Divinity Great Sage Equaling Heaven is tearing out his hair in offense!

Divinity The One Who Fights in Front no longer thinks you’re very wise.

“Huh?!” I cried out in anger, staring at the blue screens in front of me. “I swear, something pushed my hand!”

[Observers Chat]

Socrates: What are you doing. You had Sun Wukong.

Hedgehog1938: LMFAO NO WAY SHE JUST FUMBLED THAT

Nipon23: …

CactusLiver: STOP HAHAHA

Nipon23: I actually can’t even process what I just watched

Socrates: :(

[You have received a new review!]

HEDGEHOG1938 REVIEW: ★☆☆☆☆

Liu Peijin is an absolute idiot when it comes to her decisions. Not only is she hypocritical in who she saves, but she can’t even make rational decisions during chapters.

CACTUSLIVER REVIEW: ★★★★★

Liu Peijin is SO bad at this it’s seriously the most entertaining thing I’ve ever seen LOL

I could hear Yue burst out laughing in the back of the van, clearly finding my disastrous error to be funny. “What happened to being a fortune teller?”

All of a sudden, Chang, the Azure Dragon, appeared in the center of the car with a small blue flash.

“What’s with all the commotion here? This is a no-risk scenario, and you still manage to blow up my system with messages.”

[309 observers are leaving to watch a different disciple.]

Fuck! If I wanted to grow in status, I needed as many cheerleaders as possible.

“Can you please let me reselect my sponsor?” I desperately pleaded with Chang. “Somebody interfered with my selection. My hand was pushed, and I made an accidental selection.”

“If something interfered, I would have been alerted. There’s no godly interference to that extent this early in the scenario.”

“Did you not just broadcast what happened with the Goblin King?”

“Yeah, but the karmic system handled that. It would’ve handled any interference here, too.”

I buried my face into my hands and groaned in sheer frustration. Where the hell was karma? Influencing a disciple’s decision like that should’ve been immediate sentencing.

[Editor’s Pen activated!]

[Allow disciples to make edits to their sponsors if there is still time left in the scenario.]

Whatever. If Chang couldn’t fix this, then I would.

[System Error: Edit cannot be processed.]

“What the fuck?” I cried out angrily, waving my hands around me. “How can you call this a system when sponsor selection and my skills don’t even work! Can’t you open an error ticket?”

“Why would I open an error ticket when you’re blatantly lying? It’s not my fault if you stupidly misclicked,” Chang replied.

“I’m telling you; my hand was pushed!”

“All selections are final.”

Without processing his words, I continued scolding the dragon. “How can you criticize humans for living monotonous, meaningless lives when you can’t even do your job? You’re the equivalent of a minimum wage customer service worker, but you have the audacity to scold us? What the fuck!”

Chang’s blue skin flushed a deep purple as he nervously looked around the car, surprised at the angry outburst. We were now centered on a bridge above a deep bay.

“Ha ha, you see, I’d love to help, but I’m actually getting a really important call, so I need to go. Also, weren’t you a pest control worker? I wish you luck, though!”

The dragon vanished with a poof and a swish of his pointy tale through the air.

I groaned, bashing my head repeatedly onto the car horn. This sucked. I was just as unlucky in this new world as I’d been in my original pest control life.

[Time left: 4 minutes 39 seconds]

The gods were now forced to pick other disciples from my party. I looked around the van, looking at all the visible screens. Yang now had Chang’e and… Sun Wukong. My face flushed red.

Fucking Yang! If he wasn’t so nice and virtuous and perfect I would’ve murdered him already. Damnit, I really wanted Sun Wukong. I would have killed for Sun Wukong.

“Yang, you should pick Sun Wukong as your sponsor. We’ll find a healer later,” I ordered.

Yue now had the Goblin King and the Bull Demon King. Amelia now had Athena and the Abyssal Kraken of Black Seas as an option. Artemis, however, was dissatisfied with the rest of the party and withdrew her sponsorship entirely.

“As for you, Yue, pick the Bull Demon King,” I said. “It’ll be advantageous to have both of them in one party. And… he’s a very fitting sponsor for you.”

Yue’s face twisted. “Hey, what the hell does that mean?”

I ignored Yue and turned to Amelia with a pleasant smile.

This was a significant moment—the Abyssal Kraken of Black Seas could provide a beast controller to the team, with the Abyssal Kraken of Black Seas providing a vastly superior water advantage, but Athena was one of the strongest Greek warriors.

“Amelia, don’t pick a sponsor yet. Let’s wait till you have another opportunity, alright? You might not get the same sponsors, but you’ll be stronger then and have more options.”

“Were none of my sponsors good?” Amelia frowned, her eyes tearing up again.

“Huh? No, that’s not what I meant!” I grabbed her and squeezed her face, dramatically fake sniffling. “You’re perfect, don’t worry about a thing.”

Yue fake gagged in the back before letting out a surprised yelp as Wei punched the side of her leg.

I was going to get Artemis to sponsor Amelia no matter what. Not only did it anger me that Artemis so easily gave up on the rest of my party, but she was a god that provided my team the benefits of both Athena and the Abyssal Kraken of Black Seas.

It was advantageous to choose a sponsor earlier on for various reasons—a higher chance of survival, various buffs, and a together relationship to certain gods—but I was confident that I could cultivate Amelia into a formidable disciple without a sponsor. Later on, she’d have more options and could choose for herself.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Demon Abyssal Kraken of Black Seas feels slightly sad.

Divinity The One Who Fights in Front seriously regrets trusting you.

I really had to give it to public figures for keeping all their fans happy. It was only more of a misfortune that there was no block or report feature. I’d try ‘Editor’s Pen,’ but I’ve had enough of my awful skills.

[Chapter #3 - Sponsor Selection has concluded!]

[You have completed the first arc.]

[You have earned the achievement Beginner’s Luck.]

This was definitely not beginner’s luck. I hated my younger self a bit more with each passing hour.

[HOP ON THE TRAIN!]

Please head over to Futian Station immediately.

The next arc will commence in 23 hours and 59 minutes.

The atmosphere will become more toxic with each passing hour until you reach Futian Station. If you do not make it to Futian Station in time, you will succumb to illness.

You will now be marked by a specific color and symbol for your party. These will remain private until the third arc.

“Futian Station?” Wei repeated, his head tilted a bit in confusion. “Isn’t that pretty far?”

“It’ll be fine since we have a full day. Right now, we should focus on our skills and get some more stars,” I grumbled, trying to mask my indignation. “If it’s an underground station, it’s probably a dungeon arc.”

A blue message flickered before me. Socrates had a habit of messaging me privately rather than in the public chat. He’d only call me ‘Jia Li’ in private—I guess I was grateful for his consideration.

[Observers Chat]

Socrates: Jia Li, all the observers have spiritual energy. And there’s a lot of us. You’re going to have to be careful.

At that little message, my blood immediately ran cold. If they ever found out I was the infamous author, I’d be seriously screwed the moment they decided to work together. Socrates, please keep my identity secret. I swear I’ll be less of an ass!

A firm kick to the back of my seat launched me forward. I whipped my head backward and glared at the snickering Yue.

She sat up in the back of the van, running her fingers through her silky ink hair. “You seem to know a lot about this world, Peijin. And you’re definitely not a fortune teller.”

Her left eye glowed a purple hue as she stared at me. For a moment, I was reminded of Yang’s eyes in the sun.

“What’s ‘Scathing Reviewer?’” Yue said. “How do you have a skill that isn’t equipped?”

Damnit, so Yue already got the skill ‘Profiling,’ which would allow her to view everyone’s skills and stats.

“H-hey!” I protested, waving my arms in front of myself. “Should you really be so invasive of your party leader?”

“My party leader? You kidnapped me!”

My face was flushed bright red. I was hoping to gain that skill soon, but Yue beat me to it.

I quickly opened the party settings before me. As party leader, I could toggle certain features.

[Make all system notifications of ‘Peijin’s World Dominion’ visible to party members.]

[On] [Off]

[Toggle: On]

[Disciple Yue has activated Profiling!]

I glared at Yue. “Turn that off.”

Yue’s nostrils flared out of anger, but she obliged, turning off the skill and slumping back in her seat. “At least answer my question,” Yue said.

I let out a dramatic sigh and ran my fingers through my short hair. “Whatever, fine. I lied about being a fortune teller.”

Yue let out a satisfied huff and crossed her arms. “Then how do you know so much?”

Without warning, my phone buzzed in my pocket, and I removed it with sweaty hands. In Surviving My First Run, technology ceased to work unless it was powered by the system. Thus, all phones and alternate forms of communication were shut off. However, certain people had tech-related skills and maintained access to the web. So… why was my phone working?

MolaMola’s message and the “Scathing Reviewer” attachment appeared again, sounding off despite me dismissing it previously.

In Surviving My First Run, technology would cease for the most part unless it was a crucial part of someone’s skill. In this case, it was a miracle my phone was working at all. More so, I couldn’t stop a feeling of dread at the convenient timing of the notification.

Who was MolaMola, and how could they have sent me a skill? Not to mention a skill that sounded detrimental to its user more than anything.

“Peijin, are you going to answer?” Yue cooed in a mocking tone.

Wei turned to Yue, responding in my place. “There’s no need to interrogate Peijin. She’s already saved us, so let’s just trust in her.”

Yang seemed more skeptical, eyeing me from the passenger’s seat while still holding onto Amelia. “How do you know so much about what’s happening, Peijin?”

“I read a lot of novels,” I said, my face twisted into an embarrassed expression. I was ashamed to admit such a truth in front of someone as admirable and stellar as Yang, so I excluded the fact they were actually web novels.

“Like Shakespeare?” Yang asked.

“What? Why the hell would I read Shakespeare?”

“Nevermind,” Yang responded with a strange look of satisfaction with my response. “But you’re still lying.”

“Am I on trial for a crime or something? Look, we can host a slumber party and play truth or dare when we get to the station.”

Yang’s confrontation caught me off guard. I figured he’d be more predictable and controllable given his laid-back nature that I’d gotten familiar with. I didn’t trust him any less, but I was certainly more on guard now.

I continued driving on the freeway. Other parties searched for any working vehicle they could, tossing out and running over dead bodies if they had to. The freeway was elevated above a mountainous landscape, full of trees and large rocks.

Thankfully, I had refilled the gas tank before our job this morning, so we would be fine for the rest of the trip.

“If the air outside is going to be toxic, we should all buy ‘pigeon’s lung’ from the store,” I said while swiping through the store, my eyes flickering between the blue screen and the road.

The pink and lumpy ball appeared first in Yang’s hands. It had a hardened texture with a place to bite down on and breath through. Yang quickly attached it to his mouth; it expanded and deflated with each breath he took.

Yang stuck out his tongue and removed it for a moment. “Are these actual pigeon lungs?”

“I really hope not,” Wei gagged, covering his face with a spare hand and staring at the pigeon’s lung in the other.

Amelia squished the pigeon’s lung in her hand and looked mortified when she realized it was far firmer than she expected. Yang helped her get used to breathing through it, but she looked ready to burst into tears.

Laughing, I continued to drive, breathing through my own pigeon lung attachment. “If the next arc is a dungeon, then we’ll have a good chance to level up our skills and get some weapons.”

“Peijin,” a sharp voice called out from the backseat.

“What?” I groaned at the sound of Yue’s voice.

She finally seemed to get used to the set up and was much less tense, even leaning in toward the front of the vehicle. “Do you think we’ll be alright, and that this apocalypse is just temporary?” Yue quickly added on, “I’m only asking because you know a lot.”

Yue bit down on the pigeon’s lung attachment after, but she stared at me expectantly.

My face remained unfazed despite my surprise at her words. It surprised me to realize that even though these were characters I’d created, characters as psychotic and insane as Yue, they still wanted to return to their own normal lives. They still had desires beyond what I’d brought out in Surviving My First Run. They were their own people now.

Did they have lives before the apocalypse, though? After all, they were just characters. Did they just randomly appear today and think they had existed?

I looked in the rearview mirror, staring at Wei and Yang before an out of place movement in the reflection caught my attention.

I blinked at my reflection. It didn’t blink back.

My reflection turned to face me head on, mouthing something.

Found you.

A wide grin spread across my reflection before it winked at me, giving a peace sign beside its eye. A childish laughter echoed in my ears, but no one was there.

My chest tightened so much I forgot to breath. Nothing like that ever happened in Surviving My First Run, and for a being to appear even in an alternative form, meant they had to counter an incredible amount of karmic restraints.

Before I could even process what I’d seen, yellow sparks appeared all over the freeway before exploding with a deafening crash. Debris and dust blasting the van forward.

I cried out, squinting my eyes to try and see through the sudden dust. I slammed on the gas and swerved the van toward the side of the road. Everyone shouted, their bodies slamming into the sides of the car. Yang hugged Amelia while Wei tightly held onto Yue in the backseat.

Yellow sparks? What the hell were karmic restraints here for?

The van rocked dangerously back and forth but came to a halt on the side of the freeway. I let out a relieved sigh, pressing my forehead against the top of the wheel.

Chang’s voice boomed out over the entire freeway. I couldn’t spot him.

“Alright, meetings over. None of you had a good enough performance to satisfy your benevolent gods, so let’s make things more interesting, shall we? A big thanks to the demon realm for their massive donation of spiritual energy. A show like this wouldn’t have been possible otherwise!”

[Hindsight activated!]

The sound of rushing water erupted in the distance. I whipped my head around and saw dark blue waves come crashing over the hills with an explosion of white bubbles. With terrifying speed, the tsunami raced toward us.

A few years ago, an aquarium had been built in a nearby town—and all those creatures would have been impacted by the last arc.

A giant blue sea serpent with red scales and whiskers around its face crashed through the mountains and trees, its massive jaws snapping, tearing, and chomping through entire buildings in a violent frenzy. Its bright red eyes locked on our van. It lunged, following the rushing waves that slowly flooded the land beneath the freeway.

This was my perfect opportunity. I could practically feel my heart skip a beat from my excitement.

“Yang, you’re the driver now! Get everyone to the station no matter what, and make sure our party is the ruling party! Don’t let anyone else control the station!” I threw open the door and leapt out, scrambling toward the serpent.

Yang immediately obeyed, quickly crawling into the driver’s seat while calling after me. “Wait, Peijin, where are you going?”

I sprinted down the freeway, not wasting a second. “I’m going to kill this son of a bitch!”

“Peijin!” Amelia cried, desperately trying to crawl out of the car and run to me. Yang held her back, and only a small feeble hand reached out the car before Wei pulled her into the backseat. Yang shut the door and instantly drove off, not wasting any more time.

I was analyzing the scene before me using Hindsight. The entire freeway trembled beneath me, and I desperately clung onto the safety bars that lined the side of the freeway to avoid the other disciples who were scrambling away.

I could see the snaking body of the serpent swim through the waves toward me. Water droplets splattered against my face, and I wiped them off.

Had this degree of godly influence ever happened so early in Surviving my First Run? The demon realm must’ve been infuriated by the Goblin King’s embarrassing performance and collectively chipped in enough spiritual energy to permit this wicked situation.

If these demons wanted a show, I’d give them one.

My vision was blue once more with countless numerical and written possibilities scribbled all over the serpent. It snapped forward, its teeth gnawing through the freeway as if it were nothing more than a soft, malleable plastic.

In Surviving My First Run, the sea serpent was nothing more than a gluttonous beast that consumed everything in its path. It had no care for other demons, no care for anything other than satisfying its insatiable bloodlust for destruction and chaos.

I gripped onto the metal bar even tighter while the freeway crumbled away beneath my feet. I was dangling above the flooded canyon now, my sweaty hands gripping onto the bar for dear life. I spared a glance behind me to see my party members racing away, quickly becoming a speck in the distance.

The sea serpent locked its eyes on me and erupted forward, jaws wide open.

Damnit, damnit, damnit! I seriously did not want to die!

At the perfect moment, I let go of the bar, just missing the sea serpent’s jaws. It ate meters of the bar in a single bite, tearing it apart with frightening ease.

I tumbled backward toward the rippling water, looking up at the open jaws of the sea serpent lined with horrific teeth. I reached up for the sky and braced for impact.

[SIDE STORY — SEA SERPENT]

Difficult: C-

Task: Survive the sea serpent.

Reward: 10,000 stars

Failure: Death