Chenxi Calendar 640, June 4th
Gaia Main World, Fanor Continent, Royal Capital of Feis Kingdom, Bright City.
36 Feis Street, Kane Mansion.
Every June is the hottest time of the year in the Eastern Plain of Fanor Continent in the Feis Kingdom. The stable boys would often sneak a lounge chair behind the stables to rest, preferring to endure mosquito bites rather than sleep in their cramped and suffocating quarters.
The mansion, still cloaked in the previous day's heat, had not yet dissipated the warmth, but the eastern sky had already shown a trace of white.
A young man lay on the bed in the master bedroom, his light and breathable silk pajamas seeming unable to soothe the heat of the summer night. The fragrance drove away the annoying mosquitoes but was helpless against the sweltering heat of the night. In his sleep, the man muttered,
"Why is it so hot, isn't the air conditioning on?"
Lis turned over, planning to continue mastering his teachers' myriad skills in his dreams, when suddenly he sat up with a start.
Something was wrong. Isn't it January? Why is it so hot? Is the house on fire?
The sitting Lis looked around in confusion. Gone was the familiar immersive gaming pod and the expensive computer setup that ended up being used only for watching shows and handling his power-leveling studio business. The spacious room had nothing but the soft bed beneath him, a luxurious carpet, and a small table with a few letters on it.
Had he been kidnapped? But the environment didn't seem right; who would let their hostages stay in such a nice place? The windows weren't even secured. Don't kidnappings usually involve gags, bound hands, lying on the floor in three tight measures, plus a fierce and formidable guy watching over?
Moreover, why kidnap him? Although he made some money running a gaming studio, most of it was sent to Uncle Chen to keep the orphanage running. What kidnapper would go to such trouble for his meager savings?
Lis was now fully awake and carefully looked around to figure out where he actually was.
His gaze swept outside the window, and Lis widened his eyes in astonishment.
Looking out from the floor-to-ceiling glass window on the right side of the room, across the courtyard in front of the building, were scattered two- and three-story buildings. Yet, more striking was the white marble dome and the tall, slender spires beyond that black-tiled roof, which seemed to radiate a soft white light around it like a beacon, warm and captivating.
"This... isn't this the Bright City Dawn Cathedral from the Divine Revelation game?"
Suddenly, his head began to ache, a barrage of information flooding into his mind. Lis rubbed his temples, grimacing as he dealt with the sudden influx of data.
After a while, Lis finally understood where he was.
"My name is Lis Kain? A Court Viscount of the Feis Kingdom?"
"Am I... did I travel into 'Divine Revelation'?"
"Divine Revelation" is a groundbreaking immersive online game, entering the game through a dedicated gaming pod achieves a hundred percent simulation, attracting millions of players worldwide. At its peak, it had unprecedented concurrent online numbers of over fifty million, virtually monopolizing the online gaming market at the time.
For such a groundbreaking game, the official developers understand well, balancing gameplay while enhancing playability and competitiveness, attracting countless guilds and professional players, and introducing professional leagues, national wars, and other derivative play modes, creating a virtuous cycle and pushing the game's influence to its peak.
Lis's gaming studio was located within "Divine Revelation," recruiting a crew focused on grinding and power-leveling. His income was quite good. As a hardcore player and top-level expert, although his own skills were not less than professional players, specializing as a Fire Mage he had entered the top thirty in the Hua Xia Mage leaderboard, but he had been too lazy to join a professional team under someone else's management. He simply opened a studio. His income was not less than playing professionally, and he had made quite a name for himself as a god-like figure among bosses and ordinary players alike.
He had never expected to travel into the world of "Divine Revelation." Now, the Gaia World was still peaceful, but Lis knew that a series of magnificent tides of the era were about to come.
Such as the [Total War] that would sweep the six continents of the Gaia Main World had not yet begun, [Floating City Azela] was still submerged in the eastern sea of the Fanor Continent, the [Phillips Crystal] that opened the portals to many Different Planes was still lingering in the void outside the world, the disaster seeds that would pollute the World Tree Yggdrasil in the Gaia World during the [Crimson Invasion] were still gestating in the Abyss, the All Gods still sat on their Divine Thrones, unaware that they were about to be toppled by the [Time Tide]...
Playing "Divine Revelation" was exhilarating for Lis, who often wished he could replace his game character and personally defeat enemies; however, now facing the imminent dangers and disasters, he just wished to return to his modest cozy nest in his great homeland and satisfy his cravings peacefully.
Don't ask, it's heartfelt.
"Shit (a type of herbal plant)!"
Lis suddenly jumped up from the bed, his face twisted, wishing he could just bang his head against the wall.
Lis suddenly remembered the USB drive loaded with 5 TBs of his carefully selected math study materials plugged into his work computer back home. If Uncle Chen and his young wards found it, it might be okay, but if the girls from the orphanage discovered it, would he still maintain the immaculate, virtuous big brother image he had always presented in their minds?