My name is Chu Ge

Qiu Wuji had never imagined this guy would come out with something like that.

She felt that today's Creator God was a little different from last night. Last night, he had said, "Panicking won't help," but she could still sense the fear pounding away inside him.

After all, he really was only an ordinary man. For an ordinary man with a sword at his throat, barely managing to keep a calm face already showed considerable mental fortitude.

But today, that fear seemed completely gone. Instead, there was even a little of the joy of seeing someone dear to him, mixed with a trace of melancholy.

What was going on?

"You said yourself that you don't need a sword to kill me. Put it away first." Chu Ge said calmly, "I don't remember writing that you like holding swords to people's throats. Usually, you just cut them down. If you're holding it there like this, you don't want to kill me."

"..." To her frustration, Qiu Wuji realized that the person who understood her best in this world might not be herself, but this Creator God. This time, she did not lower her sword. "Must I do whatever you write?" she asked coldly.

"Maybe that really was how it worked before." Chu Ge finally turned his head and gave her a faint smile. "But since you don't want that, we can talk things over from now on."

Qiu Wuji frowned.

"The moment you appeared, I vaguely sensed a stretch of the story," Chu Ge said. "Outside the scenes I wrote, where no one else knew, Qiu Wuji was attempting to undergo her first tribulation-is that why you appeared this time?"

Qiu Wuji drew a deep breath.

He really could sense what she was doing, not merely write it.

That truly was the power of a god. Yet he was clearly just an ordinary man... How exactly were those two things connected?

"Doing this is dangerous for you, isn't it?" Chu Ge asked quietly. "What's come over here is still only your spiritual consciousness. With your body and soul separated by the Plane Boundary, your wandering soul might lose its anchor and dissipate through space and time. Even on the way over, you could become trapped in the turbulence of space and time and be ground to dust."

Qiu Wuji sneered. "Your world. Your rules."

Chu Ge shook his head. "I never established that, because there wasn't any relevant plot... It may be an inherent rule between planes. That's what the Dimensional Wall is. But I think I can add a patch to make it easier for you to come over, so you don't need to take risks like this."

This time, Qiu Wuji was genuinely shocked. "You really want to help me get out?"

"To be honest, I admire you," Chu Ge said slowly. "I can't even control whether a book succeeds or fails. When I watch a friend leave in dejection, I'm powerless to help. I can't imagine being in your shoes and discovering that everything about me was merely a story in a book, that I didn't know whether my world was real, that my fate was someone else's plaything, and that even my past thoughts and actions had been written by someone else. Would any of that still count as something I'd done? Would my memories be real or illusory? That kind of confusion, having my entire view of life overturned, would drive me mad. You want to control your own destiny, and that's only natural... Stop threatening to kill me. I'll help you."

Qiu Wuji narrowed her eyes at him. This sudden burst of literary sentiment struck her as absurd. Just yesterday, he had been the creep who wrote, "If she was going to seek anyone, it ought to be the Father God who created her," hadn't he? He was a lecher writing flirtatious harem fiction, his head full of fantasies about flitting from woman to woman. How could hearing this speech not put her on high alert?

But she had to admit that his words had truly struck home. That sense of resonance could not be faked.

Yes, all her past memories had been written by him.

Then did those things really count as things she had done, experienced, or thought?

Was all of it false? Was it like memories implanted through some form of puppet technique?

Was even her entire existence real? What about now?

Everything that kept churning through Qiu Wuji's heart was right here.

Chu Ge pinched the blade between two fingers and slowly moved it aside. "That day, you tried writing your ascension, but it didn't work... I thought about it afterward. It might not have been a problem with the logic. It might have been because it wasn't published-it wasn't finalized, so it didn't count. Let's test it again. This time, I'll write it in a new draft without publishing it for now, and we'll see whether it works."

The sword actually let him move it aside...

Chu Ge sat down at the computer quite naturally and switched it on, still talking. "Save your strength. Giving your thoughts solid form as a sturdy sword clearly shortens the time you can stay outside. Actually, it would be best if even your clothes... mm..."

The momentarily distracted look in Qiu Wuji's eyes instantly turned vicious.

Chu Ge hastily tried to salvage things. "I meant that outer enchanted robe is too heavy. A light garment would make things easier..."

With a bang, Chu Ge's head was slammed into the keyboard. Qiu Wuji's voice sounded as though it came from the underworld. "Just because I won't kill you, do you think I can't beat you?"

Chu Ge lifted his head miserably. "You'll break the keyboard..."

"What sort of magical artifact is this? It's so flimsy!"

Expressionless, Chu Ge opened the document and tested it. The keyboard still worked. This keyboard is damn impressive. I'm buying this brand again... No, wait. Why would I buy one this hard? Does my face not hurt enough?

For fuck's sake, you're still my "creation." Without me, you wouldn't even exist. Couldn't you show a little respect?

Grumbling aside, Chu Ge knew he could hardly lecture her about violence being wrong right now. Qiu Wuji was already being remarkably calm, all things considered... Bridging the gap between them would take time.

He opened the outline file and added a line under "Abilities," beneath "Qiu Wuji" in the "Character profiles" section: "After repeatedly attempting to break through the boundary and ascend, she failed, but discovered a method of Spirit Roaming Beyond the World. Her body and soul can remain separated across planes without being lost, and she can travel through spatial rifts without losing her way."

He clicked save.

"I doubt I can change the rules of the Dimensional Wall," he said. "And I can't change things recklessly. If someone else ran out, everything would be a mess, so I can only patch you. This ability is extrapolated from your own actions, so in theory, it's internally consistent. Now we just have to see whether it takes effect when it exists only as a setting and hasn't been published."

Qiu Wuji silently examined herself, and her gaze grew even more complicated.

It worked.

She could indeed feel her abilities evolving. The spiritual roaming she had barely managed before was becoming effortless. By her rough estimate, she could stay here several days longer.

He did not even need to confirm publication...

This man really could stuff things into her body however he liked... Well, that wording did not seem quite right.

Qiu Wuji's mind was in turmoil. How could she spare any attention for wording?

This man was so weak, yet he had such a significant ability to influence her. Should she imprison him and force him to keep making her stronger?

But...

Chu Ge suddenly turned and smiled faintly. "But you've been proud all your life. Your cultivation was earned by braving life and death, relying on your own intelligence and insight, fighting through blood. What would it mean if you started wanting someone else to hand it to you?"

A murderous edge returned to Qiu Wuji's eyes. "You know me as though you were a worm in my belly. Don't you know that saying that aloud will get you beaten again?"

"But why would you beat me?" Chu Ge stood up and said calmly, "Aren't I helping you?"

He pointed at the monitor, an indescribable light gradually coming into his eyes. "The woman I poured all my beautiful dreams into writing has gained a soul of her own. She's no longer cold words on a page... For someone who weaves worlds, what greater validation or surprise could there be? To put it in the terms your world uses, if I'm seeking the Dao, then, Qiu Wuji, the day you break free of your existence within the book will be my path to the Dao."

Qiu Wuji quietly looked into Chu Ge's eyes. Deep within them, she could clearly see a trace of fervor, like that of the old friends and rivals in her world, unwavering in their pursuit of their own paths.

This was a man who had a "Dao."

Perhaps... this was why their worlds could connect?

"Actually, we've met twice, and you've never asked my name. You're desperate to escape your predicament, and this man is just an obstacle to clear in solving the problem. You only care how to deal with him, not what he's called... But I think you really ought to get to know me." Chu Ge finally held out his hand to her. "My name is Chu Ge."

??? Holy shit, why do I already have a League Leader just a few chapters in? Did you big spenders mistake me for someone else... I'm trembling...

Anyway, thank you to okzao for becoming a League Leader, and thank you to Yue Leng You Deng Jin for the 5,000 tip.

(End of chapter)