Chapter 1: A God-Transcending Talent: Hand of Divine Punishment!

"Hao bro, wake up — 'Ragnarok' launches at nine. Keep sleeping and you'll miss the server opening."

Ragnarok?

Server opening?

Lin Tianhao's eyes snapped open. He stared at the surroundings — familiar, yet somehow strange.

"This place is… the Dream Chaser Club?!"

"Wait!"

"Didn't I just get backstabbed and killed by that treacherous snake Wu Xiaodao while exploring the Divine Ruins?"

"What's going on?"

Lin Tianhao grabbed his phone. The date displayed on the screen was unmistakable — May 20, 2032!

"I've been reborn. I've gone back ten years — right to the moment Ragnarok first launched!!"

Zhou Xiaopang, seeing Lin Tianhao's dramatic reaction, quickly tried to comfort him.

"Hao bro, don't panic. The guys will all pitch in to help you raise the money. Your little sister is going to be fine."

Memories gradually sharpened. Lin Tianhao suddenly recalled — in his previous life, around this very time, his little sister had been struck by a car and suffered a brain hemorrhage.

The surgery would cost three hundred thousand yuan. The driver had fled the scene. There were no surveillance cameras in that area, and the police had never been able to identify the culprit.

That three hundred thousand yuan had fallen entirely on Lin Tianhao's shoulders.

Though his brothers had all tried to help him scrape the money together, even with loans they had only managed to gather two hundred and sixty thousand.

Lin Tianhao had knelt and pleaded at the hospital, but forty thousand short, the hospital had flatly refused to perform the surgery. In the end, his little sister died in that hospital bed.

The image of that lively, adorable figure flashed through his mind. Lin Tianhao's fists clenched tight.

"Little sis, don't worry. This time, your brother will definitely save you!"

Lin Tianhao's gaze hardened with resolve. "Given a second life, I will change my fate. I will not let that tragedy repeat itself."

Looking at Zhou Xiaopang standing before him, Lin Tianhao suddenly broke into a smile.

"Fatty, let's get into the game. Our destiny — we'll write it ourselves!"

Zhou Xiaopang let out a sigh of relief seeing Lin Tianhao back to his usual self. "Go get 'em, Hao bro."

Settling into the game pod, Lin Tianhao felt a swell of complicated emotions.

"Ragnarok" — a cross-era virtual MMORPG, publicly proclaimed to be a Second World jointly built by over a hundred nations across the globe.

But Lin Tianhao, who had lived through a previous life, knew the truth: this game had nothing to do with any nation. It was a god-forging game created by the Galactic Primordial God using the power of Earth's ancient deities.

Its purpose was to prepare for the Great Calamity five years from now.

Five years later, the Alaite Star System would launch an assault on the Galactic Star System, and the Calamity would begin.

Having lived through the Great Calamity, Lin Tianhao understood all too well just how vital it was to accumulate power within the game.

"In my previous life, I never awakened a talent, not even at the moment of death. This time around, I intend to find out exactly what my talent is."

Lin Tianhao entered the character creation screen. A dazzling promotional video began to play — a full eight hours long, with no fast-forward option. Players could only skip it or watch it through.

In his previous life, nearly every player who entered had skipped it without a second thought. Eight hours was already a massive head start for everyone else.

But Lin Tianhao did not skip the promotional video. Because the first player to watch it all the way through would receive a Divine-Grade Talent Awakening Stone.

Talent — a special mechanic unique to Ragnarok.

Everyone's talent was different. Ranked by tier, they were: Yellow Grade, Mystic Grade, Earth Grade, Heaven Grade, Saint Grade, and Divine Grade.

To awaken a talent, one needed a Talent Awakening Stone.

In his previous life, Lin Tianhao had obtained a Saint-Grade Talent Awakening Stone — yet his talent awakening had still failed.

That could only mean one thing: his talent was an extraordinarily rare Divine-Grade talent.

In his previous life, every person who possessed a Divine-Grade talent was a supreme powerhouse who dominated their domain.

This time, he would awaken his Divine-Grade talent as well.

Combined with the memories of his previous life, Lin Tianhao was confident he could reach the absolute pinnacle and crush the Alaite Star System!

Time ticked by, moment by moment. Finally, the long eight hours came to an end.

*Ding* — "Congratulations! You are the first player to watch the 'Ragnarok' promotional video in its entirety. Reward: Divine-Grade Talent Awakening Stone ×1."

Just as expected!

A satisfied smile spread across Lin Tianhao's face. In the next instant, he appeared in the character creation hall.

"Class: Archer. Nickname: Snow Emperor."

Lin Tianhao didn't hesitate for even a moment — he spoke the same choices he had made in his previous life.

*Ding* — "Character creation successful. You will now enter Starter Village No. 10086."

In the next instant, Lin Tianhao appeared in Starter Village No. 10086.

Each starter village could accommodate ten thousand players. In other words, over a hundred million players had already entered Ragnarok — a testament to just how wildly popular the game was.

Lin Tianhao made his way to a deserted corner, took out the Divine-Grade Talent Awakening Stone, and silently whispered the word "Awaken."

*Ding* — "Due to the exceptional magnitude of your talent, the Divine-Grade Talent Awakening Stone can only awaken a portion of it."

*Ding* — "You have awakened the talent: Hand of Divine Punishment."

Lin Tianhao froze. What? Even a Divine-Grade Awakening Stone could only awaken part of his talent?

Stunned, he immediately checked his talent details.

Hand of Divine Punishment (God-Transcending Grade): 1 Star

Effect 1: Each basic attack deals true damage equal to 1% of your maximum HP.

Effect 2: Each basic attack permanently increases your maximum HP by 1 point.

Proficiency: 0/1000.

Lin Tianhao stood there, dumbstruck. God-Transcending Grade?

In ten years of his previous life, he had never once heard of anything beyond Divine Grade.

And this talent — it was absolutely broken.

Permanently increasing HP!!

After the brief shock subsided, Lin Tianhao instinctively pulled up his stat panel.

Nickname: Snow Emperor.

Level: 1 (0/100).

Class: Archer.

HP: 100/100.

MP: 50/50.

Attack: 9. Spell Power: 5.

Armor: 3. Magic Resist: 1.

Attack Speed: 0.63. Movement Speed: 3.1.

Physical Penetration: 0%. Magic Penetration: 0%.

Special Attributes: None.

Free Attribute Points: 0.

Luck: Hidden.

Talent: Hand of Divine Punishment (God-Transcending Grade).

Skill: Rapid Shot (1 Star).

Equipment: Novice Longbow.

Without the Hand of Divine Punishment, these stats were utterly unremarkable.

But because of the Hand of Divine Punishment, his growth potential was terrifyingly limitless.

"Time to grind levels first."

Lin Tianhao was keenly aware that he had already wasted far too much time.

Stepping out of the starter village, Red-Eyed Rabbits — all Level 1 — were scattered everywhere outside.

Red-Eyed Rabbit (Common): Level 1.

HP: 90/90.

Attack: 5.

Skills: None.

Average stats. As long as your mechanics weren't completely terrible, you could hunt them solo without any trouble.

Whoosh!

Lin Tianhao loosed an arrow without hesitation.

At the same moment, he noticed his HP had ticked up by one point.

With this talent, he was practically invincible!

Lin Tianhao hunted Red-Eyed Rabbits while steadily stacking his HP.

His attack speed was sluggish right now — roughly one arrow every 1.5 seconds. For someone like Lin, who had reached an attack speed of 13.5 in his previous life, it felt more than a little awkward.

*Ding* — "You have slain a Red-Eyed Rabbit. Experience gained: 1."