"It's done! It's downloaded!" Chris shouted, his voice cracking with pure ecstasy.
He stole a glance at the others, finding them all huddled in silence, eyes glued to their glowing tablets. The shimmering light cast an eerie, spectral white pallor over their faces. Chris quickly lowered his head and tapped the newly appeared icon on his screen.
The Dungeon Entertainment logo and play prompts flickered by, followed immediately by an opening cinematic.
"Hero, we meet again."
Just like in Hero's Legend 1, the animation began with the appearance of the Goddess.
As the blonde, white-clad Goddess descended from the heavens amidst a swirling gale, clutching a radiant light in her hands, Chris stared in such awe that he let slip a word that would have earned him a mouth full of soap if his mother were listening.
—Holy sht, this Goddess is gorgeous!
The Goddess in the previous game had been dignified and beautiful, sure, but she was ultimately just a collection of colored blocks with jagged, pixelated edges. "Exquisite" was never a word that applied to her.
But this Goddess was different. She looked like she had stepped right out of a cathedral's ceiling fresco.
She... she actually moved! Bathed in holy light, her wings fluttering, even the folds of her long robes flowed with an aura of pure aesthetic perfection. Her voice was like celestial music, each syllable striking a chord in the listener's heart. The lead singer of the Norelia Choir sounded like a babbling toddler by comparison.
Even someone like Chris, who avoided church like the plague, felt a sudden, devout urge to kneel and kiss the ground she walked upon.
He recalled seeing an ad in the papers where Dungeon Entertainment was recruiting game artists. All he could say now was: that was money well spent!
"...Hero, you have proven your strength and conviction, growing from a flickering spark into a brilliant light. Now, the time has come for you to illuminate the world."
With a gentle wave of the Goddess's hand, a gateway made of flowing light appeared behind her.
"Step through this door, and you shall travel to another universe. It is no longer a parallel world, but a brand-new, unknown land where evil lingers. Your path will be arduous and long, but only tempered steel can become the blade that cuts through the darkness. Every setback you face shall be the fire that forges your soul."
Having spoken, the Goddess transformed into ten thousand glowing butterflies, scattering into the wind.
Well, the plot is basically the same as the last one, Chris thought. New wine in an old bottle. But the graphics upgrade makes up for everything. Any complaints vanished before the Goddess's beauty. Chris was certain he wasn't the only one feeling this way. Lorne Dungeon was a terrifying man; he had the players' psychology down to a science.
Chris tapped the gateway. With a heavy creak, the doors swung open. The butterflies surged behind the doors, forming a path of light. Chris controlled his golden-haired avatar and stepped inside. He could faintly see another door ahead, with clouds and mountains beyond...
Suddenly, an invisible darkness pressed down from above, and the entire tablet vibrated violently. Chris's hands nearly went numb from the haptic feedback.
The butterfly path shattered. The golden-haired hero fell into the abyss with a piercing scream.
After a dizzying whirl of motion, a vast, snowy scroll unfurled before Chris's eyes.
No, it wasn't a scroll—it was a landscape.
Unlike the silver-draped, festive streets of Norelia, this was a desolate tundra. An endless white expanse stretched toward the horizon as if reaching the very end of the world.
Brilliant auroras danced in the night sky, weaving cyan, blue, and indigo veils across the black velvet curtain. Staring at that ethereal light, Chris had a sudden, strange thought: maybe this really was the end of the world.
With a soft poof, a white furball hopped onto the center of the screen.
"Long time no see, Master 'Rich Enough to Rival Nations'!" A small head and nine fluffy tails popped out from the white fluff.
"Why is it always you..." Chris was all too familiar with this old friend. "What just happened? Is this the new universe the Goddess mentioned?"
"You could say yes, but also no." Bao gave him a cryptic look. "This universe is made of many worlds. The Goddess intended to use the Path of Light to send you to the 'Eastern World'—my home. But a temporal rift broke the path, causing you to land in the place furthest from the Eastern World: the 'Frost World.' Right here."
"Uh, can we get back?"
"Baobao doesn't know either!" The fox wagged its nine tails. "But all worlds are connected. If you keep heading east and find the passage, you'll reach the Eastern World eventually!"
"You make it sound like: 'It's fine if you're lost; the world is round anyway, so you'll end up back where you started,'" Chris deadpanned.
"Ahaha! That's not entirely wrong!"
"Stop joking around! You—"
Before he could finish, Chris's hero was launched into the air by a massive force.
The earth shook violently as a mountain rose from beneath the snow. No, it wasn't a mountain—it was a giant wolf covered in black fur. Its blood-red eyes reminded Chris of the crimson moon on the night he met Red Light.
The golden-haired hero swung his sword at the black wolf, and predictably—it dealt zero damage.
"Don't tell me the tropes are the same as the first game too!" Chris yelled.
Bao hopped over to his side. "Master, your power cannot be used in this universe, but your will can become the flame that dispels the darkness. The Goddess has granted you the power of Summoning. As long as you concentrate, you can call forth companions to defend against the enemy!"
"Wait, why can't I fight myself—"
Bao looked resolute: "Now, let the summoning begin!"
"Wait, I'm not ready—"
Before he could finish, the screen erupted in a brilliant silver light. Two glowing cocoons manifested in the air—the same cocoons Chris had been encased in when the Goddess first summoned him.
The cocoons shattered, and two familiar figures landed gracefully.
"Lucian, the 'Blade of Dawn,' and Red, the 'Crimson Thunder,' have answered the call to fight by the Hero's side!"
Chris stared blankly at the red-haired girl (selectively ignoring Lucian next to her), his heart pounding against his ribs.
She was as vibrant as a flower in April, yet as cold as a streak of blood on a blade's edge.
Unlike the pixel art of the first game, this Red was so exquisitely beautiful it was breathtaking. She looked like a saint stepped out of a masterpiece.
At this moment, Chris just wanted to pull out his wallet, shove it into Lorne Dungeon's mouth, and scream: Take it! Take it all! Get this cursed money away from me! Just give me more of Red!
Lucian and Red struck as one. The black wolf didn't even have time to howl before it collapsed into the snow, its crimson blood blooming across the pale earth.
The two sheathed their weapons and turned back to Chris with slight smiles.
"Ah, we meet again." "This kid is still as dazed as ever." "Meeting in this strange world must be fate." "There will likely be many hardships ahead. Well? Shall we travel together like old times?"
Just as Chris was about to answer, the black wolf's corpse dissolved into black smoke and vanished!
The smoke danced wildly in the blizzard, resembling several intertwining serpents.
"Get back!" Red gripped her hilt, glaring at the smoke. "Who's there?!"
"I don't see anyone..." Chris squinted.
A low chuckle echoed from the mist.
"As expected of the summoned Hero. Sharp indeed."
The smoke vanished instantly, revealing a man wrapped in a black cloak floating in the air. He sat there cross-legged with his chin in his hand, as if perched on an invisible flying chair. He was handsome, but his unnaturally pale skin gave his beauty a sinister edge.
"Put your swords away, beautiful lady." His voice was soft as a daydream, but when he spoke, everyone fell silent to listen. "A misunderstanding. My child thought you were intruders."
"That was your child?" Chris looked suspiciously at the bloodstains in the snow.
"An avatar, you could say," the man said. "We aren't so foolish as to risk our true bodies on such ventures, are we?"
"And you are...?"
The man grinned. "Ah, I forgot to introduce myself."
He stood up, opened his arms elegantly, and bowed. "I am Loki. In your terms, I am the God of this world."
"Like our Goddess?" Chris asked.
"Something like that." The man calling himself Loki shrugged. "I know you were swept here by a temporal rift. It brought not just you, but an invisible evil you cannot imagine. Driven by that evil, the Giants are rising again, and Asgard is back at war. At this rate, all worlds are in peril. Why don't we make a deal? I've seen your strength. Help the Aesir, and when it's done, I will open the Bifrost for you..."
Chris interrupted: "The Bifrost?"
"The path to the next world," Loki explained. "What, you don't want to take the Rainbow Bridge? I could summon a tornado instead, though you'd have to be careful not to get crushed by a falling house."
Okay, so this is the main quest, Chris thought. Just like in game one: to get to the final boss, you need the key from the wizard; to get the key, you have to find herbs; to find herbs, you have to find a shepherd's lost lamb...
"What do you say?" Red and Lucian both looked at Chris, awaiting his decision.
"I agree," Chris said. Not that he had much of a choice.
"Excellent. You won't regret it," Loki said. "Head north, and you will reach the royal city of Asgard. State your purpose, and you will receive a reception of the highest order. I trust you and your friends will give them quite a surprise."
With a cunning smile, he snapped his fingers and dissolved into black smoke.
"Oh, by the way," an echo carried through the cold wind. "You possess a unique power. If you wish, you can summon not just your friends from the other world, but also the avatars of the Gods to fight beside you."
"What does that mean?!" Chris shouted into the wind.
"Ahem, let Baobao explain." The fox hopped up to grab Chris's attention. "Master, you will meet many like-minded companions on your journey. But if you feel your team isn't strong enough, you can use magic to summon new allies. Please open the [Summon] interface—"
Chris moved his stiff fingers and tapped the new button. The screen shifted to a golden pool of water.
"—As the God said, here you can summon past companions and even the avatars of the Gods of this universe."
"Oh! That's why the game is called War of the Gods!" Chris realized.
"Exactly!" bao wore a 'you catch on fast' expression. "Of course, summoning is completely random. Companions vary in strength across four tiers: N, R, SR, and SSR. Higher tiers are rarer!"
"And stronger, right?" Chris asked.
"Correct! You use 'Magic Crystals' to summon. Each summon costs 50 crystals. However, if you summon ten at once, you're guaranteed at least one SR companion! If you get duplicates, you can fuse them to increase their power. Low-tier companions can also be used to train high-tier ones! Little White happens to have 50 crystals right here. Master, would you like to try a summon?"
Chris was itching to try. Without a second thought, he hit 'Yes.'
A blinding gold light flashed. A card rose slowly from the rippling pool.
"You obtained an R-rank companion—[Gnome Master Craftsman]!"
Chris's eyebrow twitched. "That's it? I want to summon again!"
"You don't have enough Magic Crystals," Bao sighed regretfully. "You can earn them during your adventure. However... you can also exchange the currency of your world for crystals."
Chris was all too familiar with this scheme. Five-Color Stone Match-3 had been exactly the same.
"Buy a top-up card, right?" He felt a bit disgruntled. That meant asking Miss Yvette again. It wasn't that he minded the errand fee—that was pocket change to him—he just didn't want to keep relying on a girl. It made him feel incompetent and unmanly.
"There is another way," Bao said. "Do you have an account with the Gulf Bank?"
Chris nodded. He had accounts at all the major national banks to spread out his secret savings. His father always taught him not to put all his eggs in one basket. You never knew when a bank might collapse.
"You can go to the Gulf Bank to activate 'Online Banking,' and then you can top up directly!"
Chris's eyes lit up instantly.
His father forbade him from going to the Magic Game Experience Store, but he hadn't forbidden him from going to the bank! He had his own trust fund and spent his own money; the old man couldn't control that, could he?
Chris looked around, shocked to find only himself and Yvette left in the garden. While he had been absorbed in the game, his new friends had vanished.
"Where is everyone?" Chris looked warily at the heating vent, worried someone might be calling for help from inside.
Yvette stared at her tablet, answering absentmindedly, "They all rushed back to Norelia. They said they want to be at the Gulf Bank the moment it opens tomorrow morning to open accounts."
"Then why aren't you going?"
"You want me to spend money?" Yvette scoffed. "Not a chance!"
Though Chris was desperate to get back, he waited until the first morning of the holiday to return to Norelia, using a noble excuse: escorting Miss Yvette to the train station. She was taking the noon train back to the capital for winter break. She should have gone home earlier for the Winter Solstice, but that would have meant missing the game release. Having seen the true face of the new game, Yvette boarded her train satisfied.
Mr. Wynn, worried his son might sneak off to the Magic Game Experience Store (the ads for the new game were so pervasive even he couldn't ignore them), ordered two servants to shadow him. Chris wasn't worried about these two "tails." He wasn't going to the store; he was going to the bank. What could they do?
After dropping Yvette at the station in his steam carriage, Chris strolled to the nearest Gulf Bank branch.
He wasn't surprised to see a massive line snaking out the door. Many were familiar faces he'd seen at the Experience Store.
Normally, banks were closed around the New Year, but a sign at the Gulf Bank read "Open All Day as Usual." It was as if they had anticipated this spectacle and prepared in advance.
As a VIP customer, Chris didn't have to wait with the commoners. He walked straight into the lobby and sat comfortably on a sofa in the VIP lounge. A smiling account manager soon arrived to assist him.
"You wish to activate online banking? Please wait a moment, Master Wynn. Have some tea while I gather the documents for your signature..."
Chris sank into the sofa, his gaze sweeping over the crowded lobby. This was likely the busiest day this branch had ever seen. Every window was occupied, and tellers were running off their feet. The people in line were chattering away, and if you listened closely, they were all talking about one thing.
"You're here for an account too?" "Yeah, all for Hero's Legend 2! By the way, what is this 'Magic Online Banking' anyway? Is it safe?" "Wanna add me as a friend? You need friend assists for events, and I'm too shy to add strangers..." "Let me see your pulls. My god, Odin, All-Father! I'd give anything for that card!" "I didn't want to spend money, but I love Sif too much! I just have a thing for blonde ladies, okay?!" "Did you read the lore? Sif's hair is actually a wig made of gold..." "AAAAGH! I got my online banking! Topped up 500 crystals! I refuse to believe a ten-pull won't get me Loki!" "Goddess bless me, let me pull Loki!" "..." "F*ck! I hate the Goddess!"
While the Gulf Bank was enjoying a peak in traffic, long lines were also forming at other banks—especially the West Trust Bank.
As one of the largest banks in Norelia and the country, West Trust remained open during holidays, albeit only for half a day. This set them apart from other banks that closed entirely. Consequently, when customers needed cash, West Trust was the first place they thought of.
Early that morning, the President of West Trust Bank was jolted awake by a ringing phone.
He angrily kicked off his blanket, ignored his wife's mumbles, and grabbed the receiver.
The manager's trembling voice came through the line: "President, i-it's bad..."
"My god..." The President groaned like a soul in hell. "Do you know what day it is? It's the Winter Solstice! Didn't we agree no work during the holidays?"
"I know, President!" The manager sounded like he was on the verge of tears. "But something huge happened! Two of our branches are experiencing a bank run!"
The President sat bolt upright, all sleepiness vanishing. "A bank run?!"
For a bank the size of West Trust, a run was almost unheard of. Their risk management was top-tier, and their reserves were deep. Even if one branch lacked cash, others could support it immediately.
The last run the President remembered was during a war. People were panicked and felt banks were unreliable, preferring to hold their cash in hand.
But—Gods bless them—this was an era of peace! There wasn't a whisper of war! If people wanted cash before the Winter Solstice to buy gifts, that made sense, but it was already the holiday. Why were they taking money out now? To throw it around for fun?
Suppresing a migraine caused by lack of sleep, the President said, "Regardless, move cash from nearby branches immediately!"
"But it's a holiday; most employees are off..."
"Then tell them to get back to work!"
"...Yes sir!"
The President's reaction was swift, but reality often outpaces decisions. By the time West Trust employees were dragged from their dreams by a phone call and returned to work through the snow, the panic had spread to a third branch.
Initially, it was just a dozen customers wanting to withdraw money to deposit into the Gulf Bank so they could easily spend it on the game.
However, since it was a holiday, only one window was open, manned by an inexperienced temp. He was painfully slow at checking passbooks, stamping, signing, and counting bills. Impatient customers had to wait in the cold outside, cursing the bank and wishing it would go bankrupt.
Passersby saw this.
A crowd queuing to withdraw money on the morning of the Winter Solstice was rare. Combined with the angry faces and the frequent mention of "bankrupt," panic spread through the public instantly.
"I saw a huge line at West Trust! What happened?" "I heard the bank is failing! If we don't get our money now, it's gone!" "I don't know if it's true, but there's no harm in taking the money out. We can always put it back later!" "Yeah, that's our hard-earned cash! I'd rather lose interest than lose the principal!"
Thus, the lines grew inexplicably. Since the bank was only open for half a day, more people rushed to the next nearest branch to beat the clock.
Just then, a newspaper reporter happened to pass by. Desperate for news on a quiet holiday, he snapped a photo of the sea of people and published it in the midday edition.
Amidst the cheerful holiday news, the "Bank Run" report stuck out like an ugly green goblin in a crowd of beautiful elves.
Furthermore, many people saw armored bank trucks speeding away with massive amounts of cash. In reality, these trucks were rushing to deliver cash to branches. But to the average person, it looked like: "The bank is running away with our money!"
Panicked depositors sprinted to the nearest West Trust, only to find in despair that business hours had ended. They wouldn't be able to get their money until tomorrow at the earliest.
—No, who knows if the bank will even open tomorrow!
Panic, like a bomb, completely detonated.
The run spread like wildfire from three branches to every West Trust location in Norelia. Angry, terrified crowds broke down the doors, packing the lobbies. They screamed themselves hoarse, waving fists, briefcases, rolling pins, pitchforks—anything that could serve as a weapon—forcing the staff to hand over their savings.
The frantic President had to contact branches in nearby cities and even the headquarters in the capital, pleading for immediate support. He then spent even more on advertising for front-page notices in every major newspaper, clarifying that the bank was not failing and begging depositors to stay calm—lest the bank actually fail from the run!
But the earliest newspapers wouldn't hit the streets until tomorrow morning. Listening to the roar of the mob outside his window, a sense of desolation rose in the President's heart—could West Trust survive until then?
Meanwhile, at the Gulf Bank.
"Good news, President! Wonderful news!" Mr. Banks walked into the office beaming. "Here is today's report! I swear these are the most beautiful numbers I've seen in my career! ...President? Mr. Wilshire?"
President Wilshire was sitting in his high-backed chair, back to the door, hands folded on his knees, staring out the window.
A newspaper sat on the desk, the front page detailing the panic at West Trust.
Night had fallen over Norelia. The snow continued to fall, coating every roof in silver, while the lights of thousands of homes cast a warm glow over the frozen world.
Mr. Banks noticed something sparkling on the President's face—tears illuminated by the lamplight.
"President, you..."
"Banks, did I ever tell you? When I was young, I met a wizard. He looked into a crystal ball and told me I was destined for immense wealth."
"You said he was full of it," Banks said. He had heard this story many times; the President always ended it with 'I didn't believe a word of it.'
"Now I believe it. The wizards in the Tower truly are all-powerful!" President Wilshire looked with awe at the dark silhouette of the Tower standing in the night. "I told you, Banks! Partnering with Lorne Dungeon was the right move! The Gulf Bank will one day be the largest bank on the continent!"
President Wilshire took off his reading glasses, wiped his tears, and tucked the glasses into his pocket.
"Come, Banks. Let's go for a drink."
"Uh, ah, yes sir," Mr. Banks said, caught off guard. "To the club? I'll call a carriage. They might be hard to find today..."
"No, we're going to the Red Wolf Pub. The President of West Trust often goes there; we might bump into him." President Wilshire gave a mischievous grin. "I really want to see the look on his face right now!"