[Welcome to the World is My Playground, esteemed player! My name is Cosmos Rover! Before you start exploring, please create your profile and avatar. At the moment, no skills or items that can alter your appearance in the game can be obtained or purchased from the C-Market, so please take your time in creating an avatar that will suit your tastes!]

When Liu Yichen opened his eyes, he found himself in a boundless white space standing face to face with a talking vacuum. 

Liu Yichen’s first thought was that the 20-hour shift had finally gotten to him, and he finally fainted at the station out of excessive overwork and fatigue. 

After all, how else could he suddenly appear in a space like this out of nowhere? That was the only explanation he could think of. 

He looked at the vacuum-looking thing on the floor and knelt down to scrutinize it. Even for a dream, this vacuum looked very high-tech and advanced. The human brain was truly amazing. It had somehow managed to take the details of the game he was looking at seconds before he passed out and integrated it into his dream.

He knocked on the gray tin-like surface with the back of his index finger while he spoke in a thoughtful voice, “…I wonder if the suction is at the bottom? Doesn’t seem so efficient at getting to the corners.”

It looked like a short cylinder with a rounded top.

Suddenly, he heard the vacuum-like thing speak in a cross tone. Its body tilted up to look at him intimidatingly. It seemed to possess a lot of spunk despite its size that barely reached half past Liu Yichen’s bent figure. 

“Oi, human. I’ll say this again, but I’m not a vacuum! I’m a robot, a robot! I’m an exploration rover! Don’t you dare compare me with one of those lowly ugly-shaped things who’d stupidly run off the edge of a balcony and die. Also, I can get to corners just fine.” He said the last sentence with an air of pride.

“…Oh, is that so? Sorry. You looked like a vacuum at first, but looking closely now, you do look like an exploration rover.”

Rover stopped abruptly in the middle of his protest. He instinctively rolled his wheels a few centimeters backwards. Most of the people who found their way into the game either panicked or rejoiced, but this particular player was unnervingly calm.

“…Ahem…ahem...insolent human, this…is your first time logging into this game, right?” Rover asked cautiously.

Liu Yichen only returned a questioning look as if the answer was obvious. 

After all, this was the first time he had such a dream. In games like these, the user usually couldn’t leave the game until he finished the account setup process. He figured he might wake up the moment he logged out so Liu Yichen didn’t worry too much and just went with the flow.

“So, how do I set up my profile?” He asked as he stood up.

“…Just call the ‘system’ in your mind and you’ll see a screen pop up. You're the only one who can see the content of your own screen, so please keep that in mind and don’t embarrass yourself when you join the other players in the common area later.”

Liu Yichen did as he was told and soon after, a blue system window appeared in front of him.

[Account name: Not yet configured.]

[Channel name: Not yet configured.]

[Appearance: Not yet configured. Users may proceed with a body scan for convenience.]

[Skills: Skill list is empty as of the moment.]

He decided to just fill-in the necessary parts and opted for a body scan to setup his avatar. He clicked on the “Confirm” button at the bottom of the window without much thought.

[Error. The details you have entered already exist. Please modify the details below in order to proceed. You may also select one from the list of suggestions below.]

Liu Yichen frowned and selected the first option for each field. 

Although he knew it was unlikely that the field would generate any error messages, he also set his avatar to be randomly generated. He didn’t mind whatever. After all, he didn’t want to spend too much time on creating a profile account in a dream. He was in a hurry to logout, wake up, and go home. 

“I’m done,"

“!...That…was fast, " Rover peered at him from below with a doubtful look. 

He asked for a second time, “Are you very, very, very, very certain that you’re done?”

Rover had welcomed many players, and Liu Yichen beat the record for the fastest account creation ever. Most people spent the longest during the avatar creation – they did something as trivial as adding a few centimeters to their height or simple cosmetic modifications such as smoothing out skin imperfections while others even made major physical changes to the point that they became unrecognizable. Players were rarely ever so contented when it came to aesthetics. 

This human was really a strange one.

“You can’t change it again once you start the game, you know? Even with points.”

Liu Yichen gave an affirmative. 

Seeing the easy expression on his face, Rover reluctantly accepted his account details submission. The system window disappeared from Liu Yichen’s view.

“Is that all?” Liu Yichen asked.

“As far as setting up your initial account, yes, that is all.”

Liu Yichen’s face brightened, “Then, how do I log out?”

When Rover heard this, he paused abruptly. His next words instantly turned the theme of Liu Yichen’s dream from fantasy into horror.

“Logout? What do you mean? Didn’t you read the exit requirements? You can’t log out. Once you’ve entered the game, there’s no way of leaving. Even when you think you’ve escaped the scenario, you’ll always be part of the scenario, Liu Yichen.”

Rover’s LED panels started alternating erratically between red and green. Suddenly, the small robot looked quite sinister. Liu Yichen knew this was all a dream, but hearing a figment of his own imagination speak this way was quite jarring. It was his dream after all, but somehow, he couldn’t shake the feeling that things weren’t going his way at all. 

“…What scenario?” Liu Yichen's voice finally showed a hint of panic.

In an instant, the ground around Liu Yichen began to light up, and he heard a whirring sound very much similar to the sound of a CPU powering on. A white circular pattern appeared with him stuck in the middle. Liu Yichen frantically reached his hand out, but it was repelled as if he was encased within walls of invisible glass. He only had enough time to hear Rover’s last sentence before his hearing became distant like he was sitting inside a moving vehicle.

“Well then, player Ban Yue, please do your best at your first scenario. It would be a shame if you die so quickly after all.” Cosmos Rover’s voice was devoid of emotion this time unlike his initial greeting. His voice became like that of a normal non-sentient robot – emotionless and pre-programmed.

He didn’t know it was possible in a dream but for the second time today, Liu Yichen blacked out.

BXX: Please don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe if you enjoyed this chapter! It would mean a lot to me! ( ﾟヮﾟ)