Chapter 1: Garbage Plot, No Skipping Allowed

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In the fifth year of the Zhongping era, in the third month, chaos reigned across the lands of Bingzhou, north of the capital. Hordes of northern invaders—tribes of Hu—alongside the White Wave, Black Mountain, and various rebel armies and bandits, had shattered this territory into fragments, each seizing a portion for themselves in a tangled patchwork of power.

Seizing upon the momentum from having beheaded the governor Zhang Yi in battle and routing the Bingzhou army days before, the Xiongnu tribes had splintered their forces and surged deep into Taiyuan commandery. The governor’s seat of Bingzhou was engulfed in flames and alarms sounded in every quarter.

At that very moment, thick black smoke poured from a village on the outskirts of Qixian. Newly arrived, Su Yao found his perspective fixed atop the tall locust tree at the village center, confusion roiling in his heart.

“Shouldn’t the story begin with the coalition against Dong Zhuo? Did they change it in the official release?”

Sensing something amiss, he summoned the system interface in his consciousness, fumbling through its menus while muttering, “Where are the other players? Am I in single-player mode?”

With the chat and social interfaces completely locked, he could only resign himself to his fate.

Just moments ago, Su Yao had logged into a newly launched full-immersion historical simulation game called “True Three Kingdoms World” right at 8 a.m. The long, ten-year beta had at last come to an end. Su Yao’s childhood and youth had intertwined with the game’s journey, watching it grow ever more realistic and popular.

Today, the long-awaited day had finally arrived. He was ready to start anew from the very beginning. Yet just as he was about to log out and relaunch into the online version—

[Detected original save data. Load now?]

What?

Wasn’t the official release supposed to wipe all saves?

Curiosity piqued, Su Yao opened the details.

[Strength: 200
Reflexes: 200
Agility: 200
Horsemanship: 200
...
......]

“It really is my beta data.”

[Please confirm whether to load. Data will be deleted by default in 10 seconds.]

Without hesitation, Su Yao clicked “load.” This data was forged from countless nights of his youth; given the chance to regain it, he would never let it go.

A flash of white light filled his vision as his body gradually took form amid the glowing particles. Meanwhile, in the real world, the youth's body vanished from the immersion pod without a trace.

“Well, whatever bug this is, since I’ve loaded the data, I might as well enjoy it for a while. But where did they move the spawn point?”

Peering down, Su Yao saw a village ravaged by marauders. The manor before the great tree stood with its doors flung open, a section of the wall collapsed, and beneath the tree lay a pool of blood, heaped with dozens of stripped male corpses.

Women and children, half-clothed and howling in terror, had ropes noosed around their necks, driven like sheep and herded together by plaited-braid brigands.

“A new cutscene? Not bad.”

As Su Yao waited for his body to fully materialize, he muttered to himself, watching as the mob below carried on, driving the plot forward without regard for him.

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But soon he realized he couldn’t understand a word these people were saying.

“Hmph, this is how it should have been all along. These Han people have lost their old courage—soft and helpless like sheep. Now is our time, us Hu, to break these hundred-year shackles!” declared a middle-aged Xiongnu captain, his voice rousing as he clenched his fist and barked orders at his men.

“Move quickly! Take all the grain and valuables—don’t leave them a single coin!”

“Captain, we’ve already searched several times.”

“Nonsense! Is that all a whole village has?”

He had disobeyed orders to storm the manor, and though he’d taken it, he’d lost many men. Without enough loot, how could he answer for it on his return?

“Bring me the village head. I’ll interrogate him myself!”

Soon, a gray-haired old man was dragged out of the manor wall and forced to his knees with a kick.

“Money or your life—choose!” the Xiongnu captain barked in rough, halting Han.

“There’s nothing left, truly nothing, chief! My life doesn’t matter, but at least spare the children!” the old man pleaded in tears.

“Spare the children? So they can grow up and wield blades against us?” The captain smirked, and with a wave, women screamed and wept as the family of the old village head was shoved forward.

“Which of you is this old man’s daughter or granddaughter?”

“What… what do you want?” the old man cried in alarm.

“Hmph! I want to see if you’ll still be so stubborn when your children are ravaged before your eyes.”

“No! Please! We really have nothing left!” The old man clung desperately to the captain’s leg.

The Xiongnu captain shook him off with a kick, urging the women, “Hurry up, whoever has status step forward. Be sensible and we can take our time with each of you.”

He sneered, “Or don’t—then we’ll take you all at once. We have plenty of young men eager for women!”

“Good idea, captain! What are we waiting for? Let’s all have a turn!” The soldiers’ raucous laughter drained the color from the women’s faces as they trembled in terror. Just as someone, unable to contain herself, was about to point out another, a girl in green stood up, lifting her head.

“I… I am Azu’s granddaughter.”

Those who knew the girl were stunned—it was her! The captain’s eyes lit up at the sight of such a rare beauty.

Though her hair was in disarray and her cheeks were tear-stained, the girl, barely in her teens and clad in green, still carried an indomitable light in her bright eyes.

The captain nodded inwardly—defiling such a spirited one was all the more satisfying.

The old headman, stunned for a moment, finally cried out, “Hong’er!”

“Heh, worthy indeed of the renowned Wang family of Taiyuan—what a lovely flower. If I took you back to the royal court, even if you could not serve the Great Khan, you’d still be the plaything of princes and nobles, living a life of luxury.”

He glanced at the old man and clicked his tongue. “Too bad, thanks to your miserly grandfather, you’ll be handed over to my men. After ten months, no one will know who fathered your child. Isn’t that a pity?”

Seeing the girl’s pale, pretty face, the captain added another cruel twist:

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“Oh, and first, you’ll have to survive ten months under my men.”

The girl’s lips quivered, bloodless, but she said nothing. The soldiers roared with laughter.

What is life’s greatest pleasure? Surely it is to kill your enemies, seize their lands, plunder their wealth, claim their wives and daughters, and listen to their wails. Whoever leads men to these triumphs is the greatest leader of all.

The old headman sighed and slowly closed his eyes.

“Tch, stubborn fool who won’t cry until he sees the coffin,” the captain scoffed. With a wave, he ordered, “She’s yours now, let her witness the might of our steppe men!”

“Thank you, captain! I haven’t had a woman in half a year—watch me break her in!” one young soldier jeered.

“Hey, take it easy, she’s for all of us. Everyone gets a turn!”

Before he could finish, the girl was shoved to the ground by a burly soldier. Hong’er struggled and screamed, kicking and fighting, but when a blood-red handprint bloomed on her cheek, her strength melted away.

“Well? Still hiding anything? This is your last chance,” the captain growled, frowning—could it be there really was no hidden treasure? Was this all the Taiyuan Wang family had left in this village?

“There’s truly nothing…” the old man murmured.

With a rip, the girl’s dress was torn, exposing her pale legs.

“Hong’er…” the old man bowed his head, sighing as hands gripped his shoulders.

“Heh, thank you, old man, for letting us enjoy such a fine girl,” the soldier leered, loosening his belt.

But at that moment, something happened that he would never forget—his blood ran cold.

A pale-faced youth somersaulted down from the sky, his handsome face brimming with curiosity as he circled around the soldier, murmuring incomprehensible words. Finally, he crouched down, wiped a tear from the girl’s cheek, and tasted it.

“They even implemented taste?”

Su Yao savored the saltiness of the tear, intrigued. Too bad he couldn’t understand the garbled language—maybe he’d set the language wrong.

“Well… may I begin the slaughter now?”

He had to admit, no matter how many times players had requested it, this wretched game still refused to add a skip option for cutscenes. So he could only listen to the gibberish above, waiting out the plot in patience.

Still, with such a hackneyed script, he hardly needed to understand to know what to do.

Hmm? Was the AI even smarter now?

Look at those goons, not even bothering to pull up their pants before, humiliated, they drew their swords—so lifelike!

“Thanks, brother.”

And the sword was suddenly in Su Yao’s hand.

“Too slow.”

Before the words left his lips, a flash of white light flared, and the would-be assailant, not even knowing what had happened, felt a chill at his throat.

A moment later, as the world spun, he saw his own headless body—blood gushed forth.