Is this croc dumb or what? Time is of the essence. Your soul will dissipate any time soon! The soul of the very croc that the mindless monk just slaughtered was bobbing up and down like a lonely buoy in the middle of the sea.
"If you can't still believe it, then I am telling you. You aren't dead yet!" I scream at the proverbial soul visibly going in circles in the empty world at the border of the void.
We are talking through our thoughts, so our conversation is happening at the speed of thought. But souls as sensitive as they are would inevitably be still damaged if given enough time to stew on their own decaying energy.
No matter how good I am at resurrecting people, I won't still be able to do the job if the one being rescued is not being cooperative.
"You stupid ignorant lizard! I bought Telapathy so that I can talk to you. Don't make me waste my effort now." I swear at the lizard, angry about being ignored.
This better work, I spent a hefty amount of quintessence in gaining the power of Telepathy. It's the most expensive superpower I have as of late. It is worth almost 100 QUINTESSENCE.
After a month of tinkering and programming the Mindless Monk, I should have enough quintessence to splurge. But because of my greed, I am now left with dregs.
[Name: Fu Shi
Quintessence: 12
Players: 1/1]
Ugh… the sight of my poor balance is hurting my eyes, but I reap what I sow. My reckless spending aside, it is more disappointing to know that my telepathic powers are only limited to the mental conversation.
Considering telepathy's overpowered applications, it is only fair that this happened. It was withing my expectations for the telepathic ability to be nerfed.
It wasn't really that bad either, as with Telepathy, I am now able to communicate with the croc's stray soul.
In my Mind's Eye, I am seeing a ball of light which I assume to be the croc's soul. There is a translucent shimmer of light that connects the croc's soul to mine. It was an interesting sight, that shimmer of light must be my telepathic power's work.
"You, YOU!" I sense displeasure from the croc, as its soul trembles in indignant fury.
"It was your subordinates? What quarrel do I have with you!?" The croc screams at me, perhaps only noticing now my presence.
It was my players that were the aggressor. I am much aware of this.
I understand his point of view. To his eyes, I am just a big bully, but that's how the cultivation world works. No matter how you romanticize it, it's a dog-eat-dog world.
"So what?" I coldly shut off the grieving croc.
"…" The croc stews in his own silence.
Speechless, Lurker went very still. He knows it too. Especially since he started as a beast, he is so much more aware of how strict the law of the jungle is… the survival of the fittest is a sacred and inviolable rule.
"What do you want? For me to submit? I am already dead. What are you gonna do? Turn me into a ghost?" The croc said with contempt.
"Not unless I decide to." I replied with smug honesty.
!!!
The confusion that is bogging the croc's mind disappeared as the implications slowly sink into Lurker's mind.
"Reasonable," the croc finally acquiesced to my words. "I will accept."
With his acknowledgment, the power of the system finally took effect.
Ping! -10 quintessence. I didn't expect that, recruiting him is expensive huh? Still, it is worth it to have another capable fighter in my empire's ranks. The admission of players has some strict rules. One of them is 'not forcing' players to play.
It greatly works in my favor that Lurker, the croc, has agreed on becoming my player.
"Excellent. Let me introduce myself, I am the Game Master."
…
Lurker woke up under the familiar shade of the crags that encloses the creek. The emotions welling in him are too chaotic for him to understand.
At one moment, he was at the peak of his life, the 5th stage. A stage that is impossible for cultivators of the Biron Kingdom to reach because of the thin qi.
Mirrored in the creek's water is his humanized self. His cultivation which was once at the 5th stage is now reduced at the peak of the 1st stage. He felt his small Dantian and the qi flowing in his blood.
Lurker felt bitter. At the same time, grateful that he was shown mercy.
No matter what method the Game Master used, it is certainly abnormal. Lurker was not just on the brink of death, he was already dead. While suspended animation is not true death, it is still dead in the end.
That means… the Game Master's understanding of the soul is immensely profound to the point that he is capable of the feat of resurrection.
"You are finally awake," Looking where the voice is coming from. "We have a lot to talk about," Lurker saw an old man with extraordinary bearing. It must be the Game Master, he thought.
"Listen well, I won't repeat myself." With these words from the Game Master, Lurker listened very attentively.
They talked for a long time. The System's Providence Sect, the system itself, the little bunny, the members, and everything. It's as if the old man wants him to be an integral part of his future plans.
Aside from this, the old man asked him questions about his knowledge of history.
'What is he thinking?' This is Lurker's personal curiosity. It is just happening all too fast for him.
"That's all," Too removed from his thoughts, the old man tapped his shoulder. "As I said, you are free to do anything you want to do… as long as it is within the sect rules."
Lurker meekly nodded as he doubtfully observes his system interface, with already a Game ID in mind.
Ping! Game ID is set up to Jaded Jaws.
[Name: Lurker (Jaded Jaws) | (Class Advancement Available) | Level 20 (1st—Martial Tempering)]
…
I left the creek and returned to my cave abode with plentiful gains. Gaining a once 5th stage cultivator isn't really my biggest catch here.
The test-driving of Mindless Monk's combat abilities is just a bonus. The real deal is the information I gained from Lurker.
Hearing Lurker mention 'ancient text', I immediately knew. I have to get it. As a beast, their methods of imparting history are different from humans. This ancient text that Lurker is speaking of can only be a Memory Glyph, a phantasmal text inherited through memory sharing. These texts can only be read by those who belong to the same bloodline.
Though old Fu Shi has memories of the past, it is too many and too disorganized. Moreover, having a reference in researching information is always crucial to ascertain the facts' veracity.
Since coming to this world, I have always found it odd why there is never a creation myth in this world. As a world filled with supernatural forces, the peculiarity just gets odder by itself. I didn't even find traces of Nuwa, Panggu, or whatsoever!
The concept of the underworld doesn't even exist here! No reincarnation of six paths! There were never any gods, deities, or familiar saints!
The closest that we can get to a creation myth is… how humans were known as the original races, who guided and shaped our current world. This is pretty much a dead end.
Though Buddhism exists in this world, they don't know any Buddha. In this world, Buddha is more of a concept than a figure. If it were my past life, I could easily accept that.
But with this world, in this current life of mine? Fuck that. This is a freaking xianxia land where xianxia bullshit occurs in a daily occurrence!
Worship in this world is deviant, almost to the point of deprave… resulting in the existence of many evil cults. Demons do exist in this world as proven by the many evils that have gone too out of hand in the different eras that transitioned.
Altered or not, the only thing I can gather information from in this world is its history. By referring to the known human history and the beasts' history, I have learned one scary piece of information.
I hoped it was just me being paranoid.
But.
~The world is being watched~
And this might be connected to the Heaven's Game.
…
I dread the thought of an invisible enemy. I can only hope for the best. And ready myself for the worst. If there is one thing I am certain of happening... Then that would be, no one in this world will have what it takes to stop me from turning this world into a game.