Chapter 3: 3. Chapter 3: Nothing to say except "Holy shit

Chapter 3: Nothing to Say Except "Holy Crap"

*Swish—*

Zhou Xiao's vision blurred.

A world shrouded in mist and clouds suddenly appeared before her eyes.

A rectangular interface popped up: [Please enter your ID. Note: IDs must be normal names.]

What does this mean?

I can't even pick a nickname I like (character name)?

Zhou Xiao muttered to herself.

Her usual ID was "Little Lady with the Strength to Lift Mountains and the Spirit to Cover the World." If there was a character limit, she would have chosen "Strength to Lift Mountains."

However, the scenery felt incredibly real.

Zhou Xiao glanced downward; a massive world seemed to be hidden beneath the clouds. She felt as if she were standing amidst the clouds herself. She wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but she could even feel the moist sensation of a gentle breeze brushing against her cheeks.

Usually, wearing a VR headset comes with a heavy sense of restriction on the eyes.

But perhaps because the scenery of this world was so lifelike, she felt as if she weren't wearing anything on her eyes at all.

Could this game actually be high-quality?

After a moment of thought, Zhou Xiao tapped the box, and a thoughtful Pinyin input interface popped up.

Zhou Xiao manipulated the controller to input her name: [Little Lady of Strength to Lift Mountains].

[This ID does not comply with the regulations of the Yunzhou Continent.]

Fine, as expected.

Zhou Xiao couldn't use her real name, so she tentatively entered the ID [Zhou the Lady].

The system weighed it for a moment, and the ID passed.

Then, the character customization interface appeared.

Puppets could also have their faces customized. Although Song Jiulai had commissioned a uniform template face, the system would expend a bit of energy during loading to allow them to mold their own faces; otherwise, everyone would look identical, and Song Jiulai wouldn't be able to tell who was who.

For some, character customization was a technical skill, but Zhou Xiao actually quite enjoyed it.

The moment her puppet appeared, Zhou Xiao let out a "Holy crap!"

She got goosebumps instantly.

It was because the puppet was too "real." The only thing that wasn't human-like was the inability to choose a gender.

Zhou Xiao was defaulted to a female body type.

When filling out game information, it even required ID binding and facial recognition.

She had no idea where a damn game got such advanced detection systems.

Aside from that, this human model looked just like a living person. Except for having a face with no distinguishing features, it looked real from every angle.

Is this game actually this badass?

Zhou Xiao suddenly felt something was off.

She remembered that the game's access window was only open for one hour, and she recalled some friends in the group chat saying they were going out to dinner tonight.

Since it was a broken game that no one had ever seen, people wouldn't care much, so surely not everyone would play it the moment it opened.

"Maybe it's just an illusion..."

Zhou Xiao thought to herself that perhaps only the customization system was impressive, and it wouldn't be like this once she actually entered the game.

She decided to finish the customization before checking.

This wait lasted for about ten minutes.

In her room, Song Jiulai watched the puppets in the courtyard who hadn't woken up yet, scratching her head in frustration. "Why hasn't anyone come out yet?"

Didn't the system say someone had logged in?

System: "What's the rush? They're customizing their faces."

Song Jiulai: "..."

Outside the courtyard, only A-Wu was waiting.

He was only twelve years old—in Song Jiulai's world, he would definitely be considered child labor.

He had been an unwanted orphan back then, only to be taken in by the previous Sect Master to serve as a herb-gathering boy.

A-Wu belonged to the common type of cultivator with very low talent. Combined with the fact that the Longevity Sect lacked good resources, A-Wu had only reached the early stage of the Qi Refining stage after many years of cultivation. Reaching the middle stage could only be described as "promising for the future."

The cultivation levels of the Yunzhou Continent were divided into: Qi Refining $\rightarrow$ Foundation Establishment $\rightarrow$ Golden Core $\rightarrow$ Nascent Soul $\rightarrow$ Spirit Severing $\rightarrow$ Great Ascension $\rightarrow$ Tribulation Transcendence (Ascension).

Each realm was further divided into early, middle, and late stages. Breaking through a single realm was incredibly difficult, but it would also exponentially increase one's lifespan.

However, he would never have imagined that even the early stage of Qi Refining was already the highest combat power of the Longevity Sect.

Song Jiulai had only just entered the Qi Refining stage, and even now, she only half-understood her mental cultivation technique.

A-Wu was very nervous. The Sect Master had told him that a batch of newcomers would soon enter the sect, and he would be responsible for leading them to familiarize themselves with the place.

From now on, he would be the Eldest Senior Brother.

A-Wu didn't know why newcomers would come to their poor, dilapidated sect, but a prophecy had descended a month ago: the Sect Master was the Daughter of Destiny, and she would bring opportunities to the Longevity Sect. There was no mistake!

The Sect Master said she couldn't appear in person because she had to maintain a certain persona, so he should take good care of the junior brothers and sisters.

If anyone was disobedient, he should just hit them.

But... wouldn't that be too violent?

This was A-Wu's first time being the Eldest Senior Brother; he had no experience.

*Bang—*

Suddenly, there was movement in the courtyard.

However, before A-Wu could see anyone, he heard a string of: "Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!!!!"

A-Wu was puzzled.

What did "Holy crap" mean?

Was it a type of grass?

Then the person changed their wording: "Oh my god!!! Dammit, was it not an illusion? Holy crap!!!"

A-Wu:...I understand. This junior brother uses profanity; how uncultured!

He must be properly educated!

However, before he could make up his mind to educate him, the junior brother went silent.

After a long while, Song Jiulai saw someone enter, only for them to deliver a string of profanities and then immediately log off.

Song Jiulai stared wide-eyed: "Did his internet cut out?"

Their game didn't even require an internet connection to log in.

System: "Don't know. He logged off himself."

Once someone logged off, the system certainly couldn't observe them.

Meanwhile, the player who had logged off immediately sent messages to his game group.

[I Was Shaking the Mountain to Scare the Tiger: Holy crap! Anyone who reserved a spot for this 'starting with a broken sect' game, get on it now, or you'll regret it for the rest of your lives!!]

[I Was Shaking the Mountain to Scare the Tiger: @Professional Game Reviewer, did you go out to eat? Even if you're eating abalone and delicacies today, you better die and come back to play this game, otherwise you'll be spitting blood when the login port closes later!]

[Old Taoist Ascended:...What happened? What masterpiece are you playing that's making you this excited?]

[Born to be Emperor: Eh? Brother Wu Song is this excited? Don't tell me you took a sponsorship from the developer?]

[Philanthropist: What game? Why haven't I heard of it? Brother Wu Song, what new game are you guys playing?]

...

Unfortunately, no matter how much they @ him in the group later, "Shaking the Mountain to Scare the Tiger" did not respond.

He had logged off just now because he was thinking about the one-hour limit; there was a countdown in the bottom right corner when they entered the game!

Having delivered those two warnings, he felt he had reached his peak moment of human kindness, and he couldn't wait to re-enter the game.

The reason he was the fastest was that he wasn't very good at character customization. As a "clumsy-handed" player, he had barely managed to make something decent-looking after ten minutes before jumping in.

Little did he know that once he entered, he would be completely shocked by the scene in the courtyard.

Holographic. Virtual.

In that moment, "holographic" was the only word that could pop into his mind.

He was even shocked to the point of losing his rationality.

And the moment he logged in, another puppet nearby woke up.

Hearing the commotion, the other person turned around. Their somewhat handsome face was filled with shock and bewilderment: "Brother, which group are you from? I'm Jingbaotian, game name Han Tian."

Shaking the Mountain to Scare the Tiger's body shuddered, and he rushed forward: "Holy crap, big shot! I'm Shaking the Mountain to Scare the Tiger, game name Wu Dahǔ."

Because his surname was Wu, and his group ID was "Shaking the Mountain to Scare the Tiger," everyone jokingly called him Wu Song. When he entered, he couldn't think of a suitable ID, so he just picked one randomly, following the same thought process as Zhou Xiao.

At that moment, a tender boy's voice drifted from outside the courtyard.

"Have the junior brothers and sisters arrived?"