"System, tell me about your function."
After learning about the state of the gaming industry in this world, Bai Ze took a sip of water to calm his excitement, then remembered—he still hadn't checked out his golden finger.
Ding~ Answering the host: the function of this system is to assist the host in designing virtual games.
"…Well, you're certainly simple and straightforward." A black line formed on Bai Ze's forehead.
The system's name was Virtual Game Design System. Yet, he still didn't know exactly what it could do for him.
"And then? How do I use it?"
The host can enter the virtual space by silently saying the word 'enter'.
"Enter."
Bai Ze didn't doubt it for a second and followed the system's novice instructions.
The next instant, the scenery before him shifted. The room around him vanished, replaced entirely by a pure white space.
He couldn't tell how far it extended, how high the ceiling was—if there even was one—and even his feet weren't touching any ground. It was simply endless, all-encompassing white.
Scattered throughout this space were countless strange, symbol-like creatures, floating in no particular order. The moment Bai Ze appeared, these creatures immediately surrounded him.
From the instant he entered, Bai Ze felt a strange sense—here, he could control everything.
He instinctively willed himself to move.
Sure enough, his body responded immediately, gliding forward according to his thoughts. The symbol-like creatures didn't block his way—instead, they parted politely, like loyal guards.
"This… is interesting."
Ding~ Novice gift pack delivered!
The system's voice echoed in his ears again.
As it spoke, some of the surrounding symbols began to stir, arranging themselves into a strange formation before him.
After a flash of light, a gift pack materialized in front of Bai Ze.
"A novice gift pack?"
Bai Ze hadn't expected such a pleasant surprise. Systems that came with starter packs were rare. From what he remembered of novels in his previous life, some didn't even offer one.
He glanced again at the mysterious symbols around him, feeling like he was beginning to understand the basic concept of how a virtual game was designed here.
Without further hesitation, he floated forward and opened the gift pack.
Inside were two orbs of light. Bai Ze reached for one, and the system's voice chimed again:
Ding~ Acquired: Introduction to Virtual Game Design ability!
"Virtual game design ability?"
He murmured as the orb dissolved into his body through his fingers. Almost instantly, Bai Ze understood.
As he had guessed, this "virtual game design ability" was the power to control these mysterious symbols, shaping them into items—or even into the very rules—that governed a virtual world.
These ever-present, enigmatic symbols were the foundation of every virtual world here—the code that made up games and reality itself within VR.
Without rushing to test it, Bai Ze reached for the second orb.
Ding~ Acquired: 1,000 points.
"Points? System, what are these for?"
At present, the host can use points to exchange for materials required to design games. The remaining functions will be revealed as the host unlocks more features.
"Exchange… game data?"
Bai Ze paused, then quickly understood.
Of course—designing a virtual game required complete reference materials.
Especially for creating a virtual world, the first requirement was a fully fleshed-out worldview.
A true worldview contained countless interconnected elements. Even with all the creative ideas from his previous life, Bai Ze couldn't guarantee he could remember and record every necessary detail.
Game design here was likely similar to programming in his old world—demanding extremely precise logic and structure.
If a single component was missing, it would be a bug. For example, if "light" existed in the game, then every aspect of light—its source, behavior, and interactions—had to be defined.
As the points registered, a virtual screen popped up before him, displaying his personal information:
[Bai Ze]
Ability: Introduction to Virtual Game Design
Items: None
Tasks: None
Points: 1,000
A painfully simple status sheet—proof that Bai Ze was now a complete rookie. His only ability came from the novice gift pack.
To be honest, he now realized just how crucial this golden finger was.
Previously, Bai Ze had only thought that this world's gaming environment was perfect for his growth. But he had overlooked one key fact—if designing virtual games was easy, the market here would already be saturated.
Even with poor imagination, many games could still be interesting just by using real-world logic.
On the point exchange screen, he found the skill upgrade options:
Introduction to Virtual Game Design: 1,000 points
Proficient in Virtual Game Design: 10,000 points
Master of Virtual Game Design: 100,000 points
This was the foundation of his future!
The skill was divided into three levels, much like junior high, high school, and university. Without a high enough skill level, many concepts would be impossible to design.
And right now, his beginner-level ability was far from enough to create a complex virtual world.
"One thousand points… that's going to be tricky."
With a helpless smile, Bai Ze raised his hand. At his gesture, the surrounding symbols suddenly stirred, gathering into clusters and shaping themselves into different objects.
Just like the formation of the earlier gift pack, these symbols flashed and transformed into everyday items—a table, chairs, a computer.
This was his newly acquired ability.
Here, in this virtual space, as long as his game design skill was high enough, he was the creator of worlds.
This was his workshop for building virtual games. Of course, anything created here could only exist in virtual space—never in reality.
After playing around for a while, Bai Ze stopped. The items vanished at his thought, but their designs were saved—like a file on a computer—ready to be reused at any time.
"From today on… I'll become a glorious virtual game designer!"
A confident smile tugged at his lips, and his eyes shone with excitement.