ctnovel Something's off about this beginner quest in Chapter 1.
Something's off about this beginner quest in Chapter 1.
pain!
it hurts!
My head hurts so much... cough cough, I've mixed up the scenes.
However, I do have a headache, and my limbs also seem a bit numb, as if they've been pressed down for a long time.
"What happened... the gaming pod burned out? Luckily, the warranty hasn't expired yet..."
Jiang Yong groggily regained consciousness, vaguely feeling that the surroundings were stuffy and sticky, filled with a strange smell, and that something heavy was pressing down on him, making it hard for him to breathe.
Even the built-in air conditioner burned out? That's a safety issue, right? They should be able to get a large sum of compensation...
So he opened his eyes and met a lifeless, grayish-white face that was very close to him.
!!!
Driven by adrenaline, Jiang Yong jumped up before he could even yell "Holy crap!" The corpse that had been pressing down on him was shoved aside, shifting limply into a different position, its empty, cloudy eyes still staring ahead.
It was no different from the countless other corpses that surrounded it.
The shock and sudden strenuous activity caused Jiang Yong to cough dryly, and he struggled to hold back from vomiting.
"Am I still in the game? No, the game pod doesn't support this level of negative motion simulation at all..."
After calming down a bit, he looked around and found himself in a dimly lit space with only a sliver of light coming in from a distance, probably a huge cave. At least hundreds of corpses covered the ground, but there was no trace of blood or smell of blood, and a thin, hazy mist hung in the air.
The source of the fog seemed to be something above the cave, but he couldn't see it clearly.
Jiang Yong subconsciously tried to summon the game panel, but found nothing. His heart sank as he realized the situation—he was either trapped or had been transported to some unknown scene in "Star Age: Evolution".
Star Age: Evolution, a fully immersive online game based on space exploration and pet raising, carved out a niche for itself in the highly developed entertainment industry of the 22nd century upon its release, becoming one of the most popular games in the world, thanks to its realism and novel gameplay that far surpassed all similar products. It truly lived up to the colon in its name.
Such a popular game naturally spawns a group of professional gamers who make a living from it, and Jiang Yong is one of them. However, he is not the kind who specializes in competitions, but rather a PvE strategy writer, and also a part-time researcher who specializes in digging out Easter eggs and hidden storylines. In his previous life, he was quite famous in the player community and even served as a moderator in a section of the official forum.
Even so, he still couldn't immediately determine his current location—the game map was incredibly vast, almost perfectly simulating hundreds of star systems and trillions of celestial bodies, teeming with numerous civilizations and races. Players also enjoyed an extremely high degree of freedom of exploration; even crashing their spaceships into stars wouldn't bother anyone, making the gameplay incredibly diverse.
This is a problem for Jiang Yong right now. There have been far too many events that could create a scene like this, and he can't be sure what his current situation is. He only knows from experience that what happens next in this kind of situation is definitely not good…
Tap, tap, tap.
A distant sound of footsteps suddenly came from the light in the cave. He immediately lay back down on the ground, suppressing his discomfort as he hid among the corpses, silently chanting "You can't see me" while holding his breath, trying to calm his pounding heart.
The footsteps stopped far away, followed by a conversation that sounded particularly clear in the silent cave.
"Has the miasma completely dissipated?"
"...No, it still looks grayish. There were more people dealing with it this time."
"Then let's wait a little longer."
"That fragment should have enough to eat now... But the cave you chose this time is big enough, can your Water-Erosion Mushroom collapse it?"
"Relax. It's about to evolve; it can easily prop up an entire structure, let alone collapse it."
"You can support yourself now? Congratulations..."
The voices faded into the distance, and the cave fell silent once more. Jiang Yong slowly got up, his face grave as he looked at the corpses scattered on the ground.
"Judging from the snippets of conversation I overheard, this must have been a large-scale sacrificial site. Everyone here, including the original owner of this body, was killed by that so-called 'fragment' and 'miasma'..."
"The Water-Erosion Mushrooms are mostly found on early or early-mid-stage planets; almost no interstellar civilization would specifically cultivate them. So I'm most likely on a surface civilization right now, but I don't know which specific planet."
He looked up at the cave ceiling in the dim light and saw that the gray mist around him was indeed converging on a certain point—probably the place where the "fragments" were placed—making the visibility inside the cave even better than before.
He also remembered the "Water-Eroding Mushroom," a wild monster with both Water and Grass attributes, found in multiple star systems, with unremarkable racial traits and skills. Its only notable feature was its ability to destroy underground structures, posing a significant threat to less-than-sturdy underground facilities in the early game, making it a hated trait among players who preferred to hide their homes underground…
It's just right for dealing with him now.
If all goes well, once the fragment above the cave has absorbed the gray mist, the two people outside the cave should come to retrieve the fragment and, while they're at it, collapse the entire cave, destroying all traces of him and the hundreds of corpses.
"What should we do?"
Jiang Yong's palms were sweating—he was just an ordinary person now, without a contracted spirit, and there was no way he could deal with the people outside the cave; moreover, this cave was chosen in advance by the other party, and the possibility of having other ways out was extremely slim. The only "fragment" that could potentially break the deadlock was located at the top of the cave, which was more than ten meters high, and he couldn't reach it at all.
"Damn, is this a hopeless situation right from the start?"
He gritted his teeth, deciding to rummage through the pile of corpses before the gray fog dissipated, hoping to find something useful—at least it was better than doing nothing…
Welcome to Star Age: Evolution!
[Entering the beginner's tutorial...]
Just as he was about to take action, a translucent, azure blue panel suddenly appeared before his eyes, with two lines of text floating on it.
"The game's personal system!"
Jiang Yong was startled, but then overjoyed.
The reason is simple: the fact that this thing is still there means he hasn't completely become an NPC in the game world. Moreover, the tutorial is of paramount importance—it directly provides initial skills, a spirit, resources, and most importantly, an interstellar communication terminal. For Jiang Yong at this moment, each of these items gives him a greater chance of survival!
At this moment, the text on the panel changed again.
You have officially become a member of the "Acadis Federation"! Welcome, citizen.
The "Acadis Federation" was established in Cosmic Calendar 267, the first year of the Federation Calendar. It belongs to the Peace Alliance and possesses complete sovereignty over the Gurei System...
To enhance immersion, players are set up as "mass-produced synthetic humans by interstellar civilizations." When a player creates an account, they are a synthetic human who develops (customizes their appearance) in an incubation chamber. After that, they are given basic general knowledge and then leave the chamber to log in.
In reality, game pods obviously can't directly implant memories into players' brains, so the game panel handles this, displaying the content in the form of text and images as an opening animation to give players a basic understanding of the settings. The "Acadis Federation" mentioned here was the first initial faction when the game first launched, commonly known as the beginner village.
However, the panel program was definitely not designed with "time travel" in mind when it was first set up—Jiang Yong assured that this was definitely not the birthplace of the Arcadis Federation.
As text scrolled across the panel, the gray mist in the cave continued to slowly gather upwards, becoming increasingly thinner. Jiang Yong, having found nothing while looting the corpse, couldn't help but feel a little anxious, wishing he could skip the opening animation.
[...In the year 270 of the Universal Calendar and 3150 of the Federal Calendar, the Arcadis Federation entered the era of universal contractors and was granted permission to join the "Peace Alliance"...]
[...In the year 3300 of the Federal Calendar, the Federation obtained the qualification to develop the new star system "Fire Ring Star System" and established territory on the edge of the star system in the same year. A year later, in 3301, you were born.]
You find yourself in a brand new world where danger and opportunity coexist. The Federation welcomes every citizen to participate in the conquest of the unknown. Whether you participate in construction or proactively venture into uncharted territories, every action you take will push the boundaries of civilization.
Provided you adhere to the rules, the federal government will not restrict your actions and will certainly remember your labor and contributions, providing appropriate rewards...
"Federal Calendar 3301? That's when the game just launched?"
Before Jiang Yong traveled through time, the game had been running for many years, and the starting sequence for new players had changed countless times. What he saw was the earliest version, which was considered an ancient relic by veteran players.
To ensure your safety and success during your exploration, the Federation will provide you with basic techniques and an initial spirit...
"It's finally here."
Jiang Yong's eyes lit up, and he clenched his fists.
[You have mastered the Vacuum Induction Method, level 1!]
You have learned the skill "Basic Contract"!
As the two lines of prompts flashed by, a large amount of complex yet clearly organized information appeared out of thin air in Jiang Yong's mind, directly imprinting the key points of these two skills into his memory and body, rather than just onto the buttons on the panel.
"Looks like I've really been transported into a game, and it's not just a simple Sword Art Online. Although according to the setting, the knowledge should be transferred to my brain in an incubation pod... Oh well, as long as it works."
"The next step is to get the starter Pokémon. The Water-type Pokémon is a Water/Grass Pokémon with low attack and high HP, so it's not difficult to deal with. But I'm not sure what other Pokémon it has... So I'll choose the Federation's home Pokémon. Its initial form is quite strong and can reliably take down the Water-type Pokémon. Most importantly, it's fast enough."
The interstellar civilization is quite generous, providing not just the traditional starter Pokémon, but one of each of the 17 basic types!
While adapting to the knowledge that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, Jiang Yong quickly decided which starter Pokémon to choose for the next battle, eagerly awaiting the next stage.
Soon, the tutorial prompts popped up.
[New Mission: Lesson One: The Contract!]
[Mission Description: Spirits are an indispensable asset to any contractor. Follow the map directions to the intelligent assistant to collect your initial spirit companion.]
Then a small map appeared, which was blank except for a single quest marker.
[Distance: 297214880827995650324 meters]
"WCNM!!!"