Time-Traveling Lord!

Time-Traveling Lord!

"Ah!!!"

Zhao Mo jolted awake from the dream again...

He opened his eyes. His body was already drenched in sweat. Forcing himself upright, he sat up in bed.

The exquisite treehouse before him was still the same. It had not turned into white walls, and the vine-woven windows had not become glass panes. A few blades of tender grass and flowers even grew from the black beams overhead. He had no idea whether this treehouse posed any safety hazards...

But one thing Zhao Mo could be certain of was that he had not returned home. His transmigration had become reality.

He was certain this was not a dream.

Because he had woken up many times already.

He had truly transmigrated...

Zhao Mo slowly got to his feet, supporting himself with a patterned cane in his right hand and trying to stand more steadily. After all, falling from a tree more than ten meters high could easily leave even an Elf severely injured.

What was more, this William Blackleaf, whose body he had inherited, was an underage Elf. He had not cultivated battle aura or magic yet, and was currently considered one of the weakest among Elves.

"Still, transmigrating into an Elf seems pretty worthwhile. This face, this figure, these long legs—they're just as handsome as I used to be..." Zhao Mo glanced at the mirror. Looking at his handsome face, pointed ears, and long legs, he could not help sighing inwardly.

But Zhao Mo did not want to dwell on the past. He had been in this world for half a day already, yet there was still no sign that he could return. Since he was here, he might as well make the best of it—forget the past, start over, and, with a tiny bit of secret delight in his heart, try to survive in this damn world.

Besides, in a world that might have gods, careless words could cause trouble!

Although he missed his father and mother and wanted to care for them in their old age, he had read so many transmigration novels and had never seen many people manage to return...

Fortunately, though...

He had two older brothers. Both his eldest and second brother had long since started families and careers, so taking care of their parents would not be a problem.

He only hoped that this lonely single dog's sudden death from gaming had not made the old couple too heartbroken. If possible, he hoped they would shed fewer tears for their unfilial son. Living healthy lives would be best.

"I'm William Blackleaf. That's right, I'm William!"

He walked out of the treehouse and stood on the balcony bathed in golden light. As he enjoyed the sunlight, warmth spread through his body, and he felt filled with strength.

William's gaze drifted farther and farther away, while his thoughts grew increasingly scattered...

98.

98 a month. The game only cost 98 per month...

That was right, Gods was a virtual game with a monthly subscription.

After generations of pay-to-win games and time-card games emerged one after another, all virtual games in this future era had completely shifted to monthly subscriptions.

For example, the blockbuster games of history included Glory, Zero, Divine Realm, World Swordplay, Star Ocean, and Faith. These games had laid the foundation for the monthly subscription model!

As for Gods, it officially entered open beta in the year 2333.

Because its obscure developer had not done much advertising in the beginning, the game remained lukewarm in its early days. After all, carving out a path through countless virtual games was easier said than done.

It did not truly explode in popularity until three years later, even reaching the peak player count in gaming history: 68 million players online at once!

There was no helping it. Technology had advanced this far, so there were plenty of idle people—but plenty of games too...

Gods was a world of battle aura and magic.

Here, perhaps you would be fortunate enough to become a Dragon Slayer, successfully marry a princess, and reach the pinnacle of life.

But likewise, if the heroes were careless, they could be eaten by Dragons. The Dragon might even massacre a city for revenge, wipe out a guild base, kill tens of thousands of players, and then face retaliation from enraged NPC nations. Such things were perfectly normal.

And this was also a world with gods...

Every player dreamed of becoming a god.

Unfortunately, William had played for ten years in his previous life without becoming a god, and he had barely even seen one. It was not that godhood was impossible—he had simply died too early...

He had kicked the bucket inside his gaming pod.

Throughout gaming history, from old-school consoles to computer games, mobile games, semi-virtual games, and virtual games, there had always been a small number of "talents" who suddenly suffered brain death. But that did not frighten players. They would keep playing regardless. The medicine could not stop.

Money had to be spent, and monthly subscriptions had to be renewed. Could they just watch their money go to waste?

Of course, even before William kicked the bucket, he had never seen another player become a god. Not even a False God had appeared...

The key reason was that it was simply too difficult.

Whether they were professional players or members of top guilds, everyone had hit their ceiling at the Legendary Realm. Even so, not many people had reached the Legendary Realm, and Legendary strength came in vastly different tiers.

Of course, before he died, he had only just touched the leg hair of the late game...

What level had he been back then?

Naturally, he had stood at the peak of the entire world—the top dog among independent players, a Legendary Warrior!

As for his day job, he had been a power leveler.

It was not limited to helping kill—or steal—BOSSes. When rich players threw money around, he could lead them through quests, grind experience, catch pets and mounts, and more.

He could even work part-time as an assassin and help kill someone or two.

After all, as a Legendary, he was far stronger than ordinary players.

But it was also because he was Legendary!

Not only did it require spending money, it required grinding too.

And without money, how could you craft equipment? Without money, how could you socket gems? Without money, how could you enhance weapons? If you had no money and did not want to grind, then just quit the game already...

William had always suspected that after NetEase went bankrupt, quite a few programmers must have joined this company. Otherwise, how could the equipment system be so damn predatory?

For a poor bastard like him, if he had not started playing on the first day of the open beta, possessed exceptional skill, recognized the game's diverse potential, and spent day and night grinding, he would never have gained such a massive lead over later players. Only by snowballing through power-leveling, earning money, grinding, power-leveling again, earning more money, and grinding even harder had he gradually clawed his way to the Legendary Realm. Otherwise, he would have starved to death in his gaming pod long ago.

"Unfortunately, I still grinded myself to death!" William Blackleaf rubbed his stomach and sat helplessly in a bamboo rocking chair. He picked up a bottle of fruit wine worth thirty copper coins and took a sip. It was sweet and smooth, without any bite.

It felt wonderful. At least he had not started out as a dog, which already put him far ahead of many others in the same line of work.

"But now that I've been reborn, I still have to keep grinding!" He needed to figure out how to make use of his identity and, more importantly, how to survive!

"William Blackleaf, one of the Elf lords at the southern edge of Blackleaf Forest. Nicknamed the Border Lord... Uh, it seems I'm a Half-Elf?" William had inherited only a few fragments of the previous owner's memories. He had no idea why the guy had been so badly injured from falling out of a tree—or why he had even died, allowing William to be reborn in another world.

But now was not the time to think about that. He should think about how to live better.

"Wait, that's not right. I remember that when I was over level twenty, I seemed to have dealt with him a few times. This was a very forceful lord. His territory was small, but his ambitions were not. I accepted quite a few quests here.

But this guy died in a chaotic battle involving multiple sides just half a year after the open beta began. Even his territory was annexed by the Steel Duchy. That really was rather tragic.

His father—the previous Border Lord—had managed to survive in the gap between Blackleaf Forest and the Human Duchy's lands, even skillfully playing both sides.

But this son had no future. After inheriting the territory, quite a few civilians seemed to have fled. Only later did he successfully expand the town.

And after stirring up plenty of trouble, he neither pledged loyalty to the Duchy nor completely retreated into Blackleaf Forest...

Although I've forgotten what trouble it was, everything he did later was practically suicide." William sighed softly and began sorting through the memory fragments in his mind.

The Border Territory was not large, but the eastern and western sides of the town were vast and could be put to good use.

Border Town had 3,000 residents: 1,500 Half-Elves, 1,000 humans, and 500 Elves.

Those five hundred Pure-Blood Elves...

Hmm.

According to the memories in his mind, they seemed to be personal guards his mother had given him.

Those guards were quite strong and very loyal, but they were also far too proud. They were deeply displeased by the other half of his human bloodline.

Even though his mother possessed the bloodline of the Elven Royal Family, those five hundred Pure-Blood Elves intended to use their thousands of years of lifespan to outlive William, this Half-Elf, and then return to Blackleaf Forest.

"Uh... My mother is actually part of the Elven Royal Family?" William's mind was a mess. Only now had he fully processed the sudden flood of memories.

Just as William was about to call someone to support him while he inspected his territory...

A voice sounded beside his ear.

"Ding-dong"

"Countdown until the 1.0 open beta begins: 364 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes"

"..." The current Border Lord, William Blackleaf, possessed the noble bloodline of the Elven Royal Family!

He gradually fell into deep thought. According to his expectations, after transmigrating into another world, he should have embarked on an awesome life of defeating Dragons, marrying princesses, and slaying gods when he saw them.

So why was he about to become an NPC?

"Why... why do I have to face those immortal cheating bastards known as players?" William was suddenly a little dumbfounded.

New book. All kinds of support appreciated. If you don't like it, please don't flame it. Thank you very much.