Chapter 1: This game really has a problem!

"Ah, being at home is still comfortable!"

Chen Shicheng buried his head in the never-folded blanket, let out a happy moan, and enjoyed his personal time after work.

After a while, he with some difficulty lifted his head, pulled out his phone from his pocket, lay on the bed, and opened the green bubble.

Today is 520, that fabricated holiday cooked up by marketers, and he wanted to see if any of his beastly friends had betrayed the group, but before he could even tap into Moments, his gaze was caught by a red dot on the chat interface.

Although he had no impression of the public account that sent the message, as a slightly obsessive-compulsive, pretentious man, Chen Shicheng clicked in without thinking, and was then captivated by the copy inside.

"Registering for the game via the public account lets you withdraw 99 yuan? So generous? Is it real or fake?"

With the thought that trying it wouldn't hurt, he directly clicked the link below, and the interface jumped to a new website.

"Mountains and Seas Deification (Closed Beta v3.0)"? Chen Shicheng glanced at the description; it seemed to be a xianxia-style mobile game.

The website's homepage also had a few game illustrations, leaking a crude, shoddy vibe, making him suspect which small company was just reskinning an old game to keep harvesting leeks.

Moreover, aside from those few pictures and the registration options below, there was no detailed introduction to the game's gameplay.

To be honest, upon seeing this shoddy page, his first thought was to quickly exit and delete that public account, but thinking of the 99 yuan, Chen Shicheng gritted his teeth and completed the registration.

After clicking to complete registration, the expected red packet withdrawal didn't appear; instead, a gift box popped up in the middle of the screen.

【Newbie Gift Pack: Every new player receives this gift; opening it can randomly grant a Primordial Relic, which provides some trivial help to your game character.】

【Open/Exit】

"I'll tolerate you once more; if you don't give me the red packet after this, I'll report you right away!"

Chen Shicheng, a bit impatient, clicked "Open".

【Primordial Relic drawing】

【Draw successful!】

【You obtained "Stealing Heaven Pendant (Unique)": After doing good deeds, you may choose whether to claim the corresponding Merit Points; Merit Points can increase skill proficiency, usable only three times per day, please choose carefully.】

"Unique equipment?"

Looking at the prompt on the webpage, Chen Shicheng felt a small stir of excitement.

Of course, this routine is common in most mobile games; basically every newcomer gets an impressive-looking starter gear, but compared to big spenders, it's a matter of perspective.

But hey, this routine still works somewhat; Chen Shicheng really felt the urge to try playing this game.

Unfortunately, that urge vanished in an instant the next moment.

After the gift box disappeared, the page began to auto-redirect, and a new line of text appeared in the middle of the screen.

【You have successfully registered for the game; find a safe place, close your eyes, and silently chant "Enter the game" to start this fantastic journey—have fun!】

"I'll go to hell!"

Chen Shicheng frantically jabbed the screen, trying to exit the webpage as fast as possible; he didn't want to see this crappy game for even a second.

But just as the webpage successfully exited, he suddenly felt his palm turn icy cool, as if something had appeared.

Bewildered, he lifted his hand from the phone, and a small pendant lay quietly in his palm.

Countless hollow copper tubes intertwined and woven into the shape of three lotus leaves; its bright yellow surface made it look like gold, with a protruding ring at the top tied to a black cord, allowing it to be worn around the neck.

Its appearance isn't good-looking, nor can it be called ugly; wearing it normally would be okay. What the hell! Where did this thing come from?

Chen Shicheng stared blankly at the pendant that had appeared out of thin air in his hand for a moment, then flung it away, jumping up from the bed in a start and continually backing away.

He didn't even notice when his lower back hit the computer desk; he only stopped when his back pressed against the corner of the wall.

"."

Looking at the pendant that bounced off the wall and landed on his blanket, Chen Shicheng didn't even dare to take a big breath.

Eerie!

Too eerie!

Has this world finally gone mad into something he doesn't recognize? After staying silent for over ten minutes, he finally let his violently pounding heart calm down, his gaze becoming uncertain.

After thinking for a long time, he mustered courage, sat before the computer, and tried to search online for information about "Mountains and Seas Deification (Closed Beta v3.0)".

Unfortunately, the search results that popped up were all unrelated; there is basically no record of this game on the internet.

"This game really has a problem!"

Chen Shicheng decisively gave up on tracing the game's source, turned his head to look at the pendant whose appearance was eerie but otherwise ordinary, furrowed his brows, and his brain began to race.

From the way this pendant appeared, one could conclude that the webpage's final method of entering the game is likely genuine.

What does a game that requires no equipment to log in, no internet connection, and whose gift‑box equipment can materialize in reality signify? Chen Shicheng might not be able to give an accurate judgment.

But he can be certain that this game will absolutely bring tremendous change to his life.

Moreover, the game is marked as a closed beta, so it's highly likely to go public someday. That means everyone in the world could register for this game. As the saying goes, "Even a pig can fly if it stands on the windfall," and now he's ahead of most people, standing on that windfall, so he should all the more quickly enter the game to explore more content and strive to gain more advantages before the public launch.

Exactly, Chen Shicheng didn't want to remain a loser scraping by on pittances! Thinking this, he no longer hesitated, his eyes firm as he picked up the pendant on the blanket and hung it around his neck, then lay down on the bed as the game required, closed his eyes, and silently recited.

"Enter the game!"

In the next moment, drowsiness surged like a wave; before Chen Shicheng could react, he promptly started snoring.

A headless deity statue, leaky tiles.

Beams covered in cobwebs and scattered window frames, exuding the scent of rotting wood.

When Chen Shicheng woke up, he found himself inside a ruined temple, wearing ancient coarse hemp clothing, his hair grown longer and coiled atop his head, tied with a small cloth into a topknot, and on his back he carried a coarse cloth bundle.

After feeling his whole body up and down, he touched the pendant that had come with him into the game, wanting to say something, but the sheer realism of everything left him only able to gape, his eyes filled with shock.

Real!

Too real!

He lightly twitched his nose twice to stifle a sneeze, then his hand swept over the offering table before him, fingertips twirling as he felt the fine texture of the dust, overwhelmed with emotion.

If it weren't for an option in the lower left corner of his vision that moves with his gaze, nobody would realize this is a game.

"Attribute."

As Chen Shicheng focused his intent on the lower left of his vision, a screen abruptly appeared before him.

The panel is divided into left and right areas; on the left is a 3D model wearing coarse hemp clothing that looks exactly like him, and on the right is his current attributes.

【Name: Chen Shicheng】

【Level: Lv. 0 (Unranked)】

【Experience: 0/100 (The experience slot can store at most 300 points of experience; excess is invalid, please upgrade in time.)】

【Cultivation Method: None (Currently not learning any cultivation method, cannot upgrade.)】

【Essence: 0.7】

【Qi: 0.8】

【Spirit: 0.8】

【Equipment: Stealing Heaven Pendant (Unique)*1, Novice Cloth Pack (Unused)*1】

【Skill: None】

【Money: 0】

【Lifespan: 25/69】

Hmm. These attributes completely match the novice template, except that compared to ordinary online games, the data are not labeled as strength, stamina, agility, but have become essence, qi, spirit.

Although he is not quite used to it, Chen Shicheng can still barely understand what these numbers represent.

Essence is the quantification of physical fitness, including strength, constitution, speed, and agility.

Qi is probably something like blood qi; for this he has some doubts, after all the description says it's a xianxia-type game, maybe there will be true qi later, so it's not yet conclusive.

As for Spirit, it's easier to understand, referring to something like the mind or soul.

He simply applied the data, which are all below 1, to himself, and then sadly discovered that these numbers seem to be a concrete manifestation of his real-world body.

Sub-health, deficient blood qi, listless spirit.

Each of them completely matches the physical condition of a corporate slave. Damn it! Moreover, the game's upgrade system is also somewhat unconventional; normally you could level up by killing monsters, but here you actually need some cultivation method to level up, otherwise you'd be stuck at level 0 for life.

I hope this cultivation method is easy to obtain; otherwise, the game can't be played.

More importantly, what the heck is this lifespan?

Does a game need to mark this useless thing? After racking his brains for half a day, Chen Shicheng still couldn't figure out what the lifespan is for, but he is very satisfied that he can live to 69, after all he could still receive four years of pension insurance, right?

Chen Shicheng, who had decided to resign tomorrow morning and stop paying insurance, nodded and took off the novice cloth pack given at the start.

【Novice Cloth Pack】

【Description: After use, it provides 8*2 = 16 slots of storage space, containing "one randomly chosen novice weapon*1, one skill*1 (skill matched according to the chosen weapon)".】

Chen Shicheng placed his hand on the pack, silently muttered "Use", the pack turned into a ball of white light and instantly disappeared; in the lower-right corner of his view, besides the attributes, a backpack option appeared.

After opening it, two rows of sixteen storage slots appeared before him, with the frontmost slots holding the two given items.

Chen Shicheng rubbed his hands and focused his attention on the first slot of the storage bar; after mentally selecting to use it, a new panel popped up, neatly displaying countless cold weapons.

Swords, spears, staves, axes, halberds, hooks—regardless of era or region, as long as a weapon exists, it can be found here; for a moment he was dazzled by the choices, unsure which to pick.

(End of Chapter)