Starting from Zero (Cong Ling Kai Shi) Volume 2, Chapter 3 – Company Announcement

Chapter 3 — Company Announcement

After walking around for three entire hours, I saw that the skies were already darkening, yet I still had not bought even a single medicinal pill or a single piece of equipment. The problem didn’t lie in finding a shop, but rather, in that all shops were already closed. After those five Knights had left, I hadn’t come into contact with a single person. The entire city’s area was humongous, and its innumerable criss-crossing streets left a person with no navigational skills like me disoriented.

Unable to continue on anymore, I could only find a small alley to log off at. Removing my headgear, I saw that Ah Wei was currently sitting by the computer and using the internet. “What are you looking at?”

Seeing that I had come to, Ah Wei waved at me excitedly. “Come look, quick. This is <Zero>’s official website!”

“Oh? And what does it have?”

“The game’s ranking chart and a few announcements.” Ah Wei explained this to me while looking through the table of contents.

“Is there any important news?”

“Wait a little, I think I just saw a few articles a moment ago. Oh, I’ve found them!” I quickly ran behind Ah Wei and looked at the announcement he had selected. “China Company says that ten thousand and one hundred accounts have been handed out in reality today. The players who have received their accounts today are the first batch of official players. All who were amongst the ten thousand and one hundred accounts that were given out were given a chance to randomly draw a reward count, the largest of which is 4 and the smallest would be 0.” Upon reading this, Ah Wei turned back to look at me in surprise. “Drawing nothing is still possible? I’d thought everyone would get prizes! How many did you draw?”

With my hands, I made a victory pose and smiled at him. “I, your boss, the naturally unrivalled lucky star have drawn 4 items! Hahaha! Impressive, eh!”

“So awesome! Okay, after I get my account, I’ll be depending on you for all my equipment!”

At this, my face instantly fell. “I’ll try my best!”

Sensing from my expression that there was something amiss, Ah Wei asked nervously, “What’s wrong? Did someone kill you?”

“It would have been better if someone had killed me!” I sat down beside the bed. “I don’t even know what’s wrong with my luck, that it made me run into two NPC monsters fighting. Of all the stupid things that could happen, one of those monsters flew onto me. And in that emergency situation, I blocked it using my sword, and now it’s broken!”

“What? You can’t have broken your one and only Novice Weapon, right?”

“Hey! Don’t talk about it anymore! I’d originally picked up a White equipment sword from the forest. Although its attack is so-so, it was still better than the Novice Sword the system had given. Plus, recycling Novice Weapons can only get me a single copper coin, and it takes up space as well, so I’d discarded that Novice Weapon right away. Who would’ve thought that my one and only weapon would be gone now!

“Boss! Then how will you train now that you have no weapon?”

“I’m also worried as well. Before I logged off, I’d originally went into a city, wanting to find a shop where I could buy the cheapest one to manage for the time being, but not a single shop was open in that strange city!”

“Forget it! There’s nothing to get upset over, you only need to spend some time to find a shop and it’ll be fine!” Ah Wei turned back to look at the webpage and he continued to read aloud. “Boss, you’re really lucky! On this, it says that out of all the accounts today, 5307 people drew zero prize items, so in actual fact, only 4307 people won prizes.”

“It can’t be! So many people got zero?”

“Yes, China Company said that the success rate in drawing prizes is scaled accordingly. Therefore, the probability of drawing a zero is the highest, and the higher the value, the harder it is to get!”

“Then are the numbers for the other values mentioned?”

“Yes! There were 3797 who drew one item, 792 who drew two, 203 who drew three, and the number of people who drew four items is only….. What! The only person who drew four prizes is you! Boss, you’re so extreme, within the entire world, there’s only one person, and you actually got it! My admiration towards you is like a torrential river! It won’t stop!”

“Is this for real!” I was also shocked. I’d originally thought that at least a few hundred others had drawn four items as well! “What other stuff does it say below?”

Ah Wei continued to read aloud. “Currently, the first place in game goes to a warrior called Big Swords Kill Many Men who is already level 68.” Ah Wei paused.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just saw something interesting.”

“What’s interesting?”

“The second ranked is a female player named Hong Yue (lit. Red Moon). She’s a dark mage and has actually already reached level 67! I really don’t get how she trains so fast, aren’t mages supposed to be really difficult to train in the beginning!”

Hearing the ranks of all these outrageous individuals made me feel all the more unconfident. “Sigh! I’m only level 29, but they’re all already over level 60 and already more than two times my level! How am I supposed to catch up!”

“Don’t lose heart, boss, you’re bound to catch up!” Ah Wei tried talking me round while looking up interesting or useful information. “Over here, it says that in the entire game, there are already 7 magic pets! The highest ranked belongs to that female dark mage, and the pet is named Mi Wu (lit. Dense Fog). It’s an originally level 800 Boss Mutated Night Spirit King that’s currently level 38. No wonder that mage leveled so fast, turns out it’s because she has this amazing treasure!”

That’s weird! My Luck is clearly a level 1000 Boss, so why is it not first? Although it’s only level 1, there’s still no reason why it wouldn’t be first! Could it be due to that hermit’s ring? “What other magic pets are there below?”

“Below!” Ah Wei looked. “The rest are all junk. The second ranked is only a level 80 Boss Wild Horse King which is currently level 21.”

Looks like it’s the work of that ring! Seeing that Ah Wei was looking at me, I waved. “The rest below!”

Ah Wei continued. “The game is currently going to begin to enter an official releasing of control. As such, all control exercised will be handed over to the system to handle and the company will no longer intervene in all assignments produced, events that happen as well as all NPC activity. All the responsibility will be handed over to China Company’s super-computers. The company will no longer set personnel in the game as GMs or anything of that sort, so the game will become completely automated.”

“Are they for real! Isn’t this too extreme! What exactly are they trying to do?”

“It says above that this is all done to test the system AI’s emergency processing capability!”

“This is still understandable!” I listened to Ah Wei talk about the news, while eating some junk food I had dug out from the fridge. “Is there still any other important news?”

“China Company says that at 8 in the morning tomorrow, they will release the second batch of accounts which total to a hundred thousand. After another day, they will completely let go of account restrictions. By then, there will no longer be a need to apply for an account anymore. Throughout the world, everyone’s IC number will be their account number. (Right now, the entire world’s IC numbers are common. The first three numbers represent the country, while the numbers behind will be according to each country’s own arrangements. No matter where a person goes, as long as their IC is with them, they will have absolutely nothing to worry about as their IC is bound to their bank account.) However, the IC number is longer, so it’ll be slightly more inconvenient. There’s nothing more after that. The website mentions that all new information will be promptly updated on the website and will also be announced in-game.”

“Then, okay. I got it. I’ll go take a rest for a while first!”

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Going to

My immune system has a bone to pick with me, and my national exams are coming in a month. Expect sporadic, if any, updates.

ヾ(´(ｴ)｀ﾉﾞ

because

Starting from Zero (Cong Ling Kai Shi) Chapter 5 – Jobs

Chapter 5 — Job

Walking out of the Occupations’ Guild, I began to consider how I was going to train.

First, I came to a pharmacy named Yun Shan. Bearing the pain, I spent six copper coins to buy a small red potion. Ah! I only have one copper coin left! There’s no helping it, I’ll have to slowly collect more by defeating monsters!

I only managed to leave Cold Jade city after running for approximately twenty minutes. This large city was different from the beginner’s village precisely in that the land area was so damned large. Once I was out of the city, I reached a grass plain, and there were many yak here. I remembered that the official introduction had mentioned that yaks were level 27 monsters, and that they would only retaliate when attacked, they will not gang up on people either. Beginners’ level-grinding would all depend on these.

Finding a yak that was apart from the herds, I rushed to its side and slashed at it instantly. With a single attack, a red 200 floated above it’s head. Angered, the yak pawed at the ground twice with its front hooves before charging at me. Dodging sideways, I avoided its attack and followed up from behind with a hack to it’s back legs.

“Ding” The system prompted, “The yak’s leg area has been injured. Its mobility is decreased by three points.”

So attacking different areas has different effects! It seems I’ll have to research on this a little. It’s just as well that there are so many experimental targets here. Who cares, I’ll just chop the one in front of me down first. Quickly, the yak turned back and rushed at me again, but like before, I dodged the attack. When I was just beside it, I slashed at it yet again. Successfully deducted 500 points from its HP. It seems the attacks the monsters in <Zero> suffer differ with each attacked part.

Supplementing that attack, I hit that yak again for a normal 150 points, and the yak instantly fell to the ground. In quick succession, I cut down four to five more yaks and finally concluded that a yak’s HP is approximately 1000 points. It looks like this fellow is a low resist, but high HP type.

Upon finding the rhythm, I began grinding frantically for levels, and before an hour had passed, I was already at level 24. I took a look at the rankings… Damn it, are these human! Right now, the first place in the rankings is taken by a Warrior by the name of Big Swords Kill Many Men, who is currently at level 32. Following close behind is a level 31 Warrior, and there are two to three people in every subsequent level. We’re still only at the initial stages of the game, but people are already so competitive… Won’t they get even scarier in future?! I really don’t get how these fellows train. My fast level-grinding is because my attacks are perversely high, so how did these chaps rush so fast!

No way! I must overtake them, I’ll need to find some shortcuts. Oh, right! I’ll go take a look in the forests, who knows if I just might find some high leveled Boss, those would be good fodder for leveling!

I looked at the bottle of potion on me.

It’s no good, I have to buy a few more to bring with me. Checking my inventory, I already had, hehe, 79 copper coins. Hey, who knows, I might even have enough money with me for my job certifications. I’m going to go try my luck.

As I was running back to the Occupations’ Guild, I was already at level 25. This time around, I headed towards the job management counter. It was again another beautiful elf behind the counter.

“Hello, I’d like to carry out my job authentication.”

“Alright. May I know which professions you’d like to authenticate?”

“I’d like to get the certification to become a blacksmith, breeder, as well as an appraiser.”

“Oh! You’re a player with prizes! To become a blacksmith, you will need to foot the administrative fee of twenty copper coins. It will be thirty more for breeder and another thirty more for appraiser.”

“Ah? So much!” Red-faced, I felt for the 79 copper coins I only had. I guess this young master will also meet with occasions where he’s stumped by a copper coin! “I only have seventy nine, so I’m still short of one! Can I authenticate two jobs first?”

The elf beauty covered her mouth and giggled. “You’re really interesting. If you have seventy nine, then seventy nine it shall be!”

“What? You’re saying that seventy nine copper coins is fine too?”

“Yes!” She laughed harder.

Hurriedly, I handed over the copper coin. I watched her write on a few documents at the counter  and proceed to keep them. The system prompt suddenly sounded, “Player Zi Ri has become a blacksmith and is awarded the blacksmith skills — Mining, Forging and Processing. Player Zi Ri has become a breeder and is awarded the breeder skills — Capture and Rear. Player Zi Ri has become an appraiser and is awarded the appraiser skills — Identify and Familiarise.”

“New skills! Hehe, I wonder what use they have!”

Seeing that I seemed to be completely clueless, the elf beauty took the initiative to explain. “While journeying or killing monsters, a blacksmith’s Mining Skill will allow you to see ores and minerals that can be mined, as well as directly find materials required for smelting from monsters.

The Forge skill allows you to process raw materials into weapons or defensive armor, but currently, because your forging skill is at level 0, your rate of success will be very low. In the process of forging equipment, if you fail to forge successfully, the equipment and materials will both vanish, so it would be better if you first use materials of low value to level your skill. Processing is for upgrading equipment. When you find precious stones or other special materials, you can process them onto your equipment to raise the equipment’s stats. However, note that if the processing fails, you will lose all materials and the processed equipment might randomly lower in stats, or even break.

A breeder’s Capture skill is to catch magic pets. Beast Tamers by profession are unable to catch magic pets. Although they depend on magic pets in battle, the only way they can obtain magic pets is through purchasing them. Of course, if players have both the main profession and the job like you, they will not need to buy the magic pets separately. The Capture skill can not be used negligently. Although all monsters in <Zero> can, in theory, become magic pets, but if the monster that’s caught is too high leveled, you will only get counter attacked and killed.

I also need to remind you, the captured targets can only become magic pets. The servant familiars that a Beast Tamer controls are spirits of deceased magic pets, and not the magic pets themselves. To get a servant familiar, you will first need to kill a magic pet, then use the Capture skill on it. You have to act fast, because thirty seconds after a magic pet dies, it will be gone, and it can not be captured as a servant familiar anymore. Rear is a more long term skill, and it is mainly through appropriately matching the pet with its food and training to make it more powerful. An appraiser’s Identify is used for comparison. With this skill, you can automatically recognise an equipment’s stats. This skill can be used on monsters as well as other players. There is a certain probability that you will be able to read out their names and all their stats. Meanwhile, the skill Familiarise is a little more special. It is to increase a weapon’s attack strength. For example, if a weapon has a hidden property that makes it hit for double its firepower, then a person with the Familiarise skill will be able to use that hidden double firepower property of that weapon, while those who do not have this skill will not be able to unlock this property.

Alright, the introductions are complete. If you have any more questions later on, you can come ask me as well.”

“Thank you! I’ll definitely return again. The next time I come, I’ll bring a box of cosmetics for you.”

The elf beauty’s smile grew more radiant. “Really? You can’t be lying to me!”

With great difficulty, I left the great hall. The elf beauty just now was clearly excessively passionate, could it be that this is the effect of high Charisma!

Haha! Now that I have so many skills, I definitely should not let them go to waste. I’ll be going into the mountains in search of treasure.

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Starting from Zero (Cong Ling Kai Shi) Chapter 4 – Profession Authentication

Chapter 4 — Profession Authentication

It suddenly brightened, and in the midst of my manic cackling, I was sent to a quaint, interesting small village. Damn! The surroundings were actually filled with people. Everyone was staring at me as if they were looking at a fool. Scuttling hurriedly to the next street, I brought up the clock and saw that it was already ten. (<Zero>’s system will automatically respond to these operations, so players only need to think of them.) I had actually spent almost two entire hours setting up my character! But as the proverb goes, good preparation hastens the work. These two hours are worth it!

Maybe setting up my character had taken up too much time, but by now, the beginner village was already filled with people. The system stipulates that all who are below level twenty are classified as beginners, and are unable to leave the beginner’s village. They will also have to stay within a five kilometre radius of the training area. Currently, more than five thousand players were squeezed into this not very large area.

Unused to places with a lot of people, I decided to look for a more peaceful place to train in. I should first get a rough feel for this unfamiliar environment in my head. Bringing up the status bar, I found that I only had a shirt and a pair of pants on me, which were both made of sackcloth. These totalled to an extra two points towards defense. A one-handed sword named Novice Sword was in my hands, and this long sword’s attack was actually 1-1! Looking at it, it seems this is the so-called beginner equipment!

Although what I had equipped on me made me feel very depressed, I found some reprieve in the fact that the streets were filled with people who were dressed the same way as I was. Now, the first thing I had to do was kill monsters and level up.

After running for about ten minutes, I finally reached the training area outside the beginner’s village, and there was nothing I could do about it, since a beginner’s moving speed was naturally very slow! It was only after I had left the village that I realised the situation had taken a turn for the worse. Everywhere outside the village, players had grouped together to gang up and attack pitiful, small spotted deer, or that groups of a dozen or so players were pursuing and attacking a wild boar! Even though the monsters were respawning very quickly, the number of players were still much higher than the number of monsters, and by a few times over, even! Right now, if I were to join them, I would definitely not be able to gain an advantage. Besides, what’s more is that I naturally hate places with many people!

Because in <Zero>, beginners’ levels will not appear in the rankings, so I’m unable to know which levels the fastest people are at already. Even though I couldn’t see their levels, I made a rough estimate, and the fastest people should already be at levels sixteen or seventeen. That won’t do! How will this young master be willing to lag behind others; within the game and outside it as well, I have to be in the lead amongst the rest! I have to make the most of my time to train.

I ran very far out from the village and even though the number of players here is still very high, but at least, in essence, one player against one monster could be accomplished here. Haha! A small spotted deer ran over. Instantly attacking, my sword fell in one clean swoop. The system prompted, “Killed one spotted deer. Received 200 experience points.”

Damn! Instakill! It can’t be so ridiculous! Even though my character is really ridiculous, what was absurd about it was the number of pets and monster servants I had. My attacks shouldn’t be so extreme! But seeing as to how a 60 had floated up from the spotted deer’s head, that should probably be the display of how much HP the other party had lost after being attacked. Could it be that my hit had been a fatal attack? I suppose it should be!

Finding another spotted deer, I swung my sword down to chop at it. A red 30 floated up, and the spotted deer was still running. It seems like it had merely been a lucky hit just now. Attacking again at the wounded spotted deer, a 35 floated up and the spotted deer fell on the ground before disappearing. In accordance to this, the deer’s HP looked to be around fifty points or so, or maybe even less.

After killing three more deer, I rose to level two. Currently, my stats have become

(These are after adding the values from equipment):

ATK: 24-32

DEF: 20

SPD: 10

HP: 290

MP: 41

Fundamentally, even normal attacks can instakill spotted deer. In one shot, after killing spotted deer continuously for half an hour, I had actually reached the twelfth level, and my stats had also become-

ATK: 68-98

DEF:65

SPD:20

HP:440

MP: 51

Looking around me, there were still many who were killing spotted deer, and their numbers were increasing. According to past experience, it should be time to change locations. After a long while, I finally reached the border of the village’s training area. Here, even though the outside could be seen, there was still no way of going out. It was as if a wall was blocking. I could only continue to search for monsters, and not far away, I caught sight of my new target — a wild boar. I rushed up to slash at it and it was killed instantly. As I had more basic points, my increase in stats for Strength were very high; the more I leveled, the greater the the difference in ratio becomes, so right now, my attacks were very monstrous. Only later did I realise, characters at level twelve attacking for 44-70 was already considered very high, and Warriors who were level twenty usually only hit for about 60-90..

I was very lucky, and actually managed to find a wild boar’s cave. Wild boars here respawned really quickly, but even the respawn rate could not catch up with my instakill speed. However, I was really fortunate that wild boars belong to the category of monsters that do not attack of their own accord. One slash each, I killed for an entire hour, and currently, I’m already at level 18. Conjuring the ranking chart, there were actually already over thirty people who had appeared on the rankings. To be able to list within the rankings would go to mean that they had already broken through 20 levels. This was really not a joke, and if I do not quickly break past the twentieth level as well, there would be no hope left for me.

Twenty levels is definitely not the simple difference between a beginner and a true player. For all main professions as well as jobs, the first skill would only appear at the twentieth level. With that skill, their level grinding speed will no longer be something we can catch up to! Currently, the person who was ranked first was already level 25. Even though the experience required for higher levels was greater, they had the geographical advantage as well as that of the added skill. Since they were out of the beginner’s village, they will be in locations of few players and many monsters, and as such, there will be no need for them to fight over mobs!

Hurrying, I continued to train hard for twenty more minutes, before the wonderful system prompt sounded. “Congratulations, player Zi Ri, you’re already level 20. Congratulations to you for becoming our seventy ninth player to get past the beginner barrier. You have become a true fighter. Please report immediately to the Occupations’ Guild to receive your profession’s skills.”

I felt the scenery around me suddenly change, and I was already in the process of being transported to a gigantic public square. Opening the map’s information, I took a look and realised that this city was named Cold Jade. This enormous public square is exactly Cold Jade’s teleportation and resurrection point. Currently, my surroundings were absolutely empty. I suppose those who had arrived earlier had all gone to train. Actually, even if they were all here, there would still not be many people. Think about it! I am the seventy ninth person to be able to leave the beginner’s village, which goes to say that in the entirety of <Zero>’s realm, there are only a total of 79 people scattered around the world, apart from those in the beginner’s village. <Zero>’s map is based off of our world map, and the beginner’s village would be like an illusionary realm; only those who fulfilled the criteria (as in those who are below level 20) will appear there. Once the level requirement is met, they will be sent away automatically. On the map, all the other towns are just towns who have had their names changed and had their buildings constructed with a more ancient style. Therefore, on this gigantic map, how widely separated we must be, now that there are only 79 people on it. For all I knew, I could even be the first person in this city!

For now, these things didn’t matter. Following the map, I rushed to the Occupation Guild quickly. The immense hall was laid out with marble tiles and it felt like a bank’s lounge. By the walls, there were more than thirty marble counters, and on every counter, there was a bronze medal. The few counters in the middle had “Main Profession support” written on them, while the counters to the side all had “Job management” on them.

Regardless, I’ll just go carry out the main profession authentication first to get my skills. With this decision in mind, I immediately came to a middle counter. “Hello! I’d like to receive my profession certification.”

Behind the counter, a beautiful elf gave me an enthusiastic reception. “Hello, sir (Touching, someone finally recognised that I’m a guy)! We welcome you to conduct your profession authentication. May I know which profession you’d like to authenticate?”

“I have two main professions. One is Dark Warrior, and the other would be Beast Tamer.”

“Oh! You are a player who has received a prize! Certification for Dark Warrior would require one gold coin, and Beast Tamer would require two gold coins. That would be a total of three gold coins, please pay the amount.”

“Ah! So expensive!” I opened my inventory helplessly, and realised that I happened to have three hundred and seven copper coins! (The conversion unit here is: 1 crystal coin = 10 RMB = 10 gold coins = 100 silver coins = 1000 copper coins) After handing over the money, I only had seven copper coins left! How poor!

The elf beauty kept the money and said nimbly, “Congratulations on becoming a Dark Warrior as well as a Beast Tamer. The skills for your main professions are sold at book stores, but they are extremely low in quantity. The truly useful skills have to be slowly learnt by the player themselves, so please find out for yourself well in future.”

“What? Learn on my own? No way!” I turned around gloomily and prepared to leave. Two main professions had already consumed all my money, I could just forget about buying skills! I think I can forget about jobs as well. I’ll go earn some money before coming back!

After I had barely taken two steps, the elf beauty stopped me in my tracks. “Please wait a little!”

“Is there still anything the matter?” My heart rate began to speed up, it can’t be that she still needs more money!

“You are the game’s first player to receive the Beast Tamer profession, so you will be rewarded in accordance to regulations.”

“Reward?” Haha, I’ve won a prize! Pity it’s only for being the first to become a Beast Tamer, it seems like the Dark Warrior has already been authenticated before by another person! It feels like I’m being so greedy! Hehe! But thinking about it, it should be right too; this Beast Tamer is a hidden profession, so there won’t be many people choosing it as their profession, it was very normal for me to be the first. No matter what, getting a prize is already good, so I asked hurriedly, “May I know what the prize is?”

“The prize is random, come over and I will help you draw your prize.”

Walking to the front of the counter, the elf beauty immediately started drawing a prize for me. Reaching her hand into a black hole that seemed to come from nowhere, she picked out a piece of red paper. The elf beauty then looked at it. “Congratulations, the prize you’ve drawn is that you will receive a special equipment — Protection Collar. As you can control seven magical pets, you will receive seven collars.

“Collars? What would I want collars for? I only have one neck, I’m not an ultimate level nine-headed dragon! How will I wear seven?” This system is practically playing an evil joke on me!

“Heehee!” The elf beauty covered her mouth and laughed. “Those aren’t for you. Those are for your magic pets to wear.”

“Magic pets? Can magic pets in <Zero> equip items?” What a great situation!

The elf beauty explained quickly. “That’s not the case. Under normal circumstances, magic pets cannot equip items, but there are some special items that can be equipped on the magic pet’s body. Your Protection Collar would belong in that category of special items.”

“Exactly what use does this Protection Collar have?”

“The Protection Collar can link your HP to your pets’ HP. For example, if you have 3 HP left after suffering an attack, and right after, you get attacked again for 7 HP, your HP will then be reduced by 2, and the remaining 5 points will, according to the situation, be deducted from a pet who has more than 5 HP left. However, you have to note that the protection only goes one way, so when your magic pets have no HP, your HP won’t be deducted instead.

“So good! Does that mean my life won’t be in danger if my magic pets have not had all their HP spent?”

“Fundamentally, that would be so. Unless all your magic pets do not have enough HP to be deducted from. If that’s the case, you will die immediately.”

“Whoa! Sure enough, it turned out to be a good property. It looks like I’ll have to find magic pets with high HP in future. Haha! Haha!”

The elf beauty rushed to cut me off. “Magic pets should not be caught at whim. Once you make your choice, your magic pet will no longer be replaceable.”

“Oh! So it’s like this! Thanks, then!” I reached my hand out for the collars.

The elf beauty looked at me strangely. Seeing her blank stare, I couldn’t help saying, “Collars, hurry and give them to me!”

“Oh!” Only at this did she understand. “The collar isn’t granted by me. After you capture and subdue your magic pets, the collar will automatically appear around its neck.”

“So it’s like this! I’m done then? Thank you. I’ll be leaving. Goodbye.”

The elf beauty also waved goodbye to me.

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Starting from Zero (Cong Ling Kai Shi) Chapter 3 – Character Creation (2)

Chapter 3 — Character Creation (2)

The system prompt sounded again. “We will now commence the calculation of your second prize item.” It was another two seconds of silence. “The result of your second prize item is that you will receive an additional main profession as well as an additional job. Because normal accounts can have one main profession as well as two jobs, you will therefore have two main professions and three jobs. Next, please designate your main professions. As you are of the Demon Race, there are some professions you will not be able to undertake. You can choose from these six professions: Warrior, Spellblade, Shadowblade, Dark Warrior, Beast Tamer and Assassin. Of these, Beast Tamer is part of the hidden professions that not everyone has access to.”

“Could you introduce them?” I was still going through with this prudently, listening first before making my decisions.

“The warrior profession is a profession of purely physical attacks. It has bonuses in attack power, defense, as well as regeneration attributes. In the future, Warriors can upgrade to become Knights, Holy Knights, and then Dragon Knights. The Spellblade profession has a mix of physical attacks as well as magic attacks. It possesses bonuses in attack power, defense, magic, magic defense, regeneration speed, as well as magic regeneration speed. However, the bonuses for each are not too high. Spell Blades will upgrade to Mage Bards, then Spirit Warrior, and finally Demigods. The bonuses for the Shadowblade profession are similar to the Spell Blade’s, and they will upgrade to Magic Minstrels, Evil Spirit Warriors and finally, Great Demons. The Dark Warrior’s bonuses are similar to the Warrior’s, and their profession upgrades are, in order, Dark Knights, Dullahans, and finally, Hell Knights. Beast Tamers rely mainly on keeping magic pets and servant familiars for battle; they can also use magic attacks as well. Their bonuses are for magic attack power, magic defence, magic regeneration speed, number of pets that can be kept and number of familiars that can be controlled. In the future, they can be upgraded to Summoner, then Monster Spirit, and lastly, Beast God. The assassin profession is mainly physical attack oriented. It has bonuses for attack power, agility, and the servant familiar control stats. Assassins will rise in grade to become Hitmen, Murderers, and lastly, Godslayers. The above are concise introductions to each of these professions. Have you decided which profession you will choose?”

My character’s name is Zi Ri (lit. Purple Sun), so I ought to take a shadier path. Because of this, I’ll definitely not be choosing the Warrior or Spellblade professions. Although Shadowblades benefit in both martial arts and magic, in the end, it’s still strong at neither, so I won’t be choosing it. Shady professions like the Assassin do not suit my character, so I’ll be passing that one up too. “May I ask if I can choose two main professions?” This time round, I didn’t dare to make things difficult for the system anymore, so I used polite speech as much as possible.

“That’s right!”

“Then, set my main professions as Dark Warrior and Beast Tamer.”

“Main professions confirmed. Now, we’ll begin the selection of jobs. The jobs you can choose from include: Blacksmith, Alchemist, Appraiser, Breeder, Stonemason, Porter and Mailman.”

The old rule of getting advice first applies again. “May I know what the specialities of each profession are?”

“Blacksmiths can learn the technique of gathering and can obtain many special materials, and will upgrade to Forgemasters. Alchemists can collect herbs themselves to make bottled medicine, and they can upgrade to Immortal Alchemists. Appraisers can identify items as well as monsters. They can upgrade to Appraisal Experts. Breeders can capture pets and servant familiars themselves, and have bonuses for control of pets and servant familiars. They can upgrade to Magic Beast Experts. Stonemasons can build houses themselves, as well as collect precious stones. They can upgrade to Architects. Porters don’t have their own special abilities, but the job can increase your HP and endurance limit, and they can be upgraded to Bearer. Mailmen have no special abilities, but have endurance and agility boosts instead. They can upgrade to Intelligence Agent. The above are these professions’ specialties. Have you decided on the jobs you will take?”

“I’ll still use the elimination method.”

“Alright!”

“While the stonemason can build his own house, the chances that I’ll come to use it are not high. Delete.”

“There are still six professions; you have to eliminate three more!”

“Although Alchemists can refine their own medicine, I certainly have no time to leisurely look for herbs in the mountain. Eliminate.”

“Five more items!”

“Although Porters and Mailmen have bonuses, I doubt they’ll be a lot. It’ll probably not be too useful. Eliminate.”

“Only Blacksmith, Appraiser and Breeder are left. Are you sure you’ll be choosing these three professions?”

“Yes. Confirm!”

“Confirmed profession choices, next up will be the calculation for the third prize.” It was still two seconds of silence. “Your third prize has emerged, the prize you have received is that you will randomly be awarded four automatically added bonus stats.”

“What do you mean by random automatically awarded bonuses?”

“Random automatically added bonus stats mean that these four points will be added by the system randomly after you’re done allotting points into your stats. Therefore, you have no way of knowing what stats will be added for you.”

“Damn! Then wouldn’t I have to consider it as not having any bonus stat points added! Forget it, at least it’s better than not having any.”

“Then, please start allotting stat points for your character!” Suddenly, a stat box flashed in front of me. “The stats you can add points to include: Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Charisma, Energy and Constitution for a total of six types of stats.  A standard character has a thirty fundamental points, but since you are of the Demon Race, three extra points will be added to your basic points. As you were the first player to choose the Demon Race, you will have an additional reward of one point. Therefore, the points you can distribute come to a total of thirty four. In addition, we would like to point out that your basic points will directly affect your future stat bonuses, and you will be unable to change this bonus in future. Later on, your points will be automatically distributed based on the proportion of stats allotted now, and the player’s opinion will not be taken into account. Have you decided how you will distribute your points?”

“May I ask what that distribution based on proportion means?”

“After this, every time you level up, you will get thirty four basic points. These basic points will automatically be distributed based on your current distributed figures to your stat points. For example, if you assign thirty points to Strength, then every time you level up in future, thirty points will be added to Strength. Otherwise, if you assign no points into Strength, then in future, the points in Strength will always be zero, no matter how many times you level up.”

“Got it! Then how do these stat points affect a character’s performance? What is the specific conversion rate?”

“Sorry! Publicly, this game’s specific conversion rate can only be up to the player’s own speculation. The company only allows us to inform players of the relationship between stats and basic points.”

“Then tell me how they’re related!”

“Strength points affect your regeneration, physical attacks, physical defense, as well as endurance. Agility affects your movement speed, magic attack speed, physical defense, magic defense, physical attack accuracy, as well as magic attack accuracy. Intelligence affects your magic value upper limit, and the types of magic you can learn. Each type of magic has a certain Intelligence requirement, so you will only be able to learn the corresponding magic if you fulfil that criteria. Charisma mainly affects the number of magical pets you can rear, the number of servants familiars you can recruit and the attitudes NPCs will adopt towards you. Characters with high Charisma can frequently receive NPCs’ special hidden assignments. However, it needs to be specially explained that once you’ve distributed your points into Charisma, even if your Charisma increases in future, it will only affect your relationship with NPCs. This is because your appearance, as well as the number of magical pets and servant familiars you can control will only be affected by the first time you allot stats into Charisma, and will not increase with your Charisma stat in future. Energy affects your magic attacks, magic regeneration speed, physical attacks’ accuracy and magic attacks’ accuracy. Constitution affects your HP limit, health regeneration speed, stamina, and magic limit.”

“So complicated! For heaven’s sake!” I began to enter a state of frantic calculation and thinking — Twenty minutes later. “I’ve decided. I have thirty four basic stat points, right?”

“That’s right. It’s a total of thirty four points from the basic thirty points in addition to four points from the prize.”

“I want to first add two points to charisma. This attribute doesn’t seem to be very useful, so I’ll only put a few points into it.”

“You still have thirty-two basic points.”

“I don’t intend to mainly use magic, so three points in energy is enough.”

“You still have twenty nine points.”

“As a Warrior type character, I should have strong attacks and high virility. I’d like to add thirteen points to strength and eight points to endurance.”

“You still have eight basic points. You have yet to add points to agility and intelligence.”

“If agility’s too low, there might be situations where I’ll keep getting MISS. I want to add six points to agility. Put all the rest in intelligence.”

“Stat distribution complete. Now we will commence the random stat distribution.” The stat box flashed and the system reminder voiced once again. “It is concluded that the random stat will be added to Charisma.”

“Ah! How can I be so unlucky? How did it end up getting added to the most unimportant item!” Even though I felt really depressed, I could still accept it. After all, I was taking it for free! “Is there anything else I have to set up now?”

“Your character setup is complete. Your stats are now as follows.”

STR: 13	AGI: 6	INT: 2	CHA: 6	EN: 3	CONT: 8
ATK: 11-16	DEF: 11	SPD: 7	HP: 230	Magic: 30	CTRL: 3	SFN: 4

“It seems acceptable! Although it isn’t OP, it’s still not bad.”

I was looking at the numbers, when the system prompt suddenly spoke yet again. “According to your main profession and jobs, the bonus to stats will be carried out. The numbers are as such after the additions.” A white light flashed yet again. I feel like my brain’s been flashed giddy!

I opened my eyes and looked! How is this a character? It’s practically become an abnormal creature! Now, the first few stat items were:

ATK: 16-26

DEF: 14

SPD: 9

HP: 275

MAGIC: 40

The scariest were the last two stats. Magic Pet Number (CTRL) had actually become 7, and the Servant Familiar Number had actually grown to 10. I was extremely afraid that the system had made a mistake. “May I ask why there are so many magical pets and servant familiars? Was it calculated wrongly?”

“There’s no error in the calculation! Charisma had six points added to it, and according to that, as well as the 50% ratio of magical pet number to Charisma, you will have three magical pet numbers. However, as Beast Tamer is one of the professions you’d chosen, there is a bonus of one magical pet number. Breeder happens to be one of your jobs, so you get another bonus of 1. Because you are of the Demon Race, you will have 2 basic pet numbers per se. Therefore, your actual magic pet number is 7. As for the number of servant familiars you can control, it would be 150% of your magical pet number; excluding the remainder, which would be 10. By the way, magic pets will level up with the experience they accumulate from battles, while servant familiars will remain at the level they were caught at. Magic pets cannot be changed once they are selected, so please choose carefully. Servant familiars can be released, so they can be swapped for better ones at any time.”

“Thanks! I understand now. Can I start the game yet?”

“Hold up, you still have a prize you’ve yet to receive. Now we’ll begin calculations.” This round took an entire half hour, and I almost thought the system had crashed! “Your last prize is an addition of five to the hidden stat, Luck.”

“Adding five to Luck?”

“Yes. The luck stat can not be seen in the stat box. However, every point in Luck will affect all your probability calculations. Each point in Luck will add ten percent to an advantageous roll, which goes to say that your gear drop rate will be higher than others’ by 50%, and your chance of losing equipment after being killed by monsters will be lower than others’ by 50%. Generally, heavy attacks that may even result in deadly strikes which deal double damage will also occur more often. If you have a shield equipped, the probability that you will block enemy attacks will also be very high.”

“Whoa! Such a hack! After gambling for half a day, this stat is the most OP! Haha! Haha!”

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Starting from Zero (Cong Ling Kai Shi) Chapter 2 – Character Creation (1)

 

Chapter 2 — Character Creation (1)

Starting up the headgear, everything before my eyes went black. Following which, I appeared in a light blue room. Extremely mechanical noises rang. “Locked onto irises, attempting access to brainwaves.” Paused for two seconds. “Access normal, body scan normal, identity binded, installation complete. Welcome to using our system. Next up, we’ll be handing you over to the host brain guide!” There was another two second pause before a female’s voice sounded at my ears. Although it wasn’t very attractive, it was actually quite easy on the ears.

“Hello! Welcome to the world of <Zero>. The account number you are using comes with a prize. Please start spinning to obtain your prize item.”

Suddenly, a gigantic turntable appeared in the room. I looked at it doubtfully, asking, “May I ask what meaning this reward item holds?”

“The number of prizes every prize-inclusive account can receive is random. The number of prizes you will receive is determined after you spin for your prize. As for the number, the largest value is four and the smallest value is zero.”

“What? Zero? Then wouldn’t it become the same as a normal account number that doesn’t come with a prize?” How is this damned system so perverted! If the prize-inclusive account that I had been squeezed half to death for all came to nothing, I would definitely cry to death!

“Please start spinning for your prize, alright?” The system urged.

I felt helpless, but since there were a total of five numbers, the possibility of getting a zero is only twenty percent. Walking up to it, I spun the turntable with force and the turntable immediately started spinning quickly. Watching as the turntable slowed down, my heart had already risen to my throat. The pointer was now at three, and the turntable was still spinning slowly, but it seemed like it was about to stop soon! Inwardly, I prayed for it to by all means, not stop at zero. Yet the pointer was still moving, and it was now already at one. I pray, even if it stops at one, that would still be fine!

The pointer was already at zero, but the turntable was still moving slowly. However, it seemed to be almost impossible for it to move beyond the zero area. I had already closed my eyes in disappointment. After a crisp “ding”, the system’s prompt sounded. “Congratulations! You’ve spun the largest prize number of four items!”

“What!” I opened my eyes, not daring to believe my ears, only to see that the pointer had seemed to stop at the line between zero and four. However, since the system’s accuracy level is greater than the human eye’s, it should probably be right.

The system confirmed once again, “You’ve indeed spun a four. Please confirm your own character. Your account number can create two characters, so would you like to split your prizes between two characters, or have them all concentrated on one?”

What a joke! Need this still be asked? “One!” When playing games, obviously only one main character is enough, wouldn’t splitting it between two be an evident waste!?

“Please set up your character first. The prizes will be used on this character’s person.”

“Sure, but how do I set it up?”

“First, please announce your character’s name. This name will be your character’s name for life. After setting it up, you will not be able to change it unless you kill yourself and remake your character. As much as possible, please use a Chinese name.”

“Zi Ri!” I’ve always been using this cool, cool name and I’ve used this username in every game I play.

“Character Zi Ri has been set up, now the calculation of your prizes will take place.” The system paused for two seconds. “Your first prize item has been decided. Your first prize item is a granted ability for you to also be able to choose from secret races. Now, please choose a race for your character.”

“Race? What races can I choose from?”

A white light flashed in front of my eyes, and instantly, two rows of people appeared. The first row of people stood directly on the floor, while those in the second row hovered in mid-air. Looking closer, these fellows seem to be rather familiar-looking. Wait! Aren’t these me? Why do they all look sort of similar to me!

The system seemed to sense my misgivings. “These are the models of the different races that were set up based on your appearance. You must first choose a race before modifying your appearance of up to a difference of 10%. The bottom row comprise of races anyone can choose from, while the top row can only be chosen by those who have been granted the secret races from the prize-inclusive account numbers. Normal races include twelve different types, which are: Orc, Human, Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, Fire Elemental Human, Water Elemental Human, Earth Elemental Human, Undead, Air Elemental Human, Goblin and Monster. Special races include seven different types, which are namely: Angel, Devil Race, Half-elf, Spirit Elemental People, Half-orc, Half-angel and Demon Race.”

Since the row above was designated as secret races from a prize, then they should definitely be stronger than this row below. “Can you give a specialised introduction to the specialties of each race above?”

The system instantly removed the bottom row, and the races on the top row automatically flew in front of me. “You can see their appearances directly, I will mainly introduce their attributes. First would be the Angel. This race’s specialty is that in the situation where all their attribute points are the same, their attack and defense abilities will be higher. They also have high HP and the innate self-recovery magic ‘Divine’. The second is the Devil Race. Both their defensive abilities and magic attacks are very high, their regeneration is also relatively quick. The third would be Half-elves. This race possesses both the great agility and night-vision of the elf but at the same time, it also has higher HP than normal Elves, which can usually reach a human’s level. The fourth would be the Spirit Elemental Human. This race is naturally magic-oriented. All the magic they release will have a 5% increase in attack power, and their SP recovery rate is also very fast. The fifth would be Half-orcs. This race has high attack and defense just like the Orcs. However, at the same time, they will also have the agility and intelligence levels of someone with the Human race. They are also able to undertake the mage profession that would definitely not appear for the Orcs. The sixth is the Half-angel. This race has attack and defense levels similar to that of the Angel race, but are usually slightly lower than them. On the other hand, Half-angels have the restriction of being unable to learn attack-type magic and their resistance against Dark-type magic surpasses an Angel’s. The last would be the Demon Race. This is a very unusual race. The Demon Race has mixed blood of the Angels as well as the Devil Race. They have very high physical attack power and magic attack power. Unlike Angels, they do not have a fifty percent damage absorption towards Light-type magic, nor do they have a fifty percent damage absorption towards Dark-type magic like the Devil Race. However, at the same time, they do not have zero defense against Dark-type magic, like the Angels, or zero defense against Light-type magic, like the Demon Race. Basically, they are a middleground race. Also, the system restricts the number of characters who are Demon Race. Only the first ten account numbers who choose it will have a chance. In future, only six races will appear in the selection for the prize races.

Haha! Now I understand. However, it’s still hard for me to make a choice, since all of the above are good choices! “May I ask if you can exclude the races I eliminate?”

“Do you intend to decide by elimination? Of course it’s fine!”

Damn! What kind of system is this! Such an extraordinary AI! Who cares, I’ll choose first. “Spirit Elemental Human is something I definitely won’t choose, it’s too ugly!” The Spirit Elemental Human before my eyes instantly disappeared as specks of stars, leaving six characters behind.

“Half-orc is too barbaric, I don’t want it.” Another flash, and there were five races left.

“Half-angels and Half-elves don’t have an obvious advantage, eliminate!” The last three! How should I choose this time! “My character’s name is Zi Ri (lit. Purple Sun), and an angel doesn’t seem to suit this name, so remove it!” That devil race is clearly a mage race, but I prefer knights. “I’ve decided, the race I am selecting is the Demon Race!”

The system replied immediately, “The Demon Race has been successfully selected as your race. Congratulations, you are the first person to have chosen the Demon Race, so the system awards you with a basic attribute point. Now, please start setting up your character’s appearance.”

In front of me, the only person left was of the Demon Race, and I looked carefully. There was no difference in height, it was the same 172 cm as in reality; it looks like choosing the Demon Race has no impact on height. Four well-proportioned limbs, and a face that was slightly evil; besides the additional pair of black wings on its back, there was almost no difference between this character’s appearance and the way I looked in real life. “May I ask if I can get rid of this pair of wings?”

“Sorry! Wings are a specialty of the Demon Race, it’s the same as how you can not request for a dwarf player to grow above 1.6 metres. But rest assured, these wings can be hidden, so if you do not display them, nobody will be able to see them.”

“That’s fortunate! Then, I want to make the lines on my face a little straighter, I don’t want so many curves. Make the edges of my nose bridge a little more pronounced, right, and make my eyebrows a little sharper as well!” Looking at the character in front of me change gradually, I was quite pleased with my own changes.

“You have reached the limit for modifications, can you please verify if you will use this model?”

I gave it a look over. Although I had tried my best to make it uglier and more manly, no matter how I look at it, the character in front of me still had a girl’s appearance! Sigh! Forget it, let’s just go with this! “I confirm that I’m using this model!”

“Verification success! Character generation complete!”

 Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Starting from Zero (Cong Ling Kai Shi) Chapter 1 – Shopping

Chapter 1 – Shopping

Author’s note: Just a small statement that the original text was named <Zero>. Using the current name is purely because the original was renamed, so everyone should not try to link the text to the title, because there isn’t any relationship from the start!

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“Are you kidding! We’ve been waiting for so long!” A youth grumbled.

“So what! I came without even having time to eat breakfast, at least you ate a hamburger!” Ah Wei mumbled to himself.

Ah Wei, named Liang Wei, is my roommate and best friend and we’ve known each other since we were young. We were in the same class in junior high and we also attended the same school during our high school years. In university, we were again sorted into the same class as well as the same dormitory. We’ve been playing games together since junior high and at that time, the game room in Ah Wei’s house was our favourite! Now that we’ve entered university, Ah Wei and I cohabit in a two person room; it’s mainly because I am more antisocial by nature, and therefore, have no friends other than Ah Wei! Currently, we are first year students. Now that the summer vacation has just ended, since we’re here early and it’ll be a long while before we start having classes, using this time to play games in the dorm is also not bad!

Ah Wei’s family is pretty rich since his family deals in estate but I do not know exactly how much they have, except that it’s less than my family. Next to his own room is his specialised gaming room, and the hundred or so different electronics in it are all bought for him by his family! My family’s situation is a little more complicated. My father operates a multinational corporation named the Dragon Fate Corporation. The corporation does not have a main operational system; it basically does anything that can get money.

Actually, the Dragon Fate Corporation’s greatest source of income are specialised military contracts What? You don’t know what specialised military contracts are? A special sort of army craft refers to the manufacturing of various sorts of military equipment, like live military equipment, electronic military equipment, energy-fueled military equipment, space military equipment, etc. that require an especially high amount of skill to craft and is not suitable for mass production. If not for the fact that I’m the young master, I really wouldn’t know what the Dragon Fate Corporation deals in! This Dragon Fate Corporation was left to my father by my grandfather, and it is now the world’s second largest enterprise. Father holds a total of 51% of the shares. I’m also not clear as to how much these shares are worth, except that it is higher than the country’s Gross National Product last year.

Mother is China Company’s president but her circumstances are different from father’s. China Company was brought up through her own effort and as such, mother is in control of 78% of the shares. Even though China Company isn’t big yet, the net value of mother’s shares still comes to more than a hundred million. Of course, compared to father’s Dragon Fate Corporation, it is merely a drop within a vast body of water! Because my family was too wealthy, I did not have the normal childhood a child should have. Instead, no matter whatever I did, I would be followed by more than a hundred bodyguards. Even when I was going to the toilet, ten or so men would circle around with their backs facing me. My parents were always busy with work, and both of them even clinched a business deal each during my tenth birthday party!

Because bodyguards would follow no matter where I went, it was really difficult to make any friends. In addition to that, I grew to not be able to believe in friendship because the rare few who approached me of their own accord all turned out to have befriended me due to my family’s wealth. As such, I only have Ah Wei as my only friend. (In truth, my parents hoped that I would be a little happier being together with Ah Wei)

From then on, my family tried their best to provide me with an environment a normal person would have and not make me feel like I was of a privileged class. With that, my identity has been meticulously hidden and dad had even used his connections to remove all records in every department. Right now, basically, a majority of people don’t even know that my dad has a child, let alone know who I am. The most obvious advantage of this is that the over hundreds of bodyguards who follow behind me have now dwindled down to a mere few who hide in the shadows and guard. I can now also attend normal school like everyone else. (During elementary school, I was taught by a teacher who was specially hired by Ah Wei’s family and Ah Wei was schooled together with me). It’s because of this strange childhood that made it difficult for me to befriend others, and it cultivated my antisocial nature!

Actually, there’s another reason as to why I’m largely hindered from getting friends, and that is my voice and appearance. In fact, I’m not ugly in the least; rather that that, I look very pretty. That’s right. It’s pretty. Basically, I would be able to get into the rankings within any beauty contest throughout the world.

However, the problem is that I, as a hot blooded male, have a completely unmanly body. Please note that I am not a pervert. From the medical perspective, I am wholly male. I have whatever I should have, and I don’t have whatever I should not have. Everything is completely regular, even my sexuality. Yet! 99.99% of people are unable to guess my gender right without any prior knowledge. (Depression!) Every time a guest comes to visit, the first thing they say when they see me will be: President, daughter Ling looks so pretty!

Indeed, the first impression a large majority of people hold of me is that I am a fresh and pure absolute beauty. And for some unknown reason, my voice is the same sweet child’s voice as it had been before puberty occurred, making it even harder for my gender to be recognised! Think about it. How am I supposed to befriend a group of guys who stare at me while drooling? Because of this appearance, I can’t even get any peace while going to school. Since young, the number of incidents that had occurred where I scared a group of guys due to emerging from the male toilet number are at least 200!

Therefore, for such a long while, the only guy the same age as me who could treat me as a guy was Ah Wei, my most loyal friend. (The main reason why he could resist my beauty was because he grew up with me. Such thoughts didn’t occur to him when we were young, so it’s already become a habit now that we’ve grown older. Ah Wei is also actually very lecherous. He complains about how it’ll be hard for him to pick a girlfriend in future since I’m so pretty, as he won’t be able to accept them if they look ordinary! But really, usually, he will have a reaction as long as it’s a girl!)

Today, Ah Wei and I are queuing and waiting to get a model of the newest Internet game <Zero>. It’s the first issuing of the game today and the first ten thousand to get an account number will also get a special prize. The special prize is <Zero>’s special electronic virtual reality headgear, as well as a random hidden prize in-game. The headgear doesn’t really matter, since it’s already year 2062 and the market value for this sort of headgear is only three hundred RMB, so it isn’t all that precious. Rather than that, what was more attractive was the random hidden prize. In truth, this <Zero> is the product of a collaboration between my dad’s company and the world’s largest conglomerate group, a commercial trade group the equivalent of the European Union and it is being represented by my mom’s China Company. However, dad said that I could not set myself up for special treatment, and that if I wanted an account number, then I had to queue for it myself, so here I am!

I forgot to introduce myself. I am Shen Lin, a person from New Nanjing. This New Nanjing requires a little explanation. In the year 2012, the large scale conflict between China and Japan over sea boundaries escalated into war. In the midst of war, Japan fired thirty seven giant atmosphere-fueled bullets at China. Luckily, thirty six of those were successfully intercepted by the space-oriented interception system. (This system was the first successful ammunition business by the Dragon Fate Corporations, and that was when grandfather was still in control of the Dragon Fate Corporations). However, the last atmosphere-fueled bullet still fell in Nanjing, and the entire of Nanjing was shifted into flat land. The number of people who had died immediately surpassed the number of deaths that had occurred when Japan had carried out the Nanjing Massacre by four times, reaching an astronomical number of 1.35 million. In an attack of revenge, China threw a crust bomb at Japan’s Honshu Island, sending one of Japan’s four main islands sinking straight into the Pacific Ocean. (Currently, Japan has three main islands left) The resulting tsunami had also spread severely to neighbouring countries, and so, China had to reimburse North and South Korea 520.2 trillion RMB. This New Nanjing was rebuilt on the ruins of the original Nanjing.

“Look, the doors are open!” Ah Wei jolted me awake from my reverie.

Squeezing forward with all their strength is really enough to make a person faint to death. The queue that originally had some semblance of order broke up in confusion the very moment the door was opened. I was practically swept off my feet and forcefully lifted into the sale hall by the stream of people. Upon entering the hall, the situation became even more chaotic. The hall that was originally not very large was now crammed with more than three thousand people, and at least ten thousand more were still outside, trying to get in. Ah Wei, who was originally standing behind me, had also been swept to some unknown place.

Seeing that the area in front which sold account numbers had already started its sale, I could only violently squeeze towards the window. The security were doing their best to maintain order, but it seemed to be of no avail. “Save me!” I heard a very weak cry for help, and the voice seemed to be coming from under my feet. With much difficulty, I looked down and seemed to see someone being stepped on by others until she couldn’t stand up. If this were to continue, the person being trampled on would definitely be stampeded to death. With all my might, I pushed apart the dense crowd of people around me. Using my shoulders to block and prevent them from closing in again, I reached my hand out to pull the person up.

I froze on the spot, the person whom I had saved turned out to actually be someone who was so beautiful, it seemed like she was a goddess who was left stranded to wander about in this mortal world, her beauty had completely surpassed mine. Until today, I had not many people who were like her, so normally, there were no women who would dare to walk with me — After all, nobody would want to play a supporting role! However, she was currently covered all over with footprints and looked extremely haggardly, yet even this fact could not conceal her beauty.

“Thanks, sister!” Although her voice was very sweet, it felt as if someone had splashed a bucket of ice water on me, yet another one recognised my gender wrongly!

“It’s no trouble, at times like these, it’s better to pull you up then watch you get trampled to death, after all! Do you need me to send you to the hall?” The moment these words left my mouth, I instantly regretted it. If I really had to send her out, it would be guaranteed that I won’t have the ability to squeeze my way back in again to be one of the first ten thousand to get an account number. Besides, this game was being distributed across the world simultaneously, so even if New Nanjing was where <Zero>’s distribution company, China Company’s general headquarters, was located, handing out three to five hundred was already considered pretty good.

“No! I want to get an account number!” The girl’s words made me release the breath I had been holding in relief

“Alright, follow me closely!”

As we started to continue pressing on towards the window, I spared no effort in pushing a path open. Nearly half-dead, I finally swam to the window. That’s right, I swam indeed, because I absolutely did not have any time to spare to walk over with my two feet. “I want an account number!” I rushed at the saleslady and shouted loudly.

“I want an account number too!” The girl had reached the window ledge as well.

The saleslady quickly handed two headgears over, “Account numbers are on the headgear, you can refer to the manual regarding anything you’re unclear on.”

There was no other way but to squeeze through the crowd to reach the exit. We managed to reach the door with great difficulty. Looking at the dense mass of people, I didn’t dare to think about how I had managed to squeeze in just now. Gasps of breath came from behind me, and as I looked back, I saw that it was that girl.

“Thank you! I’m called Lijia, Lin Lijia. Was it not for sister’s help today, let alone getting the account number, I might even have lost life!” She extended her head in a large gesture.

Holding her small, tender, dirt black, (Turns out it was white) hand, I gave up trying to explain. In any case, the chances of us meeting again were negligible. “It’s nothing! Since we’ve both received out account numbers, then I’ll remember your account number and whisper you in-game.”

“Sure!” Lijia copied the account number from her headgear and passed it to me. “Then I’ll be leaving first, contact me when you’re free!”

“Okay!” Seeing her move further and further away, I turned back and looked at the crowd. Figuring it was probably impossible to find Ah Wei, I could only choose to return to the dorm.

***********************

I finally reached the dorms, but Ah Wei wasn’t back yet. Taking out the light breakfast I had brought back on the way, I began eating while looking through the manual, since the game only starts at eight, officially.

The manual was very thin, and it only had a total of seventeen pages. As it turns out, these first ten thousand account numbers are related to the headgear. In reality, the account number isn’t anything special, what was crucial was this headgear instead. When this headgear first launches the game, the account number used by it will be recognised by the system as a prize awardee, and it will carry out the random prize lottery. Of course, every account number can only accept one reward chance, so even if you have two headgears, but only one account number, it would be useless to log in with both headgears. The system will only acknowledge the first reward, and the second one will be ignored. The manual also mentions that each person can only use one account. The first time a person enters the game, the headgear will automatically scan the user’s brainwaves as well as irises and bind it. Once the binding is complete, the headgear will definitely not be able to be used by anyone else. This point thoroughly negates the possibility of power leveling as well as account theft. Besides, everyone’s identity will also be bound to the account number. A person who has used an account number before will no longer be able to apply for a second account number. The other explanations have been omitted as they only explain how to look for system NPCs regarding inquiries in-game.

Just when I put down the manual, I saw that Ah Wei had returned. “How was it?”

Ah Wei’s face was filled with dismay, “Don’t talk about it. I got crowded out the moment I rushed up, and I couldn’t get to touch even a corner of it! You got it!” Ah Wei saw my headgear. “But it doesn’t really matter, since I’m not a professional gamer. It’s doesn’t matter even if my account number is ordinary.”

“It’s fine. I’ll bring you after I’ve leveled, and you’ll definitely rise faster than anyone else.” I consoled

“That’s great! When the time comes, you better not go back on your words!”

Finishing my lunch early, I took a replenishing nap to prepare for the all-nighter. At seven, I climbed out of bed, ate dinner and started waiting for the game to start officially. After an arduously long wait, (Though really, it wasn’t even half an hour) eight o’clock finally arrived!

Next Chapter

dynamic entry!

For now, I’ll be working on translating an interesting looking series recommended by a friend. So here’s to embarking on a new project!