Klein thought that if there was nothing wrong with his memory, one of the console games he had been playing recently was called Elden Ring...
The real scene naturally looked far better than a 3D-rendered game environment. The features of that tree, and this setting... why did they look so much like one of the endings in Old Ring?
Wasn't Lu Mingfei's world called Dragon Raja?
Klein's gaze met Su Lin's. Klein saw Su Lin's lips moving soundlessly, his index finger trembling as it pointed at the scene in the sky, his eyes filled with confusion and shock.
Klein nodded in disbelief. Su Lin still looked unconvinced, his eyes wide open.
Private Chat Interface
Su Lin: "Are you sure?"
Klein: "I'm sure. It's probably that."
Su Lin: "Aba aba!"
Su Lin: "How did he do that?!"
That was impossible. There was no reason for it! Even if the world of Elden Ring really existed, why would Lu Mingfei be in that world?!
Wasn't the novel I read in middle and high school called Dragon Raja?!
Su Lin clutched his head with both hands and grabbed at his hair. Even with the intelligence of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he could not understand why the protagonist of a Dragon Raja novel had somehow ended up in the game Elden Ring.
"So cool..." Lu Mingfei stared blankly at himself in the scene.
"Indeed." Xiao Yan nodded approvingly. "That bearing, that style... your parallel-world counterpart has got something going for him."
Other than Su Lin and Klein, no one else had paid attention to or knew that there was a game called Elden Ring on Earth in this era.
In the scene, dazzling golden leaves drifted down with a rustling sound. Lu Mingfei, seated upon the throne, slowly extended his right hand and caught a golden leaf.
Watching the golden leaf in his hand, Lu Mingfei seemed to be thinking, or perhaps recalling the past.
"Did this version of me ascend the throne and become king somewhere?" Lu Mingfei muttered atop Water Mirror Peak. "Why is that tree so huge?"
"A dense aura of divinity." A trace of gravity flashed through Zhongli's molten-gold eyes.
Heracles gazed at Lu Mingfei in the scene, sensing the realistic projection reflected by the Dayan Pearl.
"Is he a god or a human?"
As if tired, Lu Mingfei closed his eyes and sensed everything in the world.
After waiting for quite a while without seeing his on-screen self make another move, Lu Mingfei remembered to switch channels.
Suddenly, an Incident erupted.
Crimson blood transformed into a boundless tide that swept over everything.
Lu Mingfei on the throne did not move. A crystal-like knight's greatsword merely appeared at his side.
Its tip dropped toward the ground and touched a rune.
Buzz—
The dazzling white light faded, leaving only the aftershock of power spreading outward.
Watching this scene atop Water Mirror Peak, Lu Mingfei had only three classic questions in his mind.
"Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?"
For a moment, Water Mirror Peak fell into brief silence.
Until—
Su Lin took a gulp of tea. Rather than savoring the fine spirit tea, he poured it down his throat like a cow chewing a peony.
Then he slowly said, "Parallel worlds are always full of infinite possibilities. It's not entirely impossible for Lu Mingfei to have transmigrated to Elden Ring."
Han Li asked Su Lin, "This Lu Mingfei isn't in his original world?"
"I played a game these past two days called Elden Ring..." Klein began introducing the game he had been playing recently to everyone.
Lu Mingfei was the most shocked of them all, but on second thought, the Chat Group and Immortal Cultivation had both happened to him already. It was not entirely incomprehensible that a version of himself from some parallel world had transmigrated into a game world, right?
Probably...
No, that made absolutely no sense, did it?!
Once everyone understood the relevant setting, they could only sigh in amazement.
"This proves once again that you have great potential, Lu Mingfei," Zhongli told him.
Instead of feeling pleased by the praise, Lu Mingfei became somewhat embarrassed and fidgeted awkwardly.
"You flatter me, you flatter me. Hehe, I just got lucky."
Su Lin could not shake the feeling that things had suddenly become absurd. It was like watching Peppa Pig one second, knowing full well that Peppa would say in the next scene, "This is my little brother, Jozu."
Yet the next second, Peppa said, "This is my little brother, GG Bond!"
They were the same species, but the two cartoons had absolutely nothing to do with each other.
Forget it. There was a saying for this.
When in doubt, Quantum Mechanics.
If it could not be explained, blame time travel.
Am I sure I'm not reading some kind of fanfiction?
Lu Mingfei took out his phone and snapped a front-facing photo of his other self, then happily set it as his lock screen.
It was a pity he could not talk to that other version of himself. Otherwise, he could have him take out that greatsword again and strike a pose, then use that photo as his forum avatar.
"Keep going. Next one," Ye Fan urged. "Give us a Krypton version."
"Do you think I'm some all-purpose cosplayer?" Lu Mingfei switched channels.
After all, that guy had been holding the same pose without moving for over ten minutes.
With a thought, the scene changed.
The Lu Mingfei in the scene was sitting in a wheelchair. A massive blood moon hung in the sky, while pure white flowers bloomed beneath it.
"I'm crippled?" Lu Mingfei exclaimed in surprise.
Compared to the majestic bearing of the previous Elden Lord, this guy looked rather miserable.
The version of himself who played esports might not have been imposing or invincible, but at least that Lu Mingfei had all four limbs intact and had even won an esports championship.
This Lu Mingfei was truly having a rough time. Why was he sitting in a wheelchair?
Could it be that he had been beaten half-crippled by some dragon during a dragon-slaying mission?
Lu Mingfei hoped Kassel Academy had bought his other self personal accident insurance. He also carefully considered whether Kassel Academy would cover the rest of his life if he suffered a work-related injury while slaying dragons.
If not for the hundred-thousand-dollar annual scholarship and the Overlord clause that said he would undergo a lobotomy if he dropped out, Lu Mingfei would have wanted to leave school in his first semester.
Of course, things were different now. He did not want to get off this pirate ship anymore.
Lu Mingfei in the wheelchair gazed at the blood moon, then slowly rose from the wheelchair.
"I told you before, the wheels on this wheelchair need some oil."
Lu Mingfei in the scene muttered to himself.
Only then did the spectators notice that this Lu Mingfei wore a retro leather jacket. On the ground beside him lay a dirty rectangular object, resting amid the sea of flowers.
"You're here." Lu Mingfei turned around, picked up the object wrapped in grime-covered cloth strips, and unwrapped it. It was a greatsword as tall as a person, covered in rust.
"..." Lu Mingfei atop Water Mirror Peak had a bad feeling.
Swish—
The rust-covered greatsword burst with deep blue energy, particles of light coating every inch of its blade.
An elegant, beautiful greatsword was now held in the hands of Lu Mingfei, dressed in his retro leather jacket.
At some point, a black dot had appeared within the massive blood moon.
Inside the Chat Group
Su Lin: "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Klein: "I know it's absurd, but it really is absurd!"
Klein: "@Lu Mingfei You might not believe this, but I cleared every ending of this game just three days ago."
Thank you all for the tips and monthly votes. I'll thank everyone individually tomorrow! I didn't have time to post this chapter today.
(End of Chapter)