“Cough, cough!”
Inside a rented room in Binhai City, China, Ji Dongfeng suddenly opened his eyes, sat upright, and gasped, breaking free from a feeling akin to drowning.
“What’s going on… Didn’t I drown? This is… this is my rented room?”
Ji Dongfeng was first stunned as he looked at the familiar surroundings, then quickly turned to look at the calendar on the table.
“April 1, 2078.”
“April Fool’s Day, ’78?! The day epoch announced its public beta would start in 24 hours?!” Ji Dongfeng’s pupils contracted, and then he quickly pulled out his phone, finding it filled with news about the epoch’s public beta.
《Humanity Will Enter a New era Through epoch!》
《Multiple Gaming Studios Heavily Recruiting Professional Players! Qualified Individuals Receive Free Helmets!》
《9-Star Virtual Helmets on Limited Sale! 10-Star Hidden Helmets Spark a Nationwide Treasure Hunt Craze!》
《1-Star Helmet Costs 50,000! Experts Say Skipping One Meal a Day Will Quickly Get You One!》
epoch Revealed! China Cultivation World! Western Magic! East Meets West?》
Looking at the headlines, Ji Dongfeng’s eyes turned red, then he burst into laughter, looking up at the sky.
“I actually returned to three years ago! Lei Peng! Annihilation Studio! You all just wait for me! If I don’t bring you down, I’m not Ji Dongfeng!”
The next moment, Ji Dongfeng immediately put on his clothes and rushed out of his house, heading towards a nearby vegetable market, as memories from his previous life began to surge wildly.
In his previous life, the solitary Ji Dongfeng was unemployed right after graduation and spent a period indulging in games. After epoch announced its public beta, he couldn’t even afford the lowest-grade 1-star helmet. In the end, he could only choose to join the Annihilation Guild’s gold-farming group, where he obtained a 1-star helmet.
Players entering epoch would initially receive two talents: one was an initial talent rewarded by epoch after scanning the player’s personal circumstances and past experiences, and the other was a talent attached to the helmet.
Talent levels ranged from 1 to 10 stars. The probability of a 1-star helmet drawing a 9-star talent was 0.01%, while a 9-star helmet had a 0.1% chance of drawing a 9-star talent. As for 10-star talents, only 10-star helmets could obtain them, and it was guaranteed. However, 10-star helmets were not publicly sold; they could only be redeemed with exchange codes, which epoch Company hid in various secret corners.
At that time, a popular saying in epoch was, “If your combined dual talents aren’t at least 5 stars, even a dog wouldn’t want you!” However, in his previous life, Ji Dongfeng’s own talent was only 3 stars, and the talent attached to his helmet was only 1 star.
Due to his low talents, Ji Dongfeng lived a dog’s life in Annihilation, toiling tirelessly each day only to receive meager compensation. Seeing the gap between himself and mainstream players widen, Ji Dongfeng gritted his teeth and paid Annihilation the money he had saved from gold-farming as a breach of contract fee, successfully breaking free.
After leaving Annihilation, Ji Dongfeng encountered continuous opportunities, obtaining a 9-star magic treasure in a secret realm.
It proved that when people get excited, their minds tend to go a bit crazy.
An excited Ji Dongfeng told his long-time friend Lei Peng the news, hoping that the two brothers would get rich together, but he didn’t expect Lei Peng to turn around and sell the information to Annihilation.
Initially, Annihilation tried to buy the magic treasure at a low price. After Ji Dongfeng refused, Annihilation simply slandered Ji Dongfeng as a traitor to the studio and launched a relentless pursuit in the game.
Ji Dongfeng escaped several times using his years of gaming experience. Just as Annihilation was losing patience, it was Lei Peng who brought Annihilation’s thugs directly to his doorstep in reality. They originally intended to use forceful methods to compel Ji Dongfeng to hand over the magic treasure, but they didn’t expect Ji Dongfeng’s body to be too weak, coupled with the thugs’ ruthless methods. After a “water torture” session, Ji Dongfeng directly lost his life.
Recalling the pain of his previous life, Ji Dongfeng clenched his fists tightly, quickening his steps once more.
“I remember the game’s first Body Cultivator, Situ Dali, shared the location where he got his 10-star helmet on the forum. It was in a nearby vegetable market… I hope he hasn’t arrived yet. There are only 12 10-star helmets globally, and China only has 4! Only by getting it can I have the capital to contend with Annihilation.”
Five minutes later, Ji Dongfeng arrived at Binhai Vegetable Market and ran straight to a watermelon stall in the northwest corner.
The watermelon vendor saw a customer and quickly stood up.
“Pick whatever you like, take a look, they’re all good melons, all legitimate melons!”
Ji Dongfeng ignored the vendor, picked up a watermelon knife nearby, scanned his eyes around, and then directly split open a seemingly inconspicuous grenade-shaped watermelon in the corner with a single chop.
“Crack!”
“Hey! You little brat! How dare you chop my melon! Looking for trouble, are you?!” The vendor’s eyes widened at the sight, but he didn’t expect Ji Dongfeng to laugh loudly, his hands swift, directly picking up the watermelon split in half, and then paying 100 yuan with his phone via QR code.
“I’ll buy this one, no need to weigh it, 100 should be enough.” Ji Dongfeng picked up the watermelon and turned to leave.
Hearing the notification of the payment received on his phone, the vendor’s face instantly broke into a wide smile, while other vendors looked at Ji Dongfeng as if he were the biggest fool of the 21st century.
“Oh ho! Young man, what great skill! Don’t rush off! Why not chop a couple more?”
“Young man! Want to try chopping a durian for fun! It feels even better and more satisfying!”
“Come to me! It only costs 50 for one chop! I’ll teach you hand-in-hand, guaranteeing you’ll chop happily and satisfactorily!”
Amidst a chorus of shouts, Ji Dongfeng, his face full of excitement, rushed out of the vegetable market, only letting out a long breath once he ran back home.
Ji Dongfeng carefully placed the watermelon down, then pulled out a red card from one of the half-melons. Most of this card was embedded in the melon flesh; if it weren’t for someone like Ji Dongfeng specifically looking for it, it would be completely unnoticeable at first glance.
The red card didn’t have much information on it. At the top was the epoch logo, and below it was a 20-digit number.
Ji Dongfeng opened his phone, went to the epoch official website, and entered the 20-digit number into the helmet redemption interface.
“Congratulations, you have successfully discovered a epoch 10-star helmet. Please fill in your shipping address and bind your identity information. The helmet will be delivered within 12 hours.”
After entering his address and identity information, Ji Dongfeng checked it seven or eight times before pressing the confirm button.
Having done all this, Ji Dongfeng was about to lie down and calm himself when a knock on the door suddenly sounded.
Ji Dongfeng’s heart stirred, and he sneered, “I almost forgot he would come today too.”
The next moment, Ji Dongfeng put away the card, opened the door, and a thin man walked straight in.
“Dongfeng! I contacted the people from Annihilation! They agreed to give us a test opportunity! Let’s go! This is our chance to soar!” the man shouted excitedly.
“Lei Peng, you go, I won’t. I have some things to do recently, so I’ll enter epoch a bit later,” Ji Dongfeng said, taking a bite of watermelon as he spoke.
Lei Peng was stunned for a moment, then said anxiously, “Not going? How will you buy a helmet if you don’t go? Dongfeng, don’t say I didn’t warn you. For a game like epoch, let alone being a few days late, even half a day late is a huge loss! The treatment Annihilation offers is pretty good!”
“I know, I can get a helmet, and I’ll get in as soon as possible. Anyway, you go first, don’t delay Annihilation’s assessment.”
“Then hurry up, I’m waiting for us two brothers to dominate the game!”
After a few brief exchanges, Lei Peng turned and left, casually taking half a watermelon with him, while Ji Dongfeng sneered and lay on the bed, beginning to ponder his upcoming game plan.
“The advantages I can leverage… The first is the 10-star talent, the second is that in my previous life, I loved browsing forums and was quite knowledgeable about various fortuitous encounters and hidden quests in the game, and the third is knowing the weaknesses of many BOSSes…”
“In epoch, players from China enter the Cultivation World. All players must choose whether to practice Qi Cultivation or Body Cultivation… Then, based on their Spiritual Root, they enter different sects, which is equivalent to different job classes in previous games. In my previous life, I was an Earth Spiritual Root Qi Cultivator… This life, I’ll decide after seeing my talent.”
“If I remember correctly, there are three hidden quests in Newbie Village…”
Ten hours later, a knock sounded. Ji Dongfeng opened the door and saw a burly man in a black suit staring directly at him.
“Name,” the burly man said.
“Ji Dongfeng, and you are?”
“From the epoch Helmet Delivery Department. Place your hand here for fingerprint identification.”
“Okay.”
“Beep, verification passed.”
Accompanied by a crisp prompt, the burly man handed Ji Dongfeng a black suitcase.
“The helmet, its accessories, and the instruction manual are all here. If there are no issues, please sign here to receive it.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
With 8 hours until epoch opened, Ji Dongfeng packed his belongings and moved out of his rented apartment overnight.
With 3 hours left, Ji Dongfeng traveled to various places in Binhai City, finally renting a one-bedroom apartment in the outskirts of Binhai City.
With 1 hour left, Ji Dongfeng confirmed that no one would disturb him, then packed his luggage and calibrated the helmet.
“A 10-star helmet really is different.” Ji Dongfeng looked at the helmet in his hand and nodded in satisfaction. The 10-star helmet was entirely silver and had a built-in ventilation function, perfectly fitting his head once worn.
With 30 minutes left, Ji Dongfeng entered the game. Although the game hadn’t officially opened yet, he could already create a character and acquire talents in advance.
“Respected Mr. Ji Dongfeng, welcome to the epoch World. The system will automatically scan your face and brain, and will then generate your in-game appearance and draw your talents.”
After entering the game, Ji Dongfeng looked around and found himself in a vast universe, sitting cross-legged in its center, with a pleasant prompt sounding in his ears.
Then the surrounding stars began to slowly rotate, and Ji Dongfeng also felt a dizzy sensation in his head.
“I didn’t expect to see this scene again. I remember in my previous life, I was stunned for over ten minutes when I saw this…” Ji Dongfeng chuckled softly.
“Scan complete, image generated. Please name your in-game character.”
“Dongfeng Po.”
“Name confirmed. Helmet talent drawing… Drawing complete. Congratulations, you have obtained the 10-star talent Thunder Tyranny.”
“Thunder Tyranny (10-star talent): You gain the power of thunder. Your Spiritual Root is replaced by a Thunder Spiritual Root. Every normal attack carries thunder power, which can continuously strengthen with cultivation. However, this tyrannical power only needs subordinates, not friends. All active skill effects are reduced by 50%, and all passive skill effects are increased by 1000%.”
Upon hearing this, Ji Dongfeng’s eyes lit up. The Thunder Spiritual Root was one of the rarest Spiritual Roots; it was something that might not even appear in one out of tens of millions of people.
“Player’s initial talent drawing… Congratulations, you have obtained the 10-star talent Infinite Resurrection.”
“Infinite Resurrection (10-star talent): You are someone forgotten by the Underworld or whose name has been erased by the Great Sage. You possess the ability of Infinite Resurrection. You will suffer no losses upon death. The first three deaths each day will grant generous rewards based on the manner of death. After dying more than 3 times a day, subsequent deaths also have a 5% chance to grant a random reward. This talent can evolve.”
“Congratulations, player, for achieving the Dual 10-Star Talent achievement. Hidden attribute drop rate permanently increased by 20%.”
Listening to the system prompts, Ji Dongfeng’s pupils contracted.
“What’s going on? 10-star talent? Shouldn’t my talent be a 3-star talent that increases defense? How could it be…”
Before Ji Dongfeng could figure out what was happening, a flash of white light appeared, and his figure vanished from the starry universe.
epoch officially opened!