Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I had already died once.

In my previous life, I was a corporate drone who worked 996 as a daily routine and frequently 24/7 on top of that.

I was employed by a glossy, nationally ranked top-100 company, doing the most entry-level coding work. I got up before dawn and worked late into the night like a beast of burden, all to earn a salary that was barely enough to keep me fed in a first-tier city.

But back then, I firmly believed: the good days were still ahead!

And what was so good about those days? Good my ass.

I had been born with a weak heart and had surgery as a child. The surgery had been very successful, and I lived in perfectly good health until twenty-six. Who knew that all those day-and-night overtime shifts would run this body into the ground? My heart stopped, and I died suddenly in an office building at three in the morning.

At first, I accepted my fate and obediently took a number to wait for reincarnation.

Who would have thought that while we were lining up nicely on the Bridge of Helplessness, King Yan would stand up at the front and inform us of an unfortunate fact:

“Comrades, due to **/censored/** reasons, the Underworld is currently over capacity with souls and cannot arrange reincarnation for everyone in a timely manner. The current estimated waiting time is: 264 months, 23 days, 15 hours, and 36 minutes.”

What the hell? Before I could blow up, King Yan continued his announcement:

“Comrades unwilling to wait in line may register with me to participate in the Earth OP game. Upon victory, you will receive priority line-cutting privileges.”

The crowd instantly surged toward King Yan. I had died young, and my legs were still nimble, so before long I squeezed past a bunch of old men and women and made it to King Yan.

“Comrade, do you also wish to sign up for the Earth OP game?” King Yan asked with a grave expression.

I caught my breath. “Why can’t we reincarnate in time?”

“Because **/censored/**. At present, the Underworld is overcrowded…”

“What reason?”

“Sorry, policy issue. We are temporarily unable to broadcast that.” King Yan stroked his beard. “Do you wish to sign up for the Earth OP game?”

“What OP? What is this thing?” I decided I had to get a clear answer. “Now we have to play games just to reincarnate? This Underworld doesn’t feel very legit.”

“You are correct. However, Earth OMG PlayStation is a brand-new open-world adventure RPG independently developed by the Underworld. In the game, you will explore a human world identical to the one you knew in life. Across this vast world, you may set foot in 197 countries and encounter companions of differing personalities and unique abilities…” King Yan rattled on without pause.

“Stop, stop.” I cut him off. “So the game content is basically being reborn and returning to the society we lived in?”

“Not entirely the society you lived in,” King Yan explained patiently. “There is a certain chance that you will arrive somewhere completely different from your previous life. But in short, you must survive.”

“Why would you make a game like this?” I was completely baffled.

“Because the */censored/* rate up above has been falling, and the higher-ups issued documents ordering the Underworld to help raise the */censored/* rate. The specific method is to bind the lives of infants born under poor conditions, who are very likely not to survive, to the Earth OP game. Players transmigrate into their bodies and survive, thereby increasing the */censored/* rate.”

“Huh?” It took me a tremendous effort to understand. “Is ‘birth’ a crime in the Underworld or something?”

“You may choose your own birth mode, but since these lives each have their own flaws, you cannot have your cake and eat it too.” King Yan ignored me and continued explaining. “You may choose to be born into a wealthy family at the cost of a congenital disease. Or you may choose a healthy body at the cost of poverty.”

“Of course, if you wish to choose Hard Mode, you may also be born as a sickly child in a poor family…”

“So the lives in the game all really exist in the real world?” I interrupted him. “In other words, this OP thing isn’t a game. It’s a transmigration System bound to reality?”

“You may understand it that way.” King Yan was exceedingly patient. “Once you complete the game objective, you may return to the Underworld. Our objectives are generally to survive in the transmigrated body for a set number of years, ranging from 6 to 18 depending on the game’s difficulty. In any case, infant mortality rates are not under the Underworld’s jurisdiction. We only need you to be born safely and grow into childhood or adolescence.”

“Eighteen years? That long?” I protested loudly.

“Think about it. The current queue for reincarnation will take at least 22 years anyway. Besides, if you choose to queue, you can only stand around waiting. Wouldn’t it be better to go into the game and experience the mortal world again?” King Yan advised earnestly. “If you are lucky, you can return in 6 years. At that point, we will immediately arrange your reincarnation, and you will also receive priority rights to choose your next life.”

I hesitated. He was right. Waiting in line was too miserable. I might as well go wreak some havoc in the mortal world.

“Then sign me up.”

King Yan hurriedly registered me.

After the registration was complete, my vision suddenly flashed, and a transparent screen appeared before my eyes. The words “Earth OP” were written across it in large letters, with a “START” button underneath.

“This is the System automatically assigned by the game, the next-generation AI developed by the Underworld: HellGPT,” King Yan’s voice sounded beside my ear. “It will prompt you with the game missions you need to complete.”

“I still have to complete missions? Isn’t staying alive enough?” I was shocked.

“Sorry. Missions must also be completed, or the game will fail,” King Yan said icily. “Begin now.”

Before I could ask anything else, the “START” button was clicked automatically.

I spat out a national curse. King Yan, that shady old bastard, really had tricked me. But at this point, I had no other choice. I could only follow the System’s instructions.

“Please select a game mode.”

After thinking it over, I chose “poverty, healthy body.” In my last life, I had died suddenly because of my heart condition. In this life, no matter what, I wanted a healthy body.

The world before me gradually twisted. After a wave of dizziness, I felt my body become light, and then some force pushed me-

I was born on the tiled floor of a vocational school’s bathroom.

You call this a poor family?

This isn’t even a family!