Chapter 2: Game Launch

Coming out of the lottery center, Qin Yu looked at the balance on his phone and couldn’t help but sigh.

He had hit all six numbers, but he missed the special number.

Thus, instead of eighty million, he only received over two million; after taxes, the actual amount that reached his hands was 1.5 million.

“This much is enough…”

Qin Yu only wanted enough money to buy the gaming equipment; everything else, aside from living expenses, would be spent on in-game purchases.

“First, I need to move to a place where no one will disturb me.”

His tiny apartment couldn’t handle a gaming pod; it might even crush the fragile floor, so he decided to simply find a new rental.

Time passed, and Qin Yu was soon sitting inside the gaming pod at his new residence, having rehearsed his post-launch plan countless times.

With one minute left until the server opened, Qin Yu slowly closed his eyes and entered the waiting area of [Fate Paradise].

“They call it a paradise, yet it’s not happy at all…”

A single-lane path made of floating golden bricks appeared before him, leading to a sacred golden temple in the distance.

Was it beautiful?

Very.

But Qin Yu had long lost any sense of wonder; behind the glitz and glamour lay nothing but the conspiracies of the gods.

As the countdown began, Qin Yu walked toward the temple step by step—not a second too fast, and not a second too slow.

When the countdown hit zero, he stepped exactly into the temple.

Had he arrived a second earlier, he would have hit an invisible wall.

A second later, and someone else might have beaten him to it.

Now, he was likely the first player to set foot in the temple, which was exactly what he wanted.

[Welcome, traveler from another world. You are the first to reach the temple. The gods have a gift for you.]

The system voice announced the start of the character creation process; since Qin Yu was the first to arrive, he received an extra reward from the gods.

Title: [Fastest Legend].

Passive effect: Slightly increases the player’s movement speed.

Active effect: Significantly increases movement speed when activated (Duration: 30s, CD: 90s).

Note: After using the active effect, the passive effect will be disabled during the period between the end of the duration and the cooldown reset.

“Oh, praise the gods~”

Qin Yu thanked them in a tone similar to a goblin’s to avoid raising suspicion from the gods watching in secret.

Though such a tone probably made him seem even more suspicious.

With this title, Qin Yu would hold an absolute advantage in the early game; moving fast meant avoiding danger and snatching up plenty of good items.

Most importantly, this title was the only one that could be easily obtained at the start.

In his previous life, this title had been won by a powerful female player—her ID was something like “Sugar Quixote,” also known as “Sugar.”

[Traveler from another world, please choose your intended starting class.]

Choosing a starting class provided a set of starter gear; like traditional MMORPGs, there were only five: Warrior, Mage, Rogue, Monk, and Archer.

In reality, the class branches in the game were vast; aside from hidden special classes, most were interchangeable.

A Warrior could function as a Mage and become a Magic Swordsman; a Mage could function as a Warrior and become a Battle Mage…

In his previous life, Qin Yu had chosen Warrior; after all, swinging a cool sword is the dream of most men.

This time, he chose Warrior again—not for the dream, but simply because the starter equipment for Warriors could be sold for more money.

[Today is the first day of Fate Paradise’s launch. The gates to the Divine Realms will be open to travelers until the end of the seventh day. Please choose the Divine Realm where you wish to undergo your trial. Of course, you may also choose to forgo the trial.]

“Here comes the main event…”

This was what Qin Yu cared about most: the first seven days allowed entry into the Divine Realms for trials.

At this time, the Divine Realms were at their most stable; neither the Gods nor the Evil Gods could interfere with the players inside.

Players could find fortuitous encounters in the Divine Realms and gain stronger character templates—this was the greatest way to accumulate capital early on.

Everything Qin Yu had planned was centered on maximizing the resources from this period.

In his previous life, knowing nothing, he only took some equipment that looked powerful while ignoring everything else; this time, he wanted it all.

Only seven Divine Realms were open at launch: Avalon, Realm of the Dead, Dragonia, Beastkin Capital, Blood Soul Realm, Deep Sea, and Radiant Sanctuary.

In his past life, he had chosen the Beastkin Capital—a paradise for animal-ear lovers—though unfortunately, he hadn’t managed to bring back a single companion after seven days.

This time, the realm Qin Yu chose was… the Blood Soul Realm.

Not for any other reason than the fact that a very important person was there, waiting for him to wake her up.

‘This time, it’s my turn to protect you.’

Qin Yu resolved silently; he had lost too many people in his previous life.

Even though he had won in the end and earned the right to become a god, he had no heart to enjoy it, which was why he chose to start over.

To briefly describe the Blood Soul Realm: it was a depressing world where countless terrifying monsters lurked, with the Blood Clan being the most prominent.

[Confirm entry into the Blood Soul Realm?]

[Friendly reminder: Once you enter, there is no turning back!]

“Yes!”

Qin Yu chose “Yes” decisively, and with a flash of light, he was transported to the Divine Realm.

Not long after, a young girl also stepped into this temple.

[Welcome, traveler from another world. You are the second to reach the temple.]

The girl was stunned by the system’s voice.

“Someone got here before me?”

This was hard for her to accept; she wondered if the first person had received a special reward.

“No matter! This little setback is nothing to the genius player, Sugar!”

Time was money, and she knew this well; after selecting her class and destination, she also vanished from the temple.

****

“Caw— Caw—”

Accompanied by the harsh, raspy cries of a murder of ravens, Qin Yu arrived in the Blood Soul Realm.

This was a world of eternal gloom, with a blood moon hanging in the sky.

The dilapidated streets of Gothic architecture, flickering dim lights, and the mournful cries of ravens combined to create an eerie, terrifying atmosphere.

“Clang— Clang—”

A dilapidated clock tower in the distance tolled, startling the ravens into the sky.

“Still the same as always—not pretty to look at, and doesn’t smell great either…”

The air was thick with the scent of blood and decay, making Qin Yu want to retch.

Adjusting his breathing, Qin Yu moved quickly; he had already spent a million yuan beforehand to open 100 cubic meters of storage space.

That’s right; one cubic meter of storage cost ten thousand yuan in real-world currency.

Generally speaking, no one except “oil prince” types with money to burn would do this at launch.

But Qin Yu knew that the size of this storage space would determine how much he could bring back from the Divine Realm.

When you see a pile of good things in front of you but don’t have enough space to take them, you’ll know exactly how painful it feels…