At the beginning of the 22nd century, the earth's environment was severely damaged. Agriculture, the primary industry, was the first to collapse. The sky was shrouded in thick black fog and the sun was almost invisible.
Due to lack of sunlight, plants are withering, and the number of birds and insects is also decreasing rapidly.
The streets outside were surrounded by thick fog containing harmful substances, and ordinary residents could not go out without wearing gas masks.
Water pollution is of course also very serious. Rivers have become turbid streams that do not resemble river water. Water purification plants are not functioning properly due to severe pollution. If purification filters are not installed on the faucets, the water cannot be drunk.
Under such circumstances, the government's credibility has greatly declined, many functions have become ineffective, and many departments are in name only.
As a result, a clichéd plot similar to cyberpunk is online again. Large complex corporations in various countries took the opportunity to rise up, undermine the government, seize power, and become the actual rulers of the local country.
They built a habitable place called Eco-City, which is a paradise completely different from the outside world. All the wealthy people and those working in large companies live in it.
Civilian neighborhoods were built on the periphery with the ecological city as the center, thus forming a sick city in the 22nd century.
This is the realistic background of "Overlord", a dystopian society where capitalism has developed to its final form.
In Neon, on the outskirts of Hokkaido's eco-city, in a civilian neighborhood filled with sewage and severe smog, a man in a black robe walks slowly, followed by two tall men with slightly surprised expressions.
"Gangzi, what's going on?"
Bai Lang conveyed this to Deng Yougang in surprise.
Deng Yougang rolled his eyes and said unhappily, "How should I know? I only read the part about the alien world and the game information. Who knew that there was such a setting in the real world on Earth?"
Bai Lang hesitated and said, "Then what should we do about the lies we told?"
Deng Yougang said nonchalantly: "Just try to cover it up. It doesn't matter even if it's exposed. Anyway, as long as the existence of the Transmigrator Alliance is not exposed..."
The two communicated silently.
Suzuki Satoru, who was leading the way, glanced at them and said calmly, "Why, are you surprised?"
"If I'm not mistaken, you've never been to Neon before!"
Deng Yougang and Bai Lang looked at each other, thought for a moment, and then answered, "Indeed not."
"That's really lucky!" Suzuki Satoru laughed at himself and said with a sad look in his eyes, "Since the Eco-City War, China is the only country in the world that is still actually in power."
"Except for China, the governments of other countries have been hollowed out by large corporations, and the gap between the rich and the poor has reached an unprecedented level."
"Ordinary people like me cannot even receive basic education and quality education. We can only receive vocational and technical education and become gear workers at the bottom of this society."
"But even so, the tuition fees for vocational education are still unaffordable for us."
"My parents died of overwork while trying to raise tuition fees..."
Is it really that miserable? No wonder Suzuki Satoru cherishes his guild partners in the game so much.
For someone like him, compared to the dark and cruel reality, the experiences in the game are the only good things left in his heart, right?
But...is China an exception?
Deng Yougang thought about it and really couldn't imagine a future where the Chinese government was sidelined by large enterprises.
Even in the more detailed cyberpunk world, the super companies exported by China are all state-owned enterprises.
This is probably the unique tolerance and adaptability of 5,000 years of civilization...
Deng Yougang thought so in his heart.
Suzuki Satoru in front stopped, turned around and looked at the two of them and said, "According to our agreement, as long as I learn rank magic, you will support me in establishing a branch in Neon, right?"
“…That’s right.”
"That's good."
Suzuki Satoru nodded and raised his right hand.
In an instant, a raging flame burned in his palm.
Bai Lang raised his eyebrows and said with interest: "You actually learned it, not bad!"
Deng Yougang was surprised, but couldn't help frowning.
With Suzuki Satoru's aptitude as a protagonist, he was not surprised that he could learn high-level magic, but where did this magic power come from?
Could it be that magic also exists in the real world?
Considering that asking the question rashly might expose his secret, Deng Yougang remained silent.
At this moment, Bai Lang suddenly turned his head and looked at the thick fog in front of him in surprise.
Deng Yougang seemed to have noticed something as well. He also looked in that direction and said in surprise, "Is that... a man-eating monster?!"
…
…
On the street two hundred meters away, a well-equipped special forces team was distributed in the narrow alleys and surrounding buildings. Holding kinetic rifles, they took advantage of the geographical advantage and continuously shot at the huge figure on the street.
It was nearly three meters tall, with gray-green skin and yellow eyes. It was holding a twisted metal lamppost that had obviously just been pulled out of the ground. It roared and swung the lamppost at the humans with guns in front of it.
“Bang, bang, bang!!”
The sound of a large number of bullets colliding with metal was heard.
The three-meter-tall ogre roared, charged forward under the hail of bullets, waving the thick lampposts, and smashed one terrified human after another into meat paste.
“Puff, puff, puff—”
Countless bullets hit the ogre's skin. Most of the bullets that were at inappropriate angles were bounced off by the tough skin, while a small portion broke through the skin and were then stuck by the equally tough muscles.
“Bang!”
At this moment, a large-caliber bullet flew from a distance, carrying terrifying kinetic energy, and instantly penetrated into the ogre's neck, forming a fist-sized blood hole that went through from front to back.
Seeing this scene, the expressions of the people who were besieging the ogre did not improve.
Because in the next second, the hideous blood hole healed rapidly and became as good as new in the blink of an eye.
The pain caused by this not only did not frighten the ogre, but made him even more angry. He continued to swing the lamppost, slaughtering the weak humans who besieged him at a faster speed.
"hateful!"
A middle-aged man on a tall building in the distance punched the railing, gritted his teeth, and looked at the battlefield ahead with anger on his face through the AR lenses that had the ability to focus and zoom.
"It turns out to be the most difficult regenerative monster. The special tactics team is no match for it. We must send out the mecha troops immediately!"
"Yes, Daitengu No. 3 and No. 4 have been dispatched and are expected to arrive at the battlefield in one minute and seventeen seconds... Wait, there are multiple levels of magic fluctuations 287 meters to the right, sir, a new monster has appeared!"
"……What?!"
The middle-aged man in military uniform turned his head sharply.
Three figures emerged from the mist in the direction mentioned in the communication channel.
The man in front of him was wearing a black suit. He had a handsome face and a cold expression. His black hair fluttered in the wind. His black eyes were fixed on the ogre on the street. His slender and powerful right hand slowly rested on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
The next moment, the young man in the suit drew out his sword at a speed that was difficult to discern with the naked eye.
A deep blue sword energy instantly broke away from the blade and turned into a long and narrow streak that slashed towards the back of the ogre.
“Puff——”
Blood splattered as the deep blue sword energy instantly tore through the ogre's body. It then continued to fly diagonally forward, instantly cutting off countless roadside lamp posts and plowing an extremely long and deep gully on the ground.
At the same time, violent blue Qi raged on the cross-section of the ogre's body, madly destroying his muscles and cells.
In just a few seconds, the ogre, which had killed or injured dozens of humans, completely lost its life. Its huge body, which was torn in two, fell to the ground with a loud bang, splashing a large amount of smoke and dust.
On both sides of the road, all the special operations team members hiding behind the bunkers looked at the three people in amazement.
But the three men obviously didn't care about their gazes.
The young man in a suit who had drawn the sword sheathed it casually, then walked to the body of the ogre, frowning as he looked at the monster that should not have appeared on Earth.
"…It really is a troll, and a fighting troll of the same species as the 'Eastern Giant'!"
"Shouldn't these guys live in the Tobu Forest in another world? How come they are here on Earth?"
"Is it another scenario of the so-called world collision, dimensional channel, spiritual energy revival, etc.?"
Deng Yougang's face was full of confusion, and he was increasingly unable to understand this real world that had been changed by the Lord God.
At the same time, Suzuki Satoru, who was wearing a black robe, had already examined the ogre's body.
He stood up from the corpse, looked at Deng Yougang and nodded, "It's confirmed, it's a species from another world. I've captured a few in the Tob Forest for research before. Their magic factors and muscle morphology are exactly the same as this one."
Bai Lang said with great interest: "It's quite interesting. What happened on Earth during the time we were away?"
“…During the time you were away?” Suzuki Satoru turned his head and glanced at him. “Wasn’t it only a dozen hours?”
Bai Lang was slightly startled, then he coughed awkwardly and said seriously: "It's like this, there is no regularity in the ratio of the time flow rate between the Earth and the other world, and we don't know how far we have left..."
"Alright, Brother Bai."
Deng Yougang reluctantly interrupted Bai Lang's feeble explanation, glanced at Suzuki Satoru and said frankly: "To tell you the truth, the place where we interrogated you just now was just a random construction in the other world. It is not the real Earth."
"This is also the first time we've truly returned since crossing into another world."
“I see.” Suzuki Satoru nodded and said calmly, “It seems my guess was correct.”
……Um?
Deng Yougang and Bai Lang looked at him in surprise.
Suzuki Satoru continued, "How can a skill that can travel through worlds have such a short cooldown time? It should take at least a hundred hours, right?"
Deng Yougang and Bai Lang: "..."
