1 Chapter 1: Life Roleplaying Game

North Road of Jinghai University, Jinghai City, Linjiang Province, Xinglu Cyber Cafe.

Lu Zhixing woke up from a heavy sleep, feeling his arms numb and sore.

Then he heard the sounds of keyboards and mice around him, occasionally mixed with a few table knocks.

"Dang, three against one and got killed? Don't you guys know how to play?"

"Did you see that? I was so awesome just now!"

Rubbing his slightly sore temples, Lu Zhixing opened his bleary eyes and looked around in confusion.

What was going on?

This was the lobby of a cyber cafe with a low occupancy rate of only thirty to forty percent. The customers were mostly young people, mostly playing games, with a few watching dramas. The atmosphere of the cyber cafe was good.

And Lu Zhixing seemed to have fallen asleep on a machine in the corner of the cyber cafe.

"How could this be... Did I have a hallucination from working overtime?"

Lu Zhixing subconsciously reached for his phone, only to find that the latest folding screen phone he had just bought with a month's salary was gone, replaced by an ordinary-looking student phone.

The cheap plastic frame and outdated screen-to-body ratio indicated that this phone was only worth a thousand yuan even in his original world.

The high emotional intelligence term for it is "youth version", while the low emotional intelligence term for it is "electronic garbage."

When Lu Zhixing opened the front camera and saw a somewhat unfamiliar handsome face, his mood changed from confusion to shock.

"Oh damn, I've crossed over..."

A huge amount of memories rushed into his mind like a storm, accompanied by the complex emotions of the original owner, drowning out all his thoughts in an instant.

Lu Zhixing, 18 years old this year, a freshman majoring in game design at Jinghai University.

His parents passed away early, leaving him and his brother Lu Mingyuan to rely on each other.

To make a living, Lu Mingyuan has had many jobs, such as street vendors, waiters, and food delivery. Until three years ago, he managed to buy this cyber cafe with the hard-earned money, and the lives of the two brothers finally got better.

Lu Zhixing could finally study without any worries and successfully enrolled in Jinghai University's game design major.

But the two brothers' lives had just taken a turn for the better not long ago, when they encountered another crisis.

The cyber cafe's business was in trouble, with a sharp drop in occupancy rates. Although Lu Mingyuan tried to act calm, he often secretly worried and couldn't sleep all night. His hairline had also moved back a lot.

Lu Zhixing was just thinking when he saw Lu Mingyuan walking over with a briefcase, seeming to be going out.

"Zhixing, I've made an appointment with several promotion managers from gaming companies tonight, it might be late when I come back, remember to eat on time by yourself."

Although Lu Mingyuan and Lu Zhixing looked somewhat alike, many people didn't think they were brothers at first sight.

This was because Lu Mingyuan had taken on the burden of life too early, causing his hairline to recede, wrinkles to increase, and his figure to change, causing a significant difference in temperament between the two brothers.

"You don't have to worry about money, I'm already working on it. You still need to focus on your studies as before, graduate smoothly, and find a good job in a big company. Your brother will be relieved then, got it?"

"Although from the results, Lu Mingyuan did solve every crisis smoothly, but only the two brothers knew the hardship behind it.

"Nevermind, with his personality, he wouldn't listen to me anyway.

"I'll think of a solution myself."

Lu Zhixing fell into deep thought.

"According to the original owner's memory, the key problem with the Internet cafe is the lack of funds. In the end, we need to find a way to make money.

"I don't know much about running an Internet cafe, but the technology in this world seems quite advanced. As a senior dog planner, I have many successful game cases in my mind...

"Perhaps we can try making games to make money?"

...

Following the original owner's memory, Lu Zhixing came to the storage room on the second floor of the Internet cafe.

In addition to the miscellaneous items piled up in the Internet cafe, there was also a military bed here. The two brothers often rested here after night shifts.

In the corner, Lu Zhixing found a packed cardboard box.

Inside was the lowest version of the fifth-generation VR game helmet that the original owner had worked hard to save up for during the summer vacation, spending over 9,000 to buy it.

This type of helmet was the hottest digital product at the moment, with revolutionary technology that allowed virtual reality through conscious connection.

But now, the original owner had packed it up to sell it.

The original owner's idea was that although the money wasn't much, it could at least help his brother's Internet cafe sustain for a period of time. Maybe it would even lead to a turning point?

But Lu Zhixing looked at the packaged game helmet and felt that this was obviously a narrow-minded approach.

Even if the game helmet could be sold at a discounted price, what difference would it make?

Would a few thousand yuan really make a decisive difference in the expenses of an Internet cafe? It would probably just be a drop in the bucket.

The VR helmet had a game editor that could be used to make games!

Without hesitation, Lu Zhixing lay down on the military bed and pressed the start button on the VR helmet.

Then, he felt a tingling sensation where the helmet made contact with his brain, enveloping a wide area from his forehead to the back of his head. His consciousness also became heavy, gradually entering a half-asleep, half-awake state.

When Lu Zhixing regained his senses, he looked around and realized he was in a pure white virtual space.

The logo of the VR helmet development company, Changteng Group, appeared in his field of vision, looking like a virtual hollow sphere wrapped in countless vines.

What surprised Lu Zhixing was that the original owner had not changed the default nickname yet, leaving it as a string of gibberish.

So he reached out and touched the modify button.

"Please enter a new nickname:"

Lu Zhixing thought for a moment and wrote "Yixiangren" (stranger in a strange land) in the input box.

The reason he chose this nickname was twofold.

On the one hand, Lu Zhixing was a traveler and had a "stranger in a strange land" mentality. On the other hand, as a gamer, he liked the meme "The Despicable Foreigner".

"Nickname changed successfully! Welcome to the virtual world of 'Taiqing,' Yixiangren!"

The scenery around him quickly changed, and Lu Zhixing found himself in a magnificent hall, the default login space. However, he was not interested in admiring it now. He explored the area and soon found the entrance to the VR helmet's built-in editor.

"This is a special pure white door, without any patterns or designs, and it looks very different from the surrounding style.

Lu Zhixing pushed open the door and entered the editor.

Here is an endless pure white space, with nothing except for the inconspicuous dark grid lines used to confirm the ruler.

"The question is, how do I use this editor...

"Oh, it seems like the original owner's memory has the instructions?"

Lu Zhixing made a few simple gestures, and immediately accessed the resource panel and the editing panel.

The original owner was a student of game design, who bought a VR headset and tried to use the editor to create a game and mastered the corresponding operations. This was reasonable, but the problem was...

If that's the case, why did he sell the VR headset?

With doubts, Lu Zhixing looked at the resource interface of the editor and instantly understood everything.

"Because in the editor...

"There are no! Materials! Available!"

The editor only had some very crude, rudimentary, and outdated materials, which were also sold at a high price. Except for a few wealthy people who didn't care about the money, no one would buy them.

The advanced materials required for making a decent game, such as original paintings, animations, and large scenes, all required a lot of money to produce. Either you form your own team, or you find outsourcing. Either way, it's not something ordinary people can afford!

Without materials, even if you have ideas, you still can't make a game that can be released and sold. Naturally, it will not help the current situation of the internet cafe.

Lu Zhixing was speechless. He silently exited the virtual space and took off the game helmet.

It seems that whether this VR game helmet is sold or not, it will not affect the eventual bankruptcy of the internet cafe.

Let's start!

However, at this moment, several lines of text suddenly appeared in Lu Zhixing's field of vision without any warning.

[Life Role-Playing Game Activated!]

[You are the only player in this game.]

[Game Function 1- Role-Playing: The game will randomly release role-playing tasks for you and provide necessary skills for the role-playing. After completing the task, you will earn role-playing points and random rewards.]

[Game Function 2- Resource Collection: You can consume a certain amount of points to collect materials from reality and automatically generate the materials needed to make a game.]

[This game is currently in the trial version. After the player achieves the first milestone goal (earning 100,000 yuan) through their own efforts, the official version functions will be activated!]

[The official version will open a point mall, where you can purchase rich rewards including but not limited to memory capsules and various skill books with points!]

Lu Zhixing was stunned for a moment, and then a wave of joy surged in his heart.

"Sure enough, according to the usual plot of online novels, there must be a cheat system after transmigration, is this my cheat?

"Although it's not the kind of blunt and direct money-giving godly system, it seems that it can automatically generate usable game materials? Then I have the resources needed to make a game, right?"

As long as he can get the materials, then the game editor in this VR helmet can be put to use!

Of course, there are still many questions about the specific use of this cheat, but these are not big problems and can be slowly explored.

[Do you want to receive your first mainline role-playing task?]

Lu Zhixing nodded decisively: "Yes!"

[Main Quest Role Play: Please play the role of a tree that strives to grow strong regardless of wind and rain.]

[Obtained role play skill - I am a tree: Clear your mind of all thoughts, remain still and stop all movements.]

Lu Zhixing paused for a moment, then a question mark floated slowly above his head.

"Huh?

"Are you saying that the role play target is not a person?"

[Playing a human is a relatively complex role play target and has a higher difficulty level, which is only activated in the official version.]

[The difficulty level of the trial version is lower, and the role play targets are relatively simple, so it is possible to have non-human role play targets.]

Damn, non-human role play targets are easier? Are you only thinking about yourself?

Lu Zhixing felt dizzy, and this first task almost made his waist buckle.

"Then this game shouldn't be called 'Life Role Play Game,' it should be called 'Tree Life Role Play Game'!

"Can't we change the role play target?"

[The main quest role play task cannot be changed or abandoned. Please approach the task with a serious attitude and complete the role play.]

"Your uncle..."

Lu Zhixing's mind was in a mess, but after thinking for a long time, he could only accept it.

"Well, this role play isn't that difficult, let's try it."

Lu Zhixing looked around and secretly closed the door and windows of the internet cafe's miscellaneous room to prevent his foolish role play behavior from causing too much mental shock to ignorant passers-by.

Then he opened his arms to imitate the branches of a tree, stood up straight, closed his eyes, and tried hard to imagine himself as a tree.

Fortunately, no one saw him, otherwise Lu Zhixing would have been embarrassed to dig out a three-room apartment with his toes.

He wasn't sure if the skill had taken effect, but Lu Zhixing's thoughts really emptied quickly, standing straight without moving.

However, after a long time, the completion percentage of the main quest role play target behind him did not change at all, still at 0%.

"What's going on? Am I not role playing correctly?"

[Role play guidelines:]

[1. Please immerse yourself in the role play, and try to make every move and action as close to the role play target as possible. (Achieved)]

[2. Please perform the role play in an appropriate environment in reality, and do not deviate from the specific scene. (Not achieved)]

Lu Zhixing's mouth opened slightly.

Why was the role play ineffective? Because he was on the second floor of an internet cafe.

Have you ever seen a tree that grows on the second floor of an internet cafe?

At least the place where his feet were planted had to be soil where roots could take hold, right?

The game judged that he did not achieve the role play target, which was indeed correct.

Lu Zhixing was silent for a long time. "Okay, you win!"

After a struggle of thoughts, he left the internet cafe, scanned a shared bike, and rode to the nearest Longtan Park.