Chapter 1

Xia Xifeng was harvesting crops in the game when he was shouted out of the house by his esteemed mother superior.

Next door, Qin Lang was soloing a BOSS when he too was kicked out by his parents.

Tonight, the two families were gathering to eat, drink, and play mahjong. The two were forced out to buy braised snacks to go with the drinks.

As they left, a few extra red bills were stuffed into their hands by their parents.

“You two good brothers haven’t seen each other in half a year. Go out and have a nice time together. Just come back with the braised snacks before dinner!”

Both sets of parents thought they were being incredibly considerate as they shut Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang outside under the bright, blazing sun.

Xia Xifeng felt utterly helpless. He and Qin Lang were hardly good brothers. And who wanted to go out in this sweltering heat?!

The elders of both the Xia and Qin families had been classmates and friends in their youth. After working at the same workplace, they pooled money to buy neighboring houses.

The two families had each other’s keys. The children they raised were placed in the same cradle and looked after by grandparents from both sides.

Unlike the deep friendship between the elders, Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang had been incompatible since childhood, starting their bickering in the crib itself.

Yet the elders stubbornly believed that since their own relationship was good, Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang’s relationship must be just as good, always pushing the incompatible pair together.

Although their hometown was only a small city, the quality of the teachers was decent. The two attended local schools right up until the college entrance exams. The elders pulled some strings, and Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang were deskmates from kindergarten through high school graduation.

Bickering? That’s just how boys’ friendship is—rowdy and playful.

It wasn’t until university that the two finally escaped each other, packing their bags and heading their separate ways north and south, only meeting during winter and summer breaks when they returned to their hometown.

With less time spent together, they became more distant and polite.

Xia Xifeng wore short sleeves and shorts, stepping into a pair of sandals. Even in summer, Qin Lang insisted on long pants and casual shoes, and when going out, he’d wear a baseball cap to shield himself from the sun. Besides “Couldn’t we just order delivery? You’re still using cash?!” and “…Yeah,” they remained completely silent the entire way.

In recent years, the government had built a riverbank park along the large river winding through the small city. The long, tree-lined path had become a popular check-in spot and internet-famous destination for tourists from nearby cities.

The government compound where Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang’s families lived opened right onto this greenway.

The summer sun was dazzling, the weather was stifling and humid, and the cicadas in the trees chirped noisily. Even walking under the shade of the trees, both body and mind inevitably felt hot and irritable.

“Let’s take a little detour. Walk along the river—the river breeze is stronger.” As soon as Xia Xifeng finished speaking, without waiting for Qin Lang’s reply, he cut through a path beside the greenway and headed into the park.

Qin Lang had already changed his walking direction the moment Xia Xifeng opened his mouth, before the words were even fully out.

The two walked to the riverbank. The cool river breeze blew, gently swaying the weeping willows, which slapped against the large iron “No Swimming” signs erected every ten meters.

The summer heat lingering around them finally dissipated somewhat. The chatterbox Xia Xifeng could barely contain himself and was about to initiate a conversation with Qin Lang when he heard shouts coming from the river.

He looked in the direction of the shouts.

Several young men and women were standing in the middle of the riverbed, striking various poses with a selfie stick.

A few children, wrapped in swimming rings, were swimming near the shore.

Waves surged upstream, the water level rose rapidly, and small whirlpools appeared on the previously calm surface.

The men and women in the river screamed shrilly, scrambling with both hands and feet towards the shore.

Several children couldn’t control their swimming rings and were on the verge of being swept away by the current.

“What kind of idiots?! There are ‘No Swimming’ signs all along the river! Are you blind and have a death wish?!” Xia Xifeng cursed furiously while running towards the riverbank.

An uncle with a red “Patrol” armband on his arm had already collapsed to the ground, wailing loudly: “I called them ashore just ten minutes ago! How could they go back in after I just looked away?!”

“Stop crying and help save them!” Xia Xifeng pulled the uncle up.

The people cooling off on the shore had already gathered. Several calm individuals tied lifebuoys to ropes, with one end of the rope secured to the bank: “Is anyone a strong swimmer?”

“Me!” Xia Xifeng kicked off his sandals and jumped into the river, swimming towards the children first.

Qin Lang also reached the riverbank.

He glanced at Xia Xifeng in the river, fired up with hot-blooded enthusiasm, but didn’t go into the water himself: “Where’s more rope?”

The owner of a nearby convenience store came out holding a huge pile of hemp rope: “I’ve got some! Left over from renovations, absolutely sturdy!”

Qin Lang cut a long section of hemp rope. After a child was brought ashore, he tied the child’s swimming ring to the rope and tossed it into the river.

With new swimming rings available, some hesitant people on the shore also mustered the courage to enter the water.

As the river’s flow accelerated, all the children had already been rescued, and the young men and women filming their videos were swimming close to the riverbank.

Xia Xifeng climbed ashore, caught his breath, and then swam towards the person swept furthest away.

The river had become fairly turbulent. Some kind-hearted rescuers had come ashore to rest. Qin Lang was about to tell Xia Xifeng to take a break when he saw Xia Xifeng dive back into the water.

He cursed silently. Reluctantly, he removed his long pants and, hugging a tethered swimming ring, went to assist Xia Xifeng.

Rescuing an adult was far more difficult than rescuing children. The moment Xia Xifeng got close, he was kicked multiple times.

After much difficulty grabbing the person’s arm and dragging him towards the shore, he was only an arm’s length away from Qin Lang.

Just then, a small piece of driftwood floated down from upstream. The person Xia Xifeng was holding onto screamed in terror, bit Xia Xifeng’s arm, and jabbed a finger towards Xia Xifeng’s eyes.

As Xia Xifeng released his grip to dodge, the person kicked out at him, using the counterforce to instantly close the distance with Qin Lang, reaching a hand out for the swimming ring.

Xia Xifeng was struck by the driftwood and submerged. When he resurfaced, the current had already swept him several meters away.

“The swimming ring!” The person’s fingers touched the swimming ring, and joy burst forth in their eyes.

Qin Lang released the swimming ring.

The ring was quickly pushed off course by the current. As the person watched in growing despair, the angle of the rope to the shore grew smaller and smaller, gradually drawing close to the bank.

Qin Lang dove into the water and swam in the direction Xia Xifeng had been swept.

Xia Xifeng floated and sank dizzily in the current when he suddenly felt someone support him by the waist, lifting his mouth and nose above the water’s surface.

He coughed a few times and took several deep breaths. With his eyes still squinting, he shouted: “Qin Lang! If you’ve still got the strength, swim to shore yourself! Don’t worry about me!”

Under the water, there was silence, save for the increasingly rapid sound of the rushing current.

A whirlpool abruptly appeared on the water’s surface. No more sound reached Xia Xifeng’s ears.

…

“Damn it! Qin Lang, let go of me! Swim to shore yourself!” Xia Xifeng sat up with a start, like a carp leaping out of the water.

Qin Lang, sitting beside him, gave him a look that plainly said he was an idiot.

Xia Xifeng froze, then was overcome with wild joy: “We’re ashore? We’re both rescued?! Huh? Why are you shirtless? Did your clothes get washed away? What’s with this khaki shorts? Your sense of style is terrible! Wait, why am I shirtless too? Why are you and I wearing matching underwear? So gay!…”

Qin Lang patted the dirt and grass clippings off his body and stood up, pointing at the sky: “Shut up. Look at the sky.”

Xia Xifeng looked up.

At the highest point of the firmament, a golden-yellow sun, like a morning sun, and an orange-red sun, like an evening sun, faced each other across half the sky.

Wisps of clouds, their edges shimmering with rainbow fluorescent light, drifted occasionally across the azure sky. When cloud bumped into cloud, some merged into one, while others vanished abruptly, as if erased by a rubber eraser.

A loud cry came from the distance. A creature with enormous bat-like wings skimmed beneath the clouds, startling countless flocks of birds from the forest.

The dark green of the forest lightened as it drew nearer, unnaturally turning into a stretch of grassland. At the grassland’s edge, it connected to a swath of dusky-yellow sandy soil.

The sand and the grassland were distinctly separate, not interfering with each other. Even the dust kicked up by the wind didn’t drift towards the grassland.

Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang were standing on a high sand-soil slope right at the boundary line where the forest-grassland met the sand.

Xia Xifeng rubbed his eyes.

“Qin Lang, we’ve transmigrated, haven’t we?”

“Yeah.”

Wearing tattered shorts and matching tattered shorts, Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang stood dumbly on top of the sand-soil slope.

A gust of sandy wind swept over them. The two spat out sand while shivering uncontrollably.

“L-Let’s head to the grassland first.”

“Yeah.”

The two slid down the sand-soil slope and stepped barefoot onto the grassland.

A winding stream cut through the grassland, meandering out from the forest and then curving back into it.

The two stood by the stream observing for a while, throwing dry grass and stones into the water. Only after determining the crystal-clear, bottom-visible stream posed no danger did they approach the bank and wash the dust that was almost caked into their eyes away.

“Qin Lang…” Xia Xifeng started to speak, then hesitated.

Qin Lang tapped twice in the empty air, his gaze shifting to Xia Xifeng: “What?”

“It’s nothing.” Xia Xifeng swallowed the “I’m sorry” that was almost out of his mouth. “What are you tapping at?”

Qin Lang’s answer was concise: “System.”

Xia Xifeng’s eyes, dejected like a rain-drenched puppy, lit up: “System?! I have one too? System, system!”

At Xia Xifeng’s call, the God of Miracles revealed a divine marvel before his eyes.

The semi-transparent system panel made Xia Xifeng want to weep with joy.

The world clearly looked unsafe at a glance. Forget finding a way home—he had been worrying even about how to survive. Now, he finally saw hope.

Instantly reinvigorated, Xia Xifeng excitedly rubbed his hands together: “Let me see, what good stuff is my system… Ah? Why does it look a bit familiar? Farming? Gathering? Mining… Ah, this is… Qin Lang, Qin Lang! Help me take a look!”

Seeing a “Share with Companion” button next to the system panel, Xia Xifeng unhesitatingly shared his system panel with Qin Lang.

Qin Lang’s eyes widened slightly. He said, annoyed: “Don’t you read the instructions?!”

“Instructions for what?” Xia Xifeng searched around and found the description for “Share with Companion.”

After the system was shared, the two individuals possessing the system would become close comrades-in-arms. Not only would they enjoy partnership benefits like shared backpacks, checking each other’s locations, and a distance-ignoring dialogue box, but the other party could also use his skill points and equipment.

Xia Xifeng was dumbfounded. Wasn’t this basically sharing his life with the other person?

He looked at Qin Lang hopefully and extended his hand.

Qin Lang remained unmoved.

Xia Xifeng shook his outstretched hand: “You’re not the type to take advantage of others, right?”

Qin Lang rolled his eyes at Xia Xifeng and shared his own system panel with him.

Xia Xifeng retracted his hand, satisfied.

Although he had indeed made a foolish mistake, reciprocity was important. He couldn’t be the only one getting screwed.

“Huh? Your system is different from mine. Mine is all life skills, yours is all combat skills.” Xia Xifeng complained, “Doesn’t that mean I have no way to defend myself?”

Qin Lang said, “My skills can’t be allocated without money.”

“Then earn money.” Xia Xifeng flipped through Qin Lang’s skills and was stunned. “Allocating skills requires Game Gold? Game Gold can only be obtained by completing system daily orders? Your system doesn’t even have a daily orders function!”

He now understood why Qin Lang had been so agreeable today, cleanly and efficiently sharing half his life with him.

Without Xia Xifeng earning money to support Qin Lang, Qin Lang’s system would be useless.

Xia Xifeng finally remembered why the system panel looked familiar: “Qin Lang, our two system panels combined… isn’t that a modified version of the Fantasy Realms game system?”

Qin Lang said, “Yes.”

Fantasy Realms, a massively popular online game with a Western fantasy epic style, had been in continuous operation for ten years. It had just concluded a major story arc and was reportedly about to overhaul its client and develop a sequel.

The game had an enormous degree of freedom and text volume, utilizing the most advanced AI technology, so lavishly designed that even every roadside NPC had their own little story.

Players could be lone wolves soloing BOSSes and deeply participating in the game’s storyline; they could also farm, mine, gather, build manors and workshops, and amass wealth in the game; they could even call friends to establish factions and journey together to experience a variety of game content…

In short, whether one wanted to play a single-player game or a social game, a high-difficulty action game or a large-scale group raid game, a role-playing game or a mindless mob-slaying game, an intense grind-heavy game or a leisurely farming game… players of all stripes could find enjoyment in Fantasy Realms.

Before being kicked out of their homes, Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang had both been thoroughly engrossed in Fantasy Realms.

However, for Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang, who had already transmigrated, how outstanding or fun this game was wasn’t the main point. The main point was…

“Could we have transmigrated into Fantasy Realms?” A fine sweat broke out on Xia Xifeng’s forehead. “The launch storyline of Fantasy Realms, I remember, was the arrival of the apocalypse?”

Qin Lang, whose face was usually as expressionless as if he had facial paralysis, rarely showed a hint of worry: “Right.”