Not long after, Ye Bai's eyes lit up.
The flickering candlelight revealed a sealed stone chamber. Beneath her feet was a platform adorned with remnants of peculiar patterns, clearly a damaged magical array. Directly opposite her was a tightly shut stone door, carved with a familiar three-pronged tree totem. Upon closer inspection, faint halos of light could be seen emanating from it.
"Even the login interface has gone full holographic..."
Ye Bai marveled at the sight, having never experienced anything like it before. She then lowered her gaze to examine her 'body': dressed in the default gray tank top and shorts, her gender and race remained unchanged, but her physique was noticeably different from reality—taller, with more proportionate muscles, a perfectly standard model-like build.
As her eyes lingered on her body, Ye Bai realized she could adjust its bones, muscles, and fat. This was the 'character customization' feature, allowing her to replicate her real-world appearance in the game if she wished.
Ye Bai glanced over the options but made no adjustments.
She wasn't sure how much overlap there was between the two versions of *Boundless Realms*, but as the game's creator, she was intimately familiar with its design.
The core of *Boundless Realms* was its open world and high degree of freedom. Unlike traditional games, there were no race or class selections during character creation. Instead, body type was linked to character attributes.
This not only affected initial stats but also influenced growth coefficients upon leveling up.
For example, a character with maxed-out muscles would gain 1.2 times the standard strength growth but only 0.7 times the standard agility growth when leveling up.
The penalties outweighed the benefits, a trade-off for specialization. The advantage was that such a character could meet class change requirements at lower levels, ideal for players who had already decided on their career paths.
However, for Ye Bai, who knew countless ways to obtain high-level items and hidden quests, any attribute growth penalty of 0.3 would be a disadvantage in the late game. Naturally, she chose to become an all-rounded fighter!
As for facial features, they had little impact. Beauty was subjective, and no matter how attractive a character looked, it only affected the base charm stat. However, it was worth noting that appearances that deviated too far from human norms—'Eldritch Visages'—would reduce charm and negatively impact NPCs' initial impressions.
Ye Bai stepped off the platform. Even if her appearance was locked and couldn't be changed... well, except through microtransactions. But back when she developed *Boundless Realms*, the in-game store was still in the design phase, and she hadn't found anything resembling it in this holographic version.
The stone chamber was sparsely furnished, with the only notable feature being the totem-carved stone door.
Following the memory of the login 'cutscene,' Ye Bai reached out and pressed her hand against the center of the three-pronged tree totem.
The totem on the stone door glowed with a mysterious light, and a message flashed in Ye Bai's mind—
[Identity]
[Key]
Seeing this, Ye Bai's eyebrows twitched, and a bold idea came to her. She input her GM (Game Master) account credentials from *Boundless Realms* using her consciousness.
Identity: Bai Ye
Key: 009527#
[Character creation successful]
"No such luck, huh..." Ye Bai sighed in disappointment at the prompt.
Creating a character meant she had just registered a new account, not logged into her existing one.
If she had been able to access her GM account, even a single item from her inventory could have fetched a sky-high price in the game's auction house. As for her character's strength, being an administrator, her power would far exceed the game's limits, making any boss a trivial one-hit kill.
But this was to be expected. If she had actually logged into her GM account, the first thing she would have felt was dread. The fact that the two versions of *Boundless Realms* shared the same settings was already a tremendous opportunity for her.
"Rumble..."
"Lord Bai Ye, thank you for crossing the realms to come here..."
Amidst the faint, ethereal whispers, the stone door slowly opened, and the light engulfed Ye Bai's figure.
...
Dusk Town.
"This is your reward."
"Thank you."
The player handed over the animal hide and received five copper coins from the town's hunter.
The hunter, Qiao Ba, gave a satisfied nod, shooting the player a look that clearly said 'sucker,' before quickly shutting the door.
The player, Lie Yang, checked the system notification and smiled.
Qiao Ba's favorability +1. Current favorability: (5/100)
After consistently selling hides at a low price to this greedy and stingy hunter, Lie Yang had finally raised Qiao Ba's favorability to 5 points. Combined with the favorability from other residents, his relationship with Dusk Town had shifted from 'Indifferent' to 'Neutral' in the faction panel.
[Neutral: Most residents of Dusk Town are willing to engage in conversation with you.]
"Finally!" Lie Yang exclaimed. In Dusk Town, only a handful of NPCs offered quests under 'Indifferent' relations, and the tasks were limited, with fierce competition from other players.
But now that his faction standing had reached 'Neutral,' more quest opportunities would open up. The three months he'd spent grinding were worth it.
Lie Yang logged out of the game and reported his progress to the research group funded by his consortium. Across the universe, all major factions were heavily invested in *Boundless Realms*, pouring significant resources and personnel into the game.
The research group shared some news: "Your approach to boosting town favorability is correct. The Night River Civilization from the Virgo Cluster just announced that their players have integrated into a town, shedding their 'refugee' status. Our intelligence suggests they've even entered a major city and are exploring class change quests."
"The Night River Civilization? One of the first to discover *Boundless Realms*?"
"Exactly. They found the game three years ago when it first launched and have been at the forefront of exploration. Tsk... Originally a mid-to-lower-tier civilization, they've skyrocketed in development by selling game guides to other factions."
The first civilizations to discover that *Boundless Realms* could enhance mental abilities kept it under wraps, only revealing it when the player base grew too large to hide. Most players had joined in the last few months, and unlike other games on the Starnet, *Boundless Realms* was notoriously unfriendly—offering no guidance, featuring overpowered monsters, and punishing mistakes harshly. To avoid pitfalls, players often turned to the early civilizations for guides.
"Cities? Class changes? Just as we speculated, class change quests are only available in major cities!" Lie Yang's eyes widened in realization. He immediately opened the Starnet news feed.
There was no need for dedicated gaming forums anymore; at least half of the top ten trending stories on the Starnet were about *Boundless Realms*.
Soon, Lie Yang came across today's headline, complete with screenshots: ["The Era of 'Refugees' Has Ended!"]
Three years after launch, all players started as 'refugees,' a low-status identity with abysmal initial favorability from NPCs. Players were confined to small villages and towns, venturing within ten meters of a major city would result in being hunted down by guards. Attempting to enter a city for a class change was pure fantasy. The unluckiest were those who spawned in the wilderness, forced to delete their characters and start over.
Now, someone had broken the mold.
Character: ** (Hidden)
Level: 20
Identity: Freeman
...
As the entire universe marveled at the first non-refugee player, Ye Bai glanced at her own unremarkable starting stats.
Character: Bai Ye
Level: 0
Identity: Divine Bloodline (Purity: Faint)
Health: 100/100
Stamina: 100/100
Psionic Energy: -/- (Unawakened)
Strength: 1
Endurance: 1
Speed: 1
Resistance: 1
Spirit: 1
Skills: None
After leaving the stone chamber, Ye Bai found herself in the middle of a desolate wilderness, with no one in sight.
She paused, then opened her inventory, her face lighting up with joy—she had struck gold!
Due to its world-building and setting, *Boundless Realms* had no standard starting village. Each player's spawn point was randomized, falling into one of three categories: city, town, or wilderness.
Each type of starting point has its own pros and cons. Being born near a city allows for early access to high-tier professions, but the downside is that there are fewer quests for beginners and no suitable monsters to level up. Starting in a village or town offers more leveling opportunities, but only provides access to beginner-level professions. The wilderness, on the other hand, is fraught with danger and lacks quests, making it a far less common starting point compared to the other two.
At first glance, being born in the wilderness seems like a hard mode, but in Ye Bai's eyes, it’s actually a hidden golden opportunity.
In her backpack lies a solitary starting item, a golden legendary artifact.
**[Void Gate - Genesis]**
**[Description: Opens a dimensional space containing the 'Seed of Genesis.']**
**[Status: Activatable]**
This is a standard dungeon key given to every player at birth. The boss in the dungeon drops the 'Seed of Genesis,' which, in simpler terms, is a city-building token. Once used, the player can claim land and become a local lord.
There’s only one restriction for using the dungeon key: it can only be activated in areas more than thirty miles away from any town—after all, you can’t just go and build a city on another lord’s territory.
However, on this continent, the further you are from a town, the stronger the monsters become. Normally, players who start near towns need to reach level 20 and undergo their first class advancement before they have the strength to venture that far.
The wilderness starting point has nothing to offer except for one unique advantage that the other two starting points can’t match: it’s always more than thirty miles away from any town, allowing players to claim land and build a city early on!
The sooner one becomes a lord, the sooner they can use the resources of their territory to strengthen themselves. Ye Bai doesn’t know how long the game has been live, but this starting point undoubtedly gives her the best chance to close the gap with players who started earlier.
Instead of immediately using the dungeon key, Ye Bai searched the nearby area and found a few remnants.
To prevent players starting in the wilderness from dying right away, the area within fifty meters of the starting point is a safe zone where no monsters spawn. Additionally, remnants are guaranteed to spawn here, containing five basic white-tier weapons: a longsword, a wooden stick, a shield, an axe, and a bow.
In *Boundless Realms*, there’s a weight system. Without expanding your inventory space, it’s best to carry only two weapon-type items, as carrying more will slow you down.
Ye Bai quickly made her choice:
**[Old Wooden Sword]**
**Grade: Crude**
**Attack Power: 5**
**Attack Speed: 1.0**
**Description: It’s old and made of wood, but at least it looks like a sword.**
**[Unreliable Shield]**
**Grade: Crude**
**Defense Power: 5**
**Description: It’ll do for now. What else can you do?**
She chose these because while the wooden stick and axe deal higher damage, they have slower attack speeds and require dual-wielding, meaning she could only carry one. The wooden sword, on the other hand, could be used in combination with the shield.
As for the only ranged weapon, the bow, while tempting, Ye Bai knew that without the precision compensation from class skills before level 20, the hit rate of ranged weapons was abysmal, and their damage was negligible—making them the least useful of all weapons.
After selecting her weapons, Ye Bai immediately found a tree nearby to test the combat system.
This was the part she was most unsure about—
In *Boundless Realms*, which Ye Bai had designed ten thousand years ago, every action was performed with a simple finger movement. But this version of *Boundless Realms* felt like a real world, where every action was immersive, and combat seemed to follow the same principle.
*“Thud!”*
Ye Bai swung the wooden sword at the tree with all her might.
The trunk honestly displayed a ‘-1’.
“……”
Trees have no defense value, so under normal circumstances, the standard damage dealt by a sword should be 5 points.
Ye Bai took a deep breath. Was this full-dive game like the ones described in web novels, where players had to master combat skills themselves? She hadn’t even killed a chicken in real life!
As this doubt arose, the relevant ‘game settings’ naturally surfaced in Ye Bai’s consciousness.
**[Pain Setting: 100%]**
**[Free Combat Mode: Enabled]**
The first was easy to understand, but the second… Ye Bai’s eyes flickered as she swung at the tree again, this time with no particular technique.
Damage numbers popped up: ‘-2, -1, -1… -6!’
Ye Bai shook her hand, which was sore and numb from gripping the hilt, and quickly deduced the meaning of the Free Combat Mode.
In the keyboard era, critical hits were purely based on probability and luck. In the full-dive era, however, real-world skills mattered. In a galaxy filled with strong individuals, those who were strong in reality would also be strong in the game. They could directly improve their damage through combat techniques, achieving critical hits every time.
It was easy to see that Free Combat Mode would undoubtedly be the mainstream for galactic players.
As for Ye Bai… she chose to disable it immediately and set the pain level to the minimum 1%.
Ye Bai swung at the tree again.
This time, it was noticeably different. As soon as Ye Bai had the thought to ‘attack,’ her body seemed to be guided, and she delivered a standard, unremarkable slash.
‘-5, -5, -5…’
Until the tree fell with a *thud*, the damage remained consistent—no lucky critical hits, but no underperformance either.
In this non-Free Mode, Ye Bai’s consciousness became a different kind of keyboard, and her body faithfully executed the commands.
Setting the pain level to 1% was to prevent injuries and bleeding from affecting her thinking during combat.
Any ambitious galactic player would never set things up this way, as full-dive games were more like a collective isekai experience. Real-world abilities could be fully utilized in the game, not to mention that *Boundless Realms* could even enhance mental strength. Galactic elites saw this as a major opportunity and were determined to improve their strength. Only a lunatic would ‘cripple themselves’ like this.
But Ye Bai was different. This level of control was a huge advantage for her, as someone who could maximize the use of game rules.
After all, the fundamental difference between games and reality is that games have fixed rules without variables or surprises. Mastering the rules means foreseeing the outcome.
Ye Bai took out the dungeon key from her backpack.
**[Please select the difficulty level for the dimensional space challenge: Normal, Hard, Elite, Nightmare]**
“Nightmare.”
