ABFMV Chapter 1 Part 1

The Wastelands, deep within the Polar Sand Sea.

Just as its name suggests, the Polar Sand Sea was a sea of sand—endless, desolate, and unforgiving.

It was the filthiest, most primitive corner of the future world, a place where only the lowest beastfolk struggled to survive in the harshest conditions.

Here, even a scrap of food was enough to spark bloody conflict.

This extreme barrenness had given birth to an ancient, brutal trade—beast fights.

Countless arenas had risen from the sand, built for the nobles of the oasis cities to indulge in and enjoy.

But today, something about the usual chaos of the Polar Sand Sea was different.

Rows of soldiers in uniform stood in formation, while masses of beastfolk crowded together, craning their necks, eyes full of hunger and anticipation.

From a massive starship, a group of human nobles descended. Immediately, the beastfolk lowered their heads, terrified of accidentally offending these high-born figures.

“Why are they here earlier than usual?”

“Isn’t that a good thing? I wish they’d come more often. Every time, they pick a few beastfolk to take away as slaves.”

“Have you heard of Marshal Xu? Word is, his daughter came along this time. If one of us could catch her eye, that would be a real chance to change our fate.”

“As long as it means leaving this place, I’d pay any price…”

…

The beastfolk whispered among themselves, sneaking glances at the nobles.

Those nobles wore luxurious robes, the jewels on their clothes alone worth more than what a beastfolk could earn in a lifetime.

Some people were simply born winners.

Bloodline, race, class… invisible shackles that divided all beings in the future world into strict hierarchies.

The beastfolk watched bitterly as the nobles remained in place, as though waiting for someone.

Following their gazes, they saw—

A pair of dazzlingly beautiful legs.

Pale, long, straight.

Looking higher, they caught sight of the young woman’s face, and their hearts skipped a beat.

She was breathtakingly beautiful, her skin delicate and untouched by hardship, her soft hair falling gently to her collarbone.

Elegant. Untouchable.

Stepping down the starship ramp in high heels, she was welcomed like a moon among stars, nobles crowding around her with deference.

The arena steward, quick to read the situation, hurried over, feigning ignorance as he probed, “I don’t believe I’ve seen this young lady before. Is this your first visit?”

One noble sneered, “Do you not recognize her? This is Marshal Xu’s youngest daughter, Lady Xu Linlang. Open your eyes and take a good look.”

The steward’s heart skipped—so the rumors were true. He immediately bowed his head in apology and led the way. “I beg your forgiveness for my blindness.”

Marshal Xu—second only to the supreme ruler of the human race.

And his daughter, doted on by the entire Xu family, was nobility of the highest order. She had to be served with utmost care.

Inside the circular arena, countless cages lined the space like a prison.

Inside them were hundreds, even thousands, of beastfolk and feral creatures.

Here, one either lived or died.

Under the blazing sun, the stone floors burned like hot iron.

The crowd roared and shouted, faces red, fists pumping in the air as they vented their emotions.

Xu Linlang sat in a jeweled seat, delicately holding a bowl of shaved ice.

In the distance, beastfolk swarmed like ants, gazing up at her. Behind her, nobles fawned over her, offering pleasantries and flattery.

To her, all of this felt utterly foreign.

She had transmigrated.

One moment she had been at the scene of a car accident, the next she awoke on a floating circular bed—inside a starship.

At first, Xu Linlang thought she was dreaming. But even after pinching her thigh until it turned red, she still hadn’t woken up.

It was only after questioning the servants around her that she realized the truth—she really had crossed over.

And not just anywhere—she was inside a AAA immersive game she’d recently been obsessed with: World of the Future.

This game, set against the grandeur of interstellar civilization, had taken the world by storm with its cutting-edge technology and epic yet intricately detailed design.

Unlike other games, this one broke away from rigid character templates.

Its interstellar world was home to five great races:

• Humans and beastfolk on land.

• The celestial race and insect race roam the void of space.

• The ocean race, which built a technological empire deep beneath the seas.

Each had its own territories, cultures, and laws.

And who was the Xu Linlang she’d replaced?

Simply put, a well-known socialite of the human race.

To be precise, an arrogant, spoiled, tyrannical heiress who knew nothing but luxury and indulgence.

In the game’s plot, her role wasn’t major, but her influence rippled widely.

Because her elder brother and sister were the game’s protagonists—the very roles players inhabited.

As for the story, Marshal Xu had once promised his battlefield comrade a marriage contract between their children. Years later, that comrade died, and only then did Marshal Xu learn the man had carried insect blood in his veins.

The insect race was the most despised lineage among the other four races.

When the comrade’s son—the game’s ultimate villain, Qi Ye—appeared to claim the engagement, Xu Linlang had screamed, hurling everything on the dining table at him, cursing him as a filthy half-breed unworthy of her hand.

Later, the vengeful Qi Ye found his chance and killed her with a single strike.

That moment cemented the enmity between him and the protagonists, driving the story into its next arc.

All of this rushed through Xu Linlang’s mind—the lore of World of the Future.

In short, she was now the ill-fated socialite destined to die for breaking off an engagement. 🙂

Crossing over was thrilling for a moment… but the wrong role meant an early cremation.

Distracted, Xu Linlang stirred her shaved ice with a silver spoon, trying to recall which part of the storyline she had landed in.

Something about the arena…

!

She remembered.

Actually, when Qi Ye later came to propose, he didn’t really intend to marry her—he came with hostility.

He wanted to see Xu Linlang.

To see the person who had caused the death of the one who once saved his life.

The game never described Qi Ye’s miserable past in detail, only summing it up with a few words: betrayed, abandoned, isolated, besieged.

In the ten years after his father’s death, the only one who treated him kindly was a little beastman from the arena.

His character profile even mentioned that, during the time he was trapped in the arena, a beastman slave had secretly given him food.

But later, while serving the original Xu Linlang, that beastman accidentally spilled tea on her dress.

Xu Linlang lost her temper and ordered the beastman dragged into the arena to fight.

The defenseless little beastman was brutally killed there.

Because of that, Qi Ye held a deep grudge against her.