T/N: I love Zerg stories. Warning: Yaoi/BL themed (See notes)
The first light of dawn broke, and the horizon turned a pale, fish-belly white.
The sky grew significantly brighter at daybreak. As the sun rose, a ray of morning light spilled over a figure perched atop a pile of stones, casting a long, shallow shadow.
Qi Heng’s eyelids flickered slightly before he slowly opened them. His pure black eyes reflected the golden-red clouds rolled up by the rising sun and… a crater the size of several football fields.
The sight within the pit left him silent.
From his high vantage point, he could easily see what the densely packed things piled in the pit were eggs, each about the size of a newborn baby, discarded in the pit to form an open-air “dump.”
Qi Heng, who had been curious about this giant pit last night, found that curiosity completely vanished. Even the smile he had worn upon successfully attempting spiritual power cultivation froze on his face.
To him, this scene looked like a mass grave, and the shock was no less than the discovery last night that he had “transmigrated.”
Yes, he had transmigrated.
Something that only appeared in 21st-century Earth web novels had actually happened to him.
He knew it was all real: the ruin-like city before him, the deep pit filled with discarded eggs; he had truly entered the world of the game.
Although Qi Heng didn’t know why the civilization and prosperous cities that should have been advanced in the game had become like this, according to the system’s narrative, this was indeed another world.
Qi Heng’s thoughts drifted back to last night.
He should have been sleeping comfortably in his large bed at home, but in a state between dreaming and waking, he found himself in a filthy, chaotic alley.
At first, he thought he was dreaming, but he quickly snapped out of the illusion.
The cold night wind constantly invaded his body through his sleeves and collar, successfully waking his groggy brain to the fact that something was wrong. It was at that moment he realized that he wasn’t wearing the silk pajamas he had changed into before bed, but rather ragged clothes that barely covered his body.
For a moment, a triple-threat of questions hit him: Who am I? Where am I? What happened?
Just as he felt he was about to freeze unconscious, a system calling itself the “Civilization Simulator” popped up. While using high-tech means to save his life from hypothermia, it also delivered a transmigration notice.
He, Qi Heng, had transmigrated into the game he had played for over a year.
The reason he suffered this unwarranted disaster was simply that he had abandoned the game (deleted it).
In order to save the civilization in the game and clean up the mess he had left behind, the in-game system had tracked down the culprit—him—and kidnapped him while he was asleep. When he questioned the lack of logic, the system even produced an agreement showing that he had consented to this.
It was the kind of agreement everyone clicks “Agree” to when playing a game. If one scrolled to the very end, there was a sentence stating:
“All rights of interpretation belong to the game.”
Qi Heng found it utterly absurd.
Who actually reads the game agreement before playing? Doesn’t everyone just check [I Agree] and enter the game? This was clearly a trap.
Because of this, his appeal to the system was rejected; after all, he was indeed the one who had checked the box.
Furthermore, this agreement was recognized in any civilization. He could only blame himself for not reading it, allowing the system to find a loophole.
With a single piece of paper, the system had conscripted him, dragging him to another parallel universe to save a civilization that he had guided into development, only to let it be ruined by his abandonment.
—The game!
Ultimately, it was the game’s fault. If he hadn’t been impulsive enough to download it, he wouldn’t have ended up in this predicament.
But who knew a game could link to another universe, and that everything happening in the game actually existed in another world… It was truly unbelievable.
[Develop a civilization from nothing, guiding this newborn society from prehistoric wilderness toward the sea of stars, competing with various interstellar civilizations on the vast stage of the galaxy, and ultimately ascending to the pinnacle of cosmic civilization.]
The above was the game’s introduction.
The description was very enticing, and the plot was designed to be exciting and diverse. Otherwise, given the crude pixelated characters and the reliance on text-based guidance, he would have deleted it the moment he downloaded it.
Thinking back, he truly regretted it.
Feeling irritable, Qi Heng habitually reached for his right pocket, only to find it empty. He then remembered he wasn’t wearing his usual trench coat, so naturally, he couldn’t find the cigarette pack he kept in the pocket.
He wasn’t a chain smoker; he just had a habit of lighting a cigarette when he was stressed, watching it burn away slowly, letting his worries vanish along with the ash.
Qi Heng lowered his hand, knowing he wouldn’t be able to break this habit anytime soon.
Nor did he intend to.
Transmigration was an unplanned event in his life. Suddenly starting a second life was not something anyone could easily accept. By “not easily accept,” he didn’t mean he clung to his past.
In fact, there wasn’t much to cling to in his past.
In his previous life, he was an orphan who didn’t know his parents. Though his path had been bumpy, he had managed to reach twenty-seven. He was the definition of a solitary man. But that didn’t mean he was willing to leave his familiar environment for this strange, unknown world.
The only piece of good news was that the so-called “Civilization Savior Mission” was not mandatory.
Qi Heng looked down at his pale, slender hand with prominent knuckles. The only thing the system could force against his will had been completed before he woke up.
First, it kidnapped him from Earth to the universe linked to the game, and then it merged his original body with the body of the character he controlled in the game. This current body was both him and not him.
His black hair had changed from a neat, ear-length cut to a length that covered his ears, with soft, fragmented ends brushing against the nape of his neck. He was a few centimeters taller than before. The only thing that remained unchanged was the thin, willow-leaf-shaped red mark on the inside of his left wrist—something he had since birth.
He hadn’t noticed any other changes yet; he would have to find a mirror to confirm his appearance.
For now, all he could do was take it one step at a time, Qi Heng thought, looking in a certain direction.
In a direction where others would see nothing, a light blue system panel appeared in his vision. It was a character attribute page that was both familiar and strange, similar to what he had seen in the game.
[Civilization Simulator System]
[Bound User: Qi Heng]
[Race: Human / Tianjia Zerg (Merging)] [Current Phase 1 Progress: 35% Fusion]
[Gender: Male / Male Zerg (Merging)]
[Identity/Titles: Lord of the Tianjia Civilization, Zerg Overlord, Founder of the Zerg Central Think Tank, Creator of Calamities, Chain of Calamity (Unique), Zerg Sage, Civilization Guide, Space-Time Gifted (Unique), Contender of the Galaxy, Former Chairman of the Galactic Council, Namer of the Galaxy, Former Galactic Hegemon, Civilization Slayer, Cosmic Colonizer, Builder of Galactic Wonders, Founder of the Silver Heart Era, Guardian of the Galaxy, Conqueror of the Stars…]
[Age: 27 / 23,000+]
[Height: 187 cm]
[Mental Power: 75 / Phantom God Grade (Merged & Sealed)]
[Stellar Power: 0 / Half-step Galactic (Merged & Sealed)]
[Physical Fitness: 100 (Growable)]
[Comprehensive Evaluation: Average mental power, trash stellar power, excellent physical fitness.]
[Money: 0]
[Resources: 0]
[Special Resources: 0]
[Subordinates: None]
[System Energy: 489.5 (Below 1% of total, needs urgent replenishment)]
Sitting on the pile of stones, Qi Heng boredly picked up a pebble and squeezed it in his hand. A second later, he let go, and the pebble did not fall; instead, it floated silently in place. He had achieved this using his mental power.
Being able to use this world’s cultivation system was one of the benefits of the body merger. This was enough to allow him to protect himself in this dangerous world. By comparison, he didn’t particularly mind the fact that he was no longer entirely human.
Race and gender changes were fine; after all, high-level Zerg looked just like humans, and Male Zergs were no different from human males.
Thinking of this, Qi Heng also remembered the civilization he had guided and developed in the game.
Tianjia.
That was the name of that civilization.
Notes:
In Chinese fiction, “Zerg” (虫族) usually refers to a popular subgenre of interstellar, sci-fi, and Danmei (Boys’ Love) stories. Adapted from the StarCraft alien race, these stories feature a humanoid-insect society with highly specific, matriarchal gender dynamics.
In these worlds, society is typically divided into two main categories:
- Female Zergs (雌虫): Tall, physically dominant, have insect wings, and are the only ones capable of giving birth (laying eggs). They typically serve as the soldiers or laborers and are often viewed as expendable.
- Male Zergs (雄虫): Physically weaker and much rarer. They have a higher societal status, are pampered, and often have harems, but are highly protected.
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