# Chapter 4: The Merge
The countdown reached 00:00:01, and the world held its breath.
Xìng Huáng had spent the last twenty minutes trying everything he could think of—experimental logout commands, emergency disconnect protocols, even attempting to physically damage his virtual equipment to trigger a system ejection. Nothing worked. The timer continued its relentless descent toward zero while the oppressive silence of Crimson Valley pressed against him like a living thing.
00:00:00.
Reality shattered.
It began as a sound—not heard but felt, a vibration that seemed to originate from the very fabric of existence itself. The crimson landscape around him flickered like a glitching monitor, overlaying itself with glimpses of something else: concrete walls, fluorescent lighting, the familiar confines of his studio apartment.
For a terrifying moment, Xìng Huáng existed in both places simultaneously. He could feel the spongy ground of the valley beneath his virtual boots while also sensing the worn carpet of his real bedroom under his physical feet. His hands gripped both his twin daggers and the plastic handles of his VR controllers.
Then the worlds began to merge.
The crimson trees pushed through the walls of his apartment like they were made of mist. His gaming desk materialized in the valley floor, still cluttered with empty noodle containers that now seemed impossibly vibrant and real. The boundary between virtual and physical dissolved, creating a nauseating kaleidoscope of overlapping realities.
Through his apartment window—now somehow part of the valley's twisted landscape—he could see the city beyond. But it was wrong. Buildings flickered between their normal appearance and bizarre architectural styles that hurt to look at directly. The sky above churned with impossible colors, and massive shapes moved through clouds that cast shadows upward instead of down.
A system message appeared, but not in his usual game interface. Instead, the words burned themselves directly into his vision with letters of fire:
DIMENSIONAL MERGER COMPLETE
WORLD STATE: BLOOD DEMON MARTIAL REALM INTEGRATION - 97.3%
SUBJECT RECLASSIFICATION INITIATED
WARNING: ALL PLAYER STATISTICS RESET TO BASELINE
WARNING: ALL ACQUIRED SKILLS REMOVED
TALENTS AND TRAITS PRESERVED
NEW REALITY PARAMETERS LOADING...
Xìng Huáng felt it happen—a wrenching sensation as if someone was tearing pages out of his very soul. Years of carefully accumulated levels, painstakingly learned abilities, perfectly optimized statistics—all of it vanished in an instant. His character sheet flickered wildly before stabilizing on something that looked nothing like the familiar interface he'd known for a decade:
XìNG HUÁNG
MERGED ENTITY STATUS: ACTIVE
LEVEL: 1
CULTIVATION: NONE
BASE ATTRIBUTES:
- Strength: 10
- Agility: 10
- Constitution: 10
- Intelligence:10
- Willpower:10
- Perception: 10
**PRESERVED ELEMENTS:**
- Talent: Gaming Prodigy *(Accelerated learning and pattern recognition)*
- Trait: Divine Greed *(100% increased acquisition rate for resources gained)*
CURRENT LOCATION: CRIMSON VALLEY INTEGRATION ZONE
THREAT LEVEL: EXTREME
The reset was devastating, but what terrified him more was the implication. If his game statistics had been wiped clean, what did that mean for the billions of people who had been logged into Immortal Destiny when the merger occurred?
His question was answered almost immediately. Through the merged landscape of his apartment-valley, he could see other figures stumbling through the chaos. Some maintained the appearance of their game avatars, while others flickered between virtual and physical forms. But all of them moved with the confused, disoriented motions of people whose fundamental understanding of reality had just been destroyed.
A scream echoed from somewhere in the distance—high-pitched, terrified, and definitely human. More voices joined it, creating a cacophony of fear and confusion that seemed to resonate through the merged dimensions.
Xìng Huáng tried to message Yang, but his friends interface was completely gone. In its place was something called "Spiritual Sense Range" with a pathetic radius of 10 meters. Everything beyond that existed in a kind of conceptual fog, present but undefined.
As he stood there trying to process the magnitude of what had happened, movement caught his eye. Three figures approached through the merged landscape—the synchronized entities from before. But they too had changed. Their perfect game avatars now flickered with underlying forms that were definitely not human. Elongated limbs, too many joints, faces that seemed to shift when viewed directly.
"Integration complete," they announced in their harmonic voices, but now the sound came with physical vibrations that made the air itself ripple. "Reality merger successful. Dimensional anchor points stable. Beginning cultivation protocol implementation."
One of them turned toward Xìng Huáng with that unsettling too-bright stare. "Anomalous trait bearer detected. Divine Greed classification confirmed. Priority subject status maintained."
"What did you do?" Xìng Huáng demanded, surprised to find his voice working normally despite everything else that had changed. "What happened to everyone?"
"Inefficient question," the entity replied. "Current reality state optimal for cultivation-based advancement. Previous statistical systems incompatible with merged dimensional framework. Reset necessary for adaptation to Blood Demon Martial Realm parameters."
"That doesn't answer anything!" But even as he spoke, Xìng Huáng was analyzing the situation with the same strategic mindset that had made him successful in the game. Reset to level 1, unknown threat levels, hostile entities with superior knowledge of the new system. Priority one: gather information. Priority two: find other survivors. Priority three: figure out how to leverage his preserved advantages.
The Divine Greed trait pulsed in his awareness, and suddenly he understood something crucial. The trait hadn't just been preserved—it had been enhanced. He could feel it now, not as a game mechanic but as part of his fundamental existence. Every challenge overcome through skill rather than shortcuts would yield maximum rewards in this new reality.
"The cultivation protocol," he said, hoping to extract more information. "What does it involve?"
The entities exchanged glances—a disturbingly human gesture from their inhuman faces. "Survival-based advancement system. Combat experience yields cultivation points. Resource acquisition improves baseline capabilities. Death results in permanent termination."
The last part hit him like a physical blow. Permanent termination. No respawn mechanics, no resurrection items, no second chances.
"How many people were affected by the merger?"
"Current human population integrated: 6.7 billion entities. Projected survival rate after initial adaptation period: 0.3%."
The number was so staggering that Xìng Huáng's mind initially rejected it. Six-point-seven billion people suddenly stripped of everything they'd built in the game world and dropped into a reality where 99.7% of them were expected to die.
But then his Gaming Prodigy talent kicked in, and he began to see patterns. This wasn't random chaos—it was a system. Brutal, unfair, but still governed by rules that could be learned and exploited. And his Divine Greed trait meant that every small victory would compound into larger advantages.
As if responding to his thoughts, a new interface element appeared:
IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVES AVAILABLE:
1. Survive the Integration Period** (72 hours remaining)
2. Establish Basic Cultivation Foundation
3. Locate and Secure Resources
**WARNING: Hostile entities detected in immediate vicinity. Recommend immediate action.**
The synchronized beings were backing away, their purpose apparently fulfilled. But as they retreated into the merged landscape, Xìng Huáng could see other shapes moving in the distance—creatures that definitely hadn't originated from Immortal Destiny's bestiary.
He picked up a shard of what had once been his coffee mug, now somehow transformed into something that felt sharp enough to cut steel. His first weapon in the new reality.
Level 1 again, in a world where failure meant permanent death.
But for the first time since the countdown began, Xìng Huáng smiled. He'd been the ultimate free-to-play player in a game dominated by those who could buy their way to the top.
Now everyone was starting from scratch, and skill was the only currency that mattered.
The real game was just beginning.