“Ding!”
“Ding ding—!”
Phone notifications chimed one after another.
Li Wu didn't seem to hear them.
He stood in front of the silver-white Game Pod, gazing past the window at the sky outside.
Above the city in the afternoon, a giant promotional airship several hundred meters long drifted slowly by.
On both sides of the airship, enormous holographic images kept shifting.
A human Knight in heavy armor strode across a wasteland.
An Elf stood atop an ancient tree.
An Orc Army stretched endlessly.
A swarm of insects blotting out the sun poured out of a canyon.
Finally, a vast planet filled the entire screen.
Several large golden characters then appeared.
【The world's first hyper-realistic Lord game, Galaxy, officially opens its public beta today!】
Li Wu looked at the promotional images, so familiar he could recite them by heart.
For a long moment, he said nothing.
Slowly, he let out a breath.
“Really…”
“I've really come back.”
It wasn't a dream.
The electronic calendar on the wall.
The takeout helmet on the desk.
And the Game Pod in front of him, which had cost nearly all of his savings.
Everything was exactly as he remembered.
Today.
It was the very first day Galaxy opened its servers!
Li Wu lowered his head.
The phone screen was still lit.
In his previous life, he had also stood here at this exact time.
But back then, all he had seen was money.
In Galaxy, blueprints, resources, and equipment could all be freely traded.
On the first day of launch, Advanced Building Blueprints were being bid up to astronomical prices by major conglomerates.
And after he entered the game, his luck had been excellent.
A Medium Territory.
An A-grade Barracks!
While the vast majority of players were still struggling with C-grade and D-grade Barracks, his starting position had surpassed over ninety percent of players.
Yet he had made a decision that would haunt him countless times afterward.
He sold the A-grade Barracks Blueprint.
Cashed it out.
Then bought a B-grade Blueprint at a lower price.
Because back then, Li Wu thought A and B grades differed by only one level.
If he could pocket several hundred thousand from it.
He could pay his younger sister's tuition and finally take a break.
Then the Beginner Trial began.
Only then did he realize how absurdly wrong he had been.
Every Galaxy player who enters a territory for the first time must face a Beginner Level.
The difficulty was not high.
Yet it determined the true starting position!
Pass.
Keep the territory.
Fail.
Immediate demotion!
Failing a Large Territory once demotes it to Medium.
A Medium Territory is demoted to Small.
And once a Small Territory fails, its owner immediately loses their Lord Qualification!
Permanently barred from ever entering Galaxy again!
In his previous life.
His A-grade Barracks had been more than enough to hold that Medium Territory.
But after switching to a B-grade, his strength fell a noticeable step behind.
That one step was all it took.
It was what made him lose.
The Medium Territory was demoted to Small.
And he fell from the first tier straight into the dust.
For the next half year, he struggled desperately to catch up, but never managed to reach those Lords who truly stood at the summit.
Even more terrifying was what came half a year later.
Everyone finally learned the truth.
Galaxy had never been a game!
The game world had completely merged with reality.
Countless monsters descended upon Earth.
Cities collapsed.
Order disintegrated.
Then.
The entire Earth was dragged away from its original starry sky by an incomprehensible force.
Thrown into a great universe so vast it was beyond imagination!
There.
The territories, unit types, and Heroes from the game…
All became real!
Those who lost their Lord Qualification could only become the lowest ordinary people in the torrent of the era.
Li Wu was among them.
Until his death.
He never forgot the choice he had made the first time.
Several hundred thousand Credit Points had traded away the future he could have held.
Li Wu lifted his eyes.
Outside the window, Galaxy's promotional airship was drifting past above the city.
He smiled.
“This time, I want the money.”
“I want the territory too.”
“What I lost in my previous life…”
“This time, I won't lose a single thing.”
Li Wu stepped into the Game Pod.
The hatch sealed shut.
But he did not log in right away.
His eyes fixed on the mechanical clock in the upper right corner of the Game Pod.
The second hand.
The minute hand.
The hour hand.
Were drawing closer, little by little.
This was a small trick that only began circulating on player forums long after Galaxy had been open in his previous life.
No one knew why.
All anyone knew was that logging into Galaxy at the instant all three clock hands perfectly overlapped greatly increased the chance of drawing an Advanced Starting Barracks.
Many top Lords, after reviewing their own login records, confirmed this claim.
By the time Li Wu learned of it in his previous life, it was already too late.
In this life, he would not miss it.
11:59:58.
Fifty-nine seconds.
12:00 exactly!
“Three hands aligned!”
“Log in to Galaxy!”
Hmm—!
Darkness swallowed his vision in an instant.
The next moment.
Countless points of starlight streaked past Li Wu.
【Identity confirmed.】
【Welcome, Player Li Wu, to Galaxy.】
【Randomly assigning initial territory.】
【Assignment complete!】
【Congratulations, you have obtained a Small Territory!】
【Small Territory: A territory of limited size and a remote location. Initial Territory Residents and resource-gathering population are limited. It can be continuously expanded through war, construction, and Special Items.】
Li Wu's expression did not change at all.
A Small Territory.
Not impressive.
But it was enough.
What truly mattered was the Barracks!
【Randomly assigning initial Military Building.】
Li Wu's breathing slowed slightly.
In the next instant, the entire sky suddenly turned emerald green!
A golden ancient tree, blotting out the sky, descended from the heavens as a phantom image.
At the same time.
A crisp broadcast rang out across the ears of every player on the entire server!
【Server-wide announcement!】
【Congratulations to Player “Li Wu” for obtaining an A-grade Barracks: Elven Empire Fortress!】
Before Li Wu's eyes.
A blueprint glowing with jade-green light slowly unfolded.
【A-grade: Elven Empire Fortress】
【Type: Advanced Barracks】
【Maximum recruitable: Tier 6 unit types】
【Basic Unit Type: Elven Longbowman】
【Advanced unit types: Silver Moon Sword Guard, Ranger General, War Ancient Tree…】
A-grade!
Tier 6 troops!
Li Wu's lips curled up slightly.
Got it.
Even this starting position alone was already enough!
And at this moment.
The entire server had completely exploded.
Before Li Wu even opened the chat channel, private message notifications were already flashing wildly.
【Unread private messages: 27】
【Unread private messages: 56】
【Unread private messages: 99+】
“Brother Li Wu, are you selling the blueprint?”
“200,000 Credit Points, transferring right now!”
“I'm with Skyvault Group. We'll pay 400,000 for the A-grade Elven Fortress!”
“500,000!”
“The price is negotiable!”
Looking at those familiar offers.
Li Wu only let out a short laugh.
In his previous life.
It was these very numbers that had made him sell his future.
This time?
Not for 500,000.
Not even for 5,000,000 would he sell.
Li Wu raised his hand, about to use 【Elven Empire Fortress】.
Just as his fingertip was about to touch the blueprint.
His vision suddenly went black.
A red window, completely unlike the Galaxy system, silently appeared.
【Convertible Building Blueprint detected.】
Li Wu's movement abruptly stopped.
【Convert the current Building Blueprint into the Warhammer version?】
“…”
Li Wu's pupils slowly contracted.
Warhammer?
Which Warhammer?
Two hundred years later, this name had long since belonged to Old Era culture.
Yet Li Wu happened to know it.
He could even say he was very familiar with it!
In his youth, he had loved most to browse the old-era cultural archives.
And Warhammer was among the most grand and also most frenzied classic science fiction works within them.
It was an age in which countless mighty heroes fought bloody battles for humanity, for faith, and for the right to rule the galaxy!
The Emperor.
Astartes.
Imperial Guard.
Adeptus Mechanicus.
Titans…
One name after another, long sunk into the depths of memory, rushed back to him.
Li Wu's heartbeat truly quickened for the first time.
What if it really was that Warhammer?
He did not hesitate at all.
He pressed down firmly.
“Yes!”
The jade-green Elven Fortress blueprint shattered instantly!
Every light representing forests, ancient trees, and Elven civilization vanished in an instant.
Boom!
A low machine rumble rose, so deep it made the chest feel heavy.
Steel.
Smokestacks.
Searchlights.
Armored walls.
Dense rows of gun emplacements.
A colossal war fortress surrounded by black smoke and steel slowly emerged from the darkness!
Crimson text then descended.
【Conversion successful!】
【Congratulations, you have obtained a Special Barracks!】
【Armageddon Steel Legion War Fortress!】
Li Wu stared at the colossal behemoth before him, fully armed with steel and war.
His breath stopped for a moment.
Then.
He smiled.
“It really is…”
“Warhammer.”