Click, click, click…
"Ha! Hyaah!"
"Ughhh!"
YOU WIN!
The bold words flared across the monitor. Slumping back in his chair, the man at the desk yanked off his headset and tossed it aside. With a deep breath, he groped around the desk for his cigarettes, lit one, and inhaled long and slow.
"Phew…" A cloud of smoke swirled from his lips as he let out a satisfied groan. "Nothing hits like a victory smoke… Better than being a god! Ahahaha!"
Still dangling the cigarette from his mouth, he lazily dragged his mouse across the screen. His in-game character—a fully-geared level 85 Berserker clad in epic-grade Skygear—posed imposingly on screen. The name floating above him: Unyielding, All Shall Fall.
This was none other than Qiu Haisheng, known across China's DNF servers as the #1 Berserker main.
The cigarette burned to the filter. With a flick, he sent the butt sailing into an ashtray, lit another, and turned back to the screen with a bored expression.
"Man… Berserker's starting to feel stale," he muttered, blowing a lazy smoke ring. "I heard Asura's getting buffed next patch? They're bumping that B-tier blind monk to S-tier? Might be time to mess around with my Asura alt."
He clicked open the system interface and logged out. On the character select screen, standing beside his golden-red main was a scrawny, sad-looking alt.
Class: AsuraLevel: 25ID: Barn
Qiu Haisheng's brow twitched at the name. He'd chosen it after reading about Barn, one of Arad's Four Legendary Weapon Masters. Seemed fitting at the time.
He clicked "Select."
"Welcome back," chimed Seria's familiar voice.
Qiu Haisheng chuckled. "Yeah… welcome back indeed."
This alt had been created alongside his Berserker back in the day. But while the main had ascended to god-tier glory, this poor Asura was still level 25, decked in nothing but the default novice gear. Pathetic.
"Let's see if there's a Returnee Package…" he muttered, opening the mailbox. Sure enough, there it was. But right below it was a strange email—unlike anything he'd ever seen in the game. No event tags. No sender name. Nothing.
"Huh? What kind of hidden event is this?" he murmured, clicking it.
The moment he did, the cursor disappeared. A black bar replaced it—loading over the email text:
Binding Character…
Qiu Haisheng's heart skipped a beat.
"…Wait. What the hell is this? Is this a virus?!"
Panic surged. He'd sunk over 20,000 RMB into this account. If it got hijacked now, he was finished.
He rattled the mouse. Nothing.
"Seriously?! My mouse dies now of all times?!" he yelled, slamming it onto the desk in frustration.
Control was gone. And Qiu Haisheng hated losing control.
The bar inched forward, painfully slow.
He could only sit there, helpless, watching the inexplicable progress crawl across his screen.
Then, with a soft ping, it completed:
Character Binding Complete
Qiu Haisheng leaned forward to read more—
But the bar turned blood-red.
Transmitting…
His instincts screamed. "TRANSMITTING?! What the hell is that supposed to—"
He never finished the thought. A flash of blue shot from the tower, arcing through the air and striking him right between the eyes.
Qiu Haisheng crumpled to the floor.
Technically speaking… he'd already transmigrated.
The next morning…
H City Daily:"Local shut-in gamer dies at home. Authorities urge moderation in online gaming."
The ocean breeze ruffled his hair. Gulls cried overhead. The sun warmed his face. It would've been a picturesque scene—if not for the corpse washed up on the beach.
The corpse groaned.
"So warm…"
Qiu Haisheng scratched his chest, blinked—and froze.
"…Why is everything dark? It's bright, right? I can feel the sunlight, so why… can't I see it?"
Then, like a lightning bolt, the memory came rushing back.
The game. The Asura alt. The email.
Transmitting…
He stiffened.
A full sixty seconds passed.
Then he screamed.
"WHAT—THE—HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!"
His wail echoed across the desolate island, shrill and miserable.
Eventually, his voice gave out.
And in the silence that followed, the truth settled in.
He had transmigrated.
And—he was blind.
"…I'm blind?! BLIND?!"
Tears welled in his useless eyes.
Why?! Why didn't I transmigrate into my Berserker?! Why this scrub alt?!
At least Berserker can see! Sure, he's got red eyes and bloodlust issues, but that's way better than this cataract cosplay!
Despair piled on. He could barely feel anything except the scorching sun on his back and the pit of regret in his gut.
Out of habit, he rubbed his left hand… only to feel rough, bulging veins and calloused, claw-like fingers.
He froze.
This wasn't his hand.
It was the cursed arm of a Ghostblade—just like those afflicted by the spirit of Khazan.
Power pulsed beneath his skin.
"…Tch. So I got the Ghost Arm after all, huh?"
He clenched his left fist, feeling the dark energy surge through it. Then he stood.
"Heh. Fine. I'm here now, aren't I?"
He smirked.
"So what if I was a loser back in the real world? With this power? I'll carve my name into this one! Even blind, I'll rule this damn world!"
He threw back his head and laughed like a lunatic.
But just as the fantasy peaked, reality punched him in the face again.
"Wait a sec… Where am I?"
A beat passed.
"Oh right. I'm blind. Of course I have no idea."
It took him this long to realize it.
Typical Qiu Haisheng.