After AFK for five years, I returned to be number one in the entire server.

One afternoon, in the neighborhood where the rented house is located.

A small park is nestled between several residential buildings.

The park's facilities were somewhat outdated; next to a few faded fitness equipment pieces stood a rusty iron swing.

Lin sat on the swing, his hands resting on the iron chains on either side, his gaze fixed on a bare holly tree in the distance, lost in a daze.

Occasionally, a few elderly people wrapped in thick clothes would walk by in the neighborhood, and a slight rustling sound of plastic bags would come from afar.

Gu Qingxin walked over along a path, still with a gentle and serene demeanor, looking as if she had just returned from get off work.

She was carrying a plastic bag from a convenience store, which contained some puffed snacks and candy.

Seeing Lin Ye sitting on the swing in a daze, she walked over to the swing and handed Lin Ye a bag of potato chips.

Lin Ye withdrew his gaze from the holly tree and looked at what was in front of him.

He looked up and met Gu Qingxin's eyes; the air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Lin also took the snacks and continued to look at Gu Qingxin's face.

"Did we meet in the game?"

Gu Qingxin's hand stiffened slightly, a smile returned to her lips, and she nodded gently.

"Um."

Lin also saw her nod in agreement, and his suspicions were confirmed.

Since that time at the hot spring resort, the images of "Star Abyss" in his mind have become clearer and clearer.

He realized that he might not have completely left that world after quitting the game five years ago, as he had thought.

Until the college entrance exam was approaching, he discovered that he had been playing games on that old phone for the past few years.

Like all the other players chosen by Star Abyss, he would wake up in that world every night and experience things completely different from reality.

However, every morning, Star Abyss will wipe away all the memories in the game.

There are also doubts. If I really enter "Star Abyss" every night like ordinary players, then why didn't I awaken my power at a very early stage like others?

He only received the power when he opened the game on the eve of the college entrance examination.

More importantly, the game "Star Abyss" on that old phone has maintained its earliest programmed form from five years ago.

These signs suggest that he has indeed been in a state of complete disconnection from the game for the past five years.

Lin Ye did not dwell on this issue; he rarely forced answers to things he couldn't understand at the moment.

He pulled his thoughts back to the images that had recently resurfaced in his mind, and in those fragments, he did indeed see Gu Qingxin's face.

Lin Ye looked at Gu Qingxin, opened his mouth, and wanted to ask a few more questions about "Star Abyss".

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly stopped, a hint of displeasure flashing in his eyes.

A massive magnetic field, carrying a strong sense of provocation, teleported continuously, like a sharp sword piercing into his perception range.

Lin was no stranger to this feeling; he had sensed it on the ring a few days ago at the gymnasium of Bailing Polytechnic.

However, since the other party was merely sitting in the stands and did not do anything out of line, Lin ignored him.

Now the other party has actually tracked me down here and is heading straight for the neighborhood where I usually live.

Lin didn't offer any explanation to Gu Qingxin. The next moment, his figure on the swing vanished into thin air.

A thousand meters above Ningchuan City.

A biting wind howled through the clouds; the air here was thin and icy.

Lin Ye's figure suddenly appeared, standing in the void without any support, as if he were standing on solid ground.

Directly opposite him, less than twenty meters away, stood a young man suspended in mid-air.

Chu Changqing crossed his arms, looked Lin Ye up and down, and then asked, "You actually came out on your own initiative. Do you remember me?"

Lin looked at him and shook her head expressionlessly.

He let out a cold laugh: "It doesn't matter. As long as I defeat you, whether you remember me or not is a trivial matter."

"Since you dare to come out, you must be prepared to fight me. There are too many people in the city, and it would be difficult to fight here. Come with me."

After uttering those words, Chu Changqing's figure vanished instantly in mid-air.

On the outskirts of Ningchuan City, above a desolate, rolling hill.

The two figures appeared one after the other, facing each other from a distance of several hundred meters.

Far from the city, the mountain wind weaves through the rocks and withered trees, carrying the desolate chill of winter.

Chu Changqing hovered in mid-air, the airflow beneath his feet spontaneously lifting his body.

He adjusted himself to his peak condition, and the sharp edge in his eyes pierced Lin Ye without reservation.

Lin Ye's gaze was not focused on Chu Changqing. He silently spread outwards his enormous magnetic field, with a radius of twenty kilometers, like an invisible and intricate giant net.

In this desolate wilderness where even birds should rarely venture, the response was unexpectedly overwhelming.

In his perception, in those hidden corners, there were many faint points of light lurking.

Even though they tried their best to suppress their magnetic field and disguise themselves as rocks and plants, they were still nowhere to hide from Lin Ye's perception.

On the edge of a steep cliff, a monk sat cross-legged, blending into the withered stone.

Five kilometers away, above the clouds, lurked a woman dressed in strange clothes, the surrounding airflow compressed to its extreme.

Deep in the dense forest below, a black man dressed as a warlord leaned against a thick tree trunk, his eyes piercing.

In several more distant locations, players from different countries, belonging to either Frostland or Cloudland, were stationed. They maintained a safe distance from each other, clearly separated, and occupied the best observation points where they did not interfere with each other.

A quick glance revealed that there were actually more than a dozen players hiding here.

Moreover, each of their magnetic fields has truly stepped into the threshold of the Chen level.

Even in the distant sky, occasional black dots would appear.

New players of the Chen level kept arriving in this area via teleportation, and then quickly found an excellent spot to observe from a distance and hide.

The eyes of the world are on this place, and Chu Changqing is the stepping stone that everyone tacitly pushes out to test the waters.

They all wanted to use Chu Changqing's prowess to find out what they were thinking.

Gu Qingxin arrived here at some point, carrying a long, dark red wooden box on her back.

She looked up, her gaze piercing through thousands of meters of empty space, locking onto Chu Changqing.

The gentle and warm temperament that had always surrounded Gu Qingxin was completely gone.

Instead, there is an extreme cold that makes one feel as if they have fallen into an ice cave.

Her clear eyes held a murderous intent that was pure to the extreme.