“What did she write for you? Let me read!”

“Zhenzhen!” Liu Ye called out, but his sister had already snatched the note from his hand. Despite his glare, she didn’t give it back and read it out loud instead.

“Hey, Baby~” Liu Zhenzhen immediately paused, giving Liu Ye a teasing smile before continuing in a sugary voice. “I have a surprise for you. Do you remember the game you talked about some time ago? I’m sure you do. It just happens it has its launch tonight.”

“I completely forgot about it,” Liu Ye sighed as he opened and reached inside the box. Sure enough, he found a brand new gaming console in the shape of a black helmet. He caressed the two golden words at the top of the device.

Avatar Online

Before Liu Ye got pulled into the dark world by Xu Yue, he had lived a normal teenage life. Of course, he recognized the title of the most anticipated Neuralink game. Back then, there were already rumors of Avatar Online and he had casually mentioned this to Xu Yue when they teamed up in a game. As it was only mentioned in passing, after his life returned to the right track, it naturally slipped out of his mind.

His sister continued reading the note. “I have decided to invest in this game by creating the most powerful guild to dominate our region. How about you join me in that mission and we return to our roots? Remember the first time we met online? I want you to accompany me again.”

A game? Powerful guild? Liu Ye couldn’t help but feel suspicious. He knew Xu Yue well. She would never waste time on a project this big unless it would being her immense benefit. Or maybe it wasn’t the money she was after?

Liu Zhenzhen pulled him out of his thoughts as she squinted her eyes at him. “You two met in-game? But I’ve never seen you play ever?”

Liu Ye scratched his head, not really eager to speak about his love life with her. It would be fine if not for the fact that Xu Yue was the heir of the most influential criminal organisation in the country.

“We did, but it was a long long time ago,” Liu Ye explained vaguely. He quickly changed the subject. “Is that all?”

“Humph, having secrets from your sister.” Liu Zhenzhen pretended to pout again. “She also reminds you not to miss the launch today at 10 pm and mentions a phone in the box. She will contact you tomorrow morning with more information about your work.”

Liu Ye was already searching through the box only to find the latest phone model from X company, already fully working and charged. He spotted the sparkle in his sister’s eyes, her mouth even watering, causing him to laugh.

“You can have it if you want.”

Liu Ye did a quick check on the phone and after finding that there was nothing wrong with it, he passed it to her.

Liu Zhenzhen’s pretty eyes brightened but she quickly shook her head, pushing it away. “No, no, it’s yours. You should have—”

Liu Ye simply cut her off by placing the phone on her palm.

“You know I don’t use phones and I know you have been wanting a new one for a while,” Liu Ye explained as he ruffled her hair. “Just tell me if Xu Yue calls.”

Liu Zhenzhen looked at the phone and smiled sweetly, hugging it tightly into her chest.

“Thank you, Big Bro.”

Liu Ye smiled in return, giving her a sincere hug. He couldn’t tell her that the real reason he never used phones was that with a phone, any decent hacker would have the ability to track his location. He would rather not give Xu Yue that opportunity.

“Alright, the launch starts in a few minutes! You don’t want to miss it, right?” Liu Zhenzhen called out excitedly. “You cannot disappoint my sister-in-law. She is too good to pass so make sure you give it your all. Chop, chop!”

“Hah, alright.” Liu Ye laughed again and picked up the box with the gear. “I will see you in the morning. I’ve already eaten on the way home. You can eat some of the food I brought if you are still hungry.”

“Yes, yes, go, go. You will be late,” Liu Zhenzhen repeated as she pushed him towards his bedroom. He already knew she just couldn’t wait to test her new phone and tell all her friends about it.

Looking at the digital clock on his wall, he couldn’t wait any longer. He didn’t have time left to read the manual so he made himself comfortable on his bed and put on the black helmet right away.

A sweet-sounding female voice spoke.

“System activated.”

“Battery fully charged.”

“Please connect the headgear to your Neuralink to begin synchronization.”

It had been a while since he played games, much less virtual reality games, but the Neuralink game system worked in a similar manner as other systems. His hand pulled the cable from the gaming console and plugged it into the small socket at the back of his head, an implant at the base of his skull just above the nape.

“Ah…”

A numbing electric current passed through his body. It only lasted a second before it was replaced by itchiness, a usual reaction involving Neuralink activations.

The technology of Neuralink allowed the connection of a person’s brain to various electronics with just a single chip. Many major countries in the world had long mandated the implanting of Neuralink inside every citizen when they reach the age of sixteen.

With the launch of Neuralink VR games, people could now use their brain waves to control their characters in the virtual world. It was truly a phenomenal feeling, but for Liu Ye, someone who had great control over his physical body, the earlier VR games had always lacked realism.

According to the news though, the much anticipated Avatar Online was completely immersive, and players would not be able to differentiate between virtual reality and the real world.

“Neuralink connected.”

“User authorized.”

“Would you like to begin synchronization?”

“Yes,” Liu Ye agreed via voice activation.

“Synchronization starting. Preparing the launch of Virtual Reality Dream. Please relax your body.”

A bright light blinked in front of him, causing his eyes to feel heavy. He didn’t know that he fell asleep until his consciousness returned with a jerk and he found himself surrounded by endless white light.

His eyes adjusted to brightness as he moved around to test his virtual body. Just as the game developers promised, their latest masterpiece indeed perfectly recreated the sensation of reality.

“Hello, Adventurer.”

The female AI voice resounded again, this time coming right behind him. His senses that were long honed by his old job signaled danger.

Was this new game supposed to start with an outright battle?

Liu Ye turned abruptly just in time to see a fair and elegant hand reaching out to his face.

Ah!

The female enemy exclaimed when he followed his dodge with a kick. His shin hit her legs and the force sent her straight down to the ground.

[Katherine – Level ???]

A blue name with many question marks was hovering above the woman’s head, making Liu Ye realize that he might have just beat up the AI guide for the launch. Who asked her to suddenly touch him from behind?

“Who are you?” Liu Ye asked when he spotted no signs of fighting back.

The woman finally moved, lifting herself up on her arms. Her golden hair shifted away from her face and he finally saw her astonishing appearance.

Liu Ye’s eyebrows rose for a second. Compliments to the game developers, Katherine was a lady beautiful enough to outshine the local goddess, Xu Yue. Her mature temperament matched her white dress that outlined her graceful, hourglass figure.

When he glanced into her eyes again, he was surprised to see emotions in them.

An NPC with feelings?

“Your reactions are fast,” Katherine praised as she extended her palm in his direction. “But there is always someone faster.”

Liu Ye’s body momentarily froze in place. A strong, invisible restriction around him blocked all of his movements. He could at most only move his eyes.

He could only helplessly watch as Katherine touched his forehead with her eyes closed.

Liu Ye didn’t feel any pain or sense danger from her, so he observed patiently.

“Interesting…” Katherine muttered before disappearing into thin air without any explanation.

Liu Ye was left alone in the empty space. His body recovered its motion but he couldn’t help but get confused by what happened. The woman was gone. It was as if everything had been his hallucination all along.

Who was she and what did she do to him?

Before he could ponder more, a virtual window opened in front of him, displaying a countdown to the launch.

[00:00:58]

Liu Ye had only less than a minute to set up his character before the game would officially launch. To make good use of what little time he had left, he didn’t change his appearance at all and moved straight to his stats.

——————————

[Name: Grind God]

[Level: 1] [Skill Points: 5]

[Experience: 0/100]

[Health Points: 10/10] [HP Regen: 1]

[Mana Points: 10/10] [MP Regen: 1]

[Strength: 1]

[Intelligence: 1]

[Vitality: 1]

[Dexterity: 1]

[Wisdom: 1]

[Luck: 1]

[Physical Power: 10]

[Elemental Power: 10]

[Physical Defense: 0]

[Elemental Defense: 0]

[Elements: None]

[Arts: None]

[Abilities: None]

——————————

Grind God.

Liu Ye chose the old nickname that Xu Yue had long known him as and dumped all of his unused points into Dexterity.

This was a game strategy he had hatched the first moment he heard of the game. Since Avatar Online focused on the mastery of the Elements, there would be only one main class unlike in other more traditional games: a Mage.

Although Mages were powerful, they lacked mobility which was something Liu Ye valued the most. His Grinding Mage strategy couldn’t do without high movement speed anyway.

The only thing that was left was choosing his starting Element. He only had thirty seconds to spare on the four choices.

[Water Element]

[Fire Element]

[Earth Element]

[Air Element]

There were no explanations included, forcing him to choose blindly.

“The game will launch in fifteen seconds,” Katherine’s voice resounded in the empty space, pressuring him further.

Liu Ye simply picked the first one, Water Element.

“There shouldn’t be much of a difference between them all, right?”

[Ding! Your Intelligence increased by 2.]

[Ding! Your Mana Points increased by 20.]

[Ding! Your Elemental Power increased by 10.]

[Ding! You gained Waterbending Art.]

A series of notifications were displayed on Liu Ye’s screen but he could only take a cursory glance at them as the countdown reached zero. The button to enter the game lit up and he didn’t hesitate to press it.

———

Similar to Liu Ye, millions of players who were eagerly waiting in their lobbies all jumped straight into the new world of Elements. They didn’t know though that Avatar Online was much more than just a simple game.

Everyone in the Avatar Online Headquarters was celebrating the game launch aside from one old man who was sitting silently inside his office. He had a solemn yet genial appearance, the kind of look befitting a man who had reached the peak of success in life. His white beard was short and well-groomed, adding to his classy look.

The old man took a sip of his newly-brewed tea before greeting the empty space in front of him without putting his cup down.

“How was it, Katherine?”

A woman with shining blond hair suddenly appeared in the room and sat down directly opposite him. With a sigh, she picked up the cup of tea he had prepared specifically for her.

“I really want to know how you can catch me every time,” Katherine lamented as she took a sip. “I tested every player entering the game today. It was exhausting, but at least I spotted a lot of candidates.”

“How many?” the old man asked with interest.

“A bit over ten thousand players. I already passed their names to the staff members. They will monitor their brain activity to see how many of them can awaken,” Katherine announced casually. “Of course, the number will be much higher when the next batch of players enter the game.”

“Not bad,” the old man approved with a nod. “Did you spot a potential Avatar?”

Katherine pursed her lips. “Yes, a few, but I won’t tell you more. Let me play with them a little.”

“Hah,” the old man let out a dry laugh. “Sure, do whatever you want.”

Beep, beep.

Katherine was about to speak when her watch vibrated, forcing her to place the teacup down. She double-tapped her earpiece and the call connected.

“Miss Katherine! The game just launched and some guy already passed the initial test! It hasn’t even been a minute! What’s more, it’s that player you reported to us! Grind God!”

“What?!” Katherine exclaimed in surprise as she stood up abruptly.

“What happened?” the old man asked curiously. “It’s rare to see you so shocked.”

Katherine blinked twice at his question. “I… will tell you later!”

She vanished as quietly as she appeared, leaving the old man on his own once again. He didn’t seem bothered and continued to sip on his tea in silence.

Only after he was done did he stand up and walk towards the window while supporting himself on a black stick with a silver dragon handle.

“Let’s hope we can find our Avatar in time,” the old man muttered as he squinted at the dark sky.

“He is coming…”