Chapter 1: Birth
"Test sample number twenty-four has been injected with the Valkyrie Solution. Survival time: two minutes and forty-five seconds. Time of death: 4:22 a.m..."
There was only me at home, who was talking?
Han Xiao snapped his eyes wide open. The dazzling white lights greeted his vision; the familiar gaming capsule was gone, replaced by a pure white ceiling. The surrounding white walls carried a cold metal texture, brimming with a sci-fi atmosphere. The room's layout resembled an intensive care unit. He lay on a metal table, his bare upper body connected to the wires of several instruments. His back skin kissed the metal, and the piercing cold seeped straight into his core.
A few white-coated figures resembling researchers surrounded him with ghostly expressions.
"Didn't I just accept a client's order to level up a new character? I selected the standard origin. What is this place?" Han Xiao's head ached severely, and his thoughts were a chaotic mess, as if a large amount of information had been crammed into them out of nowhere. His final memory was just accepting a piloting order and the character creation screen in Galaxy, and then he seemed to have smelled the heavy scent of burning protein...
"Go quickly and notify Ms. Hila, the test subject has woken up!"
"Call the guards to control the test subject immediately."
Those white-coated figures yelled and shouted. Han Xiao did not understand their language, but he could make out the meaning. Words like "test subject," "survival time," and "guards" made him feel a bad omen. Rapid footsteps sounded outside the door, and someone was approaching swiftly.
Stay put or run away immediately? Hesitating for only a fraction of a second, Han Xiao decisively chose the latter. Waiting passively for death was not his style. With a roll, he tore off all the instrument wires connected to his body and stumbled toward the laboratory door. The surrounding white-coated figures hurriedly retreated without stopping him.
"Bang!" Bursting through the room door, the outside was a long white corridor. At both ends of the corridor, over a dozen guards wearing black combat uniforms and holding stun batons swarmed up.
Han Xiao recognized the half-sapling imprint on the left breast of their uniforms and drew a sharp breath. "The Germinal Organization from Version 1.0 of Planet Aquamarine? Didn't they already get wiped out?!"
A guard swung a stun baton and brought it down heavily. Han Xiao instinctively raised his hand to block. The excruciating pain of the electric shock made his whole body violently shudder, his bones feeling as if they were about to crack, and half his body went numb.
"This pain is one hundred percent?!" Han Xiao was greatly startled. The upper limit of Galaxy's pain adjustment was at most 40%. Exceeding 40% would cause damage to a player's nerves, and gaming capsules had the function of monitoring player vital signs. When such a malfunction occurred, logically it should have already forced a disconnection.
What was going on? The gaming capsule he had just replaced seven years ago was acting up again? Damn it, the repairman who came to visit a few days ago only charged him three hundred yuan and swore up and down that there wouldn't be any problems within half a year. Completely unreliable. He would call customer service later to demand a refund!
A dozen well-built... uh, sturdy guards swarmed forward, and Han Xiao experienced what it felt like to be surrounded by big tough men. He was escorted away and transferred to an empty dark room, where the guards locked the deadbolt and left entirely.
The surroundings were pitch-black, and he was the only one left in the room.
Han Xiao grimaced in pain, rubbing his wrists to recover his strength.
His head began to ache again, and a complex torrent of information surged forth.
After quite a while, Han Xiao finally figured out the ins and outs.
"I time-traveled into... Galaxy?"
Han Xiao stared with wide eyes, a look of astonishment on his face.
Galaxy was an immersive holographic game with servers spread across the world, and its peak concurrent player count approached sixty million.
The game background was the starry universe. Maps and scenarios automatically evolved and took shape after the latest generation of optical brains inputted parameters. It was unimaginably vast, easily accommodating hundreds of millions of players online simultaneously without any burden. Countless guilds and corporations farmed gold, explored maps, and raided dungeons within it, and a top-tier piece of equipment could sell for astronomical prices of hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.
For a popular game, balance was bound to be exceptional. It ensured that wealthy spenders willing to shell out cash held a certain advantage while preventing that advantage from becoming so vast that casual players felt it was unfair. The primary way to maintain this balance was by enhancing the game's competitive and technical nature. Galaxy was no exception, naturally spawning derivative products like professional players and professional leagues.
Although Han Xiao made his living off games, the four grand characters "professional player" had nothing to do with him. He was a hardcore power-leveler hated by the vast majority of players, specifically the kind of lone wolf without a studio.
As a veteran power-leveler of Galaxy, Han Xiao had experienced every version update, enjoyed some minor fame, and consistently anchored himself in the top one hundred of the Huaxia region's master leaderboard [master leaderboard]. He remembered his latest ranking was forty-and-seventh. Logically, with his strength, playing professionally would be more than enough, but he was simply an interest-driven power-leveler.
"The Germinal Organization, Version 1.0 of Galaxy, one of the rookie birth planets-the incident on Planet Aquamarine." Han Xiao muttered to himself. Before his time travel, Galaxy had been running for over a dozen years, and the Version 1.0 events had long since become history. Had he returned to the past?
Han Xiao's expression was grave. In other words, those three hundred yuan couldn't be gotten back?!
"Slap!" Han Xiao dealt himself a slap. He had already time-traveled and was still thinking about a refund? Was he an idiot?!
His memories in his mind seemed somewhat deficient; he did not know the original body's experiences, nor did he even know its name. He only remembered some common knowledge about this world and its books, such as the time. The era he was in was Star Calendar year 687 in the game, and the official public beta test was in year 688.
In the era of Version 1.0, the three cosmic-level behemoths-the [Federation of Light], the [Crimson Dynasty], and the [Arcane Church]-still maintained tens of thousands of years of peace since the end of the Exploration Era. The [Silver Revolutionary Army] had not yet been formed, the source of the [Super Calamity] was still lingering on some barren planet on its last legs, the [Shattered World] had not yet been born, the [World Tree] civilization had not yet launched a massive invasion of the unexplored universe, and the [Shattered Star Ring] where Planet Aquamarine was located was still idling at the edge of the visible universe...
To maintain the game's appeal, Galaxy drew inspiration from a game called World of Warcraft from many years ago. Every update version was a catastrophe and a major event. Gul'dan Yanzu had been making trouble for so many years and got crushed to death by Illidan again (wait, why did he add an "again"?). The Burning Legion was invading once more-who knew how many more times they would make a comeback. On this point, Galaxy fully absorbed the lessons of World of Warcraft. It was certainly exciting to play, but if you actually time-traveled into it... my friend, do you have a return ticket?
The Germinal Organization was small potatoes compared to the interstellar-war-level calamities in later versions, but to the current Han Xiao, it was a rather fatal predicament.
"The modeling of Planet Aquamarine approximates Earth. The Germinal Organization is an organization attempting to overthrow the governments of major nations. If I remember correctly, the test subjects of the [Valkyrie Experiment] all undergo brainwashing and turn into cannon fodder."
The origin of this body was "raw material" used by the Germinal Organization for human experimentation. His past memories had gaps; apart from common knowledge, only memory fragments of imprisonment and experimentation scenes remained.
Around twenty years of age, his appearance vaguely resembled his past life's self. Whether he was healthy or not was hard to say. He still remembered the words of the white-coated figure: he had been injected with the [Valkyrie Solution]. This stuff was one of the Germinal Organization's genetic potions used to enhance the brain, carrying a mortality rate as high as seventy percent, yet it had undergone a mutation within his body.
A line of semi-illusory blue glowing text suddenly popped up before his eyes:
〔You have injected [Valkyrie Solution], Stamina Potential +1, acquired Specialty -- High Concentration, acquired Specialty -- Low-Level Mental Fortitude〕
"Panel information!" Han Xiao felt a burst of joy inside.
A translucent blue light screen unfurled within his vision, brimming with sci-fi flair and without obstructing his sight.
--
Name: Han Xiao
Race: Carbon-based Human (Yellow)
Template: NPC (Countdown to Version 1.0 Public Beta Launch: 358 days 11 hours 03 minutes)
Total Level: 1
Experience: 0
Subclass: Civilian lv1 (0/50)
Main Class: None
Personal Attributes: Strength 2, Agility 2, Stamina 3, Intelligence 3, Mystery 1, Charm 2, Luck 1
Free Attribute Points: 0
Strength: 0 (Lv. 0) Energy Level: 1-2 Rank: F (Mortal) [You're a piece of trash with a combat power of five. Any random NPC on the street could pin you down and grind you into the dirt a hundred times-yes, a hundred times!] HP: 23/30 (Sprained) Stamina: 36/36 Specialties: High Concentration-Increases learning and manufacturing speed by 10% Low-Level Mental Fortitude-Grants +3 to Willpower checks Skills: None Potential Points: 0 Career Knowledge Tree: Not Unlocked Influence: None Legend: 0 Equipment: None --
The game interface from Galaxy was still there. Thank heavens-heaven really did favor handsome guys.
However, Han Xiao soon noticed something was wrong.
NPC template? Wasn't he a player? Countdown to the 1.0 open beta?
Han Xiao furrowed his brows as he identified several important factors.
First, although he had no idea why his status screen had come with him when he crossed over, this was a real world. Every life here was alive and real. If he died, he wouldn't respawn like he would in a game.
Second, he had crossed over into the body of an NPC, but he had a player's system interface. That was undoubtedly good news: he could level up and grow just like a player.
Third, the open beta countdown made him realize that the real world had probably returned to the period before Galaxy's release. He really had gone back to the past! Did that mean the players from before would appear again?
The fourth point was the most important: his current situation was dangerous!
Han Xiao was in a real bind. Now that was what you called a normal start to a transmigration story: five hundred gold coins and ten people, resources and helpers, maybe even an ex-girlfriend thrown in. Even without all that, at least the surroundings would be safe, right? Even if someone wanted you dead, they'd only sneak up and stab you in the back. But what about him? He'd started in the middle of a battle, alone and surrounded by enemies. One careless moment and God would send him back to the Hall of Valor... assuming such a place existed.
Han Xiao couldn't respawn like a player now. He only had one life, and it would be a shame to lose it here.
That was right... He was thinking "what a shame," which was a little different from the average person's "I must survive." As for things like "My fate is mine to command, not heaven's; if heaven wants me dead, I'll destroy heaven," or "I swallowed a golden pill, and now I'll break through the gate of life and death"-that sort of nonsense was usually the reaction of someone in the terminal stage of chuunibyou.
"What the hell? Was I the only one who got Sword Art Online'd?" Han Xiao quipped.
Even though his senses were indistinguishable from reality, he was still deeply puzzled.
What was the nature of his existence? Was he a real life, or just a set of data? Had his soul crossed over? Or was there some other reason?
Since I'm here, I'll make the best of it. I can only take things one step at a time for now, Han Xiao thought. Whatever he was, if he didn't want to die a heroic death, he had to find a way to survive.
There was still a year until the open beta. He had a year to prepare before the players arrived, and that was the only good news that cheered him up for now. He knew all too well how destructive players could be. Like a plague of locusts, they were synonymous with chaos and madness.
"Clang!"
Just then, the door to the dark cell opened, and several people walked in. The backlight made their faces hard to see, but Han Xiao could just make out the shapely silhouette of the person in front. She was a woman with a curvaceous figure.
"How's the test subject's condition?" The woman spoke to her subordinates behind her, her voice slightly husky, like rich coffee, languid with a hint of sensuality.
"He seems to have come out of his agitated phase." Lin Weixian, the head of the experiment, looked Han Xiao up and down with fervent eyes, as if he were his personal property.
Han Xiao rasped, "Who are you?"
"Hmm? It seems his memory has been affected." The woman raised an eyebrow.
"Valkyrie stimulates the brain. Memory loss is a normal reaction." Lin Weixian narrowed his eyes.
His eyes gradually adjusted to the light, and Han Xiao got a clear look at the woman. He was immediately dazzled.
Her long, wine-red curls covered half her face. She wore a tight black combat uniform, and her curvaceous figure looked as if it might burst right through the fabric. She was enough to stir any man's hormones. Her features combined the strong contours of a Westerner with the softness of an Easterner, as if she were mixed-race. She was beautiful and alluring, with dark eye shadow and an air of mature languor, like a beautiful serpent.
If Daji had looked like this, King Zhou wouldn't have died in vain, Han Xiao thought.
"Hila, the one in charge here." The red-haired beauty gazed at Han Xiao and waved her hand. "Take him away for a blood test. I want to see the report immediately!"
Two elite guards with impassive faces stepped forward, each taking one of Han Xiao's arms and escorting him out. Han Xiao glanced at their powerful builds beneath their uniforms and the pistols at their waists, and immediately abandoned his plan to fight back on the spot.
He recognized "Red Snake" Hila. This was one of Planet Aquamarine's challenge scenarios-the Valkyrie Laboratory, one of the Germinal Organization's subordinate bases.
In version 1.0, Hila, the boss, had tormented countless new players who started on Planet Aquamarine until they cried for their parents. On the forums, she was called "Sister Discouragement." In the future, she would become an interstellar powerhouse in the Colton Star Cluster, with strength surpassing Calamity Grade. She would be given the title "Goddess of Death," and become renowned throughout the Shattered Star Ring.
Han Xiao chuckled bitterly to himself. His situation really was freezing cold, in the depths of winter-chilling to the bone!