Chapter One: The Uncrowned Player Found a Crown

A sentence was carved beneath its lid, visible only to the bearer of the Crown. [NAMELESS WINNER, PROCEED TO SERVER ZERO.] A black passage descended beneath the coffin. Beside its Enter command, the price was displayed: all current character data would be erased. Han Xiao raised his sword. “Three seconds. Final warning.” “No need.” Lin Jin straightened the dark-gold Crown and opened his microphone in the public channel for the first time. “Han Xiao, the fourth step of your Seven-Star Reversal is always one tenth of a second slow. That's because the person who first performed that movement for you had an injured right hand.” Han Xiao's smile froze. Lin Jin stepped backward and fell into darkness. He pressed Confirm. [CHARACTER DATA ERASED.]