Chapter 1: The New World

When Ye Shaoyang woke up, he found himself sitting in a spacious study. On the desk stood a flashy PC, its mechanical keyboard and mouse glowing with a high-tech blue light.

The liquid-crystal monitor displayed a game’s loading screen, with a bar at the bottom and a line of text: Loading…

Ye Shaoyang was thoroughly confused. This isn’t my computer, is it?

His keyboard and mouse were both gifts from sponsors, engraved with the GD Esports logo and his game ID. They didn’t have any blue LED light effects at all, nor did the PC tower or the monitor look like this.

What was going on? Was he dreaming?

Right then, the loading bar reached 100%, and the screen lit up. A crisp female voice rang through his headphones: “Welcome to Gods’ War!”

Ye Shaoyang: “??”

Wasn’t it supposed to be ‘Welcome to Summoner’s Rift’?

What on earth is Gods’ War?

Ye Shaoyang looked toward the bottom right corner in confusion. Then, he noticed a dense stream of white live-chat comments scrolling across the right side of the screen—

【I’m here to watch the noob streamer die in style!】

【This streamer died 6 times in a row last game. A 0/6 scoreline is truly impressive!】

【I just clicked in from the front-page new streamer recommendations. Can a fan summarize what kind of streamer he is? Skilled, handsome, or funny?】

【His specialty is being terrible, lol! The worst new streamer in the gaming category, a total disaster in the streaming world~】

Immediately after, a high-level member sent a glowing gold super-chat: 【The enemy jungler is Fanxing’s alt account. It’s over! The streamer’s probably going to uninstall after this game!】

【Bumping into Star God? Good luck to you, streamer!】

【I bet the streamer dies 6 times in a row again this game~】

【I bet 8 times!】

These comments left Ye Shaoyang utterly baffled.

His mind was still stuck on the match that had just ended.

As the captain of Team GD, he had led his team through the professional league for three years.

This year, after overcoming countless obstacles to reach the Global Finals, he thought victory was within his grasp. However, in the grand finals, they faced Team TIP, the favorites to win the championship this season. The scores were tied back and forth, dragging the intense battle into the decisive game. During a crucial team fight, their support misplaced their positioning, leading to Team GD getting wiped out. The opponents then pushed through and destroyed their Nexus in one go.

After grinding hard for an entire year, all they got was the achievement of “brushing past the World Championship.”

Thinking back on it filled him with bitter unwillingness!

As Team GD was dragged into the hot searches and slammed by internet trolls, Ye Shaoyang felt like spitting blood—someone always dropped the ball at the critical moment. Was he truly destined never to win a championship?

While Ye Shaoyang was lost in his memories, a middle-aged man’s rough voice suddenly boomed through his headphones: “What is the bot-lane marksman doing AFK at the fountain? Are you waiting to put on a full face of makeup before leaving the house?”

Ye Shaoyang snapped back to reality and looked at the screen again.

His teammate was probably talking about him. A sexy female archer holding an ice-blue longbow was standing motionless in front of the fountain, indeed looking like she was AFK. He hurriedly clicked his mouse, and the female archer finally made her way sluggishly down to the bottom lane.

As Ye Shaoyang played, he muttered in his head—What game is this? The map layout in the upper left corner was strange. The brush locations, interface, skill icons—everything was completely unfamiliar. The only thing similar to the game he usually played was that both sides had three lanes: top, mid, and bot.

He was currently taking the bottom lane.

Looking at the mini-map, a teammate was waiting for him in the bot lane—probably the support. As for the jungle, even its shape was different from the game he knew, and he didn’t have time to inspect the distribution of jungle monsters in detail.

Filled with doubts, Ye Shaoyang walked to the boundary between the two territories in the bottom lane.

Standing under the tower was an adorable fairy, flapping its wings and throwing skills at the minions. A text message appeared in the game chat: “Marksman, stick with me. I’ll protect you.”

It was the fairy player speaking.

Ye Shaoyang: “…”

Everything before his eyes was hard to comprehend.

He remembered clearly that after the grand finals ended, the team members who had missed out on the trophy were in low spirits. The manager bought everyone dinner. Afterward, Ye Shaoyang went for a walk alone along the river to clear his head, only to encounter a speeding sports car at a bend.

The sports car’s brakes seemed to have failed, and it plowed straight toward him!

Before he could dodge, he was sent flying by the impact. The excruciating pain of the crash was still vivid in his mind. So why did he wake up sitting in front of a computer, playing a game he didn’t recognize at all?

Even stranger, he felt his body and found no injuries from a car accident whatsoever. It was as if it had all been a dream.

Ye Shaoyang had a splitting headache. He reached up and pressed his throbbing temples firmly.

Just then, a red mark suddenly appeared above the female archer’s head in the game. In the next instant, a masked assassin wearing a black cape shadow-stepped behind the archer, the dagger in his hand flashing with a sharp, cold glint—

First Blood!

It took the assassin only two seconds to score the kill.

Before Ye Shaoyang could react, the system voice chimed again in his ears—

Double Kill!

The fairy support beside him had been killed as well.

Having secured the double kill, the masked assassin quickly vanished into the nearby brush.

In the voice channel, the middle-aged uncle with the rough voice flew into a rage: “Fuck! What’s wrong with the bot lane? Handing over a double kill right at the start? The assassin is definitely coming to gank you once he hits Level 4! Don’t you know how to retreat? Are you blind?”

The uncle’s voice was so loud that Ye Shaoyang’s ears were nearly deafened by his roaring.

The girl playing mid-lane mage said softly, “Stop yelling. I’m watching the stream right now. The enemy jungler is Fanxing’s alt. It’s totally normal for a newbie to get killed.”

The female support asked in confusion, “Who’s Fanxing?”

The mid-lane girl replied, “The highest-rated rookie from this year’s youth training camp. He’s a disciple personally brought up by Captain Chi and has already joined Team Tianhuan. He should be officially playing matches next season.”

The female support’s voice grew excited: “Captain Chi?! Ahhhh, I’m a massive fan of Captain Chi!”

Apart from the ranting uncle, the other three teammates immediately did a 180-degree turn in attitude and began showering compliments in the public chat: “Is the opponent really Xiao Xing? I watch your stream all the time!” “To meet Xiao Xing in a random placement match, what a coincidence!” “Xiao Xing, can you come to the mid lane for a screenshot?”

The enemy assassin, with the ID “Starry Night,” typed a reply: Just playing placement matches on an alt account. Hello everyone ^_^

The top-ranked rookie from the youth training camp? Fanxing?

Ye Shaoyang didn’t recall any such person in the domestic esports scene.

Suppressing his confusion for the moment, he headed to the bot lane to carefully farm minions.

As a wave of minions reached the tower, a familiar black cloak appeared in his line of sight. The masked assassin flashed behind him and struck without hesitation, instantly taking his life. Right after, he killed the support again and sauntered off.

Double Kill! Another double kill!

The chat in Ye Shaoyang’s stream began scrolling wildly—

【This streamer is so terrible. Can any random nobody start a stream nowadays?】

【Streamer, are you playing with your feet? Or did your cat jump onto your keyboard?】

【I thought he’d be somewhat decent, but he’s just a total scrub. Streamer, you’ve successfully piqued my interest. Followed.】

【The streamer is actually playing a long game! There are too many skilled streamers in the gaming category, so he’s carving out a path by being trash. It’s called ‘taking a unique approach,’ get it?】

【This isn’t even Bronze tier, right? He doesn’t even know how to last-hit minions. Sigh!】

At the same time, in Fanxing’s stream—

【Our Xingxing is so cool!】

【Fanxing playing in casual matches is literally just slicing through vegetables ^_^】

【The opponents have zero game experience. Will they get so mad they uninstall?】

The young man on the camera smiled brightly: “Thank you ‘I Love Fanxing’ for the Deep Sea Fish, and thank you ‘Handsomest Alpha Online’ for the Flying Rocket. This is a new alt account I just made today, and I’m currently running placement matches. After finishing them, I’ll go queue up with Master and the team. If anyone wants to see me play a specific hero, feel free to leave a comment in advance.”

The chat instantly exploded with a flood of messages, and the stream’s viewer popularity surpassed three million.

Meanwhile, Ye Shaoyang—whose stream popularity was a mere 300—was currently sitting in deep thought.

The rules of this computer game were the same as the MOBA games he used to play, such as League of Legends and Honor of Kings—a 5v5 tower-pushing mechanic. However, the map distribution, characters, and skill designs were completely different.

The game seemed to be called Gods’ War. Which obscure company developed this? He had never heard of it before.

His teammates began going AFK at the fountain to chat, and Ye Shaoyang couldn’t win alone anyway. After thinking it over, he simply walked into the jungle to familiarize himself with the map environment first.

While wandering through the jungle, a cold glint suddenly flashed. The enemy assassin struck decisively, taking his life in a single blow!

Ye Shaoyang waited to respawn, then got back up and continued roaming the jungle.

And so, the viewers in his stream witnessed the entire process of a “novice streamer dying in every style imaginable.”

He fed from the bot lane to the mid lane, and from the mid lane to the top lane…

【Is our streamer a tour guide? Touring all over the Rift?】

【Streamer 666, fed 6 more kills!】

【Applauding the streamer’s perseverance.】

【A marksman feeding all the way from the bot lane to the top lane—impressive! This is the most dedicated feeder I’ve ever seen!】

In the global chat, the enemy jungler with the ID “Starry Night” teased: “No matter where I go, you follow me to feed. Have you taken a liking to me?”

Ye Shaoyang typed back at lightning speed: “No, Daddy is studying how to kill you next time we meet.”

Starry Night: “…………”

Cheng Xing, who was currently streaming, nearly spat out his coffee: “Daddy? Hahaha! This ‘Daddy’ says he’s going to kill me next time we meet? I’m so scared.”

The viewers in his stream couldn’t stop laughing.

【Died eight times in a row, and he actually has the nerve to boast?】

【Doesn’t he have any self-awareness about his own skill level? Calling himself Daddy!】

【Being so aggressive, he must be some feet-picking Alpha uncle. Fanxing, go kill him again~】

【Traveling a thousand miles just to feed a kill—it’s the thought that counts. I think this guy might be Fanxing’s true love hater?】

Cheng Xing couldn’t understand the enemy marksman’s logic either. He smiled and said, “He’s probably a beginner who doesn’t know how to play.” Saying so, he paid no further attention to him and led a wave of minions to push down the Nexus directly.

Defeat!

The moment the defeat screen popped up, Ye Shaoyang let out a breath and took off his headphones.

He had explored the entire map just now and realized that the layout in this game was much more complex than the ones he used to play. However, all variations led back to the same core: essentially, it was still a tower-pushing game. You needed to kill minions and jungle monsters to earn gold, use gold to buy equipment, and use equipment to fight team battles and push towers. Ultimately, destroying the enemy’s Nexus meant winning.

The stream chat in the bottom right corner was scrolling endlessly with jokes, mockery, and taunts telling him to delete his account and uninstall the game…

Ye Shaoyang ignored them all.

He shut down the computer, stood up, and walked out of the room.

A car accident, suddenly waking up in this unfamiliar room, and playing a strange game.

He needed to figure out what was going on as soon as possible.