Yuan Chang and Xia Xiang quickly confessed upon entering the police station, awaiting a long prison sentence. A month later, Fan Lang was released from the hospital; three years later, Su Yu finally caught up with Shen Mengxi; five years later, Shen Zixia married a cheerful girl she met while traveling; ten years later, Xia Xiang committed suicide in prison; fifteen years later, Yuan Chang died a gruesome death in prison, his body contorted.
Decades later, Ye Zhizhou held Cen Yuebai's hand and smoothed his hair, smiling. "Let's go, I'll join you down there."
"Xiao Zhou," Cen Yuebai held his finger, intermittently speaking, "we are fated through many lifetimes... in the next life, too... wait for me..."
"Alright," he lay down beside his beloved, placing his hand on his waist. "We will always be together."
Both closed their eyes as the sun gradually dipped below the horizon, and darkness descended.
"Welcome to the Dreamland Continent. Please create your character."
Darkness was dispelled by a warm light, and Ye Zhizhou opened his bewildered eyes to find himself standing on a circular, magnificent stone platform. He was shirtless with only shorts on his lower body. Nearby, a beautiful river flowed, and in the distance, rows of lovely cottages stood. Turning around, he saw vast stretches of trees extending to the edge of his vision. As he surveyed the surroundings, the darkness had completely disappeared, replaced by a pleasant scene of blue skies, white clouds, bird songs, and fragrant flowers.
He wanted to descend from the platform and explore the cottages, but an invisible barrier surrounded the stone platform.
"What's going on? Tongtian?"
Suddenly, a character panel appeared in front of him, and a small package icon in the corner blinked. It opened automatically, revealing a game-specific backpack page with a pink winged controller and a small mirror.
"...I really don't want to admit that this cute and fancy thing is Tongtian."
The small mirror started to glow in a rainbow of colors.
"Indeed, it's Tongtian."
He clicked on one of the slots, and his hand slightly weighed down as a small mirror appeared.
"Tongtian?"
The feathered wings on the small mirror moved, and the screen displayed information that began pouring out.
Familiar formulas, familiar tastes. He breathed a sigh of relief, then sat cross-legged on the stone platform, touching his cool buttocks and began reading the information.
The protagonist of this world is named Jun Shujing. She has a slight leg disability and spends most of her time at home. She has a wealthy father who owns a chain of restaurants, but he is too busy to pay much attention to her. To make matters worse, she has a stepmother who dislikes her, a useless younger brother, and an overly clever and talented younger sister.
She is depressed, dissatisfied, and yearns to learn culinary skills to become an excellent chef and inherit her father's restaurant. However, her stepmother forbids her from entering the kitchen, citing her physical condition.
In her twentieth year, Liangfeng Corporation launched a highly immersive holographic game with a realism level of up to 80%. Regardless of one's real-life circumstances, as long as they have a healthy mind and are over eighteen, they can experience a wonderful life in the game.
Due to her leg disability, Jun Shujing became interested and quickly ordered a game capsule to begin her gaming journey. Her stepmother, pleased that she would no longer disturb the kitchen, paid no attention to her obsession with the game.
In the game, Jun Shujing was no longer disabled, no longer self-conscious, and had the opportunity to learn culinary skills. While others were busy leveling up and fighting monsters, she immediately sought out a life skills instructor to learn cooking. She had a secret recipe book left by her deceased mother, hidden from her father and stepmother for over ten years. Finally, she could openly study this cookbook.
Learning culinary skills in the game was not much easier than in real life, but she persevered. After preparing her first dish, she became the first player in the game to awaken her culinary skills and received generous rewards from the game system. Moreover, she was surprised to find that any dish she prepared according to the recipe came with various incredible buffs!
Slow leveling was not a problem; she could make a living as a life player! With the recipe in her hand, she felt invincible.
She quickly climbed to the top of the game's wealth ranking, surpassing the elite players from prestigious families who had entered the game to experience a different life. The 80% realistic game offered a vast world, representing a massive market. The elites became curious about this character who rose to the top of the culinary world so quickly.
Some developed feelings of goodwill towards the protagonist, while others were extremely dissatisfied. Among them, the most resentful was Fu Xia, the daughter of a gourmet family. She also learned cooking as soon as she entered the game, and she had a culinary background and family support. However, she was constantly outperformed by the protagonist, even when both used secret recipes. The protagonist's dishes were always superior, and they came with unprecedented bonus effects.
Fu Xia was frustrated, defeated, and when she noticed the protagonist catching the eye of one of the game's male leads, she began to envy her. Then, driven by jealousy, she decided to scheme against the protagonist. Unfortunately, it was challenging to plot in the game because there were no other devious methods besides killing, which would expose her. Additionally, the game's products were of high quality, making it impossible to create problems with their quality.
In the end, she befriended the protagonist.
Jun Shujing, who had no friends in real life due to her disability, gave her full trust to the friends she met in the game. About a month later, her recipe was leaked, which shocked and saddened her as she discovered that her newfound friend, Fu Xia, was the one who had exposed it.
By now, she had also become friends with another player, Qixing, who was aware of the situation. Furious and alarmed, he rushed to confront Fu Xia and distanced himself from her, officially becoming the second male lead. Fu Xia was deeply upset, crying out that she was wronged, but no one believed her. Frustrated and envious, she then succumbed to her negative emotions and decided to harm the protagonist. Unfortunately, in addition to the difficulties of carrying out such a plan in the game without being exposed, the protagonist also had a top-tier player, Ye Tang, who stepped in to protect her.
The recipe leak became a significant issue, further intensifying the curiosity of the elite players who couldn't find any information about the protagonist. They also discovered that when others followed the recipe, the resulting dishes lacked the amazing bonus effects that the protagonist's dishes had.
The elites were excited, drawn in by the protagonist's charm. They lined up to get the contact information of the male lead and fell in awe of the protagonist's culinary skills.
Ye Zhizhou was utterly speechless. How could playing a game lead to this? Were the male leads in this world all fools?
As it turns out, the male leads were not fools; in fact, they were highly accomplished individuals in real life. The first male lead, Ye Tang, also known as Tang Ye, was the heir to the wealthy Tang family, which specialized in fitness equipment. The second male lead, Qi Xing, was the most talented perfumer of the Qi family, a renowned family in the fragrance industry. He was also the designated successor. The third male lead, Shi Zhe, was the son of a prestigious medical family, currently pursuing a master's degree in medicine. He eventually cured the protagonist's leg disability. The fourth male lead, Yu Jiangbo, came from a family in the jewelry business and was so wealthy that he could afford to spend lavishly every day. The fifth male lead, He Nian, came from a family that manufactured electronic products, an emerging family that experienced rapid growth. The sixth male lead, Sun Fanchen, was from a real estate family, and he could live in a different house every day of the year, which was quite impressive. The seventh male lead, Bao Yan'an, came from a family that sold clothing, and he basically monopolized the protagonist's wardrobe for the rest of her life.
Seven male leads had their eyes set on a girl they met in the game. Ye Zhizhou couldn't quite comprehend the male leads in this world.
With the support and assistance of these seven male leads, the female protagonist's progress in the game became even smoother, firmly securing her position at the top of the wealth ranking.
Six months later, the game introduced a service for exchanging real currency with in-game currency. The protagonist instantly transformed from being the virtual game's wealthiest player to a real-world millionaire. She was no longer content with her influence solely in the game. Thinking of her real-life disability and the excellence of the male leads, she felt a mixture of emotions. Finally, on a dark and stormy night, she made the decision to sell all her in-game currency for a substantial amount of cash and embarked on real-life endeavors, with the intention of finding the male leads after improving herself!
This made the male leads anxious and worried once again, prompting them to launch a frantic investigation into her whereabouts. Unfortunately, Liangfeng Corporation had done an excellent job of safeguarding customer information, and their investigations yielded nothing. At the same time, the protagonist, in reality, had quietly left her home. She sought medical treatment for her legs and began running a small restaurant, buying properties, recruiting employees, and secretly working towards her goals.
The success she achieved in the game soon began to replicate itself in reality. The influential gourmet family, the Fu family, was the first to notice her rapidly expanding restaurant. They sent someone to taste her dishes, and it happened to be Fu Xia! With just one bite, she recognized the protagonist's culinary skills, and a flood of new grievances and old hatred welled up inside her. She began various efforts to suppress and harm the protagonist.
In reality, things were different from the game. Under Fu Xia's pressure, the protagonist's business quickly withered. Coincidentally, at this time, the protagonist's stepmother discovered her secret departure to open a restaurant. Shocked, she rushed to inform the protagonist's father, exposing the fact that she had made a fortune in the game. The protagonist was brought back home, her in-game assets confiscated, and her days turned gloomy.
Fortunately, the protagonist's father wasn't entirely heartless. Knowing her desire to treat her legs, he arranged for her to be admitted to a hospital. There, in reality, the protagonist met the third male lead, Shi Zhe, and they quickly recognized each other.
Upon learning of the protagonist's recent tragic experiences, Shi Zhe became furious. He spared no effort to treat her legs at any cost, and then he informed the other six male leads about her whereabouts. Together, they helped the protagonist break free from her family's constraints and restart her career. So, the protagonist once again began her journey of success, and when Fu Xia discovered this, she was shocked. She attempted to scheme against her but ended up being outwitted by the protagonist, who had the support of the male leads. Ultimately, her entire family suffered the consequences, leading to their gradual decline.
Seeing the protagonist thriving, her family came back, hoping to profit from her success. However, the protagonist had lost all hope in her family by this point and promptly drove them away. Her half-sister attempted to seduce the male leads, but when she failed, the infuriated protagonist humiliated her and cast her aside.
At this point, all the villains were defeated, and the protagonist achieved both love and career success, attaining a perfect life.
Ye Zhizhou stopped fiddling with the holographic screen, paused for a moment, and then looked around at his surroundings. He tentatively asked, "So, am I currently in a game?"
The holographic screen still displayed the plot information and did not respond. Instead, a line of semi-transparent colorful text appeared in the air, "Welcome to Dreamland. Please create your character."
In his own world, full-dive games were already widespread, but he had never played one. This felt somewhat novel to him. He clicked on the blank character panel and examined it for a moment. He suppressed his curiosity and knocked on the interface to ask, "What is my status or identity in this world?"
[Fu Ximing, Fu Xia's brother, and the heir to the Fu family.]
Once again, he had been assigned a minor, irrelevant character.
The colorful text in the air changed, displaying a new prompt, "If you do not create a character within thirty minutes, you will be forced to log out. Please create your character, player."
He narrowed his eyes, gazing at the colorful text in the air and then examining the system information. A sly smile appeared on his lips as he asked, "Can I randomize my appearance in this game?"
[Players can customize their appearance according to their preferences.]
Excellent! He quickly stood up, following the game's instructions to create his character. Soon, a handsome young man named Ye Zhizhou appeared before him. The game prompted him once again, "Character appearance settings completed. Would you like to use this character?"
He quickly clicked "yes" and, after selecting his race and distributing basic attribute points, entered the game. He couldn't wait to taste the unforgettable culinary skills of the protagonist. Moreover, in a game world devoid of telepathy, could his beloved recognize him quickly? He had no idea what role his beloved would play in this lifetime. One thing was for sure: he had to play this game.