Chapter 1 Red Medicine Hall
In 2004. San Francisco, United States. The WCG (World Esports Competition) award ceremony.
"StarCraft runner up - China - Suyao!"
Standing next to the awarding officer, who spoke pure English, stood nineteen year old Su Yao, who was only tall enough to reach the shoulders of foreigners. She received the national flag and trophy in countless spotlight lights, with a childish smile on her face. This nineteen year old Oriental girl, with shoulder length black hair and deep dimples when laughing, was the focus of attention today. She raised the national flag and trophy with both hands, generously allowing media from various countries to include her in the headline news of game websites, newspapers, and magazines.
The runner up of WCG, no matter what, stands out.
But Su Yao's corner of the eye was full of light, and she kept looking at a dark corner under the stands, not knowing what she was thinking, as if she wasn't here for the prize money and ranking.
"StarCraft Group Champion - China - THANATOS!"
Then, the awarding officer announced the championship, which was also the last prize at the ceremony. When she heard the name THANATOS, Su Yao's smile suddenly stopped. She almost opened her mouth and stared blankly at the man named THANATOS, walking step by step from the darkness onto the stage.
Yes, she never thought about winning the championship. She knew she would definitely lose to him. He could even make her pee with his eyes closed.
THANATOS, an almost mythical existence, was already the champion of WCG at the age when Su Yaopipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipipiao followed his male classmate to skip class and learn how to fight StarCraft.
But no one has ever seen the face of THANATOS, nor does anyone know his real name - Su Yao stared blankly at this man who wore a duckbill cap, black sunglasses, and only used his pseudonym THANATOS no matter where he went, no matter how important the occasion was, and even in the final match with her - she didn't even know his age.
She only knew that there was a tall tower in her heart. On the top of the tower, there used to be little red flowers, class representatives, team leaders, piano level 10 certificates, admission letters from key universities... She had everything she wanted since childhood through hard work, because her parents said that as long as you got these, you wouldn't interfere with playing games.
Su Yao was able to pass the Soul Douluo level with one life. She was familiar with every shortcut of Super Marilyn, and could reveal the attributes of dragons and every monster in the dungeon. Later, she heard the legendary story of the character Thanatos from a boy for the first time, and began playing StarCraft. She tirelessly participated in regional and selection competitions, and over the years, she knew that he was the only one on top of her tower.
Now she finally stands beside him holding the silver trophy.
"Don't be stunned, girl." The awarding officer thought that Su Yao was holding a grudge about losing to THANATOS in the final. He lightly patted Su Yao's shoulder, gesturing for them to shake hands as the champions and runners up.
"Can I say a few words?" Su Yao looked up and asked the award officer, his throat dry.
Pass the microphone to her hand.
"Thanatos, I... I want to see what you look like..."
The girl who was just so handsome and generous now has a hot face. Su Yao couldn't believe it, and her voice would be as small as a mosquito.
He remained indifferent.
Amidst the constant sound of shutter speed, Su Yao blushed and her heart went wild. "THANATOS!" she exclaimed, "I like you! I've liked you for a long time! I've been following you! That's why I'm standing here!"
The whole room suddenly fell silent, and the journalists and other contestants, their mouths wide open in an O-shape. No one expected such a stunning scene at the award ceremony. They even stopped their chance to grab headlines and waited quietly for Thanatos' answer.
THANATOS, a god in Greek mythology who governs death.
Su Yao felt like his nails were all pinched into his palm, and the wait for a few seconds was like a century long.
The humorous award officer was the first to react, and he quickly called for someone to plug another microphone into THANATOS.
But he didn't answer.
"Sorry."
He spoke these two words in Chinese, just lightly.
He turned around and left.
That year, the entire world of Su Yao lost its color.
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"Today is a good day, everything you want can be achieved, and tomorrow is a good day again. The precious time cannot wait, today and tomorrow are both good days..."
Su Yao was awakened by her phone alarm.
This is early winter of 2010.
Su Yao rolled back and forth in a daze under the blanket when suddenly a sudden inspiration struck her. She seemed to be thinking of something and picked up her phone to look at it. Damn it, it was 8:55.
She crawled out the door one after another.
"Do you remember to come to work, Su Yao? You've been late 28 times this month. If you don't want to work, just leave early."
The leader's huge face seemed to be scolding her in front of her. After finishing, Su Yao sat in the taxi patting her chest. The leader scolded her yesterday and she was late again today.
Although she couldn't figure it out, even though she only worked 22 days a month, how did the 28 times mentioned by the leader be calculated.
"Master, could you please drive faster?"
Su Yao urged the driver to step on the gas pedal while his mind raced on the excuse of being late.
Traffic jam, traffic jam again, Aunt's visit, fever, flu, toothache, gastric prolapse, Aunt's second visit without adjustment, mumps, rhinitis, keratitis, emphysema, Aunt's third visit without adjustment... But she has used all these reasons this month.
"Do I have to say I have uremia? No, no, it's too harsh. Is it uterine bleeding or hemorrhoids cracking? Will the leader kill me?"
Su Yao was struggling as his phone began to sing, "Today is a good day, tomorrow is a good day again.".
Good day, your sister!
Su Yao's inner beast was roaring. She picked up her phone and saw that it was Liu Changshi's phone number.
Liu Changsi was Su Yao's roommate and close friend during her college years. Since the 2004 San Francisco WCG battle, Su Yao, the youngest Oriental girl and the most anticipated newcomer in the world, has withdrawn from her career in competitive gaming. She no longer plays, looks, smiles, and her towering tower collapses with a loud bang.
The extraordinary skills she has honed over a decade have brought her a shining era, and she once thought she would consider esports as a profession, going further and further on this path.
But in the end, she still walked away like a fart.
She returned to China, studied, took exams, graduated, and started working. She looked at her boss's face, earned a meager salary, and lived a life of nine in the morning and five in the evening. Even so, she was content with the ordinary life. She grew long hair and nails, and under the influence of Liu Changshi, she started reading anime, novels, and the vulgar, lewd, and lascivious stories like "Days with the Great God JQ".
"If only I could also meet a great god!" At that time, Liu Changshi twisted her waist and lay on the forum of the online game "Human World", reading the biographies of those well-known players.
Su Yao also accompanied her heartlessly, laughing heartlessly. No one knew about her past, and the trophy was covered in six years of dust, even she herself had forgotten in a daze.
"Yao Yao, accompany me to play online games! That's it! This is the world! Just emerged! It's so hot!" Liu Changshi shook Su Yao's shoulder. "I know you don't like playing games, it's okay, you don't know how to play. Sister taught you, online games are not as stupid and boring as you said. Look at how beautiful you are! Maybe you can have a romantic encounter with the gods inside! Hahaha!"
Su Yao glanced at the screen. The game was indeed exquisitely designed and attractive, and there was no need to think about strategy. Originally determined not to touch any games, she agreed to play with her friends through hard and soft trials. Su Yao comforted herself that this was just a casual online game, not a competitive competition.
At that time, Liu Changshi's game character "Flowing Water Changshi" was at level 102, a professional solo ranger. She held a crystal long bow with a deep blue light and stood on a cliff with a majestic aura - shooting birds.
"Haha, you can rest assured that no one will bully you, sister is covering you up!"
Liu Changsi watched with satisfaction as Su Yao built a new level 1 account - character name: "Red Medicine Hall", profession
Su Yao saw the four major professions of the Mage series: Church Pastor, Summoner, Five Elements Mage, and Dark Wizard, as well as the four major professions of the Warrior series: Silver Moon Warrior, Flying Dragon Warrior, Round Table Knight, and Double Blade Martyr. He also saw the four major professions of the Wanderer series: Divine Thief, Shadowless Assassin, Lone Ranger, and dissolute Wanderer. The twelve major professions have their own unique strengths.
Su Yao chose one after another, and ultimately chose the most inconspicuous Shenyin thief.
"Oh my, medicine, why don't you choose a mage? The mage department is so popular now, and people are rushing to get dungeons when forming teams. You can change it and don't choose thieves. The game is still the first version, and the class balance hasn't been adjusted. Thieves are the weakest, with thin health and low attack and defense. Look at the teams at the entrance of those dungeons, they all say they lack people and thieves are not in the same group..."
Su Yao ignored her, thinking that thieves were good, low-key, and mysterious, and she particularly liked the word "Shen Yin". She didn't care about his career balance.
Sometimes people are like this, they love because of some strange obsession.
In Liu Changshi's long sighs, a semester quickly passed.
"Liuliu Changsi" has reached level 140. This game has more monsters and less experience, and the upgrade path is long. Characters at level 140 were already quite popular at that time.
Where is Su Yao?
Liu Changsi, who was still standing on the cliff shooting birds to upgrade, turned her head and glanced at Su Yao's screen, crying.
Red Medicine Hall, 200, full level.
Full server, the first person to steal from Shenyin.
So sometimes it's like this, the more you think about being low-key, the more fate takes you on the opposite track.
Su Yao is distressed. She doesn't want to appear at the top of the level chart, but the inertia of ten years of professional players in her bones makes her unable to resist killing monsters, leveling up, and fighting with people to exchange skills in PK operations. This game has low monster killing experience. In order to satisfy some violent gamers, the developer has set up PK with other players to earn experience points. Defeating higher level players also earns more experience, almost exponentially increasing, which is much more cost-effective than monster killing.
Of course, if you lose, you will have to deduct it backwards, and the deduction will be quite disastrous.
Someone dropped from over 100 levels to over 80 levels overnight, and if they kill monsters, they will have to kill for two months before they can return.
So game developers shamelessly tell relevant departments that our game advocates harmony and friendship among young people, and does not advocate violent PK.
However, they may have forgotten that there is a type of person in the world called professional players.
For example, Su Yao, a former competitive player who has participated in WCG, has not experienced much decline in her skills six years ago. She easily challenges players who are much higher in level and equipped better than her. She draws on their experience and blood, and in thousands of PK matches, she has not lost a single game. When Liu Changshi forces her to dungeon, level up, howl, and cry, Su Yao easily reaches the full level.
It was also in that year that she met Ji Canghai.
"Medicine, have you seen the ranking? The voting on the" Human World "website has just ended, and your photo album with Canghai Brother has lived up to expectations and ranked first. Ahahaha! Congratulations! Here's the candy! Here's the red envelope! Now the whole Tianya City is celebrating for you. Hahaha, why don't you take a leave of absence from work and go play the game now!"
Liu Changshi's cheerful voice came from the phone, interrupting Su Yao's memories.
"What's the rush? We won't get married until next week." Su Yao's mood improved a lot and he scolded with a smile, "My aunt has come three times this month. If I pretend to be aunt again, the leader will probably throw me out!"