A decade spent honing a sword, its frosty edge yet untested. Today, I present it to you—who among you has grievances?

Zhou Zheng was invigorated, controlling his Level 200 rogue character, wielding the Supreme Divine Artifact, Black Radiance. Standing atop the highest rock of Titan Mountain, his black robes fluttered as he gazed down at the assembled heroes. After claiming the title of the world's best, he slowly recited a poem by the Tang Dynasty poet Jia Dao in a pretentious tone.

The essence of the poem is about spending ten years sharpening a treasured sword, with its frost-like sharpness yet to be tested. Today, I reveal it to you—tell me, who has faced injustice?

For Zhou Zheng, it meant that anyone dissatisfied could experience the taste of his Supreme Divine Artifact, Black Radiance, with its attack power of 12,500 points. Zhou Zheng didn't mind showing them what a one-hit kill and the might of a Divine Artifact truly meant.

At this moment, nothing could be more fitting for Zhou Zheng's situation than this poem.

Since entering the game "Firmament Continent," Zhou Zheng had remained unnoticed, quietly leveling up his character. While others fought for fame, he battled monsters in the deep mountains and forests. Though it wasn't exactly ten years of sharpening a sword, it took him five years to max out his level.

Now, with his achievements complete, and coinciding with the game's top martial arts event, Zhou Zheng, who had been silent for five years, couldn't resist showcasing his max-level rogue character and his arsenal of Divine Artifacts. Otherwise, wouldn't it be like wearing fine clothes at night, unseen by anyone? What was the point of five years of hard work if not to make a stunning debut one day?

In the world martial arts competition, Zhou Zheng's Level 200 rogue character defeated all competitors, standing unrivaled.

The highest level of other classes was merely 156, which was nothing compared to Level 200.

Looking at the stunned faces of the various heroes below, Zhou Zheng felt every pore on his body being gently combed, and the sensation was exhilarating. He put down the mouse, rubbed his hands, and laughed heartily, "You all talked big about dominating the world, but now you're all dumbfounded, aren't you?"

One could imagine the flood of invitations that would follow their shock.

When Zhou Zheng first entered the game, his mindset was just like it is now. It wasn't that Zhou Zheng was patient; he had a desire to make a dramatic impact, to shock people without remorse. Thinking of how all the heroes were stunned by him alone, that feeling was... indescribable.

Imagining the scene, Zhou Zheng couldn't help but sing, "I laugh triumphantly, and laugh triumphantly again..."

However...

People experience joy and sorrow, fortune never comes in pairs, and misfortune never comes alone. This saying is never wrong.

Just as Zhou Zheng was singing "Triumphant Laughter," the computer screen suddenly went black, displaying a "No Signal" message.

"What the hell is going on?"

Zhou Zheng almost wanted to smash the mouse in his hand. At the peak of his life, such a situation occurred. The applause on Mount Hua hadn't been offered to him yet, the screams of female players, the jealousy of male players—all of it was just about to be enjoyed, but then the screen went black. Anyone would be furious.

Five years of patience, all for this day... but now this happens, how could Zhou Zheng not complain?

"Power outage?"

That was his first thought.

But seeing the "No Signal" message on the screen, it shouldn't be a power outage.

After fiddling for a while, Zhou Zheng couldn't find the problem and could only attribute it to unstable voltage causing a low-energy phenomenon, which led to the computer restarting.

"Damn power company."

Once the computer successfully restarted, Zhou Zheng immediately launched the "Firmament Continent" game icon. While logging into the game, he clasped his hands together, "Amitabha, may the gods bless my Divine Artifacts to withstand their swords and attacks."

Although the rogue character had a defense of 20,000 and 80,000 health points, it would take at least a minute from the power outage to logging into the game. A minute was enough time for many people to do many things. Those who could participate in the world's best competition on Titan Mountain were all top experts.

After the files loaded, he quickly reached the account login screen.

Quickly and skillfully entering his account, Zhou Zheng pressed the Enter key with a "snap."

The screen changed, showing the character selection.

Over the past five years, Zhou Zheng had logged into this screen countless times, so he was naturally familiar with it. The mouse hovered over the "Enter Game" option in 0.1 seconds, and his finger trembled slightly, ready to press down.

"Please hold on!"

But as Zhou Zheng's gaze swept over the character, his eyes suddenly bulged, almost disbelieving what he saw.

"Ah!"

A wail echoed in the bedroom, its decibel level enough to overshadow world-class tenors.

Zhou Zheng clutched his head, his eyes vacant, staring intently at the screen.

"Impossible, this is impossible, this must be an illusion." Zhou Zheng refused to believe that merely a low-energy computer restart could cause his character in "Firmament Continent" to vanish without a trace. A max-level 200 rogue character, gone. What kind of international joke was this?

Blinking his eyes, the character screen showed only a solitary ancient pavilion, with no sign of anyone.

After confirming this fact multiple times, Zhou Zheng collapsed into his chair, unable to compose himself. If Zhou Zheng's current mood could be described, it would be "no greater sorrow than a heart that is dead." Five years of hard work on a character, gone in an instant at his proudest moment, after a power outage.

"No, it can't be, I must have logged into the wrong account."

Zhou Zheng sat up straight, exited the game, and logged in again... After repeating this process over a dozen times, the account was not wrong, and the character had indeed disappeared.

After a moment of shock, Zhou Zheng sought out the game operator's customer service, demanding an explanation for this situation.

"After verification, your account has never created any character in 'Firmament Continent.' Thank you for your call, enjoy your game, goodbye!"

Now Zhou Zheng understood what it meant to be struck by lightning, to be utterly devastated. What do you mean by never having created any character? Did they have no record of his five years in the game?

Receiving this news, Zhou Zheng was dumbfounded, sitting blankly in his chair.

***

Hours later, Zhou Zheng, like a madman, rushed to the cupboard and took out a bottle of strong liquor his father had left behind. Crying, he poured the burning alcohol down his throat, trying to numb himself and sink into oblivion.

Since his parents passed away, Zhou Zheng had been using games to numb himself, to wash away the pain of losing loved ones.

But now Zhou Zheng realized that not only had he lost his family, but the game he had used as a refuge for five years had also vanished. His heart felt empty, like the past five years were just a dream, never had he felt so lost.

He had once promised his parents to make something of himself, but what had he achieved in five years?

In just a moment, Zhou Zheng drained an entire bottle of strong liquor in one go.

The burning sensation in his throat, his stomach churning like a storm, and then constant vomiting, expelling all the instant noodles from his stomach, not even sparing the bile. Zhou Zheng lay on the floor, his bloodshot eyes staring at the ceiling.

Under the influence of alcohol, Zhou Zheng felt himself spinning, as if entering a black hole.

It felt like a century, yet also like a breath, and Zhou Zheng's world went black.

---

Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan

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