In a rather simple room, a young man with a contorted, ashen face, drenched in sweat, was struggling against pain from both his soul and body.
A few hours later, he felt much better and was receiving information from a stranger. Lâm, this was his name in his past life – the very life he had been reborn from. The information told him this was a planet different from Earth, where people could cultivate for immortality, but also possessed high technology. This planet's technology, compared to Earth's, was what one might call black technology, or even technology of the future.
According to the memories of this body's original owner, the people of this planet cultivated by playing various games. They didn't know how these games appeared, but he did, because when he was on Earth, he spent every day immersed in an ocean of novels, anime, and comics.
A few more hours later, he was able to move and get out of bed. The room was quite small and simple, containing only one computer, one bed, and one suspension pod for entering games for long periods without affecting the body.
The previous owner of this body, coincidentally also named Lâm, was an orphan raised by the government. Each month, he received 1000 credit points from the government; if he saved diligently, he could accumulate enough over ten years to afford to marry. Speaking of the national system on this planet, it was named Lam Tinh, located in the Tinh Hà System, and comprised a single nation: Lam Quốc.
Another important point was that the Tinh Hà System contained many planets with life, most of which were several times larger than Earth. Lam Tinh, for instance, was ten times larger than Earth and was also a green planet. Yet, strangely, its population was not very high, just over 2 billion people. With abundant land and sparse population, there was no war here.
He pondered for a moment and seemed to understand the reason: perhaps this place was vast, but unlike Earth, cultivation existed here. The higher a cultivator's cultivation level, the harder it was to reproduce. Therefore, while most people lived past 200 years, the population was only 2 billion and very difficult to increase. For this reason, the nation strongly encouraged young men and women to marry early. Those who had children would receive a substantial subsidy, and if they had two or more, the nation would be responsible for raising them to adulthood.
However, very few young people did so, as this was the prime age for cultivation. Who wouldn't want to live longer? Consequently, very few married before the age of 50.
Regarding the games, once a game world was conquered, it would be replaced by another, with the entire planet's population participating. Another crucial detail was that these games spanned the entire Tinh Hà System, meaning not only people from Lam Tinh but also from other planets took part, making the number of participants countless.
The games had only been popularized across the Tinh Hà System for just over a year and were still in a trial phase, meant to familiarize everyone with gameplay similar to offline games on Earth. The official version would be announced in another week, after which players would officially join the world.
He shook his head slightly, no longer thinking. He needed to replenish his energy; he felt his body was on the verge of losing control if he didn't eat something. So he went to the kitchen and prepared some readily available food. After eating, he pondered his future plans, wondering how he should live this reborn life. Would he waste it again? Suddenly, two words came to mind: cultivation.
"Right, cultivation! I didn't notice earlier that here, one can cultivate for immortality."
He sprang up in agitation. Who wouldn't want immortality? Who wouldn't want to enjoy even more? After his initial burst of excitement, he calmed down and pondered cultivation for a moment.