Prologue

Soaring Sword was the most popular Virtual-Reality Massively Multiplayer Martial Arts Online Game — VRMMMAOG — on Earth, exceeding one billion players, and has been awarded as « the best game in the world » in 2061.

There was not even a single person who didn’t know Searing Sword. If there was one, then that person was, without a doubt, living under a rock.

Unfortunately, Soarin Sword has been the target of a terrible and mysterious phenomenon on the 1st January 2062 — all the people who played once to Soaring Sword, those who stopped the game included — were transported into the game without the possibility to disconnect or leave it.

In addition, those who had died inside the game were also dead in the real world as well. Such a strange phenomenon was a mystery to most of the people, but for those who had heard or read fantasy novels called, it was a term that they obviously knew and had dreamed to experience it if they had the chance, which was the popular « transported into a death game » genre, which was a common setting on a fantasy novel.

Thus, since then, the world had tried every solution available to wake up the players from their sleeping slate, but none of the countless methods they had found had succeeded until now. And from that moment, the desperate people who had lost their patience and were too worried about their family member had to choose whether to patiently wait for a new method from the researchers to find a new method to wake them or enter the game to on their own and save them with the thought that completing the game was the solution — and most of them had chosen the latter option, which not only had increased the number of victims but also gave the researchers more pressure and more stress as they were at a loss of methods.

Many years later, Soaring Sword who was known as « the best game in the world » has been, later on, awarded with another title: « the biggest catastrophe of humanity » and this title was even more outstanding compared to the former one — this one had been recorded in the archive of history and will remain forever there.

Three years after « the biggest catastrophe of humanity », the 5th March 2065, on Searing Sword.

The Dark Mountain was the highest mountain within Searing Sword. Measuring at least seven thousand meters on its base and three thousand meters above the sea, the locals living at the foot the mountain called it « God’s Mountain ».

And on the summit of this mountain, was two men were facing against each other.

“Master, why did you...killed her?”

The young attractive-looking man who was wearing a simple traditional sapphire blue dress, Min Li asked, staring at the man in front of him whose equipment was an impressive full-plate obsidian armor set with glittering golden threads, embellishing the armor to another magnitude, his eyes filled with intense resentment. Although it was almost imperceptible, there was a slight glim of admiration in his eyes, but it was totally overshadowed by an immeasurable hatred.

“Mighty Spear…why did you kill her?”

He asked once again, but this time, his voice was colder than before. And in the same coldness as the tone of his voice, his icy eyes could chill someone to the bone; at this moment, the already cold air of the mountain was below zero degree due to the glacial atmosphere he was releasing. He seemed like an unmoved experienced cold-blooded butcher, ready to chop a piece of meat with his knife; he was only waiting for the green light, which was the answer, to process into the next step.

“...”

Mighty Spear remained unperturbable by Min Li’s frightening stare. His eyes were as calm as an unwavering fish swimming in a turbulent water stream. And after a long moment of silence, he then slowly opened his mouth as his calm expression suddenly changed onto a heavy-hearted one.

“I have already told you. I didn’t kill her. She died on the hand of th— ”

Interrupting Mighty Spear, Min Li declared loudly, “I have enough of your lie!” his voice was powerful enough to reverberate through the whole mountain. Then, after a pause, he revealed, “To tell you the truth, I saw you killing her that day,” as he closed his eyes, remembering that moment, before quickly opening them again, and said in a mocking tone, “ You won’t deceive me with such nonsense. I’m not as credulous as the other members.”

The heavy-hearted expression on Mighty Spear’s face was no longer there, instead of that one, it has changed into a remorseful one, and with a sigh, he muttered, “I see... so you know the truth.” admitting Min Li’s declaration in an indifferent tone as if he wasn’t concerned at all, closing his eyes as he remembered about what had happened that day, resolving himself to what awaited him, and after opening them, he calmly narrated, “That day, I went under Loving Tree with Little Snow and had confessed my feelings to her.” with a grieving expression in his eyes. Following with a self-mocking smile, a few breaths of time after the end of his sentence, he then asked, “And do you know what was Little Snow’s answer?”

Little Snow was a member of « The Soaring Lance », a guild whose glory was well-known for its powerful spear-wielders, each of them was hundred times stronger than other high-leveled and distinguished expert spear-wielder, it was a guild that everyone on Soaring Sword couldn’t help but respect, especially those who had witnessed their might, a guild whose leader and creator was Mighty Spear.

And in this well-known guild, Little Snow was a « Grandmaster Spearwoman », a rank only given to the high-ranked, powerful, and most influential women within « The Soaring Lance ». Including herself, each of these three « Grandmaster Spearwoman » women was powerful and beautiful enough to be included in « The Soaring Sword’s Deities », a high-ranking and world-known ladder for the most outstanding women on Soaring Sword; any of them could leave a deep impression on the any man’s heart on the spot whether it was for the woman’s beauty, influence, and strength.

Although Little Snow was only fifth-ranked on the « The Soaring Sword’s Deities » ladder due to her world-renowned and one-of-a-kind eccentric and unique behavior, it was nonetheless, the reason as for why both, Mighty Spear and Min Li, had fallen in love with her; love was indeed something that could not be understood by reasoning.

Min Li had been silent since then as he attempted to figure out what kind of reply Little Snow could have answered, but the more he pondered about it, the less organized his thoughts were — to find what kind of reply she could have answered once you come to understand her unconventional mannerism was like trying to find a needle in a haystack — and since he could not come to a satisfying conclusion from his imagination, he could only look back at Mighty Spear, waiting for him to provide him the answer.

Looking at Min Li’s disoriented state, he knew that he did not find out Little Snow’s answer. With a bitter smile as if he understood his feelings, he seriously stated, “She told me: « I already have someone I’m in love with… and you should know who I’m talking about right; Fiery Spear. » ” word by word without omitting a single one as he looked at him indignantly, gritting his teeth; he could not understand why she had chosen Min Li, instead of him.

Min Li’s body was slightly shaken by Mighty Spear’s answer but he was not surprised by this revelation.

The reason was simple: he had previously heard Little Snow’s confession many times ago, from her own mouth. In the past, Little Snow had always been teasing Min Li when they were together, and from time to time, she would jokingly confess her feelings to him, giggling like a little child whose little trick had been successful, but he was used to this childish side of her, and had constantly considered these confessions as pranks. Unfortunately, since she was no longer alive, he will never know if her feelings were genuine or not.

“... And you killed her for this stupid reason? Because you were jealous of me? You should know her as much as I know that she might be jo—”

Mighty Spear stopped Min Li from finishing his sentence as he seriously said, “She was serious. Totally serious. At least, that’s what I believe when I saw her determined eyes.” the jealousy in his heart could no longer be restrained. He did not want to hear the words he was going to say; he wanted to believe that he was right. No, he believed that he was right. This was the only truth to him no matter what other people might say.

He had seen the seriousness emitted by Little Snow’s eyes that day, and with his own eyes, it meant to convey to him that there was only Mini Li, and no matter what will happen to herself or to him, it will not change her feelings in the slightest. And since then, every time he thought about her, about the smile she had made, his heart could no longer remain as unyielding and as fearless as it normally was, and even now, he was trying his best to refrain the surging flame within his body as he looked at Min Li, the disciple he once considered as his own blood.

Staring at the infuriated Mighty Spear, Min Li quickly said, “Even if what she had said, was the truth, and that she was serious, since you didn’t deny what I’ve said, then it means that I was correct, about you being jealous, right? You... killed her...purely out of…. jealousy.” as he emphatically slowed down the end of his sentence and emphasized each of his every last word, while forcefully restraining his rage to kill him on impulse.

He was waiting for his answer, because in the depth of his heart, he had sincerely wanted to think that this was only a misunderstanding from his part, to clear his conscience, he wanted him to say that it was another reason, which led him to kill her, though it will not make him reconsider his decision, at least, it could lessen the pain he felt in his heart.

“...”

—but Mighty Spear did not try to deny his words, and rather than denying him, he calmly repositioned his natural posture onto a battle stance, showing a determined expression on his face; you are right — I killed her for this reason. There is nothing to talk.

From Mighty Spear’s behavior, Min Li couldn’t help but furiously curse: “You... fucking… bastard. If I don’t... kill you today, then I’m no longer called Min Li!”

Mighty Spear has triggered the green light. There was no need to restrain himself. Right now, it was either Mighty Spear’s death or his death; both of them could no longer live in the same world. Neither Min Li nor Mighty Spear could allow it.

Oblivious to the expected outcome, Mighty Spear harrumphed and arrogantly said, “Who did learn you Spearmanship? Do you think you can kill me? Your master and the clan leader of « The Soaring Lance » ?” while looking at him with disdain. There was no longer the need to hide his true feelings towards him.

It was an unavoidable battle between the master and its disciple. It was a fight for the one they deep fall in love with — one due to his intense jealousy, the other due to his immense hatred.

*cough* *cough* *cough*

*pant* *pant* *pant*

A mouthful of blood came out from Min Li’s mouth. On one of his shoulder, a severe injury, blood could not stop from leaking out, the upper part of his blue dress was not almost painted with his own blood. In addition to his wound and due to the never-ending fight, he was breathing heavily; his complexion was darker than a few minutes ago.

Facing him, Mighty Spear too, was in the same exhausted condition as Min Li, trying his best to catch as much air as possible, breathing heavily and painstakingly. Even though he did not have suffered from a severe wound unlike his opponent, the countless minor injuries on his body were not insignificant either. His equipment, the impressive and magnificent full-plate black-armored gear was filled with small cracks, even filled with little holes, which were seemingly the results of a sharp and long weapon piercing the armor over and over again, reducing it into a miserable state.

The exhaustion of both, Min Li and Mighty Spear were obviously the effects of the three continuous days of fighting. They had not even stopped fighting since they had started. A few minutes ago, the climax of the fight between them was on its climax, and right now, this was one of the rare opportunities they had to halt the fight, after having distanced themselves from a protected range.

‘He is tougher than I had expected.’ Mighty Spear thought as he kept breathing profoundly. ‘But the injury he had received from me is fatal. As long as I can deal another similar wound to him, then he’ll be finished.’ He could see the denouement of the battle in his brain as he smiled viciously. It reflected the wicked personality he had while fighting, but it was also his true nature, normally hidden from others.

Staring at his vicious smile, Min Li suddenly evoked that day, alone with Little Snow on their favorite place, The Calming Valley, warning him seriously, “Fiery Spear, stay on your guard when you are with Mighty Spear. He had never shown you his true personality, but I’ve already seen it more than once.” as she gazed at him with worried eyes.

He could clearly remember these words, even now, because she had said them in an overly serious tone, which was rare from her who was always childish and playful. And at that time, he did not know its meaning, because he had always considered Mighty Spear as his respected master, but at this instant, he could finally understand them.

“So this is your true personality.” Min Li said as he sneered at him. The admiration and respect he once had for him were gone since this day, the day when he had seen him killing Little Snow. Here and now, not even a speck of it remained in his heart.

Harrumphing, Mighty Spear coldly said, “Are those your last words?” as he spontaneously dashed towards Min Li, while activating one of his Martial Art Active Skill « Divine Step ».

« Divine Step » was a Martial Art Active Skill, which granted the user a 200% boost in Movement Speed. It was one of the most popular types of Martial Art Active Skill used by the high-leveled experts from Soaring Sword when it came to movement’s speed acceleration.

‘He is definitely up to something’ Min Li muttered in his heart as he hardened the grip of his spear and entered into a battle stance—holding firmly his spear, his mental perception reaching its limit.

Mighty Spear’s « Divine Step » had granted him the required Movement Speed to close the distance between them, and was now close enough to reach him with his spear.

Followed by a roar, he shouted, “Fiery Spear!” as he sliced his spear vertically at Min Li, using all of his strength. The trajectory was perfect, the distance of the tip of the spear was exactly at the expected range to strike him, and if he successfully hit him, splitting his whole body into two parts was an easy task, considering the massive Strength attribute he had.

He moved quickly, yet, the speed of the spear was too slow. Min Li dodged it without any problem. He could also have blocked the strike with his spear, but he wanted to conserve as much energy as possible. At the current state of the fight, the one who more energy than the other was the winner. They both had depleted a tremendous amount of strength, qi, and health during these past three days. Such a decision from him was a wise and logic choice.

“Strength is meaningless if you don’t hit your target.” Min Li sneered at Mighty Spear.

Unlike him who had mainly focused on Strength and Stamina attributes, Min Li had chosen to balance his stats between Strength, Agility, and Stamina. Thus, not only he was faster in term of speed, but he was also more accurate when attacking even if his attacks were not as strong as him.

*swoosh* *swoosh* *swoosh*

Right after dodging Mighty Spear’s strike, Min Li took the opportunity to swiftly move his spear, stabbing him as much as he could. The strength of the attack was weak, but at least, each of the attacks had hit him without missing once.

Min Li’s health was currently at 15% of his total health. And even though Mighty Spear’s total health was at 15% as well, the difference between both 15% was, beyond comparison. Because in truth, if one was to take into account these percentage as numbers, then Mighty Spear’s 15% of health was nearby six times Min Li’s 15% of health. This was a huge difference.

Yet, regardless of such an immense difference in health, the advantage was, considering one’s point of view when looking at the battle, at Min Li’s side. The reason for such analysis was obviously evident — as Min Li had mentioned previously, as long as Mighty Spear’s attack could not reach him, then Min Li would beyond any doubt, become the winner of the battle.

Hence, the scene where Min Li overwhelmed Mighty Spear had lasted for more than an hour and a half...and right now, Mighty Spear’s remaining health was below 2% of his total health. This was due to Min Li’s attacks being all accurate and fast enough, not letting him the option to dodge them.

Similarly to him, Min Li’s health had also decreased and was currently at 5%. It was due to the severe wound he had, which slowly had decreased his health during the fight. In addition, he had failed to dodge one of Mighty Spear’s attack, decreasing his health by 5% from a single attack.

‘Throughout the fight we had until now, I’m still haven’t figured out his thinking…’ Despite the fact that both of them were at a critical state regarding their health, Min Li couldn’t help but think about Mighty Spear’s vicious smile, even if he currently has the upper hand of the battle. ‘I have a bad presentiment…’ He believed that Mighty Spear must have a hidden card, which he had not revealed up to now; the lack of information during a battle could cost one’s life, and right now, was the moment for him to find it out — and he was right on-the-spot.

A vicious smile appeared on Mighty Spear face as a sudden burst of qi was being released from his entire body. Perceiving the startled expression on Min Li, inquiring him concerning the unexpected burst of qi, he honestly said, “I have to admit that you were way stronger than I had expected,” with a proud grin as his lips slightly curled up. After all, he was his master, and to be able to train him to such extent, such was the feeling of a master. Following his grin, he then nonchalantly replied, “A few days ago, I had founded a Celestial Divine-Grade Martial Art Passive Skill.” ignoring the ugly face of the latter upon learning this revelation, he continued his narration, “ « Yan Shi’s resolution » not only allow me to restore half of my total amount of qi when my life is below 5%, but this Martial Art Passive Skill also had a second effect,” at the middle of his explanation, he slowly walked towards him, and stated the second effect of the skill, “Once the passive skill is activated. All nearby enemies are restricted from their movements until they received an attack.” once he saw his shocking on him upon learning the second effect of the skill, he could not help but laugh as he said, “Hahaha… I had already told you many times, to always keep a hidden card on your sleeves.” in a mocking tone.

Min had tried to move since the moment Mighty Spear started to walk towards him, but he could not move. His body did not allow him to move nor allow him to dodge the incoming spear aiming at his heart.

“Aaargh!” Min Li’s loud pained scream sounded into Mighty Spear’s ears. At his chest, the spear pierced his heart and a considerable amount of blood overflowed from that location.

After dealing the finishing blow to Min Li, Mighty Spear arrogantly revealed what he had thought since he had confessed to Little Snow, which had been hidden in his heart: “Do not deserve Little Snow. That’s such a shame. Although she had told me to spare you, you do not deserve to live.”

This wound was fatal and such attack was the end of Min Li’s life. Disregarding such oblivious and undeniable fact, the latter, rather than showing a desperate appearance, « the one who did not want to die » kind of expression, was smiling instead, which bothered Mighty Spear, him whose heart was always calm and serene.

—and the bad presentiment Mighty Spear had was confirmed. Min Li surprisingly dropped his spear and tightly held Mighty Spear’s spear on one of his hand. From this unforeseen movement, in addition to the insanity reflected in his eyes, a thought automatically came into his mind as he said, “Bastard… don’t tell me...you...” the tone of his voice was shaking; he had realized what Min Li had intended to accomplish.

Trying to move his spear, the monstrous strength from Min Li prevented Mighty Spear to pull back his spear. He could only furiously glare at him and started to curse him with all of his might. He then immediately tried to drop the spear but he then noticed that he could not drop it either. His mind was totally in a mess, he could not help but ask, “You… what did you do? How can’t I….” the slight fear in his eyes was gradually surfacing on his face, becoming more and more noticeable.

Each step from Min Li as he approached Mighty Spear seemed like an eternity to him, it was as if the slow-motion that was currently happening was telling him his last moments, death was approaching. Slowly but surely.

The smile on Min Li’s face did not disappear as he calmly said, “ « Martial Art Active Skill: Unstealable » ” without halting his step, approaching the already terrified Mighty Spear. Though he did not know why he mentioned this skill, figuring out its hidden ability was not hard. The fact that he could not drop his weapon was an evident clue, which was clear enough, and upon learning this, his fear changed into another degree, at this moment, he was totally petrified by him; a demon from hell was coming for his life.

As a matter of fact, Min Li had expected that he might not be able to defeat Mighty Spear even though he was certain that he was stronger than him. It was not because of his over-confidence to defeat him through a fight nor because he was underestimating and he might lose due to that reason; he wanted to make sure to kill him even if the chance of him getting defeated was close to 0%, because such possibility was not zero, meaning that it may be possible for him to lose, which was the reason as for why he had been looking for a method in case he failed to achieve his goal.

And the result Min Li had founded after thinking carefully was the Martial Art Active Skill « Unstealable ».

« Unstealable » was a Martial Art Active Skill, which prevented people from stealing the weapon of the user. « Unstealable » was a simple skill and no one excepted the few people who, including himself, had noticed the second hidden utility of such basic, yet unbelievable skill, which was that not only the effect of the skill was active on any items, equipment or weapons worn by the user, but this effect was also activated to any of the items, equipment or weapons the user touched, whether they belonged to them or not.

For most of the players within Soaring Sword, including Mighty Spear, such skill was useful and was even regarded as useless. If one was ignorant of the hidden ability of the skill, then it was indeed the truth, since only a fool could lose the grip of his weapon during a fight. And even though it prevented the thieves from stealing, which was a rare occurrence on Soaring Sword due to the consequence of stealing, the chance of getting his weapon or the equipment one was currently wearing stolen by was as low as encountering a Celestial Divine-Grade item after killing a monster, which was nearly below 1%.

“RELEASE ME, YOU... SON OF A BITCH!” Mighty Spear shouted loudly as he cursed Min Li. Here and now, fear and desperation were the only feelings that were submerging his heart. He was horrified by Min Li’s resolution to kill him, which allowed him to remain alive despite the hole on his heart — this man is the reincarnation Satan. If not, how could he be still alive after his heart had been shattered?

Taking out a dagger from his spatial ring with the only hand that was free to use, Min Li stabbed Mighty Spear’s heart as he shouted, “You are coming to Hell with me, Mighty Spear! HAHAHAHA” in his eyes, only madness could be seen. The remaining human emotions had departed at the same time as his heart had been pierced.

“It... was... truly... a pleasure... to have... met... you.” Mighty Spear smiled as he used the remaining his remaining life force to speak. The smile on his face was, rather than what Min Li could have expected, even in his wildest dream, after learning his true nature, an honest one without any hidden meaning behind it. This kind of smile from him was quite a shocking one, even Mighty Spear himself, who had not expected to show his true feelings before his death.

Min Li did not know the reason why he would say this sentence as his dying message, but if he was to say that he did not feel anything from it, then this was, by all means, a blatant lie from him. In any case, how Mighty Spear felt before his death or how Min Li felt after learning his true feelings, all of that did not matter to him.

Looking at the blue sky, which not even a single cloud was present at the moment, Min Li closed his eyes and spoke, “Little Snow, did you see? I succeeded to avenge you.” as if the mentioned « Little Snow » was right in front of him.

When Min Li was about to open his mouth once again, all of his strength suddenly left his body, of course, it was totally predictable once you thought about the hole on his heart, but oblivious regarding him falling backward on the ground, he strenuously used his remaining life force as he opened his mouth once again, and said, “I.. am… sor... ry… but… I… can… not… ful… fill… the… pro… mise… we… ha… ve… ma… de… th… at… day...” as the pulse of his heart weakened little by little as he spoke, limiting him from simply articulating. Along with the end of his sentence, which was extremely low and totally inaudible to the ears, his heart abruptly stopped from pulsing.

18th March 2065, on Soaring Sword, a traveler had founded two corpses lying on the summit of The Dark Mountain. After bringing the corpses in a city for a detailed autopsy to identify the two men, the names of Mighty Spear and Fiery Spear was, later on, written on « The Historic Stone » where all the players who had died on Soaring Sword were recorded.

At that day, all the players who knew the name of Mighty Spear and Fiery Spear had come in front of « The Historic Stone » and had paid their respect in front of the memorial.

For whatever reason, that had caused them to fight against each other, no one genuinely cared about it. There was only one thought on their mind — the two strongest and important spear-wielders from « The Soaring Lance » had died, one was the leader and the other was its disciple, and after losing them, « The Soaring Lance » long glory was finally and slowly coming into an end.

It was a matter of time before they become a part of « The Soaring Sword’s History ».