Liu Zhao stood frozen, holding his phone, staring at Tong Gu through the lens. At that moment, Tong Gu seemed as radiant and dazzling as the sun.
Tears blurred Liu Zhao's vision. He thought back to the nightmare that was the Awakening Trial. Comparing himself to the person on the screen, he couldn't hold back his tears.
The trial had made one thing abundantly clear to him: he wasn't a gifted individual. One day, inevitably, he would meet his end in the Game of Fate.
He didn't fear death, but what truly haunted him was his helplessness.
What could someone as weak as him possibly do?
Looking at Tong Gu's commanding presence on stage, Liu Zhao suddenly understood. The realization struck him with a sense of belonging, bringing tears of both joy and relief.
He held his phone steady, capturing Tong Gu's declaration, the tears of the third-years, and the awe of the first- and second-years in their entirety.
When the celebration concluded, Liu Zhao stood under the blazing midday sun, uploading the video.
---
The Destiny Forum was steeped in despair. The death of Jiang Gu had already cast a heavy shadow, and the Awakening Trial only worsened things. Reports of casualties poured in from all corners, and the forum was plunged into its annual season of collective mourning.
Even the heated debate from the previous day criticizing the Exploiter had fizzled out as attention waned.
Guo Dengyuan scrolled aimlessly through the posts. His thoughts kept circling back to the S-rank individual he'd encountered yesterday. Then, a new post caught his attention.
[S-Rank Awakener Spotted in Mountain City Awakening Trial!]
Before he could click on it, another post popped up.
[S-Rank Emerges Again: Location—Mountain City Amber Square]
[The Rise of Dongxia, Humanity's Hope: Two S-Ranks in Two Years!]
What's going on?
Guo Dengyuan clicked on one post, only to find it devoid of meaningful content, merely claiming that Mountain City had produced another S-Rank Awakener, accompanied by a poorly captured image of a golden portal.
The grainy resolution was almost laughable compared to the footage they'd shot.
Wait, did Wang Xiang leak this?
These vague posts acted as a spark, igniting a frenzy on the forum. Excited users, invigorated by the news of an S-Rank Awakener, began flooding the forum with questions and even outright complaints about the lack of concrete details.
[Does anyone know if this S-Rank is real? Was their identity revealed?]
[What are the media doing? How can they not report on something this massive?]
Guo Dengyuan chuckled bitterly. It wasn't that the media didn't want to report on it—they simply couldn't. The day they filmed the S-Rank's face, a group of men in black uniforms had shown up and politely "invited" them for a chat.
While the forum descended into chaos, a peculiar thread was posted by Xinyuan, a user with the crimson title Analyst.
[The Three Legends Unite in the Game of Fate!]
Guo Dengyuan clicked on it immediately. The thread had already reached over a hundred replies. A pinned comment stood out.
"May the heavens bless Dongxia and humanity!"
The ID belonged to Wu Zhengyang, whose crimson title, Savior, gleamed unmistakably.
Guo Dengyuan's heart pounded violently. He pieced the clues together—the so-called "Three Legends" clearly referred to the three users with legendary titles in Dongxia's Destiny Forum.
[Analyst], Xinyuan.
[Savior], Wu Zhengyang.
And finally…[Exploiter], Kirigaya.
The answer was obvious.
Others connected the dots just as quickly. The thread was now flooded with comments:
"Exploiter Kirigaya!"
"Did Exploiter Kirigaya finally enter the Game of Fate?"
"@Kirigaya, is it really you?"
Just then, Guo Dengyuan's phone buzzed with a message from a special short number—a sign it was from a government agency.
[You may now release yesterday's video.]
Guo Dengyuan's spirits lifted. He immediately prepared to call Wang Xiang, but before he could, his phone rang.
Li Mei's normally sweet and melodious voice was high-pitched with excitement, almost breaking into a scream.
"Check it out, Guo Dengyuan! Hurry!"
"Yeah, go look!" Wang Xiang's voice chimed in from the background.
"What am I looking at?" Guo Dengyuan asked, baffled.
"On BlitzStation!"
Li Mei's voice trembled with joy, as though she couldn't decide whether to cry or shout.
"He stepped forward!"
Guo Dengyuan opened BlitzStation, a popular platform among young users. Without needing further instructions, a trending video on the homepage caught his attention.
The uploader's username was Sky Bright as Day.
Clicking on it, he saw a school plaza as the setting. The camera focused on a stage adorned with colorful banners as a white-haired principal personally poured celebratory wine.
Moments later, a swift and agile girl strode onto the stage, coughing as she downed two bowls of wine. Her voice trembled with tears:
"Zhu Xiuwen… he didn't break his promise!"
Guo Dengyuan's eyes reddened. The video's comment feed exploded:
"Crying in the South Ridge."
"I'm shattered."
"Sobbing."
One by one, those who survived the Awakening Trial ascended the stage, drinking their wine—sometimes their own, sometimes for fallen friends—and smashing the bowls afterward.
Guo Dengyuan finally understood that Sky Bright as Day was one of them.
The camera then panned to the tall, commanding figure at the back of the stage.
Guo Dengyuan shot to his feet. It was him. It really was him.
Boom!
The resounding footfall in the video shook the screen, making the camera wobble.
"What the—did an earthquake just hit?"
"Who is this guy? That's insane!"
The tall figure vanished momentarily as the ground cracked underfoot, before leaping directly onto the stage.
The next scene showed him gripping a massive wine jug, drinking deeply in one go, then smashing it to the ground.
"The celebratory wine is here."
"All their regret, fear, sorrow, and grievances—bring them to me!"
"I, the Exploiter Tong Gu, hereby begin my challenge of the Game of Fate!"
The man pointed at the crowd. His words felt as though they pierced through the screen, aimed directly at Guo Dengyuan.
"Watch me. Follow me. I will conquer the Game of Fate!"
Guo Dengyuan's tears streamed freely.
With someone like this leading, the Game of Fate could be conquered.
Perhaps… someone like him could survive after all.
Scrolling to the comment section, he saw a pinned post by the official Dongxia Abnormal Affairs Bureau:
"Thank you, Tong Gu, our Exploiter, our new S-Rank. And thanks to every brave soul who risks their life in the Game of Fate."
The comment had over 100,000 likes.
---
Night fell. Inside a sterile room, a delicate girl with porcelain-like features slowly opened her eyes. Seeing her father's joyous face by her bedside, her brows furrowed.
"Li Dashu!"
Her real name, Li Shu, was robust and stocky. But whenever his daughter called him by his full name, he knew she was furious. Sheepishly, he turned to face her, wearing an apologetic smile.
"Li Dashu was wrong."
The girl was about to scold him for putting her into induced sleep but stopped when her gaze fell on the monitor behind him.
On the screen, she saw Tong Gu's determined face as he pointed directly at the camera.
He was brilliant.
"He's alive… thank goodness."
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