The alarm dragged Leo from unconsciousness. He had set it for fifteen hours after he last exited the game. His death cooldown was over.

  He groaned and rolled out of bed. His body screamed in protest, muscles aching from the battle that had pushed him to his limits. Every movement sent fresh waves of pain through his shoulders. The medics had healed the worst of it, but exhaustion clung to his bones like a weight.

  Out of instinct, his hand found the button on his desk. The soft hum of the brewing station filled the room as another pot of T3 Spirit Calming Tea began to prepare itself.

  Leo dragged himself to the game pod. The lid hissed open. He climbed inside and let the familiar darkness swallow him.

  He woke up in game feeling much better.

  Arthur and Mike were already waiting for him at the divine press.

  Mike rushed forward and grabbed Leo by the shoulders, shaking him with excitement.

  "Holy shit Leo, you are amazing! That was amazing!"

  Leo held up his hands, trying to be a little humble about it.

  "It was just good preparation," he said. "Arthur helped me work out a lot of the combat fundamentals. The formations did most of the heavy lifting, honestly."

  Mike shook his head violently, waving away the explanation.

  "Oh, that's great, sure, but that's not what I'm talking about."

  His eyes were wide. Almost manic.

  "Holy shit, you're on the front cover of the New York Post. Kim Yuna is spread all over you!"

  Leo stared at him.

  "What."

  "You never told us you were a thing with Kim Yuna!" Mike's voice cracked with excitement. "Kim Yuna! The Kim Yuna!"

  "I did not have relations with that woman," Leo sputtered.

  Arthur stepped forward, stroking his grey stubble with the air of a man delivering grave news.

  "That's clearly not what the Post implies, kid."

  "Pictures of you two are plastered across every page. Her wearing your jersey. Her giving you her number. Her walking you hand in hand off the field. And best of all the front cover, she's all over you in front of everyone."

  "That's not what happened!" Leo's voice pitched higher than he intended.

  "I was just having fun!"

  Mike's jaw dropped.

  "You were just having fun with Kim Yuna?!?"

  His roar echoed through their base. Arthur winced and covered one ear.

  "You better not let anyone hear you say that, kid." Mike jabbed a finger at Leo's chest.

  "I heard half of South Korea has declared life and death enmity with you. Do you have any idea how big of a deal she is over there? Do you have any idea what Samsung is over there?"

  "That doesn't even make sense," Leo muttered.

  "It doesn't have to make sense! It's Kim Yuna!"

  Leo decided he wasn't going to deal with this.

  He turned and walked toward the divine sense press, putting distance between himself and Mike's interrogation.

  "I'll be back later," he called over his shoulder. "Much later."

  "Leo!" Arthur's voice stopped him. The old man's tone had shifted, the teasing gone.

  "Kevin wants to talk. In the real world."

  Leo paused.

  "We'll do it in fourteen hours."

  Leo nodded once and kept walking.

  Behind him, he heard Mike's voice, still incredulous.

  "Kim Yuna, Arthur. Kim freaking Yuna."

  ---

  Leo woke up to his alarm nearly fourteen hours later.

  His body felt better. The medics had done their work, and sleep had done the rest. He stretched experimentally, feeling the lingering tightness in his shoulders but nothing worse.

  Then he saw the newspaper on his desk.

  Tom had come through. The New York Post sat there, front page facing up, staring back at him like an accusation.

  Leo's eyes went wide.

  EXETER'S GOLDEN BOY SCORES BIG

  The headline screamed across the top in bold block letters. Beneath it, a subheading: Championship Hero Leo Chen Celebrates Victory with Samsung's Princess.

  Leo Chen stood triumphant, wearing his armor uniform, scarred and scorched from battle. His helmet was off. His hair was disheveled. A self-satisfied smirk played across his face. The expression of a young man who had just killed a divine serpent and knew exactly how impressive that was.

  Kim Yuna was pressed against him.

  The cheerleading uniform left little to imagination. The crimson and grey skirt had ridden up, exposing the curve of her ass. The fitted top bared her midriff, toned and smooth. One foot lifted behind her, forcing her to press in and lean into him.

  Her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling herself close. Her face tilted up toward his, lips slightly parted, eyes shining with an expression that could only be described as smitten.

  And Leo's hand.

  His hand was gripping her ass. Fingers pressed into the firm curve of her flesh, pulling her body against his. Possessive. Confident. The gesture of a young man who had claimed his prize.

  Leo stared at the photo.

  "That's not what happened," he said to no one.

  He flipped the page.

  More photos. The Post had dedicated an entire spread to the story. Someone had dug up a picture from the first day of sophomore semester. Leo and Yuna meeting at the entrance to Exeter campus. The image had been snapped on someone's phone, but the Post's editors had cropped and framed it artfully. Leo giving her his phone, it looked intimate. Romantic.

  The Post had transformed Yuna demanding his phone into a love story.

  He turned another page.

  A full spread showed Kim Yuna holding court on Exeter's campus. She sat on a stone bench with a bright smile, surrounded by a cluster of Asian international students. They leaned in toward her, as she showed off.

  Yuna wore an Exeter jersey that swallowed her small frame. Leo recognized the jersey. No wonder it smelled of perfume before he put it on in the locker room.

  A helpful caption explained the tradition:

  The Exeter jersey tradition dates back to the academy's founding, when young cultivators would gift their uniform shirts to sweethearts before going off to war. The gesture became a promise: "Remember me, my love." Today, starting players continue the custom, honoring their most beloved by gifting game day jerseys before championship matches. Sources confirm Chen gave his jersey to Kim before his historic duel with Divine Child Mateo Thandril.

  Leo put the paper down.

  He stared at the ceiling.

  "I'm so fucked," he said.

  ---

  Kevin's face filled the Signal video call, his apartment visible behind him. The same cluttered desk. The same energy drink cans. Surprisingly a new selection of anime girl pictures.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  "Alright, everyone here?" Kevin adjusted his webcam. "I've got news from the Azure Profound Continent."

  Arthur's feed showed what looked like a home office. Expensive leather chair. Some kind of sports memorabilia on the wall behind him. "Make it quick. I've got things to do."

  Mike appeared in a small square, clearly in a kitchen. Somewhere off-screen, a toddler was making noise. "Sorry, give me a second." He disappeared briefly, then returned. "Okay. Nap time. I've got maybe twenty minutes."

  Leo sat in his cramped dorm room, laptop balanced on a stack of textbooks. His roommate was at class, thankfully.

  "So," Kevin began, "Tianyi and I have been making good speed across the continent. Better than expected, actually."

  "That's good," Mike said.

  "Yeah, and we have Arthur and Mike to thank for that."

  Arthur perked up. "See? I told you guys I was pulling my weight."

  "It wasn't a compliment." Kevin's expression was somewhere between amusement and exasperation. "Apparently one thing led to another when you were chasing down debts. Various strings of revenge ended up causing a huge commotion. Drew the majority of our pursuers away."

  "What do you mean, strings of revenge?"

  "They're tracking the red glow of your Eclipse. You've been making increasingly more enemies and getting revenge for increasingly more slights. The sects hunting us decided you were their best lead."

  Arthur leaned back in his chair, looking pleased with himself. "Good. Let them come."

  Mike rubbed his temples. "Arthur. Aren't you concerned with how many people we've pissed off?"

  "Only the ones who deserved it." Arthur crossed his arms. "It's all self-justified. They wronged me first. Besides, we've been making good money. Better than hunting beasts."

  Leo shook his head. "I don't think that's how karma works. You can't just do wrong to others because they wronged you first."

  Kevin nodded. "Tianyi told me the same thing. Two wrongs don't make a right."

  Arthur's face reddened. "That's bullshit. I've watched enough cultivation TV shows to know exactly how it works. If your enemy wrongs you first, anything you do to them is justified. That's literally the plot of every revenge drama."

  Mike sighed heavily. The sound of a child babbling came through his microphone. "Arthur, you need to lay off the screen time. TikTok has completely brain-rotted you."

  "TikTok is fine."

  "No wonder you keep dragging me into trouble." Mike glanced off-screen, then back. "I had to bail you out of trouble three times last week. And we died on the second time!"

  Kevin cleared his throat loudly. "I wanted to compliment you two, actually. The fact that you regularly self-detonate or log off has made a lot of people very frustrated. Many pursuers have given up after suffering great losses with nothing to show for it."

  "Happy to help," Mike said dryly.

  Arthur was already getting antsy. "I've got leeks to harvest before they run away. Sounds like these debts are time-sensitive."

  "Now, the important stuff." Kevin's tone shifted, becoming more serious. "I've observed two main differences between Earth and the Azure Profound Continent."

  Leo leaned closer to his laptop.

  "The first is pretty obvious in retrospect. The inheritance involving karma in the Azure Profound Continent is much greater than that of Earth or the Catacombs."

  "Because of the Heaven Pivot Array?" Leo asked about the great hidden treasure of the Continent.

  "Exactly. Studying Profundities can reveal secrets about karma, since the Array is related to it. But there's something else." Kevin pulled up what looked like handwritten notes.

  "There's a much lower requirement to sense karma threads in the Azure Profound Continent. In the game world, you only need Nascent Soul level divine strength to begin sensing them."

  Mike frowned. "And on Earth?"

  "On Earth, there's been zero progress. Even with two ancestors possessing Void Refining divine strength. The technique is simple. I've seen the manuals. It must be a matter of proximity to the Heaven Pivot Array."

  "So karma sensing is easier," Arthur said, still half-distracted by whatever he was doing on his other screen. "How does that help us?"

  "Leo could study karma once he enters Golden Core with Nascent Soul level divine sense," Kevin explained. "Learn the principles there, where it's easier, then bring back the results and try them on Earth. Apparently once you're used to karma, you can do things even if you can't see the karma threads. Understanding and intuition takes over."

  Leo filed that away. Another advantage of the game world. Another reason to keep pushing forward.

  "What's the second thing?" Mike asked.

  Kevin's expression grew strange. "The stars are backwards."

  Silence.

  "Go on." Mike prodded him.

  "Tianyi and I got into a huge argument because we each tried to convince the other that their understanding of the Seven Stars formation system was wrong."

  Arthur snorted. "And?"

  "And I was thoroughly embarrassed at being proven wrong after trying to draw some in the game world." Kevin's cheeks colored slightly.

  "I went back to Earth and looked up the proofs and derivations for the formation. Showed them to Tianyi. We both realized that the relative stars positioning in every proof I could find were backwards compared to the Azure Profound Continent."

  "Backwards how?" Mike asked. "Like, mirrored?"

  "Something like that. These things are hard to verify. You need to figure out where in the universe you are, create a star chart, requires telescopes and teams of astronomers." Kevin shrugged. "I went to the Catacombs to check. Earth and the Catacombs have the same Seven Stars formation orientation."

  "So the Azure Profound Continent is the odd one out," Leo said.

  "Or we are." Kevin's voice was quiet. "Tianyi actually believed me when I showed him the proofs. He pointed out that 'Pivot' is part of the name of the Heaven Pivot Array. As in, something that rotates. Or reverses."

  "Or more likely he doubts you're smart enough to come up with the proofs yourself." Arthur laughed.

  Kevin glowered, apparently Arthur hit a sore spot.

  Leo asked. "How did we miss it?"

  "We've been too lazy to draw our own formations. Aside from some initial work that didn't use the Seven Stars system, and the lifebound treasures, we commissioned everything from local formation masters."

  "The lifebound treasures?" Leo asked, suddenly concerned.

  "Somehow they still work even though the Seven Stars formations are backwards." Kevin shrugged.

  "After guys go back in game, can you check with the Ammo Sect? The seven stars formation is a pretty big part of the shells. Fixing the issue shouldn't be trivial."

  Leo nodded. "I'll look into it."

  "There's one more thing." Kevin's tone grew heavier. "I've heard news that a war is brewing in your area. Apparently the region you guys are in is called The High Marches."

  "The High Marches and the even more barren Western Spines are separated by the rest of the continent by the Great Divide Mountains. Those two provinces have only one T5 spirit vein located at the Immortal City 'The Western Sea'. So people generally don't like to spend too much time there."

  "I asked him what the war was about. Tianyi says the wars, like all wars, are probably over faith power. It's very important for Deity Transformation and Great God realm cultivation."

  Kevin continued. "Leo, when you hit up the sect, ask them about two things. The backwards Seven Stars formation, and the upcoming war."

  He paused, looking sheepish.

  "I should mention that a lot of our early interactions with the Ammo Sect happened back when my Common was really bad. A lot of things got lost in translation."

  Arthur leaned back in his chair, a grin spreading across his face. "Speaking of things you're missing, Kevin. When are you going to find a girlfriend?"

  Kevin blinked. "What?"

  "Leo has one now. So you're the only one in the group who's never been in a relationship."

  "There's no way that is true. No woman would ever marry someone like you."

  "Just because I haven't been married doesn't mean I haven't been in relationships. I've had plenty of girlfriends. Real ones. Not body pillows."

  Kevin's face went red. "At least I'm not a brain-rotted boomer who thinks TikTok is a legitimate source of cultivation knowledge. Why don't you tell us about your current relationship status? How long has it been since you've actually dated someone?"

  Arthur opened his mouth to respond.

  "Leo." Arthur turned his attention instead. "Tell Kevin to look up who you're dating in the New York Post. That should shut him up."

  Leo's stomach dropped.

  He did not want to discuss Yuna with this group. He did not want to discuss Yuna with anyone, her included.

  "I should get going," Leo said quickly. "Need to log in and check on some things."

  "Wait, Leo..."

  ---

  "This building is not the Ammo Sect," Leo said, pointing at the conspicuously large structure near the center of town.

  "This building says 'Closed Do Not Enter' in Common."

  "It totally is," Arthur insisted. "It's where we do all our business. Look, Kevin even wrote 'Entrance' on the entrance."

  Leo looked. On the second floor there was a door. Above it hung a sign that said in Common: "Beware, Desperadoes."

  Below it, in Kevin's unmistakable handwriting, was the word "Entrance" scrawled in English.

  Leo stared at it for a long moment.

  With a sigh, he followed Arthur and Mike as they led him to the door on their lifebound flying swords.

  As they approached, a friendly looking middle-aged man with Gold Core cultivation waved at them from a window.

  Arthur waved back, miming "big" with his hands.

  The middle-aged man mimed back a big thumbs up.

  Curious, Leo sat back and watched as they conducted their business.

  The room they entered was mostly empty. Like a giant warehouse with too much floor space looking for a tenant.

  Upon entering, Leo spotted a desk with a bunch of tiles on it. Flak Shells were painted on the squares of each tile.

  Arthur and Mike started pulling out goods with practiced ease. They dropped hulking carcasses of hunted Tier 2 and Tier 3 beasts onto the floor.

  Upon seeing each beast, the friendly looking man would pull tiles from a storage bag and place them beside the carcass.

  Leo walked closer to inspect the tiles. Next to a Tier 2 beast sat a single tile with one shell painted on it. Next to the Tier 3 beast sat a long strip of tile marked with ten shells. Evidently the beasts were worth one shell and ten shells respectively.

  So this was how his teammates acquired flak shells for their flak cannons. This must be the sect that converted their ill-gotten gains into ammunition.

  After pulling out all the beasts, Arthur walked over to an empty section and dumped a bunch of storage rings onto the floor.

  The middle-aged man gave Arthur a weird look. Sighed. And started cracking one of the rings.

  It took him about a minute. He must have pretty high divine sense to crack a Golden Core storage ring that fast.

  The man started spilling everything from the storage ring onto the floor. After each set of goods appeared, like spirit stones, spiritual ore, pills, and treasures, he dropped more shell tokens beside them. Evidently pricing everything in ammunition.

  But in the last pile, he emptied a bunch of jade slips and a powerful scepter. A high-stage Golden Core weapon by the look of it. He pulled out a large tile with an X painted on it and placed it on the pile.

  Arthur started to get angry. Since they couldn't understand each other, Arthur just stomped his feet and mimed his displeasure. Somehow Arthur knew the common word for 'injustice' and said it a few times self-righteously.

  The middle-aged attendant tried to mime back that he couldn't do anything about it.

  Leo decided to speak up. "Hey, what's going on? Can I help?"

  The man replied in Common, "These items are prohibited temple materials from the southern inner region. Even if we had ten thousand galls, we would not dare fence such goods..."

  He turned around, surprised.

  "Wait. You can speak Common?" He looked at Arthur and Mike. Then back at Leo. His eyes widened with something that looked dangerously close to hope. "Are these your retainers? Where have you been hiding all this time? We have been suffering a calamity without end!"

  Leo apologized. "Sorry I've been busy. I had a lot on my plate."

  The man's face contorted. "This elder runs a legitimate business! We walk the straight path under heaven! We want nothing to do with stolen goods!" He gestured wildly at the handful of storage rings Arthur handed him.

  "Does this look like the kind of establishment that would touch such unclean things?"

  "What's going on?" Leo said, suddenly worried. "I thought we had been doing a lot of business with your Ammo Sect."

  "We are not called the Ammo Sect!" The middle-aged man drew himself up to his full height, which wasn't particularly impressive.

  "This one is Zhang Wei, a respected Golden Core Elder of the Alchemical Society! Three generations of honest cultivation, and now the whole province thinks we peddle fire sticks to desperadoes!"