TSA Chapter 1

Ran Qi walked out of the simulation battle room with a hopeless face. The light brain on his wrist had already received the report card. The big red ‘12’ stung his eyes.

“Ran Qi, are you okay?” His best friend, Gu Le, quickly stepped forward to help him.

“I’m fine, just a little dizzy.” Ran Qi smiled bitterly and said, “This time I was unlucky and drew the most difficult R-type heavy mech to operate. This time, my scores in the practical class were even lower than in the last semester. I might be at the bottom again.”

“It’s okay. Anyway, we’re in the service department. We only need to pass the theoretical score in mech.” This was not the first time this kind of thing had happened. Gu Le could only comfort his best friend in this way.

Their service department was originally engaged in logistics. Most of them only had D-level physical quality. Ran Qi was only E-level, and it was good to operate the mech smoothly. As for getting high scores, only those geniuses with A-level or above physical quality in the mech department could do it.

“Heh, waste. It’s just a simulation battle and you’re so weak. If you go to the battlefield, won’t you just die directly? It’s a shame for your family.” A voice full of mockery sounded from the side.

Gu Le and Ran Qi turned their heads to the side. They saw Zhang Shuo, a mech student in a special combat uniform, standing not far away.

The Zhang family and the Ran family were both private nutrient solution manufacturers, and the competition between the two families was fierce. The nutrient solution developed by the Ran family had a richer flavor, and the market share was larger than that of the Zhang family, so the Zhang family looked at the Ran family with particular displeasure.

Ran Qi was the youngest son of the Ran family head. Still, unlike his two older brothers who held important positions in the military department, his physical and mental strength test grades were the lowest level of E. With such qualifications, he was not even qualified to enter the military academy.

In the end, it was only after Ran Qi’s father spent a large sum of money that he stuffed him into the service department of the Capital Star’s first military academy. The students of this department were notoriously weak and were often jokingly called miscellaneous by other students.

The first military academy was the best school in the Capital Star. As the fourth young master of the Zhang family, Zhang Shuo naturally attended school here and was also the most valued mech student. He couldn’t compare to the eldest and second eldest of the Ran family, but he had a great sense of superiority over Ran Qi, who had a wasted physique. Every time he saw Ran Qi, he would sneer at him.

To Ran Qi, he heard these provocations too much. He was about to be immune, but Gu Le only heard those once and immediately said angrily, “Zhang Shuo! Don’t go too far!”

“Yo. There’s another little waste. If you don’t like it, why don’t we go to the sparring room and fight ah?” Zhang Shuo sneered, not taking the two of them seriously at all.

“You…!” Gu Le was so angry that his face turned red, but there was no way to take Zhang Shuo.

Ran Qi pulled his friend behind him, frowned at Zhang Shuo, and said, “You, a student of the mech department, challenged a student of our service department. Are you not ashamed?”

“Heh? Am I shameful? You failed all the combat courses and barely passed the theory courses. You can’t do anything in arts, so tell me what other skills you have to compare with me?” Zhang Shuo’s words became more and more vicious, and every sentence was stabbing a knife into Ran Qi’s heart.

Ran Qi was not a saint. He kept getting provoked, and it was only natural for him to feel angry. However, he couldn’t match his opponent’s strength. Despite his frustration, he clenched his teeth, unable to find an outlet for his anger.

He turned his head and saw the <Magic Realm> promotional video. It was scrolling on the projection wall in the corridor. Suddenly, an idea sparked in his mind.

“Let’s compare our gaming skills. Are you brave enough to battle me in <Magic Realm>?!” Ran Qi gestured towards the projected wall.

Thousands of years ago, a global catastrophe broke out on Blue Star. The Blue Stars people could only escape into the universe in their spaceships. In the calamity, the Blue Star civilization suffered a devastating blow. There was a severe cultural fault. Even though the Blue Star had stood firmly in the Star Federation and had built a huge Blue Star Empire, they still hadn’t forgotten their home planet.

Although Blue Star was no longer suitable for humans to live, the Empire sent out research teams dedicated to recovering those lost civilizations.

The <Magic Realm> was a holographic game made by the Empire government. They used residual data from the Blue Star to create the game’s background. They put a lot of effort and resources into restoring the Blue Star’s picture, achieving a fidelity of 99.99%. The game made people feel like they were in the real world, with realistic senses of smell, taste, hearing, touch, and vision.

In this game, people can rediscover the long-lost Blue Star civilization and savor the legendary Blue Star cuisine. How could anyone resist?

The game caused an uproar among the Blue Star people as soon as it was published. Within one day, over 30 billion people pre-booked the purchase of the game pod, and the number continued to rise.

<Magic Realm> also officially gave a series of rich rewards. As long as they could complete various achievements in the game, they could get multiple ultra-rare physical rewards. For example, the first to reach level 10, the first to clear the dungeon, the first to achieve the first kill achievement, etc, could obtain rewards! The first player to reach the maximum level could get a huge reward of 100 million star coins!

There was even a strengthening potion that the government had just developed not long ago. This potion could greatly enhance human beings’ potential. Ran Qi, who had only E-level waste in physical and mental power, could also advance. However, the materials needed to make this potion were extremely rare, so they had a negligible quantity, and it was something that money couldn’t buy.

Therefore, the game attracted many people, almost reaching the point of national participation. People’s conversations in the past few days revolved around this game, whether in real life or on the Star Network.

Of course, Ran Qi also bought the game pod. He was a professional player in his previous life who relied on games to eat, making money while playing games.

The game <Magic Realm> was based on the Blue Star Civilization. As a game expert from the 21st century, he had an enormous advantage. He needed a firm foundation to understand the third law of space distortion or hyperbolic linear code. But was this all just for playing a game? He was the ancestor of this group of future people!

Additionally, his oldest brother recently took part in the internal test of <Magic Realm>. He shared much information about the game, which felt similar to the ones he had played before. With this knowledge, he felt confident as he challenged Zhang Shuo.

He endured Zhang Shuo for too long. It was time for him to taste what it was like to be slapped in the face!

“Haha, sure!” Don’t call me a bully. We should locate a spot for a great fight once we’re both level 45. You won’t want to be killed by me so many times that you can’t log in to the game oh~” Zhang Shuo jokingly agreed with a laugh, dismissing Ran Qi’s challenge as not a serious threat. He was a player involved in the game’s internal test. He had a great understanding of the game’s rules.

The maximum level in the game <Magic Realm> was 80. Level 45 was an important milestone where players could improve their skills and equipment. Zhang Shuo planned to use this opportunity to bring a group of juniors he had trained in school and make a big impact in the game. The official rewards were generous and, with help from many people for equipment and skill books, his combat power would surpass Ran Qi’s. He was determined to defeat Ran Qi.

Because this game is so realistic, the pain cannot be fully protected and can only be reduced by a maximum of 50%. Otherwise, it could strain their mind, so if they died over three times in the game, they had to pause for seven days before being able to log in again.

Zhang Shuo meant to kill Ran Qi in the game until he couldn’t log in to the game.

“Try it then.” After Ran Qi finished speaking coldly, he pulled Gu Le to leave.

“Ran Qi, do you really want to face off against Zhang Shuo in the game?” Gu Le asked worriedly. “Everyone’s account in <Magic Realm> is bound to biological genetic information with one person, one account, and can’t be transferred, nor can it be played on behalf of others.”

“I know ah! Xiao Le. Have some faith in me, okay?” Ran Qi looked at his friend helplessly.

“Okay…” Gu Le sighed. “Let’s work together. I’ll accompany you!”

Ran Qi immediately hooked his shoulders in a brotherly manner. “Good brother! Hahaha, this brother will cover you!”

Gu Le glanced at him helplessly, not expecting his words. He changed the topic and said, “By the way, there are five professions in <Magic Realm>, such as mage, warrior, assassin, archer, and priest. What profession are you going to choose?”

“I think I’ll go with a mage,” Ran Qi usually prefers playing auxiliary professions in games, but since he had plans to PvP with Zhang Shuo, he decided to choose a profession with higher attack power.

“That’s great! I’m choosing to play as an archer. We can team up once we’re in the game! Archers have long-range attacks, run faster, and are difficult to kill. However, it seems like different professions start in different areas, so we might not be together initially. How about we play separately for now and meet up in the main city later?”

“Okay.” Ran Qi responded with a smile.

“What’s your in-game name?” Gu Le asked.

“Call it Bai Ran. I like white, and this Ran(染) is a homonym for my Ran(冉) name.”

“Then, I’ll name it Cola. I’ve heard it’s a very famous drink on the Blue Star!”

Ran Qi: “…”

Okay, fat nerd happy water¹肥宅快乐水 – slang for Coca-Cola, it’s good.

There were classes in the Service Department, but the teaching atmosphere was relaxed. The teacher didn’t care much about attendance, so no one minded missing classes as long as they showed up for the final exams. This led Ran Qi, the school scumbag, to decide to fully embrace his free time and immerse himself in online gaming!

Finally, the day came when the <Magic Realm> game opened for logging in.

Maybe he was looking forward to the game too much. Rang Qi had a little insomnia the night before, and it was almost early in the morning before he finally fell asleep. Waking up again, the game had been on service for two hours.

“It’s over, it’s over! I overslept! Gu Le will kill me!” Ran Qi hurriedly washed up, and then quickly lay down in the game pod. He didn’t have to worry about going hungry because the nutrient solution had already filled the game pod.

[System] Welcoming players to log in to <Magic Realm>. The brainwave scan is completed, the genetic information is collected, and the identity information is bound.

[System] Detecting an existing character, skipping the step of creating a character.

Ran Qi: ???

What does this mean? It’s obviously the first time he logs in. How can he have an existing character?

Before Ran Qi could figure it out, he had already entered the login interface. Then, he saw a very familiar white-haired priest.

Ran Qi: “…”

Isn’t that the character he played in an RPG with a magical background before he crossed over??? That game is also called <Magic Realm>!

This game should be the one he played the longest, put the most effort into, and had the most in-game purchases.

The priest’s white hair was something he had spent thousands of RMB when he participated in the lottery. The silver-white moonlight priest’s robe, which looked very luxurious with gold trim, and the moonlight staff with its own gorgeous special effect aura, were all top-grade orange outfits he had spent most of his time desperately clearing dungeons and collecting various rare materials with low drop rate to be made.

Both games were also called <Magic Realm>, and the Blue Star that the others were talking about was Earth. Could it be that the Empire’s research team had restored the database of the game <Magic Realm> from the information found in the ruins of the Blue Star?

So not only did he cross over, but the game character followed???

Is this a system bug ah?

But he and Zhang Shuo agreed to meet in the arena. What can I do if the game suddenly stuffed him into a priest? The priest is a pure auxiliary profession with a few attack skills. Is it possible for me to grind the opponent’s health slowly to death with normal attacks while healing myself?

Each account could only have one character, so unless Ran Qi deleted the priest character, there was no way for him to play as a mage.

He really couldn’t afford to delete the account. After all, this character was his heart and soul ah!

Ran Qi considered it and decided to check out the game first.

[System] Game access in progress, please wait…

• 1
  肥宅快乐水 – slang for Coca-Cola