Chapter 1: Am I a Professional Player?

Early June, the weather was hot and humid, and a light drizzle was falling outside the window.

"Buzz, buzz..."

Inside the room, the phone on the nightstand vibrated incessantly.

"Stop it, stop it, I'll get up after sleeping a little longer."

Fang Heng, sprawled on the bed, muttered and habitually reached out to turn off the alarm.

Hm? Where’s my alarm?

Dazed, Fang Heng opened his eyes.

The cramped room was a mess. A small wooden bed and a gaming pod occupied about a third of the space. Finished takeout containers were left carelessly on a wooden table, and a few empty liquor bottles were scattered on the floor.

A photo hung on the wall: a somewhat handsome young man holding a trophy, surrounded by a crowd.

There was no smile on his face; instead, he wore a look of arrogance.

Fang Heng’s body jolted. He sat bolt upright, wide awake, all traces of sleepiness vanished.

What the hell! This isn't my home!

In an instant, a flood of chaotic information merged into Fang Heng’s mind.

This body is also named Fang Heng, just like me.

He committed suicide last night?

Did my soul transmigrate?

"Buzz..."

The phone in his hand was still vibrating. Fang Heng looked at the caller ID; the contact was saved as "Big Trouble."

Fang Heng answered the phone, and a crisp female voice came through.

"Fang Heng! You jerk! Where did you run off to? I haven't been able to find you all day! Are you planning on just killing yourself and ending it all?"

Uh...

Facing the interrogation from the phone, Fang Heng was silent for a moment.

He could hear the anxiety in her tone.

"Sorry, I made you worry. What’s up?"

On the other end of the line, Xia Xi was stunned.

The old Fang Heng would never have said something like "sorry."

"Are you really okay?"

Fang Heng realized he might have said the wrong thing.

In his memories, the original owner of this body had a very volatile temper. Even if he was wrong, he wouldn't admit it, let alone apologize—getting him to apologize was harder than killing him.

Fang Heng simulated the impatient tone of the original owner.

"Anything else? If not, I’m going back to sleep."

"Wait, a friend of mine opened a new gaming company and is recruiting professional players. Her company is huge, and the benefits are great." Xia Xi bit her lip slightly. "I couldn't reach you yesterday, so I already sent your resume over. The interview is set for tomorrow afternoon."

A gaming company?

In an instant, images flashed rapidly before Fang Heng’s eyes.

The original owner of the body was once a professional player for a gaming club. At his peak, he represented the country in world championships and achieved decent results on the international stage.

However, the original owner had a short temper. He often had unpleasant conflicts with his teammates and even got into physical fights with them several times.

Later on, to please his girlfriend and under her encouragement, he took money to throw matches.

Soon, the club’s performance plummeted. The fighting was exposed online, and the match-fixing was discovered by the club, leading to him being kicked out.

If it hadn't been for Xia Xi running around begging for mercy and finding ways to help him back then, he might have even ended up in prison.

"The interview is settled. Just clean yourself up; I’ll come to pick you up tomorrow afternoon."

Xia Xi hung up the phone after saying that, not giving Fang Heng a chance to refuse.

Fang Heng held the phone blankly, listening to the dial tone.

"No wonder. I’m a professional player."

Fang Heng shifted his gaze to the gaming pod in the room, searching through the memories of this body.

The world after his transmigration was highly similar to the parallel world Fang Heng originally came from, with only one special difference.

The Lord God’s Game!

"Universal Gaming" was not just an empty phrase in this world.

Every human, upon reaching adulthood, would be forcibly pulled into a place called the "Lord God Space" to become a player.

Initially, players had to choose one of three dangerous doomsday survival games to join, and they would be forcibly kept in the game for at least thirty days every year.

In addition, every player would awaken a talent skill upon entering the game.

The original owner of the body was extremely lucky to have obtained an S-rank talent, the highest level, which laid the foundation for him to become a professional player.

One must know that in the entire China region, there were only a few hundred players who had obtained an S-rank talent.

Fang Heng scratched his hair.

His memory was somewhat fragmented; he had forgotten why the original owner of the body committed suicide.

However, since being kicked out of the gaming club, the original owner hadn't had a single cent of income, and he hadn't paid rent for over half a year.

Fang Heng checked his phone again and found several payment reminder messages.

No way... did he actually starve to death?

Fang Heng had never had grand ambitions; he didn't seek great wealth, just a stable life.

"I need to find a way to make some money... Hmm, there’s a game-related interview tomorrow afternoon... Anyway, let me go into the game first and see what’s going on."

...

[Welcome, player, back to the Lord God Space.]

[Entering entry-level game - 'Zombie Apocalypse'.]

The game world was considered another real world.

If a player dies after entering the game world, they enter a soul state and are forcibly sent back to the Lord God Space.

Unless they possess special items or skills, they will be permanently devoured by the Lord God Space and die completely after three deaths.

Entering the game, the moment he opened his eyes, a pale and terrifying face appeared before Fang Heng.

A zombie was standing face-to-face with Fang Heng, less than half a meter away.

"Damn!"

Fang Heng stepped back in fright.

Scared the hell out of me!

Calming himself down, Fang Heng realized that this zombie was his clone.

"Right, the S-rank talent!"

Fang Heng opened the character panel and switched to observe his talent skill.

Talent Skill: Zombie Clone.

Talent Rank: S.

Talent Description: You possess a permanent zombie clone. The zombie clone has 39.5% of the main body's total attributes and an additional 780% of the main body's HP. It inherits some of the main body's basic and passive skills. It recovers to full status after 7.8 hours out of combat and automatically revives 27.5 hours after death.

Additional Note: Increasing your player level will allow the zombie clone to gain a higher percentage of attribute bonuses and shorten the revival time.

"This S-rank talent doesn't seem that strong..."

Fang Heng muttered to himself and closed the game description.

In his memory, the zombie clone did not possess the ability to think; it only accepted Fang Heng’s commands and could not be controlled precisely once it left his line of sight.

Generally, besides using the zombie clone for combat, it could also be used for "AFK" (idle) tasks.

Even after logging off, the zombie clone could faithfully execute the commands given by Fang Heng.

It’s just that its brain wasn't very good, and it could only accept the simplest idle commands.

Thinking this, Fang Heng opened the game log to check.

[Your zombie has started collecting materials and scouting.]

[Your zombie has entered Highway 102.]

[Your zombie has noticed something.]

[Your zombie picked up Scrap Material *1 on the side of the road.]

[Your zombie continues forward.]

[Your zombie encountered a group of zombies coming from the opposite direction.]

[Your zombie continues to explore forward.]

[Your zombie brushed past the zombie horde.]

[Your zombie picked up Wood *1 on the side of the road.]

[Your zombie picked up Wood *1 on the side of the road.]

...

[Your zombie discovered an abandoned pile of debris on the side of the road.]

[Your zombie is attempting to search the debris pile...]

[Search failed!]

[Your zombie obtained Contaminated Bottled Water *1 during the search.]

[Your zombie's backpack is full; it is returning to the shelter.]

[Your zombie has completed 20 material collection tasks and is waiting for new commands.]

Fang Heng quickly assessed the gains from this "AFK" session.

Some basic building materials, water, and food.

Undoubtedly, these materials and food were extremely useful in a doomsday survival environment.

"But can this skill really be considered S-rank?"

This is the so-called strongest S-rank talent? Then how weak must other players' talents be?

Fang Heng curled his lip, unable to stop himself from complaining.

Just as he was about to walk around the shelter to see how much property the previous owner had left him, a prompt suddenly sounded in his ears.

[Prompt: Anomaly detected.]

[Prompt: New player detected joining the game...]

Hm? A new player?

Could it be that my soul transmigration was detected?

Fang Heng’s expression changed slightly.

[Prompt: Conflict detected. Determining current player as a new player.]

[Resetting...]

[All your current skills have been forgotten.]

[All current points cleared, backpack cleared.]

[Level cleared, initial respawn count reset. Current remaining respawn count: 3.]

What does this mean?

Clearing account data?

No way! It can't be this much of a scam!

Fang Heng felt increasingly uneasy.

[Prompt: Clearing complete.]

[Welcome to the Lord God Game. New players can obtain a talent skill.]

[Prompt: Since you already possess a talent skill, please make a choice.]

[1: Obtain a new talent; you will possess two talents simultaneously.]

[2: Upgrade your talent.]

Huh?

(End of chapter)