"Little Ye, here's the receipt. Keep it safe. I won't be coming up," a middle-aged woman said, handing a receipt to Ye Yun before walking away without looking back.
Ye Yun casually tucked the receipt into his pocket and dragged his suitcase into the dilapidated building, which stood over a dozen stories high.
This would be his residence from now on, after his rebirth. While it seemed humble compared to the surrounding skyscrapers, its price was incredibly attractive.
He opened the door, tossed his luggage into the bedroom, and sat on the worn sofa in the living room. He lightly stroked the ring on his left index finger, his gaze lost in thought.
Today, after waking up, Ye Yun had directly handled his discharge from the hospital. Having experienced his past life, he understood too well the life he was about to face.
It was either wait for death or fight desperately to live.
Ever since he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, with the encouragement of his girlfriend Mu Yun, he had sold all the assets his parents had left him at a low price to afford the exorbitant special medication.
Even his only house was sold with the help of his girlfriend.
He hadn't expected that this girlfriend, whom he believed to be his true love, would directly abscond with the money from the house sale after he signed the papers, leading to him being kicked out of the hospital and left to fend for himself with less than half a year to live.
During his two months in the hospital, Ye Yun felt he had seen through the hearts of people in this society. Your tragic fate could garner endless sympathy, but it was only sympathy.
"You all think I only have half a year to live, but you've overlooked the existence of 'Heaven's Dao'."
"In my previous life, due to insufficient strength, I only lived for three years and didn't get to see you two scumbags again. This time, I hope you still have such good luck!" Ye Yun rubbed the ring on his finger, his expression as calm as water.
Heaven's Dao was a game jointly developed by all countries on Earth. It not only aimed to solve the problem of billions of unemployed people caused by technological development but also served as a model for wealth redistribution.
Concurrently, it was a revolution in the global financial system, using in-game gold coins to gradually replace the myriad of currencies in reality.
Thus, those at the top of the food chain created this game, and Heaven's Dao was its autonomous consciousness core. It governed the operation of the entire virtual world based on the consensus of over a hundred countries. Each country held one digit, letter, or special symbol of the password to modify the game's rules.
For this grand global reform, Heaven's Dao was extensively publicized worldwide. From the elderly about to be laid to rest to children in kindergarten, everyone knew of Heaven's Dao's existence.
They would never imagine that once Heaven's Dao was unleashed, it would break free from their control. Nor would they foresee the earth-shattering changes the game would bring to reality under Heaven's Dao's operation, even directly overthrowing technological civilization!
No one knew when it started. Ye Yun clearly remembered that he, who was supposed to have only half a year left to live, inexplicably continued to live.
Until three years later.
Fiery skies descended, and all things were invaded.
Ye Yun's strength was too low, and he couldn't survive that calamity. He clearly recalled that at the moment of his sacrifice, the global population of tens of billions had dwindled to less than two hundred million.
Thinking of this, Ye Yun looked up at the darkening sky outside the window, then checked the time, and a cold smile touched his lips.
In his previous life, he was just an ordinary player in Heaven's Dao, ranking over two hundred and eighty million among the world's nearly ten billion people.
In this life, he knew all the hidden dungeons and strategies from the first three years of the game. His strength would only be greater than in his previous life.
Therefore, his materialized strength in this life would be even greater, and his lifespan would be longer, no longer having to worry about the damn liver cancer threatening his life at any moment.
Also, the Huang Long Association, this is the end for you!!
"Ding dong..."
The doorbell rang at the opportune moment, interrupting Ye Yun's thoughts.
A girl in a white dress stood charmingly at his door.
"Who are you?" Ye Yun asked, a little surprised as he looked at the girl before him.
In his previous life, after being discharged from the hospital, Ye Yun had lived in the slums to save money for painkillers.
Even though he had rented this dozen-story building in his current rebirth, it was only slightly better than the slums.
It was rare to see such a beautiful girl in a place like this.
"Hello, I'm your next-door neighbor. My name is Ding Yi." Ding Yi was taken aback by the lean and somewhat unsavory-looking Ye Yun, then smiled slightly, but felt a shiver down her spine.
Could it be that she had encountered a neighbor with a peculiar hobby of collecting certain types of clothing?
Due to prolonged bed rest and lack of care, Ye Yun's physique was truly frail, skin and bones. He exuded a kind of sleazy aura that even his oversized t-shirt couldn't hide.
Coupled with his cancer, his walk made him look like a thief, and he didn't seem like a good person at all.
"Hello, is there something you need?" Ye Yun asked coldly, looking at the impossibly beautiful girl before him.
"Uh, no, I just saw a light on next door and came to say hello," Ding Yi said, looking at Ye Yun.
Dense! And a cancer-ridden one at that. Hearing Ye Yun's words, Ding Yi immediately labeled him as a "dense straight man cancer" in her mind.
"Okay, if there's nothing else, then goodbye," Ye Yun said, looking at her inexplicably, and then directly closed the door.
Having weathered storms, he was accustomed to maintaining a degree of vigilance and indifference towards everyone.
"Just like that?"
Ding Yi stared at the closed door, her face full of question marks. Was this kind of dense straight man cancer beyond saving?
As a beauty loved by everyone, she felt the sting of being rebuffed for the first time.
"Could this guy be a fantasizing otaku?" Ding Yi thought to herself and then went back.
At eight in the evening, the originally dark night sky suddenly lit up as if it were daytime. A colossal, radiant net appeared, seemingly crackling with lightning.
The appearance of this massive illuminated screen immediately drew cheers from humans worldwide. After nearly half a year of media promotion, they knew this was the prelude to Heaven's Dao's activation.
"Is it finally going to activate?" Ye Yun walked to the balcony, looking at the virtual net in the night sky, filled with excitement. Hearing the excited roars from various buildings, he couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.
Not long after, the net of intertwined lightning in the sky ripped apart at a certain moment. Countless light particles scattered down like dandelion seeds, accelerating as they passed through obstacles and directly entered various gaming media.
A speck of light, the size of a grain of rice, quickly zipped past Ye Yun's eyes and entered the ring on his finger.
Instantly, the ring glowed, and a message directly sounded in Ye Yun's mind.
"Heaven's Dao has its cycles, and all methods return. The Heaven's Dao game will officially commence in half an hour. Players who wish to enter, please find a safe place to log in!"
Ye Yun looked at the traffic on the street below, frozen as if under a petrification spell, and smiled slightly. He turned and entered the bedroom, lying quietly on the prepared bed, awaiting the activation of Heaven's Dao.
"Ding, Heaven's Dao is extracting your blood sample and genes to create your character..."
"Ding, Heaven's Dao is reading your financial assets and binding your bank account. Detected player deposit balance: 1,663,427 yuan."
Huh?
In his previous life, his total savings weren't this much when he logged into the game. Could it be that Mu Yun that bitch hadn't transferred the house sale money yet?
That's right. In his previous life, he logged into the game a few days late, and at that time, his savings were less than 10,000 yuan. Since it hadn't been transferred yet, hmph...
"The game will start in five minutes. Do you wish to enter the waiting queue?"
After a series of beeps and prompts, the game was finally about to begin. Ye Yun directly entered the game waiting queue and, in the meantime, began to examine his generated character.
Heaven's Dao was different from other games. The creation of characters and professions in Heaven's Dao was based on individual physical data and genes, with a degree of randomness, so there was no choice.
In his previous life, Ye Yun's profession was Mage. Although a glass cannon, it was a high-output profession.
"Holy crap, the difference is too huge! Could my current physical condition be worse than in my previous life?" Ye Yun entered the game waiting interface and looked at his character's profession and stats, feeling utterly bewildered.
Level: 1
Class: Priest
Life Beast: Black Ant (Physical)
Health: 30
True Qi: 30
Magic Attack: 2
Physical Defense: 2
Magic Defense: 2
Talent: D-class
Free Attribute Points: 3
Talent Skill: Midas Touch (Unique on server) - More potent than moving heaven and earth, it can enhance anything you wish to enhance. CD: 1h. (Note: CD doubles after each use. Can be reduced by killing monsters 10 levels higher than oneself.)
Skill: 1 Heal (Beginner): Restores 3 health per second to an ally for 5 seconds. True Qi cost: 3. CD: 10s.
Trash, the absolute trash of trash.
Everyone knew how weak a Priest was in combat, yet their stats were so low. Even equipping a Life Beast wouldn't help, as Life Beasts had no levels; their strength was directly tied to the owner's attributes.
According to the stat allocation coefficient for Priests:
Health Coefficient: 10
True Qi Coefficient: 5
Magic Attack Coefficient: 0.8
Physical Defense Coefficient: 0.8
Magic Defense Coefficient: 1
For example, adding 1 point to Magic Attack from free attribute points yielded only 0.8 actual attack power, a far cry from the 1.2 coefficient of a Mage.
Life Beast: Black Ant (Physical)
Health: 45
Physical Attack: 1
Physical Defense: 1
Magic Defense: 1
Skills: None
Ye Yun felt utterly helpless.
The Life Beast was even more so. Apart from having 1.5 times his health, all its other stats were only 0.8 times his, meaning 80%.
This character was automatically generated by Heaven's Dao and couldn't be changed. So, despite cursing profusely, Ye Yun could only grit his teeth and continue, thinking that this game was his only hope of survival.
Equipment: Novice Modesty Set - A set of equipment that seemed to serve no purpose other than covering the body.
"Please name your character."
"Jie Ming!"