Summer, 2030.
With a single strike of his sword, Liu Xuan killed the boss in front of him. Then, he pulled out a Mass Resurrection Scroll and revived all his fallen teammates.
The next second, a flood of compliments filled the chat channel.
Holy crap, you are a god, boss!
I can not believe you soloed this boss. I thought we were going to wipe for sure.
The hardest dungeon in the game is cleared. Now we can just chill and wait for the next update.
Listen to you. Was it you who cleared it?
Never mind that, just tell me if I got the Boss First Kill achievement or not!
Listening to his teammates' banter, Liu Xuan smiled helplessly, said his goodbyes, and logged out of the game.
Taking off his VR helmet, he stretched his back. Suddenly remembering something, he walked to the window and pulled back the curtains.
Floating above the entire city was a giant screen of light, the text on it clearly visible:
The War of Ascension of the Ten Thousand Races has begun.
Because the Human Empire has entered the war, its subordinate humans of the Blue Planet are automatically drafted.
The rules for the War of Ascension are as follows:
First: Based on the population of the various factions on the Blue Planet, 100 million Blue Planet humans will be randomly selected and teleported into the Ascension Battlefield as warriors. They will not be able to leave the battlefield until a race completes its ascension.
Second: Because the humans of the Blue Planet have not yet unified, they will enter the battlefield separated by country. Each battlefield will initially consist of 5,000 people. Through a series of campaigns, a winning nation will be decided to represent the Blue Planet in subsequent conquests.
Third: Because the technological level of the Blue Planet humans is too low, the battlefield will be presented in the form of a virtual reality game that they can comprehend.
Fourth: Death within the battlefield means permanent death.
Fifth: Within the battlefield, every warrior must gain experience through combat at least once a day, otherwise they will be deemed a deserter and executed immediately.
...
Liu Xuan stared at the screen of light for quite a while.
This thing had appeared three hours ago, and it was not just in Liu Xuan's city; everyone across the entire Blue Planet could see it when they looked up.
At first, many people thought it was a massive marketing campaign by some gaming company.
However, when numerous reports showed that people all over the world were suddenly vanishing in broad daylight, humanity finally believed that what the light screen said was real.
The world instantly fell into chaos.
It was just that those who had not been selected could only see a few lines of information displayed on the screen from the outside.
Current survival rate of the Blue Planet Battlefield: 100%.
Current survival rate of the Huaxia Battlefield: 100%.
Phase One progress of the Huaxia Battlefield: 0%.
Every country could see its own survival rate and progress, but as these three hours passed, the data had changed to:
Current survival rate of the Blue Planet Battlefield: 50%.
Current survival rate of the Huaxia Battlefield: 84%.
Phase One progress of the Huaxia Battlefield: 4%.
In just three hours, the survival rate in every country's battlefield had plummeted.
Liu Xuan felt a bit numb.
In the time it took him to fight a boss, fifty million people had died?
Just how dangerous was it inside that battlefield?
Of course, he cared about this matter, but since he had not been chosen, all he could do now was watch.
Just as Liu Xuan was about to close the curtains and go rest for a bit, the text on the light screen in the sky suddenly changed.
The Blue Planet Battlefield has lost 50% of its personnel.
This rate is far higher than the average level of the Human Empire. Now, in accordance with the Universal Weakling Salvation Act, the humans of the Blue Planet are granted the right to freely enter the battlefield, leaving their fate to their own choices.
As long as a country's survival rate is below 100%, anyone from that country can choose to join the War of Ascension. Simply place your hand over your chest and silently say 'Join the War' in your mind.
When a country's survival rate falls below 30%, personnel will be randomly drafted to replenish the numbers.
...
Liu Xuan was stunned for a moment. Freely enter?
Under these circumstances, how many people would dare to volunteer?
That was fifty million people dead!
Most people would cling to a sense of false hope: there were so many people in the world, even if the survival rate dropped to 30% and the random drafts began, they would not necessarily be chosen, right?
However, after seeing the new announcement on the screen, not only was there no panic on Liu Xuan's face, but he even looked faintly excited.
Who was he?
A legend in the gaming community, the universally acknowledged God of Mechanics, a ruthless player who dominated the top of the leaderboards in multiple viral games.
Because his mechanical skills were so absurd, people gave him nicknames like Humanoid Robot and Humanoid Walking Cheat.
But this also had a side effect: Liu Xuan would often lose interest in a game very quickly.
Just like the boss he and his teammates had just fought, which was already the hardest challenge in that game, yet he could easily solo it without taking any damage just by relying on his mechanics.
Instead, it was his accident-prone teammates who increased the difficulty of clearing it.
He wondered if this War of Ascension could bring him a bit of a thrill.
Thinking of this, the corners of Liu Xuan's mouth curled up slightly, and he pressed his right hand against his chest.
Join the War!
The moment the thought crossed his mind, his entire body was instantly yanked into a pitch-black space by an invisible force.
At the same time, a mechanical electronic voice rang in his ears:
Scanning warrior's physical condition
Constructing warrior's personal status panel
Personal status panel successfully created...
A pale blue screen of light floated in front of Liu Xuan's eyes, displaying his image and stats.
Name: Liu Xuan
Faction: Human Empire (Blue Planet Huaxia)
Level: 1
Strength: 5 (Affects physical attack power, maximum health points, and casting resilience. Specific coefficients depend on class type)
Agility: 11 (Affects attack/casting speed, movement speed, and reaction speed. Specific coefficients depend on class type)
Intelligence: 8 (Affects magic attack power, maximum mana points, and skill cooldown reduction. Specific coefficients depend on class type)
Health Points: 80/80
Mana Points: -/-
Experience Points: 0/50
Looking at his status panel, Liu Xuan raised an eyebrow. The base attributes were actually scanned directly from his real body?
Almost none of the virtual reality games Liu Xuan usually played did this. For one, it was unfair, and secondly, it did not please the players.
Developers made games to sell to players. To the developers, their most important hardcore players were often those who spent several hours or even over ten hours a day immersed in the game. How good could the physical fitness of such people possibly be?
Reaching the level of a normal person would be considered pretty good.
Therefore, most virtual reality games would not use scanning real physical stats as a gimmick.
Liu Xuan was fairly satisfied with his stats. 5 points of Strength was probably the level of an ordinary person.
This was completely normal. As a gaming shut-in, having 5 points was already the result of him persisting with daily exercise.
As for his 11 points of Agility, that likely came from his superhuman reaction speed.
Hmm, there probably are not many people with higher Agility than me.
If his 5 points of Strength was the level of an ordinary person, he could deduce that 11 points of Agility was absolutely extremely rare.
As for Intelligence, it was probably above average.
Liu Xuan was in a rather pleasant mood. According to the status panel, in this battlefield, Agility simultaneously affected attack/casting speed, movement speed, and reaction speed.
With his 11 points of Agility, he was confident he could play any class to perfection.
Right at that moment, the mechanical voice sounded once more:
[Please select your class]
The character panel in front of him vanished, and three silhouettes identical to him slowly emerged, though each was dressed entirely differently.
They were a Soldier wielding a sword, an Archer holding a bow, and a Priest grasping a staff.
Below the silhouettes were descriptions. These three were the basic classes, which could later be developed in various directions according to one's own ideas.
For example, a Soldier could grow into a Berserker, Shieldbearer, Knight, and so on. An Archer could become a Hunter, Gunner, or Assassin. As for the Priest, they could advance into magic-based classes like Mage, Cleric, or Warlock.
Basically, any class you would typically see in a regular game branched out from these three basic classes in this Ascension Battlefield.
"The options are way too limited."
Liu Xuan muttered a quiet complaint, though he already had a plan in mind.
He intended to pick the Priest. After all, you only had one life in this game; if you died, it was truly game over.
Even though he was the "God of Micromanagement," he couldn't afford to be reckless.
His Agility was high, and his Intelligence wasn't low either. Picking a ranged Priest in the early stages was the safest bet.
But just as Liu Xuan was about to select [Priest], all three silhouettes suddenly vanished, and a new prompt popped up.
[Ding! Detected that the average attributes of the human warriors from the Blue Planet entering the battlefield are excessively low, resulting in heavy casualties. Comprehensive assessment: The base combat power of this planet's race is severely insufficient and far below the standard line. After recalculation, the survival rate for ascension under normal conditions is... 0.00%.]
[Accessing the hidden Civilization Protection Protocol. According to Article 3 of the protocol, any race must have at least a 0.1% chance of ascending in the Ascension War.]
[Attempting to match high-quality warriors from the Blue Planet with special ascension paths...]
[Match successful.]
[You have acquired a new class: Pacifist (Special/Unique)]
[Pacifist: Unable to use any active skills, including those attached to equipment. Basic attacks cannot deal damage. Upon each level up, you will randomly acquire one passive skill. After entering combat, you will gain the full experience points of your current enemy every minute.]
[Note: This class is one of the experimental classes designed to explore the path of human ascension. Viability and strength are not guaranteed.]
Liu Xuan: "???"
"WTF!"
He had been quite excited reading the first few lines, thinking he was about to draw a hidden, god-tier class.
But when he saw the rest, his face instantly darkened.
Where is my Priest?
What kind of cursed garbage is this [Pacifist]?!
Not being able to use active skills was one thing; a build entirely relying on passives wasn't completely unplayable. But no basic attacks?!
Wasn't this deliberately screwing over the "God of Micromanagement"?!
Then what was the point of my reaction speed, my micro-control predictions, and all my gaming skills... what use did they have now?!
And it even had the audacity to shamelessly state in the class description: viability and strength are not guaranteed.
If any game developer actually made a game like this, they would be hunted down to their company by enraged players!
Liu Xuan was almost laughing out of sheer anger at his new class.
Some "God of Micromanagement" I am! They even banned my auto-attacks; what the hell am I supposed to micromanage?!
Huh? Wait a minute!
Liu Xuan suddenly thought of something. He looked at the class description, then looked at the whopping 11 points of Agility on his stat panel, and a flash of inspiration hit him.
Wait, maybe there is a way to make this class work after all?
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
shall grant"] ["Inscribing the glory of our race upon tombstones"] ["All that is threatened, I shall protect"] How his younger sister sees her brother: A brother who only makes eye contact once a day, mostly fading into the background as he tinkers with who-knows-what in his room all day. Their life paths should have remained largely separate. Until one day. Su Qi created an equipment card for his never-met "online girlfriend." His sister fell into silent contemplation upon receiving the "white stockings." [Card can be upgraded] [Upgrade by fulfilling any of the following conditions] [Condition ①: Consume one hundred higher-tier cards] [Condition ②: Complete one 'Heart-Pounding Adventure'] What constitutes a Heart-Pounding Adventure? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Beginner Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to admire it.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Easy Level): Equip the card, invite 'Su Qi' to touch it, and analyze the equipment's texture.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Entry Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to...] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Challenge Level): Freely combine the words 'Brother' 'Out' 'Brother' 'Me' 'Please' into a complete sentence...] "Please help me analyze both teams' mistakes in this match, brother..." His sister exhaled in relief—surely... surely there couldn't be anything more difficult? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Suicide Mission Level): Sneak a peek at the names of the galgames in 'Su Qi's' hidden E-drive folder]
