Daydreaming Again

[June 7th, 1000th Year of the Lost Era, Star Plum Town, heavy rain.

One year after stepping out on my travels, someone kicked me right out of a tavern...]

He was daydreaming again.

He imagined that after being struck to death by a truck, he transmigrated into a fantasy world, into the body of a bard named Tang Qi.

Because of a terrible performance, he had just been kicked out of a tavern.

At that moment, he stuck his butt out, bowed and crawled in the muddy street, half of his cheek buried in the wet soil.

A reek of mingled earth and manure drifted faintly into his nostrils...

That was the unique scent of a medieval country road.

The pouring rain drenched his entire body, soaking through his tattered leather jacket and undershirt. A wave of weakness washed over him, making him feel as though he were immersed in a swamp, letting the damp chill pierce every pore.

Tang Qi grew increasingly sober: "Not a daydream? All of this is real?"

He struggled to prop his body up, pulling himself out of the mud, picking up his lute and tattered bundle from the ground, and involuntarily pounding and massaging his aching lower back.

His brain remained dizzy, but the double vision before his eyes slowly converged...

Dark clouds made the gloomy night even darker.

He could only vaguely make out the outlines of a few scattered wooden houses and the glowing points of unknown origin flickering beside the eaves.

A flash of fire came from behind.

Bright yellow candlelight mixed with chaotic shouting and jeering, signifying the only sign of life in the cold, desolate night.

A tavern was only bustling with noise and excitement at night.

And Tang Qi had already missed the chance to participate...

The Academy of Bardic Songs, which outwardly promoted a love for peace and the dissemination of poetry and musical culture, but was actually sponsored by Teren nobles and sang the praises of the lords, never actively expelled a student.

Unless that person truly had no talent whatsoever.

His predecessor, Tang Qi Weinberg, was an unremarkable premature infant among his aristocratic father's dozens of illegitimate children.

After his mother died early, he was treated as a nuisance and sent to the poet academy to draw a clear line.

Various factors made him autistic and dull.

Even if he could memorize ballads and music theory, and master some archery and martial arts.

He still lacked the essential trait of a bard...

Flexibility.

When his mentor realized that he only knew how to read from the script and sing ancient legends fabricated in textbooks.

Yet when facing the noble lords, he could not even utter a single Auspicious Words...

His mentor realized that he could no longer arrange any work for him.

So he simply patted him gently on the shoulder and sighed:

"The academy can no longer teach you any more. Next, go create your own story."

Thus, Tang Qi carried his luggage, dismissed and sent walking toward what he thought was poetry and the distance.

Aimless, he headed all the way east, crossing the sea.

Finally, passing through a bizarre forest, he arrived at Star Plum Town, a place famous for its plums.

The Goddess of Fortune favored him enough to let him survive, but a year of wind and frost inevitably battered his health.

In the end, Tang Qi, having lost the favor of the Goddess, was kicked into the mud because a terrible performance ruined the drunkards' mood...

Thinking of this, Tang Qi, who shared the same name and even looked identical, had completely integrated the memories.

Unlike his predecessor, he was merely a third-rate internet singer.

He did not understand much music theory, usually copying popular tunes, mixing them into pre-packaged, mediocre pop music to post on short video platforms to make a living, and occasionally dabbling in vocational school rap.

At the same time, as a tabletop role-playing game enthusiast... a type of tabletop game akin to adult make-believe, he had frequented forums for over a decade, yet struggled to find anyone to run a game for him.

Having finally found a game to play, he enthusiastically participated in his very first one.

Only to fail to outrun the oncoming truck...

But none of that mattered anymore.

What game could compare to the thrill of experiencing it firsthand?

It was simply living another life.

For Tang Qi, who had no ties or attachments, accepting all this was not difficult.

Moreover, there was no longer time to fret over past matters...

He walked under the eaves of the tavern, the slanted roof shielding him from a fraction of the wind and rain:

"Achoo!"

The feeling of hunger and cold was not pleasant.

His last meal was two days ago.

After getting lost in the forest, he roasted a few wild mushrooms on the spot, only to pass out in the woods a moment later, and ended up dumped at the village entrance by an unknown rescuer.

Right now, he was nearly frozen stiff, his legs trembling with hunger, and if his willpower were even slightly weaker, he would lose his senses and pitch headfirst back into the mud.

He might not get a second chance if that happened.

No matter what, I need to find a warm place to keep myself alive first.

Tang Qi reached out, cupped the rainwater falling from the eaves, and splashed it onto his filthy face, washing away half the mud stains and helping him clear his head.

After a moment of thought, he pushed open the tavern door once again.

Creeak—

The furnishings of the township tavern were unremarkable, and a few long tables and chairs were packed with people, already shoved crooked by drunkards in their stupor.

The door suddenly swung wide, and the chilling wind and heavy rain poured in together, howling, making the flames in the fireplace flicker and dim.

"Cut off his goat beard! Which blind bastard opened the door!?"

A One-Eyed Dwarf wearing an eyepatch shivered from the cold, his thick beard bound together like a goat's, yet bushy enough to cover his chest.

His muscular arms slammed onto the wine table, sloshing the cups atop it, and he raised his voice in a near roar, waking up his drunken companions.

The other half-asleep drunkards also glanced over one after another.

Only to see the drenched man at the door, with thick beard and messy Curly Hair, dressed like a vagrant.

Tang Qi closed the door, the lingering smell of alcohol replacing the stench of manure, and the warmth made his complexion flush slightly.

"You again?"

Everyone recognized this vagrant.

He had once stumbled weakly into the tavern, begging the tavern owner, that penny-pinching Dawn-Dusk Flower, Catherine, to give him a chance to earn a bite to eat.

Bards making a living by singing in taverns was nothing rare.

Only—

"Brat, we already gave you a chance once, but you blew it all!"

"Before I feel like getting up, take your grating, broken lute and get lost!"

"Golden Oak doesn't need stale stories, my grandma's ears calloused from those songs of yours!"

The burly drunkards laughed and cursed.

The sinking of alcohol made these people lose what little politeness they had to begin with.

No one wanted to listen to that lute make sharp noises on this night, let alone have it mixed with stories praising nobles or legends of dragons and heroes—

Please, the daytime hours didn't even belong to them!

They had to hurry and harvest the crops clean by tomorrow.

So that after the Harvest Festival, they could let the landlords living in Dragon Gold City dispatch a caravan to buy them at an extremely low price—

Ordinary people wouldn't dare cross that bizarre Twilight Forest west of the town.

"Fuck the stories, fuck the legends!"

There were no dragons left in this world long ago, and certainly no heroes.

On this boundless wilderness, there were only a group of savage monsters.

And nobles even more savage than the monsters, squeezing the labor out of them!

To escape tomorrow, they hoped this alcoholic night would last longer.

And they certainly didn't want to be disturbed in their drunken stupor.

Twice!

Tang Qi knew it well.

But his body did not allow him to sleep rough.

Pride had become the least important thing.

Thus, he walked toward the bar alone.

Standing there was a woman wearing a simple linen dress.

She looked young, but years of toil had still left marks on her pretty face, making her skin appear dull.

Her brownish-red long hair was braided and draped over her full chest.

Putting aside exhaustion and fatigue, she could be considered a striking sight amidst a group of drunkards.

"Give me another chance." Tang Qi requested in standard Common Tongue.

Catherine shook her head.

She inherited the only tavern in Star Plum Town from her deceased mother.

It was not easy for a young girl to maintain such a large family estate.

Therefore, she had regarded money as more important than anyone since she was a little girl.

So much so that no one could ever extract an extra cent of profit from her hands.

Thus, she refused with calm composure.

She slowly extended a slender fingertip, pointing toward the bunch of dazed drunkards.

Her voice was melodious yet cold:

"You cannot compensate for the losses of driving them away."

"I guarantee I won't."

"I gave you a chance once, but judging by the level you showed before, your credibility is like a paladin's lie."

"Paladins don't lie."

Tang Qi's mindset had not fully shifted over, and he replied instinctively.

"You don't have any credibility either." Catherine actually didn't want to speak so harshly.

Tang Qi was momentarily at a loss for words.

The previous owner's skills could not be called exquisite, merely passable.

And long-neglected strings always produced harsh noises.

Mixed with his listless voice, he had stubbornly insisted on singing a grand epic praising nobles and heroes.

All sorts of ill-suited combinations made the previous performance nothing short of a disaster.

The current Tang Qi would not make such a choice, but it was hard for him to defend himself.

He simply decided to go all the way, resting his fingers on the strings and clearing his dry, hoarse throat—

Before he made a sound, Catherine covered his mouth.

The calluses on her palm slightly tickled Tang Qi's lips, yet also choked off the pitch that had just risen.

The young woman's clear gaze instinctively swept past his shoulder.

At a table in the corner, a long-haired man leaning against the wall was dozing, but his brows and eyes were as sharp as a viper, and he seemed to have already noticed this side.

Her tone grew hurried as she whispered:

"If you just want to fill your stomach, I will prepare some bread and water for you.

The rain is heavy, so you can also go by the fireplace to warm up and leave when it stops.

But please don't cause trouble anymore.

You don't want to be thrown out again, right?"

Obviously, letting Tang Qi continue singing was far more of a loss than providing him with some food.

Yet Tang Qi was not satisfied with this.

He could not rely on begging for a living forever, and Catherine would not pity him every time.

After surviving this rainy night, he would still be sleeping rough in the wind and dew.

Therefore, he hoped to prove himself.

To exchange it for a temporary livelihood, and then find a shelter to keep out the wind.

Only after settling down would it be a good time to make plans for the future.

However, since the other party had already spoken to this extent, stubbornly pressing the issue further would only be courting needless annoyance.

He could only nod, bowing in gratitude as he said:

"May gold and silver pave the path ahead for every kind-hearted person."

Catherine froze for a split second, suddenly realizing that the vagrant before her did not seem as dull-witted as before:

"If you had been this smooth-tongued earlier, they wouldn't have..."

Before she finished speaking, she saw movement behind Tang Qi, and hurriedly pushed his shoulders, lowering her voice:

"Hurry up and go, don't stand in front of me."