Zhong Yi’s illusion world.
“Argh!! I was this close!!!”
Zhong Yi beat his chest and stamped his feet as he resurrected in front of the Sculptor.
The barrage of comments in the sky immediately erupted in laughter.
【Anyone who didn’t know better would think you were actually this close】
【You were actually a whole life away】
【What? Zhong can take a life off the Samurai General?】
【New here? Zhong only took his first life through a sneak attack deathblow…】
【Isn’t that just failing to land a single slash??】
【I’ve been waiting in this stream forever just to watch Zhong get bullied by the Samurai General!】
【If the streamer figures out a strategy to beat the Samurai General, then everyone will be able to comprehend the Way of the Sword!】
…
“Ahem, that was just a mistake…”
Zhong Yi’s old face flushed red as he awkwardly pretended to cough.
He had discovered that elite enemies could also be taken down with sneak attacks and deathblows, cutting the difficulty in half right away.
Unfortunately, he really was terrible with his hands. No matter what he did, he simply couldn’t block the Samurai General’s blade.
Sometimes he would get greedy and be brutally swatted away; other times, he would mistime a deflection and get cut down. He had died so many times he’d lost count.
Once again, he respawned at the temple.
“Cough, cough, cough…”
The Sculptor coughed violently. His hunched figure looked especially pitiful.
“Uh…”
Zhong Yi immediately felt a little embarrassed.
After Genichiro severed his arm and he entered the true storyline of the game, many of its mechanics gradually began to reveal themselves.
For example, after dying for the first time, the player would not immediately resurrect at the temple. Instead, they would have one chance to revive on the spot.
When he revived, Kuro’s voice would appear beside his ear, telling him to stand up.
Clearly, this was the special power contained in the blood of one blessed with the Dragon’s Heritage—the power to resurrect.
Zhong Yi did not know why he had been affected by this power, but it was obvious that the power came at a price.
The price was not paid by Wolf himself, but by the people around him.
Every time Wolf resurrected, the people around him might suffer some kind of curse or backlash, developing symptoms of coughing.
This was the so-called Dragonrot.
The more often he died, the greater the harm Dragonrot inflicted on those around him.
Clearly, the Sculptor’s violent coughing was the result of Dragonrot. He looked much older than before.
“Grandpa…”
Zhong Yi walked toward him, unable to bear the sight.
“It’s nothing… This is a punishment I deserve.”
Without even raising his head, the Sculptor waved a hand dismissively before continuing to carve the Buddha statue.
A feeling of guilt immediately welled up inside Zhong Yi. He clenched his fists and made up his mind.
“Grandpa, just wait! I’ll take care of the culprit right now!”
The barrage of comments instantly lost it.
【Sculptor: Thank you so much!】
【You know, if Zhong just stayed in the temple instead of going out to die, the old man’s illness would clear up immediately, right?】
【At this rate, even Genichiro is going to catch Dragonrot】
【Holy crap, is this some new strategy Zhong invented?】
…
“Pah! What do you mean, a new strategy?! I’m going to deal with Genichiro and restore peace to Ashina, all right?!”
Zhong Yi retorted furiously before teleporting once more to the area before the castle gate.
Looking at the narrow path behind the Samurai General, Zhong Yi hesitated for a while.
He had known for a long time that the Samurai General was not mandatory. Zhou Qiaoling had bypassed him ages ago and run straight into Ashina Castle.
Zhong Yi had originally wanted to fight his way through with his own two hands, but when he thought of the Sculptor’s violent coughing, he felt a little sorry for the old man.
“I can’t keep hurting the old man… I’ll run past him for now and come back to deal with this guy once I’m stronger!”
Zhong Yi nodded, making up his mind.
In his eyes, the Samurai General was similar to the Mammorest guarding the starting village in Palworld.
Trying to challenge him during the early game was extremely difficult.
He could simply wait until his level, equipment, and abilities had developed before returning to fight him.
“I don’t believe this! Once my level, stats, and weapon have all improved, won’t beating one Samurai General be a piece of cake?”
Zhong Yi smiled confidently. He stopped fighting the Samurai General and instead threw a grappling hook toward the tower behind him.
“Oh, come on! Even this grappling hook can miss?!”
“Damn it, I fell down!!”
“Don’t kill me… Don’t kill me, for crying out loud!!”
【Death】!
“Cough, cough, cough…”
The Sculptor coughed even harder.
…
…
Chen Yuan’s illusion world in the Boundless Sword Domain.
The bonfire illuminated Chen Yuan’s face, making it look extraordinarily ruddy.
Lu Ze had long since learned from the internet’s big-data algorithms in his previous life and assigned every user a precise label.
Whenever Chen Yuan began fighting a boss or a particularly difficult elite monster, the stream would be deliberately pushed to viewers who were especially prone to vicious online abuse.
Chen Yuan’s talent in illusions was mediocre to begin with. Under the extreme pressure of online harassment, his control had already fallen apart.
He died fifty-seven times in a row before finally seeing the light of victory.
“Die!”
Chen Yuan cautiously backed three meters away and waited for the Chained Ogre to finish its final combo. Only then did he summon up the courage to stab at the nearly dead monster.
As the Chained Ogre clutched its throat and fell backward, a rare trace of delight appeared on Chen Yuan’s face.
“Got him!!!”
The barrage, naturally, had no intention of going easy on him.
【It took you fifty-seven deaths to win. Anyone who didn’t know better would think you’d beaten Genichiro】
【Go check whether everyone back home has started coughing too】
【Does the entire Boundless Sword Sect have Dragonrot now?】
【What a scrub. You’re not fit to carry Zhou the True Inheritor’s sword】
【When is the Boundless Sword Sect going to get a first clear?】
…
The smile Chen Yuan had just managed to force onto his face instantly froze.
A few taunting comments from the barrage were enough to make his chest heave with anger.
“This illusion is not reality. If I had even thirty percent of my cultivation, killing a leader-level monster like this would be effortless!”
Unconvinced, Chen Yuan could only bring up his cultivation in the real world.
The barrage naturally refused to buy it and launched into another round of mockery.
Just then, Lu Ze’s comment appeared right on schedule:
【Realm Master Lu Ze: Elder Chen, don’t misunderstand. The Chained Ogre isn’t a leader either… You still need more practice before you can even see a leader.】
“You…!”
Chen Yuan was both shocked and furious.
“Young man, don’t deliberately claim that these monsters aren’t leaders just to discredit my achievement!”
After clearing the battlefield and replenishing his supplies at the temple, Chen Yuan angrily returned to the spot where he had just defeated the Chained Ogre. He cursed as he walked.
“The Samurai General wasn’t a leader, and the Chained Ogre wasn’t a leader either. Surely there can’t be another one… Huh?”
As he spoke, he pushed open the gate in front of him. The sight beyond immediately silenced him.
On a raised platform not far away stood a horned samurai dressed almost identically to the Samurai General.
Above his head, the following name was displayed:
【General Yamauchi Tenzen】
Well, damn. There really were multiple Samurai Generals.
“Hmph. I already understand the Samurai General’s moves… I’ll take him down within ten exchanges!”
Chen Yuan quickly changed the subject and stopped arguing about whether the enemy was a leader or not.
Although he spoke with disdain, his eyes constantly studied the area around Yamauchi Tenzen.
Unlike the first Samurai General, Yamauchi Tenzen had several scattered soldiers accompanying him.
To deal with Yamauchi Tenzen, he absolutely could not leave those soldiers alive. That was a lesson he had learned through countless deaths and tears.
Those mobs were truly impossible to handle once they ganged up on him…
【Realm Master Lu Ze: Elder Chen, watch out for these minions!】
Seeing Lu Ze’s “thoughtful” warning, Elder Chen immediately felt displeased.
“Hah. They’re only a few minions. Could they really pose any threat to me?”
With that, he recklessly charged forward. Taking advantage of the nearest minion’s lack of attention, he easily took it down with a deathblow.
Just as he was preparing to continue clearing out the minions, a sentry in a straw raincoat standing atop the high platform suddenly began pounding furiously on the gong in his hands.
The ear-piercing clangs echoed throughout the entire city.
Countless guards came rushing out from every road.
General Yamauchi Tenzen drew his blade and thrust it sideways, appearing behind Elder Chen and completely cutting off any hope he had of retreating to the Sculptor for a breather.
“???”
The corner of Elder Chen’s mouth twitched violently.
“Damn it!!!”
An elite enemy leading a huge mob of minions in a chaotic group assault—the outcome was obvious—
【DEAD】!
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
