Chapter 41
Chapter 41: Must Snatch a Slot!
start with a broken sect V posted on weibo:
“Hi everyone. We felt your enthusiasm, so we registered on weibo to announce some good news.
broken sect will release another twenty permanent beta slots after 12 a.m. tonight. First come, first served—fast hands win, slow hands lose.
yun zhou continent—start your second life.
This game has no resurrection. Players, cherish your lives.”
Riding the wave, the account drew attention almost immediately. Curious netizens swarmed in.
The moment people saw “twenty slots,” the comments detonated.
“You’re only opening twenty? Are you serious?”
“Fast hands win, slow hands lose—are you even an official account?!”
“Lmao, you really think your game is hot? The marketing stunt is obvious.”
“Can’t I just buy a slot? I’ll pay.”
“Why is there no revive system? Who plays a game you can’t revive in?”
“Not gonna lie, this marketing push is insane. A million for this kind of heat—your PR team could jump anywhere and be big shots.”
“Don’t bother buying accounts. The recruitment form asks for your entire family background, plus face and ID verification, and it locks IP. Even scalpers can’t grab slots. There’s no way to resell accounts.”
“What? You won’t give me a slot? Hilarious. I don’t even want it. You really won’t? Wow, broken sect, you’re so full of yourself.”
…
“Tian Ya, you’re here?”
Inside a villa, an elegant middle-aged woman stared at the handsome young man in front of her, her expression strained. “Your cousin is in his room painting.”
“I need to see him. It’s urgent.” Jiang Tian Ya’s face was tight with worry. “Aunt, it’s really important. I have to talk to him.”
His aunt’s eyes reddened. “Tian Ya… he hates being interrupted when he paints. Please don’t go in, okay? I’m begging you. You know your cousin can’t handle any shock since the accident. He was only just saved at the hospital last time. Don’t go…”
“Aunt, I know,” Jiang Tian Ya said, forcing steadiness into his voice. “But this time I might have a way to save him. Don’t you want him to live well too?”
She froze. “You… Tian Ya, don’t joke about that.”
“I’m not joking.” Jiang Tian Ya’s gaze didn’t waver. “Trust me once. I would never joke about my cousin. I’ll talk to him myself.”
She went silent. Tears shimmered at the rim of her eyes. After a long moment, she stepped aside.
Jiang Tian Ya moved at once.
The studio was bright with clean sunlight, but the floor was a chaos of paper. Sketches lay everywhere—some delicate and beautiful, others violently scribbled over, soaked in black and blood-red. The mood clung to the room like smoke.
The young man inside paused the instant Jiang Tian Ya entered.
“Get out!” he snapped.
“It’s me.” Jiang Tian Ya scanned the room in one quick sweep, then spoke carefully. “Xue Yao. I need to talk to you.”
Liang Xue Yao’s voice was still sharp. “What is it, bro?”
“If I told you there’s a way for you to move like a normal person again,” Jiang Tian Ya said, “would you try it?”
Liang Xue Yao whipped his head around. “What are you saying?”
When he turned, the truth showed—his body sat cross-legged, but below one knee, one pant leg was empty. The shape of absence.
Jiang Tian Ya let out a breath and crouched, gently patting Liang Xue Yao’s head as if he could press the anger down with his palm. “I know how heavy this has been. Your life now is nothing like before. But I promise you—you can enjoy a new life again. Something beyond what you can imagine. It might even shatter everything you believe about the world. The only condition is… you have to be lucky.”
Liang Xue Yao stared at him, disbelief flickering across his face. “Cousin, what are you talking about?”
“Listen.” Jiang Tian Ya’s tone hardened with urgency. “Check the hot searches on weibo. A game showed up. It’s not something you’ve ever seen.”
He explained start with a broken sect from beginning to end, then said, “You know I don’t lie to you. I’m not crazy. That world is real—real in a way that doesn’t feel like a game. In there, you can live a second life as a normal person.”
Liang Xue Yao let out a bitter, mocking laugh. “Bro, you’ve lost it. Stop messing with me.”
“I’m not messing with you.” Jiang Tian Ya’s jaw clenched. “And that’s not even why I came. It’s also because of the person you saved. He’s military. You saved his life. If you tell him about this, you can connect with the state.”
His words came faster now, as if he was racing a clock.
“I suspect this game is real in a way that’s not normal. It’s not ‘just’ a game. Right now the slots can only be grabbed. I want the state involved—someone needs to figure out what this thing actually is.”
“Our Sect Master is Song Jiu Lai. This game didn’t appear in any other country first. It appeared in our china. That isn’t an accident. We have to seize the initiative. Do you understand?”
Liang Xue Yao sat motionless, caught between anger and shock.
“You know my family,” Jiang Tian Ya continued. “I can’t contact anyone official without going through my father. He’ll think I’m insane and stop me from playing. I can’t tell anyone else either—no one believes something like this unless they’ve experienced it.”
His voice softened, just a little. “I’ve already entered the game. Now I need you to go in. Once you’re inside, you’ll understand. And you can be there with me.”
Liang Xue Yao didn’t speak.
The world Jiang Tian Ya described sat too far outside anything he’d ever allowed himself to hope for.
“At 12 a.m. tonight, the grab starts,” Jiang Tian Ya said. “I’ll tell you everything I put in the recruitment form. You’ll copy-paste your ID info in and submit as fast as you can.”
“I tried everything. That website can’t be broken. No cheats, no hacks, no loopholes. That alone tells you this isn’t some ordinary game company.”
“Other players might tell their families too. There are only twenty slots, and who knows how many people will rush. You have to be fast.”
He swallowed, eyes bright with intensity. “If this game truly explodes, later it’ll be hundreds of thousands, millions—maybe tens of millions of players fighting for slots. You can’t imagine how terrifying that will be. Right now is the best chance. Twenty is few, but the number rushing won’t be as insane yet.”
Then, as if still afraid Liang Xue Yao would slip out of his reach, he added, “I’ll stay here with you tonight.”
Liang Xue Yao stared at him, as if looking for the crack where the lie would show.
“…Okay,” he finally said, voice rough.
And outside that room, somewhere on the other side of the screen, the countdown kept ticking.