Chapter 1

"Okay, let's go check out the Otherworldly Martial Arts first."

On August 19, 2457, after two months of job hunting, Bei Qiao sat on the sofa and checked her email again on her phone, confirming she hadn't received a reply. She put her phone down, twirling her pen in her hand. Finally, she decided to log into "Issue Wuxia," converting her guest account to a resident account and giving the game a try.

Faced with the owner's ambitious ambition, the rural cat sleeping on the table didn't even turn over, and had no intention of supporting him at all.

"Tangyuan, you're ignoring me again." Bei Qiao stretched, then quickly and precisely placed her hands on the cat's belly, rubbing it left and right, happily beginning her day of petting. Sunlight streamed through the window onto her, casting a long shadow on the ground.

"Are you not going to look for a job?" Qiao Lin, Bei Qiao's mother, who had just returned from outside, put down her backpack and changed her shoes at the door. At the same time, she handed out a bag of grapes: "Here, wash as many as you can eat. I want some too."

"So how much do you want to wash?" Bei Qiao put down his phone and walked over.

"Meow." Tangyuan shook his head, jumped off the table nimbly and chased after it: Food!

"Wash half of it first."

After changing into slippers, Qiao Lin stared at Bei Qiao as she took the shopping bag, carefully examining her expression. As a mother, she always supported her children's ideas, but she worried that she might have chosen this path because of a setback during her job search. "Why did you make this decision so suddenly? Did you feel wronged when you were looking for a job?"

"Issue Wuxia" is an official infrastructure game that everyone can participate in. It's not very dangerous, and many people participate every year, and many people give up their resident accounts and return to tourist accounts. This game requires a lot of time and is not a good job choice unless you are very lucky.

Is Bei Qiao lucky? Kind of. Another bottle could win him five times in a row, and every shopping mall draw has a consolation prize. But that's about it; his luck isn't particularly high. In other words, if he were to enter the game, Bei Qiao probably wouldn't be completely defeated, but he wouldn't be incredibly lucky either.

Bei Qiao calmly waved his hand, walked into the kitchen with the shopping bags, and began to look for a stainless steel basin in the drawers: "No, it's just that since I was intercepted last time, the remaining recruitment information is either not suitable for me or not good enough, so I want to take advantage of the game's promotion to try out whether I am suitable for playing infrastructure games." It just so happened that "A Different World of Martial Arts" recently launched a one-month free trial for resident accounts. The trial conditions are that the graduates are not employed or have no labor contracts.

Official: It takes a long time to log in to a resident account. If people with contracts get a resident account, it may affect their work. If students who have not graduated get a resident account, it may delay their studies.

"None of them are suitable." Qiao Lin frowned: "The one from last time wasn't suitable either?"

Bei Qiao turned on the kitchen faucet to rinse the grapes in the basin, and shrugged nonchalantly when he heard this: "The working environment there is okay, but they expected too much, and I didn't reach an agreement with them, and then they told me to come back and wait for notification. Waiting for notification means they don't want me anymore." Bei Qiao studied design, but the other party wanted Bei Qiao to take on all the work such as copywriting, planning, design, contacting and production, and also work part-time as a post-production editor at the photo studio next door, and even help with makeup occasionally, and then, there would be no salary increase.

Bei Qiao: Even if you become a regular employee, the total monthly salary is only more than 4,000 yuan, and you have to do the work of three people. Are you recruiting employees or just suckers? What room for advancement, what contribution to the company, these are all cakes that were made hundreds of years ago, and you are still using them to fool people, ha!

"That's how capitalists are. Okay, then wait a moment after you enter the game. I'll log in later, link it with yours, and improve your character background." Qiao Lin followed Bei Qiao, who had washed the grapes, from the kitchen to the living room. After sitting on the sofa and eating a few washed grapes, he wiped his hands and returned to the bedroom. From the bottom drawer of the bedside table, he pulled out a holographic helmet that hadn't been used for several years. "I hope it's still working."

As the only official game, "Isekai Wuxia" automatically grants everyone a visitor ID upon reaching adulthood. This ID grants only first-person access to the alternate world, but doesn't enable access to taste, smell, or touch. To use this ID, nearly everyone now possesses a holographic helmet, and the wealthy even have dedicated holographic cabins.

As for the resident account, you need to pay to activate it. If you die accidentally in the game, your account will be cancelled and you will have to wait a year before you can reopen it.

In addition, after having their account cancelled, players have to spend money to fine-tune their appearance, put on makeup, or even wear a mask or a hat before going online again to prevent being recognized by previous acquaintances, otherwise they will not be able to log into the game.

For personal health and safety, the game prohibits players from logging in for a long time, and also prohibits sleeping in the game. When it is time to eat and sleep, the system will automatically remind players to log off. If you stay up too late or don't eat for more than a day, the system will directly kick you off the line. The player will not be allowed to log in again until his physical condition returns to normal.

Theoretically, it is not impossible to use nutrient solution to maintain life online, but people can't solve personal hygiene problems in a holographic cabin. Besides, nutrient solution is only used to keep people alive and cannot satisfy hunger.

"I know that mom loves me, so shall we choose a northern city or a southern city?" Bei Qiao wiped his hands, happily jumped over to hug his mother, then trotted back to the bedroom to get his holographic helmet and matching equipment.

In "Issue Wuxia," you can choose your birthplace, and everything is 100% realistic, including the weather and climate. Players can even order real-world specialties in the game, though of course, they're limited to items sold in the system's store.

The most fascinating aspect of the game is the contrast between the interior and exterior decor. To prevent the natives from noticing anything unusual, the various amenities within the player's residence appear to be commonplace indigenous items, yet conceal modern appliances. Appliances like washing machines, robot vacuums, and ovens can be used in the game, but not outside or in front of the natives.

"Choose the north. What if the southern climate doesn't suit you and you get sick in the game? You'll have to see a doctor and wait for recovery, which will delay things." Qiao Lin asked Bei Qiao to help move the coffee table in front of the sofa to the side. Then he stood in front of the sofa, put on the helmet, turned it on, and quickly skipped the various terms and conditions. He chose to activate the service by linking the relative number: "Don't forget to scan the ID card."

"I won't forget." Bei Qiao took off the hairpin behind her head, took off her glasses, put the helmet on her head, clicked on the dialog box and started entering her ID number.

Officials for the holographic game "Issue Wuxia" claim it's set in a real alternate universe. To ensure authenticity, players can't all assume the identities of refugees or orphans, as too many would likely arouse suspicion among the natives. Therefore, most players create their characters by including a few relatives, friends, parents, and classmates to round out their social circle.

Offline communities are closely connected to online ones. To ensure citizens' personal safety, officials require everyone to abide by laws and regulations in-game, including protecting personal accounts. Real-name registration is required for this game, and those with criminal records are prohibited from logging in. Breaking the law in-game is also prohibited, but putting a sack on someone to settle a personal vendetta is probably out of the question. After all, this is a real martial arts world, with no surveillance in public areas and no satellites in the sky.

To ensure user safety, the system will lock accounts specifically. This includes, but is not limited to, parents who engage in marriage fraud and perverts who persist despite rejection. Repeated warnings will result in direct account cancellation. In reality, the holographic cabin itself is extremely secure; as long as someone hides inside, there's absolutely no way for the average person to open it from the outside without authorization.

After linking the data of the two helmets, Qiao Lin's game account changed from a visitor account to a resident account: "I'm almost done here. What about you? Do you plan to come up with a name yourself or let the system randomly select a name?"

"Martial Arts in Another World" requires the use of names that are in line with reality. Internet names with a large number of characters are prohibited, and real names are generally not recommended for safety reasons.

"Last name Qiao." Bei Qiao had already thought about this matter: "Mom, your last name is Qiao, so I'll call you Qiao Qiao. That way, I can react when others call me."

"A Different World of Martial Arts" is really a game that pays great attention to authenticity. Once, a man did not react in time when someone called his name, which aroused the suspicion of a passing authority. He was arrested on the spot and thrown into prison, where he was interrogated day and night.

This guy was also very tough, never saying anything. When it was time to eat, he would log off to eat, then return to the game to continue fighting. If a guard hadn't been bribed to drug another prisoner and accidentally killed him, he might have set the record for the longest time in prison.

Bei Qiao entered his name in the input box, accepted the association request sent by his mother, confirmed that other information was correct, clicked confirm, and after the facial data was automatically scanned and uploaded by the system, a resident number was created.

Name: Qiao Qiao

Height: 1.7 meters

Body type: Normal

Vision: 0.8

Identity: Loading

"Mom, I see you!" Bei Qiao waved tentatively to the side: "Have you found out your profession yet?"

In-game professions are always assigned based on the player's various data. Bei Qiao's account is linked to her mother's, so she can only wait for her mother's account to be generated and then complete her own information. If her mother's profession is a merchant, she is the child of a merchant; if her mother's profession is a farmer, she is the child of a farmer, and so on. In short, the parent's profession determines the child's initial identity.

"Boss of the Escort Agency..." Qiao Lin raised his hand and refreshed the interface, but the four words "Boss of the Escort Agency" did not change at all.

"Is there a second and third boss?" Bei Qiao was a little confused: "Is it related to other people?"

"There is no second or third brother, that's what the boss means."

Qiao Lin was a bit speechless and a bit surprised. Her real job was a teacher, which had nothing to do with the escort agency. But when it came to her martial arts skills, she was still quite confident.