The Phantom's Gambit - Chapter 6: Altercation

Ethan is a man nearing forty who has squandered his life behind a screen. Since his teenage years, he has poured everything into online games, chasing digital achievements while real life quietly passed him by. Now, with reality finally weighing on him, he realizes how empty his existence has become.Despite decades of obsession, he has only one thing to show for it: the #1 account in the world’s most popular MMORPG, Lost World Online—a fully immersive virtual game operated through neural-link technology. It is an account powerful enough to guarantee fame, sponsorships, and a second chance at life.But overnight… it vanishes.No warnings… No errors… His account simply ceases to exist.Ethan spends the entire night frantically searching for answers, contacting the developers through official forums, only to be told that nothing can be done. Without the account, even streaming or professional contracts are impossible. Exhausted and hollow, he finally gives up and falls asleep, deciding to forget his regret, half hoping everything would be a dream when he wakes up.When Ethan opens his eyes, he finds himself standing before the character creation screen of Lost World Online.It feels like a dream, yet his mind is clear, his body well responsive, not even like a game. Paying little attention, he goes ahead and creates a character and initiates the game.Then, his vision is swallowed by darkness.A violent rush of wind slams into him, and when his senses return, he is standing inside a bustling town from the game. Before he can question the missing opening cutscene—something that should always play after character creation—his attention is seized by the scene around him.The town was celebrating an Annual Festival. This was a festival that only ever occurred once, a festival that marked the first day Lost World Online was launched.Realizing the impossible, Ethan hurriedly calls up his system interface—only to find that there is no options menu, no settings, no log-out button…“This cannot be real.”

After a well-lived life on Earth, Kael never expected anything more than death and the sweet embrace of sleep and darkness.But fate had other plans. He was reborn in another world similar to Earth, where he grew up until he was ten, at which point his memories from his past life were reawakened.He was an old man trapped in a boy's body, but the mixture of the child's memories with his own made him feel more middle-aged than old.A few days later, the world he was in ascended into the realm of war, the battleground of all living beings. Kael was among the few awakened who had the chance to become the ultimate god of existence, based on the orbs of different paths presented before him.Kael was faced with three choices:Orb of ChaosOrb of NothingnessOrb of Void(Choosing any will make you undergo a trial that will change your very existence. Please choose wisely.)While in shock by these options and seriously pondering which one to choose, an unexpected event occurred.(Error detected... A new option has been created)(Be the wielder of the three — Chaos, Void, and Nothingness)(Answer picked by host, transporting...)Kael was in shock as he fell into darkness, with one swirling thought in his mind:“I didn't even pick any.”

As the mad researcher in a tattered white coat activated the self-destruction device, Qin Luo knew that this time, there was no escape.

He was well aware of the destructive power of the self-destruction device.
Even if he is genetically inborn with an independent space, it is impossible to use the power of his space to resolve against such a terrible explosion.

His only end would be a torn space and the crushed bones.

On an unrecognizable earth rampant with zombies and mutant creatures, this end is good.

Death is far better than living…

With a skull splitting headache he opened his eyes to find himself reborn in the year before the apocalypse happened.

Is this a joke!!!
Is this a chance for him to be prepared to combat the apocalypse?
Is God not satisfied with all the bitterness he had went through and would enjoy watching him suffer once more?

- Description from Novelupdates

What is martial arts?Martial Arts has nothing to do with musical instruments, chess, calligraphy, painting, treasures or secret manuals, nor is there so much talk about being the best in the world. Martial Arts is a technique, a method that gives the weak a chance to draw their blades against the strong.What is chivalry (xiá)?Chivalry is not about romantic affairs, traditional culture, or being gentle, respectful, frugal, and compliant. Chivalry is violence, it's the bayonet forged by those driven to Mount Liang to use against tyrants.Cao Mo pledged with a dagger, (Returning to) Lu to invade. Zhuan Zhu entered with grilled meat, (Pacifying) Wu to usurp the throne. Brother Zhang cried in the market, avenging his lord by defiling a lavatory. Suicide by cutting one's own throat to seek justice, acting while concealing his sleeve. The tyrant of Qin seized souls, the coward gained courage.This is a martial artist's story.In the 1930s, a group of like-minded young people came together, striving to change the world.Then, two hundred years later, in a garbage landfill, Xiang Shan, the Progenitor of Cyber Martial Arts who had once rebooted heaven and earth, woke up reciting the name of his enemy, having lost all his memories.“Perhaps it's because I lost back then that the world has become what it is...”“So this time, I won't be defeated again!”This is the story of a person changing the world once more!