Spreading Flame had a dream.
Yes, he was crystal clear he was dreaming right now.
Because after logging into the game that morning, he found his account acting up.
Name: Mars Bright Moon Night (Male)
Class: Slayer (Legendary)
Level: 463
Seeing this character, Spreading Flame jumped in shock. He hurried to log out, wanting to find Snowy Study—convinced it was all just a dream.
Unfortunately—or fortunately—he couldn’t find the logout option. That meant he was probably dreaming after all.
After calming himself, Spreading Flame selected his character and logged in properly.
A flash of white light later, Mars Bright Moon Night appeared in a fiery red world.
Spreading Flame recalled this place—it was the Pyro Elemental Outland, where he’d been right before his rebirth.
As he pondered, a white light flared beside him. A tiny figure plopped onto his shoulder and poked his cheek.
“What’s wrong? Daydreaming?” It was Beryl.
“Ah… I was just thinking what to do next,” Spreading Flame sighed slightly with relief—finally, one familiar thing.
“Huh? Weren’t we grabbing another Pure Flame Crystal to challenge the Flame Trial? Did you sleep yourself stupid?” Beryl stared at him like he was an idiot.
“Right…” Spreading Flame nodded but felt that wasn’t his priority now.
He just wanted to check on everyone.
He opened his friends list and typed a character ID—a system feature for precise player searches.
【2】
This was Nameless One’s ID. As the second player to join the game, the Guild Leader kept it simple: just “2”.
But the search showed an unfamiliar name, level stuck at 83… clearly abandoned long ago.
Next, Spreading Flame entered another ID—Dongliumeng’s. After the Guild Leader, she left the deepest impression.
His memory had sharpened after rebirth; he recalled every teammate’s ID.
This time, it was indeed Dongliumeng’s character. Level 192, but online.
Spreading Flame sent a friend request. After a pause, she accepted.
“Hello?” Dongliumeng sounded puzzled. How did this stranger know her ID?
“Hi, I’m…” Spreading Flame realized too late—he didn’t know her here. Or rather, she didn’t know him.
“?” Dongliumeng sent a question mark, finding him weird.
“I’m Mars Bright Moon Night… We knew each other before. You might not remember.” He struggled for a reasonable excuse, then blurted it out.
Normally, Dongliumeng would dismiss this as a pickup attempt. But he genuinely knew her.
“So, Mars Bright Moon Night, what do you want?” She decided to play along.
“Where are you? I’ll come find you.” He didn’t answer directly.
Honestly, he just wanted to see how his Mercenary Corps teammates were in this timeline.
“I’m in the Void Realm.” Coincidentally, Dongliumeng also wanted to see what this was about—maybe a prank from someone she knew.
Spreading Flame rushed to the Void Realm.
The game’s initial max level was 100, later expanded to 200. Players under 200 weren’t considered “maxed.” To veterans, anyone not maxed likely just played less—not necessarily bad.
After 200, leveling required special quests or items to break the cap. Mars Bright Moon Night was already level 463… though post-cap levels mattered more for prestige than power. A level 200 and level 2000 player had no suppression mechanics.
Still, higher levels usually meant stronger players—climbing was harder. Level 2000 didn’t exist… except maybe for the Guild Leader.
Dongliumeng at 192 was probably leveling here.
Using her coordinates, Spreading Flame found her at a dungeon entrance in the Void Realm.
The Dongliumeng before him felt different—steady, mature. Time hadn’t aged her much, but her aura was utterly changed.
He missed the goofy teammate who always chirped “Guild Leader! Guild Leader!”… oh right, she was Deputy Leader.
“Hello? Mars Bright Moon Night?” Dongliumeng studied him, certain she’d never met him.
His gaze held no weird desire—just nostalgia and quiet relief, as if he truly knew her. She was baffled.
“It’s me,” Spreading Flame nodded.
He’d only wanted to see this world’s Dongliumeng. But calling her out just to stare felt rude. “Uh… want me to help you level up?”
“Sure.” Dongliumeng agreed readily—she wanted to observe him too.
They partied up and entered the dungeon.
Twisted Ancient Nest—it was brutally hard when it launched. Its final boss, Void Lord Sari, was worth an entire dungeon alone… now, nobody farmed it.
Back here, the name felt oddly familiar, but Spreading Flame couldn’t place it. He let it go.
Dongliumeng was a wind mage, but unlike the slacker he remembered—she played orthodox, skilled. No way this was the deadweight whose wind blades were weaker than his traps.
With Spreading Flame leading, they cleared it easily. The experience boosted Dongliumeng to level 193.
Midway, he searched other Mercenary Corps members. Few still played or were findable… unlike Dongliumeng.
After parting ways, Spreading Flame visited others.
Miaodayan was online but refused to meet. He gave up.
Nameless One was in the White Tiger Temple at the Four Sacred Temples. The empty hall held only her and Miaomiao… she still seemed ordinary.
He tried the Vermilion Bird Temple next—but the Vermilion Bird barred him.
Of course. He’d never done her affection quests; why would she let him in?
Only Miaodayan and Nameless One were reachable. The rest were gone.
For Vitamin, he skipped ID search and checked the forum. Her last post was from Year 2—the Martial Combat Tournament schedule differed here.
VeiEr’s level froze at 103, untouched for ages.
Guxiyu and Colorful Lilith? No records.
Towa had deleted her character entirely.
After seeing it all, Spreading Flame felt hollow. A sense of decay—things unchanged, people gone—weighed on him.
Snowy Study was still on his friends list… but he didn’t message her.
Was it because he couldn’t bear seeing her smile fade in a wheelchair? Or something else? He didn’t know.
Wandering aimlessly, he drifted to Moonfall City—now renamed Cherry Snow City, ruled by players.
Here, he thought of Jiyue’s fate in this world.
If the Guild Leader were here, it wouldn’t be like this—Spreading Flame found a new goal.
He wanted to check on the Guild Leader’s Followers… but that was harder than finding teammates.
He scoured forum videos and posts. Most were untraceable.
Searching Atlantis, he found footage of its total annihilation—and its king: a familiar Mermaid queen.
In Greenhill Kingdom, he saw the Seven-Tailed Fox imprisoned in the Treasury.
Strangely, unrelated videos surfaced too.
Someone crafted a weapon based on a Divine Artifact, freely shifting forms. But its poor functionality got it dumped in storage, forgotten.
In old Demon Invasion War clips, he spotted a Dark Fiend named Tiffany, slain by the Demon King. Players mocked the Demons’ infighting.
Later, war spread to the Divine Realm. The Lords of Light and Darkness were crippled by the Demon King; Celestials and Shadow Entities were annihilated.
“…”
Finally, Spreading Flame saw a forum post skyrocketing to the top with absurd speed—a data-spamming frenzy. It was from the player with the Transcendent Follower.
Title: Stop Asking—You Can’t Get a Transcendent Follower.
Before he could click it, his vision blurred.
He snapped back to the login screen—but now, Spreading Flame’s own character stood before him.
After logging in, he checked his friends list. Seeing familiar names, he pinched his cheek.
“Acting crazy?” Snowy Study shot him a glare.
“…No.”
Spreading Flame shook his head. Around him, the Mercenary Corps gathered.
And the Guild Leader, lining up Followers to pet them.
“…”
