Chapter 1 – Stereotypical StartJuly 1, 2209, early summer morning, at the Chinese capital.
“Welcome to the world of >, there is 35 minutes before the game launches. Please be patient.”Feng Xiao reluctantly exited the gaming capsule and started browsing the game’s main website, searching for any information that might be useful.
As someone who is frequently unemployed and usually bored out of his mind, Feng Xiao can’t even remember how many different MMOs he’s played. He had never looked forward to playing a game this much before, not only because of > unprecedented characteristics, but also because of a prophecy provided by his father, which are usually so accurate it’s creepy.> is a virtual reality MMORPG whose appearance was very sudden. A year ago, over 30 countries suddenly began to advertise >. Their support for the game can only be described as unprecedented. TV, internet, magazines, billboards, buses, roadside telephone poles, and even public toilets; almost everywhere where people existed there was a shadow of >.What was even more shocking was that the people behind the advertis.e.m.e.nts were the governments themselves. Soon after releasing the advertis.e.m.e.nts, the governments announced breaking news: The writer and developer of the game was “Wreaths”. The release of such information pushed the popularity of > to an unprecedented height. The game hasn’t even launched and yet its support has already reached appalling proportions.Seriously, you don’t know “Wreaths”? Are you sure you’re not an alien?
With a global network coverage of 99% in the 23rd century, almost all of communication, information, living, transportation, and military depends on it. If anyone was capable of destroying a nation’s network coverage, they would be described as an absolute horror.
“Wreaths” is such a presence.
“Wreaths” appeared in the Network World 20 years ago and no one knew how she appeared. There is speculation that she was created by a super-intelligent network program that formed into a spiritual being. , Others say she was made from many other programs with the sole purpose of being the ruler of order. But the undisputed fact is that she is the G.o.d of the network, an omnipotent G.o.d. In the network, she can easily control any area in the online world.
“Wreaths” appearance made the people of the world go from a state of surprise, to defense, to welcome , and eventually led to fervent worship and respect, because of her appearance, she thoroughly eliminate the world’s dirtiest places on the network and most importantly, she played a pivotal role in the maintenance of world peace.
In the year of 2188, over 200 elite American hackers launched a malicious attack on China’s network of military secrets. “Wreaths” image appeared for the first time in the Network World; wearing a white veil covering her face and body. Through the monitor she warned all the malicious attackers, instantly blocked their IP and released a portion of America’s military secrets to warn the rest of the world.
In the year of 2190, j.a.pan started to suppress a small country in East Asia for no reason. “Wreaths” appeared to warn them of their actions. j.a.pan responded but kept up the attacks, and “Wreaths”, angered by j.a.pan’s actions, paralyzed the network throughout all of j.a.pan until they stopped the attacks and apologized. j.a.pan economy was forced to stay stagnant for the next 3 years due to this 20-hour network paralysis.
2194 … …
2195 … …
…………
In the 23rd century, you can not know who the president of the United States is, you can not know a snail crawls slower than a turtle, but you can’t not know “Wreaths” name, because she is respected by everyone in the world, an idol for all.
A game written by her is enough to make everyone around the world look forward to its launch.
According to the game’s official advertis.e.m.e.nt, > has the following features:> runs on a platform prepared by “Wreaths”. Its sense of reality can reach up to 99%, a first of its kind, and can also accommodate 100 billion players simultaneously without lag. The game is solely run by the online gaming alliance company Ascend. All gaming equipment will be developed, monitored, and controlled by said company>, in the spirit of being fair and impartial, has given all control to the AI of the Ascend company, making it so that GMs and all external factors cannot influence how the game operates. The Ascend system is developed by “Wreaths”, and once the game launches no one can touch the game data to make changes. All changes and/or updates are handled by “Wreaths” herself.> is the first mmorpg backed by the government so the Ascend Group has decided to release an in game currency that follows the actual currency exchange rates of the top 10 World Banks. The exchange rate will be 1 gold to 1 RMB (TN: RMB is the currency that China uses)Gaming equipment can be cla.s.sified into 2 products: a portable gaming helmet and a portable gaming capsule. The global price for the helmet is set at 100 RMB and the price for the gaming capsule is set at 100,000 RMB. Game capsules can be folded into the size of a suitcase making them easy to carry around, and they also support the injection of nutrient fluid into the human body in the game so that players will not become tired or become hungry, for as long as one a month.the gaming equipment will go on sale June 1, 2209, each person can only have one set of gaming equipment which will be binded with the user’s ident.i.ty. The game will be launched July 1, 2209, at 8am for all of the world to enjoy.Therefore, with the announcement of >, the world fell into a frenzy. The few online companies looking to invest in VR gaming gradually moved on to other investments. Do you think you can compete with >? You must be out of your mind.A month ago, countries simultaneously started selling gaming equipment. China started distribution in various retail stores and although everyone was prepared, the popularity of the game still startled them. In just three days time, a total of 100 million gaming helmet and 10000 gaming capsules were sold to the public. As of June 30, China sold over 500 million gaming devices, covering over one-third of the Chinese population, and the number was only going to increase. The only ones not interested in the game were the people who were so old all their teeth have fallen out and those who were so young they haven’t grown teeth at all. Almost everyone had the gaming equipment. The number of sales in other countries were no less than the those in China. Being only a meager 100RMB per helmet, n.o.body had a reason to refuse. So most people at least giving the game a shot.
2209, 7:55AM, 5 minutes from launch, Feng Xiao eagerly climbed into the gaming capsule. The early bird catches the worm as the saying goes. There might even be a special reward for the first few people to enter the game he thought to himself. Feng Xiao’s main goal was to be the best in >, and he was willing to try anything that might benefit him.“Welcome to the world of >, there are 5 minutes remaining before game launch, please be patient. ”“………… Please be patient. ”
“………… Please be patient. ”
…………
…………
“10 … 9 … 8 … 7 … … 2 … 1 … 0 ”
Feng Xiao only felt a Flash of white light and was already delivered to a strange void. The s.p.a.ce was flooded with light in various shapes. Colors from the lights in the void struck each other, shining brighter than ever before. The light pierced straight through the depths of his soul making him feel relaxed. At the same time he heard a voice say to him in a majestic tone:
“Welcome to the world of >, because it’s your first time launching the game we will be scanning for your ident.i.ty, please wait……”At the same time … …
At the center of the Chinese capital, stands the tallest building in all of china. It is the biggest retail and entertainment centre in China. It is also where the rich spend all their money, but little do people know that at the top floor of this lavish place of entertainment, there is a elegant study full of antiques. The reason for this is because it is forbidden for almost everyone to step foot on this floor. There are no more than 10 people who have the privilege to come to this floor.
“Executive, launched throughout the world 10 minutes ago. Things are going as we expected, but we predict that public entertainment is going to take a huge plummet for a long period of time. Rest a.s.sured it will not affect the roots. ”The master of the voice seemed old, but his voice remained steady and forceful, full of energy, as he reported the current results to the man in front of him .
Standing at the window of the study is a middle-aged man with scimitar like eyebrows. His brow was slightly locked, seeming distressed, but was unable to hide his domineering demeanor. He stood overlooking the city’s prosperity with the spirit of someone who is well above everyone else.
“w.a.n.g Bo, just call me master as before. Always changing the way you call me makes it seem like we are more distant.” Longwei said as he turned around smiled. From the earliest time he could remember, this kind old man, had dedicated his life to take care of his daily needs until he became China’s youngest top executive, never marrying and having children. For the Dragon House, he contributed his whole life.(TN: Long = dragon, also executive is the same status as the president)
“Yes, master. “The elder said excitedly .
“Master, will her method really work? ”
“Maybe. For now it seems to be the best solution, at least in the game n.o.body will die. Besides, do we really have a choice? ”
“……”
“China’s gradual growth has started to cause panic in some two faced countries. The j.a.pan issue is only an excuse for them. The Summit a year ago was exactly the opportunity they needed to suppress China, and if not for ‘Wreaths’ sudden appearance on the screen in the meeting hall, our China would probably be at war with those countries already.. ”
“This time, ‘Wreaths’ is helping us? ”
Long Wei said after a moment of silence: “Back in the day, Yie Huang Tian ma.s.sacred many experts in j.a.pan, stunning the world, but it also left j.a.pan with an opportunity due to everyone knowing about this event. In the conference one year ago j.a.pan brought this back up again. Fuelled by other crafty people the issue was pushed to the point of our experts being ‘enemies of the world’ and ‘against humanity’. In the circ.u.mstances, we were at an absolute disadvantage. This time it was ‘Wreaths’ who helped us come to a temporary agreement for the issue.”
“Master, that you can’t blame Yie Huang Tian, after all……”
“I understand.” Longwell interrupted w.a.n.g Bo’s words, depressed: “If I didn’t have the mission of carrying China’s safety on my shoulders I’m afraid I would have killed more people than he did … … After all it was my son that died… …The Dragon House heritage is also now cut off from my generation … … ”
Long Wei’s body started trembling. Even though more than 20 years have pa.s.sed, every time he remembers what happened, the gut wrenching hate still makes him lose control for a moment.
“Master … …”
“It’s ok now w.a.n.g Bo, why don’t you go rest, we have some visitors.” The mindset coming from years of perseverance caused him to calm down soon after .
“Yes, master. “w.a.n.g Bo turned and left the study.
The moment the door was shut, a figure suddenly appeared in front of Long Wei. It was a woman in a black leotard with a mask covering her face, the outfit perfectly showing off her flamboyant body. Even though he could not tell the age and facial features of the person, it didn’t reduce the charm of the lady. The woman said with a smile: “Dragon uncle, you’re able to sense my presence so soon, your skill is going to catch up with Yie Uncle soon.”
Long Wei laughed: “Little girl, stop trying compliment me. Even 100 of me won’t be enough to beat that monster. Have you seen the person you wanted to see? ”
“Yes, but I still won’t tell you who he is. Hee hee ~ ~ I’ve come here today to say goodbye to Dragon uncle. It will be a long time before we meet again.” The Girl’s voice has a natural charm; even in front of the person with the most power in all of China she wasn’t shy or nervous .
“Ok little girl you can go now. Small Sky and Ice are waiting for you. Just now Small Sky complained to me, but when I told him this is your Yie uncle’s decision he acted like a good kid and stopped talking, haha.”
“My little brother waited a whole year for >, but was pulled to practice the day it launches. If he didn’t cry I would have thought it was strange. ”“Goodbye Dragon uncle, Xiao Tong Ying will never let you down……”
Her flamboyant body disappeared in the study, leaving behind only a peculiar expressioned Long Wei.
The person with the most power in China, respected by millions of people as the Supreme Executive, wiped the nonexistent sweat off his head: “Phew, finally sent away that devil woman … … but I don’t know who is the unlucky lad that has to deal with her.”
In the unknown void, a young girl covered by white light is swimming alone in a colorful world. After a long time, the girl let out a sigh: “50,000 years, and my mission is about to be finished … …Will the person in the prophecy really appear?”