Arrival

Zhang Han was sitting at his computer playing StarCraft II.

In the current gaming landscape, fewer and fewer people played real-time strategy games.

The barrier to entry was too high, and many people were shut out by the demanding controls and steep learning curve.

Quick-fix games like PUBG and Honor of Kings were all the rage. Games that emphasized content over gameplay, like Genshin Impact and Arknights, could also carve out their own domains.

Zhang Han played these games too, but real-time strategy games like StarCraft still appealed to him most.

Computers could calculate their way through Go and defeat humans, but in real-time strategy games, they still could not.

Real-time strategy games had too much data and too many variables. Flashes of inspiration and an understanding of the game mattered more than rigid calculations.

The clattering keyboard sounded like beautiful music in the quiet room, making the battle on the screen even more tense and thrilling.

This was a showdown between Terran and Zerg. Terran excelled at defense and positional warfare, while Zerg excelled at expansion and flexible attacks.

The situation was developing in Zhang Han's favor. He muttered to himself, "Black Radish really is a disgrace to the community. Now every Terran player turtles up into a city."

"Good thing I'm one step ahead. Playing SimCity, huh? Let's see what you do when you've mined everything dry!"

The Terrans held only three mineral bases on the map, while the Zerg held more than half of them. Only a few bases near the front lines remained unmined by either side because of the fierce fighting and back-and-forth maneuvering.

"Every map has limited resources. When you run out of minerals and gas, it'll be time for you to type GG."

Zhang Han sounded confident, but inwardly, he was still a little frustrated that he had not managed to win yet.

In a Zerg-versus-Terran matchup, the Zerg's racial characteristics meant they always suffered heavy losses, and they were at a slight disadvantage in fights at equal supply.

So Zhang Han had to take the initiative and attack, reducing the number of elite Terran units while keeping his own losses under control.

Otherwise, the Terrans could build up a full 200-supply main army and deliver a vicious punch that could easily knock the Zerg out in one blow.

He was now launching an assault with a main force of Vipers, Mutalisks, Zerglings, and Banelings. Even if he could not break through, he had to wear down large numbers of elite Terran troops.

"Get a load of my Dragon-Snake Performance!" Zhang Han shouted excitedly. His left hand hammered the keyboard even faster.

The core of Dragon-Snake Performance was to disrupt the battlefield with the Vipers' clouds, giving close-range damage dealers like Mutalisks, Zerglings, and Banelings a chance to approach the Terran positions.

Because Terran units had heavy firepower and Zerg units had low health, this tactic demanded excellent control and coordination.

Just as the assault was about to begin, the opposing Terran player seemed to sense something too, sweeping a scan across the area and confirming the location of Zhang Han's main force.

Perhaps he panicked a little at being scouted. Zhang Han slipped up and sent everything charging in with F2-A. Masses of Zerg were blasted into bloody slurry by mines, missiles, cannons, and planetary fortresses.

Zhang Han froze. Where were my clouds? Why hadn't the Vipers cast their clouds?

The Viper looked like an excellent spellcasting unit.

Two Ravens drifted across his field of vision. His opponent had used precise control to disable his Vipers! (The Raven, a Terran spellcaster, could temporarily prevent a unit from attacking or using abilities.)

"Is that the kind of micro a Terran at this rank can pull off? I can't accept this. I can't accept this!" Zhang Han's voice was trembling.

Having suffered very few losses, the Terrans seized the opportunity to push back. Almost all of Zhang Han's expansion bases fell. Although he stopped this counterattack by buying back with his larvae, control of the battlefield was now in Terran hands. (Buying back referred to the Zerg using stored larvae and resources to quickly hatch a fresh batch of troops.)

Capitalizing on their victory, the Terrans took two new bases, then slowly flattened his creep, Hive, and Swarm with their despair-inducing urban sprawl.

With a similar number of bases, the Zerg were at a disadvantage. Despite giving it everything he had, Zhang Han could not turn the situation around. Finally, before his resources ran out, he launched one last attack for his dignity.

After the last Zerg fell before the torrent of steel, Zhang Han typed GG with trembling hands.

His opponent, however, did not want it to end there. The victorious Terran player typed, "Face the dark side of the Terran Dominion, you Zerg scrub!"

Overall, StarCraft II's gaming community was fairly decent, but games always had ill-mannered players who gloated when they won and hurled abuse when they lost.

Faced with his opponent's taunt, Zhang Han felt an indescribable fury rise in his chest, and his blood pressure shot through the roof. Had heaven not sent me, the keyboard warrior, the way of flaming would be an eternal night!

Zhang Han picked up his keyboard and started trading insults, putting his incredible APM to use as he typed out one affectionate greeting after another.

His opponent was no pushover either. All sorts of comparisons and taunts rolled off his tongue, and he held his own without the slightest difficulty.

"Three years in Zaun, and both my parents are still alive. Come on, keep going! Fight! Keep on fighting!" The Terran player was completely in his element.

Zhang Han's face was already flushed red, and his blood pressure kept climbing. He had lost the game, and now he was losing the trash talk too.

His anger kept building. He needed something to vent it on, like his keyboard, his cup, or his monitor.

His fury accelerated the flow of blood through his brain. Staying up late to play games and spending long hours sitting at his computer had also left Zhang Han in poor physical condition.

He shot to his feet and yanked up the keyboard, intending to smash it first, but the excessive exertion made his vision go black. A fragile blood vessel in his brain had burst.

Dizzy and disoriented, Zhang Han no longer had the strength to do anything else. He swayed and collapsed onto the floor.

He was the only one home at the time. There was no one to save him. Human life was so fragile.

Before his consciousness faded, Zhang Han silently recited in his heart, If I weren't using a mouse and keyboard, but commanding the Swarm in person, I would never lose. I would sweep across the galaxy, undefeated in battle.

This delusional wisp of consciousness seemed to pierce the void and was caught by something.

A pleasant female voice entered his mind, like a pure droplet breaking the surface of a dark lake. "Overmind, I... I've finally found you."

Amid the chaos, Zhang Han's shattered consciousness gradually regained clarity. A sight unlike anything he had ever seen appeared before him. This was a new battlefield!

A tide of Zerg was attacking a fortified steel stronghold. Sometimes Zhang Han's consciousness was a Zergling crouched on the ground, sometimes a Mutalisk flying through the air, and sometimes a Brood Lord floating in space.

The Brood Lord was a massive flying unit of the Swarm. Here, it was an enormous presence akin to a battleship.

This wondrous experience did not strike Zhang Han as strange or uncomfortable. He felt it was his instinct, his sense of touch, an extension of his mind. This was how it should be.

The Swarm was suffering. The enemy's steel stronghold and space fleet were spewing deadly lasers and flames, killing swathes of Zerg.

Although the Swarm was fighting back with all its might, the enemy lines were as solid as reefs holding back the tide.

The sight made Zhang Han even angrier. Pain and fury enveloped him as though they had substance. Many of his defeats on the ranked ladder had looked just like this.

It had even spawned memes like, "Your Swarm takes casualties every second, but my marine buddies never end."

Zhang Han's fury seemed to infect the Swarm, driving it into an even more fanatical frenzy. Its claws, venom, and spikes became more lethal, and cracks appeared in the enemy's solid reef under the onslaught.

Several Zerglings pounced on a mech, bringing it down and tearing it open. The inside of the cockpit was exposed. Inside was not a human, but a blue-skinned alien creature.

His panicked, terrified expression entered Zhang Han's mind, but Zhang Han felt no pity at that moment.

At his command, the Zerglings leaped into the cockpit. Ordinary flesh could not withstand their sharp fangs and teeth, and the humanoid creature was soon torn to pieces.

Blood and slaughter were the finest adornments of a battlefield.