Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Nine-Tier System

“Nine-tier system, is it?”
“That’s right.”
“They certainly do like to keep things simple, but the power structure in ‘Galaxy’ does suit the Virtual Realm quite well.”

Chen Nian chuckled softly.

“Galaxy” was the most popular science fiction metaverse game in the world at present, with over five hundred million players and thousands of registered guilds. Its internal divisions ranged from the level of civilization, to military strength, to the combat abilities of individual soldiers and the categorization of various items, all neatly split into nine tiers. The criteria for judgment were based on the different stages of human civilization.

The cold weapons era of humanity was considered Tier One civilization, so soldiers clad in armor and wielding swords would be Tier One warriors. Armor, swords, horses—these items were all classified as Tier One civilization artifacts. When humans invented firearms but before computers, that was the Tier Two civilization; soldiers carrying guns and wearing helmets were Tier Two warriors, and all sorts of guns, cannons, basic tanks, and planes fell under Tier Two civilization items.

After that, the era following the invention of computers—the intelligent firearms era—was Tier Three civilization. Those skilled in operating combat drones, carrying portable missiles, and possessing remote reconnaissance and combat capabilities were considered Tier Three warriors. Missiles, advanced fighter jets, drones—all these were classified as Tier Three civilization items.

In short, regardless of whether you were of the Insectoid or Beastfolk races, whatever weapons you used or however you obtained your power, if you could hold your own against humans from a specific historical stage, then you belonged to that tier of civilization. If your strength matched that of cold weapon-era human soldiers, you were a Tier One warrior. The same logic applied to Tiers Two and Three.
…
According to this power system, nearly everyone in the advance party was Tier Zero, as none of them even possessed half-decent cold weapons. He himself had a rudimentary leather vest and a short bone knife—barely enough to count as half a tier.

But the other version of himself…

Chen Nian silently made a mental estimate. Judging from current performance, his other self could easily defeat ordinary ancient soldiers, but facing firearm-wielding troops would likely be a challenge. In “Galaxy,” such a character would be called a Tier One Advanced Gene Warrior; to ascend further, one would need to consume higher-level gene serums.
…
“I wonder what tier the civilization that created the Virtual Realm belongs to…” Lu Yixiu’s voice came softly through the phone.

“Creation is always harder than destruction,” Chen Nian replied. “To create a world so close to reality—the Virtual Realm must be at least Tier Five or above.”

By the standards of the nine-tier system, humanity’s real world was probably at the upper end of Tier Three. Under normal circumstances, advancing to Tier Four would require unimaginable effort. But now, with direct contact with a Tier Five or higher civilization, rapid development seemed almost inevitable.

At that moment, Lu Yixiu suddenly changed the subject. “Chen Nian, when the Virtual Realm opens again, will you go back in?”

Chen Nian answered without hesitation, “Of course I will.”

“You don’t have to—you’ve already completed your mission, and the official purpose for assembling the advance party has basically been accomplished.”

“There’s something I need the Virtual Realm to help me figure out. Besides, aren’t some guild members planning to join the Space Corps? Like Tang Ping—I bet he’s already signed up. I can lay the groundwork inside, and when they arrive, I’ll bring them all under my command. That way, I can look after them.”

Lu Yixiu chuckled at that. “I thought you’d really abandoned them.”

“In reality, I won’t interfere in their choices. But the Virtual Realm isn’t the real world, so there I can still take charge.”

“Heh…”
…
Knock, knock, knock…

Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

“All right, someone’s here. I’ll stop chatting. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye, stay safe.”

“Don’t worry, next time there’ll be hundreds of thousands going in together.”
…
“Come in,” Chen Nian called after hanging up.

At his words, a Space Corps soldier entered the room, carrying a folder and looking a little nervous.

“Mr. Chen Nian, I’m from Space Corps headquarters. I’d like to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“Would you be interested in joining the Space Corps?” the soldier asked tentatively.

Chen Nian smiled at that. Speak of the devil.

“I’ll join,” he replied without hesitation. He’d already thought it through—he had no other choice. Without joining the Space Corps, what right would he have to re-enter the Virtual Realm? And if he didn’t join, all his previous achievements would be for nothing. Not to mention, Space Corps could guarantee his safety.

If he were abroad, he’d have to join the regular army too. He couldn’t very well be like those adventurers, connecting to the Virtual Realm from home. If someone just barged in one day, he wouldn’t even know how he died. Besides, many people were now targeting the metaverse guild managers, and he was certainly a key target.

“That’s wonderful! Welcome aboard!”
…
“Here are your credentials, please take a look. From now on, this will be your dormitory. If you need anything, just let us know.”

The Space Corps soldier smiled and handed Chen Nian an identification card from the folder.

Chen Nian opened it, raising an eyebrow in surprise. Wang Yinlong hadn’t lied to him—they’d given him a company-level post straight away, with authority over more than a hundred people.

“Ahem, although you’ve been assigned a position, there aren’t any openings at the moment… so you’ll have to wait until the new recruits arrive before you can have your own unit. I hope you don’t mind,” the soldier explained, scratching his head.

“No problem,” Chen Nian replied, tucking away his credentials without concern.

“There are also some documents in the folder—please review them when you have time, to prepare for your next entry into the Virtual Realm.”

With that, the Space Corps soldier handed over the folder.

“Thank you,” Chen Nian replied, nodding as he accepted it.

“Well, I won’t disturb you any longer. Goodbye.”
…
Once the soldier had left, Chen Nian opened the folder.

It was quite thick, filled with a large number of paper documents. In this day and age, paper files were mostly used for security—after all, anything connected to a network could be compromised.

He drew out the first page and began to read.

According to the document, after this entry into the Virtual Realm, the Space Corps would no longer operate under that name. Instead, it would be reorganized into a new force, outwardly unconnected to Huaxia, divided into ten main combat corps and one logistics corps.

Each corps would be named by its commander. For instance, the original First Space Corps would be renamed the Silver Dragon Corps, which would consist of 30,000 troops under Wang Yinlong’s command.

Chen Nian himself would be a centurion under the Silver Dragon Corps, commanding a hundred-man unit.
…
The second document introduced the nine-tier system of “Galaxy,” which Chen Nian was already very familiar with and thus only skimmed.

The third detailed the regulations and rewards system of the Silver Dragon Corps.

The fourth described basic stone tool crafting and rudimentary cold weapon combat techniques.

The remaining documents were all illustrated guides, introducing over a hundred plant species and dozens of animals already discovered in the Virtual Realm, each with images closely matching their real counterparts.

Clearly, these had been recreated from memory using computer graphics.

Chen Nian leafed through them one by one, silently committing every detail to memory.