A world of swords and magic?

Cheng Yu stared at the trees around him, utterly bewildered. He turned to Yog nearby and asked,

"Big Shot, where are we?"

Yog glanced at him and said,

"The system in your head has already received the information I gave it."

Cheng Yu immediately questioned the system in his head.

Hey, system, Big Shot just called you out. Still playing dead? (* ￣︿￣)

"Easy for you to say when you're not the one getting all that information crammed into you! The boss dumped this entire world's information into me in one go. Wait! Just a few more seconds!" 凸(゜皿゜メ)

Just then, Cheng Yu heard what sounded like movement beside him and turned to look.

Hmm, that looks familiar. Shit, isn't that my house from the last world?!

Big Shot was already opening the door and heading inside, so Cheng Yu hurried after him.

Cheng Yu's mouth fell slightly open. Everything inside was exactly the same, and the electricity even worked. While he was looking around, Yog had already sat down in his usual seat, with the exact same teacup and the exact same teapot.

Cheng Yu was certain these things had come from the last world. It made sense, really. If things Big Shot had used stayed there, that world might well experience a supernatural resurgence before long.

Miss Puppet thoughtfully poured Cheng Yu a cup of tea as before, then returned to her usual spot. Cheng Yu sat down as well, picked up his teacup, and asked inwardly,

You're still not done? Big Shot has already set up the house, and big sis has even made my tea. (* ￣︿￣)

"I finished while I was answering you earlier, but you looked so absorbed in your house that I didn't want to interrupt."

Ha-ha. Go on, then. What's the deal with this world?

"You actually already know this world."

Cheng Yu frowned.

What do you mean?

"Remember your first prize draw? This world is where the first prize came from-the Keynes World."

Realization dawned on Cheng Yu. ( •o•)

Oh, so it's that world. Well, what's special about it?

"It's actually just an ordinary world of swords and magic. If you insist on something special, four hundred years ago, summoners, a branch of mages, rose to prominence and broke away from them."

"Then came the usual routine. The rise of one profession inevitably affects the development of others, so the summoners clashed with the two mainstream professions of the time: mages and knights."

"And the mages and knights lost. Badly, too. After all, a badass summoner could summon loads of creatures that were tough as hell, had ridiculously high resistance to both magic and physical attacks, and dealt insane damage. How the hell were you supposed to fight that?"

"From then on, summoner became the most prestigious profession on the entire Keynes Continent."

I see. What else?

"Stop interrupting. There's still plenty to cover." (*￣︿￣)

"But little by little, things in this world started going wrong. In the past, the lower classes weren't well regarded by professionals, but at least their lives weren't in danger."

"However, as summoned creatures grew more diverse, some summoners began targeting the lower classes. At first, some other summoners opposed the practice, but by two hundred years ago, the situation had started getting even worse."

"The reason was that three hundred years ago, a summoner summoned an Abyssal Demon. The demon demanded ten human souls as the price of signing a contract with him."

"What followed was exactly what you'd imagine. Ten slaves paid with their lives. But later, most summoners began summoning demons as their creatures."

"The reason was simple. Demons only wanted one thing: souls. And demons were usually very powerful. With such excellent value for the cost, few summoners could resist. To make matters worse, the other evil races discovered later also wanted things from humans-hearts, brains, eyeballs, and so on."

"With more and more evil races being summoned, there naturally weren't enough slaves to go around. So, when they ran out of slaves, where would the souls come from?"

Cheng Yu fell silent, then slowly said,

"People of low status."

"Exactly. This went on for a hundred and fifty years, until an unprecedented famine struck fifty years ago. Although the mages tried all sorts of methods to address it, their efforts were ultimately a drop in the bucket."

"At its most extreme, the ratio of ordinary people to professionals actually reached one to one."

"So, on humanitarian grounds, the Professionals' Association forced through the Summoner Act, banning the use of anyone other than slaves."

"But there are always more ways around a policy than policies themselves. If you won't let me use anyone but slaves, then all I have to do is create enough slaves."

"The countries controlled by those summoners launched a continent-wide war unlike anything seen before. In the end, only four human powers remained in this world."

"The Karen Empire, controlled by the Golden Family; the Kurland United Kingdom, led by the Black Forest Family; the Xipu Federation, which has the most mages and knights; and the Jebel Theocracy, controlled by the Abyssal Cult."

"These four countries occupy the most fertile central region of the Keynes Continent. In the west lies the Orc Empire, founded by races consisting mainly of orcs. In the south is the elves' Land of Life. And in the east is the Naga Empire, founded by this world's other dominant race, the naga."

"Speaking of the naga, there's something worth mentioning. Strictly speaking, they're actually a marine race. It's not that they can't live on land; they just don't particularly like it. Their headquarters are still in the ocean, in the Deep Sea Empire."

"The oceans in this world are about three times the size of its landmass. Even excluding the extremely deep regions where life can't survive, their territory is still far larger than the land."

"And thirty years ago, the merfolk king married the naga queen. The ocean's two largest powers merged to form the Deep Sea Empire. It has the largest population in this world, along with the most numerous and strongest low- and mid-tier combat forces."

"Unfortunately, it lacks top-tier combatants, so the four great human powers don't take it all that seriously."

"As for the north, it's called the Northern Borderlands. It's hell for the lower classes, but a paradise for outlaws and smaller races. With its harsh environment and scarce resources, few races think much of it, which has made it a chaotic place full of all sorts."

"Moreover, the north is almost cut off from the rest of the world. A towering mountain range blocks the route to the continent's central region, leaving only a single canyon. And the nearest country, the Kurland United Kingdom, built the impregnable Twilight Fortress there."

"There are also dozens of powers in the north, large and small. Some of the more notable ones are the lizardfolk's Wetland Swamp, the beastfolk's White Cloud Basin, and the forest we're in right now, also known as the Monster Forest."

Cheng Yu fell silent. This world wasn't as wonderful as he'd imagined. Human lives were worthless, and those at the bottom might not even be worth as much as a cow. After the system's lengthy explanation, he understood. This world was, quite nakedly, a place where people devoured people.

Still, his starting point this time seemed pretty good. If he'd arrived in one of those human countries, some passing summoner might have captured him on the spot to use as a sacrifice.

At that thought, Cheng Yu looked at Yog and asked ingratiatingly,

"Big Shot, which lucky soul picked up your fragment this time?" (oﾟωﾟo)

Yog looked at him and smiled.

"Where's the fun in telling you? Aren't you unhappy with this world? Once you've turned it upside down, that person might just show up."

Cheng Yu's face fell. I'd love to, but I don't have the strength! Unwilling to give up, he asked Yog,

"Big Shot, I'd love to, but I just don't have the strength. Can't you give this poor kid a cheat or two?" ┭┮﹏┭┮

Yog chuckled without answering.

The system piped up just then.

"Are you an idiot? Didn't Big Shot say big sis would help you in this world? Hurry up and ask!"

Cheng Yu was so embarrassed that he felt his toes could gouge a whole apartment out of the floor. (＃-.-)

"Ahem, um, Big Shot, didn't you say you'd let big sis lend me a hand in this world?" (oﾟωﾟo)

Yog smiled.

"Yes, I did."

Then Yog continued,

"But you haven't decided what to do yet. How is she supposed to help you?"

Cheng Yu sank into thought. This time was different from the last world. Back then, he'd had the script, a clear objective, and complete knowledge of the events to come. With a little planning, anyone could have done it.

But this time was different. His objective was unclear, and he wasn't strong enough either. Even with big sis helping him, finding the fragment's holder in such a vast world would be like searching for a needle in the ocean.

Granted, as Big Shot had said, that person would naturally appear if he turned this world upside down. But even setting aside whether he had the ability to do that, what then? How was he supposed to shake that person's mind?

Just then, Yog said softly,

"Actually, shaking their mind isn't the only way to collect a fragment."

Cheng Yu raised his head and looked at Yog, his face full of questions. (‧_‧?)

Yog lifted his teacup and said,

"Killing the fragment's holder will also let you strip away the fragment. However, the instant you kill its holder and take the fragment, the world's consciousness will attack you."

Cheng Yu was puzzled.

"Then why, in the last world..." (‧_‧?)

Yog took a sip of tea and continued,

"In the last world, you had already been branded with its mark. You were considered one of that world's people, and you also carried a fragment. It saw both of you as food on its plate, so naturally, it wouldn't do anything too extreme. Its reaction last time was only so strong because I intervened."

Cheng Yu understood. All right, then. He just needed to find the fragment's holder and kill him. As for the world's consciousness, it wasn't as if big sis hadn't blasted one apart before. Although this world was stronger, he believed she could handle it. It wasn't as if he had any choice but to believe. 〒▽〒

Suddenly, Cheng Yu had an idea. He looked at Yog and said,

"Big Shot, could I just throw the fragment's holder into the Door Seal, then summon your true form and sacrifice him to you, fragment and all?"

Yog nodded.

"Yes, you could."

Before Cheng Yu could celebrate, he heard Yog leisurely add,

"But are you certain you can draw a symbol large enough to fit a person while chanting my summoning incantation, all within three minutes?"

Cheng Yu smiled sheepishly. The summoning circle he'd drawn last time had only been the size of a soccer ball, and even then, he'd barely made the three-minute deadline.

Ah, this is hard, Cheng Yu lamented.