Volume 1: Stranger in a Strange Land Chapter 2: The Beginning
"Is it stuck?"
Feeling that something was not right, Zhou Mu tried to call out the game menu, but failed.
"Game cabin, offline."
No response.
"Game cabin, forced disconnection!"
Still no response.
A trace of panic rose in his heart. He had seen an urban legend on the forum before about someone being trapped and died in a game cabin because of a malfunction in the game cabin.
Although he had always treated it as a joke before, after all, a VR game cabin is not like a tube inserted in the back of the brain, and there should be no such thing as being trapped and dying in the game cabin, which sounds too sci-fi.
But when the situation of the game being unable to be shut down normally actually happened to him, he couldn't help but start to have wild thoughts.
"Game cabin, forced to eject! Contact customer service!"
While Zhou Mu was shouting various emergency instructions, he raised his hand and tried to forcibly take off the VR helmet on his head.
But the next second he was stunned.
His hand did not touch the helmet, but went directly to his face.
Before he could think about what this meant, Zhou Mu's vision suddenly brightened up again. Before him was a starry scene. He returned to the treasure hall where he was before he went offline.
What is going on…
Zhou Mu tried to touch his face, as he was not wearing a VR helmet. He then touched his neck, where the zipper of the force sensor suit should have been, but he could only touch his Adam's apple.
This means that he is not wearing a force-sensing suit or a VR headset that can simulate the five senses.
But he still saw the starry sky in the treasure hall, and it was even clearer than the previous picture.
As clear as the real world.
An extremely absurd possibility emerged in Zhou Mu's mind, causing his heart to pound.
"Well, let's verify it..."
Zhou Mu swallowed his saliva.
【Teleport】
There was no game UI interface, nor a character panel, but when Zhou Mu thought about using teleportation magic, a gorgeous and complicated magic circle automatically appeared in front of his eyes. Then, many light spots symbolizing "coordinates" appeared in his mind.
In "End Watcher", teleportation magic is equivalent to the "fast travel" function, so in order to teleport to a certain location, the player must first go to that place to set the "coordinates".
Zhou Mu tried to choose the coordinates that symbolized the "Round Table Hall". As the magic circle flashed, the next moment, he appeared in the seat where he had said goodbye to the judges.
Even the "loading" interface that used to appear during teleportation no longer exists.
He looked at his hands in disbelief, hardly able to believe that everything before his eyes was real.
"So, did you really...travel through time?"
There is no game in the world that can complete the player's instructions with just a thought. If he has not gone crazy due to excessive work pressure, then there is only one possibility - he has traveled through time and space to the world of "End Watcher".
It was hard to tell what complex changes Zhou Mu went through after he realized he had traveled through time. But one thing was certain, he had absolutely no intention of going back.
Zhou Mu has no attachment to the real world, especially after his parents passed away a few years ago. Compared to the real life of going back and forth between the company and home, living by the inertia of life, he often feels that the world in "End Watcher" is the reality that belongs to him alone.
And now that he has really come to this world, it is natural for him to feel uneasy and fearful. After all, this is a world where magic and gods really exist, and it is a world full of dangers.
but……
Zhou Mu concentrated for a moment, and the vast sea of magic he had learned in the game naturally emerged in his mind. He felt that as long as he wanted, he could use these powers at any time, just like when he used [Teleport] before.
For a moment, he was even trembling with excitement.
It is no exaggeration to say that as a product of the goal of "perfect clearance", the archived character named "William Kane" is inexplicably powerful, whether from the perspective of game mechanics or background stories.
In the game, except for some bosses that require special conditions to be defeated, he is confident that he can defeat even the "Avatar of Nothingness", the hidden boss recognized as the strongest in the player forum, within three minutes.
Zhou Mu took a deep breath and calmed himself down a little.
Now you need to calm down...
Now that I have traveled through time and space and become the perfect account of "William Kane", I must first confirm the level of my own power, see how the mechanisms of various abilities differ from those in the game, and then find my previous partners...
"But then again, why has the Round Table become so shabby?"
After making up his mind, Zhou Mu noticed that something was wrong around him.
He looked around. For some reason, the previously magnificent Round Table Hall now looked as if it had been abandoned for a long time and was covered with a thick layer of dust.
The murals on the dome have faded to the point where they are unrecognizable, the statues of the Holy Spirit on the walls have been weathered into irregular honeycomb shapes, and the hanging flags have long since turned into debris on the ground.
In the entire round table hall, only the obsidian round table and the heavy refined gold door are still intact.
"Has it been a long time? But it was only a few minutes ago. It doesn't make sense..."
Zhou Mu muttered in confusion, then shook his head.
You have traveled through time, so there is no need to talk about so much. Maybe you have traveled to many years later.
Thinking of this, he felt even more uneasy.
If he hadn't traveled back to the era where the game story took place, a lot of the information he knew would have lost its validity. And more importantly, he didn't know if he could find his companions again.
In short, you have to find someone to ask about the situation first, at least to understand the era we are in.
【Life Detection】
Thinking of this, Zhou Mu launched an auxiliary spell. Invisible ripples spread out from him, and soon the entire Dusk Fortress was within his casting range.
Any creature touched by the invisible ripples would have its outline outlined by light green lines, allowing Zhou Mu to see it even through obstacles.
Unlike the game where only humans or other medium to large creatures can be detected, here even small creatures like mice and insects are outlined.
Does this match the skill description in the game? Detect all life within a large area.
Zhou Mu suspected that organisms such as bacteria were also detected, but he just couldn't see them.
Zhou Mu stood up while thinking. A flash of lightning appeared on his right hand, and a deep space crack opened up. He reached in and took out a staff made entirely of frost. A blood-red magic ball was inlaid on the top of the staff. The light from the magic ball covered the entire staff like a spider web.
Withering Chill, the spell medium he uses the most in the game, not because of how powerful it is, but mainly because of its very fashionable appearance.
The reason why Zhou Mu took out the magic medium was very simple. Just now, in the range of [Life Detection], he saw the outlines of three human figures. But except for the one lying on the ground who looked like a human, the other two had limbs that were too long and heads that were too big for humans.
The distinctive appearance reminded him of a monster in the game.
"Ah, he's still inside the Dusk Fortress..."
Although Zhou Mu didn't know how much time had passed, the Dusk Fortress was originally built to defend against monsters from the Moon Realm. No monster should be able to stroll around here and escape unscathed.
Zhou Mu thought as he stroked the magic medium in his hand.
This is the only thing that should not change no matter how much time has passed.
