Chapter 1 - The Game Crashes

Fifteen minutes before the championship battle of the virtual reality massively multi-player online game [Erosion].

In the game’s preparation zone, the smell of ash lingered in the wind. As Shu Jun was done with checking his equipment for one last time, the communication device rang. Only one person would message him at this time —

[Haze]: Remember the strategy we discussed last night. Steadiness is most important.

Seeing the sender’s ID, Shu Jun couldn’t help but raise the corner of his mouth.

[See You Tomorrow]: I understand, strategist.

[Haze]: All the best.

[See You Tomorrow]: After we win the finals, let’s meet. I will come to find you.

Shu Jun held his breath. This time, the other person’s response didn’t come until ten seconds later.

[Haze]: Okay.

During the few seconds that he stared at the word “Okay”, Shu Jun actually felt nervous for the first time after a long while.

This would be his last big game in [Erosion]. Shu Jun had decided to announce his retirement after this game, which was two years earlier than planned. Thereafter, he would immediately fly to A City, where ‘Haze’ resided. He wanted to meet this extremely tight-mouthed person and confess his feelings.

He had spent a long time in this game.

Although Shu Jun had just turned 27, he had been in [Erosion] for ten years and was even named as one of the pioneering players.

This was due to a special rule in [Erosion] — once a combatant died in battle, he or she must withdraw from the battlefield and engage in other occupations. The game operator stated that this was to give people a stronger sense of reality and a better experience of ‘another world’.

Players could only choose one character, and there were no such functions as Save, Transfer or Return. Because of this rule, the amount of adept combatants in the game was pitifully small. Most of the combatants that lived till this point must have monstrous strength. 

Luckily, the disallowance of saving never made the players any less enthusiastic.

After all, this game bestowed a great experience. The fighters at the top of the pyramid could garner fame and fortune, while their lives and careers were filled with loads of fun.

That being said, the battles were cruel and the money might not be so easily earned. [Erosion] had strange rules when it came to battles. It never promoted hostility between different teams, and no PVP1 was scheduled for the championship round, rather, there was only an enormous PVE2 arena. Death of team members, consumption of resources and cooperation within the team would all be evaluated by the system. Only the team that came up with the best strategy and achieved the goal the fastest could win.

They were all ready, waiting for the right moment. The championship arena was in sight.

Seeing that his crush had sent no other messages, Shu Jun placed the broadsword on his back, put on a gas mask and left the preparation zone.

The championship round went on for three days and three nights.

By the third night, the situation was nowhere ideal. Just like what they had guessed earlier, their opponent – the Groundwater team – was moving way faster, and no miracle had happened so far.

“If this continues, we’ll lose.” Vice-captain Hu Yan sighed.

“This map is full of swamps, and the Groundwater team specialises in water-type abilities. Vice-captain Hu, Groundwater also consists of adept players. In such an environment, we don’t have to feel ashamed even if we lose.” The player closest to him responded quickly.

Shu Jun was great at wind control, possessed rare attributes and had top-notch skills in both attack and defence. Unfortunately, his skillset alone wouldn’t be able to save the whole team. Vice-captain Hu Yan could control rocks, but on this wetland map abundantly filled with water bodies, the opponent still held a bigger advantage — Groundwater team’s Captain Luo Duan was a highly experienced player, one who was widely recognised as the game’s No.1 support role3. In this map, he was literally a fish thrown into water.

“Anyway, all actions are counted into the team’s contribution. Whatever points we can get, let’s get them.” Another team member tried to be cheerful.

Shu Jun scratched his face and looked at Hu Yan: “Beside discussing with you guys, I also talked with Haze for a few weeks.”

Hu Yan: “What does sister-in-law… I mean Haze, think?”

“We discussed a lot of strategies. Haze also thinks that we have no chance of winning. We may get a tie if we are lucky.” Shu Jun let out a sigh behind the gas mask.

“Yeah, just try our best. Groundwater has an advantage with this map anyway. Next time — oh wait, we won’t have you next time. I was hoping we could win this battle in glory. I know you have a lot of tricks up your sleeves, but this situation…”

Hu Yan wasn’t happy in the slightest about becoming the Captain soon, his expression filled with misery.

“Captain Shu, our team has won so many games, can’t you at least retire after a win? Perhaps you can think about it?”

“We’re not so hopeless. I just looked at the latest information about the terrain and have some new ideas.”

Shu Jun pulled open their tent and glanced at the dark, gloomy land in the distance, a hint of delight tinged in his voice.

“Don’t worry, we won’t lose.”

Outside the game.

The viewing platform for the championship battle was an open U shape, where the ticket was sold at ten times the price of the live broadcast. Several mega screens hovered over the battlefield, casting a shade of life over this melancholic, bleak world inside the game.

More than two days had passed and the audience were still cheering loudly above the battlefield, their spirits undying.

Just like before, the arena was set in an unknown erosion zone inside the game. Given the game settings, communication signal within an erosion zone was always poor. When the team got too close to the center of an erosion zone, the screen would start lagging and blurring.

Now that both teams were in the center of the erosion zone — near a monster called ‘Erosion Marsh’, the images on the big screen were getting ghostlier.

Following along the noise of the electric current, objects made of a pitch-black fluid flashed past the edge of the screen. From time to time, deformed creatures whose figure could no longer be distinguished would pass by the camera and face the audience. Although the scene was filled with spooky details, the audience could feel their hearts moved greatly.

A huge black ‘lake’ emerged in the middle of a land that had lost its colour. In this windless world, thin pillars of liquid that looked like human limbs stretched towards the sky, slowly creeping out of the ‘lake’ surface that was bubbling with rage.

On the shoreline of such a gigantic marsh, any human would look so small that he was almost negligible.

From the viewing platform, someone breathed in the cold air and let out his voice.

“The difficulty is worthy of the championship round. This is the biggest marsh I’ve ever seen.” Even though it was already late into the night, the host’s eagerness remained unabated.

“It’s now the third day of the championship round, and twelve hours later, the final score will be determined. It seems that the most likely strategy is to place the purifier in any surrounding area. At least partial purification of the zone will be better than complete elimination of the whole team.”

As the full picture of Erosion Marsh had been revealed, even a layman could also see it — this map was too challenging and complex, to the extent that it couldn’t be prepared just for a single game. There would be another big competition half a year later, and the steps that they took to deal with this large marsh would be a good topic for discussion. The audience was yearning to see which of the two captains would carry out the team’s strategy more steadily and lay a solid foundation for the battles that would follow.

“The battle had entered its most exciting stage!… Finally, ‘Undead Legend’ Shu Jun has led the Blackbird team to the center of the erosion zone.” 

“So far, the Blackbird team has zero deaths and 25% of their resources left. Their cooperation is nothing to complain about, but their overall score is still behind the Groundwater team by quite a lot — Under Luo Duan’s leadership, the Groundwater team has been purifying the surrounding area for more than five hours… Shu Jun, go! But the Blackbird team didn’t start the purification, rather, they turned to the cliff next to the marsh!”

Detecting the presence of invaders, the monsters around the marsh started gathering and charging towards the team. In the blurry screen, the Blackbird team put up a defensive formation.

Shu Jun used his levitation skill to walk in the air. Tightly protected by a mechanical armour, he swung his broadsword along with the wind like a knight that just stepped into the wrong time and wrong dimension.

People quickly realised Shu Jun’s intent.

Several stalagmites stood staggeringly in the center of Erosion Marsh. If they installed the purifier here, the huge marsh would be forced to shrink into a ring shape, which would be convenient for the players from behind to further separate and destroy each part.

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It might be a fantastic idea for scoring more points, but such an idea only worked in theory.

The stalagmites’ locations were extremely dangerous. They were too far from the shoreline and swamped with monsters. Even players like Shu Jun, who had a wind control ability, could barely approach those places. But approaching was one thing and landing was another, because the marsh would certainly try to eliminate any threat from the players. This marsh was exceptionally powerful and surrounded by dense layers of monsters, so singly attacking it would be as good as suicide.

“Erosion Marsh… The marsh has started to fight back. The Blackbird team has blocked the erosion tide on the shoreline, but Shu Jun hadn’t used any defence moves yet and his armour has begun to peel off!” 

The host’s voice was full of astonishment.

“What the hell is Blackbird planning to do?! Will the tale of the ‘Undead Legend’ end today?”

The viewing platform erupted into chaos, like a scene of cold water being poured into a boiling pot.

In the images that looked like they would soon disappear off the screen, Shu Jun forced himself to ‘consume’ the erosive fluid ejected from the marsh. A wave of liquid bullets as dense as a torrential rain flew towards him as Shu Jun controlled the mighty whirlwinds to surround his body, molding the air currents into a protective shield and blocking most of the attacks. Even so, his mechanical armour quickly became tattered and exposed his wheat-coloured skin underneath, where unsightly burns emerged just a second later.

Shu Jun didn’t stop. He unwaveringly headed for the cluster of stalagmites with the purifier steadily behind his back, which was making a consistent buzzing sound.

Knowing that the enemy couldn’t be blocked, Erosion Marsh let out an earsplitting shriek. The monsters went berserk and those with wings desperately rushed towards Shu Jun. Shu Jun took out his broadsword, and with the help of the wind, he lifted the heavy piece of metal and smoothly split the monsters into halves, as though he was just cutting up fruits.

As their flesh and black blood was whirled up by the wind, a rain that carried with it a disgusting stench came pouring down on the marsh.

Shu Jun was showered with blood. As the marsh swallowed up the dead monsters’ corpses, more and more monsters ceaselessly jumped at him. The liquid pillars in the middle of the marsh entangled with each other, not daring to get close to the purifier and only able to form a cage to trap Shu Jun near the stalagmites.

He was still a little away from his target.

Shu Jun gritted his teeth and directly charged at the liquid pillars. Coming into contact with those pillars, the battle armour turned into soft mush and was effortlessly melted away. As his blood splashed, Shu Jun was almost cut in half.

But his skills were still running and the wind was still supporting him, so Shu Jun wouldn’t stop.

The marsh seemed to finally sense Shu Jun’s tenacity and decided to not delay any further, rushing to crush the enemy before the purifier could be fully activated. The liquid pillars transformed and started to attack Shu Jun’s body.

As more and more pillars coiled around him, Shu Jun’s legs began to go numb. He didn’t have much time left.

Shu Jun swung the broadsword, causing the inertia and the wind to move him forward. With a harsh gnawing sound, the broadsword was slammed into the stalagmite.

After arriving at his destination, he completely gave up his defence and concentrated on activating the purifier. The marsh twisted around Shu Jun’s lower body, quickly swallowing him up. Shu Jun’s face was covered by a gas mask and the audience couldn’t see his expression.

Everything happened briskly.

After just a few seconds, the pitch-black fluid almost covered Shu Jun’s whole body, leaving only the part above his chest exposed — his left hand tightly clutched the sword on the stalagmite to avoid being dragged away by the marsh, while his right hand swiftly turned on the purifier.

But regardless of whether the purifier could be activated successfully, Shu Jun’s fate was already determined. This crazy guy was meant to be swallowed. The only thing that mattered was whether he was ‘just wasting his life’ or ‘sacrificing himself for the team to win’.

The audience held their breath in unison.

Finally, a pleasant “beep” pierced the air. Along with the buzzing sound of the machine waking up, the land rumbled loudly and everyone got the answer.

The purifier had been activated.

Shu Jun let go of his left hand and resisted no more. In a blink, he was sucked into the bottom of the marsh.

In order to evade the purifier, the gigantic marsh transformed itself into a ring and called up more dangerous monsters from nearby. Beside their successful attempt at purifying a vital point, the Blackbird team on the shoreline fought with constant waves of monsters, and their score skyrocketed.

The Groundwater team had also killed many strong monsters, but the Blackbird team definitely beat them in terms of cooperation points. Even if the host never said anything, any audience could tell that Blackbird would win.

…Because they paid the price of sacrificing their own captain.

“It’s crazy, Shu Jun clearly has two more years before retirement…” After a dumbfounded moment, the host finally recovered his voice: “The Blackbird team has overtaken the points by a large margin, and the outcome has been determined.” 

After a few seconds of utter silence, the sounds of the audience grew louder and louder from the viewing platform. It began with a few sporadic claps, then ruptured into frantic cheers.

They only needed to wait for Blackbird’s hero to leave the VR cabin and return to reality. The reporters were already waiting near the players’ lounge, ready to attack any time now. When Shu Jun appeared, he would be swallowed again by this crowd.

…But that wasn’t what Shu Jun was worried about at the moment.

He was still sinking.

Erosion Marsh was the most hazardous source of contamination in [Erosion], so based on the game’s settings, he would undoubtedly die. By right, he would instantly be disconnected from the game and return to reality. However, Shu Jun didn’t see the familiar interior lights of the VR cabin, rather, he continued to sink into the marsh. The erosive fluid that made up the marsh was biting his flesh and blood, while his skin was dissolving with a horrible pain.

In [Erosion], there was indeed simulation of pain, which Shu Jun had no qualms about. But isn’t this more like simulating the dying process?

Shu Jun was able to maintain his thoughts at first, but soon, the pain that far exceeded any human’s limit almost boiled his brain. The suffocation and the pain from the erosion attacked simultaneously as the cold and sticky erosive fluid penetrated his mouth and nose, burning his body in its entirety.

Ten seconds later, he hadn’t been disconnected.

He was trapped in the depths of this dark, eerie body of fluid, and even the loss of all his senses was overwhelmed by pain.

If he really died because of this system failure, it’ll be equivalent to working hard for a lifetime yet dying one night before success, Shu Jun subconsciously thought. He didn’t want to leave behind a hapless image of a fella dying in the process of trying to earn money.

Thirty seconds later, he still hadn’t been disconnected.

He hadn’t met Haze yet. If he couldn’t know whether his crush was a man or a woman, his fate was truly tragic. The bastards in the team even made a bet on that… 

He never enjoyed any great holidays, never lived an unconfined life and never even confessed his feelings…

And he had to die now. This life is too f**king sad. 

Drowned in this excruciating pain, Shu Jun really couldn’t breathe anymore. He didn’t know how long more he would have to wait, but considering his suicide strategy just now, there would be many people outside paying close attention to him. Someone would definitely find that something had gone wrong with the VR cabin.

I’ve got to pull myself together, he thought.

Persevere through this.

Persevere… 

From all directions, the marsh let out a peculiar scream and almost melted away his whole body. Shu Jun barely kept himself conscious and continued waiting.

Until he was completely unconscious.

Shu Jun failed to see that outside the game, another ‘Shu Jun’ walked out of the VR cabin and waved confidently at the reporters.

Then the audience burst into thunderous cheers.

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