"Welcome, child… Welcome to this eternal world… Here, you shall enjoy a life that is truly your own…"
A woman's voice, as gentle as her appearance, whispered in my ear.
"You… Who are you?" I asked, feeling a strange tension.
"The System has named me Nuwa," she replied softly. "It is my duty to create you, and my mission to grant you the life you desire."
"The S-System?! This is the inside of Life's Mirage?" I didn't need a mirror to know I was gaping like an idiot.
"Yes. This is the game space for Life's Mirage. Welcome. Please select your name." Nuwa's voice, while maintaining its calm tone, suddenly felt colder, more artificial.
It really is as realistic as the ads promised, but A.I. isn't some movie magic. I scoffed internally. A fake is still a fake.
"Please select your name!" Nuwa's voice chimed in again.
"Liu Yun," I answered instinctively when prompted.
"Player has chosen the name 'Liu Yun.' Confirm?" Nuwa responded instantly.
I mentally facepalmed. I hadn't meant to use my real name, but given the circumstances, I decided it wasn't a huge loss. Guess I need to think before I speak from now on.
"Confirm." (A classic rookie mistake from a total newbie!)
"Please select your in-game appearance."
Seven images materialized before me. The center was my real face. The three images on the left were optimizations, each adding 10% to my attractiveness. The three images on the right were disfigurements, each ugly-fying me by 10%.
In the end, I chose the image that made me 30% uglier. This was driven purely by paranoia. The uglier I look, the less likely I am to be recognized, even if I end up doing some major league mischief. The 30% reduction made me completely generic; I was now the kind of person who could vanish instantly in any crowd.
"Please allocate your Base Attribute Points. You have two allocation methods: 1. Random Selection or 2. Conventional Selection."
The names of seven attributes appeared: Constitution, Strength, Intelligence, Agility, Charm, Luck, and Comprehension. The last three were marked with an asterisk (*), which even an MMO novice like me knew meant: Hidden/Unviewable.
"What's the difference?" I asked, since I'd done zero preparation.
"Random allows you to roll for your base attributes. Your attribute total will fall between 25 and 30, and you have three attempts to roll. The three hidden attributes remain fixed. Conventional selection guarantees a fixed attribute total of 30, evenly distributed across all visible attributes, and cannot be changed."
Nuwa's explanation was clear. Random selection offered the chance to create a specialized character, but at the risk of losing up to five total points. Conventional was safe, resulting in average, predictable stats.
Most ambitious players would risk the random roll, because average is trash. But knowing my rotten luck, I wasn't taking that chance.
"Conventional selection."
"Character generated. Please select your profession… Due to your Game ID being 00000001, congratulations! You are eligible to select a Hidden Profession… Further congratulations! As one of the first ten players to enter the game, the System awards you 10 Free Attribute Points! Note: Hidden Attributes are not eligible for point allocation."
A triumphant chime sounded in my ears. Plus and minus signs suddenly popped up next to my visible attributes.
Are you serious? Did my terrible luck finally hit rock bottom and rebound?! I stared in disbelief at the unexpected windfall of being the first player.
"Furth-furth-furth…"
Nuwa suddenly began to stutter, repeating the same word and motion like a broken record. A system glitch?
I don't care if she's lagging. I'm taking my points!
Just as I prepared to allocate the points, I noticed something even more astounding: the three hidden attributes were now visible!
AttributeScoreCharm 5
Luck 5
Comprehension 8
Still garbage luck, I thought, managing a bitter, self-mocking smile at the paltry 5 in the Luck column.
But then, the glitch seemed to be a golden ticket! Not only had the hidden stats been revealed, but I realized I could reallocate all the base points freely, as long as the total of 30 didn't change!
What use is Intelligence? Am I not smart enough already? I dropped my Intelligence to 0, netting 5 free points.
Agility? My hands and feet are already quick in reality. Useless! Agility went to 0, netting another 5 points.
Charm? No idea what that does, but I'll take the points. Charm went to 0.
All those released points, plus the 10 bonus points, were merged into my pool. Now, it was time to build a monster.
"Strength is the source of all power! +20! Luck is the driving force of everything! +5!"
My final allocation was utterly absurd:
AttributeScoreConstitution 10
Strength 30
Agility 0
Intelligence 0
Charm 0
Luck 10
Comprehension 8
B-Plot: The Global Cyber War
While I excitedly played with my stat points inside the game, the outside world was thrown into complete chaos.
Deep inside a secret bunker, one hundred meters below the Tianhua Group's headquarters, General Manager Zhang Bo reported to CEO Qiu Ran: "Chairman, the hackers have started their attack."
"Excellent! Activate the counter-offensive system!" Qiu Ran's face twisted into a smug smile. "Locate all their positions, notify their national governments and police agencies, and get me the statistics."
"Understood." Zhang Bo eagerly picked up the phone and began issuing orders.
A moment later, a staff member in a white lab coat rushed in with a printed report. "Chairman, the data is ready."
"Read it! Read it quickly!" Zhang Bo urged excitedly.
"Yes… We are currently under attack by over 400,000 hackers distributed globally… Approximately 70,000 from the US, and over 50,000 from Japan…" the staffer read out.
"Hmph. Seems those worthless scoundrels haven't given up." Qiu Ran sneered, his cold contempt for foreign rivals now fully exposed.
"But… well… Chairman…" the staffer hesitated.
"What is it? Speak up, don't stutter," Qiu Ran pressed.
"Chairman, we found that hackers from China—our own country—account for the largest group… nearly 150,000."
"What?! One hundred fifty thousand!" Zhang Bo couldn't believe his ears. Do we have some deep, historical beef with our own players? Are the Chinese reverting to old habits—fighting among ourselves?
To their utter astonishment, the Chairman didn't look angry; he threw his head back and roared with laughter. "Haha! Even combined, they can't beat us! We truly have the most 'talented individuals' in China!"
Zhang Bo secretly sweatdropped. When they're foreign, they're 'worthless scoundrels.' When they're Chinese, they're 'talented individuals.' The gap in treatment for hackers is truly vast.
Riiiing!
The phone rang again. Qiu Ran picked it up. "Hello? What? A hacker breached the game's core system?!" He slammed the desk. "Investigate! Check immediately! Find that person at any cost! I want to know who the hell managed to break through my firewall!"
By the end, Qiu Ran was practically shouting. Both Zhang Bo and the staffer jumped, terrified. It was understandable—the technology in 'Tianhua One' was supposed to be decades ahead of current standards. The very thought that someone had cracked it was unbelievable. The only word they could think of was the online slang: Freak!
"So… Chairman, what about the Chinese hackers here? Should we report them too?" the staffer asked nervously.
"Of course! We can't play favorites!" Qiu Ran said. "This is necessary to shut up the foreigners and show them that our talent pool is just as good as theirs, if not better!"
"Yes, sir!" The staffer retreated, a look of excitement replacing his fear.
Riiiing!
The phone rang once more. This time, Qiu Ran hit the speaker button. "What is it?"
"Chairman, we found him!"
A look of wild excitement flashed across Qiu Ran's face. "Really?! Quick! Give me his exact location!"
Qiu Ran stabbed a key on the phone console, and the glass wall transformed into a giant screen. A map appeared, a single red dot flashing rapidly on it. "Beijing!" Qiu Ran and Zhang Bo exclaimed in unison.
"Chairman, quick! Tune into CCTV-1! The guy's been arrested by the Ministry of Public Security—it's live!" the voice on the phone shouted.
Qiu Ran immediately switched the screen. The footage was shaky—the cameraman was clearly running—before settling inside a cramped wooden shack. Several burly police officers were dragging out a bearded man in his late thirties. A beautiful female reporter was giving a breathless account of the hacker bust.
Qiu Ran ignored her. His focus was entirely on the screaming man. Though restrained by multiple officers, the hacker roared wildly:
"I broke into the American White House! I trampled the London Stock Exchange! I kicked the door of the Japanese Securities Exchange! I even slipped into the UN's nuclear missile silo! Nobody could ever hold me! But today, I'm caught on my own doorstep—and I'm happy! My country is stronger than those Americans and those Japanese bastards! HAHAHA!"