Chapter 3: Undead Swordsman (1/2)
I ate about 250 grams of beef and drank a few cups of liquor, but my body still didn’t feel very warm. It was very strange.
I checked the time and noted that it was 10:30 pm, meaning that “Heavenblessed” would be starting in just one and a half hour’s time. Hundreds of millions of gaming fanatics must be staying close to their gaming equipment and waiting anxiously for the moment; the moment where they enter a whole new virtual reality and create new, immortalized legends of themselves.
I turned on the computer and saw the MSN avatar blinking rapidly. He Yi had sent a total of 47 messages while I was gone—
“Lu Chen, are you there? I’m at the hospital right now. Where are you…”
“Lu Chen, I’ve been trying to call your phone, but I couldn’t get through…”
“Lu Chen, I couldn’t find you even after I went back to the crash site. Where are you?”
“Wuuu, please don’t scare me, Lu Chen…”
“Lu Chen, what on earth happened to you? Where are you? Please… I…”
”Wuuu, Lu Chen…”
The sight of these messages made me feel incredibly uncomfortable. My hands were on the keyboard, but I had no idea what I should type. In the end, I arrived at a difficult decision. I wouldn't contact He Yi. As I am right now, I'm of no help to the Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls guild. It would be better if she forgot about me entirely than drag a burden like me with her.
And so, I deleted my MSN account and searched the official website of “Heavenblessed”.
……
By now, the amount of people waiting online to join the game had reached a whopping number of seven hundred million. It was definitely an unprecedented—and for now, unbeatable—feat!
Besides that, there was a news title presented in large font on the official website of Spirit of Grief: Falling Dust, the genius of an era, suffers a massive defeat before leaving the scene with account deletion.
Over thirty thousand people left a reply to the news post. Countless more felt sorry for me.
I took another sip of the spicy liquor before smiling in relief. The best way to deal with this fucking life was a pinch of optimism. “Heh, Heavenblessed, here I come!”
I waited for a while until it was after 11. Then, I put on my gaming helmet.
A green flash and a retinal scan confirmed my identity. When I entered the game registration page, I noticed that the opening scene had been added to the page—
It was the World Tree, the origin of all life and the protector of the natural laws.
But the World Tree started wilting, and the gods were perishing one after another. The entire Heavenblessed Continent was dyed in blood as a terrifying race slaughtered all life that entered its sight.
The images changed, and the scene switched to a battlefield in a huge valley. I was immediately stunned by the scene in front of me—
There were many armies composed of different races. Weapon clangs never stopped, and the sky was almost blotted out by the banners. The barbarian king clad in heavy armor swung his battle axe and let out a terrifying roar as his tribesmen swung their weapons toward their opponents with all their might. However, their enemies were quick and deadly, and their counterattack penetrated the warriors’ flesh like nothing. The entire place was filled with screams and the tang of blood.
Beneath a lionhead banner, the beautiful human queen pulled out her sword and shouted, “Attack!”
Countless human soldiers responded to the order, heaved their broadswords and charged bravely toward the front. The mages hiding in the dark muttered inaudible chants, their spells, huge fireballs hurling toward their enemies.
The battle was growing more and more intense. The battle cries in the valley were deafening, and the stench of blood was thick and ever-present.
The human queen grew a pair of beautiful butterfly wings and dove into the battlefield. Wherever her sword danced, countless heads of the undead flew high into the air.
However, a fog suddenly descended on the ground, transforming into a mysterious figure. A cold flash later, the human queen collapsed, and her head was held up by her killer. The fog-like undead let out a terrible, angry roar as if commanding all the races to submit to him.
The ground was dyed red. The warriors turned into cold, lifeless bodies.
In the end, only one human warrior was still standing atop a hill of corpses and cutting the terrifying creatures in half.
Drenched in blood but refusing to give up, he raised his sword and roared angrily at the undead leader. The two combatants charged each other at the same time as two Divine Armaments clashed, dominating the spotlight until it engulfed the entire world!
“Clang!”
The ring of metals didn’t die even as everything slowly faded away. Finally, a word slowly rose from the horizon—Heavenblessed!
I sucked in a deep breath after it was all over. What an impressive opening scene! It was no wonder that Heavenblessed was claimed a classic that would surpass Spirit of Grief. The promotional cinematic alone was enough to get my blood pumping!
My soul slowly flew toward the welcome shrine. A fairy danced in front of me before the melodious, synthetic voice of a woman entered my ears—
Ding~!
System Notice: Hello, valued user. You are confirmed to be a China server CGL Hall of Famer. Will you carry over your previous ID: Falling Dust?
I thought for a second before rejecting the option. Then, I entered a new ID: Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand!
Sounds artistic and poetic, right? It reflects both the sorrow of Roberto Baggio and the heroism of Gabriel Batistuta, and it sounds cool enough to bait a cute lady or two. It truly is one of a kind!
In the previous game, after becoming one of the twenty-seven most famous players of the China server, I was gifted with this extremely precious gaming helmet.
Two years ago, I was one of the hottest and most powerful players in Spirit of Grief. But life was as unpredictable as the weather, and after a car accident damaged my brain stem, my whole life became delayed by 3 whole seconds. What this meant was that any instruction my brain sent out took 3 seconds to process before the corresponding action took place.