Blake White felt a sharp syringe pierce the skin of her arm, the medication pushed into her body. The painkiller was very effective and worked quickly, easing her headache considerably.

She was not dreaming; no dream had ever felt so vivid.

Blake White understood that the current situation was absolutely abnormal, and what she was experiencing defied common sense. Perhaps she really had encountered something that only happened in fantasy novels or movies—traveling through time and space.

She had crossed over from her shabby little place to an unknown location.

The painkiller injection she just received eased Blake White’s physical pain, allowing her to focus on thinking. She was anxious and panicked, but those emotions would not help her at all; she knew she had to calm down.

The closed beta forum for "Crimson Earth" had announced the start of the game, and then she had suddenly been transported to a different place.

Blake White guessed that she had crossed into the world of "Crimson Earth."

She had another identity in this world.

Blake White concentrated, and suddenly a beam of light unfolded in her pitch-black vision.

On the light screen was written the identity she had just heard for herself in this world.

—"Core member of the Mechanical Dawn Organization, probationary patrol security officer of the Seventh Field Team, Federal Investigation Department, Federal Level-One Most Wanted, undercover agent for the Resistance."

Blake White: Uh... it seems my identity is really complicated.

She read it carefully over and over, feeling at a loss.

She didn’t understand what kind of organization Mechanical Dawn was, but words like "core member" were enough to show its importance. And the Federal Investigation Department... that should be an official organization. What was even worse was that she also had the identity of a Federal Level-One Most Wanted criminal—what the heck? And being an undercover agent for the Resistance, which sounded like a double agent, was even more terrifying.

There’s no future in being a double agent!

Blake White had watched countless spy movies, and undercover agents rarely had good endings. She felt her prospects were bleak, with a tragic ending waving at her.

The sound of medical instruments clashing kept ringing out. Blake White could vaguely sense the suture needle piercing in and out of her flesh, tugging at her skin and muscle.

Blake White’s heartbeat gradually stabilized from the intense pace when she first regained consciousness. Her brain was working, and her emotions were calming down as she thought.

She didn’t know how much time had passed when Blake White suddenly felt she could control her eyelids again; the effects of the anesthesia were wearing off.

The man who had been operating on her said, "The medicine’s worn off, you should be waking up soon."

Blake White had to give up on pretending to be unconscious and slowly opened her eyes a crack.

The incandescent light made her uncomfortable, and a silver light source kept flickering in front of her eyes.

Blake White blinked with effort, adjusted to the light for a while, and realized that the flickering silver light wasn’t a lamp, but the reflection from the lead surgeon’s glasses.

She moved her head slightly, rolled her eyes, and looked blankly at the circle of doctors and nurses standing around her operating table.

"You’re awake?" The bespectacled doctor nodded at Blake White. "The surgery was very successful."

Blake White decided to pretend she knew nothing.

She summoned all her acting skills and put on a look of trying hard to remember: "W-what happened to me?"

The doctor showed a sympathetic expression, looking at her with pity. "Poor kid, you’re really unlucky. On your first field assignment during your internship, you ran into an armed criminal... Sigh, the criminal got away, and you ended up with a head injury and a fractured skull..."

"Fractured... skull?" Blake White looked confused on the outside, but was actually overjoyed.

A fractured skull—such a serious injury gave her a perfect excuse to fake amnesia! She hadn’t inherited the original body’s memories after crossing over, and she could easily give herself away.

"Yes, a fractured skull, a big hole in your head, blood gushing out everywhere." The doctor said kindly, "But it’s okay—out with the old, in with the new!"

"Out with the old, in with the new?" Blake White asked in confusion. "Sorry, I seem to have forgotten a lot of things..."

"It’s normal to be a bit muddled for now. You’ll feel better once the anesthesia wears off. Your skull fracture was quite severe and hard to repair, so we replaced that part of your skull." The doctor said cheerfully, "The Federation’s latest technology—ultra-light alloy skull. With this, you’ll never have to worry about getting your head bashed in while catching criminals on duty again!"

Blake White: "???"

Wow, did she just get the legendary iron head? She loved it!

From now on, if she got into a fight, one headbutt would leave the other person’s head buzzing for sure!

Author’s note:

Players will cross over as a group and shuttle back and forth between two worlds.

If you find any plot holes or things that don’t make sense, it might not be a bug, but a clue for later.

Chapter 3: Sea of Darkness 03

After the surgery, Blake White was wheeled out of the operating room by the doctors and nurses.

The rolling bed glided automatically over the metal floor, the corridor ceiling’s pale blue lights giving everything a surreal feeling.

After turning a corner, a tightly sealed metal door opened, and Blake White, bed and all, was pushed into a capsule-shaped recovery pod.