“Character template construction in progress... Construction completed.”

“Monster template construction in progress... Construction completed.”

“Player template construction in progress... Construction completed.”

“Class system construction in progress…”

“Quest system construction in progress…”

“Game rules are being injected…”

“World data integration begins…”

“Current progress: 1%, 2%, 3%... 5%... 21%... 34%... 57%... 82%...”

“……”

In the hazy fog.

John Shepherd seemed to hear a faint voice echoing from the void, reverberating in his mind.

Moments later, he awoke.

Like a newborn, or perhaps just as someone awakening from a long dream, John gazed blankly at his surroundings, still in a state of confusion.

It was a desolate wasteland.

The sky was overcast, dim, and shrouded in gray mist; the ground was barren, ruined, with no sign of life.

As far as his eyes could see, there was nothing but vast expanses of ruins, and countless skeletal remains scattered across the desolate land.

Even his own body...

John instinctively lowered his head and saw nothing but a mass of pale bones!

“I’ve become a skeleton?”

Taking in everything before him, John was utterly bewildered, unable to comprehend the situation.

At that moment, the mysterious voice from earlier echoed in his mind once again.

“World data integration complete.”

Ethereal. Mechanical. Completely devoid of emotion.

When John heard that voice again, a chill ran down his spine. The confusion and doubts that filled his heart vanished, leaving behind only shock.

“Is this... a system prompt?”

“Have I been transported into Second World?”

The voice was all too familiar to John.

In fact, every player of Second World knew this voice well.

Second World was a game.

From the moment a player entered the game, this ethereal, mechanical, and emotionless voice would accompany them on their journey.

Because...

This was the system prompt of Second World!

“Second World...”

“Could it be…”

With a thought, as if he had suddenly realized something, John silently muttered in his heart, “Status panel?”

In the next instant.

A semi-transparent status panel appeared before his eyes!

[Name]: John Shepherd
[Race]: Undead - Skeleton
[Level]: 1 (0/100)
[Status]: Health 8, Mana 15
[Attributes]: Strength 0.7, Agility 1.2, Constitution 0.8, Spirit 1.5
[Talent]: Corruption (Unique Talent)
[Skills]: None

……

Aside from one being a player template and the other a monster template, the status panel before John’s eyes was almost identical to the one he had seen in the past.

Coupled with the familiar system prompt, John finally accepted the fact that he had been transported into the game world.

“No.”

“Maybe this isn’t just a simple transport…”

“It’s a rebirth!”

His gaze lowered, scanning through the various attributes he currently possessed, and John’s eyes finally landed on the bottom of the status panel.

There, a string of numbers stood out.

Open Beta Countdown: 90 Days, 13 Hours, 24 Minutes.

“So, I’ve been reborn from ten years in the future to the present, where Second World hasn’t even launched yet, and I’ve gone from being a player to becoming a skeleton in the game?”

As he came to this conclusion, John didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Sifting through the information in his mind, John quickly drew a few conclusions:

1. Since he had become a monster, he had lost the infinite respawn ability of a player. In this version of Second World, death meant true death, and there would be no revival.
2. As a monster, he was naturally in opposition to the players. And the players, known as the “Fourth Calamity”... even when facing gods, as long as they saw a health bar, they would attack without hesitation!
3. With three months left on the countdown to the open beta, he had a limited window of time to grow before the players officially arrived.
4. Having returned from ten years in the future, Second World had yet to officially open, the gods had not yet awakened, the game had not yet invaded reality, and the real world... had not yet been destroyed!

Yes, destruction.

Before John’s rebirth, the real world had already been destroyed.

Players had altered the game, and the game had, in turn, begun to erode reality.

Ten years later.

When the game’s influence on reality reached a critical point, the slumbering gods awoke.

The worlds merged, and supernatural powers descended.

Even with ten years of growth, the players were still no match for the gods.

When those almighty beings set foot in the real world, even the combined might of legendary players was not enough to stop even one of them!

Then...

The world was torn apart, reduced to ruins!

The living beings in the real world—those who worshipped the gods—were taken to the gods’ realms; the powerful escaped to other dimensions; but the vast majority... perished in the destruction of the world, turning into undead creatures that wandered the shattered lands.

As for John...

Even though he had become a level 76 Legendary Sword Saint, when that moment arrived, all he could do was flee into the game world. While seeking revenge against the gods, he also endured their relentless pursuit!

Open Beta Countdown?

Ha!

Staring at the string of numbers at the bottom of his status panel, John let out a bitter laugh.

Rather than calling it the Open Beta Countdown, it would be more accurate to call it the Countdown to the End of the World!

With his memories of the previous life, John knew better than anyone just how terrifying the gods were.

It wasn’t just now—even if the peak strength of the players from his past life were multiplied tenfold or a hundredfold, they still wouldn’t stand a chance against the gods!

The destruction of the real world was inevitable.

It could be said that from the moment Second World, the supernatural game, entered its countdown to the open beta…

The countdown to the end of the real world had begun as well!