Game Paradise

"Clang, clang, clang..."

In the dim mine tunnel, rhythmic blows rang out, varying in strength.

A long while passed.

"Clang!!!"

With one mighty strike, a blazing crystal tumbled to the ground.

Mu Ye moved with lightning speed. He slapped the Storage Bag at his waist, and the crystal, shaped like a dragon fruit, vanished inside.

A faint red glow seeped through the bag's worn cloth, illuminating a handsome, sharply defined face streaked with grime.

"Five days, and I've only dug up one Red Flame Stone."

Mu Ye put away his Pickaxe and calculated the time. "It should be about Xu Shi now. Time to clock out."

Carrying his Storage Bag, Mu Ye wound this way and that through the mine tunnel. In less than ten breaths, he reached the entrance.

A middle-aged man in a blue robe stood guard there. When he saw Mu Ye emerge, he frowned and asked, "Mu, you're leaving already?"

"Yeah. Doesn't the Jinshi Sect stipulate that we menial Cultivators get off work at Xu Shi?" Mu Ye pointed at the sundial beside the middle-aged man. "Steward Xu, the markings are right, aren't they?"

"They're right, sure." Steward Xu scolded him. "But everyone else is working hard to mine Spirit Stones. You're just going to leave?"

Mu Ye scratched his head and thought for a moment.

"Then... should I tell them all to leave too?"

Steward Xu fell silent.

"You rascal!" Steward Xu shook his head. "With your meager cultivation at only Qi Refining First Layer, you still won't work hard to earn Spirit Stones and cultivate. All you think about is slacking off!"

"I'm really not slacking off." Mu Ye pointed at himself and grimaced. "Steward Xu, mining requires you to cast the Golden Blade Art. Otherwise, the Pickaxe won't break through the rock. You're a mighty Cultivator at Qi Refining Sixth Layer. You can cast it for three days and three nights without even catching your breath. But I'm only at First Layer. I can manage half a day at most before my Spiritual Power is completely drained."

"Not only is forcing myself to keep mining inefficient, it also wastes the extra rations the Jinshi Sect gives us."

"Clocking out on time is how I'm looking out for the sect's expenses."

Steward Xu froze, unable to find a response.

Thinking it over carefully...

It did seem to make some sense.

While Steward Xu was distracted, Mu Ye slipped straight out.

The last rays of the setting sun fell across the ground, casting a tall, well-proportioned shadow behind Mu Ye.

"The air outside sure feels good..."

Mu Ye took a deep breath. In the distance, towering mountains reached into the clouds; all around him stood low, dense woods.

This was the Qinghe Mine, under the Jinshi Sect in the Cultivation World of the Eastern Wasteland.

After taking several deep breaths, Mu Ye sighed and grumbled to himself.

After breathing it for long enough, it doesn't feel like anything special. If I were back on Earth, I'd probably be drinking cola, eating fried chicken, and binge-watching shows and videos right now. No, wait—the Tears of the Kingdom is about to launch, and Honkai: Star Rail is already in open beta. I crossed over before I could play either of them...

"What a rip-off."

"Fine, I crossed over. But at least before I did, I was a good-for-nothing shut-in with a car and a house. Now I've turned into a cultivation-world wage slave, working nine to nine as a menial disciple. Every day it's either mining or weeding. Who the hell could put up with this?"

The thought left Mu Ye speechless.

Grumbling as he went, Mu Ye first walked to the river and took a bath.

His Spiritual Power was depleted, so he couldn't cast the Body Cleansing Art. This natural way of cleaning himself suited him better anyway.

After washing, he returned to the Qinghe mining camp.

Many Stone Houses made of earth and rock had been built here, stretching in a continuous row beside the mountain. They were like employee dormitories back on Earth, only battle-scarred.

Everything else was fine. It was just... there was nothing to do for fun.

Cultivation was just too boring.

From Mu Ye's observations over the past few months, most menial disciples had the most common Mixed Spirit Root and no real aptitude for cultivation.

To the Jinshi Sect, menial disciples were like outsourced delivery riders: they weren't Formal Disciples, received no sect benefits, and had practically zero room for advancement.

Sometimes, after painstakingly scraping together a few Spirit Stones over several months, their only entertainment was going to Tianxiang Pavilion in the nearby market for a quick thrill.

Those who worked hard mined like their lives depended on it, saved up some Spirit Stones, and took on side jobs like making talismans or refining pills, scraping by however they could.

Those who weren't afraid of dying formed teams and looked for chances to hunt demonic beasts outside, gathering resources in hopes of striking it rich. Their death rate was the highest.

When Mu Ye crossed over, his predecessor had worked himself to death mining.

Mu Ye admired people like that, the workaholics.

They knew perfectly well their aptitude was terrible, yet still worked so hard to climb upward. In another world, maybe they could have made something of themselves.

But in this cultivation world, where most resources were controlled by personal force and even those at the bottom couldn't turn their lives around after gaining power...

Forget it.

Without a cheat, he'd just live as comfortably as he could.

Now, lying on the cool stone bed, Mu Ye felt nothing but boredom.

He wanted to cultivate, but with his five-element Mixed Spirit Root, he could practice for years without making any real progress.

His cultivation manual was the most ordinary Peiyuan Manual.

A five-element Mixed Spirit Root plus a commonplace manual—his debuffs were fully stacked.

He could even get stuck at a bottleneck at Qi Refining First Layer. Honestly, it was ridiculous.

If he had some kind of proficiency cheat, Mu Ye felt he could still make a last-ditch effort.

But unfortunately, he didn't.

When he practiced one Greater Celestial Circuit, the Spiritual Power he absorbed and refined was pitifully small. Cultivating was like a blind man stumbling into a brothel—just flailing around in the dark.

Suddenly, Mu Ye seemed to remember something.

"Right, I wonder if that thing's finished loading."

He focused, and a strange game interface appeared in his vision.

The interface was pitch-black, with only a few words in the center.

[Game Paradise loading, current progress: 99%...]

"I didn't expect that this stupid game would cross over with me..."

Looking at the interface, Mu Ye wore a strange expression.

It was a bizarre game called Game Life.

On the night he crossed over, he'd found an email inviting him to try the game's demo in his spam folder.

It boasted of an "open world," "multiple play styles," "free exploration," a "super engine," and "realistic immersion"...

It had thrown in every gimmick the market could come up with.

Mu Ye had known at a glance that it was either some reskinned game hyped up by a marketing account or a crapfest that called itself the pride of domestic gaming, outsourced its development, and hid a shit-flavored filling inside chocolate.

He hadn't been interested at first, but the game poster in the email had a few ancient-costume girls who were pretty much to his taste.

Well, he might as well try it out and tear it apart.

So he clicked to accept the invitation—and then crossed over.

Ever since he'd crossed over, the game interface had been loading nonstop.

If this isn't a cheat, I'd be fine with it just being a game I can play!

Mu Ye thought.

Just then,

the number on the panel shifted slightly.

"100%... Loading complete..."

The words dimmed.

An ancient painting, rendered in the style of ink wash, slowly appeared. In the scene, a Man in Black wearing a tight black outfit and a bamboo hat held a long saber, standing atop the highest point of the city tower as he looked down over a sea of colorful buildings.

"A cutscene?" Mu Ye grinned.

It looked pretty convincing.

Suddenly, a thunderous boom shook the heavens. The black-clad swordsman leaped from the peak and plunged downward like a swallow battered by wind and rain. His fleeting shadow blurred the surrounding scenery as he swept past Peddlers on the streets and the roof tiles lining the alleyways.

At last, he shot out like a leaping fish, and the city below transformed into a sand-table map.

Then lightning struck. The clouds gathered into an enormous black hand that shrouded the entire ancient city.

In midair, the Man in Black drew his long saber and brought it down in a slash.

The dark clouds scattered, and the scene shattered in an instant. Everything began to draw inward, until two enormous ancient bronze doors suddenly slammed shut, as if closing off an entire world. The scene vanished with them.

Four large characters were engraved on the bronze doors:

"Game Paradise."

Mu Ye watched happily. It seemed pretty good.

The cutscene looked like it was from a wuxia-fantasy game.

"Binding user..."

"Binding successful. Based on the user's circumstances, only the trial game [Sword and Blade Demon Sealing] is currently available. Please complete its Tutorial Stage [The Widow of Taiping City] to unlock more features of Game Paradise."

An old writer's new book. Mm... I don't have much to say. That's it, then. (￣︶￣)