Hero to Zero (1)

It was true about that saying that life flashes before your eyes upon death. Montages of Lucas' life floated in his mind as he descended. He saw the cheerful face of a boy who was wandering about the flower fields. A woman was chasing after him. The little boy was him and the woman was his mother. It was a time when he knew what happiness was. If life had four seasons, that was the only time he experienced spring. When his mother died, she took away all the warmth that surrounded him. The flower fields withered. Another memory flashed across his mind and Lucas saw his teenage self enduring the mockery of everyone around him. His schoolmates, his relatives, and people he hardly knew were pointing fingers at him, laughing behind his back. He saw himself running away and escaping into his solace - Ash Knight. It was the only light in his life when everything else was grey.

Lucas saw a shiny metal piece floating in front of his eyes. It was the keychain of his Red Sword from Dreams of Jianghu a meaningful fragment of his life which he carried with him everywhere. His inner voice was screaming: Get out of the water and prove to them who you can be! Rewrite your destiny!

But he can no longer summon the strength, his body was getting weaker. He was sinking deeper but still had his senses. He heard the rumble of thunder and saw lightning streaks above the ocean. It seemed to be raining. Maybe a deity in the Heavens was shedding some tears for him.

A gentle voice was calling out to him, it was his mother.

"It's alright."

A dazzling white light was the last thing I saw. This must be the tunnel of light that brings one to the afterlife…

There was nothing much he treasured about this life except for his identity as Ash Knight. Goodbye Ash Knight, at least someone will remember your glory. Goodbye Lucas, the one that will forever be buried and forgotten.

— — — — — — —

When Lucas opened his eyes once again, he saw dazzling blue waters above him. The water seemed shallow, it was different from the dark oceans that engulfed him. He tried to move his limbs and was surprised he had the energy to swim. He reached the surface effortlessly and realized he had only been lying in a pond. Emerging from the waters, he saw what seemed like a peaceful little village. Lucas thought it felt somewhat familiar, as if he had been here before. So, this was where the dead went to?

He swam towards the shore and got out of the water. Finally, he was stepping on land. But something felt amiss - his clothes! He noticed he was wearing hanfu and they were completely dry. So…this is what the dead wears after they died? Waterproof hanfu? His shoes were gone too, they had become a pair of black kungfu shoes that he had seen Chinese martial artists wear. He guessed that this meant one could not bring their possessions from the human world after they died so he was magically dressed in these new clothes that were somehow waterproof.

If this was the afterlife, there should be some sort of guide to tell the 'newbies' where they should be going. Well, that was what they usually depict in dramas and novels. But there seemed to be no one in this 'afterlife world' other than a few insects and frogs. Maybe the guides were too busy. He might find one of them by doing a little exploration.

He thought about the last moments of his life as he wandered around this 'afterlife village'. His brother sped away without looking back, Janson sent him to his death and would be going after the rest of his family. He thought about how crazy everything was and what he could have done if he wasn't a useless weakling. Would things turn out differently? A million "maybes" and "perhaps" crossed his mind but those were in the past. He was dead and no longer belonged to the world that he hated. There was no way he could warn his father and Mike about Hubert and Janson. His fate was sealed.

Lucas followed a path to what seemed like the entrance of the village. There was a sign with Chinese characters that read "Ping An Village", which meant Peaceful Village. He thought there should be a more symbolic name for this 'afterlife village', something like Reincarnation Village.

Wait a minute, Lucas thought. He had been to Ping An Village before. Rather, Ash Knight had visited this place several years ago. This village had the same name as the newbie village in DOJ (Dreams of Jianghu - will be using this acronym from now on). He studied his surroundings closely and noticed they were very similar to what he remembered from the game.

Either the game designers had been to the afterlife or someone created this world to mimic DOJ. What were the chances of the former happening? A weird thought crossed his mind - was DOJ so successful that whoever was in charge of the afterlife decided to adapt it?

Unless there was another possibility. One that explained why he was dressed in waterproof hanfu. If there was a way he could look at his own reflection, he might know what was going on.

The pond.

He ran back towards it and took a good look at his reflection. There was no Lucas Yang in the waters, only the default newbie face that every player had when they first entered DOJ.

If this was no afterlife, he must either be inside a dream or he had transmigrated into the game. He had read stories about transmigration but to experience it himself was beyond his imagination. There was a way he could find out if this was indeed the world of DOJ - by finding the Story Master.

Every newbie that begins DOJ had to look for the Story Master in Ping An Village to go through a tutorial before roaming the dangerous Jianghu. Lucas roughly remembered this NPC was always drinking tea in a pavilion when he greeted newcomers. He passed by several pavilions but there was nobody. Lucas was hoping there was no Story Master at all…he had accepted that he was dead and was going to the afterlife. He was done with his useless life.

"Young hero, I sensed you're about to embark on a journey that will change your life forever."

Damn…he saw the Story Master sitting under a nearby pavilion. He didn't think the afterlife required an NPC that kept drinking tea and calling everyone who arrives a "young hero". So he had somehow transmigrated into DOJ when he died, but how? He remembered there was a storm when he sank to the bottom of the ocean. Either that or some other magical forces had brought him here.

The Story Master was the first character Lucas encountered in this world and he was lifelike. He didn't look like some 3D modeling generated by the game designers, he resembled a human being except that he kept sipping on tea like a spell had been cast on him.

Lucas sighed. Maybe he shouldn't go talk to him and trigger the tutorial. He could just continue wandering in Ping An Village and be a nobody. He would just live his life in his peaceful village until the game shuts down one day and he disappears along with it. He lay down on the fields next to the pavilion, ignoring the silly Story Master.

The moment he closed his eyes, horrible flashbacks revisited him. The serenity of the village didn't help to keep him calm. He remembered his inner voice which spoke to him when he was sinking.

"Rewrite your destiny!"

He was secretly wishing for a second chance at life when he was dying. Perhaps a kind soul heard him and granted him this "second life". But why send him to DOJ? Why wasn't he transported back to the past or something where he could prevent everything from happening?

Lucas wasn't sure now if he wanted to live again. Dying once was painful enough. Trying to live again means he might need to endure death a second time…and he didn't have enough courage for it.

"Young hero, I sensed you're about to embark on a journey that will change your life forever."

The NPC was like an alarm clock that wouldn't stop ringing. Or was he trying to tell him to go forward and stop running away? When he was alive, he ran away from his identity as Lucas Yang and shut himself out of the world. That didn't lead to a happy ending. Now, he had another chance to start his life again in a familiar yet strange world. He still hadn't figured out how "living" in this virtual world works. Maybe he would enjoy it or he would get crushed by one of the bosses in the dungeon. But he'd never know what lies on the road ahead unless he makes the first step. Time to figure out how this world works.

"Young hero, I sensed you're…"

"May your words be true." It was the first time Lucas spoke to an NPC after playing DOJ all these years. As soon as he walked towards the NPC, a screen popped up.

[Young hero, are you ready to begin your journey? Yes / No]

He remembered this was the same screen he saw when he began playing the game. The only difference was that he didn't need a keyboard and mouse to navigate the world this time.

He raised a finger and selected [Yes].

"I see that you're now ready to begin your adventure. But before you wander into the fascinating Jianghu, may I ask for your name?" the Story Master continued to speak to him.

Oh, right. He was still a nameless wanderer who had not registered himself in the system. Another screen popped and prompted him to enter his name.

Wait a minute…which server did he transmigrate to? Looking at the screen once more, he saw that the server name was [Bladeheart].

.....

This was the server he had been playing on as Ash Knight. Whoever sent him into this world surely knew he had an account here? Why didn't he transmigrate into the persona of Ash Knight? Even being an NPC might be better than being a newbie on this server!

[Bladeheart] was one of the three servers which began when the DOJ started years ago, which meant the players inside were veterans who had reached at least Level 100. No one in their right frame of mind would enter this server as a newbie! They would have trouble finding team mates as nobody would want a useless newbie on their team. Not to mention the players on [Bladeheart] weren't exactly the kindest people. Gosh, if he was supposed to start anew, why didn't they send him to the newbie server? It would be much easier to advance there.

Even in his second life, he was destined to be a loser right from the start.

The system prompted him to enter a name again. He tried to key in "Ash Knight".

[Invalid. This name has been taken, please choose again.]

"C'mon, the real Ash Knight is here…" Lucas muttered to himself. He had limited functions on his screen, there was no way he could try to switch servers or log in to another account. He was stuck in [Bladeheart] server as a newbie.

The system generated a list of random names that were available:

AshKnight235

AshKing52

WonderHero

SwordMaster0

LittlePrincess85

Wonderful names. Maybe he should call himself LittlePrincess85.

Lucas started to give his new identity serious thought. He used to be the glorious Ash Knight worshipped by many but that persona perished together with him when he died. A tunnel of light brought him into this world. He was born as Lucas, a name that meant "bringer of light". It was time he lived up to that name and stopped living in the shadows.

Lucien Cavalier - he would call himself a knight bearing the light. Surely, nobody has chosen a similar name?

"Lucien Cavalier, that's another name that will go down in history. Now let me introduce you to the worlds of Jianghu!" this must be the 106789th player that the Story Master has greeted.

The day when Lucas Yang disappeared from the world and became Lucien Cavalier, he had no idea he was about to begin on a journey that would, as the Story Master foretold, change his life forever.