Chapter Two: Choices for the Future

“That’s an excellent question, sir!” The beautiful game guide’s eyes lit up as she smiled at Guo Lang. “You’ll soon experience the game’s authenticity, environments, and unique features yourselves. It’s hard to put it all into words, and honestly, you probably wouldn’t believe me unless you tried it firsthand. So instead, I’ll share some strategic tips.”

Everyone nodded in agreement at her words.

“First, let’s talk about the game’s races. Our game uses DNA verification for binding—cutting-edge technology. To increase realism, your in-game appearance will mirror your real face, but with added racial traits. For example, if you pick the Beastmen, your physique will be enlarged according to their characteristics, making you much more robust and with distinct bestial features. However, storing DNA sample data requires immense space, so each player’s form is only created once. In other words, you can only choose your race once!”

“No... you can’t delete your character and start over?” Wang Lin muttered anxiously nearby.

“Sorry, you can’t.” The guide’s polite smile never faded as she patiently explained, “After you select your preferred race, you’ll sign a closed beta agreement. When you stamp the contract, a blood sample is collected for DNA registration!”

“...We even have to sign a contract...” Guo Lang feigned the caution of an ordinary person.

“Don’t worry—it’s just a simple game testing contract.”

Her sweet smile didn’t fool Guo Lang, who silently raised a middle finger in his heart. “Who would trust that?” he thought.

Of course, he knew the truth. The game was a tool used by the gods to cultivate seeds for invading other realms. In Guo Lang’s world, human genes were pure and uncontaminated, making them prime targets for the major deities. Anyone in this world could become the gods’ most promising agent!

Choosing a race meant being tricked into signing a contract and becoming a loyal underling to some deity.

Naturally, Guo Lang knew there was no avoiding this. The question was: which race should he pick? Living life over granted him unique advantages—beyond foresight into trends, he also possessed a strategic perspective others lacked. This choice would shape the rest of his life. Once you selected a race, you were bound to a god, with no turning back. So, what would suit him best?

“Do you have any recommendations?” Knowing her true identity, Guo Lang decided to show some respect.

Her smile grew even more radiant. “What about the Undead?”

The room erupted with groans. Wang Lin blurted, “That’s a pretty heavy taste, miss!”

Unperturbed by the crowd’s reaction, she continued, “You simply don’t understand our Undead race. The Undead here are nothing like the zombies you’ve seen in other games...”

Clearly, she was working hard to recruit newcomers for her own faction. Guo Lang rolled his eyes internally.

He’d learned about the Undead in his previous life: their eyes were green, and they worshipped the Lord of Death. She wasn’t lying—these Undead were quite different from the rotting corpses or skeletons in most games. In reality, the Undead were a very high-class race, the most elegant and refined among the ten, surpassing even the ancient and night elves.

Their advantages were considerable. They excelled in soul-related fields and were virtually immortal. Their bodies weren’t truly dead, either—the Undead’s biotechnology was the best among all races. High-level Undead used their own DNA to create countless prototype embryos, splitting cells to generate new bodies with each evolution. When their flesh aged, the soul could transfer to a new vessel. Because the DNA was their own, the soul matched perfectly with the new body, which would have a heartbeat, blood production, and the ability to further evolve—retaining all previous evolutionary progress.

Leaving aside other attributes, this alone was an enormous racial advantage. With limitless life, as long as you weren’t killed unexpectedly, you had all the time in the world to grow stronger.

Yet, very few chose the Undead or the Void. The reason was simple: this wasn’t keyboard-and-mouse gameplay but real-life simulation. Would you choose such a race if you had to physically experience it? Unless you were a complete weirdo!

In his previous life, nearly no one picked the Undead. Once people realized this wasn’t just a game, the numbers dropped further. The Undead had to work hard to advertise themselves—just like this young lady now, striving to recruit newcomers.

A handful in the experience hall were intrigued, but most looked unimpressed, their minds already made up. People rarely changed their choices based on a few words from others. Having paid his respects, Guo Lang turned to consider his own path. The Undead were an immediate “no.” However pretty her words, the name “Undead” wasn’t just for show—signing on with the Lord of Death meant severing ties with the living, and with DNA simulation, he’d never truly get back what mattered.

He took the race introduction pamphlet from her and flipped through it, drawing on his previous life’s memories. When he reached the Beastmen, he paused, a spark of interest in his eyes.

He’d always been fond of the Beastmen. Their bloodlines suited any man who longed for passion and battle. In his past life, players who fully awakened their Beastmen bloodlines had bodies three to four meters tall, with explosive muscles radiating masculine power!

If you could experience this for real, what would you choose? Data from his past life showed that sixty percent picked mage classes—magical powers were a universal temptation. Next were the warriors, beloved by hot-blooded men, and the Beastmen boasted the perfect warrior system.

The second factor was the atmosphere. Beastmen valued honor and individual valor—most were straightforward, with little scheming or intrigue. In his previous life, Guo Lang chose the Lord of Radiance, later known as the orthodox Human faction. Humans had balanced attributes and talents. The Lord of Radiance promoted the idea of pure bloodlines, attracting many players—Humans were the most popular choice.

But human development was too restricted. Their system was an ancient aristocracy. As the Federation encouraged mass participation, mundane powers merged into the races, and Humans, most compatible with this, swiftly built a strict hierarchy and bureaucracy. With so many people, it was hard for the average person to stand out.

Beastmen, in contrast, were almost the opposite—championing personal might and heroism. Most who chose them were forthright. Their institutions were less rigid, resembling steppe tribes. As long as you were strong, you could rise to the top!

Practically speaking, the Beastmen’s class system favored physical strength, with most professions as warriors—survival rates early on were high, and their explosive physiques were undeniably appealing to Guo Lang.

But that was under normal circumstances. Guo Lang’s goal was to be among the first to return—establishing a base and opening a dimensional bridge at the earliest possible moment. Such a start required a race with significant early advantages. The Undead and Void were the best openers among the ten races, but unless absolutely necessary, Guo Lang didn’t want to pick such destructive factions.

Eventually, he paused again at the Night Elves.

Night Elves were a high-agility race. With bloodline enhancement, their early agility was unmatched, greatly improving individual survival rates in the beginning. In combat, high agility was a massive advantage. Their early units were strong, and if he could recruit followers in the other world and distribute the potions from the patron deity, he could quickly train a capable fighting force.

Moreover, Night Elf buildings, like those of the Natural Elves, were living wood—drastically reducing construction time in the early game. As long as he found a suitable base, Guo Lang could establish it quickly, accelerating his return. According to intelligence from his past life, the sooner you returned, the greater the rewards from the patron deity.

But the Night Elves’ drawbacks were obvious: monotonous racial attributes and professions. Their early units were strong, but they weakened mid-game. Even after colonizing several star systems, the lack of class diversity meant Night Elves always struggled in direct confrontations.

Technologically, Night Elves excelled at spatial folding and teleportation—hugely valuable later on, but nearly useless in the early and mid-stages. Without the energy resources of a star system, you couldn’t build large space stations, making development very limited.

Other races found it hard to gain an early advantage. The Natural Elves, Icebloods, and Blood Elves—Guo Lang’s other favorites—either required spiritual growth or had average attribute bonuses. Their units developed slowly, with low early survival and efficiency.

All considered, Beastmen and Natural Elves were the most practical choices. However, after much deliberation, Guo Lang decided on the Night Elves. This suited his personality—when he played MOBA games in the past, he favored early-game assassin types. If you developed well early, you could snowball quickly and pull far ahead of others. Such heroes, once they collapsed, rarely recovered; there was no slow and steady comeback, but that was typical of a gambler’s mentality. Guo Lang knew he was average in talent. If he wanted to be at the forefront, he had to gamble. In his previous life, he hadn’t dared because of his own weakness, but this time, with a second chance, if he didn’t dare, then he might as well not live this life at all!