Chapter One: The Game of Becoming All Things
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[Game system calibrating...]
[World environment scanning...]
[.......]
[Game launch program prepared.]
[Welcome, player, to the game 'Becoming All Things'.]
[Below are some instructions for this game.]
[During the game, you may incarnate as any entity and experience the myriad pleasures of the world. Your arrival will bring new vitality to everything within the game.]
[Due to the built-in anti-addiction system, even if you are an adult, your daily playtime cannot exceed twelve hours. Once the limit is reached, you will be kicked out of the game. We ask for your understanding.]
[Currently, your game level is: Level One.]
[You may have one incarnation per month, as a lower life form or object.]
[While playing, you can enjoy the enhanced bonus BUFF provided by the game.]
[Notice]
[To offer the most perfect experience, the game will provide guidance quests during play.]
[Guidance quests are not mandatory; please decide whether to follow them at your discretion.]
[That is all. Enjoy your game!]
Staring at the words that suddenly appeared before his eyes out of nowhere, Ji Yu was stunned.
Returning to himself, Ji Yu reached out with both hands, trying to touch the text before him.
But his hands simply passed through the words, which remained fixed in his field of vision.
“Is this real?”
Ji Yu was uncertain, caught between disbelief and surprise.
As his emotions surged, he suddenly felt a tightness in his chest, and an intense rusty taste rose in his throat.
By habit, Ji Yu sat up immediately and tore two tissues from the packet on his nightstand, pressing them to his mouth.
A light cough, and blood stained the tissues crimson.
He wiped his mouth, frowned slightly at the blood on the tissue, then tossed the bloody paper carelessly into the trash bin beside his bed.
Ji Yu suffered from cavitary pulmonary tuberculosis.
On the CT scan, half of his left lung was a blank, white mass.
The film also showed two not-so-small black cavities.
He had already quit his job and rested for three months, but the treatment was not ideal.
According to the doctor, his recovery was slow; conservatively, he would need more than a year of medication.
So, aside from the initial month after diagnosis when he was terrified, he had since grown accustomed to the weakness, chest pain, and hemoptysis.
The doctor assured him that there was no drug resistance in his case, so there was nothing to worry about.
In short, even if drug resistance developed badly in the future, he wouldn’t die anytime soon.
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It’s not cancer, so what’s there to fear?
Ji Yu was now at peace, treating his recovery as a time for relaxation.
When uncomfortable, he slept. When awake, he watched videos or played games, savoring the ‘leisure and happiness’ he’d always wanted.
Finding joy amidst hardship—that was the gist of it.
Yet today, his ‘leisurely’ life had encountered something different.
That something was the so-called ‘Becoming All Things’ game introduction now appearing before his eyes.
[Would the player like to enter the game now?]
[Once the game begins, you will randomly receive a new incarnation each month for experiential play.]
[Please confirm: Yes/No]
Suddenly, the text in Ji Yu’s vision changed, presenting him with the above prompt.
“Becoming All Things...”
Ji Yu exhaled deeply, calming his emotions.
He got up.
A simple wash, ate some bread—a routine he followed, though a bit breathless, before he lay back down in his bed as dusk deepened.
——————
[Player has confirmed entry. Game starting soon.]
[Incarnation selection in progress...]
[Selection range set: player’s planet, random selection of lower life forms and objects...]
[Random selection complete. Player entering game!]
Abruptly, Ji Yu felt his consciousness blur. In the blink of an eye, he realized his perspective was now in outer space.
Below him, the familiar blue planet loomed.
Without any prompts, his view began to zoom in.
His perspective was plummeting rapidly...
Like an electronic lens, as Ji Yu’s vision descended toward the blue star, a targeting mark appeared, quickly locking onto a green region near the equator.
The descent accelerated.
At this point, Ji Yu felt a wave of dizziness, his vision blacked out.
It seemed but a moment; when he opened his eyes again, his perspective had arrived at an unfamiliar land.
“Where am I?”
The strange panoramic vision intrigued Ji Yu for a while, but his curiosity was soon interrupted by the peculiar scene around him.
This was a lush primeval forest.
Looking around, the towering trees formed a green ocean, obscuring any end.
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In the depths of such a forest, it was bound to be gloomy.
Yet, the area around Ji Yu’s focal point was neither gloomy nor deserted.
Around him, the verdant woods and wild grasses had clearly been cleared by humans.
Below his vision, there was a ceremonial path about ten meters wide and nearly a hundred meters long, paved with gravel.
On either side of this roughly leveled stone path stood enormous oak trees.
These oaks were over twenty meters tall, their branches clearly shaped by human planting and guidance, with most limbs extending toward the path, shading it from the harsh sunlight.
At a glance, the pairing of oaks and stone path gave a unique sense of ceremony.
But that was not what amazed Ji Yu the most.
The greatest surprise was his new identity: he was now the largest oak tree at the very front of the stone path.
[Incarnation: Oak Tree]
[Note: This incarnation is about to lose its vitality.] (Time until this oak tree dies completely: 7 hours, 24 minutes, 39 seconds)
[Guidance quest (Phase One): In your thoughts, try to imagine a tree desperately absorbing nutrients from the soil. Rewards are given continuously depending on the depth and duration of your imagination.]
“Oak tree? And a dying oak tree at that?”
From his vantage point, Ji Yu observed his incarnation and the scene below, feeling an indescribable strangeness.
This oak tree, now his form, stood about fifty meters tall, its trunk at least seven meters thick.
Yet, despite its massive size, it was clearly different from the shorter oaks lining the path.
Bare branches, parched bark, and roots rotting beneath the soil—all these signs pointed to the tree nearing the end of its life.
However, the death of this oak tree was evidently a reality the local natives refused to accept.
Thus, they were using their own methods to save their ‘sacred object’.
Beneath Ji Yu’s oak tree, there was an old stone platform.
On this platform, a wild boar with long tusks was being held down by several natives, faces painted with unknown pigments, as they stabbed its neck.
Blood flowed down the grooves of the platform, entering a blood pool in front of the oak tree, about one meter in diameter.
The blood in the pool was nearly coagulated, flies and insects buzzing around. Just a quick glance made Ji Yu feel physically uncomfortable.
Blood sacrifice!
Just as depicted in many films, Ji Yu was witnessing such a scene.
The wild boar trembled, slowly lost its life, the blood inevitably drained into the pool beneath the oak.
Afterward, an elder—wearing a feathered crown and holding an oak staff—began a chant Ji Yu could not comprehend.
As the tribal elder chanted, hundreds of natives kneeling along the stone path bowed repeatedly, shouting words unknown to him.