The young man standing before you is Chen Luo, twenty-five years old, a genuine professional gamer. In the year 2150, amidst a chaotic and bustling society, he chose a highly controversial profession—game boosting.
For the sake of money, he would take on any boosting contract. Even when one of the games he played was heavily slammed across social media as the "absolute trash of the electronic gaming industry," he still accepted orders day after day, relying on it to make a living.
That is right, the game we are talking about is none other than Unbounded Classmasters (《Infinite Class》)—one of the most drama-filled computer games in history.
The game was co-developed in the year 2100 by three genius game designers. Harnessing their brilliant minds, they forged one of the hardest MMORPGs in history, which simultaneously became one of the most heavily criticized games globally.
As for the reason? Simple—its difficulty was harsh to an absolute fault!
Upon its initial launch, it was enthusiastically embraced by countless players thanks to a brutal system capable of providing immense challenges. However, as time went on, the core game mechanics became increasingly frustrating and infuriating for the player base.
Insane equipment drops upon death, malicious player killing (PK), high-stakes auction house raiding, constant disputes over wild resources... a relentless avalanche of problems began to surface. Players initially felt suffocated and angry, but over time, these merciless mechanics organically became the unique trademark of the game, cementing its place at the very top of the harshest online games to ever exist.
Veteran players grew stronger the more they played, while new players could barely take a single step forward. With such a system, how could the game escape being torn apart by criticism?
Yet, through their sheer brilliance, the three geniuses managed to artificially sustain the game until the year 2150. And today marked the final anniversary of the game—the servers were preparing to shut down permanently.
There were countless reasons for the closure, but the primary one was likely that the three creators no longer possessed the strength or resources to shoulder the heavy, grand vision of the game anymore.
The only reason it had survived to this day was entirely due to the fiercely loyal community dedicated to Unbounded Classmasters.
Fifty years is by no means a small number; for a game to endure this long truly meant they had exhausted every ounce of their effort.
6:47 PM
In-Game Chat Channel:
-My Chen Family Shall Never Yield: "Good evening, Brother Wang. Running dungeons tonight?"
-Wang Is Not Immortal: "Yo, Brother Chen, you are playing way too hard, man. The server shuts down today, and you still have the peace of mind to sit there grinding dungeons?"
-Fudo Myoo: "Where are you two? Get over to the Amethyst Cave dungeon, let's gather around for a bit!"
-My Chen Family Shall Never Yield: "Good idea. I might as well finish this last Epic quest, and then we can hold an online meet-up, yeah?"
-Wang Is Not Immortal: "Alright, we are shutting down today anyway, we definitely need to hang out with the brothers one last time!!"
-Little Goblin: "Eh, wait for me!!! Let me finish killing this Star Deity first. crying.gif"
...
The computer screen flashed continuously with piercing light.
A massive Boss standing over ten meters tall roared furiously, its giant tail covered in purple crystals sweeping savagely across the entire battlefield.
[Dungeon: Amethyst Cave]
Boss: Amethyst Demonic Dragon (Lv. 8245)
HP: 3%
The screen was flooded with desperate cries for help:
-Fudo Myoo: "The main Tank is down!"
-Little Goblin: "Oh no, I am completely out of Mana!"
-Fudo Myoo: "Hold the aggro! Pull the aggro!"
-Fudo Myoo: "Don't let the Boss reset and recover health!"
-Wang Is Not Immortal: "We're done for, watch out Little Goblin!"
Just as the entire team formation was on the verge of total collapse, and the Amethyst Demonic Dragon's massive tail was about to slam down and instantly crush Little Goblin to death, a swift shadow boldly charged straight into the attack range.
It was Chen Luo!
Not only did he not evade, but he actively lunged forward to intercept the Boss’s sweeping tail strike.
Clang!
Perfect Guard!
Chen Luo's health bar (HP) only dropped by a minuscule fraction.
The Boss instantly whipped its head around, its absolute hatred (Aggro) locking entirely onto this newly arrived man.
-My Chen Family Shall Never Yield: "Aggro is stabilized."
Chen Luo murmured under his breath.
His fingers flew across the keyboard with a speed that left nothing but afterimages.
Three consecutive perfect skill cancels (Animation Cancel).
A frame-perfect sidestep barely evaded the Boss’s vicious bite.
Immediately followed by a precise blink, forcing the Boss to turn its back entirely toward his teammates.
Every single movement was executed with frame-perfect precision.
The other players inside the dungeon could only watch in absolute awe:
-Tanker A: "There goes that god-tier aggro-pulling technique again..."
-Archer B: "This guy is an absolute monster."
-Assassin C: "He plays better alone than our entire forty-man raid group combined."
In less than two minutes, the gargantuan Boss crashed heavily onto the ground.
[Dungeon Clear]
Clear Time: 06:31
Rating: SSS
-"Congratulations on the successful clear! Detecting that the challenge time has shattered the historical record, an additional 15% bonus has been added to the total settlement rewards."
A massive mountain of items and equipment instantly exploded across the floor.
Without a single moment of hesitation, Chen Luo immediately distributed the spoils of war in strict accordance with the terms of the boosting contract.
He did not keep a single piece for himself.
That was his absolute code of conduct.
The clients paid the money, and he delivered the service.
Bosses, first clears, achievements, quests...
To him, they were all clearly priced commodities.
-"..."
Looking at the final payment that had just been wired into his bank account, Chen Luo merely offered a faint smile.
-"Even if it is a trash game, the money is still real gold and silver."
...
Just like that, their final day stretched all the way into the dead of night.
23:35:10, exactly 24 minutes and 50 seconds away from the server shutdown.
-Little Goblin: "Goodbye, everyone! I hope we can meet again in another game. Thank you all so much for taking care of me all this time! "
*Little Goblin has logged out.
-Fudo Myoo: "Goodbye, Brother Chen. Thank you for walking alongside us on this journey. Hope our paths cross again in the next game. "
*Fudo Myoo has logged out.
-Wang Is Not Immortal: "Time really flies, doesn't it, Brother Chen? We've known each other for 9 years, right?"
-My Chen Family Shall Never Yield: "Could it possibly be any longer? Time truly passes too quickly, and just like that, it's time to say goodbye to the game."
-Wang Is Not Immortal: "Ha, even our world-renowned War God of Boosting feels attached to this game? But it makes sense; as the only game capable of holding onto a boosting legend like you, how could it not."
-Wang Is Not Immortal: "Come to think of it, we haven't even met up offline after all this time. How are things on your end? Are you doing okay?"
-My Chen Family Shall Never Yield: "Pretty good. I've been incredibly busy these past few days preparing to transition into a new game. Don't worry, I won't starve to death."
-Wang Is Not Immortal: "That's good to hear. Everything is settled then. Goodbye, Brother Chen, I need to get some sleep too. yawn.gif "
*Wang Is Not Immortal has logged out.
Everything fell into an absolute, chilling silence. There was no grand, earth-shattering farewell ceremony.
-"Why... why? Why couldn't you all just stay a little longer?" Chen Luo balled his hands into tight fists and slammed them heavily onto the keyboard, as if trying to violently vent all the loneliness and stifled emotions etched across his deeply troubled face.
-"Why... couldn't we stay together until the very last second?"
...
...
The helplessness in the young man's eyes became increasingly evident. But there was nothing that could be done. The game that was once a cultural phenomenon was drawing its final breath. The loyal devotees naturally wanted to stay until the final minute to witness the game's closing glory. Regardless, not everyone possessed the ability to stay awake late into the night to keep this young man company until the very last drop of time.
Right as everything was gradually fading away and the clock ticked closer to 23:43, an email notification suddenly popped up amidst the bleak, dim glow of the computer monitor. Without a moment's hesitation, Chen Luo clicked to open it.
-"Thank you to the player with the ID 'My Chen Family Shall Never Yield' for accompanying Infinite Class until the very final moments. We deeply regret that Infinite Class must close its servers. You have journeyed alongside us for a total of 11 years, 4 months, and 12 days—a milestone that is by no means small..."
It was the standard, routine message sent out by dying games, an End of Service (EoS) notification. He was all too familiar with this format. However, immediately after, his inbox received another message sent directly from the game developers—
—"DO YOU TRULY WISH TO CONTINUE THIS JOURNEY?"—
【YES】 / 【NO】
He barely processed the thought.
Click.
...
The screen abruptly plunged into a dead, absolute darkness.
It was not a power outage.
Rather... all the light within the room had been pitilessly swallowed whole by some unknown entity.
The computer began to violently reboot on its own, the screen flickering erratically.
The surrounding light instantly vanished, and everything shut down completely.
Suddenly, right inside the cramped rented apartment where he lived, a spatial void portal manifested out of thin air. A terrifying gravitational pull instantly sucked his utterly shocked body inside, plunging him into an endless, dizzying freefall. He was truly in a state of terminal velocity.
-"Aaaaaahhhhhh... I'm gonna die! I'm dead!..."
In absolute terror as he plummeted through a bizarre, alien dimension, Chen Luo screamed frantically inside his heart. A twenty-five-year-old guy who had never even held a girl's hand—was he really destined to meet such a pathetic, premature demise today? How could he not panic! Chen Luo flailed and struggled wildly in mid-air for what felt like an eternity, until his physical stamina finally gave out, and his consciousness gradually sank into a profound, heavy darkness.
-"Congratulations to the player for logging into Infinite Class for the first time."
A mechanical, cold voice echoed crisp and clear within the void.
...
...
...
...
He did not know how long he remained unconscious, but his rational mind was gradually waking up, though he found himself completely paralyzed, unable to move a single finger or force his eyes open.
The surrounding air was thick with a highly pungent, metallic stench of blood and decay. It was evident that a catastrophic, savage battle had recently transpired here.
Littered all around him were the mangled corpses of various monsters, proving just how brutally unforgiving this bloody encounter had been.
-"Confirming original player data..."
A grand voice reverberated through the heavens and earth, yet strangely, it seemed as though no living entity or creature around could hear it. Amidst the mountain of dead bodies, the finger of a single, dust-covered "corpse" twitched slightly.
-"Map localization, successful."
The voice echoed once more, while the figure remained trapped in a semi-conscious stupor, unable to wake up.
-"Settings download, successful."
The figure finally, slowly forced his eyes open, his hand clutching his forehead in immense agony. After a long while, his skull was still throbbing with a dull ache, likely from crashing headfirst onto the hardened pavement when he fell.
When he looked around, he was met with a gruesome scene of scattered limbs and mangled flesh. An unbearable, foul odor assaulted his nostrils, and some of the monster carcasses were still oozing a thick, gelatinous black fluid that was utterly revolting.
-"Congratulations to player for successfully binding with the System and achieving the first successful login into Infinite Class. Detecting that the countdown remaining until the Closed-Beta launch is: 351 days."
The cold, mechanical voice continued to echo directly inside his mind. Although completely devoid of any human emotion, this particular sound was one that he, Chen Luo, found incredibly, intimately familiar.
-"I... I have actually transmigrated?!"