Back to Before the Game Descended

Blue Star’s first full-dive game, Ask the Immortals, sparked an unprecedented worldwide craze as soon as it was released.

Its flexible NPCs, immersive realism, incredible combat impact, and ever-popular cultivation fantasy setting made it a favorite topic of conversation.

Just as everyone was caught up in the advances of Chinese technology and the game’s superb content, crisis quietly approached.

Sudden holes appeared in the sky, fragments of continents connected to one another, and monsters with immense strength and immunity to modern weapons appeared... In an instant, Blue Star became a living hell.

Just as the world despaired at the coming apocalypse, people discovered that they could bring every move they had learned in Ask the Immortals back into reality, and that these moves could hurt the monsters!

In no time, heroes rose from every corner, the balance of power shifted, and the game pods for Ask the Immortals, already in short supply, became impossible to find.

Too poor to afford the exorbitant price of an Ask the Immortals game pod, You Ling had passed the franchise stores several times without ever going inside. When the monsters arrived, he was powerless and couldn’t even survive a single swipe from one of them.

But You Ling never expected that he would be reborn in the past after dying.

Seeing advertisements for Ask the Immortals all over the streets, he finally realized that he had returned to before the game’s launch!

Remembering the agony of having a monster tear out his heart with one swipe in his previous life, You Ling didn’t hesitate for a second. He walked straight into a franchise store, spent every last penny he had, and bought a game pod:

What’s the big deal about being poor? Losing your life is what’s truly terrifying!

At first, You Ling entered the game with one goal: to focus on getting stronger so he could protect himself.

But what’s with you, NPC?

Don’t you know players and NPCs have no future together?

In the end, when the world of Ask the Immortals descended into reality, You Ling looked at the familiar figure falling from the sky and could think of only one thing:

I’m screwed. The NPC who acted like he didn’t mean a word of what he said to me in the game has chased me into reality to demand an explanation, and I can’t beat him. What do I do now?

Anyone there? This is urgent!

A spectator who loved to stir things up suggested: “I recommend you offer yourself to him!”

You Ling: “I recommend that you stop parroting experts’ nonsense.”

Some NPC: “Young man, I think you deserve a place in the Imperial Ancestral Temple!”

[Reader’s Guide]

1. This is a Game Descends apocalypse story, with my own take on the end of the world.

2. The story’s general direction is set. It may change a little before the novel begins, but the overall Game Descends premise will remain unchanged.

3. Blurb archived on July 21, 2024.

Theme: Money is precious, but life is worth more.