Evacuation

"...You can use it like this too?"

After Lu Xiu finished reading through the function, that was the first thought that came to mind.

If she understood it correctly, then... theoretically, she could now step into the role of Sword Saint Isshin Ashina.

And during that time, she might even be able to obtain Sword Saint Isshin Ashina's combat techniques?

The rest did not matter much.

Lu Xiu felt it made no difference whether she could step into their role or not.

But Lu Xiu was very interested in Sword Saint Isshin's second phase—when he sprang up with a sharp crack, shouted, "My blood is boiling!" and pulled a massive spear out of thin air, launching into broad, sweeping attacks.

It was so cool!

That was an attack style she found very difficult to learn at the moment.

And people always particularly longed for what they could not have.

Thinking of that, Lu Xiu was tempted. She immediately got to her feet and activated the function to give it a try.

The instant the function activated, Lu Xiu's entire aura changed. She exuded an ancient, weighty presence as sharp as a blade—the domineering aura of someone who had slaughtered their way through countless battlefields and stood at the pinnacle of swordsmanship.

Her right hand instinctively curled as if gripping the katana Open Gate, and even her gaze became as deep and still as an ancient pool.

Yet that oppressive force, enough to make the air freeze, lasted less than a second.

[Compatibility too low. Role-assumption state has been forcibly terminated.]

Along with the prompt, the sword pressure around Lu Xiu abruptly collapsed without warning, and her majesty vanished in an instant.

"..."

Lu Xiu stared at the prompt before her, somewhat surprised.

No.

She should count as understanding Sword Saint Isshin, right?

Was the compatibility really that low?

It had not even lasted five seconds.

Unwilling to accept it, she opened the detailed rules for the function and examined them carefully. Then she understood why her compatibility had been so low.

She could indeed understand and even replicate Sword Saint Isshin's movements, but the problem was that [role assumption] was not simply about understanding someone's fighting habits and the logic behind their moves. She also had to understand the motivations and obsessions behind the character's actions. Most importantly, she had to resonate with them.

And clearly, she could not resonate with Sword Saint Isshin right now.

The grief of his grandson's death, the sorrow of becoming Undying, the anguish of Ashina's fall, the tangled emotions in his heart...

But all she remembered was that he looked cool.

Lu Xiu closed the details and could only temporarily give up on that move where he sprang up with a sharp crack, shouted, "My blood is boiling!" and pulled a massive spear out of thin air.

Mainly because she seemed unable to step into anyone's role right now. As for Emma, Lu Xiu could already replicate all her moves. They were all women's techniques, so there was not much point...

She could not exactly step into the Divine Heir's role, could she? That would not be useful either, and the function was on cooldown now.

"Forget it..."

Lu Xiu turned off the function. She would wait until the dungeon went live, try fighting the players a few times, and accumulate enough character understanding and immersion points before trying again.

Originally, Lu Xiu had been somewhat hesitant about putting the [Sekiro] dungeon online early again on credit.

Because she felt that even if the dungeon went online later, she would not lose anything.

But now that this new function had appeared, Lu Xiu felt that getting the dungeon online quickly was not a bad idea either... Not because she wanted to settle personal scores with those players who had insulted her before.

She was not that petty. She was mainly interested in the role-assumption function, and also curious about the skill level of the players in this world.

The earlier [Resident Evil] dungeon had such a terrifying atmosphere that every player in this world had complained bitterly.

Now, [Sekiro] was the combat dungeon these players were most familiar with... She wondered how they would perform. When the time came, she could use the role-assumption function to see what these players were really made of.

Mm.

Having made up her mind, Lu Xiu exited the construction space and returned to her little home. Sitting on the sofa, she began sorting through what she had gained.

The Sekiro dungeon was a combat dungeon, and one focused on cold weapons at that, so overall, her gains had been quite substantial.

[Name: Lu Xiu]

[Current Sequence: Tier 1]

[Health: 100%]

[Strength: 8.5]

[Agility: 8.7]

[Constitution: 2]

[Perception: 2]

[Spirit: 20]

[Skills: Reverse Visual Imagery; Atypical Courage; Audience; Perfect Deflect; Sidestep; Secret Technique: Dragon Flash; Peril]

[Chosen Talent: None]

[Game Identity: Player, Level 5 Builder]

[Current Location: Main Game World]

Her core attributes had increased dramatically!

Strength and agility in particular were finally no longer a pitiful two points. She could now hold her own against most players.

If she activated [Atypical Courage], she could probably even clash with ordinary top-tier players.

Of course, Lu Xiu felt that was all she could do for now—clash with them once.

After all, those top players might also possess skills that enhanced their attributes.

And even if they had no attribute-enhancing skills before... [Ordinary Person's Courage] could convert their Spirit attribute into Strength and Agility. Though its boost was nowhere near as high as [Atypical Courage], at only thirty-five percent.

The overall gap in attributes should still be considerable.

Still, after just two instances, Lu Xiu was already very satisfied with reaching this point.

It should be enough to protect herself.

From here on, her goal should be to reach the point where she could go toe-to-toe with anyone.

Thinking this, Lu Xiu checked her inventory again.

[Ungo's Sugar*10, Rice*5, Mortal Blade: Gracious Gift of Tears (Fragment), Loaded Umbrella Shinobi Prosthetic, Nameless Blade, Emma's White Sheath.]

Ungo's Sugar added 1 point of Strength for thirty seconds.

Rice restored 5% of her Health per second, likewise for thirty seconds.

Mortal Blade: Gracious Gift of Tears (Fragment) turned her eyes red and let her see whether an enemy was truly dead.

The rest were all combat items.

They all seemed pretty good, except for the White Sheath.

Even the Loaded Umbrella seemed decent. It could be deployed to block enemy attacks, though it only lasted three seconds.

...Finally.

One instance, cleared three times. She had cyber-grinded screws so hard that she dreamed of deflecting attacks.

But she had finally done it.

She had skills, weapons, armor, and improved attributes.

It should be enough to protect herself.

She was safe.

At least in this unfamiliar world, she was no longer that transmigrator with only twenty-three days left to live and nothing to her name.

Her next step would be to queue for instances and bully those players who knew nothing about the [Sekiro] instance.

No, wait.

How could that be called bullying players? It should be called tempering players.

Lu Xiu lay on the sofa, gazing up at the ceiling. As she reclined, her oversized T-shirt slid up slightly, revealing a stretch of fair, delicate waist. She smiled softly, then closed her eyes, her breathing gradually evening out.

At the same time, in an online Builder space.

"Have every Guard Corps member heading to the Four Continents go into hiding!"

"All of them!!!"

"And have all mid- and high-ranking members relocate immediately! Don't stay in your original cities! Hurry!"

"Why? Because the fucking Coordination Bureau is pulling people back from the front lines! They don't even have a single Level 5 Builder internally! By all rights, they shouldn't know Lu Xiu's true value at all, but God knows what the hell got into them! They suddenly stopped caring about the front lines and recalled the soldiers!"