After being sucked into the Star Gate, he arrived at a pristine white place, and an endless sense of falling tightly enveloped Chen Yu.
Although he knew he was playing a game, the feeling of falling still made him feel a little uneasy.
"Welcome to 'The Wizarding World of Hogwarts'."
"Game loading..."
"Please do not panic, player..."
"Player detected to be entering 'Hogwarts' Wizarding World for the first time, rewarding a Novice Gift Pack."
"Congratulations, player, for receiving the Novice Gift Pack."
"The Novice Gift Pack contains one Identity Card, one Profession Card, and three Skill Cards."
"Do you wish to use the Novice Gift Pack?"
"Yes."
"Congratulations, player, for obtaining the identity: Orphan."
"Congratulations, player, for obtaining the profession: Wizard."
"Congratulations, player, for obtaining the skill: Avada Kedavra."
"Cast the Avada Kedavra, target a single individual, and the target hit by the Killing Curse will suffer instant death."
"Congratulations, player, for obtaining the skill: Imperio."
"Cast the Imperio, target a single individual, causing the specified target to lose their mind and act completely according to the caster's will."
"Congratulations, player, for obtaining the skill: Crucio."
"Cast the Crucio, target a single individual, and the person hit by the Crucio will feel bone-chilling pain throughout their body; the excruciating pain will make the cursed individual wish for death."
"Character being generated using player's real-world status as a template..."
"Identity Card loading..."
"Wizard Bloodline loading..."
"Universal Language Translator loading..."
"Character generation complete!"
"Scene loading complete!"
"Warning: This game is a fully open-world, free-style game; please treat each of your choices with caution."
"Warning: Please pay attention to your character's physical condition at all times; the character's body is just like the player's real body, subject to fatigue, hunger, illness, and even death."
"Warning: Player character death signifies game over."
"Wish the player a happy game!"
When the last word of the system prompt disappeared, the feeling of falling suddenly vanished.
Chen Yu felt himself lying on a hard bed.
A stinging pain returned to his chest and back, his throat was exceptionally dry, and his lungs felt like they were on fire.
He felt a sense of weakness all over his body.
It felt as if he had returned to a hospital in reality.
But the room was filled with a strange smell, the scent of damp, rotting wood, not the antiseptic smell of a hospital.
Chen Yu opened his eyes, and what greeted him was an unfamiliar ceiling, with a dimly lit chandelier hanging from it.
Looking around, he was lying in a rather old room.
The furnishings in the room were very simple: a bed, a cabinet, a table, and a chair.
The walls were covered with layers of newspapers, and the damaged parts of the newspapers revealed the original color of the bricks.
The window had been patched with tape, and the door showed signs of being repaired with wooden boards.
Chen Yu confirmed that he was now lying in a dormitory room comparable to the old student quarters of a school.
"Holy cow, this room's modeling is exactly like the real thing."
Outside the window, it was pitch black, and the bright moonlight spilled onto the window sill.
Chen Yu raised his hand, looking at the horrifying red spots peeking out from the bandages wrapped around his small, thin arm, and for a moment, he couldn't believe this was his hand.
"How did I get smaller? No, if it's about experiencing the campus life of a Little Wizards at Hogwarts, then my character should indeed be a child. I just don't know if I'll be admitted in the same year as Harry. No, why is the character generated by the system in an injured state? What kind of game starts with low health?"
Chen Yu looked at the bandages on his arm, somewhat puzzled.
"Orphan information loading..."
A memory suddenly flooded into his mind.
Chen Yu now knew the identity the system had arranged for him.
He was still called Chen Yu in this world, an 11-year-old boy, an orphan from the Hold Orphanage in the suburbs of Little Whinging, Surrey. He was found as a baby by the old matron, Helen Lisa, at the orphanage's main gate and had lived in this orphanage ever since.
There were also some brief introductions about the orphanage staff and other orphans, which Chen Yu didn't find particularly important.
The only thing worth noting was the memory of yesterday's events provided by the system.
Yesterday's heavy rain came suddenly. He rushed to collect the quilts drying on the railing and saw the surrounding rainwater suspended in the air, floating as if defying gravity. He was curious at the time and reached out to touch the rain, but was struck by lightning, almost dying.
"Good heavens, I was struck by lightning outside the game, and the identity arranged for me in the game was also struck by lightning. Who is this crappy game trying to imply?"
"And the starting reward is the three Unforgivable Curses. Is this setting me up to be sorted into Azkaban by the Sorting Hat? Or does the system want me to become the third Dark Lord? Starting in an orphanage just like Lord Voldemort, is this supposed to make me lead a new generation of Death Eater to overthrow Dumbledore's reign as the White Lord and rule the world? This is too ridiculous."
What Chen Yu envisioned at this moment was not the scene of being sorted into Azkaban by the Sorting Hat, but rather this scene—
In a dark castle, a resurrected Tom stood humbly behind him.
Lord Voldemort: Great Dark Lord, hello, I've heard your story. You can just call me Little Tom, I was the second Dark Lord of the twentieth century.
Protagonist: The former Dark Lord? Then let me ask you, how many people did you take out with Avada Kedavra?
Lord Voldemort: Ashamed, ashamed, perhaps a few hundred.
Protagonist: Emm... not bad, what about yesterday?
Lord Voldemort: Huh???
Back when he played Skyrim, he didn't do much good.
Either he was installing mods to admire the ladies in the lab, or he was controlling the protagonist to go on a rampage in Skyrim, not even sparing the chickens.
For gamers, especially single-player gamers, there's nothing they can't do. If there are limitations, it only means the game's gameplay isn't open enough.
If there were alignment-detecting spells, and his real-world self was "Lawful Good," then his uninhibited in-game self would definitely be "Chaotic Neutral."
However, back then, he played on a computer. Although some games were addictive and did create a sense of immersion, they definitely weren't as immersive as the game he was playing today.
Chen Yu now suspected that in his current physical state, let alone killing a chicken, it would be good if he wasn't killed by a chicken.
The player's current health is like a flickering candle in the wind.
Chen Yu was also playing a game that started with low health for the first time.
"Holy cow, I got excited and pulled my wound. It really ♦ hurts me to death. Can't this crappy game have a panel like other games, and something to adjust pain perception?"
In reality, he didn't feel much pain because he had been given anesthesia, and its effects hadn't worn off yet.
Why would a game need such realistic pain? It's not afraid of scaring players away.
"According to the game's instructions, I should now silently say 'game panel' in my mind."
Sure enough, a panel frame appeared in front of Chen Yu.
There were four options: Character, Quests, Inventory, and Settings.
"Character" refers to the character's status.
"Name: Chen Yu"
"Gender: Male"
"Age: 11 years old"
"Profession: Bloodline Wizard"
"Magic Pool: 20 / 20"
"Current Status: Severely Injured"
"Skills: Avada Kedavra LV1, Imperio LV1, Crucio LV1"
"Inventory: None"
"Quests: None"
Chen Yu found six options in the Settings: Adjust Visuals, Adjust Smell, Adjust Taste, Adjust Hearing, Adjust Touch, Adjust Pain Sensation, and at the very bottom, an option to Exit Game.
The higher the adjustment options, the closer to real-world sensations.
Chen Yu lowered the pain sensation to about 10%, leaving the other sensory options untouched.
After adjusting the pain sensation, he immediately felt his body was no longer as painful.
He could also get out of bed, but he felt a bit weak, and stepping on the ground felt like stepping on cotton, somewhat lacking firmness.
Although he could still feel a slight twinge of pain with his body's movement, it was akin to a mosquito bite.
A "hoot hoot" sound caught Chen Yu's attention.
Following the sound, he saw an owl struggling to flap against the window, trying to get in, with a letter in its beak.
Seeing the owl and the letter in its beak, Chen Yu guessed that his Hogwarts acceptance letter had arrived.
Opening the window, the owl flew into the room and landed on the bedside table, tilting its head to look at Chen Yu.
Upon closer inspection, it was indeed the Hogwarts acceptance letter.
The letter was made of thick parchment, and the address was written in emerald green ink.
Chen Yu took the envelope, turned it over, and sure enough, there was a wax seal on the other side of the envelope.
It was a shield-shaped crest, with a capitalized "H" surrounded by a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake.
Chen Yu opened the envelope and quickly read through it.
"Dear Mr. Chen Yu:
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Enclosed is a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September the first.
We await your owl by no later than July thirty-first.
Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress"
"I need to reply by owl? Where am I supposed to get an owl? I wonder if this delivery owl will do?"
Chen Yu sat on the bed, looking at the Hogwarts acceptance letter.
He felt a slight pain on the back of his hand; it turned out the owl had pecked him.
If the pain sensation hadn't been lowered to only 10%, that would have hurt a lot.
"Why are you pecking me?" Chen Yu was a bit confused. "If you're not delivering the letter, then don't. Why are you pecking me again?"
The owl pecked Chen Yu's hand a few more times, stared at him for a while, and then let out a "hoot hoot" sound.
Seeing that Chen Yu wasn't getting the hint, it flew away angrily.
It was a while after the owl flew away that Chen Yu finally realized.
That owl was probably asking for a "tip"; it flew away in a huff because he didn't give it any food.
Don't blame Chen Yu for being a bit slow to react; after all, Harry Potter was a movie he watched when he was a child, and he had almost completely forgotten the plot.
Although he would occasionally see related videos about Harry Potter while browsing Bilibili, those were all fan-made secondary creations.
He had truly forgotten most of the detailed plot of Harry Potter.
However, he hadn't forgotten the characters much.
Lord Voldemort, Death Eater, Harry Potter, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore... What he remembered most clearly was a meme.
An adult Harry, holding two guns, said to Ron: "Ron, I'm telling you, these things are much better than a wand!!"
Dual-wielding Harry? That's too much of a spoof.
Thinking of this, Chen Yu couldn't help but laugh again.
He decided that if he encountered Harry in the game, he would definitely get him two guns to play with.
While Chen Yu was fantasizing in his mind, the system quest updated.
"Congratulations, player, for receiving the Hogwarts acceptance letter, triggering the main quest: First-Year Student at Hogwarts."
"Quest Content: Enter Hogwarts and become a first-year student."
"Reward: Random Skill Card + 1"
"Triggering main quest: The First wand of a Lifetime."
"Quest Content: Every Wizard has his own wand; please obtain your own wand."
"Reward: Random Item Card + 1"