As the dizziness gradually faded, Lu Qiuchen’s consciousness stirred back to life. When he opened his eyes, the scene before him slowly sharpened into clarity.
The first thing he noticed was how much his vision had improved — no more blurry edges. Everything was crystal clear — and best of all, there was no weight pressing on the bridge of his nose.
Lu Qiuchen had never been much of a gamer. For him, video games had always just been an occasional form of entertainment — mostly for social reasons. But now… now he felt like he might actually be falling in love with full-dive games.
Come to think of it, it was Zhang Cheng who had helped him apply for the Eternity beta in the first place.
Zhang Cheng was a hardcore gamer and a die-hard otaku, his dorm desk cluttered with figurines and a game library vast enough to make any collector jealous. In fact, most of the time Lu Qiuchen only played because Zhang Cheng dragged him into it.
“First-time login detected. Initial game introduction will now begin,” came the same gentle female voice, and subtitles appeared at the bottom of his view, changing dynamically with the scene.
[The World of Eternity is one among countless realms across the universe. Within this world, countless races have waged endless wars in pursuit of survival — and in doing so, have scarred the world deeply…
[By the time the races realized the irreparable harm their conflicts had inflicted upon the land, it was already too late. The earth lay in ruin. The environment that sustained life had all but vanished. In fighting to survive, we had destroyed our own future…]
[In the end, the races repented. With mediation from the neutral factions, they united to cast a Forbidden Spell of Time. At the cost of their own destruction, they sent their last remaining children back to the past — praying that they might rewrite this world’s destiny…]
[You are one of those chosen — the future of this world rests on your shoulders.]
‘Got it,’ Lu Qiuchen thought. ‘So the players are the ones being sent back in time. That’s a fresh start — definitely different from other games I’ve played.’
With the lore introduction complete, the character creation screen appeared.
Normally, Lu Qiuchen didn’t care much about customizing avatars. He usually just picked a default face and moved on. But this — this was a full-dive game.
This was a whole new world! He absolutely had to create a character that matched his deepest XP— cough, no, his ideal of beauty!
A girl who could grow happily in this strange new land!
What’s that? A male character? What even is that? This is a full-dive game — why wouldn’t you experience life as a beautiful girl from a first-person perspective?
Of course he was going to live a life he’d never had the chance to try before!
The body… yes, she had to be tall! Real-life 170 cm was so miserable! He had to reclaim his dignity in-game!
Wait, no — isn’t it kind of overbearing for a girl to be taller than a 170 cm guy? Wouldn’t that look too aggressive on a date?
But tall girls have such an elegant charm…
Ugh, such a dilemma…
As Lu Qiuchen became hopelessly entangled in fantasies about his ideal girlfriend’s figure, he completely forgot that someone was still waiting on him.
Meanwhile, Zhang Cheng was already dumbfounded.
Since this was a technical closed beta, the game company hadn’t provided players with any guides or manuals. Everything was left for players to discover on their own.
Aside from internal staff, nobody had any idea what to expect from the game.
At that very moment, Zhang Cheng was standing in the newbie village — completely surrounded by a crowd of towering, musclebound men.
Before logging in, he never imagined things would turn out like this.
Zhang Cheng, relying on his extensive gaming experience, skipped past all the worldbuilding and background exposition without a second thought, fast-forwarding straight to the actual gameplay.
Even the hour-long pre-server opening period meant for choosing races and customizing characters — he simply imported his own appearance from local data, gave it a slight polish, and called it a day.
Everything was streamlined — his top priority was efficiency. For someone as impatient as Zhang Cheng, waiting five minutes in the newbie village for Lu Qiuchen was already a monumental gesture.
But what Zhang Cheng hadn’t anticipated was just how complex Eternity truly was.
In most past games, to add immersion and balance, different races had different starter villages — something he and Lu Qiuchen had already planned for.
As long as they picked the same race, they’d spawn in the same newbie area.
But Eternity was different.
Even within the same race, the game assigned players to different starting zones, and not just one or two.
Each “newbie village” was more like an entire city, with wildly different architecture, cultures, and layouts.
When the system message [You have been randomly teleported to Scorching Sun Fortress. Respawn point set: Scorching Sun Fortress.] popped up, Zhang Cheng felt his feet hit solid ground. He looked up — and was instantly stunned.
Towering stone walls. Stern-faced soldiers. Bustling streets. Scantily-clad female NPCs…
Especially the last part — Zhang Cheng found his eyes drawn like a magnet. He stood there, momentarily entranced.
“You! No teleporting in this area!”
A thunderous shout snapped him out of his daze. Before he knew it, a squad of soldiers had surrounded him, spears at the ready, expressions tense.
“This is Scorching Sun Fortress! A critical border stronghold!” barked a man who looked like the officer in charge. “You’ve violated military protocol — surrender immediately!”
While Zhang Cheng found himself in a sudden crisis, Lu Qiuchen had finally wrapped up his endless self-debate and finished customizing his character’s appearance.
In the end, he followed his heart and went with the adorable girl route: soft reddish eyes, silver-white short hair tied into a high ponytail, a generous peach-shaped bust, and thighs with just the right amount of plushness.
To make the whole aesthetic even more cohesive, he chose the half-dragon race, complete with tiny pointed horns and a short, delicate tail. As for his previous agreement with Zhang Cheng?
Long forgotten — tossed straight into the ocean and left to sink.
[“Once character appearance is confirmed, it cannot be changed except via special effects. Confirm character?”]
“Confirm!”
This is my proudest creation to date! I’ve never even customized a character before!
[“Adventurer appearance confirmed. Would you like to begin your journey?”]
“Yes!”
I can’t wait any longer — it’s time for my beautiful-girl first-person adventure!
[You have been randomly teleported to: Outer Region of Dragon Isle]
Huh? Wait a second — I don’t get to choose a nickname?
No starting class — fine, I can accept that. But what about my name? I haven’t even picked a cute-sounding name yet!
Before Lu Qiuchen could fully express his indignation, his vision went black again, and the all-too-familiar sensation of dizziness washed over him once more.
Meanwhile, inside his game pod, Zhang Cheng opened his eyes with a loud curse. “Damn this broken game! What kind of garbage is this?! I log in and immediately land in jail?! I’ve been stuck in here for hours! How the hell is anyone supposed to play like this?!”
Frustrated, he stripped off his gear and powered down the pod. As he stepped out, he nearly faceplanted due to the height difference between the pod’s interior and the floor — almost eating dirt on the spot.
Fortunately, thanks to his top-tier reflexes, he managed to catch himself with a handspring, barely recovering from the fall.
“Even this damn thing’s out to get me!” he grumbled, pulling on his clothes before sitting on the bed and dialing Lu Qiuchen’s voice line.
“No answer? That’s weird. I got through to him just fine when we were both still in the pods…”
“Maybe he’s at a critical cutscene or something. Tch… if I, a veteran gamer, started the game in a prison cell, who knows what kind of mess the Kid’s gotten himself into.”
He sighed. “Guess I’ll try again later.”
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Tftc!