Chapter 1 A conventional beginning
Year 2209, July 1st. A hot summer morning, China's capital city.
"Welcome to the «Rebirth» world. There is still 35 minutes before the release, please wait patiently."
Feng Xiao helplessly came out of the gaming chamber and continued to glance over the official website in hope of finding any possible useful information.
After being a bored unemployed man for so long, Feng Xiao wasn't able to remember just how many online games he had played already. But there had never been a game he anticipated more than this one. Other than «Rebirth»'s unprecedented features, it was more for his father's scary but accurate prophecy and his unclear mission.
«Rebirth» was a virtual reality video game and it had appeared very unexpectedly. A year ago, the thirty countries of the world had suddenly began to advertise about «Rebirth» and the promotions for it were unprecedented. On the television, the internet, magazines, billboards, bus sides, and even roadside poles, almost all the places where a person could be had a trace of «Rebirth».
What was even more shocking was the fact that the promotions were launched by the government of the countries. Soon after, the government gave some shocking news: the game had been written and developed by "Ying Luo", which once again pushed «Rebirth»'s popularity up another level. The game had not yet been released and yet it's popularity had reached a blood boiling level.
What, you don't know "Ying Luo"? I'll seriously ask you a question, are you even someone from earth?
In the 23rd century where a network had covered 99% of the earth, almost all of the communication, information, life, transportation, and military were dependant on that network. If there was anyone that could force the network to stop in a country, he would be considered a terrifying existence.
And "Ying Luo" was this kind of existence.
"Ying Luo" had appeared 20 years ago on the network and no one knew where she had come from. Some people believed that she was a "spiritual body" created by the network's intelligence. Some people believed that she was something created by the network to maintain order. There were many divided opinions, but it was recognized that she was the god of the web, an omnipotent god. One the internet, she had control over anything and she could easily control any area of the world.
"Ying Luo's" appearance was one that filled the world's people with surprised that turned into vigilance and finally into welcoming. Finally it turned into a feeling of worship and respect. Because she had appeared, it could be said she cleaned the web of anything dirty. The most important thing was, she played a pivotal role in the protection of the online world.
Year 2188, A collective group of around 200 American hackers worked together to steal Chinese military secrets, but at the time, "Ying Luo" had appeared for the first time on the internet. A white as sand body and a face covered in a similar white gauze, it made it that people could not see her face. On the monitor she gave a warning to all the hackers and then after being unsuccessful, she blocked the over 200 hackers' IP. Then she released a portion of America's military secrets as a warning.
Year 2190, The Japanese Islands carried out an attack on a small middle asian country for no particular reason. "Ying Luo" had appeared to give a warning and Japan had agreed in public, but still secretly plotted. "Ying Luo" in a fit of rage had stopped Japan's network until they agreed to cease their actions and offer compensation. This small 20 hour outage had caused the Japanese economy to stagnate for over 3 years.
Year 2194…...
Year 2195…...
………..
In the 23rd century, you could not know who the president of the United States was. You could not know that a snail was slower than a turtle. But you couldn't not know the name "Ying Luo" because she was someone that the entire world respected. She was truly the idol of the entire world.
A game that was developed by her, it was enough to make people of the world look forward to it.
According to the official promotion, «Rebirth» had the following main features:
1. «Rebirth» was a virtual reality game developed by "Ying Luo". The degree of reality was an unprecedented 99%. It was possible to accommodate over 100 billion players at the same time without any lag. The game was backed by the world famous gaming company Ascend who were providing all the hardware, equipment system, and monetary system.
2. «Rebirth» followed the principle of fair and rationality. All data and permissions would be stored in the "Ascend" database and be out of the influence of GMs and external factors. The "Ascend" system was also personally formed by "Ying Luo". After the game launched, all there would be no one that would be allowed to tamper with the data and all changes would be personally managed by "Ying Luo".
3. «Rebirth» was the first online game that would receive support national support. Ascend had worked with the top ten banks in the world to decided that once the game was released, the ingame currency exchange would open. The current set rate was 1RMB for 1 gold coin.
4. The gaming equipment would be divided into a gaming helmet and a gaming chamber. The gaming helmet would cost 100RMB and the gaming chamber would cost 100 thousand RMB. The gaming chamber could be folded to the size of a leather suitcase and could be portable. It would allow a player to not feel fatigue or hunger by injecting a nourishing cream. It could allow a person play for a whole month.
5. The gaming equipment would be sold on year 2209 June 1st. Every person could only have one set of gaming equipment and user bound to them. The game would be launched at 8 am on year 2209 July 1st.
Therefore, the release of the «Rebirth» world was enough to make the entire world go crazy. There were a few online companies that had gradually stopped investing in game development and began to focus on different aspects - To compete with «Rebirth»? That was nonsense.
A month ago, various countries began to sell gaming equipment at the same time. China had also began to sell gaming equipment in retail stores. Although they thought they were prepared, but they had underestimated how popular it would be. In three days, they had sold over 100 million gaming helmets and over 10 thousand gaming chambers. By June 30th, China had sold over 500 million gaming helmets. This shocking number was over one third of China's population and this figure was still increasing. Except for old people losing their teeth and young people with no teeth, almost everyone had a gaming helmet. The popularity in other countries was not any less than China. After all to experience this game of the era, no one would be stingy about 100 RMB.
Year 2209, 7:55 am. There was only 5 minutes left to the launch. Feng Xiao had already impatiently snuck back into the gaming chamber. The early bird gets the worm. Perhaps there were special rewards for the first few people in. Feng Xiao had the goal of being the first person to enter «Rebirth». He wanted to get as many advantages as possible.
"Welcome to the «Rebirth» world. There is still 5 minutes left before the release, please wait patiently."
"..............Please wait patiently."
"..............Please wait patiently."
…………
…………
"10…9...8...7…...2...1...0"
Feng Xiao only felt a white glow in front of him and then he appeared in a weird empty space. This empty space was filled with all kind of glowing shapes. The colours from the void collided and formed a brighter shining light. It shined to the deepest parts of one's soul making his body feel comfort as a sound rang from his ears:
"Welcome to the «Rebirth» world. Since this is your first time entering the game, your identity will be scanned. Please wait a minute……"
At the same time…….
In the center of China's capital city, there stood the tallest building in all of China. It was the largest commercial and recreation centre in all of China. Countless rich man had wasted a lot of money there. Not many people knew that at the top floor of this lavish place of entertainment, there was a secluded and elegant antique filled room. That was because this was a restricted area. There were less than ten people that were allowed to enter into this place.
"Boss, there is less than ten minutes before the «Rebirth» world opens. Everything is going as planned and no accidents have occurred. It is estimated that the public entertainment market will suffer a hit, but it will not affect the roots."
The owner of this voice was obviously old, but his voice still contained strength. It was full of energy as he reported the current situation to the man in front of him.
In front of the window wall of the study, there stood a middle aged man with eyebrows as sharp as swords and star like eyes. His brows were slightly knit as he had an anxious look, but this could not hide the man's domineering demeanour. He had a disdainful eye as he looked down over the capital city.
"Uncle Wang, call me young master like before. Calling me anything else makes us more estranged." Long Wei turned around and smiled as he talked. This kind old man, for as long as he could remember, he had always taken care of him. All the way until he became the youngest highest official of China. He did not have a wife or children. For the Long Family, he had given up his entire life.
"Yes, young master." The old man had a bit of excitement in his voice.
"Young master, will her method really work?"
"Perhaps. Currently it seems like the best solution. At least, people won't die in games. Then again, do we even have a choice?"
"......"
"China's increase in strength has already become an issue for the other countries. The issue of Taiwan was only an excuse for them. A year ago at the countries summit, they had joined together to suppress China. If not for the sudden appearance of "Ying Luo" on the monitors, China would have already been turned into the target of public criticism by several countries.
"This time, "Ying Luo" should be helping us right?"
Long Wei was silent for a bit before saying, "In the past, Ye Huang Tian bathed Japan in a sea of blood and terrified the whole world. But he gave Japan an opportunity. This matter is known to the entire world. A year ago at the conference, Japan decided to bring up this old matter and added fuel to the fire by inciting people's hearts with the words ‘enemies of the world' and ‘crimes against humanity'. At that time we were definitely at a disadvantage, but it was "Ying Luo" that helped use avoid this crisis temporarily."
"Young master, this can't be blamed on Ye Huang Tian, after all……"
"I understand." Long Wei cut off uncle Wang as he disappointedly said, "If I have to bear the mission of China's safety, I'm afraid I have to kill more than him……After all, the one who died is my, Long Wei's son…….The Long Family after my generation, will be cut off….."
Long Wei's body shivered. Although it had been 20 years since the matter had passed, but whenever he thought of it, the cold hatred made him lose himself for a while.
"Young master……"
"It's ok Uncle Wang, you can withdraw first. There are guests coming." Years of refining his will made it easy for him to recover.
"Yes, young master." Uncle Wang turned and left the study.
After he closed the door, a shadowy figure appeared in front of Long Wei. It was actually a black veiled woman wearing a black leotard, it perfectly displayed her hot body. Although her face and age couldn't be seen, it did not decrease her charm. She gave a giggle, "Uncle Long, to be able to feel my presence this fast, it seems like your power is about to catch up to uncle Ye."
Long Wei laughed, "Little girl, stop trying to flatter me. Even a hundred of my wouldn't be a match for that pervert. So, have you seen the person you wanted to meet?"
"Yes, but I still won't tell you who he is. Hee, hee~~Now I've come to say goodbye to uncle long because it will be a long time before I can see uncle long again." The girl's voice had a natural charm to it. Even in front of this prestigious supreme leader of China, she did not have the slightest bit of anxiety.
"Alright, go then little girl Xiao. Xiao Tian and Xiao Bing are already waiting for you. Earlier Xiao Tian was complaining to me earlier, but once I told him that this was his uncle Ye's decision, he instantly stopped talking. He, he."
"My brother has waited for «Rebirth» for over a year now. Now he's being pulled away for training on the day of the release, I'd be surprised if he didn't cry."
"Goodbye uncle long, I, Xiao Tong Ying will not disappoint you……"
The figure disappeared from the room, leaving behind Long Wei with a strange expression on his face.
With the power to control China, the highest officer Long Wei who was respected by over several billion people, he couldn't help but wipe off the non existent cold sweat from his head, "Hu, I've finally sent that witch away…...But I don't know which family's little kid is unlucky enough to have attracted the attention of that little girl.
In an unknown space, a girl whose body was covered in white gauze was floating alone in the colourful world. After a while, the girl let out a long sigh, "50 thousand years, my mission will finally be complete…….The prophesized person, will he really appear?"
