Blind Fighting (Passive): Cruel combat training allowed you to judge your opponent's movements through perception alone. You fought better while blind, in darkness, or against invisible opponents. Crossbow Shooting (Mastery): Aim, fire—this was only the beginning. Basic Originium Arts (Beginner): You were merely a newcomer in this field. Agile Movement (Passive): After long-term training, you could fully make use of your agility to perform all kinds of movements, as nimble and swift as a cat. Foot Pull: Through special breathing techniques and footwork, you slipped information about your presence into the enemy's subconscious, achieving stealth and surprise attacks. Items: R.G. Industries M30 Standard Single-Edged Straight Sword R.G. Industries T20 Portable Folding Crossbow "Petrel" Lungmen Guard Department Standard Armor Penguin Logistics Special Light Protective Suit Current Legend: 2 (4) Detailed List: "Penguin Logistics Collaborator": Legend +1 Penguin Logistics had gained a new collaborator, and many people were guessing your identity. "Brotherhood Destroyer": Legend +1 Someone had seen you raid the Brotherhood headquarters alongside the Guards Bureau. You had brought the "Freak" and wiped out every Brotherhood member. "Outlaw": Legend +2 (Currently unavailable) The first mysterious figure to break into the Guards Bureau and leave unscathed, your legend had spread through the underworld; those who knew your secret chose to keep it for you. Overall Evaluation: Power! Endless power!
End of Volume One
Volume Two: The Promised Land
Chapter 1: Rhodes Island
"Whenever the stars aligned in their proper positions, the world revealed its true form. Delirious nameless believers gathered and worshipped before the ancient one clad in blood-red garments, composing indescribably obscure phrases with evil words beyond the scope of any human language. Most maddening of all, every one of these ancient blasphemous passages ended with this sentence, revealing the original shape of this world's desires—they wrote: KFC Crazy Thursday, send me 50."
"...What kind of nonsense was that...?"
Flanka and Scythe sighed helplessly and looked toward Bai Ye, who was muttering to himself nearby.
"I was just missing Lungmen's fried chicken and meat burgers..."
Bai Ye sighed. Only now did he realize that the greatest difference between games and reality lay in eating.
In his previous life as a Player, eating had merely served to fill the hunger meter. There had been no real sensation of hunger or fullness. For combat Players, food had usually existed as a buff.
Moreover, Players could disable the taste simulation system themselves. They could eat anything edible without changing expression, even processed, juicy acidic Originium Slugs...
After transmigrating, Bai Ye naturally gained hunger and a sense of taste, and neither could be forcibly turned off. While the experience of enjoying delicious food had become more natural, the downside was that when food was less than delicious—or simply tasted awful—it became torture for him.
Bai Ye had followed Rhodes Island's messenger back to the Rhodes Island Ship with Flanka and the others.
It was now the sixth day since their departure.
Bai Ye naturally knew that crossing the wilderness was not as simple as going on a picnic. On Terra, being far from a Mobile City meant being far from civilization.
This land was filled with danger. Even the most experienced travelers dared not guarantee that they would survive their next journey.
Although Bai Ye had long grown accustomed to such dangerous migrations as a Player in his previous life, now that he was experiencing them in a new and tangible way, he found that the first problem he encountered was how to endure the unbearable taste of rations.
Sure enough, reality and games were still vastly different.
"I never expected last night's potato soup to taste so good. You still weren't satisfied?" Compared to impractical fried chicken and Lungmen sandwiches, Flanka seemed quite pleased with the potato soup Bai Ye had cooked himself the night before.
"Everything tastes good when you're hungry," Bai Ye said succinctly.
The messenger driving the vehicle suddenly chimed in. "Honestly, being able to eat a meal like this in the wilderness is already something to be grateful for."
She was a Rhodes Island messenger, a Feline.
Bai Ye and the others had not traveled with the convoy. Instead, they had taken a shortcut to speed up their return journey.
This route strayed from the Mobile City's path and went deeper into the wilderness. It carried a certain degree of danger, but neither Bai Ye nor Flanka and Scythe were weak.
The Infected Creatures, wild beasts, and bandits they encountered along the way had all fallen beneath Bai Ye's blades and firearms, becoming experience.
That was where the confidence for the four of them to travel alone came from.
"When will we arrive?" Bai Ye casually asked as he watched Flanka tickling Scythe through the rearview mirror.
The Feline messenger smiled. "Tomorrow. We'll be home tomorrow."
To her, Rhodes Island was home.
"Home..." Bai Ye fell silent. Even the slightly suggestive laughter and horseplay between the girls in the back seat could not interrupt his train of thought.
Since transmigrating, he had long cast aside the impractical fantasy of "going home." But finding a home of his own on this land might prove quite difficult.
No longer dwelling on such strange thoughts, Bai Ye began considering his plans for the future.
Joining Rhodes Island had not been a rash decision. Nor did Bai Ye simply want to ride the main storyline based on memories from his previous life.
What he valued were Rhodes Island's resources, potential, and identity.
What Bai Ye sought was far more than what he could gain from completing a few main storyline quests. He was placing a piece now, but he was also laying out the future.
However...
The key to forming a cooperative relationship with Rhodes Island did not lie with its young leader, Amiya, but with that old woman, Kal'tsit.
She was a troublesome riddler, a living fossil, and a legend who loved bringing up "this land" at every turn.
Bai Ye did not know how long she had lived, but he knew that woman's understanding of the world surely surpassed his own by far.
Still, Bai Ye had his own advantage.
Kal'tsit knew the past like the back of her hand.
Bai Ye, meanwhile, had glimpsed a corner of the world's future.
If he rounded things off, they were probably evenly matched.
Once the version 1.0 Players officially began arriving in large numbers, that even split would probably become a - split. Bai Ye was already quite satisfied with those odds.
Of course, reality could not be measured by probability alone, because the charm of fate lay in its unpredictability.
Whether Bai Ye was prepared or not, the four of them finally caught sight of Rhodes Island the next day.
"We're going home!" The young Feline messenger's voice was full of delight. The girl's ears kept twitching, making people want to give them a pinch.
"I'm definitely taking a bath when we get back!" Flanka had a slight obsession with cleanliness, and the wilderness did not offer a chance to bathe every day.
Scythe also let out a sigh of relief. This model student had followed the rules laid out in textbooks throughout their time in the wilderness, never daring to let down her guard.
Casting a somewhat disdainful glance at Flanka as she stretched, Scythe quietly compared the size of their chests and rolled her eyes.
What did this girl even eat? How did she grow that big...?
As she thought about it, Scythe's gaze grew increasingly unfriendly. She reached out and pinched Flanka's cheek. "When we get back, take proper care of your weapons and equipment."
"Hey... I get it, I get it. Why are you so worked up?" Flanka was rather baffled.
Scythe pouted cutely and clicked her tongue. "Tch, fat fox..."
"Are they always so... lively?" The Feline messenger smiled as she watched the two comedy partners flirt and bicker, then looked at Bai Ye with amusement.
Bai Ye smiled. "Maybe they've been away from Blacksteel International for too long and got assimilated by Rhodes Island."
As far as he knew, Rhodes Island seemed to have even more comedians.
Bai Ye had never considered such matters before. Now that they had suddenly come up, he began looking forward to life in the future.
Setting all the facts aside, Rhodes Island actually seemed like quite a suitable place to live.
Chapter 2: Boarding and the Receptionist
In autumn, a special guest boarded Rhodes Island.
"I bet he's a Sargos."
"Are there Sargos that good-looking? I almost thought Rhodes Island had gotten a succubus..."
"He came with that Blacksteel International fox. Do you think he's Blacksteel too?"
"Rhodes Island has everything. Looks like the Logistics Department will have another headache."
The Operators who saw the guest discussed him in whispers, speculating about his identity.
The wind carried their murmurs to the guest's ears. After hearing them, he merely narrowed his eyes and smiled.
And so he captivated several young Operators.
"He's so pretty."
"Isn't it spectacular? I was stunned too when I first came here." Flanka led Bai Ye into the Rhodes Island Ship.
Bai Ye had known in his previous life that the main body of the Rhodes Island Ship was a land carrier.
He even knew a secret: the Rhodes Island Ship was not a product of modern industry and technology. Its main body and core structure had been excavated from underground.
In his previous life, Bai Ye had even visited that abandoned mine pit. The Players had found it and tried to dig up something else from within, but unfortunately failed.
It had been dug completely clean. There had not even been a single hair left behind.
However, the Rhodes Island Ship's interior "decoration" had been added later as part of subsequent modifications.
Bai Ye had once jokingly listed the "Rhodes Island Ship" in his personal shop, but since he did not actually own it, it had only been a joke.
He wondered what Dr. Kal'tsit would think if she knew about that.
"What's the next step?"
Bai Ye was not entirely sure whether Rhodes Island's recruitment process before the Players arrived differed from what came afterward, or whether it had been altered. Therefore, he did not blindly copy the strategy guides he had seen in his previous life.
"Psychological testing, combat testing, and other basic tests and professional assessments. It's quite complicated. But Scythe and I had our files transferred directly from Blacksteel International, so we never took the assessments here."
"Still, they might ask you to undergo a test for Originium Arts."
As she spoke, Flanka pointed at herself and Scythe. "Those Caster Operators made us fuss around for half a day back then, then gave us a huge pile of data to look through. Maybe you can ask them how to develop Originium Arts. Those research fanatics might be happy to help."
As they spoke, Flanka led Bai Ye to the reception desk. Since he had not officially joined Rhodes Island yet, he was considered a visitor.
"Dear guest, most areas inside the Rhodes Island Ship are currently closed and temporarily unavailable to visitors. We ask for your understanding."
The Operator receiving Bai Ye handed him a badge. It was his temporary access pass aboard the Rhodes Island Ship.
"Where are we going first?" Bai Ye was not surprised by the restrictions Rhodes Island had placed on him. This company clearly had many secrets it could not reveal to outsiders. Bai Ye had known some of them in his previous life, but he did not dare claim that he knew everything.
"First, you'll undergo a medical examination in the Medical Department. As an invited guest who has assisted Rhodes Island Operators, your examination is free of charge."
"If any medical Operator asks you to pay any fee, please report it to us immediately. Any attempt to extort visitors will be dealt with seriously."
The Operator receiving Bai Ye was a young girl. Judging from the halo above her head and the Light Wings behind her, she was from Laterano.
She did not care about Bai Ye's appearance at all. Her expression was stern and her tone serious, as though she had been wound up and was reciting rules by rote. Bai Ye even suspected that she had memorized the entire visitor reception handbook...
And so, under the girl's guidance, Bai Ye headed toward the Medical Department.
"No playing with fire in the corridors."
"Operator, please do not walk on the walls."
"Please keep your animals under control. Do not allow them to roam freely in the corridors."
Before you continue