“Loading data… Load successful. Please select your identity.”
Su You thought this was just a voice she’d heard in a dream. But when she woke up, she realized her entire world had changed beyond recognition.
Not only had her home vanished, but the bustling streets and towering skyscrapers she was used to were all gone, replaced by endless stretches of wasteland overgrown with unfamiliar weeds.
Su You looked down at herself. Her light blue pajamas had turned into a plain, rough linen shirt and pants.
At that moment, only one thought filled her mind—Had she transmigrated?
Before she could process what was happening, a familiar voice suddenly sounded in her ear—
“Greetings, residents of Planet C6666. I am the execution system for this round of world digitization.”
“Your previous planet has been replaced. Welcome to the digitized world. Humanity will continue to survive here. Please do not feel any negative emotions, because you, the inhabitants of this planet, have also been digitized. Here, death does not mean returning to your original world—it means true death.”
“I wish all residents… a healthy survival in the digitized world.”
Su You: …Survive in good health? What kind of blessing is that?!
She had just finished complaining when a notification popped up.
[Congratulations, you have received the aura statuses ‘Unknown Blessing’ and ‘Survive in Good Health,’ lasting 72 hours.]
[Unknown Blessing]: While active, the aggression of creatures toward the blessed will be reduced.
[Survive in Good Health]: All attribute recovery rates are doubled.
Su You: Is this for real???
Looking at these two aura statuses, a phrase flashed through Su You’s mind—“Beginner’s Aura.”
To be more specific, it was a “Beginner’s Protection Aura.”
Anyone who’s played games knows that during the newbie phase, the system always gives your character some buffs (auras, statuses) to ensure a good experience for new players.
And this so-called execution system granting blessings was exactly the same as those games giving newbies protective auras.
So, could this so-called “digitized world” be understood as turning the real world into a “game world”?
To test her theory, Su You tentatively tried to call up a game menu… and, both to her surprise and not, it worked.
After confirming that the world really had been digitized, Su You made another unexpected discovery: the prototype for this digitized world was clearly based on—or directly copied from—a game she recognized.
All because she saw a familiar logo.
It was identical to the logo from a game she’d played before—“Sunset Continent,” a full-immersion game.
In fact, Su You hadn’t just played it—she was the first player to clear “Sunset Continent”… more precisely, the first to clear it as a “City Lord.”
“Sunset Continent” was the name of the continent where the game was set. At the start, each player could choose from many identities, each with different gameplay and endings.
As a fan of survival, management, and city-building games, Su You had naturally chosen the “City Lord” identity, which allowed her to collect resources, construct buildings, recruit residents and warriors, and build her own city.
Of course, that was all a long time ago.
The game had completely disappeared two years ago, and with it, her max-level City Lord account was gone as well.
If this really was that game, Su You didn’t mind risking her life to play again.
Because, just as the execution system had said, everything was digitized now. Rather than giving up, she might as well focus on how to survive well.
Back then, in order to achieve a “no-death clear,” she’d only used a single save file, which led to many mistakes and regrets.
She’d wanted to make up for those regrets, but after clearing the game, real life got in the way and she put the game aside for a while.
By the time she finally had free time to play again, she learned the company had gone bankrupt and the game was permanently shut down.
…
…
“Let me think, what should I prepare first?” As a veteran player, Su You was naturally very familiar with the game.
If she remembered correctly, when she heard the execution system ask her to choose an identity in her dream, she’d thought the game company had had a change of heart and reopened the game, so she’d chosen the same “City Lord” identity as before.
This was confirmed when she checked her personal info.
[Su You]
Level: None
Affiliation: None
Identity: Builder
Stamina: 100/100
Hunger: 100/100
HP: 100/100
Status: Normal
Skills: None
Equipment: None
Auras: Survive in Good Health (remaining time: 71 hours 57 minutes 49 seconds)
Unknown Blessing (remaining time: 71 hours 57 minutes 49 seconds)
…
“This is exactly the same as the old interface…” Although her identity was listed as “Builder” rather than “City Lord,” that was just because she hadn’t built a city yet!
No city, no City Lord.
Once she established her first city, her identity would change.
After checking her personal info, Su You glanced at the other game menus. When she opened the [Inventory] panel, she suddenly froze.
Although the game had beginner’s auras, it didn’t have a starter pack. Yet, in what should have been an empty inventory, she saw an unfamiliar token icon.
She’d never seen this item before, at least not when she’d played the game.
For some reason, looking at the icon gave Su You a bad feeling. With a sense of foreboding, she clicked to view the item’s details.
[Lord’s Token] (This item will disappear in 71 hours 56 minutes 51 seconds)
Category: Special
Quality: None
Description: The Lord’s Token is required to establish a territory. Use the token on a selected area and light the City Heart Fire to found your territory.
Just as Su You finished reading the Lord’s Token description, a mechanical voice sounded in her mind—
[Please establish a territory and join the digitized world within the allotted time. Failure to do so will result in being classified as stray data.]
As if hearing the message in her head wasn’t enough, a huge window appeared before her eyes, displaying the same text.
Stray data?
What’s that?
Su You stared at the message, instantly latching onto the key point.”
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