Summary

Aside from that, Zhao Cheng didn't see a single plant.

At the same time, he spotted plenty of wrecked vehicles along the roadside. They hadn't been caught in a terrorist attack, and they weren't jammed up on the roads.

The number of them was off, too!

If everyone in this city had evacuated, there shouldn't have been this many wrecked vehicles.

The city before him felt like an unfinished video game: someone had built the city, but hadn't had time to add any NPCs.

It was as if the people in this city had all vanished—or died—at the exact same moment, in an incredibly short span of time.

And it wasn't just people. All life was gone. There were no plants here, no birds in the sky, and not even a single bug.

As he walked along the street, Zhao Cheng kept his eyes peeled and his ears open, his thoughts racing all the while.

He'd followed a regular route all this way. Nothing fancy—he'd simply stuck to the main roads.

As for the narrow streets and alleys, Zhao Cheng had no intention of exploring them for now.

As it turned out, a person's courage did have its limits. Besides, he was trying to cover a wider area and raise the odds of triggering "plot" events.

As for combing through every street and alley with a fine-toothed comb, that could wait until later.

He kept walking, and then, without warning, his vision went black. His consciousness jolted, the scene changed in an instant, and he found himself back in his bedroom.

As the scene shifted, he felt a heavy, sluggish sensation. Even his thoughts seemed to grind to a halt.

"???"

In the bedroom, lit by the faint glow coming in through the window, Zhao Cheng stared at his palm, his mind full of questions.

"What kind of monster was that? It killed me in one hit, and I didn't even feel a thing."

Zhao Cheng thought to himself.

As for the sluggishness in his thoughts, Zhao Cheng wasn't concerned. It wasn't a side effect of dying in the simulation. His swordsmanship talent in reality was simply far behind what it had been in the simulation, and that was why he felt this way.

In the simulation, every aspect of his swordsmanship—his inspiration, comprehension, creativity, sharpness of thought, everything—had reached an explosive peak. Any question about the sword came to him in a flash; one hint was enough for him to understand it completely. He was more than ten times better than he was in reality.

After such a sudden shift, it was only natural that he would feel the difference.

Zhao Cheng could tell that his understanding of swordsmanship hadn't regressed at all. His swordsmanship was still at the proficient level in terms of thought; he just needed a little time to transfer that understanding to his real body.

The change in the skill section of his Panel confirmed it, too.

Skill: 17th Basic Swordsmanship 6th Revised Edition lv7 (lv8) (590/600) (Wind Severing, First Stage) (30% converted)

At the level of thought, he had a 30% conversion rate. The remaining 70% was tied to his body. Right now, he knew how to do it with his brain, but his body hadn't caught up.

Even so, he was still far beyond someone who didn't know it at all.

"Next time I simulate, my swordsmanship will reach lv8."

That thought flashed through his mind. Zhao Cheng turned his attention away from the skill panel and looked at the log, which was still refreshing.

Simulation Summary

Cang Calendar, Year 277, 2322 AD. You descended into an unfamiliar world.

You cried out to the unfamiliar world: Your Savior has arrived!

"???"

"Don't make things up. I didn't say that."

Zhao Cheng's face darkened.

"And wait, 2322?!"

"I knew it!"

"What the hell, a nuclear war at the end of the twentieth century? The Panel's description of the instance wasn't lying—it's just that several centuries have passed."

"Cang Calendar... So the previous generation's protagonist already ended the chaos, huh?"

Zhao Cheng had gone straight to the key point.

Based on what he'd experienced in the simulation, Zhao Cheng guessed that there probably weren't any warlords left for him to cut down, and he likely wouldn't be slicing bullets with his sword or chopping apart missiles, either.

As for gathering a group of beautiful girls, that was even more absurd.

He figured the previous generation's protagonist had already done all that.

The "game" left for him had even changed genres. It had gone from mowing down warlords in a chaotic age to exploring the supernatural.

Thinking of that, Zhao Cheng just wanted to say that he wasn't the least bit jealous of that bastard, the previous "protagonist." If he had the guts, they could switch places.

Log:

The earth cheered for you, and the firmament crowned you!

The world welcomed the arrival of its Savior.

"Did it?!"

Zhao Cheng searched his memories but drew a blank.

All he remembered was that after he went over, everything had been pitch-black. He'd almost thought he'd gone blind.

Cheering? Crowning? He hadn't seen any of that.

"Wait, maybe there really was something."

Zhao Cheng scrolled back through the Panel's log and immediately found the crucial information.

Log:

Selecting spacetime coordinates...

Deploying Hyper-Dimensional Body...

Drawing Trait Modules...

Please select three Trait Modules to equip:

He hadn't paid attention before, but looking at it now, he'd been deployed as a Hyper-Dimensional Body first, and only then had his Trait Modules been drawn.

Since the Panel had done things in that order, there was clearly a deeper reason behind it.

The so-called earth cheering for him and the firmament crowning him had shown up on the Panel as that ten-pull.

And if he thought carefully about the Panel's principle of equivalent exchange, there was a clear logic to it all.

This wasn't some free newbie bonus. It was still equivalent exchange.

"The world invited me to 'play a game.' Not only did it waive the entry fee, it paid me for my labor, too. I really did make money just by standing around."

A thought like that crossed Zhao Cheng's mind, and he was also one hundred percent certain that the game's difficulty was going to be off the charts.

What kind of "game" would you have to pay someone to play?!

Zhao Cheng continued reading.

Log:

During the first hour, you suddenly realized how foolish you'd been before. You couldn't even understand such simple sword techniques. As you wondered why you'd been so stupid, you found the full of errors swordsmanship unbearable. Your emotions exploded, and you tried to correct the swordsmanship.

You began correcting the swordsmanship and entered a state of enlightenment!

Your swordsmanship proficiency rose rapidly!

Your 17th Basic Swordsmanship 6th Revised Edition advanced from lv4 to lv7.

You consumed a tremendous amount of Vitality and felt utterly exhausted; your life force drained away rapidly, but you didn't notice.

During the second hour, you used a Full Recovery Potion, restoring 80% of your Vitality. You practiced swordsmanship in the darkness, and your proficiency increased by 3.

During the third hour, the Blood Moon appeared. You began exploring and discovered the ruined Moyun Plaza and a damaged Great Person Statue (seemingly depicting someone who had made an indelible contribution to this world).

You began exploring this world.

You discovered Heavenly Phoenix Pavilion. The damaged patterns at its entrance seemed to record some kind of profound martial art, and you sensed that there might be Ripple inside.

You discovered Longteng Building, where something seemed to be amiss.

You discovered Zhengshang Office Building, where something seemed to be amiss.

You discovered Moyun University, where something terrifying seemed to lurk.

Under the influence of the Blood Moon, your life force drained away rapidly, but you didn't notice.

During the fourth hour, you died. Cause of death: your life force was depleted.

Simulation result: Your exploration progress in this instance was extremely low. Simulation Points +1.