2 The Game’s Public Beta

Knock, knock, knock!

“Lazy pig, get up, it’s time to eat!”

Tang Xuan smiled faintly and opened his door. Standing outside was a youthful girl with an innocent face and a generous figure.

She was one of his tenants.

As the protagonist of “Online Game: The Great Martial Hero,” he had once been the top god of the gaming world, lauded as the number one player and the textbook of online gaming.

With his innate system that allowed him to master any skill to perfection simply by practicing, it was no wonder he had achieved such heights.

Yet despite his fame as the top player and gaming expert, circumstances led to betrayal and suppression by his former gaming club. Forced into retirement, he handed over the many top-tier gaming accounts that had once belonged to him.

“This really feels like the setup from ‘The King’s Avatar!’”

Tang Xuan chuckled to himself.

But just as he was forced to retire, the public beta of “The Great Martial Hero” was about to launch!

This was a super online game destined to take China by storm, even allowing players to bring their in-game abilities into the real world.

If he didn’t seize this chance to rise again in “The Great Martial Hero” and make the club that forced him out regret it bitterly, would he be worthy of his “master any skill to perfection” golden finger?

“And that’s not all—the story starts with four wives.”

Tang Xuan looked at the youthful, innocent-faced girl at his door—Li Weiwei, one of his predetermined four wives.

As the former number one player and the textbook of online gaming, Tang Xuan was quite wealthy. The seaside villa he lived in was just one of his many properties.

He also happened to have four beautiful female tenants.

These four beauties each had their own charm: the mature queen, the childlike loli, each unique in her own way.

Their common trait? They were all fans of Tang Xuan, the former “number one player” and “online gaming textbook!”

But the old Tang Xuan never revealed his true self; in public, he always wore a mask and a cap.

So these four beautiful fans had no idea that their landlord was actually their idol.

They rented the house for a simple reason: as a newly formed gaming studio, they planned to make their mark in the soon-to-launch “The Great Martial Hero.”

“I wrote dozens of chapters, just flirting with the four beautiful fans, never getting to the main plot—the game hadn’t even launched. No wonder the novel was abandoned for poor performance!”

Tang Xuan shook his head with a wry smile.

Fortunately, today was the day “The Great Martial Hero” would finally launch!

His mission in this world was to take the protagonist’s place and play the game for a year.

As long as he played through one year of the public beta, this abandoned novel world would gradually stabilize, avoid destruction, and become a normal world like any other.

“This task isn’t hard at all—it’s just playing a game for a year!”

Tang Xuan walked downstairs with Li Weiwei.

In the living room downstairs, the other three beautiful tenants—his predetermined wives—were there: two were seated, one was preparing breakfast.

To the left of the table was the leader of the four beauties, the mature and elegant Wang Yajun, tall and striking, the founder of their gaming studio.

To the right sat Luo Qingqing, wearing black-rimmed glasses and looking assertive.

Preparing breakfast was Qin Yanran, the picture of gentle domesticity.

With the youthful Li Weiwei who’d called him down, each girl had her own unique charm.

“All of them are stunning—no wonder the author chose them as the four wives.”

Tang Xuan glanced at the four beauties and smiled to himself. The coming year wouldn’t just be about gaming; there would be beautiful women too—truly a fascinating time!

“Good morning, ladies,” Tang Xuan greeted them with a smile, taking the seat at the head of the table.

Qin Yanran gently placed stacks of breakfast dishes on the table. “Breakfast is ready, eat up, ‘The Great Martial Hero’ launches at eight.”

After so much playful banter, the four women still didn’t know Tang Xuan was their idol, the number one player, the online gaming textbook.

But their relationship with their landlord had grown much closer.

Especially now that they knew Tang Xuan intended to join “The Great Martial Hero,” they had common ground, and the bond had deepened.

It had become routine for the four beauties to share breakfast with the landlord.

But today’s breakfast was unusually quiet; after all, at eight o’clock, “The Great Martial Hero” would begin its public beta.

Especially Wang Yajun, the mature leader, whose expression showed both anticipation and anxiety, finally settling into resolve.

She had broken free from her parents’ chosen path and was determined to carve out a place for herself and her sisters in “The Great Martial Hero.”

The game hadn’t even opened, yet was already causing a sensation in China thanks to its promise of 100% virtual reality.

Wang Yajun knew that, in a few months, the game’s “headset” would become a “game pod,” allowing players to bring their in-game abilities into the real world.

Once the game pod was released, it would be the catalyst for humanity’s evolution.

The structure of reality itself would be utterly transformed.

Very few people knew this secret. Wang Yajun was one of them.

It was for this reason that she led her sisters to pursue their own destiny and fully escape her parents’ constraints.

Luo Qingqing, Qin Yanran, and Li Weiwei didn’t know Wang Yajun’s full plan, but they trusted their “big sister” completely.

Besides, they were all passionate gamers!

The clock soon struck eight.

“Let’s go, girls!” the lively Li Weiwei cheered.

The four women put on their gaming headsets.

Tang Xuan did the same.

Once the headset was on, the world went black, and vivid scenes played before his eyes, each with stirring background music.

A peerless swordsman—one strike, soaring to immortality!

A moonlit night atop the Forbidden City.

Clearly, these were Ye Gucheng and Ximen Chuixue.

A bold warrior unleashed a golden dragon with his palm—

The Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms!

Judging by his looks, he seemed more like the heroic Qiao Feng than the honest, naive Guo Jing.

There was also Zhang Sanfeng, the founder of Wudang, demonstrating Taiji…

Each passionate scene, paired with stirring music, set the blood racing and the heart longing.

“The Great Martial Hero,” as the name suggested, was a game forged from the essence of countless martial arts classics.

“Welcome to The Great Martial Hero. Here, you have dozens of sects to choose from, as well as hidden sects and families waiting for you to discover.”

“You may become anyone you wish in the martial world!”

“Please name your character.”

After the scenes, the game officially began.

Tang Xuan considered. Should he call himself Autumn Leaf Knows?

Lord Don’t Laugh?

He shook his head with a smirk and entered four characters.

Defier of Destiny!