Fang Yu’s prison cell wasn’t big, and the structure was simple.
A pile of straw, a chamber pot, a few broken porcelain bowls, and that was it.
The walls were solid with no windows, the iron door was locked tight, with no apparent means of escape.
At least he should be able to leave this dump in about an hour.
Fang Yu lasted ten minutes, three of which he spent feeling out the cell environment, five studying the properties panel, and the last two daydreaming.
In the end, he didn’t use the remaining 2 points of attributes, mainly because he couldn’t figure out what use the spiritual power had.
Lying on the pile of straw, Fang Yu chose...
"Log out of the game."
[System Notification: When players log out, their characters will still exist in the game. Please choose a safe place to disconnect.]
Is that how it works?
Fang Yu scratched his head.
A solitary cell must be the safest place there is, right?
Confirm log out.
With the opening and closing of his eyes, the familiar ceiling came into view.
Back to reality.
He took off the gaming helmet, carefully placed it aside, and Fang Yu glanced at the time.
10:45 PM.
Fang Yu was startled.
This time expenditure... it’s the same as in the game.
Is the game based on a real-time 1:1 ratio with reality?
That’s a huge advantage for me!
I’m a full-time professional gamer!
Fang Yu got excited.
Although he’d lost tens of thousands as a pro gamer in the last game and had to work on a construction site to cover his debts,
it didn’t stop him from claiming to be a professional gamer, aiming to make money by playing games.
But now that his character was still in prison in the game, there’s no rush to log on.
He logged off this time to look up some game information on the game’s forum.
Fang Yu still had 2 attribute points left, and he wanted to know what the spirit attribute points were for.
Upon opening the game forum, he unexpectedly found it so popular that the homepage posts were refreshing every second.
Player enthusiasm was unprecedented, and their desire to post was insatiable.
Briefly scanning through, apart from the excitement about the game’s realism, most of the posts were complaints about the game’s difficulty.
One post, in particular, recorded his own death process and the penalties for dying.
"My character’s name is Wu Jiulang, 17 years old. I live in a corner of the northeast courtyard in Kunming Lane, Daqing City, unmarried. I work at the pig-slaughtering area on the east street, up at dawn, and rest at sunset, a healthy routine. Today, it’s my first time being him, and I’m embarrassed to say, I... blew it! Because my character’s sister-in-law is really hot! I’m not hiding it, I’ve laid my cards on the table, I confessed my love to the sister-in-law, then got beaten to death by my elder brother and other brothers."
"After death, you can’t log into the game for 1 hour. When I logged in again, I found... my character wasn’t Wu Jiulang anymore, but the idiot son of a prostitute from Daqing City’s red-light district, speaking only in babble, completely unable to express language properly. All of my previous character’s achievements were reset to zero, it’s like starting over as someone new, but I was lucky to be reborn in the same city, so I went back to the northeast courtyard, and there, I saw Wu Jiulang’s corpse—my own body!"
"This feels weird. I’ve only died once so far, so I don’t know if the cool-down period to re-enter the game is always one hour or gets longer with subsequent deaths, hopefully someone after me can test it. Right now, I’m hiding under big sister-in-law’s bed, posting this before I return to the game, so I won’t chat much, and hope everyone can find their sister-in-law in the game!"
Fang Yu: ...
This guy’s a bit toxic.
People’s fetishes are their own, but please have some self-respect!
But his death information is quite useful.
It seems like once the character dies, it’s a complete game over, and you have to start all over.
This is quite bad, the death penalty seems rather severe. Others may feel indifferent about how they die since they are newbies, but I just killed a great demon and got some rewards, I can’t just die haphazardly.
But a severe death penalty also has its benefits, which means ordinary players will be cautious about everything, needing help from others.
And that’s when great professional gamers are needed to lend a hand!
Opportunity! Chance! It’s all a blue ocean!
Fang Yu’s eyes shone with anticipation, convinced that he could make a fortune in this game.
After exiting this thread, he continued to search the forums for useful information.
...
Qingshui District, Building 1, Room 101.
Qi Xiaojin, too, wore a gaming helmet, submerged in the world of the game.
Inside the game.
Lianyun Village.
A young woman stood by the window, watching the torrential rain outside, her thoughts scattering.
"Has he returned?"
"Indeed, even after reincarnating, the most suitable body for me in this game, is still this one."
"Lianyun Village, the starting point of everything, where the dream began..."
"But this time, I’ve entered the game early! Leaving myself ample time to grow!"
Thump thump thump.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Come in."
A young woman entered by pushing the door open.
"Sister, it’s time for the Spirit Awakening Ceremony."
She was the sister of her game character, bowing her head slightly. Even without seeing her expression, Qi Xiaojin knew that the hideous look made of seven parts jealousy and three parts curse would never change.
But, she was no longer the same person from her past life!
With a slight upward curve of her lips, Qi Xiaojin strode out of the room.
"Let’s go, we shall awaken the spirit!"
...
The Spirit Awakening Ceremony.
"Spirit Awakening is complete."
"Lian Qingjin, your talent is at the lower tier of Grade C!"
The audience erupted into murmurs, whispers swirling about; the prodigy that had been spoken of throughout the village turned out to be so mediocre.
Qi Xiaojin, facing the pointing and gossiping ’clan members,’ turned her back and walked away.
Passing her sister, she could see on her face the uncontrollable astonishment and ecstatic joy, her mouth almost stretching wide open in smug delight.
Now that her body had undergone Spirit Awakening and her spiritual attributes unlocked, there was no longer any need to stay here.
"Lian Qingya, your talent is at the upper tier of Grade A!"
Shocked exclamations came from the crowd behind.
"Upper tier of Grade A? Me?!"
Ecstasy burst forth, and the sister was embraced by the crowd, submerged within, while Qi Xiaojin diverged from the throng, striding towards the back mountain of Lianyun Village.
"Sister..."
The sister watched with hesitation as her older sister’s lonely figure left, but recollecting the years her sister had overshadowed her, a twisted satisfaction spread through her.
Not enough... Not enough! Sister! To just have you flee in such disgrace! How could I possibly be pleased? More... I need to shame you more! Double the shame upon you! Claim back all the dignity I lost!!
...
The back mountain of Lianyun Village.
On a moss-covered round stone platform, Qi Xiaojin suddenly bit her finger and, using her blood as ink, began to draw pattern after pattern.
As she stopped drawing, the pattern of a blood-red gourd was imprinted on the mossy stone.
"With the blood of the Lian Family as nourishment! With the Life Soul of the Seven Souls and Sixth Level as the pact, my name, Lian Qingjin, shall be offered as a sacrifice, to pledge allegiance to Jiu Hua!"
"Blood falls, the pact is sealed!"