I crawled back onto the shore, trudging up into the sweeping trees. The rest of Peijin’s World Dominion was far gone; Yang likely dragged them to the station, regardless of if they wanted to go.
Small scrapes and cuts littered my once jade skin, but I was lucky to have even survived. Whoever Eternal Wish was, they didn’t seem remotely concerned with the status of their disciple despite the big investment made.
Looking up at the sky, the sun was already setting behind the mountainous horizon. Today officially marked day one since the apocalypse began, and yet the sun still drew watercolor strokes of soft pinks, baby blues, and deep oranges that kissed the expansive sky. The world kept moving as if this situation was simply fate bestowed upon humans.
It would typically take around one day to get to the metro station by foot, but it would only take me around six hours given my enhanced physique and agility. Yet, no matter how much was spent on status upgrades, I still needed rest.
I quickly purchased a small tent and crawled inside. Once inside, it was far more expansive than its outer appearance lended to, and it shifted to accommodate my supplies. The weather was far cooler now, and given the fact that all my clothes were drenched, the icy air was stabbing into my skin. I tucked my legs beneath my chin and tried to ignore the weather. Rolling over onto my side, I felt an awkward lump on the side of my thigh.
“My phone!” I gasped, quickly sitting up and patting my side pocket. It was definitely dead now after being drenched from the earlier encounter with the sea serpent. I guess it didn’t really matter, since it was the apocalypse and I didn’t bring my charger, but still…
My finger rapidly clicked on the power button, a result of my impatience and acceptance. But to my surprise, the black phone screen flickered to life in front of me, reflecting my shocked and wide-eyed expression.
The same notification from HolyMapleSyrup was on the homescreen, and with a trembling finger, I clicked on it.
Spiritual power could be used not only for a god’s power, skills, or weapons, but also to influence the trajectory of the story by influencing karma. Therefore, divinities like Archangel Michael or Sun Wukong were especially powerful. If enough spiritual power was used, the story progression could be bent by their will.
I knew for a fact I didn’t select Eternal Wish as my sponsor. Whatever or whoever smacked my hand had an absolutely ungodly amount of spiritual power to have influenced my decision—an amount of spiritual power that was unparalleled in Surviving My First Run. The same applied for the Major Arcana notification. Hijacking the blue screens wasn’t something I ever considered possible.
So who was HolyMapleSyrup? Were they the Eternal Wish?
* HolyMapleSyrup: Thanks for writing Surviving My First Round. As promised, here’s the surprise. [Open attachment.]
I moved to nervously chew on my lower lip—a habit I most likely picked up from Yang—before I remembered the pigeon’s lung in my mouth. Why was my heart beating so fast? Was this not my world?
[Download Scathing Reviewer?]
[Cancel] [Download]
I saw my trembling iris reflecting in the white pop up. Seriously, this skill had a name that seemed more detrimental to me than anything.
“Socrates? Are you still stalking me?”
Nothing but an eerie silence and the muffled chirps of crickets followed my words.
A thought suddenly popped into my head: what was my goal?
Every protagonist or character had some goal or end in mind. Whether that was becoming the strongest being, falling in love, or being the richest entity, there was something. Did I even have something like that?
Just yesterday, my only focus was surviving. I wasn’t really living in any sense of the word more than I was scraping by. Writing was simply a means of survival—an escape.
But dammit, who the hell would even edit my absolute masterpiece of a story? That pissed me off more than anything. Sure, go ahead and send me into my weird web novel world, but don’t go out and change the whole thing.
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
In terms of my party, Wei and Yue were just characters, so did it really matter what happened to them? I wanted to protect Yang and Amelia first, more than I wanted to uncover who had altered my story.
A strange pang was felt in my heart at those words, but they were the two I felt were truly innocent in this situation.
But wasn’t protection Wei’s duty? Could two characters with the exact same goal exist in one story?
I had fallen out of love with my story and its characters long ago, and if any of the millions of readers still loved this marred story, they could go ahead and uncover this world themself.
[Downloading Scathing Reviewer.]
1%...5%...29%...48%...79%...89%...91%...95%...
99%
[Scathing Reviewer has been successfully downloaded!]
Scathing Reviewer has been equipped.
My breath hitched as I anxiously awaited for something, anything to happen. My eyes skimmed across the inner seams of my tent, but only that familiar and eerie emptiness was there. The chirping outside of my tent continued aimlessly, and the wind continued to gently blow against the thin walls.
“Hah…” I let out a pitiful laugh, putting my hand down as my hand ran through my short hair. “I’ve gotta have the worst skills and sponsors out of any other disciple here,” I muttered, collapsing onto my back and staring at the ceiling of the tent before slowly shutting my eyes.
The next arc would be the dungeon series, and I should be able to get there just before it started. This arc would be when Wei would start to regain his memories, and I needed to be there. If I didn’t make it in time… then hopefully Yang could kill Wei before he would kill everyone in that train station.
Even though it was technically a dungeon, it was very loosely based on the term. It would initially start out similarly, with generic mobs, grinding, and rewards; however, it would contort and twist into individual rooms designed for each party member. At the end, the top three teams would compete against each other for a story.
The rising sun’s rays bled through the thin fabric of the tent and onto my face, waking me. I slowly rose, my back aching and sore as I let out an exhausted groan. Opening up the Azure Dragon store, I bought the Boundless Bag which had endless capacity, although the weight of all items held would remain the same.
I packed the tent and Medusa’s head into the bag before draping it over my shoulder while wielding the Shield of Truth in my other hand to begin the trek to the metro station.
Despite still using the pigeon’s lung, the air outside had gotten significantly more toxic. I could feel my lungs burning and tingling as I finally approached the train station. The air instantly cleared up, and I took in a deep breath, spitting out the pigeon’s lung.
I squinted my eyes to better make out a white figure walking in front of the entrance.
“Wei?” I called out, speeding up my pace as I approached. “Wei!” I ran forward but stumbled over the heavy shield, falling forward.
Wei darted forward with surprising speed and quickly stabilized me, grabbing me by my shoulders. “Peijin?” He whispered in a surprised tone, “H-how did you…?”
“It’s a long story. I'll explain it when all the party members are here” I sighed, but there was still a look of relief on my face. I looked around the metro station, peeking down the escalator to notice how packed it was with people. “Are you patrolling? It looks like you got new clothes, too,” I said, gesturing toward his long white robe.
He gave a curt nod before peeking over his shoulder. “When we got here, there was already another party in control, but don’t worry. I’ll call Yang over to show you around.”
My eyes were glued onto the white robes he was wearing. I was going to get the exact same outfit for him regardless, but it was rather surprising to see he already had them.
It would make his dungeon much easier if he had this set, but it would be weird for him to be randomly wearing it if I hadn’t ordered him to. After all, long white robes weren’t the most convenient for an apocalypse.
“Did you get that outfit yourself?” I asked, gesturing toward the long sleeves. “It looks stupid.”
He shook his head. “No, they were given to me by the other party. Not sure why, but it’s nicer than my old blood soaked pair of clothes.”
“You don’t think it’s strange they asked you to wear something like that during an apocalypse? I can buy you another set from the Azure Dragon store.”
Wei cocked his head a bit, giving me a strange smile. “Don’t worry about the other group. They’re not suspicious.” He emphasized the last part slightly, trying to convince me.
“Peijin!” I heard the familiar voice call out to me, and I whipped my head around to meet Yang’s arms. He gave me a tight hug, burying his head in my small shoulder. “You’re alright! You don’t know how worried I was,” he rushed, the sentence barely comprehensible.
I tried to power through his hug, but it was far too tight—I could feel my limbs compress together as the air was forced out of my lungs. I lightly tapped his back, trying to signal for him to let go. “Yang,” I choked out, heaving for air. “Yang!”
What the hell was his strength level for it to be suffocating despite my level fifteen physique?
Scathing Reviewer activated!
[https://i.imgur.com/o7bog7Z.png]