Chapter 3

Gu Yue Cun.

Guyue Miao.

Rain poured down in torrents, lightning cracked and thunder roared.

Boom!!

The thunder cracked in the sky, illuminating the entire ruined temple.

The broken Buddha statue, covered in spiderwebs, lay on the ground.

Beside the statue, a small fire burned, with a large iron pot resting atop it.

Inside the iron pot, thick broth boiled vigorously, filling the air with fragrance.

Beside the pot sat a boy and a girl, who bore a slight resemblance to each other—likely siblings.

The sister stirred the broth with a spoon, while the brother warmed himself by the fire.

Behind the siblings, in a pile of straw in the temple's corner, lay a young man covered in wounds and dirt.

The siblings did not seem to know the young man lying on the ground.

As the sister stirred the broth, she occasionally cast a concerned glance toward the young man behind her.

The boy beside her sat rigid, his face tense as he stared fixedly at the small fire.

A strong wind blew through, causing the flames to shrink suddenly, flickering like a dying candle.

The boy's expression instantly turned anxious and fearful.

Boom!

Another thunderclap exploded.

The heavy rain pounded the earth with a rushing sound.

At that moment, the young man lying on the ground slowly opened his eyes.

"Who am I?"

"Where am I?"

"What am I supposed to do?"

After a moment of confusion, Fang Yue suddenly remembered.

He had entered the Lan Hai World game!

This place, was the Lan Hai World!

His gaze swept around…

The rotten wooden eaves above, old and broken, showed clear grain and texture.

The yellow earth beneath his feet, pitted and detailed, rendered every nuance.

Outside, the heavy rain fell swiftly and powerfully, wind howled, and a chill bit at his skin.

This modeling, this sensory simulation—undoubtedly a generation-defining masterpiece! Far surpassing every other holographic simulation game on the market!

You've got guts, Tengli Group! This is exactly the game I wanted!

Fang Yue, heart racing, stood up and took a step forward.

Ssshh—

Like being electrocuted, Fang Yue screamed in pain, his whole body burning with searing agony.

Wait—

Is the pain simulation this realistic…?

He grimly examined his body and found himself covered in torn wounds, as if he had fallen from a cliff—dusty, filthy, and utterly wrecked.

What… is going on?

I just entered the game, didn't I?

Why am I covered in injuries?

"You're awake?"

At that moment, a clear, bright voice rang out from ahead.

Fang Yue then noticed two people nearby—a boy and a girl.

"Don't talk to her!"

The boy panicked, shielding the girl behind him, sweat beading on his face as if forcing out each word—his voice hoarse and pained.

Am I really that frightening? Fang Yue touched his face, feeling a pang of frustration.

If only this game had a character creation system—I'd have made myself a peerlessly handsome guy, so gorgeous it'd make you gay!

It's a game, after all—the higher your looks, the more pleasant it is to look at. Who wants to stare at ugly faces?

Tengli Group really doesn't understand players. After this game, I'm definitely posting feedback on the forums!

"It's fine, Brother. I found Big Brother at the foot of the mountain and brought him here—he wouldn't hurt me."

So it was that little girl who saved me.

No—she saved the version of me inside the game.

Is this the game's cutscene?

This plotline was familiar to Fang Yue.

So all players are rescued by this girl, and we're all the last disciples of Hongmen, right?

But… it's so real!

The little girl's facial expressions were lifelike, as if she were a real human.

The surroundings—the wind, the rain, the thunder—all felt like I'd been transported to another world, with not a single trace of a game.

Just as he thought this, a system notification sounded in Fang Yue's ear.

"Welcome player 【Yese Liming】 to the game 'Blue Sea'."

"Detected that player 【Yese Liming】 has a Lucky Package. Would you like to claim it now?"

Lucky Package? Oh right, I still have a Lucky Package!

The hyper-realistic game sensory experience made Fang Yue almost forget about the package altogether.

He silently thought the words "claim."

"Congratulations, player 【Yese Liming】, you have received the Lucky Package. Would you like to open it?"

Open it!

"Congratulations, player 【Yese Liming】, you have obtained the Human-grade Low-tier skill 【Analysis Pupil】."

"Name: Analysis Pupil."

"Tier: Human-grade Low-tier."

"Effect: Locks vision onto a target for a period of time, allowing analysis of certain information. Analysis time varies by target; some targets cannot be analyzed."

"Note: Uncle here, these eyes have seen through everything."

Huh? Human-grade Low-tier?

Is this all the Lucky Package gives?

Fang Yue felt disappointed and silently thought "attributes," and immediately a semi-transparent window popped up before him.

"Name: Yese Liming."

"Realm: Mortal."

"Status: Heavy Injury."

"Health: 5/50 (Heavy Injury)."

"Control Power: 1 (Heavy Injury)."

"Dispelling Power: 1 (Heavy Injury)."

"Talent: None."

"Martial Arts: Analysis Pupil (Human-grade Low-tier)."

"Lifespan: 12 hours."

Lifespan?

Fang Yue paused, stunned. What kind of attribute is this?

The passive Analysis Pupil skill activated silently.

"Lifespan: Represents the character's remaining lifespan."

Huh? Twelve hours is just twenty-four hours—so I can only live one day?

Is this damn game a pay-to-play game? The official site never said anything! Besides, where's the payment portal? I can't even find where to spend money!

Fang Yue suppressed his frustration and turned his gaze back to the Heavy Injury status.

"Heavy Injury: Severe bodily injury, reduces attributes, lowers maximum health, and continuously drains health."

Heavy Injury? Continuous health drain?

What kind of awful start is this?

Fang Yue felt a surge of frustration, but then he remembered something.

Wait, I'm a brand-new player just entering the game. The system should give me something to remove this status—otherwise, it's a death sentence!

"Big brother, are you still feeling unwell?"

As Fang Yue was thinking, the little girl suddenly turned, using her delicate, pale hands to ladle a bowl of thick broth from the iron pot.

Fang Yue noticed her fingers were long and slender—not the hands of someone who had done hard labor. She might be someone important, perhaps a noblewoman.

He looked at the broth: its fragrance wafted through the air, making his mouth water.

Creak… creak…

As the little girl walked over carrying the bowl, a strange scraping sound came from her feet.

At the same time, the flames on the fire seemed to shrink a little more.

"Big brother, why not drink some broth? It's medicinal soup I boiled for you—it'll help your injuries heal faster."

So that's how it is!

Fang Yue, an experienced gamer, understood instantly.

This was a classic trope from other games.

Guiding players through game mechanics via NPCs.

This little girl must be the tutorial NPC.

And this soup—probably a healing potion, meant to restore my health and cure the Heavy Injury status.

I knew it—starting a new player with Heavy Injury would be outright unfair.

"Alright, thank you, little sister."

Smiling, he took the bowl—and realized it was scalding hot, extremely hot. He wondered how the girl had managed to hand it to him so steadily.

Maybe… she's higher level than me?

No, it's probably because my Heat Resistance is too low due to the Heavy Injury status.

Maybe I'd been staring at the broth too long.

Just as Fang Yue was about to drink it down, a line of text suddenly appeared.

"Soul-Draining Poisonous Broth: A deadly broth brewed with dozens of poisonous mushrooms and secret methods. Contact kills. Drinking destroys the soul!"

"Note: Drinking any soup like this—you won't survive!"

(End of Chapter)