James Lin was ordinary.
Painfully ordinary, in fact.
He was the kind of high school student teachers forgot about until he showed up late, fell asleep in class, or somehow managed to do both at once. He wasn't the class president, the top student, the star athlete, or the mysterious transfer kid with a tragic backstory. He was just Jimmy: another face in the crowd, another uniform in the hallway, another exhausted teenager trying to survive school one day at a time.
Every morning, he inhaled the breakfast his mother made, snatched up his backpack, and sprinted to school like his life depended on it.
Most mornings, he made it through the gates just before they closed.
Today was one of those mornings.
Jimmy slipped through the entrance with half a second to spare, slowed to a wheezing jog, then dragged himself upstairs toward class. By the time he reached his seat, he was out of breath and in desperate need of a nap.
He dropped into his chair by the window in the far back corner of the room.
The best seat in class.
No, the best seat in the entire school.
The breeze from the window to his left was cool, the sunlight wasn't too harsh, and sitting in the back made it easy to rest his head on the desk whenever the lesson became unbearable.
Which was often.
Jimmy had just started lowering his head for a brief, well-deserved moment of spiritual recovery when a stern voice cut through the room.
"Mr. Lin. Sit up straight."
Jimmy froze.
Slowly, he lifted his head and looked toward the front of the classroom.
There stood Mr. Windham, already staring at him over the rims of his round brown glasses.
Of course.
Mr. Windham was a stout man in his fifties with short gray hair, permanent lines around his mouth, and the gaze of someone who had long since lost faith in teenagers. His glasses always rested low on his nose, as though even they were tired of dealing with students. He was meticulous, sharp-eyed, and seemingly blessed with the supernatural ability to detect the exact moment Jimmy was about to fall asleep.
Jimmy suppressed a sigh, straightened up, and stretched his neck with a small yawn.
Mr. Windham's expression did not soften in the slightest.
"Next time, Mr. Lin," he said, "I'll have you recite the last chapter from memory."
Jimmy stared blankly.
Mr. Windham closed his textbook, tucked it into his satchel, glanced once around the room, and said, "You're dismissed for lunch."
The atmosphere in the classroom changed instantly.
Chairs scraped back. Conversations burst to life. Bags zipped. Footsteps filled the room.
And then, from the desk beside him, came a familiar voice.
"Jimmy, bro."
Jimmy turned his head.
Bobby was already grinning at him.
Bobby had a round face, a sturdy build, and the kind of eager expression that made it seem like he was always one second away from saying something dumb. He was slightly darker-skinned than Jimmy, perpetually hungry, and had been Jimmy's best friend since middle school.
He was also, unfortunately, loud.
"What's up, fatty?" Jimmy asked, pushing himself out of his chair.
Bobby ignored the insult like a seasoned veteran.
"Did you see the new release pack for Monster Hunters 5?"
Jimmy paused.
That got his attention.
"No," he said immediately. "Did they drop it already?"
Bobby's grin widened. "The announcement came out this morning. The whole community's going crazy."
Now Jimmy was fully awake.
Monster Hunters 5 was not just some random game he played after school.
It was the game.
At school, James Lin was an ordinary student who barely made it to class on time and got caught sleeping by teachers with terrible personalities.
Online, however, he was something else entirely.
Heaven-Slaying Sword King.
Ranked first in the world.
A name that sat at the top of the global leaderboard like a monument.
Whales who spent absurd amounts of money on the game couldn't beat him. Streamers studied his clips. Competitive players argued over his builds, copied his routes, and still failed to catch up. On the forums, people debated whether Heaven-Slaying Sword King was really a team of pros sharing one account, because no normal player should have been that good.
The truth was much simpler.
He was just Jimmy.
And nobody knew.
Well, except Bobby.
"What's the release about?" Jimmy asked as they stepped into the hallway and joined the stream of students heading toward the cafeteria.
Bobby spread his hands dramatically. "That's the thing. Nobody knows everything yet. They only showed part of it, but people are already losing their minds."
Jimmy frowned. "It can't be that crazy."
He had been playing long enough to know how developers worked. Big trailers. Bigger promises. Endless hype. Then the update dropped, and it turned out the "massive new content experience" was one boss, two recycled maps, and a cosmetic bundle nobody asked for.
Bobby shook his head. "No, I'm serious. This one feels different."
"That's what they always say."
"And this time they might actually be right."
Jimmy snorted, but he was curious now.
The lunch line moved slowly, as always.
Bobby stepped forward first and held out his tray while the lunch lady started scooping food onto it. Jimmy waited behind him, hands in his pockets, already planning out the rest of his day.
Get home. Log in.
Check patch notes.
Clear new content.
Secure the first clears before the entire server caught up.
Just a normal schedule.
When it was his turn, Jimmy set down his tray and gave the lunch lady his most sincere expression.
"Auntie, give me extra today."
Without looking up, she dropped three pieces of pork onto his rice.
Jimmy stared.
The same amount as always.
He clicked his tongue. "Cold."
Bobby nearly choked laughing.
The two of them took their trays and found a half-empty table near the back of the cafeteria.
"Send me the link," Jimmy said, sitting down.
Bobby blinked at him. "I already did."
Jimmy frowned. "You did?"
"Check Discord."
Jimmy pulled out his phone, opened the app, and tapped the message Bobby had sent him during class.
The official Monster Hunters 5 announcement page loaded.
At the top was a massive banner splashed in dark gold and crimson.
SPECIAL EVENT RELEASE - 7:00 PM TODAY
Jimmy's eyes sharpened.
Below that were preview images.
A ruined battlefield beneath a blood-red sky.
A giant black gate emerging from a mountain.
A silhouette holding a weapon too large to be called reasonable.
New boss raid.
Limited-time world event.
Exclusive drops.
Server-wide ranking challenge.
Jimmy sat up a little straighter.
Okay.
That was... more than usual.
"Fatty," he said, not taking his eyes off the screen. "We're logging in the second school ends."
Bobby leaned back with a smug look. "Don't we always?"
Jimmy ignored him and kept scrolling.
The comments were exploding.
Forum posts were multiplying by the second. Players were already theorycrafting mechanics based on two blurry screenshots and a ten-second teaser clip. Content creators were uploading "full breakdowns" of information nobody actually had yet. The entire player base looked like it had collectively lost its mind.
Which, to be fair, was a promising sign.
The final school hours passed in a blur.
Teachers talked. Bells rang. Notebooks opened and closed. Someone asked Jimmy a question in class, and he answered automatically without even processing what subject they were in.
By the end of the day, the only clear thought in his mind was one thing.
Seven o'clock.
The moment school ended, Jimmy headed straight home.
He changed his shoes at the door, tossed his bag aside, muttered a quick greeting toward the kitchen, and went straight to his room.
His computer powered on.
His headset settled over his ears.
The familiar opening music of Monster Hunters 5 filled the room.
Normally, Jimmy found it relaxing.
Tonight, it sounded like the prelude to war.
He logged in immediately.
The main city was already packed.
Players crowded every plaza, fountain, and rooftop. Chat flew by too fast to read. Global messages popped up every few seconds. Some players were spamming emotes. Others were recruiting raid groups in all caps. Everyone was waiting.
Jimmy cracked his fingers once and leaned back in his chair.
His in-game name shone above his character like a challenge to the entire server.
Heaven-Slaying Sword King
Even standing still, his character drew attention. Nearby players slowed, stopped, then started gathering around him one by one as though an unspoken signal had spread through the crowd.
Someone in chat typed:
WAIT - is that really HSSK?!
Another message followed instantly.
No way.
Then:
IT'S HIM
Jimmy clicked his tongue.
Annoying.
He moved his character to a quieter corner of the city and opened the event tab.
A countdown timer sat in the center of the screen.
00:58:14
He watched it tick down.
Fifty-eight minutes became forty-five.
Forty-five became twenty-two.
Twenty-two became fifteen.
Fifteen became three.
Then two.
Then one.
The entire server seemed to hold its breath.
Jimmy rested one hand on his mouse and the other on his keyboard, gaze fixed on the screen.
This was it.
The final seconds started to fall.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
The screen went black.
Then a system message appeared in enormous crimson letters.
WARNING: A unique player condition has been detected.
Jimmy frowned.
"What?"
A second line appeared.
Hidden requirement fulfilled.
Then a third.
Exclusive event route unlocked.
For the first time that day, James Lin forgot how to breathe.
Because the name that appeared next was not Heaven-Slaying Sword King.
It was his real name.
James Lin, do you accept?