I sat down on the floor and propped the Cyan Netherworld Sword against the wall. The darkened sky snowed heavily as I gazed blankly at the distance.
Rustle rustle…
Luo River G.o.d of the Capital walked up to me and put a hand on my shoulder armor. She whispered, "I know you"re feeling very sad and guilty right now, but that was the path Lin Yixin chose to walk. Everyone"s giving it their all to do the right thing, so Lin Yixin sacrificed herself not just for you, but for Dawn City as well…"
I shook my head with a bitter smile on my face. "Thank you, Sister w.a.n.g Luo…"
The Life Barrier had vanished before I knew it. The NPC palace mages must have canceled it after realizing that the crisis was over.
Countless corpses littered the entire Dawn Valley. The Northern Alliance was nearly a hundred million players strong when they first entered the valley, but not one person had managed to walk away unscathed. Lin Yixin especially had one-shot twenty million people in one go with G.o.d"s Tear! To call this feat a world-shocking achievement would be an understatement!
……
Luo River G.o.d of the Capital sat down on the snowy ground and hugged her knees. She asked, "Lu Chen, you and your comrades have shown me the dedication and perseverance of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls. I must say that I am deeply ashamed of my own inferiority…"
I said quietly, "Sister w.a.n.g Luo, please. The cost is just… just…"
Luo River G.o.d of the Capital smiled. "Are you going to stay depressed just because you dropped to Level 70?"
"No. I"ll grind back to my original level for sure!"
"Exactly. In the same vein, Gui Guzi, He Yi, Beiming Xue and everyone else only lost 30 levels, and it wouldn"t take them much effort to grind them back. With their current equipment and stats, it won"t take too much time at all."
"It"s not that. I just…"
"I know. Lin Yixin, right?"
"Mn."
w.a.n.g Luo let out a chuckle as she leaned against the icy cold wall. "Permanent account deletion is quite the problem, and restarting a character from scratch also means resetting your skills, pets, equipment; everything. Even with help, it"ll be very hard for someone to catch up to the top players."
w.a.n.g Luo"s tone abruptly changed to a positive one. "However, absolutes do not exist in this world. Whoever said that it"s absolutely impossible to recover an account that had been permanently deleted? Heavenblessed is ultimately a game made and controlled by Eternal Moon Corporation, so as long as you could find the right higher-up to speak to, it won"t be impossible to recover Lin Yixin"s account!"
My eyes lit up. "Is that true?"
"Of course it is!"
I jumped to my feet as if I had been given new life. I grabbed the Cyan Netherworld Sword and walked to the front.
……
Not far away, I saw a group of 5000 players walking toward the palace entrance from the wing. It was Warsky Alliance. Warsky, October Rain, Farewell Song and the others were all present.
"Lu Chen!" Warsky spurred his mount and rode up to me, but he frowned when he saw my current Level. "What… what happened to you?"
I replied indifferently, "I was killed repeatedly by the enemy, that"s all. It wasn"t like you guys were around to take turns."
Warsky apologized, "I"m sorry. We were completely stuck at the east side until Wind Fantasy killed everyone with G.o.d"s Tear. The good news is that we managed to rally almost twenty thousand new troops from Sky City, so Dawn City should be safe now."
I gazed at the ruins that were Dawn City for a moment before replying, "Yeah, I think you"re right. I"ll leave the rest to you guys then."
Warsky nodded before clenching his fists suddenly. "That Candlelight Shadow is a f.u.c.king animal! He claimed that he rallied twenty million people to protect Dawn City, only to run off on his own to attack Burning City! Pooh! The Avengers my a.s.s, both them and Candlelight Shadow are the lowest of the low!"
"Lu Chen, where are you going?"
Luo River G.o.d of the Capital caught up to me when she noticed that I was leaving.
I turned around and gave her a weak smile. "Nothing. I"m logging off to sleep, that"s all."
"Ah?" Luo River G.o.d of the Capital stared at me for a moment before asking, "When are you coming back online then?"
"I don"t know…" I shook my head before replying, "Maybe... after I"ve recovered Lin Yixin"s account…"
October Rain chimed in. "Wind Fantasy sacrificed herself in service of the entire China server, so it"s only right that we reciprocate in kind! Don"t worry, we"ll pet.i.tion Eternal Moon Corporation for the recovery of Wind Fantasy"s account until it succeeds!"
"Mn, thank you!"
I took out a tent and logged out immediately. At this point, I couldn"t care less about the battle anymore, not to mention that Warsky"s new army should be able to defend Dawn City until the end considering that all enemy players in Dawn Valley had been killed. Moreover, there were many players from the Avengers who were rus.h.i.+ng over to reinforce the city through Windy Trail. Although a large majority of them had fallen under the sway of Thunder, Wings of Awakening and Silver Soul, the remaining few did sincerely want to reinforce Dawn City. They just couldn"t make it in because the Northern Alliance had been keeping them at bay.
……
Swhoos.h.!.+
My vision turned dark after I logged out of the game and pulled off the helmet. This was one of the worst I had ever felt in my life.
I walked to the living room and found everyone there. He Yi, Beiming Xue and Murong Mingyue all looked at me until He Yi spoke up, "We"ve heard about Lin Yixin…"
I nodded.
Beiming Xue spoke next, "Don"t be too sad, big bro. All problems can be solved one way or another!"
I nodded again and looked to Murong Mingyue. "D-do you still have Qin Yun"s number? The vice president of Eternal Moon Corporation"s Shanghai Branch?"
"Yeah. I"ll send it to you right now."
"Thanks."
I called Qin Yun"s number immediately after I received it. A couple of dial tones later, the call was accepted—
"h.e.l.lo. Is this… Lu Chen?" Huh, it looks like she saved my contact number last time.
"Mn." I nodded to no one in particular before starting, "It"s me. President Qin, I want to talk to you about—"
"Lin Yixin"s account, right?" Qin Yun cut me off before continuing apologetically, "I"m sorry, but I really can"t help you with this, Lu Chen. This was a Nation War involving 7 major countries and especially the USA and Korea. We cannot overturn this decision, or the entire China branch of Eternal Moon Corporation will be denounced for this."
I nodded again before continuing, "But all problems can be solved one way or another, and given enough effort, Lin Yixin"s account will be recovered, am I right?"
Qin Yun let out a helpless chuckle from the other side of the phone. "Er, no? I want to help Beautiful Little Pepper myself after the sacrifice she made, but this is a matter of company principle. I simply cannot do what you"re asking!"
Me: "..."
"If there"s nothing else, I"m hanging up. I still have a meeting to attend. Bye!"
Qin Yun hung up in a hurry. She was clearly afraid of the possibility that I might hound her until she caved.
……
"Did it work?" Beiming Xue asked.
"No."
"G.o.d…"
He Yi said, "There"s no need to rush things. Lu Chen, why don"t you rest first and come back to us with a fresh mind? After that, we"ll launch a billion people pet.i.tion and force Eternal Moon Corporation to submit. In the game industry, anything can be solved with enough player pressure!"
Murong Mingyue nodded in agreement. "Eve is right. Players are a game company"s bread and b.u.t.ter. They wouldn"t give up on their livelihood, would they?"
I sucked in a deep breath and acquiesced. "Mn. I"m going to sleep then."
……
I took a bath, ate some light food and went to bed. I slept all the way until the next morning. I was that tired.
The deletion of Lin Yixin"s account bothered me so much that I couldn"t even muster the energy to take a peek inside the game. But according to Beiming Xue, Dawn City was defended successfully, and I was nominated the MVP of the Nation War. My total contribution points was 9 times of the runner-up"s!
After I ate breakfast and fully recovered my spirits, I decided to check out how Lin Yixin was doing and call Sun Qingqing. However, Sun Qingqing called me right before I was about to call her!
"Hi, Qingqing!"
"Mn. Can you come over to my hostel right now? Yiyi sent me some gifts from Canada via express delivery, and one of them is for you!"
"Oh, okay!"
……
After I hung up, I ran down the stairs, grabbed my car, and zoomed toward the university at top speed. I hadn"t gone there ever since Lin Yixin left the country.
Sun Qingqing was already waiting beneath the hostel when I arrived. Her eyes looked red, and she punched me in the arm the moment she walked up to me. "b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"
I didn"t avoid the strike. I asked in a quiet voice, "Qingqing, can you please give me Yiyi"s new number? I miss her so much. I just want to talk to her."
"No." Sun Qingqing glared at me. "Yiyi is feeling very distraught right now, and she doesn"t want to speak with you. Here, this is the gift she prepared for you."
I held up the gift. The paper box was only as big as a soccer ball.
"Alright, I"m going back to my room."
Sun Qingqing didn"t say anything else to me as she stomped her way back upstairs.
……
After I carried the paper box back to the car, I unwrapped its pink packaging only to find that there was another azure packaging on the inside. It was riddled with English words, and I recognized them to be Lin Yixin"s handwriting. They all said, "I hate you!"
I hate you...
The fact that every inch of the paper was written with the line "I hate you" upset me more than ever before. Maybe I really was a love idiot just like everyone kept telling me. Just how many times have I disappointed Lin Yixin?
Guilt and regret filled my heart. The possibility that Lin Yixin might truly have come to hate me for my indecision scared me so much that I dared not unveil the contents of her "gift”.
……
After I returned to the workshop, I sat by the window sill and blanked out with the gift in my lap. No one disturbed me since it was obvious that I was feeling down.
My heart hurt as I stared at the cars on the streets and recalled every memory I shared with Lin Yixin: the day I met the bombsh.e.l.l of succubus wanderer at Frost Mound, the day our guilds joined hands to fight the enemy, the bitter, the sweet. And now, after all of that, I was the only one left in this city. Alone.
Thud!
The gift slipped off my legs and dropped to the ground before I realized it. I hurriedly picked it up only to discover that a corner of the wrapping paper was chafed from the drop, revealing a third wrapping paper inside. It was pink.
I hurriedly tore away the second wrapping paper. I discovered that the pink wrapping paper beneath was completely covered in the words: "I miss you!"
……
My nose wrinkled, and my tears broke like a waterfall in that moment.