Chapter 2

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Ten years later.

“Tank, pull the Boss away from the group! Bring the Boss around and get his bum to face us!”

“Healer, ignore those Wandering Swordsmen already! Leave them be and make sure to keep an eye on the Tank and keep spamming heal.”

“Priest, get ready to release the Fire Meteor Rain. The Boss is about to summon monsters.”

“Yes, great, good! Just like that! We are fast approaching the killing range now. Quickly now, everyone, keep spamming all your strongest skills!”

Chu Ge was in his room, screaming into the microphone, all while controlling his in-game character.

On the monitor, the Boss’s H.P. was steadily decreasing. After a while, it finally diminished completely, leaving a blank gauge box.

King of Darkness: “You accursed and despicable mortals! Did you think you could kill me with just that? You are too naïve if you thought that way! I swear, one day, I will return to the world, and by that time, chaos will descend, and all life will be extinguished, leaving nothing but despair and destruction! Ahhh!”

Boom!

With that, a loud and grand explosion erupted. The mighty Boss, the King of Darkness, was finally defeated by the attacks of the greedy Adventurers and collapsed to the ground with a loud thump.

The Adventurers who survived the bloody battle hollered with joy.

“You’re so cool, Bro!”

“Hahaha! Wow, first kill! You got the first kill of the whole server, Bro!”

“Bro, go search for treasure! I hope and pray that there are good items!”

However…

“Ahhhhh! I am so bored!” Chu Ge first looked at the giant fallen corpse of the Boss that he had just defeated in the monitor screen, then turned his eyes to look at the group chat channel where everyone was expressing their happiness and congratulations. No matter how he tried, he could not summon an ounce of excitement. Instead, he let out a long sigh of lament.

Honestly speaking, although the game was of decent quality and the Boss battle was also exciting and intense, it was unable to pique his interest or bring any excitement to him.

It couldn’t be helped.

He had already been with the game for five to six years. At the start, when the game was still new to him, everything had felt interesting. But as he got to know more about the workings and content of the game, and when pieces of information about the game came and went, it reduced it to mere statistics. By then, the feeling of immersion and involvement with the game that he felt at the start had become entirely diminished.

Now, the game was, to him, a small platform for the constant accumulation of statistics. Even if he achieved the first kill of the whole server, there was no sense of achievement or comfort.

Of course, he had thought about switching to a new game. Unfortunately, the game was the best online game available on the market. If he made the switch, it would only be to jump into a game that was lousier than the one he was currently playing.

Chu Ge had also tried his hand at playing a variety of single-player games. But those games were not challenging enough to hold his interest since he was easily able to clear them after a few days. They were unable to provide him with any long-lasting enjoyment.

Chu Ge handed over the distribution rights to the Vice Leader, then logged out of the game. After that, he sat in a daze in front of the monitor screen.

Ever since he’d been young, Chu Ge had always had the feeling that he was special, that he wasn’t an ordinary, average human. He was destined for a heart-stopping adventure, an adventure that would be a mystical and thrilling experience.

He might be ordinary now, but one day, a fascinating encounter would befall him and open a new and extraordinary chapter of his life. That feeling was quite vague and indistinct, but it had been a constant throughout his childhood years. The only question now was, what would that fascinating encounter be, and when would he have it?

When he read Harry Potter, he often imagined that one day, he would also receive an invitation to study at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

When he was playing World of Warcraft, he would often fantasize that he would travel to the world of Azeroth one day to become a Mage or a Holy Knight and become the destined one to save the world from danger and destruction.

When he read novels that were themed around Wuxia, Xianxia, Fantasy, and Alternate Histories, he would often feel that perhaps one day, he would be able to have the opportunity to travel to these worlds.

But people ultimately grow up. As he grew older, he became more pragmatic. His yearning for the unknown fantasies became blurred, as did the feeling that he was born special and destined for greatness. What remained, was helplessness and compromise towards the real world and reality, and a sense of resignation.

I am only an ordinary human. I live in reality, and I am destined to lead an ordinary life. I will live my life just like the rest of humanity, and I’ll die ordinary.

Those thoughts replaced all of his previous fantasies. So, as he aged, he became more and more pragmatic.

But sometimes, just occasionally, the indistinct and long-forgotten feeling that he was extraordinary would pop up. Although he was conscious that there were few mystical happenings in the real world, but deep down, he still retained some hope. A hope that he would be able to encounter an extraordinary event.

But that hope, which had brought him a modicum of comfort, had also tormented him greatly, making him unable to continue tolerating the ordinary and mundane life he was living.

“Ah! I am so bored!” He couldn’t control his emotions and started screaming.

But his scream did not help to vent his frustrations. Chu Ge still felt helpless against his situation. Why did he feel like he was not supposed to be living out his life as an ordinary human? Why did he have a nagging feeling that the mystical encounters of his fantasies were destined to happen?

It had been a while since that thought had come to Chu Ge. However, he was like a desert traveler who yearned for an oasis to quench his thirst, and he longed for such a mystical encounter.

His eyes suddenly spotted a coin lying beside the computer keyboard. As if discovering something incredible, he fixed his eyes on the coin.

“Move! Get moving!” he chanted hard within his mind, keeping his eyes firmly trained on the coin. But despite how he bulged his eyes and glared at the coin, it did not move an inch.

Chu Ge did not give up. He stretched a hand out over the coin as if wanting to pull the coin through the air. “Move! Please, just get moving! Even an inch would be fine. Oh, God! Oh, Buddha! Oh, Three Pristine Ones! Oh, Cosmic Will! No matter which one of you is hearing my prayer, please just give me some kind of signal. Just let me move the coin! Just a bit!”

However, the coin still did not budge. Gravity still performed its job with fervor. Everything was the same as usual. The only difference was that Chu Ge looked like a madman with his hand stretched out towards the coin.

Chu Ge sighed, giving up his futile effort to get the coin to move. It was still impossible, after all. No matter what, reality was reality.

A self-mocking smile spread across Chu Ge’s face. Of course, he knew that it was impossible to get the coin to move. He had tried it numerous times previously, and the result was the same as it was now. Shaking his head, Chu Ge was about to stand and head to the kitchen to start preparing his lunch when the doorbell rang.

Walking to the door, Chu Ge looked through the peephole. He saw an overweight man with a full-grown beard carrying a large square box. He was checking the address of the delivery against the courier slip.

“Block nine, second floor, unit 103. It’s here, alright,” the man muttered to himself, then pressed the doorbell again.

“Oh? It’s a delivery? I’ve not made any purchases online recently,” Chu Ge thought, puzzled.

But he still opened the door. “Hello, can I help you?”

“Are you Mr. Chu Ge?”

“Ugh, yes. How can I help?”

“We have a parcel for you.”

Chu Ge took over the courier slip and looked down. The sender was Xie Tiankong. Xie Tiankong! His uncle! He still remembered that every time his uncle came to his house, he would bring him many delicious foods. He also told him many exciting stories and even bought him what most would consider a luxury good at the time—the PlayStation console.

However, on a specific day ten years before, after they had their last conversation in that café, Xie Tiankong had disappeared completely. It was unknown if he had disappeared or if something had happened to him. Why would he suddenly appear now?

“Um, alright.” Even while confused, Chu Ge still signed receipt of the parcel.

P.S. The world described in this novel is not the real world. It is a parallel world that is very similar to Earth, with about 90% in similarity. If any reader finds any discrepancies with the real world, it is because the worlds are not identical.