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The bright sun beat down on the potholed dirt road, which was overgrown with waist-high weeds due to years of neglect. Insects chirped intermittently in the brush, while ripples of heat distorted the air.

Jiang Qi raised a hand to shield his eyes, looking up at the searing sun overhead. Stepping out at a time like this was far from comfortable.

He clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. Before he could say anything, Zhou Xing, who was standing beside him, immediately spoke up. “Do you feel too hot, Captain Qi? I happen to have something to block the sun.”

As he spoke, a modified giant lotus leaf materialized over Jiang Qi, emitting a faint, refreshing fruity aroma.

This inquiry broke the ice, and the dozen or so people who had been quiet suddenly erupted into a frenzy of eager discussion.

“I think there are just too many weeds. I’m going to pull them up right now.”

“I reckon the road is too narrow. Everyone, clear out and give him some space.”

“I agree, it’s this road. There are too many rocks on it. Hurry up and clear the rocks!”

“Exactly! Let’s clean up this path quickly. If we set off any later, there’s no way he’ll reach the Novice City today.”

Jiang Qi comforted them softly, “It’s fine. Worst case scenario, I’ll just leave tomorrow. That way, I can still celebrate my birthday with everyone.”

Everyone who was busy pulling weeds and clearing the road froze. Zhou Xing was the first to snap out of it. “Captain Qi, everyone already packed your birthday gifts into your bag. It’s more important to focus on serious business. You should set off early, finish your business early, and come back early, so we don’t miss you for too long.”

Jiang Qi took a sip of the juice Zhou Xing handed over, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Will you really miss me?”

“Of course!”

“We will definitely miss you, Captain Qi!”

“Captain Qi, safe travels and come back soon!”

“Then how about I just—” Before Jiang Qi could finish his sentence, he noticed the crowd quickened their pace. They even activated their skills, clearing away the stones on the path and tearing out the weeds by their roots in a matter of seconds.

Zhou Xing stood straight as a ramrod. “Don’t worry, Captain Qi. We will raise your pets strictly according to the regulations, and the boys have written down all their experience from clearing instances into a book and put it in your bag. Once you cross this path, you’ll reach the “Gate of Life.” Although we hate to see you go, our abilities are limited, so we can only escort you this far.”

“If you really hate to see me go that much, I can stay for a few more—”

“CAPTAIN QI! HAVE A SAFE JOURNEY!”

A dozen people shouted the slogan in unison as if they had rehearsed it beforehand. Looking at the crowd bowing deeply at the same time, Jiang Qi’s lips slowly pressed into a tight line.

No matter how enthusiastic they acted, it was glaringly obvious that they were treating him like an unwanted plague.

“If anything happens to Xiao Bai and the others later, remember to contact me.”

The crowd replied in unison, “Don’t worry, Captain Qi! We guarantee the mission will be completed!”

Seeing that they didn’t even raise their heads to answer, Jiang Qi lost interest in teasing them. He took his luggage and walked toward the clean, tidy road. Before he could even pass the crowd bowing at ninety degrees, they anticipated his movement and stepped aside in advance.

Though he knew he wasn’t popular, he had still hoped for some polite, sentimental farewell at a time of parting like this. Clearly, this crowd wasn’t cut out for it.

Should I try to pretend to be a popular person once I get out?

Before thinking it through, Jiang Qi chuckled at the sudden thought. As expected, changing environments was already causing him to have whimsical ideas. Unfortunately, his purpose in leaving the Confinement Zone this time wasn’t to become popular; it was to find someone.

Jiang Qi pulled his thoughts back and picked up his pace to reach the “Gate of Life.” This was the exit of the Confinement Zone. The entrance was called the “Gate of Death,” while the exit was the “Gate of Life.” Unfortunately, because almost no one ever left the Confinement Zone, the scanner on the gate was covered in a thick layer of dust.

Seeing this, Jiang Qi frowned slightly. He pulled a necklace out of his pocket and waved it in front of the scanner.

The silver-white chain dangled from his fingertips, sparkling brightly, while the thumb-sized opal pendant below rippled with a kaleidoscope of iridescent colors. If Zhou Xing and the others were still here, they might have tried to keep him a bit longer just to look at this gemstone.

As soon as the voice finished speaking, the heavy mechanical gate finally groaned and shifted open, and a brand-new world revealed itself.

Outside the gate lay a landscape woven from countless streams of data. Through the narrow doorframe, vibrant buildings were visible, and a translucent LED screen floated in mid-air, broadcasting that the outdoor temperature was currently at the most comfortable level for the human body. The bright, clean streets and the bustling sounds of vendors, even though no people were in sight, made the place seem prosperous, gorgeous, and beautiful.

This was “Mirage.”

Beneath his feet lay real dirt, while in the distance lay virtual opulence.

Jiang Qi put the necklace around his neck, hiding it beneath his clothes, and stepped into the opulence.

Because of a sudden planetary impact disaster, Earth’s resources began to rapidly deplete and dry up.

Consequently, in the year 2033, the project to migrate humanity into a cyber network world was officially launched. Led by China, twenty-six countries simultaneously scanned the first batch of lucky individuals into this world, which had taken ten years to construct: “Mirage.”

In Mirage, humans no longer had to worry about a terrible environment, and they even had the chance to become immortal. All the dreams that could not be achieved in reality could be realized in this world, and achieving everything required only one thing: “Points.”

Earning points was also incredibly simple; completing game instances would award corresponding points based on performance ratings. Even if a player failed a game, it didn’t matter. At worst, they would drop the items on their person, or in the worst-case scenario, be thrown into the Confinement Zone.

However, since no one had ever seen anyone come out of the Confinement Zone alive, everyone regarded this place as another forbidden zone, and many rumors spread about it.

For instance, some said the Confinement Zone was actually a monster breeding ground, where all failed players were thrown inside to serve as monster feed. Even if there were players alive, they had probably turned into freaks, half-insane and half-witted.

Meanwhile, Jiang Qi, who had just come out of the Confinement Zone, was currently waiting obediently in line for the city entry review.

Pei Qian had been demoted to conducting entry reviews at the front of the Novice City because he had made a mistake. There were still a few minutes before the reviews officially started. Bored out of his mind, he spaced out while rolling two translucent marbles in his hand. The two spheres were roughly the size of a thumb, with colors spreading out like ribbons right in the center.

One was a blue so pale it was almost invisible, while the other was a brilliant crimson.

“Hello, I’d like to apply for a city entry permit.”

Pei Qian snapped out of his daze. A massive giant lotus leaf blocked the other person’s eyes and brow, revealing only a delicate jawline and a ponytail hanging down to his shoulder.

“Jiang Qi, right… Please show your face for verification.”

The lotus leaf tilted up slightly, though the large shadow still obscured many details. Pei Qian accidentally caught the other person’s honey-colored eyes and instantly sat up straight. “Cough, sorry about that. The system only pulled up your name for now… How about I explain the basic knowledge to you first?”

Seeing the other party nod with a smile, Pei Qian blushed and displayed the two marbles in his hand. “In Mirage, our currency is points. Aside from working in the Central City, the most common way to earn points is to enter instances and complete games. These marbles are the mediums to enter the instances.”

“The color in the center represents the difficulty and the number of players required for the instance. For example, this faint blue line with only one strand means it’s a low-difficulty, solo instance. As for this one…” Pei Qian felt a bit self-conscious. “This red is very striking, and it’s impossible to see exactly how many lines are gathered together. For a novice, this is an absolutely hazardous instance.”

Jiang Qi shifted his gaze to Pei Qian’s right hand. “Normally speaking, the higher the hazard level, the more points you get, right?”

Pei Qian murmured in agreement. “That’s true, but the brighter the color, the higher the mortality rate. Some people die not long after entering. Furthermore, once you die, the number of items you drop is much higher, and your inventory might even be completely wiped out. So, not many ordinary players are willing to enter this kind of instance.”

Jiang Qi looked thoughtful. “So that’s why this type of hazard instance marble was brought out for display?”

“No, I’m ashamed to admit it… It’s actually because I wanted to sell this hazardous marble in the City of Wings, so the central authority punished me by sending me here to serve as a review volunteer.”

After finishing his explanation, Pei Qian glanced at Jiang Qi’s expression. Seeing no disdain on his face, he felt even more self-conscious. As he pulled the marbles back, he said, “Once your identity is verified, I will assign a marble to you. Since you are a novice, you don’t have an instance wristband or a rank evaluation yet. Just go to the right later, find an empty testing pod, go inside, and insert the marble.”

“Yes, I heard all these basic operations from the broadcast while waiting in line, but there is one thing I don’t quite understand yet.” Jiang Qi’s tone was soft and drawn-out.

Seeing this, Pei Qian hurriedly said, “What don’t you understand? I can answer it for you.”

“What is… that?” Jiang Qi pointed at the electronic screen right above the city gate. The screen changed interfaces every few minutes, and right now, it happened to switch to the [God Leaderboard].

“That is the ranking list after entering Mirage. The novices and every city have their own dedicated leaderboards, while the [God Leaderboard] belongs to the highest tier of the comprehensive instance rankings. To get onto it, many metrics need to be taken into account, such as instance completion rate, number of new cities unlocked, city contribution points, and so on… The God Leaderboard features the top ten people across all combined metrics. To us, the people on this leaderboard are as distant and unreachable as deities.”

“However, even though it’s the top ten, the only one we actually address as a god is the number one player: God You.”