Chapter 1: Reborn Three Years Ago

"No!"

Staring at the monster descending from the shadows in the clouds above, Shen Fei’s heart was filled with bitter unwillingness. He looked back at the ruined city behind him. Buildings had collapsed, and countless lives were being harvested like ants by the monster that stood hundreds of meters tall. Pain filled his heart.

He recognized the monster invading the Base City!

Manoros!

A Super Boss from the game World of Warcraft, who had invaded the real world!

Countless laser cannon shells struck Manoros, but they might as well have been tickling him. Manoros gripped his long-handled weapon with both hands and viciously plunged it into the center of the Base City.

BOOM—!

A pillar of green fire shot into the sky, and the apocalyptic city Shen Fei had lived in for three years was instantly annihilated...

In the distance, Magic Swamp Frogs from Rune Land, each as large as a car, invaded. They swarmed forward like a tide, instantly Devouring everything...

Why did I choose a battle royale game!!

Before he was devoured by a Magic Swamp Frog, Shen Fei’s heart was filled with nothing but regret.

「Three years ago, on April Fools’ Day.」

Every game in the world suddenly paused. Whether it was casual card games, massively multiplayer online games, competitive esports, or AAA blockbusters, all players were forcibly disconnected for one second. Afterward, a voice told everyone to choose a game they had played to inherit its abilities. If a choice wasn’t made within ten minutes, one would be assigned randomly.

Shen Fei, who happened to be streaming a battle royale game at the time, casually said he would inherit the game’s shooting abilities. However, to everyone’s surprise, the voice in their minds was no April Fools’ prank.

「One day later.」

The Earth rapidly expanded; mountains collapsed and the ground split apart. Monsters from the games began to invade reality. Unprepared, the human world was instantly plunged into a living hell...

In the end, by relying on the abilities inherited from games, humanity only managed to regain its footing after ninety percent of the population had been wiped out. Shen Fei had joined a small Base City founded by a war-game player who had inherited five thousand Grizzly Tanks.

Unfortunately, low-level firearms and Cannons stood no chance against a Super Boss invading from a fantasy Game World. This small Base City was effortlessly razed to the ground.

I played WoW, LoL, and DNF too! Why didn’t I choose to inherit abilities from one of those games back then?!

With the lower half of his body bitten off by a Magic Swamp Frog, Shen Fei’s heart turned to ash.

CRUNCH!

Before his head was crushed, one last thought surfaced in his mind:

If I could do it all over again, I would choose...

.

.

"Streamer!"

"Streamer!"

"Get a move on! Finish off your teammate!"

"Finish off your teammate and I’ll send you a Rocket!"

After an unknown amount of time, Shen Fei slowly opened his eyes. In front of him, his computer screen displayed the battle royale game, and lines of text scrolled through the chat box on the left.

WHOOSH!

Shen Fei shot upright, suddenly wide awake, and quickly looked around. He rubbed his eyes hard, his gaze falling on the time displayed on his phone: March 1st, 2024, at 11:18 PM.

WHOOSH!

Shen Fei shot to his feet.

I’ve been reborn? A month before the games invaded reality?

Shen Fei’s heart pounded with a mix of shock and joy. He clearly remembered that on April 1st, 2024, that mysterious voice had spoken. Many people had dismissed it as the "Mandela Effect"—a form of collective false memory—and paid it no mind. But one day later, on April 2nd, the games began to invade reality for real...

Only then did many people begin to feel regret. This was especially true for a certain player who had spent a fortune using Krypton Gold in a Cultivation Game to reach the Immortal Emperor realm. Because he failed to make a choice, however, he was randomly assigned the game "City Flower Young Master" and inherited nothing but a few female NPC secretaries...

CLICK!

After a flurry of online searches confirmed that he had truly been reborn, Shen Fei leaped to his feet.

I really get to do it all over again? In that case, I’m definitely not choosing the battle royale game!!

"Damn streamer, you’re finally moving!"

"C’mon, Papa Streamer, get moving, the zone is closing in! You can’t lose, I bet all my Fishballs on you!!"

"I’m just waiting for you to win one game before I go to sleep. If you lose this one, I’ll have to stay up even later... Get moving!"

.

"Phew~~"

Taking a deep breath, Shen Fei looked at his computer screen. On the screen, he could see that many people were staying up late to watch his stream. The zone was closing, and everyone was urging him to run.

"Stop playing battle royale! Go play a Cultivation Game, or a game set in a world of gods and ghosts!"

He shouted into his headset, then immediately quit the game and ended his stream.

There’s still a month. If I find a game that lets you use Krypton Gold, I can definitely power up! The question now is, which game to choose!

Calming his racing heart, Shen Fei quickly mulled over his options.

After the game invasion, inheriting from a battle royale game at most gets you some special firearms, or skills that increase critical hit chance or range. But because of the game’s low power ceiling, those abilities become so weak later on that you can’t even defeat players from certain wuxia games...

This time, he had to choose his game carefully.

After the apocalypse began, he had heard of a player of a Three Kingdoms lord-style game who, after the invasion, inherited one hundred thousand Tiger and Leopard Cavalry that required no food or water. He had also heard of a Cultivation Game player who inherited the Cultivation of the Mahayana Stage, able to cleave mountains with a single sword strike. He had even heard of someone who inherited the ability to deal 999 damage with a single slash...

First, the game needs to have a high power ceiling. Second, it has to allow for Krypton Gold!

Narrowing his eyes, Shen Fei quickly sifted through the possibilities, trying to decide which one to pick. There was a rule to the game invasion: people with internal accounts, like game company owners or GMs, were not eligible. So, he couldn’t just become a GM for someone, nor could he directly buy an internal account... He could only use Krypton Gold himself.

I’ve got it! It’ll be you!

「Half an hour later.」

Thinking about everything that had happened in the apocalypse, Shen Fei found his target.

In the future, humanity’s survival in the apocalypse would depend on Base Cities. And within the Base Cities, the most important things were the various types of Defense Towers. Whether it was a so-called Immortal Mansion Cave Heaven, an Underground City, a castle, or a high-tech war fortress, all of them required all sorts of Defense Towers.

He had once heard that the entrance to Xia Country’s most powerful Fanghu Cave Heaven was guarded by countless Defense Beasts and Immortal Skill Towers. It was because of those powerful Defense Towers that the Fanghu Cave Heaven could stand like a banner amid the torrent of invading races, giving the people the hope and confidence for a counterattack.

After thinking it all through, Shen Fei decided to play a tower defense game from which he could inherit various types of Defense Towers...

Before, if the little Base City I lived in had a Defense Tower Master, it definitely... no, forget it. They still wouldn’t have been able to beat Manoros!

WHOOSH.

Having made his decision, Shen Fei began searching furiously online. Soon, a game caught his eye: Tower Defense of Ten Thousand Realms!

This was a tower defense game with all sorts of Defense Towers, unlimited Krypton Gold options, and some Defense Towers that could even transform into "tower girls." He carefully checked the game’s official website and Forum. Shen Fei finally decided on this game.

Among this tower defense game’s max-level Ninth Tier Defense Towers, there were Railgun Defense Towers, Giant Dragon Summoning Defense Towers, Thousand Miles Ice Freeze Defense Towers, Rebound Defense Towers, Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Sect Defense Towers, and more... Besides the various types of Defense Towers, there were also all kinds of auxiliary items like the Defense Tower Repair Workshop and Wall Towers.

This was exactly what he wanted!

"Phew~~~"

Shen Fei took a deep breath. The game was decided. Next up was the money for Krypton Gold!

What’s the fastest way to get money?

After a moment’s thought, Shen Fei picked up his phone and made a call.

The call connected quickly:

"Dad, I was wrong! I’m ready to come home and inherit the family fortune!"