"Re... turn..."
"Return to Zero..."
Drenched in sweat, Lin Yi seemed to hear a demon's whispers. He jolted awake from his dream and abruptly sat up in bed.
Panting heavily, he looked around in bewilderment:
"This isn't the respawn point?"
"Where... am I?"
Lin Yi threw back the covers and slowly got up.
He staggered to the window and pulled open the curtains.
The sun seemed to have only just risen, and faint threads of morning light filtered through the window.
Dawn had barely broken, but early-rising villagers were already walking around the village with carrying poles on their shoulders. Cooking smoke was rising from several homes.
A rooster crowed in the distance, heralding a new day.
Looking at the rural scene outside, Lin Yi's pupils contracted slightly, and he murmured in disbelief:
"This is... Blue Star?"
"Zero Game was a dream?"
"Those ten years... were all just a dream?"
Something suddenly occurred to Lin Yi. Frowning deeply, he returned to the bed and began searching for his phone.
Looking at the date displayed on his phone's calendar, he seemed a little lost and kept murmuring:
"Today is August 8, 2088..."
"Then could it be possible..."
"That I wasn't dreaming, but..."
"Was reborn?!"
The instant Lin Yi finished speaking, suddenly-
The world seemed to freeze for an instant!
Ding!
A long chime rang out inside Lin Yi's mind!
In the blink of an eye, the winds and clouds shifted!
Even heaven and earth were moved!
The faint morning light vanished, and the world turned a deep black!
Lin Yi felt his body become unreal as well, as though his soul had taken flight.
Then a series of somewhat tender, little-girl voices rang out in his mind!
"Ding-dong!"
"Hello, players of batch 8,836,002,300,000,433 from the myriad races of the universe!"
"I am your game guide, Xiao Ling."
"You are about to enter Zero Game. There are a few beginner tips I'd like to share with everyone."
"First, this isn't a prank, and you aren't dreaming. The place you're heading to next is a real world."
"Second, while you're in the novice villages, you will only encounter players of your own race. Please get along with one another!"
"Third, this place has every kind of class system you can imagine, represented numerically as combat power. Please work hard to increase your combat power!"
"Fourth, there is no fancy economic system here. The only thing you can trade is lifespan. Your starting lifespan is 100 years."
"Fifth, rest assured that dying in battle does not count as true death. You will only truly die when your lifespan reaches zero."
"Oh, right! A friendly reminder: your lifespan will be halved every time you die!"
"Sixth, just like in your original worlds, there is no such thing as fairness here. The strong can obtain everything they want. Please work hard to increase your combat power!"
"Seventh, referring back to the sixth point, since fairness does not exist, the disparity in your combat power may be enormous!"
"But whatever exists is reasonable!"
"Please don't assume there's a bug. There are no bugs here!"
"Eighth, ninth, tenth... I can't be bothered to read them. I figure you don't really want to listen anymore, either."
"Also..."
"Welcome to Zero Game. Please enjoy yourselves to the fullest!"
As soon as the game guide finished speaking, Lin Yi felt his consciousness shoot upward at incredible speed, accompanied by a sense of weightlessness.
His consciousness was like a beam of light, breaking free of the atmosphere's confines and passing through clouds and stars in an instant.
Blue Star gradually shrank below him, becoming like a blue gemstone embedded in the pitch-black universe.
Around him stretched a vast, boundless night sky, its stars like scattered diamonds sparkling with dazzling light.
The Milky Way stretched across the sky like a flowing ribbon of light, radiating a gentle, mysterious glow.
Lin Yi narrowed his eyes slightly, and the corners of his mouth slowly lifted.
To think rebirth really existed!
In his previous life, he had entered Zero Game on August 8, 2088, by Blue Star's calendar.
Thanks to his decent luck, he had randomly received an S-rank talent: Eye of Illusion Breaking.
Among humans, it was a pretty good starting talent.
He had forged ahead, reaching level ten in just a month and gaining a full five hundred thousand combat power!
But only after leaving the novice village had he discovered what a gap truly meant!
Human experts were beyond counting!
People with millions or tens of millions of combat power were as common as dirt!
Every one of them could crush him with a single finger!
At that thought, Lin Yi couldn't help shaking his head with a smile.
He was an orphan, so he had no younger sister holding him back.
He was single, so he had no girlfriend courting death by trying to cuckold him, either.
He simply wanted to become stronger. That was all!
Yet even so, despite being unencumbered and focusing entirely on cultivation, he hadn't even been able to make it onto the Human Race Top Ten Thousand Ranking!
He had even been trampled under the bare feet of so-called experts many times!
There was no other reason. He was simply an easy target!
Later, Lin Yi had used his talent to open an intelligence shop, selling information to earn some lifespan while searching for opportunities to grow stronger.
In the end, he really had found an opportunity. He had traded ten years' worth of assets for a [ZZZ Treasury Teleportation Scroll].
After reaching the ZZZ Treasury, he had discovered a solid-gold toilet and curiously sat down on it...
And then, he had actually returned to the day Zero Game first began!
As an information broker, the sheer amount of intelligence Lin Yi possessed was staggering!
Class advancement opportunities, treasure opportunities, talent opportunities...
And...
Opportunities in the novice village!
In his previous life, he had focused solely on killing monsters and leveling up, never properly exploring the novice village and missing many opportunities.
This time, he couldn't miss them!
Anyone who had played games knew just how important a wonderful start was!
In this life, he was determined to sweep up every early-game opportunity and turn them into stepping stones to greater strength!
Suddenly!
As Lin Yi's thoughts raced, a voice rang out in his mind.
"Greetings, human player of Zero Game batch 8,836,002,300,000,433. Please choose your nickname and starting class."
Lin Yi pondered for a moment, then came back to his senses and replied calmly:
"Nickname... Return to Zero."
"Starting class... warrior."
There were many starting classes, such as shield warrior, archer, mage, and priest, but Lin Yi was still used to hacking at monsters with blades and swords. They felt more natural in his hands.
Mages chanted too slowly early on and lacked large-scale skills, making them inefficient at clearing monsters. He could consider that later, though.
"Nickname and starting class confirmed. Connecting..."
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
"Link Start!" (Connection initiated!)
Whoosh!
Another wave of dizziness washed over him!
"Welcome to Novice Village No. 4396!"
Lin Yi rose onto his toes, feeling the familiar ground beneath his feet as a flicker of excitement welled up within him.
This was the starting point for his fresh start!
There were quaint buildings, colorful flags fluttering in the breeze, and NPCs dressed in strange clothing.
Some were busy, others were smiling, but more of them were curiously looking over these newly arrived adventurers.
Golden sunlight spilled into every corner of the novice village, adding a little warmth to this vibrant place.
The noticeboard at the village entrance was plastered with all kinds of quests and information, as though everything here had been fully prepared for the players' arrival.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
New players kept pouring into the novice village. In just an instant, the previously empty square became rather overcrowded.
Clamorous voices rose one after another as all kinds of emotions spread through the crowd.
"Uh... where is this?"
"I don't know either! Is someone playing a prank? Or am I still dreaming?"
"Didn't listen to the beginner tips, did you? The very first point said it wasn't a prank or a dream. This is a real world!"
"So we all transmigrated together?"
"Holy shit? Those people have names over their heads. Village Chief Old Wang, Blacksmith Old Li. Th-this... is this really a fucking game?"
"Fuck you! I just won five million in the lottery! Send me back!"
"This is fantastic! No more mortgage or car payments! Everything from before was wiped clean at this very moment!"
"Uh... I must not be fully awake yet!"
Looking at the noisy crowd around him, Lin Yi silently shook his head.
In his previous life, he had been just like them, full of curiosity and amazement at this new world.
But now, he needed to seize the important opportunities in the novice village. He had no time to waste here!
First, let's check my stats!
"Panel!"
Lin Yi raised his eyebrows slightly and uttered the word.
Whoosh!
A white screen of light instantly appeared before him.
Character: Return to Zero Race: human Level: 0 Class: warrior Lifespan: 100 years Talents: Eye of Illusion Breaking (S), Zero's Charm (ZZZZ) Reputation: 0 Combat power: 1 HP: 1 MP: 1 Attack speed: 0.5 attacks/s Movement speed: 1 m/s Pet: none Items: A-rank longsword, A-rank cloth shirt, A-rank cloth trousers, A-rank straw sandals Faction: none
Lin Yi was a little taken aback by his stats. He blinked and studied his talents closely.
Eye of Illusion Breaking (S): Effect: allows the user to view information on creatures whose combat power is no more than 1,000 times their own, and extrapolate unknown maps based on known intelligence. Zero's Charm (ZZZZ): Effect: the subject cannot gain combat power boosts from other talents, but with each level gained, combat power increases by one order of magnitude. Additionally: killing one of each type of class holder grants 0.1% of the experience required for the current level! (Excludes starting classes)
Lin Yi stared at his stat window, dumbfounded, remaining frozen for a full minute.
Then shock flashed in his eyes, and he murmured to himself in disbelief:
"So this is the real way to play Zero Game!"
"Invincible. Now I really..."
"Invincible!"
P.S. Since this story's power levels go way off the charts, here are a few things you'll need to know!
Wan: 10 to the fourth power.
Yi: 10 to the eighth power.
Zhao: 10 to the twelfth power.
Jing: 10 to the sixteenth power.
Gai: 10 to the twentieth power.
Zi: 10 to the twenty-fourth power.
Rang: 10 to the twenty-eighth power.
Gou: 10 to the thirty-second power.
Jian: 10 to the thirty-sixth power.
Zheng: 10 to the fortieth power.
Zai: 10 to the forty-fourth power.
Ji: 10 to the forty-eighth power.
Ganges sands: 10 to the fifty-second power.
Asamkhya: 10 to the fifty-sixth power.
Nayuta: 10 to the sixtieth power.
Inconceivable: 10 to the sixty-fourth power.
Immeasurable: 10 to the sixty-eighth power.
Great number: 10 to the seventy-second power.
Quanshixiang: 10 to the seventy-sixth power.
Yi: 10 to the eightieth power.
Wang: 10 to the eighty-fourth power.
Fu: 10 to the eighty-eighth power.
Zhang: 10 to the ninety-second power.
Zhan: 10 to the ninety-sixth power.
Googol: 10 to the hundredth power.
1 Ancient Realm (peak) = 1 googol = 1 followed by 100 zeros.
2 Ancient Realm = 1 followed by 200 zeros.
100 Ancient Realm = 1 followed by ten thousand zeros.
Ten thousand Ancient Realm = 1 followed by a million zeros.
100 million Ancient Realm = 1 followed by ten billion zeros.
One trillion Ancient Realm = 1 followed by 100 trillion zeros.
Ancient Ancient Realm = 1 followed by 100 googol zeros!
This story starts low, rises to godly heights, and gradually enters cheat territory.
The early parts drag a little, so brothers and sisters, please be a little patient. If it's not to your liking, please go easy with your comments.
Let's each leave the other a little dignity, and meet again at the peak.