Chapter 76 Qin Wentian completely quits the game and pays his final protection fee.

It took Qin Wentian three days to save up enough for the second abyss origin fragment.

During these three days, he caught seven small thieves trying to steal materials. Some were locals from the Korean Server, some were cross-server players from the US Server, and one had actually come all the way from the European Server. Qin Wentian asked that European player why they had traveled so far. The European player said the Lord of Plague's warehouse was guarded too strictly to break into, and having heard that the Korean Server's warehouse only had a freelance intelligence officer squatting there, they came. When Qin Wentian wrote them down in his notebook, his hand was shaking.

On the night he gathered the two abyss origin fragments, Qin Wentian went to the Lord of Flame to borrow a forging table. The Lord of Flame didn't ask what he was borrowing it for; he simply gave him the best forging table in Abyss City to use. Qin Wentian placed the two fragments on the forging table and then pulled a legendary longsword from his backpack. It was a weapon he had bought for three million gold coins before quitting the game, ranked seventh in the entire server.

The Lord of Flame glanced at the longsword: "You intend to fuse the fragments into this sword?"

Qin Wentian nodded. The Lord of Flame said nothing more. Fusing fragments was not a hundred percent successful. Fusing two abyss origin fragments into a legendary weapon had about a thirty percent success rate. If it failed, the fragments would disappear, but the weapon would remain. If it succeeded, the weapon would evolve into abyss equipment, and its attributes would double. Qin Wentian took a deep breath and pressed the first fragment into the sword body.

The fragment fused in. The light on the sword body changed from golden to dark gold.

The purple flames in the Lord of Flame's eyes flickered: "Not bad luck."

Qin Wentian picked up the second fragment and pressed it in as well. The moment the fragment fused, the sword body began to vibrate violently. The dark golden light churned like boiling water, and a fine crack appeared on the sword body. Qin Wentian's heart jumped to his throat. The crack widened, extending from the hilt to the tip, and then closed again. The moment it closed, the dark golden light retracted into the sword body, and the longsword went quiet. A system prompt popped up on the forging table.

"Congratulations on crafting the legendary abyss weapon 'Dark Abyss Longsword'."

Qin Wentian gripped the hilt, his knuckles turning white. He had succeeded. A thirty percent probability, and he had won the bet. The Dark Abyss Longsword's attack power was 1.5 times higher than before, with an added abyss corrosion effect, and damage against abyss targets was doubled.

The Lord of Flame looked at him: "Going to find Brother Ye now?"

Qin Wentian stood up: "Going now."

He carried the Dark Abyss Longsword out of Abyss City. At the city gate, Po Jun was standing there. Qin Wentian stopped. The two stood facing each other, about ten steps apart. Po Jun spoke first.

"Heard you crafted an abyss weapon."

Qin Wentian raised the Dark Abyss Longsword.

"Coming to fight Brother Ye."

Po Jun was silent for a few seconds, then stepped aside to make way. As Qin Wentian walked past him, Po Jun said one sentence.

"Brother Ye is at the Abyss Rift."

Qin Wentian paused for a moment, then continued walking forward.

At the edge of the Abyss Rift, Lin Ye was squatting on the ground, using a branch to draw a table on the ground. The horizontal rows of the table were written with the names of the Abyssal Lords, and the vertical columns were written with performance assessment items. Su Qinghan stood to the side, occasionally helping him make a few edits.

Qin Wentian walked behind Lin Ye and stood still. Lin Ye didn't turn his head.

"Heard you forged an abyss weapon. How are the attributes?"

Qin Wentian sent a screenshot of the Dark Abyss Longsword's attributes to the local chat channel. Lin Ye took a look.

"Not bad. You won the bet on a thirty percent probability."

Qin Wentian gripped the hilt tightly.

"I want to have a match with you."

Lin Ye stood up, brushed the dirt off his hands, and turned around to look at Qin Wentian. Qin Wentian was wearing the corrosion immunity armor included with the abyss protection package, holding the Dark Abyss Longsword in his hand. He was thinner than before; the game character's face could be customized, but Qin Wentian hadn't adjusted it. He had gotten thin during the time he quit the game.

Lin Ye took out the Abyss Decay Longsword from his backpack and casually stuck it into the ground.

"Come on then."

Qin Wentian raised the Dark Abyss Longsword and charged at Lin Ye. His speed was more than twice as fast as before; the attribute bonus of the abyss weapon had pushed his agility over three thousand. The tip of the sword thrust toward Lin Ye's chest, the corrosion effect on the sword body trailing a dark golden trajectory in the air.

Lin Ye dodged sideways. Qin Wentian backhanded a horizontal slash, which Lin Ye dodged by leaning back. Qin Wentian thrust the sword three times in succession; Lin Ye retreated three steps. Not one step more, not one step less. Qin Wentian's sword was always a fist's distance away from Lin Ye's chest.

Qin Wentian stopped: "You've been dodging the whole time."

Lin Ye nodded.

"Why aren't you fighting back?"

Lin Ye pulled the Abyss Decay Longsword from the ground.

"If I fought back, you'd be gone."

Qin Wentian gritted his teeth and charged up again. This time he activated all his skills. The Berserker's Heart of Rage, the swordsman's Sword Intent stacking, the abyss weapon's corrosion burst. The dark golden light on the Dark Abyss Longsword shone like a small sun. This sword strike was all he had. Equipment saved up by paying hundreds of millions in real currency, performance points saved up after returning from quitting the game, betting on a thirty percent probability with two abyss origin fragments. Everything was in this one strike.

When the sword reached Lin Ye, Lin Ye raised the Abyss Decay Longsword, and the two swords collided. The dark golden light and the dark purple light crashed together, exploding in a circle of shockwaves. As the shockwaves dissipated, Qin Wentian's Dark Abyss Longsword snapped into two pieces. The front half was stuck in the ground, and the back half was in his hand.

Lin Ye's Abyss Decay Longsword was completely undamaged.

Qin Wentian looked at the broken sword in his hand and was silent for a long time.

"I lost."

Lin Ye sheathed his sword.

"You didn't lose because of your equipment. The attributes of the Dark Abyss Longsword are already very strong. There are fewer than five people on the entire server who could take this strike of yours. You lost because of yourself. Everything is in this sword strike of yours. There is pay-to-win equipment, there are fragments saved up through points, there is luck from betting on probabilities. But not a single thing is your own. The equipment was bought, the fragments were saved, and the luck was gambled. Where is your own Sword Intent?"

Qin Wentian gripped the hilt of the broken sword, his knuckles turning pale.

Lin Ye turned and walked back to the edge of the Abyss Rift, continuing to squat down and draw the table. Qin Wentian stood for a long time, then turned and left. He did not return to the Korean Server's Abyss City. He walked to the center of the square in Dawn City and opened the world channel.

"Qin Wentian: I, Qin Wentian, hereby officially and permanently quit 'gods domain: origin'. From now on, I will no longer set foot in any online games. Thank you to the friends who have supported me in the past, and I apologize to the players I have harmed."

The entire server went quiet. Then it exploded.

"Wocao Wuqing: Quitting again? How many times have you quit, Qin Wentian?"

"Brick-Moving Expert: This time it's for real. He deleted his account."

"Invincible Sword God: Account deleted? Doesn't that mean even the character is gone?"

"Data Emperor: No character left. I just searched, and Qin Wentian's ID can no longer be found."

The world channel was silent for a few seconds. Then a private message from Qin Wentian popped up in front of Lin Ye.

"Qin Wentian: Brother Ye, this is the last protection fee. One hundred thousand gold coins. Please don't target me anymore in the future. I am completely defeated. I won't play anymore."

Lin Ye looked at that private message and was silent for a moment.

"Lin Ye: Wouldn't it have been better if you'd done this sooner? I wish you a happy real life."

Qin Wentian's avatar went gray. Permanently gray.

On the forum, someone made a post about the news of Qin Wentian quitting the game. The title was "The entire server's number one whale Qin Wentian, officially quits the game". In the post, some mocked, some regretted, and some didn't care. But one reply was upvoted to the top.

"Lord of Flame: Qin Wentian's position as a freelance intelligence officer is vacant starting from today. Those interested come to the Korean Server's Abyss City for an interview. Requirements: able to stay up late, good eyesight, and dare to step forward and question suspicious personnel. Performance points will be issued according to Qin Wentian's standards; catching one earns ten points."

The person who replied was the Lord of Flame himself. The comments below immediately went off-topic.

"Korean Server player Park Jung-tae: Lord of Flame, do you think I'm suitable?"

"Japanese Server player Yamada Takashi: Lord of Flame, although I stole from the transport line last time, it was an attempted theft. Can I interview?"

"US Server player William: Lord of Flame, I have good eyesight. I can tell who wants to steal materials from three streets away."

The Lord of Flame replied one by one.

"Park Jung-tae, no. You set up a stall to sell fake materials at the gate of Abyss City last time; you have a criminal record."

"Yamada Takashi, pending. Attempted theft is also a crime. Let's see your subsequent performance."

"William, come for an interview tomorrow. Bring your credit record from the US Server."

Players around the world watched the Lord of Flame seriously interviewing for freelance intelligence officers and laughed their heads off.

Lin Ye was squatting at the edge of the Abyss Rift, looking at the post on the forum, the corners of his mouth curling up. Su Qinghan stood beside him.

"Qin Wentian has really quit this time."

Lin Ye nodded.

"Account deleted, character deleted. He can't come back."

Su Qinghan was silent for a few seconds.

"He will remember that last sentence you said to him."

Lin Ye didn't respond. He stood up and threw the branch covered in tables to the side.

"The performance assessment table is finished. There are three days left until the Lord of the Abyss breaks the seal. In these three days, have all the Abyssal Lords do extra training. Not extra combat training, but extra training in bringing goods. After the Lord of the Abyss breaks the seal, it will have a fight with me. Regardless of whether it wins or loses after the fight, the bringing of goods cannot stop."

Su Qinghan couldn't help but laugh: "You really intend to let it continue bringing goods after the fight?"

"Otherwise? Who else will do the Director's job if it's vacant? You or me?"

Su Qinghan shook her head with a smile.

Deep in the Abyss Rift, the cracks on the seal formation were already very large. Black origin energy surged out from the cracks, condensing into a vague human silhouette around the seal formation. The silhouette's features had not yet formed, but those purple eyes were already clearly visible. The Lord of the Abyss's voice rang in Lin Ye's head.

"Your opponent has quit the game."

Lin Ye looked at the purple eyes in the seal formation.

"He wasn't an opponent. He was a player who took the wrong path."

The Lord of the Abyss was silent for a moment.

"Is this how you treat all your enemies? Turning them into your own people?"

Lin Ye shook his head.

"Not turning them into my own people. It's giving them a path to turn back. Those who can turn back will walk back themselves. For those who can't, I have no choice."

The Lord of the Abyss was silent for a long time.

"Three days later, I will break the seal. You will fight me. Regardless of whether I win or lose, I will be your Director. Not because of the contract, but because I want to see how far you can really go."

Lin Ye looked at those purple eyes.

"Fine. See you in three days."

He turned and walked out of the Abyss Rift. The sunlight of Dawn City fell on him, and the eight pieces of the abyss decay set shimmered with a deep luster in the sunlight. Su Qinghan walked on his left, and Po Jun walked on his right. Fatty Wang ran out from the Unscrupulous Business Center, holding a stack of contracts in his hands.

"Brother! I've printed the employment contract for after the Lord of the Abyss breaks the seal! The terms are as you said: Director position, annual salary negotiable, and you set the performance assessment standards!"

Lin Ye took the contract and flipped through it.

"Alright. Bring it in three days."