Game with Fairies

In the valley where blood-red mist drifted, the air was thick with a pungent, cloying scent of blood.

Li Muyang, wearing a sharp-beaked crow mask, held a bell and shook it continuously, producing a crisp, rhythmic clanging.

Upon hearing the bell, the flock of black goats in the valley all lifted their heads in a daze, then began to walk toward Li Muyang, unable to resist.

"Souls, return~ Souls, return~"

Li Muyang bobbed his head, shaking the bell while emitting a strange, eerie soul-summoning chant.

This bizarre, ghostly chant mixed with the sound of the bell seemed to possess a strange, hypnotic magic that beckoned one into a dream.

The flock of black goats, which possessed only two legs, followed listlessly behind Li Muyang, stumbling out of the Blood Mist Valley with every step.

Once they exited the valley, the air suddenly became fresh. Li Muyang pulled off the crow mask and took a long, deep breath of clean air.

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

Li Muyang glanced back at the Blood Mist Valley behind him and sighed.

He had transmigrated to this world two months ago and unfortunately became an outer disciple of the Demon Refining Sect, a demonic sect where he spent his days doing menial labor and heavy lifting.

The job assigned to him this month was herding. It sounded easy—he only needed to drive this flock of two-legged sheep into the blood-colored valley in the morning and herd them back to the pen at night.

However, the blood mist inside the valley was pungent; even with the mask provided by the sect, he could only block half the stench.

After spending a day inside, the foul, fishy odor seemed to seep deep into his very skin.

Li Muyang shook his bell as he walked along the path, the stench so overwhelming that other disciples of the Demon Sect hurried to dodge him from afar.

The path remained clear, and Li Muyang, ringing his bell and herding the sheep, drove the pitch-black, bizarre creatures into the pen. After handing his identity badge to the steward, he finally headed toward his thatched hut.

A drafty, shabby hut was Li Muyang's only asset in this world.

Exhausted, he lay down on the hard, dry wooden bed. Looking up at the rafters draped in spiderwebs, Li Muyang, who had been busy all day, could finally rest.

He closed his eyes and saw a long progress bar.

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

Seeing this number, a flicker of joy stirred in Li Muyang's heart.

Is it finally about to finish loading...

This thing, which looked like a system, had appeared after Li Muyang transmigrated.

It had taken a full two months to load from 0% to the current 99.99%. Li Muyang had been anticipating what this system actually was, wondering if it was the legendary cheat code or golden finger.

Too restless to sleep, Li Muyang, who had intended to lie down for a while, sat up with a sudden spring, focusing his entire attention on the loading progress bar.

After another ten minutes, the 99.99% progress bar finally moved.

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

The next second, a massive scroll unfurled within Li Muyang's field of vision.

Immortal mist swirled, mountains wound through the landscape, and the scroll depicted pavilions, towers, and the cries of cranes—it was truly a scene of divine wonder.

But what caught his eye most were the several figures scattered throughout this fairyland.

They were faintly visible amidst the white mist, their grace and charm evident even without seeing their faces; one could still sense their peerless beauty.

Li Muyang marveled at the sight. The scroll was magnificent and vast, as if an entire world had unfolded before his eyes.

The next second, large golden characters emerged in the center of the scroll.

[Game with Fairies loaded successfully. Host bound. Would you like to begin the tutorial?]

Tutorial?

Li Muyang blinked and selected [Start].

The next second, the scroll in his vision changed.

A massive city with towering walls appeared in Li Muyang's view.

The town under the moonlight looked slightly eerie, and the black shadows wandering the streets were as terrifying as evil spirits.

Immediately after, lines of vigorous, blood-red text appeared silently on the scroll.

[In the final years of the Tianyuan Dynasty, the world was in chaos. Legend has it that evil spirits appeared in Loushan City on the western frontier. In the dead of night, strange wailing sounds were often heard within the city, causing widespread panic. The Imperial Observatory warlock Zhang Daniu was ordered to investigate Loushan City but mysteriously disappeared.]

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

[Please select your talents.]

The text appearing in his vision made the corner of Li Muyang's mouth twitch violently.

Why were the names of the characters in this game so abstract?

Is "Zhang Daniu" really okay?

However, judging by the description, this so-called game... involved investigating demons with a fairy?

And this investigation... was it proper?

Li Muyang was incredibly curious. He noticed the scroll in his vision change again, popping up two blank talent slots. He could choose two talent skills to enter the tutorial.

As Li Muyang selected a blank talent slot, twenty-six dense, optional talents immediately popped up below.

The moment he saw those talent skills, Li Muyang's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"Holy crap!"

Li Muyang was stunned.

One of the talent skills was incredibly eye-catching, instantly drawing his gaze.

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

This talent skill left Li Muyang dumbfounded.

Activating the skill once allowed for 7 seconds of time stop, with a cooldown of only 10 seconds... wasn't this just straight-up invincible?

What kind of system was this to be so overpowered, granting an ability like time stop?

Li Muyang continued to look at the other selectable talent skills and found that almost all of them were top-tier.

[First Sight Kill: When fighting a target for the first time, you can kill them instantly with a 100% success rate. No cooldown.]

[World Apart as Neighbors: Select a target; both parties gain 30% of the other's attributes. Cooldown: 24 hours.]

[Mind Reading: Can read the target's inner thoughts. No cooldown.]

[Teleportation: Can instantly teleport to a place you have previously visited. Cooldown: 10 seconds.]

[Blood Conversion (Passive): Gain attribute growth when taking damage. The more severe the injury, the greater the attribute increase. When entering a near-death state, the accumulated attribute value doubles, and you gain an immortality buff lasting ten minutes.]

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

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

[Sword Hidden in Belly: Spit a flying sword from your mouth that hits with 100% accuracy, with a 50% chance of instant death. Cooldown: 20 seconds.]

The dense pile of talent skills made Li Muyang's eyes blur.

This system was truly powerful; it really provided the cheats.

Although he could only carry two talent skills at a time, any one of these was top-tier, and the system actually allowed him to pick two!

There were passive skills, active skills, and even support skills—it had everything.

Li Muyang looked around and finally chose [Time Stop] and [Sword Hidden in Belly].

Time stop provided control, which could be used to slaughter minions and fodder.

The flying sword skill, which had 100% accuracy and a 50% chance of instant death, would be used against bosses with thick health bars.

Combined, these two skills were practically invincible.

After selecting his talent skills, Li Muyang clicked confirm.

He looked expectantly at the eerie and mysterious Loushan City in his vision, wanting to see what this tutorial—and that Glaze Fairy—were really like.