Chapter 1: Reincarnation? Golden Finger?
"In the year 2012 of the Dragon Calendar, the Dragon Kingdom developed virtual reality technology, revealing a corner of the mystery of the virtual world..."
"Afterwards, with the completion of the virtual reality network and the gradual improvement of the technology, the virtual world could finally be fully displayed before people..."
"In 2019 of the Dragon Calendar, the Dragon Kingdom successfully created the first virtual world using virtual reality technology and named it 'Second World'. The virtual world officially entered the lives of ordinary people..."
"The birth of 'Second World' was just the beginning of humanity's exploration of virtual worlds. Since then, more and more virtual worlds have been created by people. Those who create virtual worlds as a profession are known as virtual game designers!"
"Every virtual world is a game of life. People can experience a life completely different from reality in these virtual worlds: the second world, the third world, the nth world..."
"Leo Thomas, a tenth-level virtual game designer, has released a brand new game! This is a new version of the ship that you have never played before!"
In a luxuriously decorated room, a black-haired young man stared blankly at the shiny screen in front of him, browsing the information. His body subconsciously leaned forward, his eyes flickering non-stop, and his finger repeatedly clicked the mouse to switch pages, as if confirming something.
After a while, he spoke out loud in confusion.
"So this is 2019, not 9012?"
"Virtual world? Am I dreaming?"
At that moment, a strange memory suddenly flooded into his mind, as if it was forcibly pushed in by someone. The influx of memory caused him a splitting headache.
"Hiss~ My head hurts!"
"Dreams shouldn't cause headaches, right?"
"John? This memory...isn't a dream?!"
About half an hour later, the memory in John's mind finally merged, and the headache that made him want to knock his head off slowly disappeared. He finally understood the current situation.
"It's not a dream!"
His hands dropped weakly from his sweaty forehead. The headache from the memory fusion had completely exhausted him, but his eyes were full of excitement.
"I didn't expect to encounter something like time travel!"
The memories had merged, and John could finally make sense of the world he had traveled to.
Obviously, from the information he had just seen, it was clear that this world was somewhat different from his previous one.
The most obvious difference was the technology.
In his previous life, virtual reality technology was only in its infancy, but in this world, they had the ability to create fully immersive virtual worlds, perfectly controlled and popularized in everyday life.
Not just virtual reality technology, but other aspects of life and technology in this world were also far ahead.
Many jobs in this world had been replaced by robots, and the population was much larger than in John's previous world.
This left many people with nothing to do. It wasn't that people were lazy or unwilling to work; there were simply very few jobs available.
For primitive tasks, robots were several times more efficient and of higher quality than human workers. For those in control of resources, using robots brought countless benefits, making the use of human labor impractical.
In contrast, professions that couldn't be replaced by robots—such as writers, singers, directors, scientists, and biologists—were highly respected. However, although many chose these professions, they relied heavily on talent, leaving a large number of people unemployed.
Fortunately, the advanced technology in this world meant people no longer had to work hard for basic resources. The state distributed certain subsidies, ensuring there was no immediate crisis.
Of course, the resources provided by the state only met basic living needs and didn't allow for a higher quality of life for the unemployed. Although survival wasn't a concern, the pressure of work and employment still existed. Having a job or something to do was definitely better than having nothing to occupy oneself with, as long-term idleness could lead to problems.
The development of virtual reality technology aimed to change this situation.
Since there were fewer jobs in this world, why not create another world?
While interdimensional travel hadn't been researched in this world, the virtual world offered people a second world, a third world, and even an nth world!
Although there was always a gap between the virtual and real worlds, the emergence of the virtual world significantly alleviated societal pressure.
As John continued to digest the memories in his mind, he realized that the virtual world also eased the employment pressure on society.
Facts had proven that the virtual world was a feasible solution!
Since its inception, the virtual world had become a major trend. In just a few years, it evolved from a tool for those with nothing to do to a compelling realm that attracted countless explorers. Those with resources in the real world naturally seized opportunities in the virtual world.
The real world and the virtual world were interconnected, much like the simplest game teams or various game guilds in John's previous life, only now these were professionalized into something more akin to professional gamers.
While John pondered this, a voice suddenly spoke in his mind:
"Ding~ The virtual game design system has been successfully bound!"
"System!"
Hearing this, John's face lit up with joy—his golden finger had arrived!
Even without the golden finger, John didn't feel completely out of his depth. After all, this kind of world was ideal for a time traveler like him who lacked technical expertise.
Now, with a golden finger, John felt even more confident.
"Virtual game design system? So, my main task is to create games?"
Considering the state of this world, this golden finger had come at just the right time.