Game: Civilization Paradise

At the same time, the giant mechanical pillars at the centers of the Star Tower and Sinful City also erupted in brilliant light, shooting multicolored beams toward the heavens.

The three beams of light fanned out across the pitch-black, starry sky. The sight was absolutely breathtaking.

Just then, the twinkling stars suddenly flared with dazzling light. One after another, they streaked across the cosmos like comets, forming a magnificent meteor shower that rained down upon the vast earth.

"A meteor shower?"

Long Ming murmured under his breath.

His mind was a complete blank. He had no idea what was going on, and a strange, unsettling feeling grew within him.

The beam of light from Mountain City Mountain began to dim.

Just as Long Ming thought things were finally calming down...

RUMBLE~

The entirety of Mountain City Mountain began to shake, and the apartment building where Long Ming lived swayed violently.

"Earthquake!"

The color drained from Long Ming’s face, and he immediately bolted.

As he burst out of his apartment, doors flew open all along the hallway.

Tenants poured out with their families in tow, some still in pajamas and barefoot.

But no one could worry about that now; they all desperately sprinted for the stairwell.

"Run, faster!"

...

「One minute later.」

Long Ming followed the crowd down to the open ground below the building.

Soon, more and more residents came running down, until the entire open area was packed with people.

The crowd, still shaken, began to buzz with nervous chatter.

"What the hell? Why is there an earthquake all of a sudden?"

"I don’t know! It scared me to death!"

...

Standing silently in the crowd, Long Ming suddenly felt that something was off.

He looked around, but everything seemed normal. There was nothing out of the ordinary, and the tremors were subsiding.

But he soon realized what it was. The air felt wrong!

’Tonight’s air... it doesn’t seem as murky as before.’

Long Ming looked up at the night sky again and had the sudden feeling that it seemed a little brighter tonight.

Just then, his landlady, Lin Ying, hurried over with her entourage. Seeing that her building hadn’t collapsed, she placed a hand on her ample chest and said with relief.

"Thank god my building didn’t collapse. I would’ve been ruined!"

The corner of Long Ming’s mouth twitched when he heard Lin Ying’s words.

He didn’t say anything, though. Instead, he took a few steps back, putting as much distance between himself and Lin Ying as possible.

Just then, the sound of urgent footsteps approached.

A squad of fully-armed soldiers from the Mountain City Mountain garrison ran over and shouted to Long Ming and the others.

"Attention, everyone! By order of the Mountain City Mountain administration, we are entering a level-one state of alert! A temporary curfew is now in effect. All citizens are to return to their homes immediately!"

"Huh? Go home?"

"But there’s an earthquake right now."

...

Everyone there was stunned. They had just managed to get out, and now they were being told to go back inside.

"The earthquake is over. We will handle any further issues. Now, everyone is ordered to return home immediately. Do not loiter outside, or you will be arrested for disturbing the peace!"

The captain’s tone was resolute.

"Alright, let’s go home."

Though clearly unhappy, the crowd complied and began shuffling back toward their respective apartment buildings.

Long Ming said nothing and simply followed the crowd back to his building.

BUZZ~

His phone buzzed as a series of public alerts from Mountain City Mountain popped up on the screen.

"Emergency Alert: Mountain City Mountain is now under a level-one state of alert. All checkpoints leaving the city are now closed."

"Emergency Alert: Mountain City Mountain has initiated a temporary curfew. Curfew will be in effect until 6:00 AM."

...

Long Ming glanced at them before dismissing the notifications.

「A moment later.」

Long Ming returned to his apartment, walked into the bedroom, and sat down at his computer.

He refreshed the Civilization Paradise forums.

Millions of posts were flooding the page.

"Guys, did you see that? Mountain City Mountain shot out a beam of light!"

"Pfft, what’s the big deal? The Star Tower had one too."

"You say that like Sinful City didn’t have one."

"Whoa, no way? You all had them too!"

"So what are the lights for? It’s not like it’s a holiday, right?"

"Beats me."

"Oh right, why the sudden meteor shower?"

"I don’t know. The observatory didn’t predict a meteor shower today."

"It wasn’t just the meteor shower. The main thing is, there was an earthquake, too."

"I was so scared I ran downstairs without even putting on underwear."

"Forget all that for now. Civilization Paradise is offline! Does anyone know when the game’s coming back up?"

"Yeah, this game sucks. They just shut it down without any warning."

....

Long Ming scrolled through the posts and shook his head slightly. ’Nothing of value here.’

Just then, a post shot to the top of the forum.

Long Ming clicked on it out of habit. The post contained a video, which he immediately played.

It showed a young man in a protective suit, speeding across a plain on a dirt bike. Overhead, a meteor streaked across the sky and crashed in the distance.

Long Ming was surprised. ’I can’t believe someone would actually go chase a meteor.’

"666, that’s awesome!"

"Post the follow-up, quick!"

...

People flooded the comments section.

Long Ming was intrigued as well and waited patiently for the original poster to upload a follow-up.

About twenty minutes later, the poster uploaded another video.

He was standing in front of a small mechanical pillar, a look of pure shock on his face as he spoke.

"Guys, this mechanical pillar is what fell from the sky. Take a look. Doesn’t it look just like the pillars inside Starry City?"

"And when I touched it, I got something incredible. Can you guess what it is?"

"That’s right. It’s the bracelet from the game."

...

The man excitedly held up the bracelet, showing it to the camera.

When Long Ming saw the bracelet, he shot up from his chair, his eyes glued to the screen, trying to determine if it was real.

The thread was instantly flooded with countless new comments.

"Holy shit, give me a break. Do you take us for idiots?"

"Yeah, right, a ’bracelet’! Looks like someone’s been playing too many games and lost their mind."

"Exactly!"

...

Watching this, Long Ming’s brow furrowed deeper.

Just then, the man in the video spoke again, his voice filled with excitement.

"Okay, everyone, I’ll give you a demonstration. Watch and see if this bracelet is the real deal."

The man tapped the bracelet, and a holographic assault rifle materialized in his hand.

He gripped the assault rifle, fired a few shots into the sky, and yelled excitedly.

"It’s real! Haha!"

...

The entire thread exploded.

"No way, those are special effects, right?"

"Bullshit! Those aren’t special effects, that’s real!"

"Then what the hell is going on?"

"Isn’t Civilization Paradise a game? Why are things from it real?"

...

Countless players left frantic comments.

Long Ming watched this unfold in silence, then closed the thread.