Chapter One: The Beautiful Guild Leader

[Prelude]

Gazing up at the Gate of Dreams

Listening to distant whispers

The bloodstained iron sword

Please guide me forward

The spring of light washes away all dust

Starting a new journey with weariness

Blood and tears blur my vision, the slaughter never ends

My beloved, please do not weep for me

Blessings will never belong to demons

To protect you, I would give my whole life

……

[Main Text]

On a moonlit night, the warm spring breeze carried the fragrance of flowers and grass, brushing through the forest, making the branches sway.

Suddenly, two figures flashed by at lightning speed, instantly vanishing into the depths of the forest.

"Rustle, rustle..."

Stepping on the soft, fine grass, I gazed up at the starry sky, feeling an indescribable gloom in my heart.

Our party was wiped out again.

Beside me, my companion was a beautiful elven female archer. The moonlight was mournful, spilling over her, casting a radiant glow on her elegant and otherworldly face.

"Whew..."

She leaned slantwise against an ancient pine behind her, her delicate face showing fatigue and unwillingness, her chest heaving, tightly gripping a slender, gleaming sword in her hand. After the fierce battle, her breastplate had already split open, revealing a nearly perfect curve of her chest. Her bracers and greaves were also cracked, and her two round, snow-white legs were exposed to the mountain wind. The white cloak was stained with blood, almost torn into rags.

"No more running, Ethan Carter." She looked at me, her face flushed.

"Why not run?" I asked in surprise.

She waved her hand: "It's just two days earlier than planned. Let's give them one last raging fire, then we'll delete our accounts!"

"Alright, I'll listen to you, boss."

I nodded, slowly raising my bloodstained palm.

"Whoosh!"

A fire arrow shot into the sky, exploding suddenly in midair, turning into thousands of fire rains that fell down, instantly transforming the entire forest into a sea of flames.

"Aaaah..."

Screams rang out one after another. Thousands of players who had been chasing us were burned to a crisp, each collapsing in the sea of fire, charred all over.

I let out a long breath. "It's done."

"Mm." The girl nodded. "Let's go, time to start our new journey!"

I held my palm flat, several streams of data light swirling and dancing from my palm. In the next moment, my body gradually faded away, and the beautiful archer sitting across from me smiled and nodded as well. She too spread her slender fingers, data swirling, and disappeared with me into the virtual forest.

……

"Shh..."

I let out a long sigh and took off my gaming helmet.

Finally, it's over.

Two years in "Ling Tong," fighting north and south, there was glory, there was pain, there were friends, there were enemies... but in the end, I still left this virtual world.

Not far away, another helmet sat on the table, glowing faintly, with bold, flowing characters written on it: Tianzong!

That's right, the world's strongest gaming company, Yueheng Corporation, after their previous game "Ling Tong," had once again launched a new game "Tianzong" in full swing. Touted as the king of a generation, it dominated both in game design and user numbers. Over 800 million helmets were sold within a month of release, capturing more than 95% of the market.

"Tianzong" would officially open at midnight two days later, with no closed or open beta. After hearing this news, many teams prepared to leave "Ling Tong" and develop in the new game, and we were no exception. Not far away, another helmet sat on the table, glowing faintly, with bold, flowing characters written on it: Tianzong!

That's right, the world's strongest gaming company, Yueheng Corporation, after their previous game "Ling Tong," had once again launched a new game "Tianzong" in full swing. Touted as the king of a generation, it dominated both in game design and user numbers. Over 800 million helmets were sold within a month of release, capturing more than 95% of the market.

"Tianzong" would officially open at midnight two days later, with no closed or open beta. This was also one of the reasons I quit the previous game.

The "Tianzong" gaming helmets came in four grades: low, medium, high, and VIP, each with a different price. Mine was a VIP helmet, with a line of small blue characters printed on the side—CGL Hall of Fame · Luo Chen.

That's right, my name is Ethan Carter.

In this world, my legend is everywhere.

……

"Heh..."

I gave a self-mocking laugh and turned on my computer. On MSN, an avatar was shaking, signed as "Boss"—my beautiful guild leader.

I clicked to check, and she had left a message: "Let's meet tomorrow morning? Name a place."

"Tomorrow at 9 a.m., in front of the gym on Sanxiang Road."

She replied quickly: "Okay, I've already sold our equipment. Together with your salary, it's over 200,000. I made a new card, I'll give it to you tomorrow."