Chapter 1

Lin Yi is a seasoned gaming enthusiast.

Recently, he has been closely following the progress of a game, and today, the game has finally been released!

This game is a AAA title developed by P Company, "The Age of Stars"!

The first-week price is 178 yuan, and without hesitation, Lin Yi paid and then downloaded the game.

The game content is over 200GB, and it will take some time to download. Lin Yi has been waiting for a year and a half to play this game, so waiting another hour is nothing!

Ding!

"The game is finally downloaded. I wonder if it will be as impressive as the promotional CG."

Lin Yi was full of anticipation.

This game tells the story of the development of a civilization.

The universe is filled with all kinds of crises, and you will play the role of the leader, guiding your civilization to a prosperous future.

Every step must be taken with caution, and every event is worth considering. Different choices will lead to different outcomes for your civilization.

A civilization might collapse due to a small event.

This is the most interesting aspect of the game.

As a AAA title, "The Age of Stars" allows you to control your character and enter the game in the first person to experience or admire the landscape of your civilization.

As the saying goes, "Ten years to sharpen a sword," P Company spent a total of eleven years developing this game.

Starting the game, the P Company logo flashed, followed by the English name of "The Age of Stars."

Then, a high-quality CG, comparable to Hollywood special effects, played.

It tells the story of a civilization's development and ultimate destruction. Just watching it made Lin Yi feel his blood boil.

He wanted to start a game immediately but couldn't bear to skip the beautiful CG.

After the CG finished, Lin Yi finally entered the game.

Without hesitation, he clicked "Start a New Civilization," and a menu popped up, asking him to choose attributes for his civilization.

For example, the type of government. Naturally, Lin Yi chose absolute monarchy without a second thought.

Which man doesn't have a dream of being an emperor?

Lin Yi was no exception.

After making his choice, he needed to name his country and civilization.

Lin Yi, who is bad at naming things, thought for a long time before coming up with a name he was satisfied with.

The Xuan Yuan Civilization and the Xuan Yuan Star Empire.

The emblem of the civilization and the country is the dragon, the totem of the Great Xia.

After choosing these, he entered the difficulty selection, which had three modes: Beginner, Normal, and Hell!

Having read the guides, he knew the difficulty of the game.

In Beginner mode, you start with a colony ship and a certain level of technology to establish your civilization in a new star system.

In Normal mode, you start on a planet's surface and must unify the world before expanding into space.

Hell mode is extremely difficult, requiring you to rise up in modern society and unify the world, all while dealing with uncontrollable natural disasters like ice ages, meteor impacts, and stellar helium flashes.

"I'll stick to Beginner mode for now."

After all, Lin Yi is a beginner, and this is his first time playing the game. Many guides do not recommend new players try other modes.

He still wanted to have a good gaming experience, so he chose Beginner mode.

This isn't being a coward; it's being sensible.

The game entered the loading screen, and soon the scene shifted to a star system. At the edge of the system, a wormhole appeared, and a starship flew out of it.

The starship had a name: Xuan Yuan Star Colony Ship!

Every detail in the game is modeled, including the interior of the colony ship, making it feel like a real Xuan Yuan Star Colony Ship.

Lin Yi directly selected his handsome avatar in the leader interface and switched to first-person control.

He sat in the command bridge, where many crew members were busy operating the ship.

Lin Yi couldn't understand what they were doing.

Controlling his character, he began to wander around the bridge, looking here and there, like Liu Laolao entering the Grand View Garden, filled with curiosity about everything.

"Wow, P Company is really meticulous. If they keep this up, there won't be anything left to improve."

Indeed, a game that took eleven years to develop.

Even the texture of each button on the bridge control panel is clearly detailed.

Just as Lin Yi was about to explore outside the bridge, a huge opening suddenly appeared in front of the bridge's window!

What the hell?

Lin Yi quickly switched back to the God's-eye view and saw a massive opening in front of the colony ship. The game description said it was an unknown wormhole, possibly caused by spatial disturbances, and warned to stay away as it was very dangerous!

Lin Yi, of course, wanted his colony ship to stay away from this unknown wormhole.

However, no matter how he commanded the ship to move, it wouldn't budge!

It seemed to be trapped by the wormhole's massive gravitational pull, unable to escape its range. What would happen if it were sucked in?

The colony ship would be pulled in.

Lin Yi was stunned.

His colony ship hadn't even started colonizing and was about to be sucked into a wormhole?

Wouldn't that mean the game would end before it even began?

He must have bought a pirated version! Where has there ever been such a terrible start?

Realizing he couldn't escape the wormhole's pull, Lin Yi switched to the first-person view and approached the bridge window to observe the wormhole up close.

Staring at the wormhole, he felt an inexplicable fear.

It was like the fear many people feel when they look at the ocean.

Lin Yi suddenly remembered a quote.

"When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back."

His current situation fit this quote perfectly.

The moment the colony ship was sucked into the wormhole, Lin Yi fainted. His seat in the room was empty, and the computer screen showed that the colony ship had lost contact.

After an unknown amount of time passed, Lin Yi woke up.

The light in the bridge was blinding, and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust.

Wasn't he in his room?

How did he end up here?

And wasn't this the bridge from his game?

Lin Yi was completely bewildered, not understanding what had happened.

A man in the bridge noticed Lin Yi had woken up and walked over.

"Your Majesty, our colony ship encountered an unknown interstellar wormhole and has arrived in a new star system, where we have crash-landed on a planet."

Lin Yi looked at the man, whose name tag revealed his identity.

Captain, Gu Ming.