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Skyroad - Chapter 1

Published at 23rd of April 2019 06:59:24 PM


Chapter 1

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Chapter 1: The Final Horseman
 
The wine we drank together amid the spring cherry blossom, memories resurfacing every rainy night below the dim lamp.

Three months later. Midsummer, Lake Tai, Suzhou.
On the water, a fishing float ebbed up and down. Shortly after, it stopped. Sounds of engine roared from the road behind me as a white Porsche pulled over. I frowned and lifted my fishing rod. The fish bait had already been nibbled to pieces. I then glanced over at the Porsche.
The door of the Porsche opened. An extremely stunning young woman clad in a white gown walked down the car holding a notebook. Wearing a pair of delicate heels, she carefully waded through the reeds towards me. When she stopped before me, I fell into a slight reverie. Her pinkish cheek was like a delicately carved jade. Her eyebrows were curvy while her huge eyes were filled with intelligence. The eyes seemed extremely pure with not a single speck of dust in them. Her dark long hair hung over her shoulders like a waterfall. The gown she wore accentuated the curves on her slender body. It was as if she had walked right out of a painting.
A goddess driving a supercar had appeared. Was she lost? I was suspicious, not knowing if I should continue replacing the bait of my fishing rod. She had walked towards me just like that. Her bearing was graceful while every single curve on her seemed impossibly perfect. She gazed at me with her pretty eyes, seemingly at a loss. She then looked at the notebook she was holding, looking as if she had only been able to come here after mustering up her courage. She elegantly stood beside me and spoke, “Excuse me, are you Ding Muchen?”
Instantly, my mind went blank like it had been struck by lightning. Was this the heavens taking pity on me for having been single for so many years? Just as I was about to wither away like an old tree, the heavens had delivered spring upon me. This great beauty was thus sent here to save me from my distress?
“Ye…yes?”
I pretended to be calm and continued fishing. However, my concentration was no longer on the fishing float. I had fished quite a number of fishes today, yet the prettiest of them was definitely this mermaid before me.
She appeared somewhat uneasy, “I am Tang Yun. This is our first meeting. Hello…”
“Hello.” I turned around and faced her before continuing, “What can I do for you, beauty?”
She tightened her grip on her notebook, nearly deforming it. Her gown fluttered slightly in the wind while a sweet scent started being emanated out of her long hair. “I heard about your retirement not long ago. Therefore, I am here to extend an invitation to you. Are you willing to join my club, to charge into the Golden League when Skyroad goes live three months later?”
I was somewhat relieved, yet a slight sense of disappointment crept into my heart as well. So she was only here inviting me on behalf of a gaming club.
“Sorry. I have no intentions of joining any club for now.”
A trace of disappointment appeared in Tang Yun’s eyes. She then pursed up her lips before saying, “Have…have you been fishing here every day since retirement?”
“Yeah…” I smiled before asking, “Oh, yeah, how had you found me? If memory serves me right, I hadn’t left my address anywhere.”
Tang Yun smiled, her dimples showing, and glanced at the two milk teas on the railing, “I found your information from the delivery services. Every single day you will order two iced milk teas at the same time and have them delivered here. The address recorded is…the most handsome angler on the second stone railing facing the lake at the third street. Am I right?”
My face was flushed red, “That was embarrassing. Haha. Don’t mind me.”
Tang Yun seemed unwilling to give up. She bit her lips, looking quite adorable doing so, and said, “Ding Muchen, I know what happened to you during your time at Silverfox. You are indeed the youngest of the top five national tacticians. However, you are also the one with the most potential. You are the national server’s Final Horseman, also the strongest horseman. The Silverfox Club might not be willing to put you to use, but I am willing. So long as you agree to join, I will try my best to fulfill whatever remuneration package you want.”
“I’m good.” I waved my hand and smiled, “I am truly sorry but I don’t feel like joining any clubs for now. I might not even register an account for Skyroad.”
Tang Yun clenched her teeth, “I am willing to pay triple of what Silverfox used to pay you. Can you…think about it?”
“There’s no need. Money won’t change my mind.”
I glanced over only to be greeted with the sight of a pair of slender and tender legs that were revealed after the wind blew the fringes of her gown up. Due to the wind blowing hard against her, her gown were pressing hard on her, revealing the shape of the two lofty peaks on her chest. Instantly, my heartbeat sped up, nearly agreeing to her then and there. I seemed to have been electrified and was only able to continue speaking after taking several deep breaths, “Tang Yun, thank you for your invitation. I have no problem with you. If this was two years prior, I would have agreed to your invitation already.”
Disappointment filled Tang Yun’s eyes, “Then…can I add you in my friend list? If you change your mind, you can look for me at any time. My studio and club will always be open for you.”
“Sure.”
I took my phone out and opened my Wechat. After scanning her phone, an adorable kitty profile picture appeared on my friend list. The username was Tiramisu, a rather familiar name.
“Well then, I wish you a bountiful harvest today.”
Tang Yun approached me and stretched her tender neck out as she looked at the spoils of war in my bucket. Her eyes curved as she smiled, “Not bad, all of them are yellow catfishes…”
“Haha…I’m still quite skillful.” I laughed awkwardly.
Tang Yun waved her hand, “Bye then.”
“Bye.”
As the Porsche left, I felt somewhat lonely, as if I had lost something. A good opportunity was lost just like that. However, a few seconds later, my sense of loss was swept away by the sounds of a scooter engine. A gray scooter was now parked where Tang Yun’s car was. The scooter was filled with rust stains, while the rider was wearing a golden helmet. He took the helmet off to reveal a smart-looking face that was smiling at me, “Big Brother Chen!”
“Little Che?”
I laughed. His arrival was a surprise. This was Lin Che, a good brother of mine. We grew up together and went to the same elementary and middle school. We also joined the police academy together and joined the police force together as well. We then retired together and joined Silverfox together. However, he had left half a year before me.
After parking his scooter, Lin Che walked towards the lake and sat down on the grass. He looked at where Tang Yun went and asked, “Who’s that girl earlier? Was she here for you?”
“Yeah.”
“Who is she?” Instantly, Lin Che’s eyes lit up as he laughed, “Is…is she my future sister in law? She’s really pretty. I dare say that with her looks, let alone Suzhou, a person like her will be hard to find even in the entirety of Shanghai. You are quite good with the ladies, eh?”
“Stop bullshitting.” I grumbled, “She was only here to invite me into her club.”
“Oh…” Lin Che laughed before he continued, “With your ability, after you announced your retirement from Silverfox, your phone must have been spammed terribly, right? A lot of clubs and teams dream of entering the Golden League. You are probably their first choice.”
“You’re exaggerating things too much.” I glanced at him and said, “Little Che, you are doing quite well lately, eh? You even have a vehicle now.”
Lin Che glanced at his scooter and his face flushed red, “Hehe, this is a second hand scooter. It’s quite lacking in terms of power and look. I’m only using it to travel around.”
“Alright. Tell me why you came.”
“Ok.” Lin Che nodded and assumed a stern expression, “Big Brother Chen, have you ever thought of the future ever since you retired from Silverfox?”
“Nope. I’ll see what happen when the time comes.”
“I have a suggestion.”
“Tell me.”
“Skyroad will go live three months later. People are calling this game the masterpiece of Yueheng Corporation. This is the game they had invested the most in recently, a game like no other. People are also claiming that the realism in this game borders reality. Don’t you want to give it a try?”
Lin Che then rubbed his nose and continued, “After leaving Silverfox, I have been doing nothing for half a year. I have been thinking about a lot of things, and have been contemplating life as well. I come to the conclusion that…gaming together with my fellow brothers is still the best. Don’t you think so?”
My heart throbbed, “Yeah, you’re right.”
Lin Che was getting somewhat excited as he smiled and said, “Why not…we team up again? Let us create a gaming studio again and do battle in the world of Skyroad. What do you think? With our ability, we will definitely be able to create an empire in the game!”
I stared at the fishing float, hesitating.
“Big Brother Chen, do you have any misgivings to this plan?”
“Yeah.” I nodded, “You had experienced what it’s like in Silverfox. We all know very well what will happen when a professional gamer gets tied up by corporate interests. All dreams will be gone, with endless compromise the only thing left.”
“What if…” Lin Che clenched his fist, “We create a studio only for the sake of making some money for ourselves. We won’t look for sponsors nor will we try entering the Golden League. We will only focus on gaming. What do you think?”
“Sure!”
I nodded my head heavily. Lin Che was overjoyed as excitement filled his face, “This is a yes then?”
“Yeah. But things will be very difficult during the early game with only two of us.” I frowned, “In any case, a minimum of four members are required to register a gaming studio.”
“I have a candidate.”
“Who?”
“Big Brother Wei.” Lin Che said, his eyes burning with excitement.
I nearly coughed blood in anger, “Zhang Wei? Are you sure? He got even the Q ability wrong when he played LOL back in the days. In any case, he had never played Skywarp. Can he even control his character in a game that borders reality like Skyroad?”
“Just give him a try. If it really won’t do, we can always bench him and get him to be our logistics officer. It will be fine to use him to fill up the quota.”
“Fine. Have you been keeping up with him?”
“Yeah. We can go look for him later in the evening.”
“Sure.”
Lin Che rubbed his nose again and laughed, “Big Brother Chen, I have fallen due on my rent…do you have any place I can stay?”
“What have you been doing, kid?”
I pointed at the distant building by the lakeside, “There. That’s the house I rented. There’s a lot of room inside. You can move in anytime you want.”
Lin Che was in shock, “You…you rented a villa?”
“I had been planning to live out the rest of my life here after my retirement. That’s why I rented this house for one year. The monthly rental is RMB 8,000. How is it? It will do as our studio, right?”
“Yeah, in fact, it will do great as our studio!”

In the evening.
Honk, honk, honk…
The scooter tried its best to bear the weight of two as it climbed up the slope. The scooter seemed to be on the verge of falling apart yet it was able to travel the distance of several kilometers until it reached an outworn residential area. This was where Zhang Wei was residing. He was our classmate during the senior high school, also one of the best friends we used to hang out with. It had been quite a while since we last met.
I raised my head and looked at the wall where paints were peeling. Vines had been allowed to grow wildly on the wall. When I reached the corridor, my face was blasted by a wave of unpleasant stench. The walls were filled with numerous flyers. This was a depressing sight. It was evident that Zhang Wei wasn’t doing very well as well.
“We’re here.”
We stood before one of the door in the corridor. Several handwritten words saying “Ushering in wealth and prosperity” were pasted on the door. This was sad to look at.





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