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Is this what a vampire feels like when someone opens the lid to their coffin? The brightness is blinding—I feel like I’ve been asleep for literal years. I want to roll over and pull the covers back over my head, but I’m unable to move or speak.
Stupid sleep paralysis.
I’m not even able to shut my eyes; I can only watch as two hands emerge from the light and descend towards me. Closer and closer they come, reaching for me, lifting me up and into the light. I’m still groggy from sleep, but it doesn’t take all of my brain cells to realize that I’m being cradled by a Glory avatar.
Holy sh—...I should have listened to Mucheng and gone to bed on time instead of downing that energy drink to stay up catching wild bosses with Ye Xiu.
My head is spinning as I take in the world around me. We must be in the beginner regions considering that the avatar holding me is level 1 and wearing the most basic equipment. The avatar doesn’t look like an early version of One Autumn Leaf or Dancing Rain, but somehow he feels familiar. I can’t quite put my finger on it.
[Lord Grim has obtained the Myriad Manifestation Umbrella]
Everything clicks when I hear the Glory system announcement: the avatar holding me is Lord Grim! My eyes dart around the dimly lit warehouse in search of the Myriad Manifestation Umbrella, but strangely I don’t see it in the room or on Lord Grim’s person.
I glance up at Lord Grim. His brows are furrowed, and he’s looking down at me pensively. Is this my guilty conscience coming into play? I had, after all, poured my blood, sweat, and tears into making the ultimate unspecialized weapon and created Lord Grim for the sole purpose of using it. After the update; however, our unspecialized dreams were never able to come to fruition, and Lord Grim was abandoned in the back of a desk drawer.
Lord Grim has a right to be upset with me, I guess.
I want to apologize; but again, I can’t talk. I can only lay here like an inanimate object and wait for this annoying sleep paralysis to be over.
Lord Grim suddenly hoists me into the air and swings me behind him. There’s the familiar click of equipment being equipped as Lord Grim straps me to his back.
[Lord Grim has equipped the Myriad Manifestation Umbrella]
Still feeling discombobulated, it takes me a few minutes to process what is happening. I feel a fit of laughter threatening to burst out as it hits me that I’m the Myriad Manifestation Umbrella. Lord Grim has just equipped me.
I’ve dreamt of Glory countless times, but this is the first time I’ve dreamt of myself as a piece of equipment. I can almost hear Mucheng’s voice telling me that’s what I deserve for spending so many hours tinkering with the equipment editor. She is going to laugh so hard when I tell her about this dream tomorrow.
“Let’s start.”
The voice coming from the person controlling Lord Grim is unmistakably Ye Xiu’s, but something about it feels off. He sounds older: any trace of that awkward teenage boy voice he’d had when we first met has been wiped out. Like Lord Grim, he seems sad. He seems tired.
We walk together in silence out of the warehouse. I’m not sure what is troubling my old friend, and I’m confused as to why he’s decided to dust off our old Lord Grim account card and start over in the beginner regions. Shouldn’t he be preparing One Autumn Leaf to compete with Excellent Era in the Alliance? I remind myself that this is only a dream: it’s probably my brain’s way of processing that we wouldn’t be using Lord Grim or the Myriad Manifestation Umbrella in the competition.
I have to laugh (internally, of course, I still can’t talk) when I remember part of my brain’s creative solution is to make me the Myriad Manifestation Umbrella.
⚰️☂⚰️☂
The oddities start to pile up as we make our way to Green Forest Dungeon. Everyone we pass is talking about Glory’s new server. The tenth server apparently. Since when were there so many servers?
Most of the people we run across are complete noobs, but there are some old hands in the mix too. They brag to the newbies about their exploits in the other servers (obviously stretching the truth to seem more impressive) and discuss recent pro matches with their fellow veterans. Names like One Autumn Leaf, Dancing Rain, and even Ye Qiu float around with celebrity status, and it feels as if every launcher we pass by is a girl with a name obviously based off of Dancing Rain.
I may still be half-asleep, but I’m not an idiot. The detailed descriptions of previous servers, the way the other players talk as if Excellent Era has already won a championship, and the sheer fan energy surrounding Dancing Rain all feel like far too much for this to simply be a dream. Have I been transported into the future? Now that’s going to be a hard one to explain to Mucheng later.
I wrack my brain for an answer as to what is happening. What had I been doing last night before falling asleep? Catching wild bosses with Ye Xiu? No, that wasn’t right…
A sudden, sharp image of a car’s headlights speeding towards me flashes in my mind. There’s a crash, a blood curdling scream, and I find myself unable to move or speak.
Oh.
I’d died that night.
Numb from the shock of regaining my memory, I take a second to let everything sink in. I’m dead, and I’ve been reincarnated as the Myriad Manifestation Umbrella? It seems like my soul is quite literally embodying one of my greatest works.
Fascinating.
My intrigue quickly turns to sorrow as I think about my sister and the pain she must have endured due to my untimely death. She’s already gone through so much, she doesn’t deserve this.
Mucheng is also much stronger than most give her credit for, and if anyone can come out okay on the other side of this it’s her. Besides, I know she hasn’t been alone in this.
⚰️☂⚰️☂
We approach the outskirts of Green Forest Dungeon and immediately start looking around for an open party to join. It’s still a mystery to me why Ye Xiu is poking around in a level five dungeon when his One Autumn Leaf and Excellent Era are doing so well. Judging by the comments from the other players, it’s still the middle of the 8th season. Why isn’t Ye Xiu practicing with our team?
The pieces don’t add up no matter how I try to fit them together, and I have an ominous hunch that things may not be as wonderful as they seem for my old friend.
It’s less of a mystery why Ye Xiu is trying to party up with these noobs instead of running the dungeon by himself. Hidden bosses only appear to players in a party; and knowing Ye Xiu, he’s going to want those rare boss drops to upgrade the Myriad Manifestation Umbrella. Leveling up the Myriad Manifestation Umbrella is extremely tedious; it’s not something I could imagine even the biggest Glory fan doing purely for fun. This doesn’t seem like something he’s doing for the team either, otherwise wouldn’t they be helping him so he wouldn’t have to team up with strangers?
I push my curiosity aside for now, having faith that Ye Xiu must have his reasons for pulling out the Myriad Manifestation Umbrella now. Selfishly, I’m brimming with excitement at the thought of really getting to experience my greatest creation in action.
⚰️☂⚰️☂
[Sleeping Moon has invited Lord Grim to join their party]
[Lord Grim has accepted Sleeping Moon’s invitation]
From the beginning, I don’t have a good feeling about this Sleeping Moon character. As I listen to him and Ye Xiu discuss the party’s rules surrounding boss drops, I have a sneaking suspicion that this blade master is up to something nefarious.
[Sleeping Moon’s party has entered Green Forest Dungeon]
[Attention: Midnight Phantom Cat is approaching]
Only minutes after entering the Green Forest Dungeon, the system announcement informs us that we’ve encountered a hidden boss. Lucky!
The hidden boss fight starts off as expected. Per Sleeping Moon’s instructions, Ye Xiu has Lord Grim hang back and focus on healing. Not long into the fight, however, Sleeping Moon’s energy seems to vanish and the Midnight Phantom Cat rushes over and kills one of the other members of our party. Sleeping Moon claims it was an accident, but I don’t buy it; and of course, neither does Ye Xiu.
In the end, Sleeping Moon gets what’s coming to him and dies like the other members of our party, leaving only Lord Grim alive. I brace myself, knowing that the real battle is still to come.
Lord Grim grabs me by the hilt, and I transform into a lance as he thrusts me towards the Midnight Phantom Cat. I anticipate Ye Xiu’s next move easily, it’s as if I’ve become an extension of him and he’s speaking directly to my mind. Lord Grim leaps into the air and I slice through the Midnight Phantom Cat on our way up before I transform into a gun and start blasting Midnight Phantom Cat.
Ta ta ta, my bullets shoot out fast and furiously with needle-like precision, and a thrill rips through me as blood spills from the Midnight Phantom Cat’s mouth and they tumble to the ground. Getting to experience Glory on this level is exhilarating. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever imagined, and I’m already hungry for another battle.
[Tenth server, Midnight Phantom Cat First Hidden Boss Kill: Lord Grim]
“First Kill?? You have some real skill!” I hear an unfamiliar female voice coming through Ye Xiu’s headset. It’s not Mucheng, I’m positive of that. Mucheng wouldn’t be so shocked upon seeing Ye Xiu’s skill.
I half-listen to Ye Xiu and the mystery lady’s banter as we inspect the boss drops. My mind is elsewhere, replaying the battle with the Midnight Phantom Cat over and over again. That small taste of what the Myriad Manifestation Umbrella can do—of what I can do—has me dizzy with excitement.
This isn’t at all how Ye Xiu and I had imagined partnering up in Glory, but I vow to support him in what little ways I can. Even if we can’t talk to each other like old times, even if he doesn’t realize I’m here, our hearts are forever linked through Glory, and I’m excited to see where the future will take us.
⚰️☂⚰️☂
Some people dream of an afterlife filled with abundance and wealth, others hope to be reincarnated into someone powerful. As for me? This is enough. As soon as I get word of Mucheng’s well-being, then everything will be perfect.