"That year, with the Holy Sword in hand and the World Tree behind me, I didn't know what a rival meant."
Standing before the bedridden world boss "Demon Dragon Emperor," the first warrior in Miracle, Lynn, smirked, ready to reap his victory.
In the area where he battled it, there were corpses of top ten guild players everywhere, but due to the game's harmony, even with millions dead, there was no river of blood.
Everything before him was part of the final chapter of the ten-year-old popular online game "Miracle" on Blue Star, updating the content where the Realm Lord of the Demon Realm, Demon Dragon Emperor, led the Seven Great Demon Kings to launch the ultimate battle against the Divine Protection Continent.
According to the background story of "Miracle," players play various roles of Miracle World and compete mentally and physically against the invading Demon Race. In the initial game setting, Miracle World consists of three continents: Divine Abandonment Continent, Divine Protection Continent, and Divine Protection Continent.
When players first entered the game, the Divine Abandonment Continent had already fallen. They could only resist the Demon Race between the "Protection" and "Guardian" continents. But as the game progressed, even with the powerful player support, the Divine Protection Continent announced its fall on the third anniversary of the server opening. Subsequently, all players were forcibly concentrated on the last piece of untainted land in Miracle World, the Divine Protection Continent.
Many players had complained about the game company setting the "monsters" too strong, but as the first and only virtual online game of the new century, its status in the game industry was unshakable. Even if everyone was shouting "quit" or "abandon the game," nothing changed.
Fortunately, the power of the players was equally formidable. In the following seven years, the Demon Race in Miracle World remained strong, but the player teams developed over ten years became an even more terrifying disaster than the Demon Race.
According to authoritative forum calculations, if the current player forces united, it's not just resisting the Demon Race invasion, they could even push back, reclaim the Divine Protection Continent, and explore the undiscovered Divine Abandonment Continent with ease.
As for whether they can counterattack the Demon Realm, it's hard to determine. After all, during the ten years of version iteration, the Seven Great Demon Kings, as the kings of the Demon Race, had appeared successively and were defeated by players before each major update.
But the Demon Emperor of the Demon Realm, Demon Dragon Emperor, mentioned in the game's background, never appeared in any battles, so no one knew its specific strength as this world boss. Besides, according to insider rumors, even if the Seven Great Demon Kings were piled together, they wouldn't be a match for Demon Dragon Emperor.
And a boss with such terrifying strength surely made players itch with anticipation. Luckily, everything was updated in the final chapter of "Miracle" celebrating its tenth anniversary, "Heaven's Fall."
Thus, there was the scene for Miracle's first warrior Lynn, wielding the Holy Sword, slashing at the blood-drained Demon Dragon Emperor, worthy of being etched into frescoes.
"Goodbye, final boss. I just never thought the final world quests 'World-saving Hero' and 'Ascension to Divinity' would be completed by me alone."
Lynn gently shook the exclusive weapon, "Saint Emperor's Sword," the only one in the server, before decisively slashing at the Demon Dragon Emperor, whose health was displayed as 1/999999999, covered in ten lines of negative status, and utterly incapable of recovering.
-10086!
A bright yellow critical number danced on the body of the Demon Dragon Emperor as it collapsed, its massive dragon eyes still wide open, even in death.
"World-saving Hero quest completed, reward settlement: exclusive title 'Savior,' one hundred million experience points, ten million gold coins, exclusive divine artifact 'Saint Emperor's Armor.'
"Ascension to Divinity quest completed, reward settlement: Please step onto the Ascension Ladder first..."
Under Lynn's expectant gaze, a golden ladder extended down from the crown of the World Tree he leaned against, and higher in the sky, a dazzling throne stood at the top of the firmament, with angels faintly cheering and playing music beside it, and rings of radiant sunlight forming halos that spread like waves.
The next moment, under the watchful eyes of the unyielding dragon's gaze, Lynn, holding the Holy Sword and donning the Holy Armor under the World Tree, walked step by step up the golden ladder, finally seeming to beat this game after ten long years...
One step, two steps... Ten steps... Ninety-eight steps...
"Ninety-nine steps in total for the Ascension Ladder, a return to one?"
Saying so, Lynn stepped forward one last time, and then... missed.
Simultaneously, the massive dragon corpse lying beneath the World Tree turned into a plume of black smoke, rushing towards Lynn, who was falling from the top of the firmament.
"Is this an easter egg?"
Suspended in the air, Lynn couldn't gain any footing, but with the muscle memory formed already, his right hand still accurately issued the golden Holy Sword, dispersing the black smoke aiming at him into ashes.
"How can a mere mortal become a god! Let this emperor ascend to heaven for you instead!"
The dissipated black smoke didn't entirely vanish but passed over the falling Lynn, regrouping as one and flying straight towards the Ascension Ladder.
"Hehehe, with you undead ants, you dare resist this emperor. Had I not known an Ascension Ladder would appear today, would this emperor be dead at your hands!"
The sound of hehehe laughter came from the black smoke, while Lynn happened to land on a branch of the World Tree during his fall. With the sturdy branch, he stood firm, but when he looked up, he was several hundred meters away from the Ascension Ladder above the firmament.
"Destroying three continents gave this emperor a chance for divine ascension, now with the Ascension Ladder nearby, this emperor doesn't regret playing the weak once, hehehe!"
Under Lynn's frowning gaze, the rising black smoke enveloped the step he fell from, and the next moment, the smoke gathered into a towering humanoid form.
Compared to the first step, the humanoid shadow was at least five meters tall, a giant that could fit two and a half boxes after cremation.
"Look at this ant who once barely beat this emperor in this world, at the end of the Ascension to Divinity, it's the soul that must walk, unwilling to abandon the mortal shell, how can one become a god."
When the words fell, the towering black shadow took a step, stepping on the step Lynn missed. Then it jumped and disappeared at the top of the firmament.
The next second, golden stardust descended from the sky. Lynn instinctively reached out to catch some, but ended up with black soot.
As the black faded, Lynn seemed to hear a familiar yet strange voice roaring at the sky—
"Fake! It's all fake! Don't ascend! Don't ascend!"
...
"Ascension to Divinity quest reward settlement complete, player Lynn has... has???"
"Ascension to Divinity quest reward settlement complete, world boss Demon Dragon Emperor Lynn has fallen in the Divine Realm... fallen!"
As the system prompt's last syllable fell, Lynn, initially standing well on the World Tree branch, suddenly blacked out, performing a sudden demise with no one to watch.