Depressed? Off to parallel universe you go!

2040 CE

Crisis Era began; chemical diseases, wars, climate problems strike Earth

2045 CE

Xia takes over Earth; English and Xianese are the only official languages. Reluctant countries wiped out

2055 CE

Doctor Chu Ling Hou introduces the idea of human evolution; experiments begin on the subject of "Super Humans"

2058 EE

Crisis Era ends; Evolution Era begins. Led by Dr Chu Ling Hou, major breakthroughs happen in the field of evolution

2060 PE

Evolution Era ends; Prophecy Era begins. The "Prophecy" was discovered on an ancient artefact. Fear arises among the UNWEB officials.

2072 CE

Dr Chu Ling Hou dies after finishing his experiments.

2073 AE

The viral VR game "Awaken" strikes the globe; schools turn all courses to focus on "Awaken". Awaken Era begins.

2074 AE (now)

"Awaken II" launched, replacing the old "Awaken". It is also known as the "Second World"

-History of Earth, Du Cheng Ji, 2074 AE

Fan Yel closed the history book. Closing his eyes, he leaned back on his chair. He rubbed his temple and fell into deep thought. Yel was a "Traveller" you can say. He was a regular student from 2024. Ordinary and blended into the surroundings, Yel was never cared about.

Two hours ago:

Yel walked into the school library. Head down and shivering with depression, he quietly walked to the most isolated corner of the library. His girlfriend just ditched him. Yel closed his eyes, unable to control his tears.

He felt a sudden chill on his shoulders. Turning around, he saw an interesting, somewhat peculiar glimmer on the wall behind him. Not having anything better to do, he reached out for it, like any normal curious person.

Yet as they all say, "curiosity kills the cat".

So here he is, suddenly sitting in a different yet familiar environment. He looked at the shelves: "Ten ways to gain mastery level in Awaken", "Boss Encyclopedia", "Professions in Awaken"…

On the big projector screen opposite him, huge bold words highlighted, "COUNTDOWN TILL AWAKEN II LAUNCH: 17 HOURS 30 MINUTES!"

Strangeness all around him. Yel was in really bad emotional turmoil; depression from the breakup and confusion from the new surroundings.

Parallel universe? Yel thought, standing up after finally getting a grasp of the situation.

Yel was calm now. I was given a new chance at life, in a different way. He thought. I need to take advantage.

Back to the present:

Yel thought through all the information he gathered in the past 2 hours.

1. This world is far more advanced in science than his original world.

2. This world's Virtual Reality (VR) is at its peak — the advertised 99.99% feeling of reality wasn't fake.

3. This world was built on the foundation of Awaken.

a. The game offered a nearly 100% real experience.

b. It interfered with brain development and DNA sequencing.

c. Awaken II will have a significant influence on reality.

4. Even though the world was advanced in science, it is missing many crucial ideas Yel knows of. 

a. Newton doesn't exist

b. Schrödinger doesn't exist

c. Quantum mechanics was never thought off

d. PHYSICS does not exist!

Yel pondered for a while. How could any society come this far without such fundamental concepts? However, Yel quickly discarded these thoughts, it wasn't important for now.

Yel leaned back on his chair for a while, then quickly stood up. He went over to the advertisement for Awaken II.

Awaken II!

Exciting new adventures built on top of the old Awaken!

Introducing the brand new TALENT system:

- Each player is granted a unique talent upon first login.

- Talent can be levelled up after reaching certain mastery levels through achievements and quests

- The game will give you the most suited talent upon performing a quick brain scan, which is stuck to you, meaning:

1. Character deletion and "rerolling" will not work.

2. This talent will decide your destiny and future.

3. Any negative comments about your talent will be detected and certain punishments will be given.

Exciting! Exciting! EXCITING!

On top of the brand-new talent system and various tweaks, more secrets will be left to the players to discover.

HAVE FUN!

As Yel never played first edition Awaken, Awaken II will be a completely new experience for him. This lack of experience and the noob nature, often bring devastating results.