Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

With high hopes, Ruo Manni had no idea that she had fallen into the trap of the supporting antagonist, Aoi Dan. She was unaware that the second-generation gene enhancement agent had deadly side effects, with an extremely high mortality rate. As a result, during the excruciating pain caused by the agent, Ruo Manni’s soul was forcibly ejected from her body, leading to her death.

Meanwhile, Lin Kexin, whose soul had been trapped in the jade pendant Ruo Manni wore, was thrust into Ruo Manni’s body by an unknown force the moment her soul left, thus seizing the body and being reborn.

Truth be told, Lin Kexin didn’t know why she regained consciousness after her death, nor how long she had been dead before becoming aware again. It was only thirty years ago that she suddenly became conscious, but she had been trapped in the jade pendant in a soul state, unable to move, merely “watching” the outside world passively.

At first, Lin Kexin’s awareness fluctuated between clarity and confusion, so for the first ten years after regaining consciousness, all she could do was piece together that the world outside was no longer the one she had known before her death.

This world was highly advanced in technology; humans were no longer confined to a single planet but lived across a galaxy. The language and culture bore no resemblance to those of Earth’s civilization. Fortunately, humans were still humans, with the same bodies and living habits.

Around a decade ago, the jade pendant changed owners and was worn around the neck of a young girl. From that moment, Lin Kexin noticed her periods of clarity becoming longer, but she was still tightly confined within the pendant, unable to do anything other than passively “observe” the outside world.

That was until today, when Ruo Manni’s soul left her body, and Lin Kexin seized the opportunity to take over and be reborn as Ruo Manni.

Ruo Manni’s original plan had been to use the gene enhancement agent to improve her physique, rest for four hours, and then, at the exact moment of the War Realm’s launch, enter the game ahead of everyone else. To avoid missing the launch, she had pre-set the system to automatically enter the game when it went live.

So, when the War Realm launched, Lin Kexin—having passed out from the excruciating pain of the second-generation gene enhancement agent after her soul transfer and rebirth—was “awakened” and, according to the settings, entered the game’s interface.

Lin Kexin finally pieced together all the information and preliminarily concluded that she had successfully taken over the body and been reborn.

However, it still felt somewhat unreal to her. Could such a life-altering event really have happened, or was it just a dream? But now, her consciousness was within the SkyNet system, making it impossible for her to sense the real state of her body. Lin Kexin felt no sense of reality.

Regardless of whether she had truly been reborn, she needed to focus on the task at hand to prevent any future problems. The War Realm game was incredibly important—important enough to affect the life and death of everyone in this world.

If she really had been reborn, she had to seize the opportunity presented by the launch of War Realm, especially since the apocalypse of the Gumera Star was approaching.

Looking at Ruo Manni’s base stats on the screen, Lin Kexin wasn’t sure what to do at first. After calming herself, she carefully recalled the information she had about War Realm and clicked on the “Profession Description” section.

The screen immediately switched, showing the descriptions of the four major professions in War Realm:

Psychic: A combatant class that enhances a player’s mental strength and fortifies their psychic combat skills through training in the War Realm. It is the top choice for players with above-average mental attributes.

Martial Artist: A combatant class that allows players to strengthen their physical abilities and combat skills through training in the War Realm. It is suitable for players with high physical strength, agility, and speed.

Healer: A support class for players whose mental and physical values are below average but have above-average intelligence and agility. Players with a talent for working with medicines may choose this class.

Mecha Engineer: A support class where players can learn to manufacture mechas and weapons. It is suited for players with above-average mental strength and intelligence, as well as physical values that are not less than 10% below the average. Players with a talent for mecha creation can choose this class.

Note: If a player’s physical, mental, and intelligence stats are exceptional, and they can endure hardship and are diligent in training, they may choose to specialize in both a combat class and a support class. Otherwise, it is recommended to focus on mastering one.

Lin Kexin felt uncertain. Ruo Manni’s body had excellent stats, so what should she choose? Logically, she should choose to be a Mecha Engineer, as Ruo Manni was a level-one Mecha Engineer.

As someone who had always been a “bystander” beside Ruo Manni, whatever Ruo Manni studied, Lin Kexin had no choice but to “learn” as well.

Even though Lin Kexin, in her soul form, had never physically done any work, she could recall the processes for creating mechas with her eyes closed. To truly master it would be very easy for her. In fact, Ruo Manni’s strengths were also Lin Kexin’s strengths.

Moreover, training as a Mecha Combatant required a lot of money early on, while a Mecha Engineer could start earning money as soon as they reached level two.

The problem was that making money was the best choice for normal times. But if her suspicions were correct, this world only had about seven or eight years of peace left. When the apocalypse arrived, having high combat skills would be more beneficial for survival.

Lin Kexin weighed the pros and cons, unable to make a decision right away. In her previous life, she was just an ordinary girl, living in a peaceful era without war. She had passed away from illness shortly after graduating from university, without much worldly experience.

How could it be that she, in the form of a wandering soul, entered the world of the interstellar novel she had been reading before her death? How had all of this happened? Was this world even real?

Looking at the countdown timer on the screen’s selection box, she saw that War Realm originally gave players 30 minutes to choose. She had already spent five minutes piecing together information from both her and the original owner’s memories, leaving her with only 25 minutes to make a decision.

Lin Kexin relaxed her tightly wound nerves. There were still over 20 minutes left, so there was no need to rush. This was a crucial choice, as War Realm, once bound to a genetic code, didn’t allow players to delete their account and restart. She had to think carefully about how to proceed.

Lin Kexin thought it might be best to log out for now, to first verify whether all of this was real before making her final decision. If this was just a dream, there was no point in worrying, and agonizing over it would be useless.

—

Gus Empire, Tech Star, War Realm Game Operations Center

This was an expansive hall, with square screens covering all the walls. Thousands of screens showed live footage of players in War Realm, and alongside them flashed each player’s data. If Lin Kexin were here, she would notice that the players displayed on the screens were all youths with exceptionally high base stats.

Because the game had just launched, many influential figures were present in the operations center. These were people of great status, easily recognizable by the general public as powerful individuals from various elite fields in the country. The journalists allowed into the center were so excited by the sight of these figures that they were nearly overwhelmed.

However, because the launch of War Realm was of utmost importance, the atmosphere was extremely solemn. Everyone present wore serious expressions, and despite the large number of people, there was no noise. The reporters, too, were as quiet as quails, only daring to act under orders.

The sudden flashing of red lights and the blaring of alarms were jarringly out of place in this silence. Yet, no one seemed bothered by the abrupt disruption. In fact, upon hearing the alarm, everyone immediately turned their sharp gazes toward the small screen where the red light was flashing.

“Your Highness, it’s from Zone 16,” the War Realm Operations Director respectfully reported to the young man seated in the central position of the hall.

There was a slight stir in the crowd. Zone 16 was a fringe star region, and the first player to trigger the red light alarm, marking him as a genius, had appeared there, surpassing the talents of those in the central star regions.