After the internet was disconnected, I connected to the magic world.

The moment the post opened, a line of large, gold-plated text appeared at the very top:

The magic net protects all living beings, and everyone can cast spells.

Below is a complete meditation tutorial, written in great detail step by step, from breathing rhythms to mental guidance.

It clearly marks the pitfalls that beginners often make, and comes with dynamic rune demonstration images, making it incredibly professional.

According to the post, this is a universal cultivation technique issued by the Goddess of Magic, which anyone over the age of twelve can learn.

People with normal talent can sense the magic network and draw magic power into their bodies after meditating for three to seven days.

Become a formal first-level apprentice. Even those with less talent can eventually get the hang of it after half a month of hard work.

Lin Ze stared at the screen for a full ten minutes.

He wasn't unfamiliar with online novels; he'd seen all sorts of tropes: rebirth, time travel, systems, old men.

But when this actually happened to him, in this rented room where there wasn't even a ghost, his first reaction was still absurdity.

"It's fake, it must be fake."

He muttered to himself, trying to mentally prepare himself.

Maybe it's some new hacking technique, or maybe it's a virtual reality prank by some rich person?

It can run even without internet access, which is completely contrary to the laws of physics. Surely someone couldn't have implanted a chip in its brain, could they?

"You'll know once you try it."

Anyway, I've quit my job now, so I have plenty of time. I'll just treat it as an immersive game.

Lin Ze pulled the chair back, sat cross-legged on the cold floor, sat in the posture described in the post, closed his eyes, and adjusted his breathing.

The first step in the tutorial is to clear your mind, focus your attention on the space between your eyebrows, and then try to expand your attention outwards to perceive the "magic net" that permeates the air.

It was an invisible energy network that covered the entire world, the source of power for all mages, omnipresent like air.

Lin Ze held his breath, sensing intently.

One minute.

ten minutes.

half an hour.

His legs were numb, and he could hear his own heartbeat and the sound of rain outside the window, but he felt nothing else.

Forget about any global energy network, we haven't even touched a single so-called "magic particle."

He opened his eyes, rubbed his sore legs, and felt a little deflated.

It really was fake.

What kind of magic network is this? It sounds unreliable. After all that, it turns out to be just a gimmick.

But he was unwilling to give up.

A forum that can function even without internet access can't just appear out of thin air.

That shooting star, that computer with its dramatically increased performance, and that icon that he can't seem to delete—it couldn't all be his hallucinations.

He sat back down at the computer, typed "cannot sense the magic network" into the search box in the newbie area, and pressed enter.

I saw thousands of posts, most of which were from newbies asking for help.

The replies below were also consistent: either their mental strength was too weak or they lacked the talent for spellcasting, and it was recommended that they give up as soon as possible and become a warrior instead.

Either the location you're staying in is too remote and the Magic Network signal is poor, or you should move to a big city near a Magic Network node.

Some people joked that unless you're in a magic-free zone, it's impossible not to sense it.

"Too weak mental strength?"

Lin Ze frowned.

He flipped through a few more pages and saw a highly-rated popular science post that said the mental strength threshold for a normal person is between 0.3 and 0.5.

Being able to see one's own spiritual body indicates that one's spiritual power is up to standard and that one possesses the most basic talent for spellcasting.

Introspective spiritual body?

A thought struck him, and he closed his eyes again, following the method described in the post, focusing his attention on his mind, exploring deeper and deeper.

As soon as he focused his mind, he "saw" it.

A faint, milky-white ball of light hovered steadily deep within his consciousness, like a small sun.

Its texture is solid and its light is soft, far superior to the "apprentice-level faint light spot" described in the post.

Lin Ze suddenly opened his eyes, his face full of shock.

He really does have a spiritual body.

Moreover, they are much better than ordinary apprentices.

This is definitely not an illusion.

The clear tactile sensation he had just experienced was something he had never felt in his twenty-three years of life.

He could even clearly control that ball of white light, letting it float around in his consciousness, growing bigger or smaller as he pleased, obedient beyond belief.

"Then why can't I sense the magic network?"

He stood up and paced back and forth in the cramped rented room, his slippers making a clattering sound on the floor.

The mental strength is fine, and the method is fine. So where is the problem?

A terrifying and absurd conjecture slowly took shape in his mind, growing wildly like weeds that could not be suppressed.

It's not that he can't perceive it.

There is no magic network in this world.

Once the idea came to mind, I couldn't suppress it any longer.

The world he lived in was a completely physical world, without magic, without the extraordinary, and without even the slightest supernatural element.

Just like a phone without a signal, no matter how good the specs or how powerful the software, it can't connect to the internet.

Lin Ze stopped and looked at the computer screen.

People on the forum were still enthusiastically discussing the new spell models. Some were showing off the magic crystals they had just obtained, while others were complaining that the magic network had another bug and that they would complain to the temple.

To them, the magic net is as natural as air, something they are born with.

But to him, that was something from another world.

He remembered the shooting star that had crashed into the computer.

It was that shooting star that brought this forum to his computer, and perhaps also strengthened his mental power in the process.

But it only brought him a window to another magical world, without giving him an environment where he could use magic.

So all I can do is watch the show?

Lin Ze forced a smile, feeling an indescribable sense of disappointment.

It's like there's a mountain of gold in front of you, glittering and shining, but you're separated by a layer of tempered glass. You can see it but can't touch it, you can't even pick off a single sliver.

This feeling is so frustrating.

He sat back down at his computer and clicked aimlessly, accidentally clicking the "Recharge" button in his personal center.

Suddenly, a small gray vortex popped up in the center of the screen, slowly rotating with an extremely weak suction force, as if it wanted to suck something in.

A line of small print next to it reads: "To recharge with Magic Coins, please use Soul Essence or equivalent Magic Materials."

Lin Ze curiously reached out and touched the screen, but his fingertips only touched the cold glass and nothing happened.

He remembered reading on the forum that magic coins were a universal currency formed from the essence of souls.

You can exchange spell models, magic materials, and even high-level spellcasting permissions in the magic network.

It is the hard currency of the entire magical universe.

But he was just an ordinary person; where would he get the essence of a soul? He didn't even know what that was.

After closing the recharge interface, Lin Ze leaned back in his chair and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Not reconciled.

I'm so unwilling to accept this.

God has given him such a great opportunity, is he just supposed to be a spectator?

Watching others cast spells, take risks, and become gods every day, while you just sit in front of the screen as a spectator?

Magic Net... Magic Net...

He suddenly sat up straight, his eyes lighting up.

The magic network wasn't something we were born with.

People on the forum often mention that there was no magic network in the distant ancient times.

How did the monks cultivate back then?