Chapter 3

Ash's previous life had been spent working for a game company called Aurora.

Aurora had released several popular mobile games, including Aurora's Underground Castle and Aurora's Alienated Land. Aurora's Sorcerer Manual was a new mobile game still in its testing phase.

Ash was not part of the new game's Research and Development Department, but the Operations Department. However, he had heard that the new game was fun and expected to become hugely popular. The head of the Planning Department intended to have him lead a team responsible for its operations planning, so Ash downloaded the demo for Sorcerer's Manual to study it, preparing to contribute his remaining value faster, better, and more effectively in the future.

Yet before Ash could even open the game, he suddenly transmigrated during an all-nighter at work.

How had this mobile game transmigrated with him? And automatically installed itself onto his Consciousness Screen?

Ash was filled with doubt and alarm, but remembering that he would become meat on the chopping block in a few days, he had no time to investigate the game's origins. He could only hope it would bring him a miracle!

"Aurora's Sorcerer Manual is starting..."

"Checking/updating game resources for you... Unable to connect to the network. Automatically switching to local network mode."

"Warning: Image system missing... Repairing..."

"Warning: Instance system missing... Repairing..."

"Warning: Data system missing... Repairing..."

"..."

A stream of red Warning messages flooded across the Light Screen until they finally stopped at a green notification—

"Search System successfully launched."

"Recharge System successfully launched."

"Welcome to Sorcerer's Manual."

Damn it!

The whole game could successfully launch when only the card draw and payment systems were functioning. Just what one would expect from my company!

Ash entered the game with a dark expression.

Eighty percent of the entire Light Screen was blank. Only two rainbow-glowing options in the upper-right corner could be interacted with—

"Material Procurement" "Operator Search"

When he opened "Material Procurement," he found options to buy Source Crystals. One cost 6 points, a bundle cost 30 points, a pile cost 98 points, a bag cost 198 points, a box cost 328 points, and a crate cost 648 points. Every option came with a first-purchase double bonus...

Ash could guess with his toenails that these points were money, but Alipay had not transmigrated with him. Where was he supposed to get money to recharge?

What was the company thinking? This was a demo for internal staff testing—why did it have a payment system? Did they want to reclaim the salaries they paid us... Hiss, the company really was capable of something like that.

Opening "Operator Search," Ash found that perhaps due to the missing resources, the Operator Search interface was also completely blank. There were only two dry options: "Search Once" and "Search Ten Times."

Ash did want to try drawing cards, but one draw actually cost three Source Crystals. How was he supposed to afford that?

No, even the first card draw in a testing demo cost money? What shameless company made this mobile game... Oh, our company made it. Never mind, then.

Just as Ash lowered his head in disappointment, a notification suddenly appeared on the Light Screen: "Daily Check-in system successfully repaired. Connecting to main server... Unable to connect to server. Automatically switching to local network mode."

A third option appeared on the Light Screen: "Login Check-in."

Opening it revealed a calendar. Ash saw that the box for April 11 had automatically been checked.

"Standard ration: one Source Crystal."

"First-time newcomer check-in ration: one Operator Ten-Pull Voucher."

"Operator Ten-Pull Voucher: A permit issued by the Aurora Search Department, used to search for high-value targets in bulk. Allows ten searches at once. Guaranteed to find one Operator."

Although he could not understand the proper nouns in the description, none of that mattered. Ash knew that whether he could escape next week's Blood Moon Judgment depended on this unknown game that had transmigrated alongside him!

He opened the "Operator Search" screen and selected "Search Ten Times"!

There was no flashy, dazzling card-reveal animation. There was only the plainest possible list of results!

"Stamina Potion," "Stamina Potion," "Experience Potion," "Experience Potion"... "Death Maniac Sword Princess," "Beginner Combat Experience Card," "Training Wooden Sword"...

He got something good!

Immediately afterward, a message popped up: "Operator System successfully repaired. You may now manage your owned Operators."

Ash immediately checked the card. It showed a red-haired girl in a black suspender dress, her face carrying the innocent smile of a girl next door. Her hands were placed behind her back, her long legs clad in Black Silk Stockings and small leather shoes. She tilted her head as she looked around, pale-red eyes brimming with curiosity.

"Death Maniac Sword Princess"

"Human Race · Female · 20 years old"

"Bond Level: 0 (30% experience sharing)"

"Class: Sorcerer Student"

"Class Trait: Learning efficiency +5%"

"Innate Talent · Sword Maiden (Lower Position): Gain an additional 100% Sword Art experience, with a low chance of gaining 10,000% Sword Art experience. (Talent levels can be unlocked as strength increases.)"

"Personal Skill · Jet-Black Mind's Eye: Strangle danger in the cradle ahead of time. When an enemy develops the intent to attack oneself, there is a certain chance of automatically counterattacking based on the gap in strength between both sides."

"Held Items: None"

"Controlled Spell Spirits: None"

"Water Art Faction: Uninitiated"

"Training Strategy: Not set"

Ash looked for a long while and found neither death nor mania in her. He could not help flying into a rage—aside from the badass name, wasn't this just a blank-slate beautiful girl Character Portrait?

Don't think you can scam money just because the Character Portrait looks good, bastard!

Even the free starter character could not be put to use immediately and had to be slowly raised by the player? Modern people lived at such a fast pace. Instead of letting players have fun right away, you expected them to spend time on it? What kind of garbage game was this? It was really ruining people!

The planners should let me take over. I could do it too!

And the starter character being trash would have been one thing, but if I can't summon Operators into reality to fight for me, what the hell is the point of drawing cards?

In a few days, I'll be on the execution platform, becoming an executioner's KPI. This mobile game can't help me escape, so is it expecting me to check in every day until I die and send traffic to this garbage game? It really does deserve to be called my company's game.

Even his last hope had been shattered. Ash grew even more despondent, exited the Operator's personal interface, and saw a red dot in the upper-right corner of the newly appeared "Agent Management" option on the main screen. With a slight compulsive urge, he naturally tapped it.

The next second, he abruptly sat up in bed.

Because there were two Operators in "Agent Management."

Aside from the Death Maniac Sword Princess he had just drawn, there was also a rather handsome, slender young man dressed in a jet-black trench coat—

"Doomsday Watcher"

"Human Race · Male · 25 years old"

"Trust: ∞"

"Class: Cult Leader/Ancient Historian"

"Class Traits: Blessed by the Four Pillar Gods, Luck checks +10; more easily identifies ancient artifacts, ancient artifact identification ability +5"

"Innate Talent · Sorcerer's Manual (Lower Position): Register other Operators in the manual. The experience gained by other Operators will be shared with this character according to the Bond Level sharing ratio. Current manual pages: 0/1. (Talent limit can be unlocked as strength increases.)"

"Personal Skill · Exotic Wandering Soul: Effect unknown."

"Held Items: None"

"Controlled Spell Spirits: None"

"Summoning Faction: Uninitiated"

Ash turned to look at the only Mirror embedded in the wall of his cell. After comparing himself with the Character Portrait on the Light Screen for a long time, he finally confirmed that this "Doomsday Watcher" was Ash Hiss himself!

Both the Innate Talent "Sorcerer's Manual" and the Personal Skill "Exotic Wandering Soul" were references to his current situation!

Moreover, Ash remembered the title Doomsday Watcher—this was precisely the honorific the Four Pillar God Heresy followers used for him.

It sounded incredibly overbearing, yet he had been taken down by a group of Hunters. He was the textbook example of someone being wiped out by the police station just as he was about to rebel.

He had never expected it to become his in-game codename. It was not very harmful, but it was immensely insulting.

But what was with this jet-black trench coat? Ash did not remember wearing one. He thought perhaps it was something Hiss liked to wear? Then Hiss's taste really was terrible.

Ash opened the Death Maniac Sword Princess's interface again and stared at the "30% experience sharing" under Bond Level for a long while, realizing this might be his only chance to escape prison!

If he had guessed correctly, when he trained the Death Maniac Sword Princess in the game, he himself could receive 30% of her experience! The stronger the Sword Maiden became, the stronger he would become!

Hope reignited. Ash perked up and checked the other junk he had pulled: two Stamina Potions, two Experience Potions, one Training Wooden Sword, one Beginner Battle Card, and two Trial Cards.

"Stamina Potion": During training actions, adds one action point for an Operator. Lasts seven days.

"Experience Potion": During training actions, skill experience gained by an Operator +10%. Lasts seven days.

"Training Wooden Sword": After an Operator equips it, experience gained from Swordsmanship Training +15%.

"Beginner Battle Card": After use by an Operator, battle training will be arranged to gain a large amount of experience. Lasts seven days. (Danger Level: Low.)

"Beginner Trial Card": Allows an Operator to undergo one Trial and gain a variable amount of experience. Each Operator may only use one per week.

They were all training items, perfectly matching Ash's wishes. If he had drawn items that increased combat power, they would have been useless to him anyway.

But why did this combat experience card have a note saying the danger level was low...

He opened the Death Maniac Sword Princess's Training Strategy and discovered there was quite a bit to it:

"Death Maniac Sword Princess"

"Current Mood: 5 (Experience bonus: 0)"

"Selectable Actions: Rest, Entertainment, Training, Trial"

"Rest: Consumes one action point and restores a certain amount of mood."

"Entertainment: Consumes two action points and restores a large amount of mood."

"Training: Consumes one action point to conduct training in a specific faction."

"Battle: Consumes one action point and requires a specific item."

"Trial: Consumes no action points and requires a specific item."

"Daily action points this week: 2 points (may use 1 Stamina Potion to add 1 action point)."

"I see. You have to consider an Operator's mood too. The better their mood, the better the training results. Relaxation and exertion must be balanced; work and rest must be combined. That is the foundation of education..."

Ash greatly approved of this humanized training system. Then he had the Death Maniac Sword Princess equip the Training Wooden Sword, used one Stamina Potion, and raised her action points to the maximum of three!

"Training Strategy: Training, Training, Battle"!

"Trial this week: Sword Art"!

"I'm about to be executed. Who has time to care about the mood of a paper person like you?!"

When Ash pressed confirm on the "Training Strategy" screen, a notification suddenly popped up: "Activate Doomsday Watcher Innate Talent and register Death Maniac Sword Princess in Sorcerer's Manual?"

"Oh, right. I nearly forgot to bind the Sword Maiden. Good thing the game reminded me, or wouldn't all that training have been wasted?" Ash breathed a sigh of relief. His life was now like a candle flame in the wind; he could not afford to waste time and had to squeeze every possible benefit dry.

"Are you sure you wish to register Death Maniac Sword Princess in Sorcerer's Manual? Note: This operation is irreversible."

"Confirm"!

"Operator Bond registration successful. Training in progress, arranging schedule..."

"Constructing Trial scenario... Scenario materials missing, automatically supplementing... Usable scenario found, occupying..."

"Trial target missing, automatically supplementing... Usable target found, extracting..."

Watching the messages in the game, Ash had nothing to do for the moment. Perhaps the extreme ups and downs of the day had been too stimulating. Once he relaxed, wave after wave of drowsiness washed over him, as though all the strength had been drained from his body. His eyelids kept drooping shut.

Before his head even touched the pillow, Ash fell into a deep sleep.

At the same time.

In another distant place, three hours behind Ash's location.

A girl who had gone to bed early after doing her skincare suddenly discovered that she had awakened in her dream.