Jiangcheng, Huating Residential Complex.
As the victory screen froze on the enemy crystal burning to destruction, Su Hang tapped his phone screen to return to the match results.
"The tank had no idea when to initiate a team fight, the jungler couldn't catch anyone, and the support bro and I weren't even speaking the same language."
Su Hang shook his head and chuckled. Looking at the MVP badge his Sun Quan had earned, his eyes lit up. "But the result was good. Got the win, got the win! Top-tier farm lane Sun Quan, three stars added!"
Animations of teammates paying tribute and giving likes appeared one after another.
Friend requests kept pouring in.
"Sun Quan boss, I'm on my knees begging for a spot on your friends list!"
"Terrifying! Godly Sun Quan, you went one versus five on the high ground and chopped the enemy straight into mincemeat. So freaking cool, oh my god!"
"Wait, bro, is that star count for real?"
Su Hang selectively ignored them and returned to the ranked screen. Beneath the Legendary King icon was the terrifying star count of 999!
"What I missed out on in season S39, I made a reality in season S40!"
Su Hang couldn't help feeling a surge of excitement. Last season, he had been preparing for the college entrance exam, which had drastically cut into his Honor of Kings playtime, so he had only just managed to reach 500 stars. Now it was summer vacation, and he had plenty of time, so he had climbed all the way to the highest rank in one go.
As for why 999 stars was the highest, it was because pushing any further meant he couldn't find any players to match with. Even his last match had taken nearly 300-plus minutes to find.
"What kind of goal should I set for next season?"
Su Hang opened the hero page on his account. At the top, a dazzling array of major and minor national badges for farm lane heroes came into view, including one for Sun Quan, the new marksman hero released this season.
Although the month-end national rankings had yet to be finalized, he had already earned a numbered minor national badge in Sun Quan's weekly ranking.
Number one Sun Quan on the national server!
His Honor of Kings skills had reached such towering heights thanks in no small part to his ten years of steadfast effort and perseverance. Of course, they were also connected to the profession he had pursued in his previous life.
That was right.
Su Hang was not from this world. He had transmigrated from a parallel world, where he had been a professional Honor of Kings player.
[Ding. Host detected to have transmigrated to another world. The King's Rise System is binding automatically.]
Suddenly!
An unfamiliar mechanical voice rang out in his mind.
Su Hang froze for a moment, his hand coming to a halt. "A system?"
The delight of having just reached the pinnacle of the ranks had now turned entirely to astonishment.
He naturally knew about systems. After all, they were standard equipment for transmigrators. What surprised him, however, was why his system had arrived so late.
Su Hang asked with interest, "System, what can you do?"
[This system is dedicated to improving the host's Honor of Kings skill level.]
"Improving my Honor of Kings skill level?"
Su Hang frowned slightly. At his current level, he could easily rank among the top tier of Honor of Kings players, leaving him very little room for improvement. Still, if his game skills could reach another level, he was more than willing.
After all, he had always been on the road to challenging the limits of his skills.
[Generating King's Rise Panel.]
A blue light flashed, and a virtual panel appeared before Su Hang.
"Let's see what this system is all about."
Host: Su Hang Meta understanding: 0, points to be allocated. (Initial potential: possesses comprehension beyond his peers, such as accurately deducing English pronunciation rules: Daddy is called Babi, Mommy is called Mami, and Grandpa is called Jiong Jiong Jiong.) Game skills: 0, points to be allocated. (Currently a baby hakimi who only knows north-south mung beans.) Mental fortitude: 100 points, maxed out. (Stop struggling. You were born a demon orb; it was written in your fate.) Teamwork: 0, points to be allocated. (You must undergo nirvanic rebirth and transcendence after enduring teammates like paramecia, yeast, chlamydomonas, and amoebas.) Hero Mastery Count: 0, to be unlocked. (Sit still in a bush and use skills two, three, one, scaring the national server's number twenty-seven half to death. Perhaps practicing Daji first would be a good choice.) Available talent points: 0. [The host can obtain varying numbers of talent points by completing system-issued missions, then allocate them to various attributes to improve his game skill level, ultimately reaching the pinnacle of Honor of Kings and completing his rise.]
Su Hang stared at the system panel, stunned on the spot.
He could understand his mental fortitude being maxed out. After all, like those evil Uchiha brats, it was in his genes from birth. But his meta understanding and game skills... all zero? What the hell was that?
He was a national-server player now, at the very least. Surely he couldn't be lacking both understanding and skill.
[Host's current rank detected: Stubborn Bronze.]
"Bronze rank?"
Su Heng looked at his rank display showing 999 stars in Legendary King, and the corners of his mouth twitched. "System, do you want to take a look at the nonsense you're spouting?"
[Do Not Underestimate the Weakness of Childhood mission issued. Host, please defeat Bronze players in ranked mode. Reward: 5 talent points.]
Su Hang stared at the mission, lost in thought. Then, as if something had occurred to him, he asked, "System, do you know how old I am this year?"
[Eight.]
"Eight?"
Su Hang looked at himself in the mirror. His face was handsome and his build was well-proportioned. He couldn't resist complaining, "The anti-addiction system just stopped applying to me, and you call that eight?"
"What a joke."
People laughed when they were left speechless.
At last, Su Hang understood what was going on.
This system called Rise of Kings had arrived ten years late!
Still, with the Chinese mindset of "well, it's here now," Su Hang didn't complain too much. Though he had put in a great deal of blood, sweat, and effort during those ten years without a system, he had at least succeeded in joining the ranks of top players.
And now, with the system's help,
it wasn't impossible for him to break through his limits and become the strongest in the Canyon!
"This game account can't match with Bronze players. Looks like I'll have to create a new account."
Su Hang murmured to himself. The Honor of Kings account he now held, which had topped the rank leaderboard, had been with him for ten whole years. From season S1 to season S40, it had weathered many storms.
It could be said to have witnessed him grow step by step from an ordinary player into a godly one. Their bond ran extraordinarily deep.
"Goodbye for now, old buddy. I've played you for over thirty thousand hours. It's time I let you have a good rest."
Su Hang logged out of his old account, registered a Penguin account, then linked it to Honor of Kings and created a brand-new game account.
"Now I should count as an Honor of Kings newbie, right?"
Su Hang smiled and logged into Honor of Kings.
First, he had to give his new account's character an in-game name.
Influenced by his previous account, Su Hang had a particular fondness for two-character game IDs. But things were different from ten years ago; two-character IDs had almost all been registered by other players.
He tried several in succession, but every one showed up as already taken.
"If nothing else works, I'll just use a name randomly generated by the game's dice."
Su Hang was about to tap confirm when a two-character ID suddenly came to mind. He immediately typed in the two Chinese characters. "Let's see if anyone's registered this name."
The next second,
Su Hang was delighted.
"It worked!"