Chiming resounded in Han Tian's ears.
He immediately woke up and was quite annoyed, thinking that it was some irritating child or an irresponsible car driver.
However, what he saw when he woke up would change his life forever.
11:30 PM, Earth, Han Tian's Bedroom
Han Tian had just woken up. Why at 11:30, you might ask? Well... he didn't want to go into that, but wild races through the city and multiple drinks may have been involved.
Anyways, he was checking out the new game posted by Reality Games.
When he clicked on the post to begin reading, an eye-catching title appeared.
-Game Reality, Year 1-
The post was even more of a surprise.
"Dear citizens of Earth, we are launching the First Interstellar Initiative in response to global warming and abrupt climate change on our dear planet. All citizens will, in one month, proceed to their nearest Interstellar Transport Ship. The AI on board will secure your safety. You will be in a game, "Reality," another world where people may begin anew while being transported to our new world.
Safe Travels, Lu Cheng Financial Group + The United Hegemony
April 15, 2057."
Millions of views were generated in seconds.
"No... I'm a millionaire in this world; how could I even begin to start over?"
Hundreds of replies flooded to that comment, calling him lazy, privileged, and weak. These things were happening all around the world, where people were forced to abandon their wealth and possessions save for what could fit in their small cabin.
Han Tian knew that the fact of the matter was that everyone would have to start over. All his life, his family and siblings had been ridiculed for being poor, for begging for food... All his life, he had looked up at billionaires. Now, with this fresh, fair restart... Maybe Han Tian could live out his dream...
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However, that was not something he could think about as of yet. The open beta of Reality would come on April 25, allowing players until May 15 to develop their lives and civilizations. Han Tian swore he would be a strong empire leader, even while knowing nothing about the game.
-10 Days Later-
*Enter*
*Click*
Han Tian entered his new world for the first time. Senses assaulted his ears. At first, he had thought everything in this world would bow down to him, and that he would be able to lead a village in no time. However, in retrospect, that was an incredibly naive ideal.
Looking at the system attributes the game gave him, he was almost depressed to the point he wanted to delete the game and die on Earth.
-Stats-
Name: Han Tian
Grade of Potential
Grade of Cultivation: First Realm, First Subdivision
Equipment: White Cloth Underwear
Note: Weak, weak, weak, vulnerable, weak... You do not possess the strength to pick an apple from a tree!
Special Abilities: "Player": Revive with no time limit, but all your money, cultivation, and equipment will be gone.
-Stats-
Clearly, these stats were the worst in the game. And, thanks to the game only giving him a piece of freshly ironed underwear to start with, his chest and legs were extremely cold, and his "bottom parts" felt like they were itchy and about to dangle out at any moment.
At least the note must have been a metaphor... Han Tian used a system "detect" skill on a nearby tree.
Rockfall Cedar
Material - Decent Grey
Han Tian attempted to pluck a single fruit from the tree. But it just wouldn't budge!
Right now, just about every person in the world was cursing the developers of this dumb game. To not give them enough strength to pluck a damn apple, and to dress them in underclothes in cold or scorching weather? The developers must have had a sadistic streak...
Han Tian headed towards the city, where, like many RPG games, he might be able to earn some money and be able to sleep in a room with food that night.
What he did not expect to happen was that the city guards scolded him for having no clothes to enter. WTF? So how can I earn money then?
-Quest-
Find the guards some fallen apples from the trees, and be rewarded with safe passage into the city and some clothes.
Progress 0/30
Rank B
-Quest-
Han Tian was overjoyed! The only thing he was worried about was the "B" rank rating that the system gave the mission.. was it truly so hard?
Han Tian found out the reason for the mission rating... He was so weak that it took him ages to simply lift one apple and give it to the guards!
Collecting all 30 apples in the dark and musty forest took Han Tian a whole hour. Finally, he was allowed to enter the city after some basic scrutiny from the guards.
-Rockfall Guards Favorability +30, new rating: Neutral, 30/1000-
Nice! Some favorability points... A THOUSAND? Did that mean that Han Tian had to almost break his back 33 more times to gather apples just to become basic friends with the guards? That thought made him very scared... at least he was in the city now.
Inside the city, people mingled, bustled, and did whatever they felt like. Along the way, Han Tian met the Mayor of the small town. This town was not too large, and it had about a thousand people and therefore, was ranked by the system as a "Small Town."
After entering, Hao Tian met an old woman drying clothes.
"Can you help me gather food for my family, adventurer?"
"How do you know I'm an adventurer?", Hao Tian asked.
"You have that same shiny look in your eyes... The look that says that this town could be your town one day. I hope you'll succeed in your journeys, but do be careful... some people in this world are less kind than you might think."
Hao Tian received a quest from the old lady.
-Quest-
Retrieve an old woman some apples.
Rank B
-Quest-
MORE APPLES? Oh no...