Chapter 1: Game Completed, Load Reality?

March 14, Year 233 of the New Era Calendar.

Lower City.

Ninth District, No. 47 Middle School.

School had been out for a while; every classroom was empty, save for the old ceiling fan still spinning half-deadly.

Before finishing work, Dong Kai, homeroom teacher of Senior 3 Class 1, packed his lesson plans and, as usual, went to check whether the classroom doors and windows were closed.

The door was open, and the lights were on.

In the last row of the classroom, on a seat beside the trash can, a figure was hunched over a desk doing test papers.

Thin build, short buzz cut, black-rimmed glasses, and headphones in his ears that were obviously old and faded.

"Feng Mu."

Dong Kai thought of a name, a relatively unnoticeable student in the class.

His impression of this student wasn't deep: decent cultural scores, mediocre martial dao scores, and overall unremarkable results.

His personality had no highlights either—silent, introverted, unsociable and taciturn.

His only strength was never causing trouble in three years of high school, and... well, sometimes voluntarily helping classmates with part of the trash duty?

Feng Mu took off his headphones and stood up, indeed not good with words, only calling out: "Teacher Dong."

Dong Kai nodded, glanced at his test paper, and advised: "Your cultural scores are passable; if you can raise your martial dao scores in the last few months, you might pass the cutoff line for several universities in the Ninth District."

As for advancing to universities in the Eighth District or higher, Dong Kai didn't mention a word.

Feng Mu knew his own college entrance prospects well; he also knew that instead of stubbornly focusing on cultural scores, raising his martial dao shortcoming within limited time was the more cost-effective thing.

But,

The problem was, test papers at most cost paper and pen, while every inch of martial dao progress burned money~

At least for someone like him with poor bone quality and mediocre comprehension, if martial dao didn't burn money, did it rely on his own effort?

Feng Mu felt bitter in his heart, but his face showed no expression; he answered: "I understand, Teacher Dong."

"Alright, it's not early, hurry home." Dong Kai said this while turning off the fan.

Feng Mu immediately packed his schoolbag and walked out with his head down.

"By the way, a few classmates in the class haven't handed in their College Entrance Qualification Certificates; I remember your name seems to be among them. Have your family handle it quickly, don't delay the college entrance exam."

As they brushed past each other, Dong Kai seemed to suddenly remember this matter and casually reminded Feng Mu.

With his back to the homeroom teacher, Feng Mu lightly grunted in his throat; a trace of gloom crept onto his always expressionless face, and his footsteps in the corridor grew heavy.

It had been three years since he transmigrated to this world.

Feng Mu had gradually accepted all the strange and wondrous things about this world, but only two things, like fly droppings, were stuck in his throat, always making him unable to swallow them with resentment.

One was that the college entrance exam actually required a qualification certificate, and the certificate cost money to buy—meaning this world even discriminated against poor people in the college entrance exam~

The second was...

Leaving the teaching building, Feng Mu looked up at the sky; a pitch-black colossal cover pressed down at an unknown number of kilometers above, like an inverted coffin shrouding the entire Ninth District.

Beneath the coffin's bottom, colorful flesh tumors grew densely, eternally replacing the sun and moon, shining day after day, night after night upon the world below.

"What shrouds the sky is of course not a coffin, but the crystallization of human technology—the Upper City; looking up from the Lower City, it is actually the boundless buttocks (base) of the Upper City, and those colorful things are even less likely to be flesh tumors, how could they be flesh tumors~"

"They are civilization lighthouses that humans use to illuminate the darkness~"

Feng Mu recalled the knowledge he had seen in textbooks and curled his lips.

He had no ambition to peer into the Upper City, nor curiosity to explore the truth; what he resented was simply that he hadn't basked in the sun for three years.

He almost forgot what the sun looked like, as if the last time he basked in the sun was in his previous life.

He seriously suspected that a large part of his poor bone quality must be blamed on lack of photosynthesis causing calcium deficiency.

He rode his bicycle home all the way.

It was an old residential compound, with various rusty iron self-built houses and peeling low-rise buildings intertwined; looking from the garbage-filled street entrance, it was like bloated, deformed earthworms tangled together, with an indescribable stench in the air.

Even after transmigrating for three years, Feng Mu still couldn't fully get used to the smell here.

Locking his bicycle at the building entrance, Feng Mu took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

The house was about seventy square meters, with cramped and old furnishings; on the table in the living room lay processed synthetic meat, which in this home could be considered a rare and abundant meal.

Bowls and chopsticks were set on the table, but no one came to the table; obviously, his father who worked at the Patrol Bureau hadn't returned yet.

Mother Wang Xiuli was still busy in the kitchen, with the sound of bowls and dishes clinking from time to time.

His younger sister was watching TV on the sofa, and the TV sound was quite noisy.

Feng Mu sat on the sofa; the siblings didn't chat much—one was focused on watching TV, the other was watching TV in a daze.

A quarter of an hour later.

Father Feng Ju returned, and Mother went up to help him take off his military greatcoat.

After Father sat at the table, the two siblings took their seats in turn; only after Father moved his first chopsticks did the others pick up their chopsticks.

During the meal, the family began to chat; mainly Father asked, the younger sister answered, Mother was responsible for smiling, and he just ate with his head down.

"Did the bone quality test results come out?"

"Yes, last week the school gave all newly enrolled students aged fifteen and above a bone quality test, and the results were announced this morning; my bone quality score is eighty-seven, ranking third among students in this grade."

"Good, good, good; eighty-seven is superior bone quality, good."

"The school will transfer me to the Experimental Class next week; Dad, you said if I could enter the Key Class, you'd buy me the latest model Holographic Wristwatch."

"Dad keeps his word; I'll take you to buy it in a couple of days, but you must not be arrogant and complacent; since you have superior bone quality, you need to work even harder; our family's future hopes are all on you, understand?"

"Mm, I understand."

Having received the promise, younger sister Feng Yuhuai was full of joy; Father Feng Ju, who was usually stern and never smiled, with the majestic style of a family patriarch, also revealed a relieved smile.

"Boss, don't just focus on eating; your younger sister's grades are so excellent; you should be happy instead." Feng Ju suddenly turned the topic to Feng Mu.

Feng Mu put down his bowl and chopsticks, nodded, and congratulated his younger sister with a couple of words.

Feng Ju glanced at his ordinary, dull-witted son, a flicker of displeasure crossing his face: "I remember when you took the school entrance test back then, your Bone Quality aptitude was 49 points?"

Feng Mu's eyes were full of complex emotions; that day was precisely the time he transmigrated over.

To this day he still remembers that when he woke, he was lying in the school storage room, half his body soaked in cold blood, the knife wound on his wrist shocking to behold, and alongside it, equally glaring, was a half report card stained red with blood.

That counted as the original body's suicide note left for him, and also the secret between him and the original body.

Feng Mu made a muffled sound: "49 points, inferior Bone Quality."

Looking at Feng Mu's dull yet calm voice, Feng Ju frowned: "You should have taken the first mock exam last week, right? How many points?"

Feng Mu answered: "Cultural Score 521, Martial Score 236, Total Score 757."

"Enough to reach the Nine Districts' admission cutoff?" Feng Ju didn't even ask his son anymore, instead turning his head to ask his daughter.

Feng Yuhuai shook her head decisively: "Cultural and Martial each 750, total 1500. Our Ninth District's historical minimum admission cutoff is: single Cultural 650, single Martial 550, or total score exceeding 900 to have hope. Brother's score, whether going by single subject or total, falls far short."

Feng Ju set down his chopsticks, stared at Feng Mu, and said in a deep voice: "Is what your sister said correct?"

Feng Mu did not refute: "Correct, but there are still three months until the College Entrance Exam. I'll work hard for a final push; my Cultural Score can still be raised some. If I can get a Bone Refining Pill for Martial, perhaps it's not impossible..."

Bone Refining Pill, as the name implies, can raise Bone Quality aptitude. The price is not cheap. Each person only gets an effect the first time they eat it, and the worse the Bone Quality, the more pronounced the effect of this pill.

That is to say, if Feng Mu has a chance to take it, his Bone Quality might see a Critical Hit, rising 5-10 points is not out of the question.

But if it were Feng Yuhuai, at most it would rise a mere one or two points.

Feng Ju no longer listened to his son's impractical delusions, cutting him off in a cold voice: "One Bone Refining Pill — your father I redeemed all my merits from the Patrol Bureau, roughly able to exchange for one, but..."

Feng Mu only heard those two words "but," and his heart turned cold; Feng Yuhuai perked up her ears, eyes shining bright.

"Given to you to take, even if it raises Bone Quality by 10 points, your Martial Score can rise correspondingly somewhat, but you still cannot escape the category of inferior Bone Quality. For you, or for our family, it's a losing business. Better to save it for your sister later, to help her rise another level. What do you say?"

Although Feng Mu held no hope in his heart, he still felt as if a knife had stabbed his chest. He took a deep breath and said in a hoarse voice: "Father is right. After all, little sister is the hope of our whole family."

Feng Yuhuai beamed with joy and said sweetly to Feng Mu: "Thank you, Brother. Rest assured, your kindness to me, I will surely remember for a lifetime."

Feng Mu nodded silently without a word.

Feng Ju looked at the harmonious scene of brotherly affection and sisterly respect, only then satisfied. He said to Feng Mu with earnest advice: "Good that you understand this principle. After you graduate high school, I'll use Patrol Bureau connections to find you a job. You work hard then, and you can also help supplement the family income..."

The subsequent conversation had little substance; the family all tacitly skirted around the matter of the "College Entrance Qualification Certificate."

One College Entrance Qualification Certificate — not expensive to say expensive, not cheap to say cheap — roughly equivalent to 5 latest-model wristwatches.

But,

Clearly knowing he can't pass, why waste money for nothing? Better to save it all for Feng Yuhuai; her talent is good, there will be plenty of places needing money in the future.

Feng Ju had his own calculations in his heart; he didn't feel he had wronged his son either. With such talent, this is his fate — who else can he blame?

For a family to live out some semblance of a life in the Lower City, someone must bear the role of pillar, someone must become the family's future hope, and someone must silently dedicate and sacrifice in the background.

Feng Mu could roughly guess his father's thoughts. Powerless to refute, he could only quietly finish his meal and return to his own room.

Mother watched him go back to his room, several times wanting to speak but stopping, ultimately saying nothing.

The atmosphere at the dinner table was slightly oppressive, but before long, Father and Mother were coaxed into smiles by Feng Yuhuai's honeyed words.

Closed the door.

Listening to the family's joyful laughter outside, Feng Mu sat at the desk; the black computer screen reflected his face into a patch of haze.

After a long while, Feng Mu let out two cold, self-mocking laughs, his voice mixed with resentment.

Resentment was the last, deepest emotion the original body left remaining in this body.

The original body's resentment was not because Father favored his sister; after all, his sister was a genius, and he could understand resources tilting toward her.

What the original body could not accept was that every time Father praised his sister, he would incidentally belittle him once, as if not trampling him into the dust could not set off his sister's superior talent.

In Father's eyes, spending 100 on his sister was willing; spending a single cent on him made him frown, and in the end, even if spent, he had to make him remember it in his heart, be grateful and thankful.

Rice bucket wasting food, waste breathing air, family's most useless burden. These were the words Father most often hung on his ears.

Although these were all facts, the original body could not accept Father tearing open his scars again and again.

The original body's father seemed to want to use this method to thoroughly grind away his self-will, as if by such reconstruction he could upgrade him from the family's waste to the family's vassal, arranged to go work in the future, supplement the family income, repay the debt of upbringing.

However, the suppression method was too crude and overbearing, overlooking a youth's fragility; and even waste has self-respect. Therefore, on the day the high school entrance exam results came out, the original body quietly died alone in that small dark room.

When he opened his eyes again, it was Feng Mu who had taken over the nest.

And Feng Mu himself had no hatred, because he was merely an outsider occupying the shell; without love, how could there be hate? What he owed was only rent and food money.

He merely felt stifled and unwilling — stifled by this world's strangeness and coldness, unwilling at his own incompetence and trash-tier nature.

Like a bird locked in a cage, wanting to spread its wings and fly high, yet discovering its wings were short and deformed, fundamentally unable to bear the weight of flight, even more unable to break free of the confining cage.

Powerless in reality, he could only vent in games.

Feng Mu woodenly turned on the computer and launched a single-player game.

This game was one he downloaded when he first transmigrated, heart full of fear and bewilderment; never expected he would play it on and off for three years.

This is a game of building a faction, simulation management.

Art style mysterious, plot evil, extremely high freedom of exploration, a game with unique gameplay.

The game plot is both fantasy and vaguely mixed with many shadows of the real world, including maps, countries, governments, institutions, environments, historical events, etc., all having a kind of realism copied from reality.

Most critically, the game's timeline starts from 30 years ago — beginning before March 14, Year 203.

Game time flow and reality maintain a 10:1 ratio; that is to say, today just happens to be the day game time and real time overlap.

As a game heavily modeled on reality, Feng Mu was quite looking forward to how the game plot would develop after time synchronization~

Feng Mu logged into the game, glanced at the time display 【Year 233, March 14, 22:47】.

And real time was 【Year 233, March 14, 22:53】.

In a few minutes, game time would catch up to reality.

Sure enough, before long, accompanied by a deep BGM, the two times flickered and overlapped together.

The BGM music slowly faded; the picture on the screen turned into a silent film.

【Year 203, March 14, you created the Organization — Fate!】

【April 7, Year 203, you led the organization in slaughtering a civilian chamber of commerce, seizing a large amount of property and a secret document.】

【June 13, Year 203, your organization was exposed to official forces for the first time and was wanted citywide.】

【November 11, Year 203, under your leadership, the organization struck a secret institution of the Seventh District Government; you obtained a list and a key to a secret door, Fate was wanted by the Seventh District, and was marked as an Extreme Evil force.】

【……】

【April 9, Year 227, Fate suffered a heavy blow, and some forces went underground.】

【February 15, Year 228, the organization restructured, Fate became more secretive, terrifying, and vast, and the Upper City Council issued an SSS-class Extermination Order against Fate.】

【……】

Since the game began in Year 203, characters appeared one by one, major events were reviewed, milestone achievements, plot animations slid across the screen.

Until a line of subtitles reading 【March 14, Year 233……】 occupied the center of the screen.

The BGM music resurfaced, a grand and stirring symphony.

"So it turns out I did so many big things in this game; what a pity, it's ultimately just a game, I wish reality could be like the game, sigh…"

As Feng Mu was having such whimsical thoughts in his heart.

A familiar yet unfamiliar face slowly walked out from the far end of the screen.

Unfamiliar because this face was completely different from Feng Mu's.

Familiar because this face was a human face sculpted by Feng Mu recalling his own face from his previous life, representing his longing for his previous life and emotional寄托, his sense of immersion was maxed out.

Player name——Feng Mu, also his name from his previous life, same pronunciation but different characters in this world.

In the screen, Feng Mu wore a sharp suit, shiny leather shoes, his posture elegant and deadly, a pitch-black cane striking the marble floor, as if cold drumbeats responded to Fate.

The view rose higher; behind him was a huge round table, figures emitting terrifying auras sat around the round table, all following his back with reverent gazes.

He walked toward the huge floor-to-ceiling window, gazing down indifferently; the city's outline was tiny as dust, black-purple lightning flickered in the clouds, setting him off as if he were a god holding Fate in his hands.

"Let's begin~"

He overlooked everything, slowly uttering three words.

Rolling thunder rumbled, the sky seemed torn open like a wound, ink-black raindrops splashed down with a hualalala, pouring toward the earth.

The画面 suddenly froze, a line of red text covered the screen.

【Everything is both an end and a beginning; when the illusory and the real overlap, Fate will surely awaken from slumber; awaken Fate, player!】

"???"

"I caonima, what does this mean, the画面 isn't moving, surely this isn't a game clear, right?"

Feng Mu widened his eyes, his heart thumped, his fingers pressed the mouse and clicked wildly.

The画面 had no reaction at all.

Feng Mu sat back in his chair dejectedly, as if his body had been emptied; after a while, he slid the mouse to close the game interface.

Ding—

The game window closed, but a line of subtitles suddenly appeared before Feng Mu's eyes, clear and striking as if driven into his retina.

Not right,

not like,

it simply was!

【Player identity confirmed!】

【Feng Mu——Feng Mu matching binding complete!】

【Current world resource data error detected, correcting and loading….. 10%50%99%】

【100%, loading complete!】

【Wish the player an enjoyable game!】

……

(End of Chapter)