1 Entering [ Ark ]

"I finally got the admission ticket."

Under the starry night.

Upon returning home, the tall and lean Su Chen took off his hat to reveal his messy jet-black hair which directly contrasted his gorgeously good looks.

The word [ Ark ] was printed on the black box that he had brought back.

"I hope I'm not left too far behind."

Su Chen then brought out a lustrous, silver gaming helmet from the box. After tearing apart an instruction manual that he had already memorized thoroughly, he began setting up the helmet.

This was the 20th day that Su Chen had arrived in this world.

The development of technology in this world had far surpassed that of Su Chen's previous world. The metaverse concept that everyone was all the craze in his previous world had been fully realized, and both realities, virtual and non-virtual had merged seamlessly in this world.

The [ Ark ] that had made waves across the globe was the product of this enhanced technology.

Regardless of one's age, they would likely be thrilled at the prospect of experiencing a brand new world. Moreover, at its core, the [ Ark ] employed one's consciousness to interact with the game. As such, it would not affect one's physical body whatsoever, and putting on the helmet to play the game was essentially the same as entering a deep slumber.

This made [ Ark ] the perfect device to pass the time during long nights!

With the ability to link one's bank account to [ Ark ], players were even able to make money through the game.

As a result, [ Ark ] had instantly taken over the world, and it had become a true, accessible online experience that was available for everyone.

After only two months of service, [ Ark ] had instantly showed the metaverse's true potential to the entire world, and due to this, countless people had thrown themselves into the experience, fully embracing the metaverse for what it is and what it has to offer.

Su Chen was one of these individuals, especially since he was an avid game developer in the previous life. As such, he was particularly knowledgeable about the ins and outs of video game design and their philosophy.

Thus, after toiling tirelessly for the past 20 days and pairing it with his savings from this world, he had finally gained enough money to afford the exorbitantly-priced gaming helmet.

Su Chen sincerely believed that this was his only chance of changing his fate in this world.

He had to seize the opportunity.

After fully configuring the gaming helmet, Su Chen then put on the helmet and laid down on his bed. Following this, he then pressed the start button.

In a blink of an eye, countless brilliant rays of light covered Su Chen's vision.

...

Upon returning to his senses.

Su Chen realized that he was trapped in an ancient hall with a domed roof. There were eight red columns around him that had several strange patterns engraved within them. It was a magnificent sight to behold.

He was situated in the middle of the hall, and behind him was a door that was emitting a faint light.

In front of him stood a woman in pink with a very slim figure. She was drop-dead gorgeous.

"Congratulations on becoming the 368157254th Player of [ Ark ] 1."

"I am your guide, Jing Tian."

Su Chen, who was now donning a white robe, nodded. He subconsciously surveyed his surroundings, and true to his nature as a developer, he began guessing at how his environments were constructed.

The sweet-sounding Jing Tian paid no heed to Su Chen's reaction.

She walked forward enthusiastically. "I will now guide you on two tasks. The first of which, is a class compatibility test, whereby you'll have to go through door so that your compatibility with the available classes will be measured and distributed."

"Secondly, is that once your class has been established, you'll then have to choose which starting skills you would like."

Hearing this, Su Chen retracted his gaze and nodded. "Okay."

He was very well aware of what the compatibility test was about.

The compatibility door was able to quickly determine the the compatibility of player with all the classes that available within the game. The higher a player's compatibility with the selected class was, the higher the initial stats of the player.

Even if they were both level 1, the Strength attribute of players who were compatible with the Warrior class would be at least 8-10 points higher than those who were incompatible with the warrior class.

The difference in these stats was not to be underestimated. After all, this gap would only widen as the players gained levels, and at the end of it all, the difference in these stats would amount of at least half a piece of equipment!

The compatibility of a player with their chosen class was of utmost importance.

It was to the extent that the developers of [ Ark ] had to officially publish the guidelines for the compatibility scores.

They used the score of 60 as their base, and they deemed anything below the value of 60 as incompatible. On the other hand, the higher one's score was from 60, the more compatible they were with the particular class. In fact, just a one point difference in compatibility scores alone would put a person above tens of thousands of other players.

As such, the importance of this test to Su Chen could not be understated.

Jing Tian smiled and turned around to walk to the door that was emitting a dim light.

"You only need to walk through this door."

As a person who had already experienced two different lives, Su Chen was completely unfazed by the gravity of the situation.

He walked towards the compatibility door and casually stepped over it.

The moment he stepped over it, a dim light instantly enveloped Su Chen's body and examined every part of his body.

The dim light slowly faded after three seconds.

The words then displayed before Su Chen.

[ Player: Su Chen ]

[ Warrior class compatibility: 62, B rank ]

[ Swordsman class compatibility: 57, C rank ]

[ Archer class compatibility: 73, A rank! ]

[ Mage class compatibility: 90, SS rank! ]

Three passes!

As he stared at the screen before him, Su Chen finally revealed a smile.

At this moment, a fragrant breeze wafted past Su Chen.

"Congratulations!"

"You are the seventh player in history to be compatible with three different classes!"

"You are also the second player who has reached the 90 point threshold and has a SS rank!"

Jing Tian's voice grew softer and softer, and it felt as if she was becoming more energized by the second.

"I will now upload your compatibility score to the leaderboards."

Jing Tian looked at Su Chen with her beautiful eyes.

She was actually a player, and she specialized in guiding new players who had joined the game for the first time.

At the same time, as a guide, she was also able to come into contact with players who had high compatibility values. Being a guide was truly the greatest privilege that one could have in the world of [ Ark ].

The guides would not miss any opportunities to gain the favor of these future powerhouses, as by doing so, they would be able to build a lasting friendship.

"Wait, can you withhold from uploading my compatibility scores?"

While Jing Tian was racking her brain to come up with a way to establish relations with Su Chen, the man in question suddenly interrupted her train of thought.

"Huh? Y-You don't want your score to be uploaded?"

"But it's already too late, I've already uploaded it. This is a requirement from the developers."

Jing Tian stuck out her tongue resentfully and then said with starry eyes.

"This is a very good opportunity to make a name for yourself. After all, you're a player with a one-in-a-million compatibility score!"

Su Chen pursed his lips slightly and kept to himself.

Su Chen had taken the idiom "rattling the hornet's nest" quite seriously, and thus, he actually did not plan on exposing himself this early on.

Although compatibility scores were important, in the end, it was only one portion of the game.

Leveling, skill selection, as well as equipment were other aspects that could either make or break his playthrough.

This was no longer the launch of the game.

Back then, everyone was busy leveling up and exploring the game. When faced against those who ranked highly in the compatibility score's leaderboard, the most they could do was to suck it up to their misfortune.

However, things were different now. The game had already been launched for two whole months.

There were many players who had high levels but low compatibility scores.

If one so desired, they could easily stir trouble for Su Chen while he was in the early game. After all, by doing so, they could delay, or outright avoid Su Chen from surpassing these players in their own classes in the future.

Worse still, as Su Chen had already spent most of his money on the [ Ark ] gaming helmet, his only desire was to rush as many quests as possible and gain a good sum of Gold Coins.

He was certain that enhancing his equipment in the future would burn a huge hole in his finances, after all.

Suddenly.

Su Chen thought of something and turned to look at Jing Tian.

"Right, can you hide my ID on the compatibility ranking list?"

Jing Tian, who had been looking for an opportunity to strike up a conversation, quickly nodded. "Yes."

"But are you sure? After all, this is..."

Before she could finish her sentence.

Su Chen's voice interrupted her. "I'm sure. In addition, I choose the [ Mage ] class."

Su Chen's choice to become a [ Mage ] was a no-brainer. After all, he had an extremely high compatibility score with the class.

Upon hearing this, Jing Tian hurriedly anonymized Su Chen's ID before turning back to him with a smile.

"Okay, congratulations on choosing the [ Mage ] class."

"Now, please select your starter skills."