Waiting online, quite urgent.
Players: "???"
Currently, the online community was buzzing intensely about the mysterious disappearance of the top player, "Mixed Element Thunder Hand."
He'd promised an immediate livestream—but nothing came of it.
After a full day of no contact, people speculated he'd become hopelessly addicted to the new map.
Yet now, when he finally resurfaced, he seemed to be spouting nonsense!
AutumnMountainSpeed: "Over a hundred years? Dude, have you lost your mind? (ConfusedBlackGuy.jpg)"
WhaleSpender: "Seven witch wives? This isn't some harem dating sim! Has the game genre suddenly changed?!"
Lil'ProphetDescends: "Hahaha! Didn't I predict this? Considering how hardcore this game is, the new map must be insanely difficult. See, this guy's already gone insane. Who's next? (Click my profile and follow for more accurate predictions!)"
AutumnMountainSpeed: "Ah, I totally get it! I remember my first day in-game vividly—when it told me, 'Please evolve your eyes.' That alone drove me crazy! (Handshake, Tearful)"
ChunZiLovesStudying: "I'm scared! Even the legendary tech genius has fallen? What happened? Is this a collapse of morality or just humanity twisting itself into a pretzel? How hardcore is the new map exactly?!"
Players flooded the forum, excited and noisy. The absurd difficulty of this so-called "casual sandbox game" had always been obvious.
Many joked that this second player to unlock the achievement rewards, the legendary "Mixed Element Thunder Hand," had completely lost his mind. Who knew what trauma he'd endured?
After all, only one day had passed, and here he was, talking like a madman.
Li Shengjiang paused, stunned, as he skimmed through the comments, realizing he'd acted too hastily. Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself.
"For me, it's been over a century—a span of life even longer than my real-life forty-plus years. Honestly, I almost feel like 'I'm actually the Alchemy Emperor Grantham from another world,' and my real-world identity as a tech-company CEO is merely a dream."
Those hundred years felt more like his true life, while his actual existence seemed fleeting by comparison.
But their disbelief made sense—after all, it had only been a single day for them.
"Fine, I'll show you proof."
Li Shengjiang quickly uploaded a series of pictures he'd taken.
The first photo was from when he'd just entered the other world—a lush, verdant forest scene, bustling with lively, bouncing slimes.
The forum immediately erupted.
"Whoa! Is this the new map? The big boss is exploring the new world with his slime race?"
"Finally, he's acting normal again."
People were getting excited.
Without a word, Li Shengjiang continued uploading more images.
The second picture depicted bustling streets near the Witch Coven headquarters. Numerous beautiful women in colorful wizard robes, merchants in exquisite clothes, mothers holding children, vibrant fruit stalls, and various busy shops. A witch from the Rose Church rode majestically through the street atop a massive Ara beast.
"Wait, an actual bustling city? It's so lively, filled with exotic flair! Are there NPCs on the new map?"
"Pretty girls with magical staves?! Holy crap!"
"The new map actually has people? Come on, boss! Say something! Explain!"
"I'm practically drooling here!"
Li Shengjiang remained completely silent. Hmph! And you guys thought I went crazy?
Keeping his mouth shut, he deliberately teased everyone's curiosity by uploading another photo—this one a breathtaking overhead view of the Babylonian kingdom, an intricately detailed, majestic, ancient cityscape.
When this image was clicked, it shocked the community completely.
It was like something out of Assassin's Creed—a sandbox-style ancient wizard city brimming with foreign charm, beautifully real, grand, and mesmerizing.
"Alright, time for the main dish. Something explosive." Seeing their astonished reactions, Li Shengjiang smiled slyly and finally unleashed his trump card: a screenshot of two young witches casting dazzling spells, lighting up the scene brilliantly.
"Holy shit! These wizard-robed girls are actually casting magic!"
"Boss, we're sorry! Please say something, don't just upload photos! (Kowtowing, Kowtowing)"
"I'm trembling! My mom just asked why I'm kneeling while playing 'Spore Evolution'—have I really become this addicted to learning? (Bows apologetically)"
…
"Earlier, you mocked me. How do you like this surprise? Now, I'll hit you with the biggest bomb yet." Li Shengjiang grinned again and uploaded a final, extremely shocking photo.
This was the horrifying, apocalyptic image of the Death Monarch Medusa descending over Babylon, the immense black and crimson rose testing Lilith's strength in the sky, a scene of terrifying splendor and annihilation.
The audience completely lost it.
"Terrifying! That lady in the sky is gorgeous—is she some kind of goddess?"
"That giant rose looks like it could wipe out the whole city with one hit!"
…
People were now totally transformed into fanboys, desperately begging their idol to speak. "Please, boss! Don't just upload photos! Say something! Be a decent human being!"
Li Shengjiang felt a slight regret. Unfortunately, there was no way to livestream or record video; screenshots were his limit. If he'd been able to stream, the visual impact would have been exponentially greater.
"That woman in the final photo is Medusa, known as the Death Monarch, the one who holds supreme authority over death in that world." He didn't deliberately stall, as his time was short—just a few minutes here equaled a long time back inside the game.
After uploading these key proofs, he finally spoke frankly, "You guys must have figured it out. In the mere day you've experienced, I actually took my slime race into a true alternate world."
A real otherworldly realm?
A huge one?
The audience was completely stunned.
"This can't be real! But how can these photos exist otherwise?"
Replies flooded the thread furiously. In mere moments, hundreds of posts stacked up rapidly. Though the number of actual players wasn't enormous, there were countless "cloud players" who closely followed the game without playing, excitedly absorbing every detail.
But then came an even more explosive revelation, igniting the players' excitement to a whole new level:
"I know you're wondering how I took so many photos in just one day. Did I become some kind of sightseeing gamer, leisurely snapping pictures, enjoying a fantasy tour? That doesn't make sense either. Would an alternate world really welcome slimes that warmly, letting me casually tour around cities?"
"Actually, your many questions can be answered in a single sentence: Though you've only experienced one day, I've spent over a hundred years inside this other world! A full century—longer than a normal human lifespan, and more than twice as long as my actual life!"
The entire forum instantly erupted.
People's hands trembled on their mouse; lips quivered involuntarily, minds went momentarily blank—someone even spilled their drink across their desk. Soon, an uncontrollable urge overtook them as they frantically hammered their keyboards, unleashing countless posts, voicing their frantic questions:
"What on earth is going on?!"
"One day outside equals a hundred years inside the game?!"
An avalanche of replies flooded the screen at lightning speed, messages flashing by like frames in a film, faster than human eyes could track.
As they sat in front of their computers, frantically typing, one legendary phrase immediately popped into everyone's mind:
Virtual reality technology that adjusts time flow!