Volume One: The Grudges of That Sword

Chapter One: The Grudges of That Sword

That sword burst forth like fireworks, reaching the pinnacle of swordsmanship!

In order to deliver this perfect strike at such a critical moment, Benjamin Carter had secretly practiced it 20,060 times. He could have practiced even more to make it perfect, but before swinging this sword, he already knew the outcome was certain—even if he practiced another hundred thousand times, it would only be a waste of time.

The president of the World Sword Guild, Derek Foster, was killed in one strike by his most trusted vice president, Benjamin Carter, just as he was proudly announcing in front of tens of thousands of World Sword Guild players that they were about to engage in the most crucial all-server battle with the second largest in-game guild, the Azure Dragon Society.

One second before, Derek Foster was basking in glory; one second later, Derek Foster suffered the most humiliating “instant kill” of his life.

This sword, in the simplest and most direct way, changed the landscape of “Shushan 2,” the most popular xianxia game in the country.

Although Benjamin Carter’s strike had far-reaching effects, what truly dealt a heavy blow to the World Sword Guild was not the president being assassinated. Less than ten minutes after committing this earth-shattering act, Benjamin Carter posted a thread titled “The Grudges of That Sword.” The sensation caused by this post not only affected “Shushan 2,” the number one xianxia online game, but also made the front page of over sixty media outlets, staying hot for a full sixteen months. This post, humorous with a touch of sentimentality and sharpness mixed with repressed wit, completely shattered the last bit of morale in the World Sword Guild, leaving not a trace behind.

Derek Foster, the fourth-ranked expert in “Shushan 2,” vanished from the game from then on—no one ever saw this person in the game again.

The Grudges of That Sword:

When I first started playing “Shushan 2,” I worked hard to level up every day, and my ranking steadily improved. But at that time, Derek Foster came after me, bringing his fifty-some brothers, just because I threatened his ranking. He used the lowly tactic of ganging up, knocking me down fifteen levels in a row!

That’s right, that’s just how the game is. No one cares about so-called morals. Everyone praised him as a hero for killing a player ranked three spots above him, making it into the top ten of “Shushan 2.” As for me, who got knocked down in level, I was quickly forgotten. Of course, the only one who couldn’t forget was myself. So I changed my name, registered a new account, started grinding from level one all over again, and joined the World Sword Guild.

That’s right, Derek Foster, you were forty levels higher than me, who started over, and you had a whole gang of cronies. But when I swung this sword, nothing you had could save the World Sword Guild from defeat, nor could it save you from losing levels. What you once did to me, I have now returned to you. The fruits of others’ hard work, you trampled on with a single step—wasn’t that your greatest pleasure?

Except now the roles are reversed, and you must be enjoying this wonderful feeling, watching the guild, reputation, and wealth you built up turn into the past. I bet you’re grateful I gave you the chance to become a great figure like Goujian—such an opportunity is rare, so make the most of it. People who grow from adversity are always especially valuable. If you really can’t accept this happening to you, then enjoy the process and ignore the ending. Just treat it as reading a novel with an interesting beginning but a lousy ending.

Oh, I forgot to mention! When you died, you dropped the Seven Birds Sword. Although it’s the most famous set of flying swords on the server, I figured you wouldn’t need them anymore. I gave them to the server NPC and sold them for a hundred thousand taels of gold. Unfortunately, that’s the highest price the server pays for equipment—systems are always so stingy, aren’t they? Hmm, back when you collected this set of flying swords, you spent over a hundred thousand, right? Oh, of course, that was real-world money, not in-game gold. It seems the latest black market exchange rate is 105 to 1—gold is really worthless now!

Although my level isn’t high, being able to become the vice president of the World Sword Guild means I have some skills. You know my operations in all of “Shushan 2” are among the best. After killing you, I even ambushed over 130 people in the guild. Some of them were the ones who ganged up on me with you, some were innocent. Next time, help me apologize to the more innocent ones—just tell them I won’t be returning the stuff I looted from them!