Cosmic Professional Gladiator
chapter-12

Xu Jingming looked around in shock.

This was an illusory space with only a cyan-shirted man there. He smiled and said, "I'm your game guide. I will disappear after you learn all the functions available."

"Game guide?" Xu Jingming looked at the man and couldn't help but touch himself. His muscles were tight, and the scars he had from practicing his punching were there. He also kicked his legs. This is identical to my physical body in reality; even my leg injury is replicated.

"The VR headset scans your physical body to ensure 100% virtualization," the cyan-shirted man said with a smile. "Don't doubt the VR headset's technology."

Xu Jingming was secretly surprised. Medical scans these days can indeed detect everything without missing anything. The scans can reach the cellular level, but those are all expensive machines. Is the technology behind the VR headsets that's in the hands of everyone that amazing? Right, the Earth Alliance took a long time to develop the VR headset technology.

"Hello, Xu Jingming. In the world of Life Evolution, your game nickname is automatically locked onto 'Xu Jingming,'" the cyan-shirted man said.

"Are only real names allowed?" Xu Jingming was surprised.

"Yes." The cyan-shirted man nodded. "This virtual game world is divided into three main spaces: personal space, mission space, and combat space. The mission space is temporarily not open. All you can use are personal space and combat space."

"Personal space and combat space?" Xu Jingming was intrigued.

"Please choose the location of your personal space." The cyan-shirted man waved his hand, and a huge map appeared beside him. "This world is 3,600 times the size of Earth. You can choose any spot that has no owner; a red label means that it has an owner."

Xu Jingming examined the map and pinched with both hands to rapidly zoom into the map.

What an expansive game world. Xu Jingming quickly selected a scenic snowy mountain peak with an ice lake at the top. "Confirm."

"Personal space, locked." The cyan-shirted man nodded. "You will appear in your personal space every time you log in."

Whoosh.

The surroundings turned into a blur as the cyan-shirted man rapidly plummeted with Xu Jingming into the vast world below.

In the vast game world, countless meteors fell—they were the countless players on Earth.

...

A wooden hut appeared beside an ice lake on the mountaintop. Xu Jingming and the cyan-shirted man appeared beside it.

"The wooden hut is where you live." The cyan-shirted man pointed at the wooden hut. "Everything within 100 meters of the wooden hut is your territory. Nobody is able to enter a 100-meter radius of the wooden hut without your permission."

Xu Jingming immediately saw wooden houses land on the other side of the ice lake, accompanied by a female player and a red-robed woman.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

In the blink of an eye, five wooden houses appeared around the ice lake. However, they could barely see one another since they were at least 200 to 300 meters away from each other.

It's quite cold at the top of a snow-capped mountain. Even the temperature virtualization feels so real. Xu Jingming immediately pushed open the wooden hut's door and walked in. He felt much better after closing the door.

Looking at the ice lake through the window, Xu Jingming couldn't help but sigh with emotion. "The environment is so beautiful. How incredible it is to have 100% virtualization. It's not easy to build a house in such a beautiful environment in reality, but this wooden hut is quite small."

"You can choose to buy a bigger residence. Open your personal interface to make the purchase," the cyan-shirted man instructed.

Xu Jingming came to a realization. He perused the detailed introduction on his interface.

"So long as I spend money, my residence can become larger? A hundred, a thousand, ten thousand… The maximum is ten million? I can buy a residence in the clouds with ten million?" Xu Jingming was surprised.

To possess an immortal estate atop the clouds that overlooked the land was probably only something wealthy people could afford.

"I'll buy the 10,000 one." Xu Jingming tapped lightly, and the wooden hut he was in immediately changed into an oriental-styled house that occupied more than 1,000 square meters. The yard was also about 2,000 to 3,000 square meters, and the area 100 meters beyond the yard perimeter was Xu Jingming's territory.

"Li Miaomiao is contacting you…" Xu Jingming received a notification.

"Miaomiao." Xu Jingming picked up the call.

"Jingming, this game world is so realistic. Try inviting me. I should be able to appear directly at your place," Li Miaomiao said excitedly.

The cyan-shirted man also introduced, "Everyone on your contact list, social media, and bank transfer list is temporarily added to your friends list. You can contact them directly. They can only visit if they accept your invitation. Of course, they don't need your permission to leave. They can instantly return to their personal space."

Xu Jingming looked at his friends list. I didn't know I knew so many people. This is that lady selling fruits at the entrance of my estate, right?

Xu Jingming tried inviting his father, mother, grandfather, Li Miaomiao, and his girlfriend's parents.

Soon…

Figures appeared one after another outside the courtyard.

"Jingming invited us."

"The scenery here isn't bad; it's just a little cold."

Grandpa Xu, Mr. and Mrs. Xu, Mr. and Mrs. Li, and Li Miaomiao trembled as they appeared at the courtyard door.

Xu Jingming immediately went to open the door.

"Jingming, how did you get such a big house?" Xu Hong kicked his feet and walked in. "My place is a small wooden hut."

"It costs money." Grandpa Xu changed his clothes to a down jacket. "There are many functions on the personal interface. I took a look and was figuring out the functions. You can buy clothes, houses, and many other items. There's also a platform for spectators and the martial arts arena."

"Dad, you sure know how to play," Xu Hong said with a smile.

"There are so many functions?" Mr. and Mrs. Li were surprised.

"You have to go to the martial arts arena to learn the evolutionary method." Grandpa Xu was very proficient. "After you finish learning it, your body will evolve, and you can enter the combat space! You can engage in all kinds of combat. Humans who have undergone deeper evolution and those with stronger combat techniques will have an advantage in combat. The Earth Alliance probably wants to collect data on the changes in our bodies after our evolution and make preparations for the development of a new evolutionary method. However, I'm already very satisfied to be able to live to the age of 160. Haha, I never expected to encounter such a great opportunity at my age. This is the advantage of living long; I managed to live to see this day."

"What's the spectator platform?" Li Miaomiao tapped open the panel to take a look. "A player can choose to broadcast their practice and combat sessions in a live broadcast? Grandpa, you're amazing. The game world has just launched, yet you already know so much."

"Back when I was in mobile gaming, I received a Finals MVP title at the age of 18. After I retired, I was a gaming broadcaster for so many years. I can guess the things games can cook up with my eyes closed." Grandpa Xu smiled. "But this gaming world is really impressive. There are many things you can do in your personal space. I can drink tea and chat with someone else who is on the other side of the world. I can also work and study. Schools can hold their classes here… As a form of social media, it has completely crushed any original form of social media."

"Yeah, video chat apps can't compare to this game world either." Li Chen'an nodded.

"You can even do a live broadcast. Almost all the live-stream platforms in the past are finished; they have to pivot to something immediately." Grandpa Xu sighed with emotion. "I've lived for so many years and have seen technology change society time and time again, but this change is unprecedented."

Li Chen'an smiled and said, "Grandpa Xu, the Earth Alliance must've prepared many contingency plans since they have done so. Ordinary people like us don't have to think too much about it. At least, for ordinary people like us, this is an unprecedented opportunity."

"Let's hurry up and practice the evolution method," Xu Hong said with a smile. "Many people have probably started practicing."

"Yes, let's get started." Grandpa Xu disappeared into thin air and returned to his personal space.

"Let's go." They disappeared one after another.

"I'm leaving." Li Miaomiao was the last to leave as she disappeared and returned to her personal space.

Xu Jingming opened his personal interface and carefully studied the functions of his personal space.

I can read in my personal space. It has all the textbooks included in compulsory education, many supplementary materials, and even some cutting-edge scientific materials. Xu Jingming randomly selected a few physics books; he studied physics in university.

Books appeared on the bookshelf one after another.

This virtual game world isn't just a game. I can convene meetings, meet friends, work, and even study. I can even do scientific research. Xu Jingming was surprised. There were many functions.

To the martial arts arena. Xu Jingming tapped open the martial arts arena and chose to enter.

The scene in front of him changed—this was a canyon with verdant mountains and flowing waters.

Xu Jingming looked around him and found the scenery to be very beautiful.

"This is the martial arts arena," the cyan-shirted man said. "The martial arts arena can assist you in your training, such as genetic evolution and combat techniques. There are also all kinds of sparring partners here. You can set up different strengths for your sparring partners, and you can also freely adjust the martial arts arena's environment."

Xu Jingming tapped the interface softly, and ten books immediately floated down. The cover of these books was covered in Chinese characters.

"Please study the ten evolutionary methods carefully," the cyan-shirted man said.

Xu Jingming began to settle down and read.

Of the ten evolutionary methods, five were for men, and five were for women. Of course, Earth contained all sorts of fantastic phenomena due to its size. Some people were relatively special—evolutionary methods for the opposite sex suited them.