Apocalypse

With a fire lit, the cold and damp room of the barracks began to have a bit of warmth.

With his saber stuck on the ground besides himself, Gu Qing Shan wrapped his arm with a bandage, leaned on the wall and sat down on the ground.

The militia introduced himself as Zhao Lu just now brought over a pot full of water, put it over the fire and closed the lid.

Zhao Lu searched himself for a small decorated box before giving it to Gu Qing Shan and spoke: 

"Lucky that you're here, otherwise I would've died to that monster as well"

"This is?" Gu Qing Shan received the box and asked.

Zhao Lu replied: "The outpost's last two Healing pills"

Gu Qing Shan asked back: "Why didn't you keep them for yourself to use?"

Zhao Lu shook his head: "I'm not a cultivator, can't use them"

Gu Qing Shan opened the box to see there really were two pills inside.

Taking one in his hand, Gu Qing Shan carefully examined the pill.

The pill is still in perfect condition, even the thin layer of sap covering the pill isn't damaged.

The light-green pill gives off a faint scent of herbs, calming anyone that smells it.

This is a Healing pill.

Healing pills are considered the lowest tier of HP recovery items. In the past, Gu Qing Shan wouldn't have even looked at them, but now that he's back in the past, without his previous cultivation, and a body full of wounds, these two pills are the most precious treasures that one can find.

Gu Qing Shan couldn't help but ask: "The whole outpost only have these two Healing pills left?"

Zhao Lu sighs and reply: "Yes, after everyone died, the supply chain got cut, so not only medicines and pills, but other kinds of supplies are running low as well"

Gu Qing Shan became silent for a bit, then thought of something: "Does the outpost have any Spirit Stones left?"

Zhao Lu curtly: "None"

"Then we're doomed" Gu Qing Shan sighs.

Zhao Lu hurriedly: "What's the matter?"

Gu Qing Shan answers: "The outpost's Invisibility formation is already very weak, without Spirit Stones to replenish the power, it will soon disappear"

Zhao Lu looked visibly shaken, immediately stood up and made a mad dash outside.

If the Invisibility formation disappears, all sorts of demons and monsters can immediately find this outpost, when that happens the chances of survival will be zero.

No wonder a few days ago, before leaving, the two Captains' eyes had the look devoid of all hope.

Gu Qing Shan looked at where the man dashed out, waited for some breaths, then heard a faint 'wuu' sound from outside.

That sound signals that new Spirit Stones have been replaced and the formation is restarting once again.

So Zhao Lu did hide some Spirit Stones for himself.

In this world, every person is a real living, breathing being with blood and flesh, if you see them as nothing but stupid programmed NPCs, you'll lose out on a lot more than you gain.

Ever since a long time ago, Gu Qing Shan already knew of this fact.

Not long after, Zhao Lu dragged his feet back to the room, slowly sat down with his back against the wall, held his face and started to cry.

Gu Qing Shan: "What are you crying about?"

Zhao Lu: "This time, all the Spirit Stones really did get used up, when the formation runs out of power again, we'll really be killed by the monsters out there"

Gu Qing Shan sat quietly for a bit, scraped off the sap from the Healing pill, swallow it and started trying to feel the spirit energy inside himself

At first he was still a bit nervous, not knowing if he could actually sense his own spirit energy.

But everything turns out quite well, the spirit energy from his Dantian1 immediately answer his call, mixes and absorbs the pill, transferring it all around his body.

Gu Qing Shan felt his whole body warming up as the wounds on his body started to become slightly itchy all over.

Meaning they're starting to close up already.

Once the pill was fully absorbed, Gu Qing Shan opened his eyes to find that it was already past midnight.

As Gu Qing Shan stood up, his body was in much better shape than before, most of his wounds had closed up and were already forming a layer of scab.

Zhao Lu was still sitting right there, his head bobbing from side to side due to lack of sleep, when he saw Gu Qing Shan woke up, he looked in anticipation and asked: "You ok yet? Your body is already better right? Can you bring me away from here with you?"

That last part of his question is probably what he truly wanted to know.

If not for that, he most likely wouldn't have even taken out the Healing pills.

Gu Qing Shan answers matter-of-factly: "Much better now, but if I want to recover to my peak state, it'll take a few more days"

"Then you keep resting"

Zhao Lu dejectedly stood up and turned to leave.

After Zhao Lu left, Gu Qing Shan sat alone on the ground, contemplating.

In his original time period, the demons and monsters from the game have already entered Reality and destroyed human civilization.

The rest of humanity could only live on their dying breaths, unable to do anything as the Apocalypse came and went.

Everything was at a dead-end.

In hindsight, right as the game released, there were already clues of strange happenings.

Back then, every single country was trying like mad to popularize the game.

Food, money, beauty, power, everything can be given to you, as long as you are strong enough in the game.

Strange things happened all over the world, but all of them were covered up by the top brass of humanity, leaving the populace clueless.

It was only when the first ever weapon was brought from the game into reality, that the populace finally found out that it wasn't a game, but a complete, real, and living, other world.

Everyone started to go crazy, immersing themselves into the game.

But the demons and monsters in the game were truly terrible, enough to make people become hopeless.

Even though hundreds of millions of people all joined the game to help the people of the other world fight against the demons, in every single strategic military campaign and battle, humanity kept losing, and losing, and losing.

Right down to the final campaign, when the game released a server-wide notice, that when this operation failed, demon kind would then fully occupy the other world, using that as a springboard to move onto invade Reality.

And Reality would also be devastated by the demons.

Of course, Reality went absolutely mad.

Every human aged 5 and above were mandated to create an account in the game.

As propaganda, they said that even if you're the weakest of the weak, without any real power, you can still use your own bodies as shields to block on strike for the main fighting power legion.

But even then, humanity was still defeated in the final campaign.

Only Gu Qing Shan, who headed his nation's strongest guild was able to complete the missions put out by the System and successfully cleared a path straight to the final Demon Lord.

When all of his comrades had died, Gu Qing Shan finally knocked the final Demon Lord down from his throne of flesh and bone to secure the chance of killing this final BOSS.

Right then, the heavy sound of the System voice resounded twice.

[Humanity's final Divinity has fallen, Humanity's final fortress has been breached, final verdict: Humanity had lost]

[The game had ended, the protective barrier is broken, reality's destruction begins]

BOOM-

As a huge explosion resounded, everybody was forcefully logged off from the game, not being able to do anything but watch as the end of the world comes.

Taking the small time when he still hasn't been forcefully logged off, Gu Qing Shan raises his weapon, putting all his might into stabbing the final Demon Lord right where his heart is.

Not being able to see the result, Gu Qing Shan then only felt his sight blackened, forcefully ejected from the game.

But he didn't leave the Apocalypse to go back to Reality, but instead lost all his senses.

Faintly Gu Qing Shan could hear a mechanical voice speaking.

[Player Gu Qing Shan finished off the final Demon Lord, for helping the despaired world that fell into the abyss leave a final spark, special final reward received]

Gu Qing Shan could only feel that he had an extra something in his hand, but became senseless afterwards.

When he finally reawakened, he was already inside the military mass grave.

As he recalled everything up to that point, Gu Qing Shan shook his head and breathed out in regret.

It's weird, the game was out for a whole of 10 years, right until the end he never heard about any final rewards existing.

I wonder what it was

Wait a minute, that's not right.

Gu Qing Shan suddenly remembered a crucial detail.

Right when he awoke from the mass grave, he was holding something in his hand.

----------- this saber!

Gu Qing Shan looks back down.

The saber is still there, stabbed on the ground next to him.

A golden saber without any extraneous details or decoration on its blade or handle, only a well-sharpened edge.

As Gu Qing Shan gave it a careful look, he could actually see a bit of faint golden glow on the blade.

As Gu Qing Shan tries to recall more and more, his heart beat also starts to quicken.

Before he killed the Commander, this sword was already in his hand.

He didn't know why. He only felt that the sword fit his hand extremely well, so he didn't bother to search the mass grave for any other weapons.

Did this sword originally from the mass grave, or did it come with me from that fight?

Gu Qing Shan held the saber, hesitated for a long time before finally pouring spirit energy from his Dantian into the weapon.

Right when spirit energy touched it, the golden glow from the sword intensified and expanded into a huge area painted gold.

A strange sense of dignity and mourning emits from the golden saber.

[Illegal entry successful, begin activation]

A cold and mechanical voice spoke up.

Perhaps he was just imagining it but Gu Qing Shan felt that this cold System voice he's heard so many times now held a bit of uncontrollable excitement.

After only a minute, the golden saber in Gu Qing Shan's hand explodes into countless golden sprites.

They floated in the air for just a bit before circling around Gu Qing Shan twice, then all rushed straight in between his eyebrows.

Gu Qing Shan only heard a deafening exploding sound as his Thought Sea2 became completely empty and his body completely froze, unable to move.

After a while, the cold mechanical voice spoke with a tired tone.

[Activation successful, War God UI3 operational]