Border of the Pure Land

Lu Bu'er felt as if he had a very long dream, in which he seemed to hear a faint broadcast, distant yet near at his ear.

"On December 24, 2047, Orola Technology announced the Tree of Life system to the world, the ecological environment of the Earth has undergone tremendous changes, human life structures have been reshaped, marking the beginning of the era of universal evolution. The latest batch of humans awakening from the cocoon of time have harnessed immense power, and the officials have named them... Evolvers!"

"Global bulletin, in recent years, the Earth's environment has tended to stabilize, special dimensions have appeared in cities such as Fengcheng City, London, San Francisco, Florence, Strasbourg, and others. The Forbidden Zone of Life has formed in these areas, which are extremely dangerous. The Evolver armies have intervened and are sealing off the area, ordinary citizens please evacuate as soon as possible."

"The Supreme Federation has been established, a new order has been set up, Orola Technology has officially disbanded, renaming itself to the Akasha Holy Church..."

When he opened his eyes, his vision was a blur of pure white, his brain felt like it had been struck by a blunt object, creating waves of pain; his muscles were stiff and sore, and his bones felt as if they were falling apart.

It was as if he had been lying in bed for a very long time.

So long that his hair had turned white and the seas had become mulberry fields.

The broadcast vaguely remembered from the dream, he could no longer recall clearly.

He found himself entwined in pure white silken threads, much like a cocooned silkworm. Fortunately, they weren't particularly entangling, and after a few rolls, he naturally broke free.

"Entered the game?"

After a moment of stunned confusion, he remembered that when he played the initial test, the game also started from inside a cocoon; this was a setting made by his father and mother.

Back then, they had said, "Human evolution begins from within a cocoon. After the slumber and rebirth inside the cocoon, the physique is improved. It's like waking up to find that spiritual energy has been restored, and Earth has re-entered an era of myth."

The cocoon was the same familiar one.

But something seemed off.

He felt that the virtual helmet was still on his head.

He reached out and touched it and sure enough, there it was.

"Name: Lu Bu'er, Number: 75637, biological signs have been thawed, bodily functions have revived, soul matrix has stopped operating, initial evolution has been completed, Tree of Life Kabbalah System has logged off. Welcome to the new world, your current location is no longer in the normal dimension, the nearest city to you is Linhai City, your primary task is to survive and find a way to leave the Forbidden Zone of Life."

"Good luck, guardian left behind by the old world!"

A cold electronic voice sounded in the virtual helmet, the flashing red light went completely dim, signaling that the remaining power had been exhausted, and his heart suspended in mid-air.

The voice was familiar, just like back in the day.

But the question was, why was he still wearing the helmet!

It was a real head-scratcher, Lu Bu'er was a bit confused; he tried to awaken the system interface, but there was no response, and the tactile sensation was so realistic it was as if he had physically traveled through time.

There wasn't the slightest hint of a game.

He looked around and confirmed his suspicions.

This was still his old dorm room, with books and homework on the desk and cabinet, gel pens scattered everywhere, and his old laptop.

The pile of empty cancer drug bottles in the corner was proof enough; he had marked every cap himself, these things had once been his life and there was no way he could mistake them.

He was still lying in bed, wearing the school uniform of Fengcheng City No. 2 Middle School, and in his pockets were a mobile phone and keychain, a Swiss Army knife, an ID card, and two packs of egg yolk pies.

These were his personal belongings, no matter how realistic the game, it couldn't possibly reproduce the details of reality to perfection.

To verify his suspicions, he bit hard into his finger.

It hurt a little, and blood flowed out.

The feeling was so real!

He knew from what his parents had said about the game settings that to prevent players from experiencing adverse reactions due to pain during the game, pain sensations would directly be blocked.

"How could this be?"

When he turned to look out the window, he didn't notice anything unusual, the dark night sky was dotted with bright stars, which decorated the silent playground. Ivy hung down like a green waterfall on the slanted teaching buildings, and outside on the long street stood neatly arranged cars, albeit without any lights.

There was no sign of people on the streets; the brightly lit buildings had completely dimmed, standing silently in the cold winter wind, like giants holding up the darkness.

"A deserted area!"

Lu Bu'er remembered the game setting was just like this; after the divine legacy appeared in the world, certain cities on Earth would undergo tremendous changes, with ancient creatures reviving and monsters roaming.

Those cities would become extremely dangerous.

Not suitable for human living anymore.

They would probably turn into something akin to a dungeon concept.

Players who lived in those cities would have to face a high-difficulty dungeon immediately after breaking out of their cocoon, possibly going through many deaths before they could leave the newbie village, but the advantage was that they could gain a lot of experience and even some extremely rare items.

"Pure Land" being aligned with reality was a key selling point.

Meanwhile, standard players would emerge from their cocoons in their own homes, where the surrounding environment would basically remain unchanged, naturally devoid of danger.

The former is of hellish difficulty.

The latter is of easy difficulty.

"The setting is still the familiar one, and indeed my city has also turned into a dungeon, but this feels too real, not like a game," Lu Bu'er muttered to himself.

His phone still had 30% of battery left, but unfortunately, there was no network or signal; he tried making a few phone calls, only to hear disappointing busy tones.