we'll still be in demand. If anyone gets lucky and is selected, remember to find me. I'll help you level up. It's better than hauling bricks for the rest of your life."

Location: A High-End Shooting Club

The doors were tightly shut, and only a few staff members were dismantling the sign outside.

Inside the club, Lei Zhen, Thunder King, was wiping down his beloved sniper rifle model.

Seven or eight men in casual clothes sat on the sofas, each with an unopened gaming helmet placed before him.

"Captain, is this thing really as amazing as you say?" a crew-cut man asked. "We may be retired, but our shooting skills haven't declined. If we can't get into the game, wouldn't all these skills go to waste?"

"As long as we get in, they won't go to waste." Lei Zhen set down the model, his gaze sharp. "The hit feedback and bullet drop in this game are even more realistic than simulated training."

"However..." Lei Zhen looked at the helmets. "I prepared these helmets for you, but account qualifications depend on the system's draw. At midnight tonight, everyone logs in and registers. This is both luck and an order."

"What if we don't get selected?"

"Then we buy them! Trade for them!" Lei Zhen said coldly. "Even if we have to use our connections overseas, we have to get accounts. This is extremely important! There may be further expansion later, but whoever gets ahead first stays ahead every step of the way!"

Location: Cloud Pomelo's Home

Li You, Cloud Pomelo, sat beside her wheelchair—the wheelchair had now been folded up and tossed into a corner.

She was teaching her parents how to use the gaming helmet's iris recognition function.

"Dad, Mom, the game qualifications are randomly drawn." Li You was somewhat worried. "I want you to get in too, but the odds..."

"It's fine, sweetheart." Her father cheerfully put on the helmet. "Your mother and I have done good deeds our whole lives. Our luck shouldn't be too bad. If we get selected, we'll go into the game and cook for you. If we don't, we'll stay home and watch the house for you."

Li You looked at her parents' graying temples and silently prayed.

Online Meeting Room — Dawn Guild Core Team

Five screens lit up. Everyone had already dealt with their real-world ties.

The video call was split into five windows.

In the first window, Li Zihan stood beneath his office building, the wind lifting the corner of his coat.

"I resigned. I've earned enough money. It's time to do something more exciting. I also called in a few competitive programming buddies and close friends I met on GitHub."

In the second window, Brute Force Yields Miracles sat atop a pile of rebar at a construction site.

"I quit too." Wang Daqiang smiled honestly. "The foreman tried to dock my pay just now, so I lifted the forklift in front of him and changed one of its tires. He was so scared that he immediately paid me triple wages and begged me to leave."

Wang Daqiang grinned at the camera. "I told a bunch of my fellow villagers about it. They used to do hard labor, so they're strong and obedient. For this slot rush, I had them all register and prepare to compete for qualifications."

In the third window, Li You turned her camera toward two elderly people in a cozy bedroom. "My parents said that although they're old and not good at operating things, they can enter the game and handle logistics for us."

In the fourth window was a private shooting club.

"My retirement application has already been approved. I'm being reassigned as a 'specially appointed consultant.'" Lei Zhen said with a smile. "From now on, I'm a full-time player. Also, several assault team members I used to lead will be entering the game this time. They're all excellent with guns, so they'll quickly get the hang of changing classes to [Hunter] or [Spirit Pivot Envoy]."

In the fifth window was Vanguard Across the Realm's home.

Chen Feng looked at his teammates on the screen, his eyes full of gratification.

"Very good."

Vanguard Across the Realm looked at everyone, a mysterious smile appearing on his face.

"Judging by your expressions, it seems you're all worried about qualifications from that 'random draw'? Afraid your friends and family won't get slots?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Li Zihan frowned. "From a probability standpoint, the odds of bringing all our friends and family into the game are practically zero."

"That only applies to ordinary people."

Chen Feng projected a system email he had just received onto the public screen.

[System Mail: Titan's Gift]

[Recipient: Vanguard Across the Realm (LV.21)]

[Content: In recognition of your outstanding performance as a pioneer, your genetic sequence has received Titan's approval. You are hereby granted [Kinship Extradition Beacon] x 5.]

[Description: Real-world individuals holding a beacon may skip the drawing process, directly obtain qualifications for the fifth closed beta, and spawn near your current coordinates.]

"Holy shit?!" Wang Daqiang jumped straight up from the ground. "Isn't that an internal referral code?!"

"Exactly." Chen Feng nodded. "Any player who reaches LV.20 and unlocks the Talent Tree receives three to five slots. It's a privilege the system gives elite players. You were busy dealing with real-life matters and didn't log in, right? Remember to claim yours later!"

"Great!" Li You exited the video meeting at lightning speed, then immediately reappeared. She had just logged in to confirm her slots. "I have three slots, just enough for my parents!"

Lei Zhen also breathed a sigh of relief. "Five slots are enough to bring in the core members of my assault team. Let Old Ban worry about the rest himself."

Chen Feng's smile faded, and his expression turned solemn.

"Slots are limited. Make sure you give them to the most trustworthy and capable people."

He stood up, his gaze seeming to pierce through the screen and look toward the vast Abyss.

"This game is a ticket to a new era and evolution. We must seize the initiative!"

"Tomorrow, everyone gathers. Recruit people! Hunt monsters!"

In corners all across Blue Star.

A down-and-out former esports champion looked at the announcement on his screen, and a long-extinguished fire rekindled in his eyes;

In a university dormitory building, a group of soon-to-graduate students lost about their futures frantically refreshed the slot-grabbing page;

Outside a hospital intensive care unit, desperate patients listened to rumors from fellow patients and stared at the game slot distribution with trembling hands—

Countdown: 00:00:00

[Titan: Genesis] Fifth Closed Beta, Server Open.

[Welcome back to the embrace of the Titan God, my Kinfolk.]