"What the heck is going on? That scene wasn't in the setup at all!" Liben was starting to panic. Staring at the strange anomalies on the screen, he grabbed his phone to confirm with the dev team. "Hello? This is Liben. What's happening on your end?!"
"No idea! The program just glitched out all of a sudden. We're working on an emergency fix right now!"
"What? What about the players in the arena?!"
Liben's gaze snapped back to the monitor. As the match timer hit zero, the apocalyptic scene faded away—but the four finalists had vanished without a trace.
Their avatars weren't dead—there were no greyscale death indicators—and they weren't forcibly logged out either, since the cloud interface still detected brainwave activity. With those possibilities ruled out, there was only one explanation left.
"Quick! Security, confirm the status of the contestants immediately!"
The four players were physically unharmed—the bizarre scene had only knocked them unconscious. However, their consciousness had been dragged into a dimensional rift.
In the chaotic current of space-time and the whirlpools of the void, gravitational force pressed in around them like a physical cage. They struggled desperately, resisting with all they had, but there was no escaping the invisible grip, as if some unseen hand were yanking them toward another world.
"Hey! Can anyone do something?!" Mo Yan shouted, but amid the spatial turbulence, no one could respond—everyone was too focused on surviving.
Just then, a soft light shimmered in the void, floating toward them like a leaf caught in the current. As it reached the center of the group, the crushing pressure eased.
It was the gem from the top of the tower. But wasn't that gem just a virtual object? Why was it here, drifting in this chaotic space?
Confused, all four stared at the gem. In the next instant, it transformed into a streak of light and shot toward them.
"Come now! Play your triumph before the gods! Fight for freedom, dignity, power, and fate! The victor shall claim their rightful prize, and the defeated… shall fall into the endless abyss!"
"Ahh!"
—
Mo Yan jerked awake, heart pounding. Everything around him had changed.
Blue skies, lush greenery, and the rustling whisper of wind through the trees. This clearly wasn't Earth… But more importantly, the gear he was wearing—it was exactly what he had equipped in Supreme Teyvat.
Could it be? Did I… transmigrate?
He got up, wandered through the forest, and followed the light. Before long, he arrived at the edge of a cliff.
"What is this…?"
The breeze was refreshing, but what truly took his breath away was the view: dense forests stretching to a distant town. If this were Earth, it'd be covered in factories and power lines. Here? Not even a single piece of litter.
"It's beautiful… Wait, don't tell me I really—"
At that moment, a few round red blobs rolled over nearby. Curious, he approached them.
"These red… things look familiar."
On instinct, he reached out to touch one. The moment his finger made contact, he recoiled from a searing heat.
Hot. And those red blobs—if this really was the world of Supreme Teyvat, then that meant…
He stood and continued to observe. Just then, the red orbs went limp, revealing eye-like structures.
"Fire Slimes?!" Mo Yan exclaimed.
No doubt about it—these were beginner-level monsters from the game's starter zone. The realization made one thing clear: he was now inside the world of Supreme Teyvat. Why or how? Still a complete mystery.
Whatever. Figure it out later—fight first!
He reached for his sword, but before he could unsheathe it, a Fire Slime lunged. Just as it was about to hit, a burst of water blasted it off the cliff. It smashed into the rocks below, splattering into a puddle.
"W-What was that…?" Mo Yan stared, stunned, in the direction the water had come from—jaw practically hitting the floor.
"You okay?" A girl in a mage's robe, holding a staff, walked over to him.
"PurpleApple?"
"Yep, that's me. So you're here too, huh, 'SilentLoner'?" she said flatly.
"If you're here too, then that confirms it. This is the world of Supreme Teyvat," Mo Yan replied without hesitation.
"Mm. The spatial turbulence during the game must've pulled us in. Honestly, the moment you woke up, you should've noticed—this place is nothing like our world. But as for why…"
She trailed off. For someone with a science background, this was too outrageous to accept. Yet the surroundings, the air, her heartbeat—everything felt too real to ignore.
Mo Yan thought back to what happened during the rift.
"'Play your triumph before the gods…'"
"Wait—you heard that too?" she said, surprised. "To be honest, I heard every word loud and clear. But what does it even mean?"
"What does it mean… Don't tell me it wants us to go fight some god or something?" Mo Yan waved the idea off.
"A god, huh? It's not impossible. We're in a completely unknown world, after all. We might run into one just strolling down the road." PurpleApple chuckled, then turned toward the distant town beyond the cliff. "But we can think about that later. First, we should find food and shelter."
She sighed. "Let's just hope the markets here use the same currency as the game… Oh, right. Since this seems to be 'real,' don't use my gamer tag. My real name is Zixuan."
Mo Yan nodded. "Nice to meet you. I'm Mo Yan."
"Mo Yan… So you really are a 'Silent Loner,' huh?" Zixuan teased.
Mo Yan shrugged. "Just a dumb joke my relatives made. Anyway, we shouldn't waste time. Let's get going!"
He turned to leave, but Zixuan quickly called him back.
"Wait. We don't know if this world is identical to the game. There could be all kinds of monsters in this forest. So, my suggestion is… we take a shortcut."
She turned toward the cliff behind them.
"A shortcut? There's a shorter way to town than this trail?" Mo Yan asked skeptically. His instincts were already screaming danger.
"Yep. This one right here." She smiled and pointed over the edge.
Huh?! You mean jumping off the cliff is your shortcut?! Are you nuts?! That's not a shortcut to town, that's a shortcut to the afterlife! Assuming this world even has an afterlife…
"You're… not serious, are you?" Mo Yan asked, forcing a smile. He wanted to curse, but held back out of gratitude—she had saved him, after all.
"Relax. Trust me. It's totally safe." Zixuan patted her chest with a confident grin.
They walked to the cliff's edge. Mo Yan glanced down at the spot where the Fire Slime had fallen. Every cell in his body wanted to back away, but Zixuan kept stopping him.
Finally, with no other options, she grabbed his hand and leapt off the cliff.
"C'mon, stop hesitating!"
"Wait, no—stop! Not like th—ARGH! Goodbye, Mom! I'm off on a very long trip tonight!"
~~------------------------
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