Lucas's eyes fluttered open, his body screaming in agony as the final memory—plunging off a jagged cliff—seared through his mind. "Is this death?" he whispered, his throat raw with the taste of blood and regret.
It was 2040, an era of unprecedented tech breakthroughs. Global superpowers had jointly developed Forsaken World, a 3D holographic MMORPG with a single global server. When developers activated real-time in-game currency to USD conversion, the title unexpectedly eased part of the global unemployment crisis—turning virtual grinding into a viable career.
Born into a blue-collar family, Lucas had started as a gold grinder during college breaks to support his parents. What began as a side hustle exploded into something legendary: he founded a 5,000-player guild and built a fortress in a high-level monster zone—half a day's travel from the nearest system-run capital. The stronghold became a hub for potions, gear repairs, auctions, and respite, lining Lucas's pockets with thousands in daily profits. He thought he'd secured a better life for his family and guildmates, but it was all a fragile illusion.
Three days after the fortress opened, Julian Voss—leader of the world's premier guild and heir to a billionaire empire—arrived with 300 elite operatives, offering to buy the stronghold for a mere 10% above construction costs. Lucas refused outright: the fortress was his guildmates' blood and sweat, and selling it would be betrayal. Fearing retaliation, he posted three elite teams on round-the-clock patrol, backed by 60 Tier 3 Mages and his own Demon's Heart Relic—an artifact that amplified his combat prowess.
A month of tense vigilance passed with no sign of Julian, and Lucas let his guard slip. Trust—his greatest strength—became his undoing. Three nights later, Harrison Gray—his college roommate and guild lieutenant—reported a rare world boss in the high-level zone, requiring three elite teams. Lucas didn't hesitate. He led his men into a narrow valley, only to find Julian smirking atop a ridge, flanked by 12,000 Level 200 warriors and a recall-jamming barrier that sealed their escape.
Julian had bribed Harrison to betray him. That night, Lucas and his 3,000 men were trapped in a cycle of forced respawns—slaughtered over 40 times, their gear stripped to nothing. Meanwhile, six of Julian's raiding parties sacked the fortress, reducing Lucas's life's work to smoldering ruins. Crippled by unrepayable bank loans and haunted by his guildmates' despair, Lucas drowned his pain in alcohol.
His wake-up call came when he learned his parents—still a decade from retirement—had quit their stable jobs to work construction, desperate to pay his debts. Six months later, his father died in a "work accident" before reaching the hospital; his mother followed soon after, broken by grief. It wasn't until Wyatt King, Julian's enforcer, beat him within an inch of his life and mocked that Julian had ordered the murder that Lucas realized: his enemy would never let him rise again.
Hunter Hale, a loyal guildmate, rescued Lucas and smuggled him abroad. For five years, Hunter trained him in hand-to-hand combat and tactical warfare, forging the broken college kid into "Bloodfire"—a notorious international mercenary. Lucas returned home, infiltrated Julian's mansion as a servant, and drove a knife into his heart the moment he stepped into his study. But Julian's family unleashed a merciless manhunt. Fleeing to the border, Lucas led police and assassins into the mountains, cornered on a cliff. With his revenge complete, he smiled bitterly and leaped into the abyss.