Several bodies lay sprawled at odd angles beneath a sand dune. In the distance, countless enormous armored creatures were launching their final assault on a black-haired young man.
Gripping his sword in both hands, he put every ounce of strength into severing the head of the insectoid in front of him. But he failed to block the attack from behind. A sharp claw pierced his chest.
The next instant, everything seemed to freeze. Even the wind fell silent.
Beep, beep, beep. A shrill electronic alarm sounded out of nowhere, and the entire world came apart.
[Fatal injury detected. Simulation terminated.]
[Examination complete. Calculating results: Candidate Yu Xinglan. Combat: S. Theory: A. Teamwork: F. Overall grade: B.]
Yu Xinglan opened his eyes. The glass canopy above him rose slowly as the simulator initiated its automatic exit sequence.
He slumped in the seat, utterly drained, and reached for his chest. The wound from the simulation had not followed him into reality.
He had no idea how many minutes passed. By the time he came around again, his body was functioning normally. Yu Xinglan pushed himself up and left the simulation classroom. A black motorcycle waited in the parking lot to the right of the school's main entrance.
His home was close enough that taking a flying saucer would have been unnecessary. He usually got around on this motorcycle.
When he started it, a pale blue glow shimmered over the body of the bike, and the whole machine lifted off the ground. Yu Xinglan tightened his grip on the handlebars and sped through the nearly empty streets.
Xinghui was the principal planet of the entire star system. Land in its central district was expensive, and most of it was occupied by research institutes and government offices. His school, Xinghui First Military Academy—the finest military academy in the system—was also located there. His apartment had originally been housing for researchers' families. It had passed to him after his mother died and his father disappeared.
Back home, Yu Xinglan picked up the tea waiting for him, took a long gulp, and dropped onto the sofa.
The housekeeping robot set down its broom and hung his coat in the wardrobe.
His parents had bought the robot at a shopping center shortly after he was born. Neither had any experience raising a child, nor much time to look after him.
As a little boy, he had called it Xiaoyun, after his favorite cartoon character. The robot had been with him for nineteen years now, and the name had stuck. Xiaoyun was refurbished every year, its hardware and software kept up to date, so its performance was not very different from the latest models on the market.
“Shall I run you a bath?” Xiaoyun asked.
Yu Xinglan nodded and set down his teacup. The rim struck the tabletop with a clear clink.
The light-brain on his wrist buzzed with an incoming call. He raised his hand and answered.
“How did your exam go today?” It was Shen Qingyuan.
At the familiar voice, Yu Xinglan relaxed almost imperceptibly. He pressed his lips together, trying to sound casual. “A B.”
On the other end, Shen Qingyuan understood. A B on his childhood friend's first exam after returning from a leave of absence must have been quite a blow. The break might have affected his theory and combat performance, but it should not have dragged his overall grade down to a B. The problem was probably the teamwork module, a recent addition to the exam.
Don't tell me not a single simulated teammate survived, Shen Qingyuan thought.
“That's pretty good. A B when you've only just gone back.”
Yu Xinglan knew Shen Qingyuan was trying to comfort him. He deflated, then finally let go of his frustration and decided to accept the disappointing grade.
Noticing the change in his mood, Shen Qingyuan chuckled.
“I'll take you out for a meal sometime to celebrate getting through your exam.” Still smiling, he changed the subject. “Your present will be there soon. Remember to sign for it.”
After ending the call, Yu Xinglan sank into the bathtub. Warm water rose over his chest.
Soft light filtered through the damp bathroom air. An email notification appeared on his light-brain.
Want to experience a different life? Ready for a magical adventure? The Lower Realm is live! We can't wait to meet you!
As the first highly open-ended full-immersion game built around bringing fantasy to life, The Lower Realm had attracted widespread attention from the moment it was announced. It was also arguably the most mysterious game in the star system.
Its developers were anonymous and its technology shrouded in secrecy. Major corporations had investigated the company behind it, without exception getting nowhere. Now the game had passed its regulatory review and officially launched.
The enormous hype meant its login devices sold out on release day. Countless people could not get their hands on one. Would-be players flooded the official forum with complaints, and the comment count soon passed two hundred thousand.
Yu Xinglan toweled his hair dry and left the bathroom. A delivery box sat on the coffee table: the present Shen Qingyuan had bought him, collected by Xiaoyun.
Inside the packaging was a white helmet. An “x,” the publisher's code name, was printed along its edge. This was a login device for The Lower Realm, the wildly popular game from the advertisement he had just received.
[How did you get one?]
Yu Xinglan had little interest in games. Outside his fixed school routine, he spent almost all his time on physical training. Leisure activities were virtually nonexistent. Had The Lower Realm not been so famous, he might not even have known what the helmet was for. As it was, he knew today was launch day—and he knew how hard these devices were to obtain.
[Connections, of course.]
[Smiling emoji]
[Play some games and relax once in a while. Don't push yourself so hard.]
Shen Qingyuan's replies arrived almost immediately.
Yu Xinglan rubbed the tip of his nose. He had been busy preparing for exams lately. He really could use a break.
He changed into a loose shirt and shorts, then settled into a comfortable reclining position before logging in. The last thing he wanted was to log out aching all over because he had been lying awkwardly.
[Logging in...]
The helmet's progress bar filled, and white light flashed before his eyes. Yu Xinglan entered the game's setup interface. Being inside the game felt no different from the simulation exercises at school. He stood in a small space facing a blue panel of light.
The panel displayed the character settings. He scrolled to the bottom of the creation menu and read through all the options, selected Male in the gender field, then randomized everything else with a single tap.
[Default name generated: SystemUserknsjo
Random race: Merfolk
Gender: Male
Randomizing appearance...]
[Randomizing spawn point...]
[Welcome to The Lower Realm. Enjoy your game!]
The appearance generated by the game was based on his own. His face was largely unchanged, but his short black hair had become white and fallen past his shoulders. His eyes had turned blue.
Shimmering scales dotted the sides of his cheeks. A fish tail had replaced his legs, its fins like several enormous flower petals.
The change to his body was the first thing he noticed. Without legs, he could only sit on the beach.
Perhaps the game was worried that players would struggle to adjust to their new bodies. Instead of dropping him into the water, it had spawned him on dry land.
As a result, after only a short time on the sand, he could already feel a distinct discomfort in his legs—or his tail, he supposed. His tail fins were drying out and had even begun to droop.
He flicked his tail, trying to ease the sensation. It did little good.
Yu Xinglan swiped open his player panel. A new Overheated icon had appeared beside the default status bar.
At least the game had shown him some mercy. He had spawned near the sea, and his beginner's cloth shirt shaded his upper body from the sun, slowing his loss of moisture. Still, he could not stay on land indefinitely.
He needed to get out of here quickly. At this rate, he would soon dry out completely, and whatever happened after that would be beyond his control.
He opened the player forum to look for a beginner's guide. It did not take long to find a whole group of players in the same predicament.
[Help! Does anyone know what you're supposed to do when you get in? I think I'm about to die here!!!]
[Rare race? I'm jealous. Human is the only race you can pick by default. I tried my luck with random, and it still gave me a human! Wait, do the other races not get an NPC guide? Okay, I feel much better now, hahaha.]
[Being a rare race sounds rough, but I don't want to be human anymore!!!]
[I got a rare race, but I was lucky and spawned in my race's homeland. Every race probably has one. You might just have to find it.]
[I'm a merman. I'm guessing our homeland is underwater, but spawning me deep in the mountains has to be a mistake, right? There's no water here at all!]
[Don't worry. When players die, they respawn in their race's homeland. There's a death penalty, though.]
Yu Xinglan closed the forum. Clearly, he needed to find his people's homeland. He had no intention of drying out and dying right where he sat.