He opened his eyes, dazed. He felt the sticky sensation of sweat on his back. His clothes stuck to him uncomfortably. His memory was frozen at the moment he fell off the cliff.

"Is this death? It's not as terrifying as everyone says. All I ever heard was that people who jumped from heights would be broken beyond repair. I wonder if I look like that now." Lu thought sarcastically to himself.

Isn't death just that? Lu was also resigned to it. The grievances of his past life had all been repaid, and he had no regrets. However, why did he still have so much unwillingness in his heart?

Was it a mistake to trust my friend, or should I just accept it?

By 2040, Earth's industrial civilization had experienced explosive development. Machines replaced most manual labor. Conversely, the global population reached a record high of 12 billion due to advancements in healthcare.

Unemployment, widening wealth gap, public discontent, and mass protests have become hallmarks of every nation.

To address this issue, countries united and made various efforts. One of them was the collaboration of nine most developed nations using high technology to jointly develop a 3D holographic simulation network game called "The Second World," fulfilling the dream of global players for decades.

This game has only one service, where all players around the world compete together. With over 3 billion people entering the game, it has attracted capital investment. The platform opened a function for real-time exchange of in-game currency and real currency, effectively alleviating unemployment to some extent.

Lu was an ordinary working-class child. During his university breaks, he entered the game to supplement his family income and became a gold farmer for a studio. However, Lu didn't expect that this seemingly insignificant person would unexpectedly become famous. He not only established a small guild of 5,000 people but also built a fortified base in the high-level monster area.

Even the nearest main city to this top-tier monster zone would take half a day to reach. After Lu established this fortress, he immediately announced its existence to all players. They could buy supplies, repair equipment, use the auction house, log off for rest, and do everything else within the fortress.

Relying on this fortress, not to mention riches every day, even if it were ten thousand gold coins a day would be understated. At this time, Lu had reached the most brilliant moment in his life. He thought that relying on this fortress could bring a better life to his family and brothers, but Lu didn't expect that this was just an illusory dream.

On the third day after the fortress was built, Liu Jie, the head of the first line of the Huaxia District and also the master of a super wealthy family in real-life China, led three hundred core members to pay a visit in person, wanting to buy the fortress from Lu.

Lu naturally couldn't agree. The price Liu Jie offered was only 10% higher than the construction cost. It was essentially treating Lu and his people as forced labor. Besides, this fortress was the result of 5,000 brothers working together. Choosing Lu to be the leader meant the brothers trusted him. If they just sold it like this, how could Lu face his brothers in the future?

After refusing Liu Jie, Lu was worried that the other party would seek revenge. Although he had 60 high-level mages under his command and possessed the Demon God's Heart, fearless of overwhelming numbers, in order to prevent an attack, Lu discussed with the three vice presidents of the guild, each taking three main force squads to guard the city twenty-four hours a day.

For a whole month, there was no news from Liu Jie's side. This gradually eased Lu's vigilance.

As the saying goes, trust can lead to both victory and defeat. It was precisely because Lu completely trusted his close friend that on the third night after he deactivated the alarm, Huang Xiang, his roommate from their four years of university and also the main tank of their guild, told him about a new boss found in the top-tier monster area, requiring all three main teams of the guild to be dispatched to eliminate it.

Lu Buyi, upon seeing this, immediately led three main forces under Huang Xiang's command to a valley on the map. However, when they arrived, Lu didn't see the boss, but instead saw Liu Jie, the president of the top guild in Huaxia, smirking with twelve main forces and 12,000 level 200 elite players under his command.

At this point, he finally understood that Liu Jie hadn't given up on getting his hands on him. He had simply changed his approach, using a hefty sum to bribe his men into betraying him and leading him to this inescapable valley, complete with an unbreakable barrier preventing him from returning home.

That night, Lu and his three main troops were continuously killed by the enemy's forced battle resurrection method up to forty times.

The 3,000 main force troops had all their equipment stripped away and suffered heavy losses. The fortress was also breached by Liu Jie's other six main forces, leaving Lu utterly defeated.

To build this fortress, Lu took out a lot of loans from the bank. At first, with the fortress and his gang brothers, Lu could easily repay these loans. But now that the fortress is destroyed and the main squad's equipment is gone, Lu has completely lost his ability to repay. Faced with the huge debt and the desperate looks of his brothers, Lu chose to escape in panic, locking himself in his house every day and drowning his sorrows in alcohol.

Lu thought his remaining life would be spent in this endless pain and struggle, but one thing completely woke Lu up.

With 10 years left before retirement, Lu's parents resolutely decided to retire early from their state-owned enterprise job. They now work hard on construction sites every day to help Lu earn money and pay off his debts so he won't struggle financially for the rest of his life.

But in less than half a year, my father was inexplicably seriously injured at a construction site and died in the hospital before receiving any rescue. My father's death dealt a heavy blow to my mother, and soon after, my mother also passed away.

Within a short period, both of his parents passed away, leaving Lu heartbroken. He had initially believed his father's death was an accident, but when he was beaten to the ground by Liu Jie's henchman, Wang Teng, and mocked with the revelation that everything was orchestrated by Liu Jie, Lu understood that Liu Jie wanted to leave him no chance of redemption.

Just as Wang Teng was about to kill Lu, his comrade-in-arms Han Cheng, who had learned of Lu's parents' death and rushed over from abroad, happened to save Lu and take him overseas.

For 5 years, Han taught Lu to train and learn how to kill. After 5 years, Lu, fueled by his hatred, became the internationally renowned mercenary "Fire." He led a team of mercenaries back to his country and spent a fortune buying Liu Jie time to return home. Then, Lu ambushed him at his doorstep. The moment Liu Jie entered his house, he shot him in the head.

At that moment, Lu finally felt a sense of relief. He had originally wanted to continue hunting down the others who had wronged him, but Liu Jie's family relentlessly pursued him with all their might. Lu could only lead his mercenary group to leave temporarily. Sadly, as they neared the border, Lu was discovered by both the police and assassins from the Liu family.

During the chase, Lu single-handedly led the police into the mountains to cover his wounded brother. In the end, they were intercepted on a clifftop.

Faced with the police's plea for surrender, Lu could only sneer. His life's great revenge had been achieved; Lu no longer had regrets and had lost the reason to live. He jumped off the cliff and chose suicide.

Just, in that moment of jumping, what flashed before my eyes was a smiling face and eyes without a speck of impurity. If I had to say there was anything left unfulfilled, it would be that.

<<>>>>

Lu wanted to wait until he had the ability before confessing his feelings, but unfortunately, Liu Jie didn't give him that chance. Five years later, when Lu returned, he inquired about Shen Mengyao's whereabouts, only to learn that she had been married off by her family. However, she wasn't happy in her marriage.

It's such a pity, if I didn't trust my friends.

If one could have more time to develop oneself.

If I could become stronger

If……

If...

……

The rage that welled up within Lu caused him to throw a punch at the wall beside him. The intense pain instantly took over his entire nervous system.

Lu's eyes widened suddenly.

“I'm not dead, am I? How can my arm still be alive, how do I still have nerves?”

Lu quickly sat up and checked himself, discovering that he was as unharmed as if he had fallen like a ball of sesame balls. There wasn't even a scratch on him. He felt the wet thing sticking to his back; it wasn't water but sweat he had dripped while lying in bed because the weather was stifling.

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