The Login Device

Cloud Sea's government office.

Here, people could use their admission notices to exchange them for game login devices. After that, they would officially become players.

By the time Xiao Fan arrived, the government office was already packed with people.

Most of them were students there to exchange their login devices.

There were seventeen windows in the hall, corresponding to the seventeen Novice Villages. For Novice Village Zone 1, players had to go to the provincial capital to collect their login devices.

At that moment, there were few people at the windows for Zones 2–5. The lines for Zones 6–17 were long, while there was no one at all for Zone 18.

Remember the original website domain,

"Brother Fan, over here!"

As soon as Xiao Fan entered, he heard the Fatty's voice.

He turned and saw the Fatty, Zhang Yuanyuan, and Zhang Chao standing at Window Two. When they saw him looking over, they waved.

Xiao Fan hesitated for a moment, then walked over.

"Brother Fan, what took you so long? The three of us have been waiting for you." The Fatty was beaming, clearly in high spirits lately.

"Yeah, Xiao Fan. The five of us agreed we'd team up and level together in Zone 2. We were waiting here just for you," Zhang Chao added enthusiastically.

Zhang Yuanyuan's expression dimmed. "It's a shame Xue Wei got accepted into Zone 1. We won't be able to fight alongside her anymore."

Only then did Xiao Fan realize the three of them still didn't know he'd been accepted into Zone 18.

Xiao Fan said, "I won't be able to team up with you anymore."

At that, the Fatty and the others all turned to look at him. The smiles vanished from their faces.

"Why not, Brother Fan? Didn't we agree on this? I was counting on that awesome skill of yours to help me go on a killing spree."

Zhang Yuanyuan and Zhang Chao looked concerned too. "Xiao Fan, what's going on? Is something wrong?"

Xiao Fan took out his admission notice. "I'm going to Zone 18."

The Fatty and the others stared at the admission notice for Zone 18 in disbelief.

"How is that possible? We were the top three in the whole city, and the three of us all got accepted into Zone 2. How could you possibly have been assigned to Zone 18?"

Zhang Yuanyuan stared hard at the admission notice, as if she could bore a hole through it.

"Impossible, impossible. Brother Fan, you're so amazing. How could they assign you to Zone 18?" The Fatty shook his head frantically.

"Xiao Fan, did the school make a mistake? Did you ask them?" Zhang Chao asked with a frown.

Xiao Fan nodded. "I did. The school said my potential was only good enough for Zone 18."

"That's ridiculous! Brother Fan, you're the one who successfully created your own skill! And it's an incredible skill, too. That alone should be enough to get you into Zone 1! How could they send you to Zone 18?" The Fatty fumed.

Zhang Yuanyuan and Zhang Chao seemed to have guessed the reason. They fell silent.

Xiao Fan patted the Fatty on the shoulder. "You said it yourself—I'm that amazing. What difference does it make which zone I go to? It's just Zone 18. It's not the Eighteen Levels of Hell."

"How is that the same? Zone 18 has fewer resources, and it's dangerous."

"If it weren't dangerous, I wouldn't go." Xiao Fan cut him off and shrugged as if he didn't care. "All right, I'm going to get my login device. See you around."

With that, Xiao Fan turned and headed for Window Eighteen.

Watching his thin figure walk away, the Fatty and the others felt awful.

No one knew better than they did just how talented Xiao Fan was.

Even a heaven-blessed prodigy like Chen Xuewei had chosen an existing skill when she entered the game, but Xiao Fan had already created his own. He was on a whole different level from them.

"All right, let's go get our login devices too. Xiao Fan may have gone to Zone 18, but with his skills, I'm sure he won't be any weaker than the people in Zone 1. Once we leave the Novice Village, we can still fight side by side," Zhang Chao said, trying to comfort them.

"Yeah. We definitely can."

Xiao Fan soon got his Cloud Sea login device and returned home.

"Xiao Fan, remember this: your safety comes first. All I ask is that you come back safe and sound."

"Mm. I know."

Xiao Fan nodded seriously, then pressed the button on the login device under the worried gazes of his uncle and aunt.

As Xiao Fan vanished from the living room, Xiao Yi watched him go, then turned to his wife.

"Honey, the company is sending me away for a while. I'll have to leave things at home to you."

Liu Xiujuan turned back in surprise. "Huh? Why so suddenly?"

"The pay's better when I'm away. I just want to earn a little more."

Liu Xiujuan was silent for a moment. "Be careful."

"Mm."

A howling gale swept past, kicking up dust from the ground.

Xiao Fan slowly opened his eyes. Seeing the sand blowing toward him, he hurriedly covered them with his hand.

"Cough... cough... Why is there so much dust?"

Xiao Fan waved the dust away from his face.

Before him stretched a range of mountains, rising and falling like a vast sea and reaching all the way to the horizon.

"Is this the real Cloud Sea world?"

Xiao Fan had looked it up online. The Cloud Sea Forest where they'd taken their exams was only a beginner's trial area, like the tutorial in an online game, meant to familiarize players with the game.

The real Cloud Sea world was vast and magnificent, containing all kinds of wondrous places.

Deserts, Snow Mountains, lakes, forests, and fantastical lands that didn't exist on Blue Star.

Cloud Sea had descended ten years ago, yet the Human Race had explored less than five percent of the game world. That gave an idea of how immense it was.

"Hey, kid, are you new here?"

Just as Xiao Fan was distracted, a gruff voice suddenly came from behind him.

He spun around. What came into view was a dilapidated village.

Run-down—it was truly run-down!

A battered wooden fence leaned crookedly around the village, barely marking its boundary. Sections of the fence were broken, and weeds grew thick along the walls. The entire place was in plain view.

The thatched huts had been thrown together so haphazardly that a strong gust of wind seemed liable to scatter them. Aside from that, there were only a few players.

Three characters above the gate were starkly visible.

"Zone 18."

This was the Zone 18 Novice Village!

Before coming, Xiao Fan had known the place was in poor condition, but he hadn't expected it to be this run-down!

It was even shabbier than many villages on Earth, almost as primitive as an African tribal village.

They said Novice Village Zone 1 was as prosperous as the capital.

They were both Novice Villages, so how could the difference be so great?

"I'm talking to you, kid."

The gruff voice sounded again. Xiao Fan came back to his senses and noticed a man standing nearby.

The man looked to be around forty, about 1.8 meters tall, with a sturdy build and slightly dark skin. He wore a slightly undersized suit of chain mail and held a large white axe.

Though his voice was gruff, his expression wasn't particularly impatient. He didn't look like a bad person.

A bright green ID hovered above his head: Wind Snow Traveler.

Xiao Fan nodded. "I'm a new player this year. My name is Xiao..."

He paused, then corrected himself. "My name is Jiu Chen."

The man didn't seem to mind Xiao Fan hiding his real name.

"My name is Wind Snow Traveler. I'm the administrator of Zone 18. We'll talk once everyone gets here."