Chapter 1 God-level Hero
20XX, the global economy was sluggish, unemployment rates were rising, and the situation was turbulent.
China and the United States, the two superpowers, decided to lead the world out of the crisis together. The U.S. also began a series of major initiatives to reduce military spending and generate revenue, including the conversion of the U.S. Marine Corps' fully simulated reality supercomputer exercise system, codenamed "The Final Battle Against Aliens," from military to civilian use. This involved collaborating with major gaming companies in the European Union, Japan, South Korea, India, Russia, and China to jointly develop a super holographic reality game called "Heroic Creation Era," where players from all over the world could participate. It was a super game that combined fantasy, adventure, warfare, trade, territory building, navigation, competition, and leisure.
During the development process, developers from around the world began a global frenzy of publicity.
In the spring of 20XX, "Heroic Creation Era" launched simultaneously worldwide! Young people all over the globe were crazy about it! In the China Region, the local agents for Heroic Creation Era plastered advertisements everywhere!
— Do you want to compete on the same stage with world-class players? Do you want to fly freely in a fantasy world? Do you want to become a hero admired by thousands? Do you want to own your own castle and lead your army with passion? Do you want to be a high-income professional gamer? Come on! "Heroic Creation Era" fulfills your dreams of travel!
...
Da Fei, a thirty-year-old freelancer in the construction and logistics industry and a former casual online game player, saw the limitless business opportunities in Heroic Creation Era and decisively joined the ranks of those queuing to buy the gaming computers.
Where are the opportunities? This is a game that has been hyped up, a money-grabbing game, a game where wealthy people lead troops and build castles. Where do the troops come from? What if all the troops are dead? Gold Coin! Everyone knows.
Today was actually the third day since the game officially launched. If it weren't for waiting for his year-end salary to buy a computer, Da Fei would have definitely lined up at the sales point the night of the release.
As a professional gamer, it was such a failure to lose to tens of millions of people at the starting line by a full three days! There was no other way but to hurry and level up.
Da Fei thought for a moment and called his college-aged younger sister: "Little Li, I quit my job and found a new job with a high income; I won't be going home for the New Year. Tell Mom and Dad."
For someone like Da Fei, quitting was simple, and finding work wasn't difficult. Because, in the world, there is not a shortage of jobs, only a shortage of people willing to do them.
A surprised and efficient female voice came from the other end of the line: "What? You're not coming home for the New Year? Is that even reasonable?"
Da Fei said helplessly, "Do you know how many positions are short during the New Year? Working during the holidays pays three to four times as much! That's it; call me during the holidays, and I'll take your luggage to the station!"
"No need, someone is taking me."
Da Fei's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly asked, "Who? That Liu Dawei again? Have you kissed? Slept together? Pregnant yet? Tell that poor kid to get lost! He just thinks about courting girls instead of making money in college—I'll beat him up every time I see him!"
Little Li impatiently said, "What nonsense are you spouting! We're just regular classmates!"
Da Fei angrily replied, "Regular classmates, my foot! When I was in college, I left after getting the department's regular female classmates pregnant! They can't even get past the front door to register for a millionaire marriage now!"
Little Li retorted angrily, "It's all because you boasted about it!"
Da Fei was invigorated: "Ah, right! It was me boasting about it!"
Little Li, annoyed, said, "I'm done talking to you, hanging up!"
Da Fei sighed inwardly; Brother is also doing this for your own good.
As the eldest brother in the family, he spent the family's already limited money to finish college, and he was supposed to be the hope of the family but ultimately left everyone disappointed and became the laughingstock of the hometown. On the contrary, Little Sister was clever, intelligent, and had excellent grades, got into a prestigious university, and won scholarships, leaving no burden on the family—how could the elder brother feel? Back then, when he got into college, his younger sister, who was in middle school, admired him so much! But now... sigh!
More importantly, Little Sister is beautiful and the belle of the department. As long as she can nab a golden husband in college, our family will flourish! She is the family's hope! The issue is she's blind to not see all those rich second generations and fell for that poor kid with no money or connections! What's so good about him? Just a tall pretty boy from the track team who can write some sappy poetry and strum some tunes—it's all crap! No money, no skills, just a pile of crap!
As long as Brother is still breathing, don't you two think about being together! So what if he's on the track team? Brother has been in construction for so many years and is well-practiced; I could smash him dead with a brick! I'll call their dormitory tonight to inquire about their schedule! Hmph, it better be Little Fang who answers!
The queue gradually shortened, and the large screen wall at the store entrance played game ads in a loop, igniting Da Fei's burning enthusiasm!
This is the world of heroes, a world without complicated attributes like strength or agility for players to misunderstand. Neither does it have something like Tornado Slash or Exploding Spear; all attributes are simplified to Attack, Defense, and Damage, simple and straightforward for players to calculate.
What is Attack? What is Defense? What is Damage?
A person's strength is limited, but the destructive effect is unlimited. If a person punches a wall with all his might, the wall wouldn't lose a drop of blood! But if they switch to a sledgehammer and smash the wall with all their power, the wall gets crushed instantly! The same strength can result in different destructive effects depending on the tool.
Limited strength represents Damage, the hammer represents Attack, and the wall represents Defense. Attack and Defense are always relative; different levels of Attack and Defense result in different damage effects.
Heroes' roles involve enhancing their Attack and Defense to improve the entire army's Attack and Defense, allowing units with limited damage to exert infinite destructive power! The characters players embody are these thrilling heroes!
You just watch! Back in the day, when Brother played games, I was a revered online gaming addiction treatment expert across the server! I accomplished that with just casual play, so what about now, when I'm giving my all? The National service landscape is too small; this world-class game is Brother's stage! For this day, Brother has done enough homework from forums and official information since the open test! I've memorized all the racial units and building information thoroughly! Brother will get rich! I'll have a house, a car, and a wife! Wahahaha!
Just then, the big screen advertisement suddenly switched.
— "Hello to all our player friends, now it's time for the Hero News live broadcast. Today, we've invited the spokesperson for Heroic Creation Era from China, the famous professional eSports player, Miss Deng Jiayi from the Star Team, to join us in the studio. Everyone, please welcome her!"
— "Hi, everyone! I'm Deng Jiayi!" A refreshing and lovely face appeared on the big screen.
"Wow!!! The goddess of the geeks!!!" The players in line erupted in tumult!
Da Fei's eyes almost popped out! The goddess of the geeks, who combines strength and beauty, Deng Jiayi, game ID Bu Feiyan, who doesn't know her! She is Brother's white rich beauty in his dreams!
Host: "Just now, we received news that a Japanese player has used the random draw system to obtain a Hell Race hero with the talent specialty of Mobility Master. This is Japan's second rare talent hero after the Hell Gate Master, bought by the Mitsubishi Team for 8 million US Dollars. Miss Deng Jiayi, could you give your professional perspective on this?"
8 million US Dollars!!! The entire street exploded with shock! Da Fei's heart shook wildly! This wasn't just a business opportunity; it was like winning the lottery overnight and changing your life! As for what a draw is, that doesn't even need asking. In this kind of money-grabbing game, as long as you're willing to recharge, you'd have a chance to draw a top-notch account when establishing your account!
What? It's unfair? Since when was competition ever fair? Asians can't outrun black people, and black people can't out-swim white people, blame God?
Moreover, countless facts prove that the more unfair and aggressively money-hoarding the game is, the more popular it gets! It spawns a large number of "service industry" personnel! It also solves the unemployment problem troubling countries! But don't worry if you don't spend money; later, you can still grind hard for good specialties.
The screen displayed a description of the hero's talent specialty:
— Mobility Master: For every three levels, the hero's unit's attack speed and move speed increase by 1%!
The whole street exploded once more!
Hero skills can continuously be acquired through players' efforts in leveling up, but heroes' talent specialties are innate abilities, distinguishing the heroes' strength levels!
Deng Jiayi said with a wry smile: "This is truly an incredible strategic talent! In the later stages, it's equivalent to the hero's units starting the battle with self-buffed Great Frenzy Skill and Great Acceleration Technique. And the Hell Race's main combat units are generally fast, it's literally starting with wings! It's foreseeable that the Japan Region, with two rare heroes, will fully develop the Hell Race. In a National War, our China Region will face enormous pressure!"
Host: "Could such a hero be called a God-level Hero?"
Deng Jiayi smiled helplessly: "God-level Hero is what regular players called it during the testing phase; in the game, there are only ordinary heroes, epic heroes, and legendary heroes. However, this Mobility Master indeed surpasses known legendary heroes, so calling it a God-level Hero isn't going too far. I can't think of a way to counter such a hero in the late game right now!"
The host laughed: "There are so many players in the China Region; surely, if everyone draws, we'll get some powerful heroes as well, right?"
Deng Jiayi laughed: "If someone wins a so-called God-level Hero, our club boss would probably offer a few million to buy the account as well! However, drawings often result in ordinary or even quirky heroes, which isn't conducive to the development for new players. I don't recommend players draw; it's better to customize a hero based on their preferences. After all, in the end, players can still upgrade their specialties through personal efforts."
The host laughed: "So far, Heroic Creation Era has been online for three days, and here is the current rare hero leaderboard from various countries; let's take a look at the screen—"
Rare Specialty Hero Leaderboard:
1. Death Lord: Any undead creature in the wild will join the hero's squad unconditionally in half. Owner: Swedish player Vurtne. Hero valuation: 10 million US Dollars.
2. Hell Gate Master: The effectiveness of the Demon Lord hero professional skill "Hell Gate" enhances with the hero's level. Owner: Japan Mitsubishi Team. Hero valuation: 6 million US Dollars.
3. Unicorn Girl: For every two levels, the hero increases the Unicorn units' attack, defense, and HP by 1 point each. Owner: U.S. Supernova Team. Hero valuation: 3 million US Dollars.
4. Siege Master: For every two levels, the hero improves the Crossbow's attack and defense by 1 point each. Owner: Russian War Angel Team. Hero valuation: 3 million US Dollars.
5. Knight Model: Enhances the Knight hero professional skill "Blessing Ceremony" with the hero's level. Owner: British Royal Ark Team. Hero valuation: 3 million US Dollars.
6. Vampire Princess: For every two levels, increases the Vampire units' attack and defense by 1 point each. Owner: French player Natasa. Hero valuation: 1 million US Dollars.
7. Griffin Breeder: For every two levels, increases the Griffin units' attack and defense by 1 point each. Owner: China Star Team. Hero valuation: 1 million US Dollars.
…
Looking at the long list of offers, the entire street was in uproar! Da Fei's heart beat wildly! Although he knew this game was heavily hyped, he never imagined it to be this crazy! It felt exactly like opening a lottery—like the whole world won, except you!
Should I also take a gamble? Although their show's intention of encouraging people to spend money is obvious, isn't it just recharging a thousand bucks? Over the years, I've spent at least eight thousand if not ten thousand on lottery tickets, haven't I? Besides, even if a master like me fails to draw a hallmark account, I can still make it big!