Chapter 1: Child of Stardust

"You are right, but 'Child of Stardust' is a brand-new open-world adventure game jointly developed by Stars Network and Spark Technology. The game takes place in a fantasy world called 'Endless Star Sea,' where ordinary people also have the chance to ascend to godhood. You will play the role of a mysterious character named 'Pioneer,' encountering companions with various personalities and unique abilities during your free adventures. Together, you will defeat formidable enemies, explore the stars, ascend to godhood—and gradually uncover the truth of the 'Stellar.'"

She copied and pasted and sent it all in one go, completing today's water army task perfectly.

In the security room, Zhou Yuan put down her phone and looked up at the time on the surveillance screen—22:58.

"Sun, I'm going on patrol," Zhou Yuan picked up the flashlight from the table and called out towards the inner room.

"Oh, oh, go on," said Sun, the security team captain who was busy showering a live-streaming hostess with virtual gifts, responding perfunctorily.

Zhou Yuan left the security room humming a tune and walked towards the brightly lit office building.

The company's name—Stars Network—hung on the rooftop.

Currently the most globally renowned game company, bar none.

Six years ago, Stars Network released a teaser for a new online game "Child of Stardust." This game was to be an unprecedented immersive holographic game, where the visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, and olfactory senses in the game world were identical to reality, boasting 100% realism.

After the teaser was released, it drew widespread skepticism among players. Such advanced technology seemed like a pipe dream, much less turning it into a game. Many thought Stars Network was just trying to scam money.

Over time, discussions on this topic continued to heat up until a bombshell news dropped that made the players' doubts gradually subside—Spark Technology and Stars Network announced their collaboration!

Spark Technology—a tech giant that rose to prominence after World War III, having created countless miracles.

Mechanical prosthetics, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, genetic editing, controlled nuclear fusion... many groundbreaking products were their masterpieces. Their involvement made it seem possible that immersive holographic games could become a reality.

With recent years' successive reveals of the actual gameplay footage of "Child of Stardust," the stunning results drove players worldwide completely crazy. Stars Network had actually made it happen!

Now, with only a month left until the game's release, players were going crazy on the internet every day, wishing they could knock themselves out and sleep until the game was out.

Meanwhile, the game developers were also working around the clock to complete the final refinements. Lately, staying up late had become the norm.

Beep!

Zhou Yuan swiped her card to open the door, greeted the front desk staff, and walked straight into the elevator. She swiped her card again and pressed the button for the 33rd floor.

As the elevator slowly ascended, Zhou Yuan stared ahead in a daze, reflecting on her experiences over the years, feeling a mix of emotions.

As an undereducated person orphaned with only a middle school diploma, getting into Stars Network was like striking gold. She owed it all to her looks.

Five years ago, while she was nervously preparing for high school entrance exams, her parents were brutally murdered by someone, and the culprits were never found.

To make matters worse, her parents were both gambling addicts, leaving no savings and a mountain of debt to the bank.

Fortunately, her classmates and teachers were kind-hearted, lending her some living expenses that allowed her to finish middle school. After that, she started working to pay off the debts—if she didn't, the house would be repossessed by the bank, leaving her homeless, only to become a city explorer, roaming around to loot treasure chests.

Zhou Yuan had worked in factories, cleaned cars, been a customer service representative, and delivered food... Then one day, luck shone on her.

It was a sunny afternoon, and she was delivering food on a ninth-hand electric bike bought from a seafood market to an upscale neighborhood. She happened to see the neighborhood's security team training at the entrance.

Maybe it was fate, the supervisor turned around, glanced at her, and exclaimed, "Hey, young lady, you're quite handsome. Want to become a security guard? An eight-hour shift, six thousand a month, with five insurances and one housing fund, working five days and off two."

So she took the job that very evening and became a neighborhood security guard. With her youth, vigor, tall stature, and handsome looks as added advantages, she soon became the face of the neighborhood's front desk and even got a bit popular online, earning some quick cash.

Unfortunately, her eyes weren't innocent enough to become an internet sensation, so she fizzled out after two or three months.

Two years passed like this, and one night, Zhou Yuan, while patrolling the neighborhood, saw a person lying on the road. She quickly called an ambulance to take the person to the hospital. Later, she learned that the person was an executive at Stars Network who had collapsed due to exhaustion from continuous work and suffered a stroke on the way home. If it wasn't for the timely medical attention, he would have died.

After recovering, the executive sought out Zhou Yuan to repay her, offering her a job at Stars Network as a security guard.

Without a second thought, she agreed—Stars Network was a Fortune 100 company with decent security guard benefits.

Now, she had been a security guard at Stars Network for two and a half years, reducing her parents' debt to just eighty thousand. Another six months or so of work should be enough to pay it off.

By then...

She would be free.

Ding.

The elevator doors opened to the rooftop recreation area, decorated with some parasols and tables and chairs, all empty.

Zhou Yuan routinely patrolled around and then turned back towards the elevator.

"Caw—"

In the silence, a raspy bird call suddenly sounded from the side, startling Zhou Yuan. She quickly shined her flashlight towards it.