"Mr. Tidus… Congratulations. With first place in the written test, first place in the interview, and first place in the final review, you have passed the final interview of PwC with an outstanding overall score."
Inside the meeting room, a glasses-wearing woman in black stockings and a hip-hugging skirt spoke to the young man in front of her. Her cheeks were slightly flushed.
The handsome brown haired young man was Tidus Clive.
He was the top graduate of USA's number one finance university, Harvard University.
In his freshman year, Tidus had already passed the CPA exam with the highest score in the country. In his sophomore year, he was sent to Stanford University as an exchange student and was named Best Exchange Student of the Year. By his junior year, Times magazine had listed him as USA's most outstanding finance undergraduate.
"So… I'm currently taking the PwC interview?"
Tidus looked around in confusion and muttered to himself.
PwC, one of the Big Four accounting firms in the planet, was the dream workplace for finance students everywhere. The acceptance rate was around one in ten thousand. But Tidus was puzzled.
Why was he here?
"Yes, Mr. Tidus." The glasses-wearing interviewer nodded her delicate chin. "PwC has officially decided to hire you as a Senior Auditor. Annual salary of two million dollars."
Two million a year.
When she said this, she blinked her pretty eyes, hoping for a reaction. And the thought of working beside this handsome genius made her mind wander.
But across from her, Tidus' expression shifted strangely.
PwC. Two million a year.
This… was his graduation year. 2048.
Meaning he had not died in the God World War. He had somehow returned to ten years earlier. His little sister Alice was still alive. The game God World had only just launched. Earth's fate had not yet been decided.
For a moment, his chest tightened with emotion.
But he held himself together. He smiled gently at the interviewer, showing perfect white teeth.
"Thank you for the offer. But I'm sorry. I must decline the two million dollar position."
He stood and walked out with a smooth, effortless stride.
The interviewer was left stunned.
"Mr. Tidus, what are your plans? Are you joining another accounting firm? Or… could you at least leave your Instagram?" She bit her lip and gathered her courage to ask.
"My plans? I think I'll just go play the online game God World…" Without turning back, Tidus left only this sentence before disappearing through the door.
"Uuu… he's so cold. He didn't even leave his Instagram." She stuck out her cute little tongue.
But she suddenly remembered… Tidus said he was going to play God World.
Maybe she could find him in the game!
Still, refusing a one-million salary just to play an online game… that addiction was pretty serious.
Inside the elevator.
Tidus pressed the button for the first floor. As the elevator dropped, the screen inside was playing a commercial for God World.
God World was advertised as a next-generation virtual reality MMORPG jointly developed by over a hundred UN member nations.
Its realism was said to reach 100%, far above any other game at the time.
To promote it, the company behind it announced that all in-game gold coins could be exchanged for real money.
Players could even become billionaires through gameplay.
In Tidus' previous life, God World dominated the market immediately after launch and soon became a global phenomenon.
But he knew the game hid deeper secrets. The core technology came from a high-dimensional civilization's High God System. Attributes, skills, and items obtained in the game would gradually transfer into the real world.
Which was bad news.
Monsters from the game would eventually appear in reality as well, beginning a full-scale invasion of Earth…
The so-called Doomsday War.
In that previous life, Tidus accepted the two-million salary at PwC. Over the next two years, he climbed rapidly to become a global vice president. With salary and stock bonuses combined, he earned ten hundred million dollars a year.
But that meant he missed the launch window of God World. By the time he joined, he was far behind.
He could not turn the tide in the Doomsday War and ultimately fell in battle.
Now, reborn… none of that would repeat.
Ding.
Lost in thought, he reached the first floor.
Through the doors he saw a shop selling game helmets. Two long lines stretched outside, full of players waiting to buy God World equipment.
This shop…
He felt it looked familiar. Then he remembered. In his past life, a huge incident had taken place here that shook the entire God World community.