Jin Yahui slowly opened his eyes, his view a blurry ceiling. Closing his eyes again, he groaned. His head pounded to the beat of his heart, and it felt as if he had just been run over by a truck.
Oh wait.
He thought for a few seconds. The last couple minutes of his memory really WAS of a truck. A truck that swerved out of traffic and-
Holy sh*t! Jin Yahui jumped out of bed, the world tilting as he lost his balance. His head hurt even as he regained his footing. He gasped and looked down at the old wooden- ahem- mud floors. It felt as if he was higher off the ground than usual.
"The heck?" Jin Yahui muttered and squinted his eyes. Finally, everything came into focus and he sighed. Then, he lifted his head and froze as he came face-to-face with a stranger.
Or should he say, his own reflection.
"The f*ck is this?!" he lunged towards the mirror, his eyesight miraculously better. With his two hands on either side of the fragile glass, he couldn't help but to stare at the stranger before him. "Holy sh*t," he muttered. "Don't tell me I was really hit by a truck?" He took a step back before glancing down at himself. Then, he sighed.
Closing his eyes, Jin Yahui took a deep breath and calmed himself. He couldn't help but think that he was missing something. As if he had forgotten something very important-
"The f*ck!" he yelped, looking around the room to find where the voice came from.
A notification window suddenly popped out of nowhere, the thin and transparent screen the size of an A4 sheet of paper. Jin Yahui froze. He lifted a hand and touched the screen, feeling that it was more solid than a rock.
"That's it," Jin Yahui had an enlightened face. He lifted a fist and pounded it once onto his other hand, an 'I understand' expression on his face. "I've gone mad!" he chuckled. "And here I thought I was dead."
He turned away from the screen and walked back onto the bed, not at all minding the dirt that was getting onto his robes. The screen, however, had another idea as it followed Jin Yahui to bed.
The words were black on white, just like regular print on a sheet of paper. Somehow, however, they seemed to become more and more obnoxious as Jin Yahui ignored the screen.
Jin Yahui was just like an unmovable mountain, his stone-cold expression reminiscent of an enlightened monk.
All of a sudden, the screen dimmed for a few seconds before a metaphorical lightbulb came into existence. The screen returned to its previous brightness before surpassing the intensity, acting just like a substitute sun. Furthermore, the letters on the transparent screen slowly transformed. What was once regular black print became a brighter and brighter pink until even the letters glowed with a faint neon light. Not even an enlightened monk could say the scriptures in complete calm, let alone a regular boy like Jin Yahui. Therefore, Jin Yahui unwittingly responded, a bellyful of anger and resentment on his face. "What the f*ck do you want?"
All of a sudden, the tune that was played whenever a level is cleared or an achievement is unlocked on any generic game sounded, and Jin Yahui could feel his face become blacker than the bottom of a burned pot. He had a bad feeling about this.
It seemed as if the system had realized where it was, the music disappearing just as suddenly as it had appeared. Jin Yahui's expression did not change, yet a barely noticeable twitch formed at the corner of his left eyebrow. The screen's bright pink letters became an unobtrusive gray.
Jin Yahui took a deep breath. "No. What I want to know right now is why you are saying everything out loud even though the screen has the words written on it."
< Music System doesn't understand. >
"I can read." he gestured towards the screen before he moved his hands towards the air. "So why do you have to read what you've written out loud?"
< Oh! > the screen brightened. < Music System will take note of what Ma->
"Good. Now then," Jin Yahui plopped onto the bed and turned so that his back faced the screen. He peacefully yawned and closed his eyes, readying himself for a nice long nap.
< Master! >
"Transparent, floaty screen," Yahui didn't even bother to open his eyes. "I thought I told you that I can read."
"Exactly."
< Master~! Music System needs to introduce itself and then tell Master about his goal!>
"So?"
The room went silent for a few seconds as the screen bobbed up and down, seemingly deep in thought.
"And?"
< Master can die. >
At this, Jin Yahui turned around and faced the pink letters 'Master can die' on the transparent screen. All of a sudden, he burst out laughing, using his hand to cover the sadness within his eyes. He laughed for a few rounds before his laugher trickled to a stop, almost like a running stream that had its source blocked.
"It doesn't matter. I'm already dead."
The screen bobbed once more before pink letters resurfaced. < Master isn't dead. At least not yet. >
Jin Yahui read the letters with a tranquil heart, and even the system with thousands of years of experience couldn't read behind the wall he had put up. In fact, the system was pressured to speak after Jin Yahui indifferently lifted an eyebrow.
< Well! > It seemed as if the Music System tried to forcefully seem cheerful- the speed at which the words appeared on the screen sped up, and the voice went up a pitch. < Music System will just tell Master the main points, then! >
The Music System waited with bated breath at Jin Yahui's reaction, but it had to continue with its plan when it saw that its Master didn't even blink at its words. < Master is in a different world!>
Still nothing.
< Master was transported into a Wuxia world as a replacement for the Jin Yahui of this world! There are two goals that Master needs to complete. The first is to protect Junior Brother Fang Zhou. The second is to rule the world. >
Finally, the Music System seemed to have gotten Jin Yahui's attention. The young man had lifted himself off the bed, his very essence the appearance of a lazy reptile laying upon a warmed rock. "Music System. I have asked you over and over again. So what?"
< If Master completes these two goals, then Music System can grant Master anything Master wishes. >
Before the reality of what the Music System said sunk into Jin Yahui's consciousness, the door to the shack that Jin Yahui was in was blown off its hinges, and a young man strolled in. The youth wore the same clothes as Jin Yahui, except they were in a darker shade of white which contrasted nicely with his medium length dark brown hair. There was a large silver sword strapped to his back and a blue perfume pouch handing from a ribbon by his hip. He was shorter than Jin Yahui by a full head.
"Senior brother!" a clear voice came out of the youth's mouth and cut through the conversation between the Music System and Jin Yahui.
With a poof, the screen disappeared and Jin Yahui was left alone to face his 'Junior Brother', Fang Zhou.
"Master had sent me to bring Senior Brother to the Elders," the youth for a split second had an angry face before his features smoothed into one of neutral indifference.
Across the room, Jin Yahui couldn't help but grimace as he glanced at the space the screen was floating at before. He hung his head as multiple thoughts flashed by his mind for a few seconds, then he sighed and made his way towards "his" Junior Brother.
Jin Yahui was about to move past the young man and step onto the ground outside, but he was suddenly stopped by a slim hand from Fang Zhou.
"Senior Brother," Fang Zhou pointed towards Jin Yahui's feet. "You probably need shoes before you can leave."
Jin Yahui could hear the giggles of the Music System when he looked down at his bare feet. "Shut up," he muttered.
"What's that, Senior Brother?" Junior Zhou casually asked, although he had clearly heard what his "Senior Brother" had said.
Glancing at the deeply-hidden resentment on Junior Zhou's face, Jin Yahui couldn't help but inwardly sigh. It seemed as if the wisdom 'A tall tree attracts the wind' is true, ah. Look at this so-called 'Junior Brother'. It seems as if he wants to murder me. At that thought, Jin Yahui calmly smiled and walked towards the shoes that were placed next to the bed. He wore them and then walked back to the door.
"Let's go, shall we?" the polite smile deepened as Jin Yahui gestured towards the outside. Brother Fang only tsked before he walked out, his powerful steps betraying his dislike. Jin Yahui followed, though his steps were silent like the sound of a feather falling on the floor.
It took several hours for the two boys to walk towards the top of the mountain, but neither of the them took advantage of the time to get to know the other better. In fact, the only time either had spoke was when another disciple had come up to Jin Yahui with a bright and adoring smile on their face, their eyes bulging with the fanaticism of a fan. In fact, Jin Yahui could practically see the words "Love Senior Brother" seared across each of their foreheads.
It seemed that this worlds Jin Yahui was really... popular? He glanced at the Junior Brother next to him. Perhaps not that popular.
After they had gone halfway up the mountain, there were no longer disciples who broke the silence between the two boys, so they continued to climb the mountain at a gait that regular humans would have found to be superhuman. Finally, the two stopped before a greek-styled temple. There was no door but, at the same time, there was no 'beyond the door'. In fact, there was just a sheet of darkness, shrouding what was within.
Junior Brother stopped before the door and his lips twitched- a sorry excuse for a smile- before he gestured towards Jin Yahui. "After you, Senior Brother."
Jin Yahui returned the smile-that-was-not-a-smile before he hit the shoulder of Junior Brother as he entered the temple.
His eyes were blinded for a good ten seconds before they got used to the glare. Before him were twelve "Elders" in seats high above the ground. They surrounded a single chair in the middle, which Jin Yahui assumed was for the thirteenth Elder that was fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, not there.
To the right of the middle seat was a young lady around the latter half of her 20s, while to the left of the middle seat was an old man nearing his 90s, his breaths seemed as if he were a single step away from his grave.
It was then that Junior Brother appeared next to Jin Yahui, his face without any expression. He placed an extended hand over his fist, performing a martial arts salute. Jin Yahui quickly mimicked him, although he felt as if his bow needn't be as low.
"Is this him?" the voice was low yet chilling and seemed to wrap around the bodies of the two boys below them.
It seems like this was a trial of some sorts. Jin Yahui shook his head slightly. Let's see how this goes.