Reborn, I Still Have to Play Games

"Could it be that I am truly the protagonist? Or perhaps a hidden lucky dog?"

Li Si looked at the time displayed on his smart wristband, unable to help but fall into deep contemplation.

Transmigrating once was lucky enough, but he had not only transmigrated, he had been reborn.

Although this rebirth was something he had orchestrated himself, the actual probability of success was less than one in a billion; it was almost entirely a matter of luck.

If he hadn't been backed into a corner, he would never have dared to use that crudely fashioned time machine.

As it turned out, he gave it a random try, and it actually succeeded—the probability of such an outcome was something even he couldn't believe.

Moreover, whether it was due to the protagonist's destiny or the materials used for the time machine, he had returned to exactly three years ago, the day Earth OL officially launched.

Earth OL was a virtual game—yes, the kind common in web novels from his previous life—and according to the usual tropes, the strength characters gained in such games could be brought back to reality in the later stages.

In his previous life, he had accidentally participated in the closed beta of this game. The game world was a replica of another Earth where players could only work odd jobs to earn money, which felt incredibly boring.

However, he discovered that this was no ordinary Earth setting, because within the game's Earth, he found Stark Industries, Oscorp Industries, and all sorts of other chaotic things.

He was all too familiar with these names; he realized then that this game wasn't a management simulator for experiencing a second life, but a hodgepodge of various American comics and movies.

More importantly, although the world he transmigrated into was also called Earth, it was said to be an Earth that had undergone a cataclysm. While a highly developed civilization had been rebuilt, people here had never even heard of things like DC or Marvel.

The rest was simple: relying on his foresight, he joined the military after the official launch, obtained the Hulk serum, and successfully completed his transformation. From there, it was a path of crushing other players, showing off, and reaching the pinnacle of life—a perfect performance of the protagonist template.

Unfortunately, while players' strength could be brought back to reality in the later stages of the game, it wasn't their full power. In reality, he couldn't fight off a crowd, and he hadn't unlocked the Hulk's most important talent, Infinite Rage, so the consequences were predictable.

Because he had made too many enemies, he was forced to hide everywhere in reality, and the gap in strength only grew wider.

In the end, relying on his knowledge of the plot, he risked his life to obtain the Time Stone and Space Stone in the game, pinning his hopes on a time machine crudely built from those two stones.

Calling it "crudely built" was being generous; the thing was a "three-no" product made of two Infinity Stones and an activation device—a device he had cobbled together based on the oral accounts of several physicists in the game.

Yet, it was precisely this thing that actually succeeded in opening a space-time gate, allowing him to be reborn completely unscathed.

"Calculating the time, the official game pod should be arriving soon."

Checking the time, Li Si stood up and walked toward the door.

Even after three years, he remembered the arrival time of the game pod clearly. In his previous life, after discovering the game was an American comic world during the closed beta, the wait for the official game pod had felt like years; he had spent every second watching the clock.

The excitement from back then was still fresh in his memory, though now, only a sense of calm remained.

Li Si walked silently to the door just as the doorbell rang right on cue. Opening the door, he was met by a thin man wearing a black vest with the Astral Gaming Company logo printed on it.

Behind the thin man followed a small transport robot, its forklift-like mechanical arms hoisting a large cardboard box.

"Hello, I am from Astral Gaming Company here to deliver your game pod. Would you like me to help you install it?"

The thin man asked.

"No need, just put it in the room for me; I'll install it myself."

Li Si shook his head, refusing, and pointed toward his bedroom.

"Understood."

The thin man nodded and directed the transport robot to place the game pod in Li Si's room before walking back to him.

"Sir, this is the delivery manifest. Please sign it. Also, in light of the discontinuation of the closed beta helmets, our company is offering a trade-in discount for beta players. If you have your closed beta helmet, you can hand it over for recycling! After confirming it is undamaged, the company will refund a portion of the purchase price."

"No need, I'm not short on money. I intend to keep the beta helmet as a souvenir."

Li Si signed the delivery manifest efficiently and handed it over.

"Then I apologize for the intrusion. I wish you a pleasant game."

Seeing this, the thin man didn't say anything more, gave a slight nod, and turned to leave.

Watching the Astral Gaming Company employee depart, Li Si smiled, turned around, and retrieved a pile of tools along with a black helmet that felt metallic to the touch.

"It was originally just a useless discovery, but I never expected it to be of use in my hands!"

Li Si used a screwdriver to dismantle the black helmet, removing a chip the size of a fingernail from the dense circuit board. Looking at the chip, which was as crystal clear as a sapphire, he revealed a smile that was both nostalgic and admiring.

He didn't know what material this chip was cast from, but he knew its purpose: the "Full-Dive Virtual Mode" of Earth OL existed entirely because of this chip.

Although the closed beta helmet didn't enable this mode, both the hardware and software actually contained this function; it was simply hidden and disabled. The official game pod, however, had this hardware removed entirely.

This covert detail was unknown even to Astral Gaming Company, the game's agent, and it wasn't discovered by a tech-focused player until more than two years later.

Unfortunately, by then, the Full-Dive Virtual Mode had long since been opened, and it served no purpose other than becoming a piece of trivia for after-dinner conversation.

But things were different now. By using this chip to activate the Full-Dive Virtual Mode ahead of schedule, he could put himself far ahead of everyone else right from the starting line.