The Lander

Cloud Sea Government Affairs Hall.

Here, one could exchange their notification letter for a game login device, officially becoming a true Player.

By the time Xiao Fan arrived, the Government Affairs Hall was already packed with people.

They were mostly students there to collect their login devices.

There were seventeen windows in the hall, corresponding to the seventeen Novice Villages. Those assigned to Novice Village Zone 1 had to go to the provincial level to collect their devices.

At this moment, there were few people at the windows for Zones 2-5, while there were long queues for Zones 6-17, and not a single person at the window for Zone 18.

"Brother Fan, over here!"

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

Turning his head, he saw the Fatty, Zhang Yuanyuan, and Zhang Chao standing at the second window. Seeing him look over, the three of them waved at him.

Xiao Fan paused for a moment, then walked over.

"Brother Fan, why did you come so late? We've been waiting for you for a while." The Fatty was beaming, clearly in a great mood lately.

"That's right, Xiao Fan. The five of us agreed to team up and level up together in Zone 2. We were specifically waiting for you," Zhang Chao added enthusiastically.

Zhang Yuanyuan's expression dimmed slightly: "It's a pity that Chen Xuewei was accepted into Zone 1; she won't be able to fight alongside us in the future."

Seeing this, Xiao Fan realized that the three of them didn't yet know he had been accepted into Zone 18.

Xiao Fan: "I won't be able to team up with you guys in the future."

Hearing this, the three of them looked at him in unison, the smiles on their faces vanishing instantly.

"Why, Brother Fan? We had an agreement. I was waiting for that awesome skill of yours to assist me while I go on a rampage."

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

Xiao Fan took out his acceptance letter: "I'm going to Zone 18."

Looking at the Zone 18 acceptance letter, the three of them looked incredulous.

"How is that possible? We were the top of the city. All three of us got into Zone 2, how could you be accepted into Zone 18?"

Zhang Yuanyuan stared fixedly at the acceptance letter, as if she wanted to burn a hole through it.

"Impossible, impossible. Brother Fan, you're so talented, how could you be assigned to Zone 18?" The Fatty also shook his head frantically.

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

Xiao Fan nodded: "I asked. The school said my potential only qualifies me for Zone 18."

"That's complete nonsense! Brother Fan, you're someone who successfully created your own skill! The skill you created is so powerful—that alone should be enough to get into Zone 1! How could you be sent to Zone 18?" The Fatty was indignant.

Zhang Yuanyuan and Zhang Chao seemed to have guessed something, and they both remained silent.

Xiao Fan patted the Fatty on the shoulder: "Since you say I'm so talented, what difference does it make which zone I go to? It's just Zone 18, not the Eighteen Levels of Hell."

"How can it be the same? Zone 18 has fewer resources and is dangerous."

"If it weren't dangerous, I wouldn't want to go." Xiao Fan interrupted the Fatty, shrugging his shoulders with an indifferent air: "Alright, I'm going to collect my server device now. See you later."

After saying this, Xiao Fan turned and walked toward window 18.

Watching his lean back, the three of them felt heavy-hearted.

No one knew better than them how strong Xiao Fan's talent was.

A heaven-sent genius like Chen Xuewei chose pre-existing skills when entering the game, but Xiao Fan had already created his own; he was simply a level above them.

"Alright, let's go collect our server devices too. Even though Xiao Fan went to Zone 18, I believe that with his strength, he won't be any weaker than those in Zone 1. Once we leave the Novice Village, we can still fight side by side." Zhang Chao said, trying to offer comfort.

"Yeah, we definitely can."

Xiao Fan quickly obtained the Cloud Sea login device and returned home.

"Xiao Fan, you must remember, safety is the most important thing. Your uncle only asks that you stay safe and sound."

"Mm. I know."

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

Watching Xiao Fan's figure disappear in the living room, Xiao Yi steadied his gaze and turned to look at his wife.

"Wife, the company is sending me away for a while. I'll have to leave the house to you."

Hearing this, Liu Xiujuan turned back in surprise: "Ah, why so sudden?"

"The pay for working away is higher. I just want to earn a bit more money."

Liu Xiujuan was silent for a moment: "Then take care of yourself."

"Mm."

A gust of howling wind swept past, kicking up dust all over the ground.

Xiao Fan slowly opened his eyes, and seeing the sand and dirt coming his way, he hurriedly covered his eyes with his hand.

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

Xiao Fan waved his hand to fan away the dust in front of him.

Before him lay rolling mountain ranges, vast as an ocean, stretching all the way to the edge of the horizon.

"Is this the real Cloud Sea world?"

Xiao Fan had looked it up online; the Cloud Sea Forest from his exam was merely a novice trial ground, equivalent to a tutorial in an online game, designed to help players familiarize themselves with the mechanics.

The true Cloud Sea world was grand and spectacular, containing all sorts of miraculous locations.

Deserts, Snow Mountain, lakes, forests, and other fantastical places that did not exist on Blue Star.

Ten years after the arrival of Cloud Sea, the Human Race had explored less than five percent of the game world, which showed just how vast the planet was.

"Hey kid, are you a newcomer?"

Just as Xiao Fan was lost in thought, a rough voice suddenly came from behind him.

He turned around abruptly, and what came into view was a dilapidated village.

It was broken! Truly, incredibly broken!

Old, rotting wooden fences were crookedly arranged in a circle, barely serving as a boundary. The wooden railings were broken in many places, weeds grew thick at the base of the walls, and the scene inside was clear at a glance.

The haphazardly built Thatch Hut looked as if a strong gust of wind could blow them away entirely. Aside from that, there were only a few scattered players.

Three characters above the gate were cruelly eye-catching at this moment.

"District 18."

This was the District 18 Novice Village!

Xiao Fan knew the environment here was poor before coming, but he hadn't expected it to be this dilapidated!

It wasn't even as good as many villages on Earth; it was so primitive it was almost on par with an African tribal settlement.

It was said that Novice Village Zone 1 was built to be as prosperous as a capital city.

Both were novice villages, so why was the gap between them so large!

"I'm talking to you, kid."

That rough voice sounded again. Xiao Fan snapped back to reality and only then noticed a man standing nearby.

The man looked to be about forty years old, around 1.8 meters tall, with solid muscles and slightly dark skin. He wore a slightly small chainmail vest on his upper body and held a white-tier great axe in his hand.

Although the man's voice was rough, his expression didn't show much impatience, and he didn't look like a bad person.

Floating above his head was a bright green ID: Wind Snow Traveler.

Xiao Fan nodded: "I am a new player this year. My name is Xiao..."

He paused for a moment, then changed his words: "My name is Jiu Chen."

The man didn't care at all about Xiao Fan's choice to hide his real name.

"I'm Wind Snow Traveler, the administrator of District 18. We'll talk once everyone has arrived."