Prologue

Beep... beep...

Inside the Huaxia Cosmic Observation Station, the signal detector’s indicator light flickered faintly, emitting a series of warning beeps.

The observer, who had been dozing off, forced himself upright at the sudden sound.

When he saw the source of the signal displayed on the screen, his entire body stiffened. Hastily, he rubbed his bleary eyes with all his might.

“Is this... is this an extraterrestrial signal?”

After confirming he hadn’t made a mistake, the observer dared not delay. He quickly connected to the communication device.

“Reporting to the director! Observer Two has detected an extraterrestrial signal!”

“Reporting to the director...”

Static crackled through the receiver. The observer decisively put down the communicator and hurried out of the observation room.

A minute later, a crowd of staff members had gathered in the observation room.

When they saw the endless stream of garbled code flowing across the main screen, everyone was stunned.

The Cosmic Observation Station had been operational for many years. Over time, it had occasionally picked up some unknown signals from space, but those had always contained only minuscule amounts of information.

But what was happening today?

Was this a data flood?

Or had another country secretly launched an information attack against Huaxia, causing a system malfunction?

“Are you certain this data comes from outer space?” Director Ding Chang asked in a deep, steady voice.

A technician working at the console immediately replied, “Absolutely certain. I just contacted the other stations—they received this data stream almost simultaneously with us.”

At this, Ding Chang took a deep breath.

“Then... can we decrypt any of its contents?”

“We can’t... The volume is enormous, and the encryption is extremely sophisticated...”

Ding Chang’s expression darkened. He was still considering how to report this to the Huaxia Space Force when suddenly the technician cried out in alarm!

“Something’s wrong! The firewall has been breached! The data stream has entered Earth’s internet!”

Despite his alarm, the technician’s hands did not stop moving across the controls. Yet, no matter what commands he issued, the system failed to respond, as if the entire system had crashed.

The room was filled with anxious, helpless faces.

...

The data flood lasted a full half hour.

After thirty minutes, the garbled code on the screen gradually disappeared, and the communication devices returned to normal.

Sweating profusely, the technician quickly composed himself and began reaching out to the outside world.

Moments later, he turned back with a bewildered look in his eyes, gazing at Ding Chang.

“Director, the data flood ultimately entered Earth’s Metaverse System...” (The Metaverse: immersive virtual reality technology that creates a virtual world for people to explore.)

“And then?” Ding Chang pressed urgently.

The technician did not answer. Instead, he tapped a few times on the secondary screen. Soon, a series of Metaverse entry options appeared on the main screen.

“Work”

This is currently the world’s most widely used Metaverse function. Through this system, people can perform all manner of intellectual work in a virtual environment, unconstrained by physical location.

Because of this system, humanity has broken free from the limits of traditional offices.

“Travel”

As the name suggests, this system allows people to witness the world’s most beautiful sights in virtual reality.

“Shopping”

Without leaving home, one can virtually stroll through all the famous pedestrian streets across the globe, placing orders directly from within the virtual world.

“Galaxy”

The world’s most popular science fiction Metaverse game, with the greatest number of players.

“Cultivation”

Huaxia’s most beloved Metaverse game, captivating countless young men and women.

...

Ding Chang’s gaze swept over each entry in turn, until finally it settled on the last option.

“???”

“Countdown to opening: 47:59:59”