Nolan Empire, the largest city in the south—Green City.
A twenty-five-span-tall Mage Tower, its outer walls coated in red alchemical paint, stood in the east of the city.
Aside from the scarlet walls being a bit eye-catching, it looked unimpressive beside the other three towers that rose fifty spans.
Inside the tower, on the third floor, was a study.
A space large enough for five long-nosed elephants was crammed with oak bookshelves holding priceless tomes—"A General History of the Nolan Empire," "Fundamentals of Alchemy," "Basics of Magic Arrays," "The Light of the Gods," and more.
Even grimoires—seen by Commoners as the sole privilege of nobles—filled an entire shelf.
At that moment, beneath the thick "Arcane Secrets" in the rightmost oak shelf, a black-robed youth lay unconscious on a gray velvet carpet.
A mage.
A young mage.
His skin carried an unnatural pallor, as though it had never seen sunlight.
Parted lips revealed two sharp fangs, lending his handsome, bewitching face a peculiar charm.
Were an outsider to barge in, they would surely cry out in alarm—
Vampire!
These evil beings, who feed on human blood, have long been branded as demon spawn in the Nolan Empire.
If discovered by priests or clerics of any major temple, they would dispatch armies to wipe out these terrifying creatures.
Yet, astonishingly, a Vampire the mages themselves hunted now lay inside the orthodox Mage Tower.
Every part of a Vampire is precious material: their blood for inscribing Magic Arrays, their ashes for alchemical traps, even their fangs are priceless.
Even a High-level Mage of the tenth rank would thrill at the chance to slay one.
And now this unconscious Vampire wore a mage robe issued by the Green City Mages Association—a bizarre sight indeed.
Bzzt—
Li De jolted awake on the floor, his head swelling as though countless things had been stuffed inside.
"How long was I out? Today's just my luck."
It was the weekend; newly free of the dreaded 9-9-6 grind, Li De had gone to the downtown Wanda Mall to try the first virtual reality MMO—"glory"—jointly launched by five major studios.
But the game pod malfunctioned.
And electrocuted him.
He happened to be next in line when it happened.
He never got to experience the first VR game; instead he got a taste of Lightning-Master Yang's electric therapy—utterly depressing.
Though it didn't cure his internet addiction, the 100% realism claim no longer tempted him.
Staff paid him two thousand yuan in compensation, and he let the matter drop.
He left the mall dizzy, went home, and lay down to recover.
But the moment he reclined, a torrent of strange images and memories rammed into his skull, splitting it with pain.
Unable to bear it, he blacked out.
Li De rubbed his eyes; the drowsiness faded, yet his vision stayed blurred.
Feeling the headache gone, he exhaled in relief.
"Good, nothing serious. I'll hit the hospital later—can't risk after-effects."
He started to rise—then froze.
The pain returned, fiercer than before; every second felt like ants gnawing his brain.
He clutched his head and sank back.
With the agony came an alien memory.
Scenes flickered like a movie.
Elves, giants… mages, warriors… Baron of the Nolan Empire, member of the Green City Mages Association… Vampire… countless fragments flooded in.
All Li De could do was grit his teeth and endure.
Half an hour later, just as he thought he would break, it stopped.
The foreign memories were finally digested.
Pale as paper, Li De didn't scream; instead his expression turned odd.
"I transmigrated into the game glory?"
"And became the Vampire Progenitor hiding among humans?!"
The faulty pod had let him usurp this body; the original soul had simply vanished.
And this body had quite the background, as the new memories revealed.
Publicly, he was a tenth-rank High-level Mage of the Green City Mages Association,
ennobled by the Nolan Empire with the title of Baron.
His public identity was illustrious, but his hidden identity was even more exaggerated.
Vampire Progenitor.
To be precise, the progenitor of the Vampire bloodline near Green City.
His real name is Li De Kachar. He owns an ancient castle in the Distant Mountain Range outside Green City and commands more than two hundred Vampire Blood Descendants.
Combining the memories in his mind with what he knew about the game "glory," he could be absolutely certain he had transmigrated into the yet-to-be-released game "glory."
As a gaming fanatic, Li De had been hooked on the virtual game "glory" ever since its marketing began three months ago, poring over the official released materials countless times.
If the game weren't set to launch a full year later, he would've already become part of "glory."
"glory" is a virtual online game jointly launched by China's top five gaming companies.
It claims a 100% realism level, with in-game time running three times faster than reality—three in-game days equal one real-world day.
This era-defining masterpiece caused a huge sensation upon announcement. Though not yet officially on sale, every player who experienced it expressed immense awe.
It's hailed as the biggest black-tech breakthrough of the past thirty years.
The game's backdrop is a world of magic.
It features gods, giants, dragons, elves, demons, dwarves, humans, and dozens of other races.
Vampires are one of those bloodlines, but with the game still unreleased, Vampires are only briefly mentioned in official records and lack detail.
He could so quickly confirm he'd transmigrated into the game because his current memories told him he was in Green City.
Green City is a major southern metropolis of the Nolan Empire, with over a million residents, and one of the few human cities detailed in "glory's" official material.
Crucially, every memory in his mind perfectly matched all the information on the official website.
"What the hell is this—am I now an NPC? Or is this world real and I've simply transmigrated?"
Li De felt lost.
The materialist worldview he'd worked so hard to build had been smashed to pieces.
"Can I still go back?"
His heart tightened—Earth was his real home; no matter how splendid this world was, it couldn't compare.
The moment that thought crossed his mind, he suddenly opened his eyes to find everything around him had changed.
The once dim, luxurious study had become a brightly lit room, the laptop beside him streaming the latest variety show.
Joy Li De could hardly suppress surged across his face.
"I'm really back?!! This isn't a one-way trip—I can return!"
Then how do I go back into the game?
With another thought, darkness fell, and the Mage Tower study reappeared.
Excitement Li De had been holding back finally burst out; he laughed heartily.
Dual traversal—he was invincible.
For the next half-hour, Li De kept jumping in and out, testing repeatedly.
He finally drew his conclusions.
1. He could return to the real world from "glory" at any time, and re-enter the game world just as easily.
2. When entering the game, his real body would fall asleep; only his mind crossed over. If his body encountered any stimulus, he'd sense it in-game and wake up at once.
3. The number of crossings depended on mental strength. At his current level, he could switch five times within thirty minutes; any more and splitting headaches would strike.
With a clear plan in mind, Li De began to examine everything else.
What delighted him most was the game panel that appeared in his mind.
Li De Kachar
Race: Vampire (Progenitor)
Level: Mage Lv10 (103/5,000), Warrior Lv5 (level cap reached)
Mana: 652/652
Talents: Vampire Progenitor (Unique), Bloodline Shackles (Restricted), Magic Affinity (Extreme)
Racial Skills: Transform into Bat, Suck Blood to Recover, Superb Physique (Passive)
Spells—First-Circle: Magic Missile, Lightning Spell, Puppetry, Mage Hand, Magic Shield, Waterfall Spell, Meditation Technique
Second-Circle: Scouting Spell, Great Fireball, Explosive Lightning, Greater Puppetry, Mana Surge, Rapid Advance, Fortify, Charm Spell
Third-Circle: Blink, Void Walk, Explosive Fireball
The long list of skills was dazzling; his main Mage class had reached Level 10, and his Warrior side job had hit the Level 5 cap.
He never imagined that after becoming an NPC he could still see the stat panel only players were supposed to view.
Then a final line on the panel froze the thrilled Li De in place.
Days until arrival of the Chosen of Otherworld: 1,095… Chosen of Otherworld?
Open beta?
Players?!