"Alright, I'm heading out first. I brought you a few jin of sliced dried beef. I was planning to have a few drinks with you, but you got back too late. Next time, then."

I poked my head out to take a look, and sure enough, there was a bag of beef on the table, along with a bottle of Erguotou. A wave of warmth rose in my heart—after all these years of drifting, at least I still have a brother.

Henry left, his shadow stretching long under the streetlight. He wasn't much of an expert in the game, could even be called a newbie. While others left legends in the world, all he left was a departing silhouette.

Chapter Three: Death Knight

After eating half a jin of beef and downing a few drinks, my body still didn't feel very warm, which was rather odd.

I checked the time. It was 10:30 PM, just an hour and a half until Tianzong opened. By now, there must be hundreds of millions of gaming fanatics waiting in front of their devices for the game to launch. Those warriors dreaming of forging immortal legends in the world of Tianzong were already raring to enter this brand-new virtual realm.

I turned on the computer. My MSN icon was flashing nonstop—messages from Grace Bennett, a string of 47 in total—

"Ethan Carter, are you there? I'm at the hospital, where are you..."

"Ethan Carter, I've been calling you, but I can't get through..."

"Ethan Carter, I went to the crash site but couldn't find you. Where on earth are you?"

"Wuwu, Ethan Carter, please don't scare me, okay?"

...

"Ethan Carter, what's wrong with you? Where are you, don't... I..."

"Wuwu, Ethan Carter..."

Looking at the flood of messages, I felt uneasy. My fingers hovered over the keyboard, not knowing which key to press. After a long while, I made a difficult decision: Forget it, I won't contact Grace Bennett anymore. I can't really help with anything in the Gujian Hunmeng guild. Rather than dragging her down, it's better to let her forget me completely.

So, I logged out of MSN and connected to the Tianzong official website.

The number of people waiting online had already surged past 700 million. To have such a massive online presence even before the game opened—this game was truly unprecedented!

Meanwhile, a bold headline stood out on the homepage of the Ling Tong official website: "The once-great genius Lu Chen suffers a crushing defeat, ultimately deletes his account and leaves in sorrow."

Immediately after, over thirty thousand comments from netizens, countless people lamenting the outcome.

I took a sip of the fiery liquor and smiled in relief. When it comes to this messed-up life, it's better to stay optimistic: "Hey, Tianzong, this hero is here!"

After waiting a while, a little past 11 PM, I put on the gaming helmet.

A green light flashed. Iris scan—user identity locked!

I entered the game login screen, and the entry animation had already loaded—

Blood spread everywhere—a land ravaged by war. Forests withered, the human capital collapsed into ruins, plagues ran rampant, corpses piled up like mountains: humans, elves, shadow demons, barbarians, and other races. The stench of rot drifted into my nose. The corpses stretched far into the distance, and on the barren horizon, a towering tree stood tall.

The World Tree, the origin of all life, the guardian of the laws of heaven and earth.

But at this moment, the World Tree began to wither, the gods fell one after another, and the entire Tianzong continent was shrouded in blood. A terrifying race was slaughtering all living things.

The scene shifted, and my perspective moved to a vast canyon. Instantly, I was stunned by what I saw—

In the canyon, countless armies of different races, blades like a forest, banners filling the sky. The barbarian king in heavy armor swung his battle axe, letting out an earth-shaking roar. The strong barbarian warriors hacked at their enemies with all their might, but those terrifying foes struck back like lightning. The barbarians' bodies were pierced by cold, gleaming spikes, flesh and blood flying, screams echoing endlessly.

Beneath a lion-headed battle flag, a beautiful human queen drew her sword and shouted, "Attack!"

Countless human soldiers brandished their greatswords and charged forward. Hidden in the darkness, mages chanted obscure incantations, hurling blazing fireballs at the enemy.

The battle grew ever fiercer, the canyon filled with the sounds of slaughter and a thick stench of blood.

The human queen transformed into a beautiful butterfly, fluttering among the crowd. Her sword danced, sending the skulls of undead skeletons flying high into the air.

But just then, a sudden mist descended. A body formed from fog appeared. A flash of cold light—and the human queen slowly fell. Her beautiful head was seized by the hair, and the misty undead held the queen's head aloft, letting out a thunderous roar, as if commanding all races to submit.

Blood soaked the earth, and the warriors became cold corpses.

At last, the final human warrior in the canyon, sword in hand, stood atop a mound of corpses, cleaving terrifying creatures in two.

Amid the blood spraying from the flying bodies, he raised his sword and let out a defiant roar at the undead leader. In an instant, he lunged at his foe, and the misty undead lunged as well. Two peerless divine weapons clashed, shaking the heavens and earth!

"Clang!"

The sound of swords rang in my ears, everything blurred, and gradually two large characters appeared in the sky—Tianzong!

...