1 A New Beginning
Year 2194
Green Flame City, 42nd floor of Twilight Star Hotel.
The luxurious hotel room exuded lavishness, with floor-to-ceiling windows providing a breathtaking view of Green Flame City.
The dazzling lights of the metropolis twinkled below as the room's occupant, a man in a sharp suit, stood near the expansive window, his eyes fixed on the extravagant pool party unfolding beneath.
The pool party celebrated the takeover of an heir to the Reaver Guild, now officially a Super Guild due to the addition of the heir in the immensely popular VRMMORPG, Divine World. At the current time, Divine World had ensnared nearly 90 percent of the world's population, leaving only the remaining 10 percent who couldn't afford a virtual helmet or cabin.
Yet, despite the vibrant festivity below, the man near the window felt a palpable sense of isolation and abandonment.
"Former Vice Guild Leader Xu Feng, the guild board directors had already announced that you are to delete your game account in accordance with the contract. Of course, compensation would be paid out as well as a mansion on the outskirts of the city. Consider this the generosity for your contribution to the Reaver Guild."
The disembodied voice echoed through his smartwatch, yet Xu Feng's stoic expression remained unchanged.
The guild's rise to Super Guild status owed much to his two decades of dedication. Hence, the board directors' decision sought to erase him entirely from the game, preventing any chance of resurgence.
"They know if I retain my game account, they will be ruined. But then again, it was the naive decisions of my younger days…" A hint of bitterness and regret colored Xu Feng's gaze as he observed the lively pool party.
Even if he deleted his game account and attempted a fresh start, climbing back up would be a futile endeavor.
Turning away from the window, Xu Feng admired the hotel room's lavish interior before deciding to rest on the comfortable bed.
How long had it been since he could truly relax? The memories of the bloodshed and schemes in Divine World flooded his mind. Many friends were made, but they, too, abandoned him when he fell from the top.
As he stared at the glamorous ceiling, Xu Feng removed his suit and lay on the bed. Closing his eyes, he vowed never to repeat the same mistakes.
If given a chance to redo his life choices, he would seize it without hesitation.
Despite the boisterous pool party outside, Xu Feng quickly succumbed to sleep.
—
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Amidst the great sleep, Xu Feng was awoken by the sound of an alarm clock.
'What's going on?' Confused, Xu Feng rubbed his eyes slowly, his hand seemingly trying to reach for the alarm clock to stop the beeping sound.
He was positive that he didn't set any alarm clock, so why was there even a beeping sound to begin with?
After a few seconds, Xu Feng found the alarm clock and stopped the beeping sound.
He then tried to glance at his smartwatch to check on any updates. The smartwatch could contain lots of messages and emails. It had already become routine for him to always check on it whenever he woke up.
However, Xu Feng was astonished when the supposed smartwatch on his wrist was nowhere to be found. Moreover, that wasn't the only thing astonishing.
He was in an unfamiliar yet familiar place. Confusing, right?
"Why does this look like the dorm that I used to live in?" Xu Feng's astonishment wasn't unfounded.
After all, this was the dorm that he had lived in during his school days before moving to a better neighborhood once he was recognized for his strategies and skills in Divine World.
Was he dreaming at the moment?
That was the only plausible explanation for how he had gone from a fancy hotel room to his dorm room. Or maybe, it might have been his subconscious mind working and giving him such an illusion of being able to return to his past.
"How laughable." Xu Feng smiled bitterly at such a scenery. If such an illusion was being shown to him, then it was quite clear that he had indeed been lying and deceiving himself.
Who wouldn't be furious about being ousted after you worked hard and toiled your sweat to develop the guild?
As Xu Feng believed that he was merely dreaming or hallucinating, he heard a "Ding" notification sound.
His smartwatch was nowhere to be found, but Xu Feng found his old phone that he had used in the past. Amused, he decided to let this illusion play out. Now that he had all the time in the world to waste after losing all of his position, Xu Feng could afford to idle away.
Once he grabbed his old phone and glanced at the notification, he smiled at the surreal situation.
There was only a simple message, but it was this simple message that made Xu Feng want to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.
Zhao Kai: Xu Feng, where are you? The school competition is about to start!!!
Zhao Kai was a friend of his and had joined the game, Divine World with him. Yet for some reason, Zhao Kai suddenly disappeared from the game and even stopped contacting him.
It was as if he had been disintegrated or snapped away from existence, so how could Xu Feng not find this situation surreal? No matter how much time he attempted to contact Zhao Kai in the past, it would always go through voicemail.
Nevertheless, it seemed like this illusion had read the regret in his mind. He had always wanted to investigate what happened to his friend, only to end up in a dead-end every time.
With the opportunity now arose for Xu Feng to finally be able to contact Zhao Kai, he decided to mess with him. He was in an illusion after all.
His finger rapidly tapped on the screen and replied to Zhao Kai.
The message was very simple.
Xu Feng: Who are you?
After sending that message, Xu Feng felt energetic. Having been ghosted by this man and tried every method to search for him, it was about time he paid him back a little interest. "Hmph, I'm not a petty person, but you deserve this treatment."
However, less than a few seconds after Xu Feng had sent the text, Zhao Kai had responded, albeit vulgarly.
Zhao Kai: @$!#!
Zhao Kai: Are you joking with me? You dare to pretend to not know me now huh???
Zhao Kai: Xu Feng, do you have no shame?
Xu Feng's brows twitched slightly at the speed at which Zhao Kai was texting.
Isn't this illusion a little too real?
Turning the phone to silent mode, Xu Feng didn't plan on going into a texting warfare with Zhao Kai. He had only planned on venting a little of his frustration and the goal was achieved already.
Just as Xu Feng was about to lay back down on his bed, mainly to wake up from this illusion, the dorm of his room door was barged open.
Stunned, Xu Feng turned his head slightly and saw a somewhat angry bear-like human. That human was none other than Zhao Kai, and his face was beet red.
"Feng… how dare you pull a prank on me?" Zhao Kai lifted his sleeves up, almost as if he was trying to mimic those third-rate villain actions you would find in the corner of a dirty street for a brawl.
If he was still living in the past, then Xu Feng might have reacted. But having lived through numerous obstacles that had shoved into his life, he was too lazy to even entertain such pointless action.
"This illusion of mine has already gone rogue." Xu Feng no longer held any interest and wished to just wake up.
Meanwhile, when Zhao Kai saw the lackluster reaction from Xu Feng, he was thoroughly stunned. 'This Feng is really trying to prank me this far huh?'
Nodding his head, Zhao Kai rushed forward and grabbed Xu Feng by the shoulders. He then proceeded to shout like an abandoned woman, "Feng, even if you want to avoid the school competition, you are still obliged to attend. I don't care what kind of prank you are trying to pull, but you ain't escaping from me."
Being grabbed by the shoulders suddenly, Xu Feng had enough of this illusion.
"Enough of this nonsense. What school competition? I've long graduated from school." He retorted, feeling exhausted by the nonsense development.
Even if he had been ousted, it still remained a fact that he once stood at nearly the top hierarchy with an abundant amount of influence among others.
As if he would let this kind of illusion mess with his mind.
"Graduate from school? Feng, have you slept too much? We still have 2 years of semesters left." Zhao Kai's eyebrows were raised as he glanced at Xu Feng with a skeptical expression.
"Look at the time already, Feng. We can't afford to waste any more time." Before Xu Feng could even respond to him, Zhao Kai proceeded to shove his phone toward him, trying to signal the urgency of the matter.
When Xu Feng glanced at the time, he was baffled.
The time on the phone was listed as February 14th in the year 2174.
