1: Chapter 1 Rebirth in 2032: I was the only one who watched the eight-hour trailer.

"Brother Qin, wake up! Divine Realm's open beta starts at nine. If you sleep any longer, you'll miss the first recharge reward!"

Divine Realm?

Open beta?

Qin Ji snapped his eyes open. The burning sensation of being vaporized by the "World-Ending Black Dragon's" breath still lingered on his retinas, but what met his eyes was the familiar peeling ceiling of the Dream Chasing Club.

The air was filled with a mixture of cheap tobacco and instant noodles, and the rhythmic clicking of mechanical keyboards echoed in his ears.

"This is... the club from ten years ago?"

Qin Ji instinctively touched his chest; there was no wound piercing his heart, only a pilling cotton T-shirt.

"Wasn't I backstabbed by that sneaky guild leader of the Dynasty Guild while raiding the Abyss Plane?"

He grabbed the phone on the desk. The screen lit up, and the piercing white light illuminated his startled pupils.

May 20, 2032, 08:55

"I've been reborn... back to five minutes before Divine Realm's servers opened!"

Beside him, Fatty Zhou saw Qin Ji's pale face and cold sweat. Thinking he had a nightmare, he quickly handed over a bottle of soda: "Brother Qin, are you okay? Have you been pushing yourself too hard lately to save up for your mother's surgery fee?"

At the mention of "surgery fee," Qin Ji's dazed eyes instantly sharpened, and a surge of violent aura rose from the depths of his heart.

Memories flooded back like a tide.

In his past life, on this very day, his mother was involved in a multi-car pileup on her way to the hospital and urgently needed 300,000 yuan for surgery. The perpetrator was a profligate son of the local wealthy Su Family; not only did he flee the scene, but he also used his connections to suppress the surveillance footage.

Qin Ji had knelt in the hospital corridor until his forehead bled, begging every relative and friend. Finally, he took out a high-interest loan to scrape together 200,000 yuan, but the hospital delayed the critical rescue time because he was still 100,000 short.

His mother died on the cold operating table, leaving a festering wound in Qin Ji's life that would never heal.

"Mom, this time, I will never let anything happen to you again."

Qin Ji gripped his phone tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force, his nails nearly digging into the flesh of his palm.

Since the heavens had given him a chance to start over, those who had trampled on his dignity and those high-and-mighty wealthy guilds would all pay the price in this life!

"Fatty, thanks."

Qin Ji took a deep breath, the violence in his eyes instantly receding, replaced by a bottomless calm. "Let's enter the game. Our destiny will be rewritten today."

Fatty Zhou scratched his head, feeling that Brother Qin was a bit different today. That gaze of his was just like the hungry wolves he had seen at the zoo.

"Alright, Brother Qin! Let's join forces and carve out a name for ourselves in the Newbie Village!"

Qin Ji didn't explain much and turned to climb into the somewhat worn-out gaming pod.

As the pod door slowly closed, darkness descended.

Only Qin Ji knew that Divine Realm was not some era-defining virtual online game at all, but an outpost forcibly established by a high-dimensional civilization to digitize Earth in response to the Great Cosmic Cataclysm!

The so-called "game launch" was actually the beginning of the Fusion of two dimensions.

Every point of attribute and every piece of equipment now would materialize in the real world in the future, becoming capital for survival.

"In my past life, although I was one of the top ten Magic Gods on the server, choosing the wrong class at the start locked my Late Stage growth ceiling. I could only watch as those guys with Divine-Grade talents walked all over me."

"In this life..."

A devious arc curled at the corner of Qin Ji's mouth. "Those opportunities belong to me now."

...

[Welcome to Divine Realm]

[Performing iris scan... Identity binding successful.]

[Time remaining until server opening: 00 minutes 00 seconds.]

As the countdown hit zero, Qin Ji's consciousness was instantly pulled into a vast starry sky.

A massive holographic projection unfolded before him; it was a promotional video so grand it was breathtaking.

Primordial dragons roared above the clouds, their breath melting entire mountain ranges into lava; heavy-armored Titans wielded battle-axes, splitting the firmament with a single strike; unspeakable abyssal demons whispered in the darkness, and legions of countless players scattered like ants beneath their feet.

This was the opening CG of Divine Realm, and also the beginning of the nightmare for countless players in his past life.

In the bottom right corner of the screen, there was a [Skip] button glowing with golden light.

In his past life, 99.99% of players had clicked this button without hesitation to get a head start on leveling. After all, in the world of online gaming, being one step behind meant being behind at every step. Who would want to spend time watching an unskippable video?

But Qin Ji didn't move.

He sat cross-legged in the void, staring intently at the screen, even counting the scales on the dragons with great interest.

Because he knew a top-secret Easter egg that only a transmigrator would know—

The first player to watch this entire eight-hour promotional video would receive a "unique" Divine-Grade item!

Time passed minute by minute.

Outside, the forums were already exploding.

"Holy crap, this game is so hardcore! Even a Level 1 Slime mob knows how to kite!"

"Does anyone know how to change classes? That old geezer of a village chief is ignoring me!"

"Haha, I awakened a B-Rank talent [Flame Enhancement] at the start. Call me the Fire God from now on!"

Qin Ji was deaf to the clamor of the outside world.

He was waiting.

One hour... three hours... five hours...

When the promotional video reached its seventh hour, a magnificent city floating in the void appeared—the City of Origin. That was the final destination for all players, and also the place where Qin Ji had died in battle in his previous life.

Looking at those familiar ruins, Qin Ji's eyes grew slightly warm.

Finally, the long eight hours ended.

The screen froze on the Creator God's indifferent golden eyes.

At that moment, a cold System notification rang out in Qin Ji's mind like heavenly music:

[Ding! Congratulations, player. You are the only player on the entire server to have watched the complete Chronicles of Divine Realm.]

[This kind of tedious patience is the cornerstone of the strong.]

[Reward issued: god-tier talent awakening stone (Unique) ×1]

He really got it!

Qin Ji looked at the diamond-shaped stone in his hand, which emitted a seven-colored glow. His heart pounded violently, as if it were about to burst through his chest.

The lucky fellow who got this stone in his past life was a guy named "Long Aotian." Later, relying on the Divine-Grade talent he awakened, he established the server's number one guild and even became a hegemon in the real world.

"Sorry, Brother Long, but in this life, you'll just have to go move bricks."

Without any hesitation, Qin Ji crushed the Awakening Stone.

"System, create character!"

[Please name your character.]

"Qin Ji."

[Please select a class: Warrior, Mage, Assassin, Priest, Archer...]

"I choose... the Classless (Freelancer)."

Qin Ji made a decision that went against the norm.

In his past life, because he had changed classes to a Mage, his Physique was too weak, and he would die if an Assassin got close. In this life, he wanted to take the path of Magic-Martial Dual Cultivation. Although a Freelancer had no class bonuses, they could learn all types of skills and had no attribute growth bias—this meant that as long as his attributes were high enough, he would be an all-powerful god!

[Class confirmed: Classless.]

[Using god-tier talent awakening stone...]

[Warning! Abnormal Soul strength detected... Unknown data stream interference detected...]

Suddenly, the originally soft System notification became sharp and piercing. The surrounding starry sky began to shake violently, and countless red garbled codes flashed frantically around Qin Ji.

Qin Ji's heart skipped a beat.

What's going on? This isn't the script! I never heard of a bug happening during talent Awakening in my past life!

[Zzz... Zzz... Error... Correction failed...]

[god-tier talent awakening stone energy overflow... Forcibly fusing underlying Laws...]

[Congratulations, player, on Awakening the Unique Taboo Talent—Greedy Grasp (Rank ???)]

Taboo Talent?

Not Divine-Grade?

Before Qin Ji could react, a pillar of pitch-black light instantly poured into the crown of his head. At that moment, he felt as if his Soul were being gripped tightly by an invisible giant hand, and an unspeakable sense of hunger surged from the depths of his Soul.

He hurriedly opened his attribute panel.

ID: Qin Ji

Class: Classless (LV.1)

HP: 100/100

MP: 50/50

Attack: 5 | Defense: 1

Talent: [Greedy Grasp (Unique)]

Effect: Killing any living being (including monsters, NPCs, and players) forcibly plunders 1 point of a random basic attribute from the target, or has a low probability of plundering one of the target's passive skills.

Current Plunder Stacks: 0/∞ (No upper limit)

(Note: All things are nourishment; I alone shall ascend the divine throne.)

Qin Ji stared at that "∞" symbol, frozen in place, his breathing almost stopping.

Infinite Plunder?

No upper limit?

Although Long Aotian's talent in his past life was strong, it was only an "S-Rank Strength Augmentation," which only added a few thousand points of strength in the Late Stage.

But mine...

Killing one monster adds 1 attribute point.

Kill ten thousand, and that's ten thousand points!

What if I kill a million?

You have to know, even a max-level expert with god-tier gear only has around twenty to thirty thousand points in their main attribute!

"This isn't just a talent; this is clearly the System's 'daddy' code!"

Qin Ji licked his dry lips, no longer hiding the greed in his eyes.

[Character creation complete. Teleporting to Newbie Village No. 10086.]

...

A flash of white light.

Qin Ji appeared in a simple and dilapidated village square.

Eight hours had passed since the server opened, and the Newbie Village was overcrowded. Players dressed in coarse linen clothes were shouting everywhere.

"Grouping up to kill chickens! Need a healer, no cross-dressers!"

"Buying copper coins at a high price, 1:100, unlimited buying!"

"Is there a big brother who can carry me? I have a loli voice~"

Qin Ji ignored the noise. He had only one thought now—kill monsters and verify his talent!

He pushed through the crowd and walked quickly toward the outskirts of the village.

At the village entrance was a lush green meadow where Level 1 [Irritable Wild Rabbits] were spawning.

But because there were too many players, the current situation was "more people than monsters." As soon as a rabbit spawned, five or six wooden sticks would instantly bash it. The scene was extremely brutal.

"How am I supposed to compete for these?"

Qin Ji frowned.

As a Freelancer, he only had a [Damaged Iron Sword] gifted by the System, with +1 Attack and no skills.

Suddenly, his gaze sharpened as he looked toward the edge of the Misty Forest further away.

There was an area there that no one dared to approach.

Several large creatures covered in sharp quills were roaming around.

[Mutated Porcupine (Elite)]

Level: LV.3

HP: 500/500

Skill: Spiky Reflection

This was a Forbidden Ground in the early stages of the Newbie Village. Ordinary players would lose half their health with just one touch; no one could defeat them at this stage.

But Qin Ji's gaze went past the porcupines to a withered tree behind them.

Beneath the tree was an inconspicuous mound of earth, with several black beetles only the size of a palm scuttling in and out.

[Carrion Beetle (Common)]

Level: LV.1

HP: 10/10

Attack: 1

Traits: Gregarious, Aggressive, No EXP, No Drops.

These were one of the most disgusting monsters in Divine Realm. They gave no experience, dropped no equipment, were numerous, and their bites were painful. They were the kind of existence even dogs would shun.

But in Qin Ji's eyes, these dense black beetles were practically piles of walking attribute points!

"It's you guys then."

Carrying his broken iron sword, Qin Ji bypassed the porcupines' detection range and quietly crept near the withered tree.

A lone beetle sensed the aura of a living person and lunged forward with a hiss.

"Die!"

Qin Ji's eyes turned cold. Although his current physical attributes were weak, his combat awareness as a former Magic God remained. He swayed slightly to the side, precisely dodging the beetle's bite, and used the torque from his waist to drive the iron sword deep into the beetle's vulnerable abdomen.

Puchi!

-6! (Weak Point Attack)

-4!

After two strikes, the beetle flipped over and collapsed, green fluid splashing everywhere.

No experience notification, no copper coin drops.

But the moment the beetle died, a golden stream of light visible only to Qin Ji rose from the corpse and instantly entered his body.

[Ding! "Greedy Grasp" triggered. Plunder successful!]

[Strength +1]

A warm current instantly flowed through his entire body. Qin Ji clearly felt the iron sword in his hand grow a bit lighter, and the muscles in his arms seemed firmer.

"It really works..."

Looking at the Attack power on his attribute panel that had changed to "6," the corners of Qin Ji's mouth curled up wildly, revealing a smile that would make anyone else's skin crawl.

He looked up at the dense, hundreds-strong swarm of beetles beneath the withered tree.

How were those disgusting bugs?

Those were clearly steps leading to the divine throne!

"Come on, little cuties. Tonight... we're pulling an all-nighter."

The setting sun was like blood, casting a long shadow from the withered tree. Qin Ji held his sword in one hand and walked step by step toward the surging black tide of insects. His dark pupils reflected countless golden numbers, just like an ancient Vicious Beast that had just awakened, greedily eyeing the impending feast.