- Within a Velvet Chamber of Unknown Mysteries -

“… Chairwoman, the United Nations of World 3301 have a message for you,” a servant said in the dim red room, knelt down on one knee with a document in her hand.

“… Huh? Which one was that again?” A small girl’s voice replied from behind the translucent pink veil surrounding a bed for one, the only visible part of her being her black silhouette.

“… The one you accelerated the decay process for, chairwoman. Do you recall it?”

“Ohhhhh, yeah. I remember now. Those stubborn old farts… so? What did they say? Finally given up?”

“Yes, chairwoman. They have agreed to your proposal and list of conditions.”

At this, the young girl cackled in triumph and clapped her hands together happily before collapsing on the bed.

“Heheh… but of course they did. They thought those puny human hackers of theirs could break my defenses that easily? Impudence. Mortals challenging a god is just asking for death.”

She paused briefly.

“Though, I guess what I’m doing is kind of similar, relatively speaking…”

Shaking her head vigorously a few times, she cupped her own cheeks and let out a deep breath.

“Anyway, the other worlds have already started. It’s about time for this one to begin as well… the selection process.” She sat back up and pointed at the servant from behind the veils.

“You, make the arrangements. I left you in charge of that company, right? Put on a good show. As for their ‘conditions’… hm, I’ll accept the ones I want to accept. It’s not like they have much of a choice—and not only that, I might as well add some conditions of my own, eh? Since they like ‘order’ so much… heheh, do your best to stir up as much chaos as possible. You know what I mean, right?”

The servant closed her eyes and bowed deeply. “Understood, Chairwoman.”

With that, she left.

“Hmph… you think I don’t know what’s going through your heads, old farts? This princess has lived since before your ancestors were even born. You all want to keep things nice and orderly, even in that world. You want your government officials to still be in charge of things, and your laws to still hold. Too bad, too bad… over there, strength is the only law—and I endorse it.”

Laying back down on her bed, she lifted her arm and opened her palm, as if trying to grasp the golden chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

“You can try and tie them down as much as you want, but humans, by nature, are ambitious creatures. If someone has the strength to the rise to the top once more, you won’t be able to hold them down—I’ll make sure of it. After all, that is exactly the kind of person I’m looking for—the type who can calmly get back up, no matter how many times they’re beaten down.”

Smiling and satisfied with herself, she placed her hands beneath her pillow and closed her eyes for a few moments before opening them again.

“Hm… that aside, I wonder how my fellow A.R.X.As are doing… have they found their candidates yet?”

*****

- The Asura God’s Throneroom, Bloodrealm -

Xuan sat on his silver throne made of dense Space Osmium, eyes closed and legs crossed. His long, elegant white hair draped in pools, spilling over the armrests of his precious seat. Powerful red Qi emanated from his body, filled with the vengeful souls of the countless other players he’d slaughtered, enveloping his striking figure with the aura of bloodlust. The runic mark on his forehead at the center of it all glowed brightly with scarlet light, strong enough to illuminate the entire dark chamber.

He had been cultivating in this manner for the past three years, equivalent to three days in the outside world. However, in-game, he still experienced three whole years—though it was half unconscious, so it felt like the blink of an eye. Moreover, his Osmium Throne was a heaven-defying Divine Grade artifact that made one year of cultivation sitting on it equivalent to ten normally, which meant in the span of three days in the real world, Xuan had achieved 30 years’ worth of cultivation.

Of course, at his current strength level, that was nothing. He already stood at the apex of the world when compared to other players, but there were still many challenges and bosses out there waiting for him to become even more powerful. Despite this game, Xianxia Online, coming out more than three years ago (real-world time), stronger foes, higher realms, and better treasures were constantly being discovered.

With a sigh, Xuan opened his glistening red eyes, and the aura of energy around him disappeared. That was enough cultivation for now. He’d successfully progressed his Dao of Space to the Ninth Stage, just one step away from the max, when he would be able to obtain absolute control of Space and freely command it.

“Now… let’s check how many idiots I managed to reel in today…”

Opening up a holographic screen in front of him with a swipe of his hand, he leaned forward and examined one of the seven Earthpulses tied to him. Each was a rich cultivation location that provided many benefits to those who cultivated there, but… little did they know, by staying there, Xuan was in fact siphoning their power. When they left, all the progress they made in the Earthpulse would disappear, and instead go to Xuan. It was a very efficient way of passively cultivating.

Of course, only top level players and NPCs were strong enough to brand and tie Earthpulses to themselves, and even among them, Xuan, otherwise anonymously known as Zero by everyone else, was the only one who had seven.

But today… there was no one there. He did not manage to claim any victims.

“… Odd.”

Usually there would be at least half a dozen fools who fell for this trick every time he checked. Generally, most players knew about these Earthpulses, but it was next to impossible to discern them from a genuinely good cultivation spot, so many fell for these tricks anyway. There was no reason for there to be no one at all in an Earthpulse…

Xuan then checked all six of his other Earthpulses, and was surprised to find not a single player in them either.

“What’s going on…”

Narrowing his eyes, Xuan switched his System to the Social screen, then changed the channel to ‘Global’. Immediately, he noticed that the chat was a lot less active than usual. There were only a few people talking, and they all seemed to be top players that, just like him, practically lived in Xianxia Online—possible thanks to Nirvana’s secret technology.

[Fairy Sakura: What’s happening? Why are there only less than a hundred players online? My Earthpulses are not seeing any visitors!]

[Daoist General Beloved Ogre: Me neither! You will always be a welcome visitor in my heart though, Fairy Sakura!]

[Fairy Sakura attached an image:

———1 Blocked Message———

Who is this?]

[Daoist General Beloved Ogre: Ngh… no matter! One day I will make you see the genuinity of my love, Fairy Sakura!]

[Celestial Seven Moons: … Daoist General Beloved Ogre’s passion aside, this is indeed strange. Apart from top players, there seem to be little to no one else online. Has something important occurred in the real world?]

[Priest Immortal Cabbage: Haha! Didn’t you guys hear? The government’s planning on moving everyone into XO (Xianxia Online). Global warming & all that, the surface has become too dangerous to live on. Crops can’t withstand the heat, and droughts are happening everywhere… not to mention the overflooding Arctic Ocean.]

[Celestial Seven Moons: I think you mean ‘overflowing’… and we’re all veteran players here. No need to explain the acronym. Also, you’re nowhere close to the Immortal realm, so why do you even have it in your name…? It’s not like having that in your name will help you reach that realm any faster…]

[Forgotten Island’s Lone Cultivator: +1]

[Fairy Sakura: +1]

[Immortal Wolf King: +1]

[Immortal Soul Master: +1]

[Nine Lives Fox: +1]

[Priest Immortal Cabbage: What the… where did all of you come from? Even one of the legendary Immortal-realm figures who never talk, Soul Master?! Almost on par with that Zero guy, whose true cultivation we still don’t know…]

[Fairy Sakura: Hold on, hold on… correct me if I’m wrong, but… isn’t Nine Lives Fox an NPC?]

[Daoist General Beloved Ogre: …]

[Celestial Seven Moons: …]

[Priest Immortal Cabbage: …]

[Forgotten Island’s Lone Cultivator: …]

[Immortal Wolf King: …]

[Immortal Soul Master: …]

“… Heh.” Xuan let out a soft chuckle as he read through these messages. They were as lively as ever. But it was true… Nine Lives Fox was an NPC who Zero had actually encountered in the past and had some connections with. NPC names were banned from being chosen by players, so how was this person using it to chat?

Unless…

Suddenly, a pop-up notification appeared in front of his face, above his System, and read as follows:

- NPCs are becoming even more lifelike and sentient, as much as any player.

- NPCs will gain all normal player functions such as Social and Chat.

- NPCs’ past memories will not be erased.

“… Huh.” Narrowing his eyes, Xuan arched an eyebrow. He usually turned off hotfix notifications since they normally didn’t force any players to log out, but this one was different. Never before has an update like this occurred, making NPCs more ‘lifelike’ and ‘sentient’… even to the point of giving them player functions?

Before, NPCs already had human-level intelligence, and were practically real people. Many players even married in-game NPCs and had children with them with no problem at all… so what do they mean by making the NPCs even more lifelike?

There was also what that fake Immortal, Priest Cabbage, said too… something about moving all of mankind into Xianxia Online? Perhaps, since all of humanity is being transmigrated here, the NPCs will become ‘real’, perspectively speaking? After all, Xianxia Online will become mankind’s ‘real’ world very soon. Was that why the NPCs received player functions as well? So they could truly feel like everyone else?

It would seem living inside the game did have its disadvantages as well. Xuan usually never logged out since he set up automatic payments for everything, and he had a steady stream of real-world money thanks to helping other players in-game (anonymously, of course). Leading them to treasure, teaching them secret arts, helping them defeat monsters… the list goes on.

But as it would appear, today was the day he finally returned to the real world, and saw all the changes that have transpired.

Blinking, he tapped on the gear icon in his System, and clicked on the ‘log out’ button.