Pain.
A tearing, soul-rending pain was the first thing Lin Ke felt as he regained consciousness.
But the sensation lasted for less than a second before it was replaced by an experience so completely new, so utterly bizarre, that it defied description.
He was... floating.
It wasn't the physical sensation of floating in the air, because he couldn't feel his body. He had no limbs, no torso, not even eyes or ears. He was like a wisp of wind, a piece of code, a pure, formless "observer."
And yet, he could "see" everything.
It was a grey world.
Above, below, to all sides—everything was a chaotic, churning mass of grey mist. There were no points of reference, no sense of distance, no concept of time's passage. Everything was still, yet at the same time, seemed to be in constant, violent motion.
*"Is this... inside the sandbox?"*
The thought formed naturally in his "mind." He had no mouth, yet he could "speak." This form of speech was more like a direct expression of his consciousness.
He tried to "move." The moment the thought occurred, his "perspective" instantly traversed an impossible distance, appearing on the other side of the grey space. The scenery was exactly the same.
The feeling was absolutely extraordinary.
He felt like an absolute sovereign, an omniscient, omnipotent god. This world was an extension of his own being; the flow of every wisp of grey mist was intimately connected to his consciousness.
An unprecedented feeling of total control, a massive thrill, flooded his soul, making him temporarily forget all the troubles and pains of his reality.
Here, he was God.
And a god's word was law.
An ancient, primal thought surfaced from the depths of his consciousness. The long-suppressed human desire for light was now magnified to an infinite degree.
"Let there be light."
He focused his entire will and issued his first command as a god.
The instant the command was given, the entire chaotic space seemed to freeze.
Then, in the depths of the distant grey mist, all the particles began to vibrate and grind against each other violently. A faint glimmer, as weak as a firefly's glow, flickered to life.
It worked!
A wave of pure ecstasy washed over Lin Ke.
But the ecstasy lasted for less than a second.
The glimmer of light, as if it had exhausted all its energy, flickered once and then rapidly dimmed, extinguishing with a final, silent *poof*.
The entire world returned to its dead, grey silence.
At the same time, an indescribable, immense weakness seized Lin Ke's consciousness, as if a huge chunk of his very soul had been ripped away. He felt himself become unprecedentedly "weak" and "thin," as if he might dissipate into the chaos at any moment.
*What happened?*
As he reeled in shock, a massive, cold, emotionless stream of information flooded into his consciousness like a burst dam.
[Creator consciousness detected. Synchronizing world protocols...]
[Synchronization complete.]
[Identity: Creator.]
[Authority: Absolute.]
[Status: Inactive.]
[World Evolution Progress: 0.00%]
[Core Resource: Essence.]
[Description: Essence is the sole energy required to fuel the world's evolution and execute the Creator's authority. All acts of creation, modification, acceleration, and intervention consume Essence.]
[Current Essence Reserve: 0.]
[WARNING: Essence reserve is zero. Creator authority cannot be activated. World evolution cannot proceed.]
[WARNING: Creator consciousness has sustained damage due to forced intervention. Initiating ejection protocol...]
Before Lin Ke could fully process the information, the final, cold warning transformed into an irresistible repulsive force that violently slammed into his conscious form.
*"No—!"*
He let out a silent scream as he watched himself get brutally "kicked" out of the world that belonged to him.
...
"Gasp—! Gasp—!"
His eyes flew open, and Lin Ke sat up from the floor with a jolt.
He was drenched in a cold sweat, as if he'd just been pulled from water. His heart was pounding like a drum, each beat sending a painful throb through his chest.
The familiar, cramped rented room came into view. The air was still thick with the smell of cheap instant noodles and dampness.
*Was it all... a dream?*
He subconsciously raised his right hand. The gash on his index finger from the fruit knife still stung with a fiery pain, and beads of blood were still seeping out.
It wasn't a dream.
Lin Ke whipped his head around, his eyes locking onto the sandbox lying silently on the floor.
It had returned to its original state—plain, ancient, as if the world-shaking anomaly had never happened. The carvings on the frame were dormant, the sand a lifeless grey.
But Lin Ke knew. Everything had changed.
He closed his eyes, and the information that had been forcibly downloaded into his mind reappeared with perfect clarity.
"Creator..."
"Essence..."
He muttered to himself, his expression a mixture of shock, wild joy, and... immense awkwardness.
He understood.
He had really bought a world.
And he had really become a god-like being within that world.
But, he had also perfectly inherited the core attribute of his real-world self—
He was broke.
In the real world, he was paralyzed by a lack of money.
In the sandbox world, he was useless due to a lack of "Essence."
That impulsive "Let there be light" command must have completely exhausted the minuscule amount of "life essence" contained in his drop of blood, and had even overdrafted his spiritual energy, which was why he had been kicked out.
He, Lin Ke, was a god who owned an entire universe but couldn't even turn the lights on because he couldn't afford the utility bills.
An overwhelming sense of absurdity made him want to laugh and cry at the same time.
He sat collapsed on the floor, looking at his still-bleeding finger, then at the silent sandbox.
A crystal clear, and incredibly urgent, objective formed in his mind.
He had to, by any means necessary, get his hands on some "Essence."