Other than the human realm, or Planet-2099 in this case, there were three main realms: the Heavenly Realm for divinities, the Demon Realm for powerful beasts that rejected divine status, and the Ghost Realm for regular humans who fell from grace and became resentful spirits. All of them would invest into humans, who became known as disciples, in order to increase their personal fame and recognition.
According to my stellar and very original worldbuilding from Surviving My First Round, these three realms had always existed but only became accessible to Planet-2099 at the start of the web novel. Of course, there were always anomalies given transmigrators, reincarnation, et cetera et cetera, but I avoided most of the complexities by avidly banning any form of regression from my novel. Call it lazy writing, but I considered it caring for my mental health.
Jun Wei, however, transcended this system.
Yet he had no knowledge of this fact, and he was now the man standing just beside his blue Toyota, watching as the bear stormed toward my truck.
Yang thrust his arm across my chest and forced me back into my seat as he leaned over, blaring the car horn and flashing the headlights at the bear.
I exhaled in surprise before squeezing my eyes shut in anticipation of a sudden attack, but I slowly realized the sound had upset the bear, causing it to let out a roar before scrambling backward.
“Black bears hate noise,” Yang whispered, his hand still firmly pressed on the car horn. The bear growled before standing on its hind legs, bringing an arm to shield its face before turning to another way in search of an easier meal.
Once the bear retreated, Yang let out a tense breath and turned to face me. “You alright?”
A complicated expression crossed my face as I pushed his arm off. “I was thinking of doing that. You just beat me to it.”
He quickly withdrew like he was burned by red coals as realization set in. “Ah, sorry,” he said in a nervous tone, waving his hands in front of his face. Weirdly enough, he almost sounded fearful in his frantic apology.
Yang opened his mouth to say more in a panic, but I moved my hand in front of his lips in a gesture to shush him. The goblins were casually wandering the streets, never attacking people as they continued to panic, but that wouldn’t last long.
A sudden knock sounded from the car window causing me to jolt before I saw Wei’s face. I rolled down the window a sliver, peeking at him through the crack.
“Jie, are you alright? Please don’t panic—I’m sure officers will be here soon.”
Aw, cute! Wait, did he just call me jie?
Observer ‘Socrates’: That was cruel, even if it’s Jia Li.
One of my eyes twitched as I heard a slight laugh from Yang. Clearing my throat, I responded, “Thank you, ge,” I said with a pressed smile, enunciating the title. “Do you mind if we join you? What’s your name?”
Wei’s face flushed bright red at the correction, and he awkwardly choked on his own words for a moment. “My family name is Jun, and my given name is Wei. Please feel free to join. I’ve already called the police… mei nu.” *
Did I look that old??
Yang made a sputtering sound beside me as he did his best to hold in a violent laugh.
Wei’s eyes lingered on me for a long moment before he spoke up, seeming rather flustered. “Is something wrong?”
“Huh? Oh,” I mumbled. I had zoned out for a moment, and my hand had moved as if trying to push up Wei’s sleeve to look at his bandages. “My name is Wu Peijin.”
“What a nice name. You must be very ambitious.”
Before I could respond, a quick flash appeared beside us, causing both of us to turn away from the burning light.
The Azure Dragon appeared and gave a little wave toward me with its small clawed hand.
[You seem to have adapted pretty fast.]
“Move your broadcast somewhere else. I’m kind of in the middle of something if you haven’t noticed,” I replied in a snarky tone, waving my hand back and forth as if shooing an annoying fly.
[Do you wanna die?!]
The Azure Dragon initially served as a mix of a moderator and streamer, bringing entertainment to the gods by the demise of countless planets; however, it seems as if observers, or my past commenters, had overtaken the audience market.
How thrilling.
“You haven’t done anything since the chapter began, so I doubt you’re allowed to. Besides, I’m bringing you a lot of viewers, right? I’m already receiving notifications.”
The Azure Dragon gave me a stunned look as it continued to float on its tail in the air. After all, what I said was true. What did concern me, though, was that there were thousands, if not millions of moderators once the Vermillion Birds, White Tigers, and Black Tortoises were included.
So, what incentive would observers have to watch other broadcasts? Did they not automatically know that I was Jia Li?
And if that was the case… how did Socrates and Nipon23 immediately recognize me?
The Azure Dragon opened its long snout to respond, but its attention quickly turned toward the sound of a desperate cry down the freeway.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Right, the real challenge was going to start soon. The timer was ticking down, and people were panicking. In testing times like these, people became the real monsters.
Time left: 10 minutes 39 seconds
Percent killed: 34%
A woman stumbled out of her car, wielding a baseball bat. “I-I can’t take it anymore! I don’t want to die!” Tears streamed down her face, and she raised her arms in the air before bashing the bat down on the head of a curious goblin that had been peering inside her car. Its skull quickly cracked in half as the goblin collapsed onto the ground, convulsing as she continued to strike it.
More and more people seemed to join the woman as they attacked the goblins, tearing off their small limbs as the goblins cried out in pain, trying to scramble away. They let out pained, vulnerable cries, but they continued to be massacred. Even some of the elders and children that Wei had escorted began to attack the goblins out of sheer fear.
Yang stared at the sight, his glowing orange eyes seemingly enchanted. “Peijin, what happens if more than half of us survive the chapter? Don’t half of us need to die in the time constraint?”
As if on cue, a ghastly, animalistic scream rang out into the crowd.
The woman who had first attacked was suddenly swarmed by goblins. They grabbed her hair and pummeled her onto the ground. One picked up a sharp skewer and stood above her face as she let out blood-curdling cries. He lifted up the skewer and pierced it through her eye and into the soft flesh of her brain, killing her instantly. She fell limp as her eye slowly oozed out onto the hot pavement below her and sizzled, cooking.
More and more goblins began to attack people, swarming the ones that had assaulted or killed others. Wei scrambled forward to protect the children who were now being cornered, but I gripped his hand and pulled him back toward the truck.
“You can’t change their fate! If you do, the goblins will kill you next. You can’t save the kids and avoid the goblins!” I shouted, my fingers pressing so tightly into his arm that I left red finger-shaped imprints.
Time left: 8 minutes 38 seconds
Percent killed: 36%
Wei turned to me, a mixed expression of shock and disgust on his face as he tore his non-bandaged arm from my grasp. “I can do both!” Whipping his head around, he darted forward to help them.
A small smile crossed my lips as I unbuckled the seatbelt and jumped out of the car, signaling for Yang to follow. I looked up at the sky, spotting the bright, twinkling star just overhead. As long as I could paint Wei as someone who fought for justice, things were going just as I planned.
Wei reached down and picked up a young child being assaulted by the goblins and dashed toward his car, quickly locking her in the backseat. I watched as he darted back to try and reach an older man who had fallen while trying to run from the chanting goblins that were slowly surrounding him.
Suddenly, a young girl wearing her school uniform lunged at the elderly man and bashed her fists into his face, goring him and assisting the goblins. She panted, her fists drenched in blood with deep purple bruises already forming, and the goblins began to clamor around her, seeming to cheer as they circled her. The goblins almost appeared to be performing a ritual to an outsider as they clamored, banging their sticks and rocks together.
Liu Yue.
She was a truly despicable character, and it was easy to see how she became a wrath—a Demon Queen of the highest rank. Cruel, calculating, and menacingly intelligent, she approached her newfound world in a purely statistical manner. But, did she originally appear in the first scene? I thought she joined later on?
“No!” Wei cried as he made a mad dash to try and tend to the elderly man. But, it was far too late for him as he laid on the pavement completely gored.
Yue cackled as she slowly stood up, blood dripping down her arms in thick black streaks. Glittering blue particles seemed to explode from her feet, creating a halo of light around her. Lifting a finger, she pointed it at a parked car—the same car that Wei had just left the child in—and watched as the goblins raided it, smashing the window and goring the child inside.
I scowled. I hated Yue the most out of every character I created. She adapted too fast, far too fast, as if she had waited for this very situation just like me.
“How dare you!” Wei shouted, his fists balled and trembling in sheer rage. “How could you ever kill another person!”
Yue’s head swiveled over to face him in a nonchalant manner as she gave a wide and thin smile. “Just trying to get some more stars.”
It was like watching two parts of myself fight one another. Had I not known anything about this world, who was to say I wouldn’t have taken a similar route to Yue? Even now, my actions were guided by a form of author manipulation; I had a desired conclusion for Wei, and I was simply pushing him toward my goal.
My eyes shifted to Wei’s arm, where it seemed as if the bandages started snaking around his arm. Now was my time to jump in.
“Hey, Yue!” I shouted, walking toward her, cracking my knuckles before shaking out my hand.
She whipped her head around and stared at me with insane eyes. She let out a scoff as she turned toward me, the goblins eagerly awaiting her orders.
“Using my first name? You’re entitled. Who are you?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
I said a few words to myself in my head: invest 500 stars into strength and 1000 into physique.
Strength level 1 → level 5
Physique level 1 → level 10
Yue’s eyes trailed to the truck behind me, reading the large company font. “So you’re in pest control, too? That’s pathetic.”
“I’m a fortune teller, actually.”
She tilted her chin up, mocking an impressed look. “Really? Then go and predict the future. What’s about to happen?”
Time left 5 minutes 59 seconds
Hundreds of observers are following you with immense interest!
“I’m about to beat the shit out of you.”
[https://i.imgur.com/mJmurfO.png]