Crownless

May 23, 2024.

Ling An sat in front of his computer, his eyes bloodshot.

As a shut-in, he never missed the slightest stir in the anime-style gacha gaming scene.

Today marked the launch of a new game called Wuthering Waves.

Ling An had been waiting well ahead of time, ready to snag an early user ID.

At last, when the striking figures of the male and female protagonists appeared before him, Ling An chose the male protagonist without hesitation.

Black hair, golden eyes, and a cool black outfit.

Ling An muttered to himself, "Who turned on my front-facing camera?"

He logged into the game, ready to have a blast.

Before long, he had cleared the opening story and reached level eight. Finally, he could pull!

Ling An rubbed his palms together and eagerly clicked into the Convene screen.

Of the characters currently available, the ones he wanted most were, of course, the two adorable little girls.

As for the one he least wanted...

Naturally, it was the legendary snow leopard.

That was right. As a former closed-beta player, he really was that shallow.

One click of the mouse, and golden light burst forth!

Ling An jumped out of his chair!

"Holy shit, a single pull!"

His eyes widened as he stared intently at the screen-

"Greetings to start the show! Evil, begone! Peace, year after year!"

The white-haired lion-dance boy leaped down from the air, his smile innocent.

In front of his computer, Ling An's smile froze on his face. His head tilted, then slammed into the desk with a thud.

Poor Ling An failed to catch his breath and collapsed.

When he slowly opened his eyes, he found himself in a void.

"Where the hell did I end up?" Ling An rubbed his brow, then suddenly realized something felt wrong.

He looked down at himself and nearly jumped.

"Holy... shit! Isn't this fucking Crownless? How did I end up like this?"

Ling An was all too familiar with his current identity.

Crownless.

A Tacet Discord with a humanoid body.

Tacet Discords, simply put, were monsters the protagonist could defeat in the game-the "local specialty" of Solaris, the world where Wuthering Waves took place.

His gray, fierce-looking body was powerfully built, lean and muscular as though clad entirely in armor, with a sleek black cape hanging behind him.

This was the first boss the protagonist encountered in Wuthering Waves.

It was also Ling An's favorite Tacet Discord.

He had never expected to open his eyes and find himself in Solaris.

Ling An accepted his transmigration remarkably quickly.

Since he was here, he might as well make the best of it.

But the most pressing problem before him was that Solaris's protagonist, the most overpowered hero in all of anime-style gacha gaming, would arrive any moment.

Ling An was starting to panic.

What do I do? Waiting for answers online. Extremely urgent!

Getting beaten by the protagonist, turned into an Echo, and absorbed? No, thank you!

As both a closed-beta and launch-day player, Ling An understood his situation perfectly.

With his current identity, he would have been fine back in the closed beta. The protagonist, Rover, could only have taken a beating from him. Players had called Crownless "big bro" for a reason.

The problem was that this was the public release.

He had now been nerfed into oblivion.

Should I run first? The thought popped unbidden into Ling An's mind.

He might only be a Tacet Discord, but with such a badass, handsome body, finding a beautiful wife in Solaris and enjoying a peaceful retirement should still be possible.

Maybe some girl out there was into his type?

He acted on the thought immediately, trying to shift his body little by little.

He was currently inside a Tacet Field. Perhaps the Tacet Field in the outside world had yet to form.

That meant he was probably in the dormant phase before the Tacet Field formed.

Staying here would mean waiting to die.

After a long while, Ling An gave up.

To his dismay, he discovered that he seemed unable to move.

He was like a mech locked inside a launch bay. Once that overpowered protagonist entered his Tacet Field, he would be catapulted out.

Then he would deliver a jumpscare right in her face.

"Hiss..." Ling An sucked in a cold breath.

Life really was miserable.

Just moments ago, he had been having a blast slaughtering Tacet Discords in the game. Who would have thought he would become one himself a second later?

Since he couldn't fight it, he could only enjoy it.

Ling An stopped struggling and resigned himself to his fate.

He waited quietly. Before long, the protagonist's party would arrive at his Tacet Field.

Ling An examined his body again.

This time, he noticed something different.

The shock of transmigrating had made him overlook one thing.

He was strong now!

The Tacet Discords of Solaris were divided into Lightwave Class, Overlord Class, Overlord-Class, and Tacet Discord class.

Lightwave Class referred to the weak monsters found everywhere along the roads, which could be dispatched in just a few hits.

The Tacet Discord class, meanwhile, consisted of regional bosses that dominated entire areas and possessed immense power.

As Crownless, an Overlord-Class Tacet Discord, he possessed astonishing strength.

Even if he couldn't beat that overpowered protagonist, he was still an exceptionally powerful presence in the early game.

Feeling the power overflowing within his body gave him a little more confidence.

With his many years of experience playing combat games, he should have no trouble lasting a few dozen exchanges.

Soon, figures appeared not far away.

They were slowly approaching the Tacet Field where Ling An waited.

Ling An heard voices talking.

"Baizhi, Baizhi-" The cheerful girl's voice belonged to Chixia, the lively redhead.

"Baizhi, this is a dormant Tacet Field, right? Why did you come into the middle of it alone?"

"It seems she's unharmed," replied Baizhi, a researcher from the Huaxu Academy. She was calm and composed.

"She's running and jumping just fine. A few quick swishes, and she took down a Tacet Discord that was at least Overlord Class. She's got more energy than me. Hehe," Chixia said brightly.

"I've been monitoring her through my perception of the flowing energy..." Yangyang, their guide, said gently.

"...This isn't the place to talk."

The moment Baizhi finished speaking, the Tacet Field began to shake violently.

Ling An felt a powerful pull.

He knew it was time to make his entrance.

The next instant, he emerged from the chaos and charged straight at his target-

Rover.

Their eyes met, their faces mere inches apart.

It was Tide Sis—the game's female protagonist!

She seemed to freeze for a moment at the sight of Ling An.

And Ling An himself froze for half a second.

Even though he had already seen her on his computer, facing her in person still left him stunned by her beauty.

Black hair, golden eyes, and a trace of dazed surprise still lingering in them from his point-blank jumpscare.

The next moment, Tide Sis reacted.

She swept her sword across, and Ling An drove a punch forward to meet it.

Boom!

They remained locked together for a moment, visible waves of force clashing between them.

Both pulled back, putting distance between them.

Ling An shook his fist, an unseen wind snapping his black cape.

The Sky Sea gathered overhead, black clouds bearing down.

Tide Sis, Yangyang, Chixia, and Baizhi all turned their eyes toward Ling An, their gazes full of wariness.

Ling An stood where he was, suddenly remembering something he had forgotten.

Now that he had transmigrated as Crownless, there was no way back.

Then he spoke coldly, uttering the line that could no longer be heard in the game:

"Have you seen my crown?"