Game with Fairies

In the valley, crimson mist drifted through the air, and a strong, pungent stench of blood filled every breath.

Wearing a sharp-beaked crow mask, Li Muyang held up a bell and shook it repeatedly, the clear chimes ringing out.

At the sound of the bell, all the black goats in the valley raised their heads vacantly, then began walking toward Li Muyang against their will.

"Souls, return~ Souls, return~"

Nodding and swaying, Li Muyang shook the bell and chanted an eerie, uncanny call to summon the dead.

The strange, eerie chant mingled with the bell's ringing, seeming to possess an uncanny magic that lulled listeners to sleep.

The black Two-Legged Sheep stumbled along behind Li Muyang, dazed and unsteady, as they walked out of Blood Mist Valley.

Once they left the valley, the air grew fresh all at once. Li Muyang took off the crow mask and drew in a long breath of clean air.

"I've had enough of this damn valley..."

Li Muyang glanced back at Blood Mist Valley and sighed.

He had been transported to this world two months ago. Unfortunately, he had become an outer disciple of the Demon Refining Sect, a demonic sect, where he spent every day doing odd jobs and hard labor.

His assigned work for the month was herding sheep. It sounded easy enough: all he had to do was drive these Two-Legged Sheep into the blood-red valley in the morning, then bring them back to their pen at night.

But the blood mist in the valley was pungent. Even wearing the mask issued by the sect only blocked half the stench.

After spending a whole day in there, the foul smell clung to him so thoroughly that it felt like it had seeped into his very skin.

Li Muyang walked down the road, shaking the bell as an overwhelming, nauseating stench wafted around him. The Demon Sect disciples along the way spotted him from afar and hurriedly dodged out of his path.

With the road clear all the way, Li Muyang shook the bell and herded the sheep into their pen. Then he handed his identity token to the steward before heading back to his thatched hut.

A shabby, drafty thatched hut was the only possession Li Muyang had in this world.

Exhausted, he lay on the hard wooden bed and stared up at the cobwebbed rafters. At last, after a busy day, Li Muyang could rest.

He closed his eyes and saw a long progress bar.

[Game template loading, current progress: 99.99%...]

Li Muyang felt a flicker of joy at the sight of the number.

It was finally about to finish loading...

This thing that looked like a system had appeared after Li Muyang was transported to this world.

It had taken a full two months to load from 0% to 99.99%. Li Muyang had been eagerly wondering what this system was, and whether it was the legendary cheat-like golden finger.

He couldn't be bothered to rest anymore. Li Muyang had originally planned to lie down for a while, but he sprang upright and sat up, focusing intently on the progress bar.

Another ten minutes passed before the 99.99% progress bar finally budged.

[Game template loading, current progress: 100%... Loading successful]

The next second, a vast scroll unfurled across Li Muyang's field of vision.

Immortal mists curled around winding mountains. Pavilions and towers dotted the scroll, while cranes cried out—a scene straight out of an immortal realm.

But what drew the most attention were the several figures scattered throughout this celestial landscape.

They were faintly visible through the white mist, their figures graceful and alluring. Even though their faces were indistinct, their peerless elegance still shone through.

Li Muyang stared in amazement. The scroll was magnificent and expansive, as though a vast world had unfolded before his eyes.

The next second, enormous golden characters appeared in the center of the scroll.

[Game with Fairies loaded successfully. Host bound. Begin the tutorial?]

Tutorial?

Li Muyang blinked and selected [Begin] without hesitation.

The next second, the scene on the scroll shifted.

A colossal city surrounded by towering walls appeared in Li Muyang's field of vision.

Under the moonlight, the town seemed eerie. Shadowy figures roamed its streets, as unsettling as evil spirits.

Then lines of vigorous blood-red text silently appeared across the scroll.

[In the final years of the Tianyuan Dynasty, the land fell into chaos. It was rumored that evil spirits had appeared in Loushan City, on the western frontier. In the dead of night, strange wails could often be heard from within the city, leaving its people in a state of panic. Zhang Daniu, an Imperial Observatory sorcerer, was ordered to investigate Loushan City, but mysteriously disappeared.]

[Now, as a rising star in the imperial court, you have been sent by your superior to Loushan City to assist Glaze Fairy in investigating the situation.]

[Choose your talent]

Li Muyang's lips twitched as he read the text that appeared in his field of vision.

Why were the character names in this game so ridiculous?

Was a name like Zhang Daniu really okay?

Going by the description, this so-called game was about investigating demons alongside a fairy?

But was this investigation going to be... proper?

Li Muyang was incredibly curious. The scroll in his field of vision changed again, and two blank talent slots popped up. He could choose two talent skills to take into the tutorial.

As soon as Li Muyang selected a blank talent slot, a dense list of twenty-six available talents appeared below.

The moment Li Muyang saw those talent skills, his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"Holy shit!"

Li Muyang was stunned.

One of the talents stood out at once, instantly drawing his gaze.

[Time Stop: After equipping this talent, you can stop time for 7 seconds. Cooldown: 10 seconds]

The talent left Li Muyang dumbfounded.

He could stop time for seven seconds with one use, and the cooldown was only ten seconds... Wasn't that basically invincibility?

What kind of amazing system was this, giving him an ability like Time Stop?

Li Muyang kept looking through the other available talents and found that nearly all of them were top-tier skills.

[First Sight Kill: When fighting a target you've met for the first time, you can kill them with absolute certainty. No cooldown]

[World Apart as Neighbors: Select a target, and each of you gains 30% of the other's attributes. Cooldown: 24 hours]

[Mind Reading: Read a target's innermost thoughts. No cooldown]

[Teleportation: Instantly teleport to a place you've been before. Cooldown: 10 seconds]

[Blood Conversion (Passive): When you take damage, your attributes increase. The more severe the injury, the greater the increase. When you enter a near-death state, your accumulated attribute gains double, and you gain a ten-minute Undying buff.]

[Invisibility: Gain the ability to turn invisible. No cooldown]

[Greater Healing: Instantly heal all damage suffered by a target. Ineffective on corpses. Cooldown: 60 seconds]

[Sword Hidden in Belly: Spit a flying sword from your mouth to injure a target. It is guaranteed to hit, with a 50% chance of instant death. Cooldown: 20 seconds]

The dense array of talent skills made Li Muyang's eyes swim.

This system was seriously generous. It really did give him cheats.

He could only equip two talents at a time, but any one of these skills would be top-tier. And the system was letting him choose two at once!

There were passive skills, active skills, and even support skills. It had just about everything.

After looking over the options, Li Muyang finally chose [Time Stop] and [Sword Hidden in Belly].

Time Stop would let him control the battlefield and kill minor enemies.

The flying sword, guaranteed to hit its target and carrying a 50% chance of instant death, would be for bosses with huge health bars.

Together, these two skills were practically unbeatable.

Once he had chosen his talents, Li Muyang clicked confirm.

He looked expectantly at the eerie, sinister Loushan City in his field of vision, eager to see what the tutorial was like—and whether Glaze Fairy was proper or not.