Chapter 7: The First Regression

"As I suspected, the countdown brought me back to the real world."

Qin Yuan rubbed his eyes, forcing himself to stay alert. He found himself still sitting in front of his computer desk. Surprisingly, it was still exactly 6:00 PM.

"This means that time does not flow synchronously between the two worlds. No matter how long I spent in the 'Land of Souls,' time in reality remains frozen at the moment I left."

Qin Yuan quickly analyzed the situation. He checked his clothes and found he was no longer wearing the outfit he had on in the Land of Souls, but his regular shirt.

"I change clothes when I enter and leave, but I am certain that this is still my own body."

As his thoughts shifted, the familiar interface suddenly flickered into view before his eyes. However, the countdown on the left side of the panel had changed.

[Time remaining until next entry into the "Land of Souls": 11:59:37.]
[Note: Subsequent game sessions in the Land of Souls and the resting periods upon return will be no less than 24 hours.]

"In other words, at 8:00 AM tomorrow, I will be transported to the Land of Souls again..."

Qin Yuan pondered. He guessed that, just like today, there would be no option to refuse; it would be a forced transmission.

"But this isn't necessarily a bad thing."

He clenched his fist, feeling the surging power within his body and that warm flow of magical energy. Qin Yuan had a premonition that he could cast magic here as well.

With a thought, a gray whistle appeared in his hand in an instant. He weighed the whistle, feeling its realistic texture, and then silently put it away. Although he knew that blowing the whistle would summon Feather here, he was not ready to do so yet. After all, he hadn't mentioned this to the owl; summoning it abruptly might frighten it. Qin Yuan decided he would hint at it to Feather next time they met, so the owl would be mentally prepared.

He quickly opened WeChat and found the contact named "Shadow of the Past." As the person who had sent him the "game" installation package, they undoubtedly knew much more about this.

"What exactly is that game called the Land of Souls?"

The message was sent. Qin Yuan held his breath, his eyes fixed on the computer screen, waiting for a reply. To his disappointment, two minutes passed with no response.

"Gone to sleep? Or haven't woken up yet?"

Thinking this, Qin Yuan opened the Land of Souls software again. He clearly remembered that when he first entered, the main interface had an option called [Player Forum] in addition to the "Start Game" button. If he couldn't get the information he needed from his contact, perhaps he could find it on the forum.

Sure enough, the [Start Game] button was grayed out and unclickable, but the [Player Forum] was still active. It was obvious that since a forum existed, he was definitely not the only player. Regardless, communicating with other players would certainly be faster than fumbling around on his own.

Upon clicking enter, a message popped up: [As a first-time user of the forum, you must enter a username, which cannot be changed later.]

Qin Yuan entered his WeChat name, "Dawn of Fire," and clicked confirm. Soon, the yellow-background forum interface appeared on the screen.

Qin Yuan scanned it and quickly noticed a trending post at the top, posted four minutes ago:
[Official Announcement: Version 1.0 Update Notice (New "Twisted Forest Banquet" Event Added).]

There's an official team for this? Qin Yuan was surprised and clicked on the post.

[A Letter to Players:]
[The Land of Souls server has officially launched today. Thank you to all players for your support.]
[The prologue of the main storyline, "Twisted Forest Banquet," has been officially implemented. Players can choose whether to accept this quest the next time they enter the game.]
[Quest Introduction: Players who accept the quest will enter the dream world "Twisted Forest" on the nights of June 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, and 30th (Land of Souls time). Kill the monsters wandering there to obtain "Pumpkin Candlelight," which can be used to redeem rewards in the "Pumpkin Shop" opening after the next version update.]
[Sender: Land of Souls Development Team.]

Main storyline? Qin Yuan read the announcement carefully and fell into thought. Although the text used the word "game" to describe that world, based on his own personal experience, he was certain it was a real world. He trusted his own judgment more. Even if it were truly a "game," an experience of this caliber was definitely beyond the current capabilities of humanity. It was likely something only an extraterrestrial civilization could possess.

Qin Yuan decided that, regardless of the ultimate goal of this "game development team," all he could do was try his best to improve himself. After all, the extraordinary power he gained from the game was real.

Qin Yuan shifted his attention back to the computer screen and found that in just this short time, hundreds of player comments had already accumulated under the post.

"Does anyone know what's going on? I was inexplicably transported to another world and then transported back."
"It seems like we've traveled to another dimension, and I just tested it—the skills I learned there can be used in reality."
"Holy crap, for real?!"

Qin Yuan scrolled down. As time passed, players who had read the previous comments gained a better understanding of the current situation. Content that interested him began to appear.

"What's your situation? I got a magic wand and ten silver coins in my starter pack. My spawn point was on a main road; I walked for a while and ran into a caravan, and followed them to a place called Black Furnace Keep. It was getting late, so I just found a place to sleep."
"My starter pack contained a piece of magic rune paper. After using it, I learned a spell called 'Fire Ignite.' I started in a pitch-black swamp and walked around for ages without seeing any monsters like the ones mentioned earlier."
"Mine is similar, but I'm in a desert with a town nearby."
"Haha, my starter pack was a cool-looking Frost Sword and a shield."
"Did you choose the warrior class?"
"Yeah."
"Looks like the starter pack contents are based on the class we pre-selected."

Reading through the comments with growing interest, Qin Yuan began to get a better sense of things.