Chapter Text
“A-Luo, we have to do something!”
“What is there to do? Do you think we should call a healer, shijie?”
Shen Yuan scrunched his eyes tighter. Couldn’t a man oversleep in peace? He literally was just recovering from some terrible food poisoning! The least they could do was let him lie down wherever he decided to collapse after heaving into the toilet!
...Which was apparently out in a field?
All at once, Shen Yuan’s brain started to catch up to him. He could feel the dirt underneath his palms and wearing clothes that were definitely not the pajamas that he fell asleep in. The smell of fresh nature and the soft breeze that blew over him was so much clearer and cleaner than he had ever experienced as a city kid who only knew of urbanity and locking himself for days on end in his room during holidays with just his video games and a few bags of chips.
Slowly, Shen Yuan blinked his eyes open. The only thing he could conclude at that moment with certainty was that he was very far from home.
There were two figures leaning over him. One of them a soft-faced girl with hair in two twin-tailed loops. She gasped loudly when she realized Shen Yuan had come to, hands flying over her mouth childishly.
“Hey, there,” she greeted Shen Yuan softly, like he was a frightened woodland animal. But her smile was kind and comforting, so Shen Yuan almost didn’t mind.
The other figure was probably the most beautiful young man Shen Yuan had ever seen. He leaned over Shen Yuan, large crimson eyes practically brimming with his concern. He wore red knight’s wear that hugged his figure, emblazoned with silver decals, and a dashing crimson cape. To his side sat a large sword with a shining silver hilt that gleamed with power at his hip. As he knelt down to help, he pushed his bangs out of his face, and Shen Yuan couldn’t help but inhale sharply as his eyes followed the path of the man’s fingers into his thick locks.
“Are you alright? It’s dangerous to be taking a nap out here, you know,” he said, offering his hand to Shen Yuan. “Can you stand?”
At that moment, Shen Yuan realized exactly where he was.
Suddenly a translucent box appeared in front of Shen Yuan’s eyes, not unlike a dialogue box in a video game.
>Welcome to your New Game+ file! Please do your best to unlock the true ending as Shen Qingqiu!! ✧\(>o<)ﾉ✧
Shen Yuan closed his eyes for a brief moment.
FUCK!!!! DAMMIT!!! HAD HE REALLY TRANSMIGRATED?! INTO SHEN QINGQIU OF ALL PEOPLE??
Shen Yuan had just finished playing his final playthrough of Demon Emblem: Awakening last night too, unlocking every bit of content and every possible ending, before he was hit with that awful bout of food poisoning. It was a highly anticipated game that, truthfully, had Shen Yuan riveted at first. A fantasy RPG about Luo Binghe, a promising young man coming into his own as a general of the Cang Qiong Kingdom. After Luo Binghe encounters the irate Shen Qingqiu, his motley crew gets a new strategist that manages to impress the Exalt slash King in their first meeting despite being pretty rude. After the Exalts untimely death and some revelations about Luo Binghe's heritage, he becomes the new Exalt and the game goes into a timeskip with a riveting plot, strategic battles, romantic support systems, and even future children. Shen Yuan had spent hours mapping out the most ideal stat matchups for different characters to produce the best kids, but he was never quite satisfied with any of Luo Binghe's marriage supports, even on a plot level.
Shen Yuan scoured through the internet for days for insider information and almost tore his hair out when he had found the datamined files indicating that there was supposed to be a Luo Binghe marriage route for the player character that had been scrapped. How dare they!! If they were going to make Binghe's marriage supports so unfulfilling at least let Shen Yuan marry him!
...So, yeah, Luo Binghe was Shen Yuan's favorite character. Sue him. He was a well-written character with a lot of potential and was doing his best to be a good person! Also his character design was just objectively good! So what if Shen Yuan was basic for liking the protagonist?
In the end, despite all of the time he had poured unto the game, after finishing it, Shen Yuan had written a scathing review on his gaming blog about how the story was disappointing, and how it left too many loose ends in terms of plot. What kind of plot twist was “Shen Qingqiu was actually the villain and betrays everyone”?! How did that even make sense when he was trying to avenge the Exalt when they apparently had only met in passing?! Also what about Binghe's demon heritage? What about the entire bullshit that was the demon sword and cursed family heirloom Xin Mo?! Why even bring it up if it wasn't important?! What do you mean everyone dies in the end and that’s it?! Shen Yuan could understand a tragic ending but there was no closure in this one! Everyone just got royally fucked with no explanation by some shittily written villain!!!! Not even mentioning the fact that the strategy part of the game was absolutely abysmal when the player could just send Binghe on his OP killing spree through the battlefield. Shen Yuan made sure to continue on to complain about how the game was ruined by the new relationship support system and the fanservice bullshit, and how recent RPGs were the bane of gaming. What a shitty game!!
It was none of anyone’s business if he read all of the self-insert and Luo Binghe fanfiction he could find. Shen Yuan was an intellectual! He could hate on a game while still admitting that its protagonist was the best thing that ever came out of it. Even if the protagonist was really given the short end of the stick in terms of plot and development. Binghe deserved better!
Of course, it was interesting to think about all of that now that Shen Yuan was now extending his hand to Luo Binghe, and being pulled up off the ground by him, too. When Shen Yuan stood up, he stumbled and Luo Binghe reached out to steady him with firm hands. Luo Binghe was close enough for Shen Yuan to make out every individual long eyelash, and his eyes lingered on the seam of Luo Binghe’s lips.
It occurred to Shen Yuan that he had read a lot of explicit fanfiction about Luo Binghe, and his face immediately felt hot with mortification.
“Are you alright? You’re turning bright red,” Luo Binghe observed, he lifted his hand to Shen Yuan’s face. Quickly, Shen Yuan wrung himself out of Luo Binghe’s hold, taking a step back.
“Yes! Yes, I’m fine!” Shen Yuan said quickly. “Thank you, Binghe.”
Shen Yuan grit his teeth. Fuck! Less than ten words in and he’s already slipped up!
“How did you know my name?” Luo Binghe said, brows furrowing.
“I-I—” Shen Yuan stammered. “I don’t know. Apologies, I just… Your name just came to me.”
Shen Yuan wanted to beat his head against a wall. WHAT KIND OF EXPLANATION WAS THAT?!
“Do we know each other?” Luo Binghe continued.
“I— I don’t know,” Shen Yuan said, looking down at his feet. He made a show of rubbing his head. “I don’t remember anything. I only know my name. And yours.”
Yes! That made sense right? Amnesiac plots were super common in this type of genre!
Luo Binghe seemed to regard Shen Yuan for a moment longer before the girl who was with him suddenly crooned pitifully over Shen Yuan like he was a child. Shen Yuan remembered her as Ning Yingying—classic doting sister type for all those weirdo siscons out there. She was a sweet and good girl, but Shen Yuan had eventually abandoned her unit for a stronger and more mobile healer less than halfway through the game.
“Oh no! You poor thing,” she said. “Let us take you to a healer! Perhaps someone could help—”
“A likely story.”
Shen Yuan almost jumped in surprise as he looked up to see another man nearby. He was taller than all of them, and looked bigger than them, too, in his full suit of armor. His expression is frighteningly cold, and his icy look extended even to his starkly blue eyes.
“Mobei-jun,” Ning Yingying said, sounding almost whiny.
“How do we know this man is not simply lying to us so we can let our guards down?” the man said, snarling. “He does not know his own name but knows of Luo Binghe?"
Luo Binghe put up a hand and, to his credit, Mobei-Jun stopped speaking although he did not stop glaring at Shen Yuan either. In fact, Shen Yuan wasn't sure if he had ever seen a single portrait art of Mobei-jun where he wasn't glaring, so that wasn't wholly surprising. Mobei-Jun was a former prince in a northern country who was usurped by his own uncle. After a mysterious man saved his life, he was put in the care of Luo Binghe, and promised to serve under the young general with the promise that Luo Binghe would help him get his territory back.
"There is no point in questioning and being suspicious. I would like to help," Luo Binghe said.
The concerned look he gave Shen Yuan made his heart skip a beat. This good protagonist!! So purehearted and kind even though at the end he went through a bullshit "darkening" where he suddenly became a demon and doomed the entire realm, but not before brutalizing Shen Qingqiu for his betrayal. Shen Yuan wanted to protect him.
"I promise you, I have no intentions of betraying you," Shen Yuan swore. Which was true, because ultimately Shen Yuan didn't even understand Shen Qingqiu's reasons for betraying them. And, quite frankly, Shen Yuan was not looking forward to being torn to smithereens by a Luo Binghe going berserk, so he was going to hug the protagonist's thighs while he could, thank you very much!
"Let's take him with us," Luo Binghe decided with a nod. "If he tries anything, I will take him down himself."
Luo Binghe's casual confidence sent a shiver up Shen Yuan's spine. So cool!! Truly the sign of a protagonist.
"What is your name?" Luo Binghe asked, and although his countenance was friendly, Shen Yuan knew of the power and potential yet untapped. If he had really transmigrated, this was truly the last person he wanted to cross.
Holding his head higher, and trying for the neutral, but proud air of the original scum villain, Shen Yuan responded.
"Shen Qingqiu," he said. "At your service."
And soon enough, they were on their way through the forest, with Ning Yingying enthusiastically stuck to Shen Qingqiu's side and Mobei-jun unenthusiastically keeping an eye on Shen Qingqiu for any suspicious movements.
Ning Yingying gives Shen Qingqiu the early game backstory that Shen Qingqiu now knew like the back of his hand. Luo Binghe was a young man who came from nothing and rose through the ranks to become one of the most promising young commanders to the kingdom, even recognized by Yue Qingyuan himself. Although Ning Yingying was his senior in the officer's academy, she was now under him as his number one healer. Mobei-jun was a young demon master who had been saved by Luo Binghe, and was now his right-hand man.
Shen Qingqiu did his best to nod along and pretend this was all new info, but truly, he was just on the lookout. It was almost time for the tutorial battle after all! And one of the biggest character foreshadowings in the game! He would get to use magic! Shen Qingqiu was at the edge of his seat!!
Finally, Luo Binghe looked up suddenly, placing a hand on his sword and he looked into the distance at the village ahead.
"Are those flames?" he observed. "Quickly, they may need our help!"
Shen Qingqiu wanted to squeal with excitement as they all rushed towards the village. Doing his best to keep Shen Qingqiu's indifferent expression even in the face of danger and excitement, Shen Qingqiu almost stepped onto the battlefield when Mobei-jun put his arm out in front of him.
"What do you think you're doing?" he snarled.
Shen Qingqiu wanted to click his tongue at him. Come on! He was the player character and it was time for him to show his stuff! Not that Shen Qingqiu knew exactly what he could do yet, but it was a game! He'd get it magically and be super OP!!
Right on cue, the dialogue box appeared again as it showed Shen Qingqiu what to do. It gave him a bird's eye view of the battlefield, allowing him to direct his allies' movements like chess pieces.
"I can help!" Shen Qingqiu insisted after reviewing the system's battle tutorial. "I can… see things! I can help you strategize and win!"
Mobei-jun opened his mouth to object when suddenly a huge black monster appeared, tearing down a villager with great malice.
In person, the Risen were even more awful, more horrifying. Shen Qingqiu almost lost his nerve as a horde of them appeared and looked at them, a mixed sense of fear and fascination washing over him. After all, one would naturally feel fear at the sight of a grotesque, rapidly rotting zombie tearing people down, but also who would ever get the chance to see something like this!
"Mobei-jun, we could use all the help we can get right now!" Luo Binghe called as he drew Zheng Yang and rushed at the horde of monsters. He sliced down a Risen that launched itself towards him, the splattering of dark matter and rotting sinew evaporating to create a menacing image of the protagonist.
Truly, animated cutscenes were even better in person.
Shen Qingqiu took a deep breath, clutching the tome he had on him.
"I will lead you all to victory," he promised.
For his first real battle, Shen Qingqiu was proud to say he actually did pretty well. Of course, Ning Yingying was a little underleveled and Binghe was currently a glass cannon at level 3, but some level grinding ought to do the trick! Either way, he did well enough that Mobei-jun finally cut him some slack, and Luo Binghe and Ning Yingying were now looking at him in awe.
"That was amazing!" Ning Yingying gushed at him, and Shen Qingqiu couldn't help but hold his chin up a little higher. "I thought A-Luo was the best at strategizing, but it was almost like you could predict the enemies' movements!"
Haha! It's because he could!! And Shen Qingqiu was going to ride the player character hack for as long as he could!
Luo Binghe grimaced, scratching his neck. "Shijie, I'm hardly the best at strategizing… I've had a lack of formal teaching on that front," he said. It was probably true, too. It had always bothered Shen Yuan that Luo Binghe never seemed to offer any strategic input of his own. Shen Qingqiu was supposed to become his teacher in that regard, but that scumbag was too concerned about maintaining his own status to help Binghe at all.
But hey, isn't that another way to get into Luo Binghe's good graces…?
"It is hardly befitting for a general to be unable to strategize in the heat of battle," Shen Qingqiu said, remembering the original's dialogue when he had first played the game before releasing his promise to the void. "I can teach you."
Luo Binghe's face brightened at Shen Qingqiu's offer, but before he could respond Mobei-jun spoke up.
"Don't get cocky," he said in a gruff voice, scowling at Shen Qingqiu. "Just because you helped us this one time doesn't mean I trust you alone with the general. Watch yourself."
"This really isn't necessary," Luo Binghe said, frowning.
Shen Qingqiu couldn't help but agree with Mobei-jun. If he were in their situation, he wouldn't have trusted him either. Besides, look at what good that blind trust did for them when it was the original goods! Who would randomly take some strange man they found sleeping in under their wing?
Speaking of which, as the troupe carried on, heading back towards Cang Qiong to report the appearance of the Risen, Shen Qingqiu took a moment to think about his situation. How did he get here? The last thing he remembered before transmigrating was reading the developer's notes on the ending of Demon Emblem: Awakening as he angrily ate some dinner which, now that he thought about it, did taste a little funny if he had thought to actually taste it.
And with that, Shen Yuan found himself cursing "Stupid developer! Stupid game!" before he woke up in the middle of a field.
...Oh God, was he dead??? Did he die???
With that thought in mind, Shen Qingqiu suddenly felt a lot less confident. Fuck, if he was dead, what would happen if he messed up here?! He thanked his past self for doing all of that extensive research on the game and giving himself the knowledge to prepare himself to avoid the original's fate of being ripped to shreds by the newly OP dragon lord before the entire world came to an end.
There was even a key event coming up! The perfect opportunity to hug Luo Binghe's thighs!
Shen Qingqiu was on high alert now as they continued their trek. As the warm orange skies of the sunset finally gave way to the night, the four of them finally began to set up camp.
"I'll keep watch," Shen Qingqiu offered, to which Mobei-jun looked incredibly suspicious. Shen Qingqiu pretended not to notice, only looking at Luo Binghe, who gave him a relieved smile. Settle down, Mobei-jun! No one's going to do anything to your lord. Let Shen Qingqiu prepare for the event to come in peace!
"Alright," Luo Binghe said as he wrapped up his cape in a bundle to rest his head on. To the side, everyone in the group had donated their coats to Ning Yingying, who had created a makeshift sleeping bag for the night. "Wake us if you notice anything unusual."
"I definitely will," Shen Qingqiu said.
After Luo Binghe had finally settled to sleep and Mobei-jun glared at him before finally heading to bed himself, Shen Qingqiu took a seat against a tree trunk, watching the skies.
As soon as he looked up, he felt like his breath had been taken away. The night sky in this world was absolutely beautiful—something that a modern city dweller like Shen Yuan had never seen before in his life. The constellations seemed closer and the moon illuminated the forest with it's calming white light.
Shen Qingqiu couldn't help but look over at Luo Binghe, whose breath had evened out to snoring. Luo Binghe was already a very well designed character, but up close with the real deal, Shen Qingqiu couldn't help but feel like the source material itself could not even begin to truly show how beautiful the protagonist was. From where he was sleeping, Luo Binghe was bathed in the moonlight, the curve of his cheekbones accentuated and red lips slightly parted as he snored softly.
He really is beautiful, Shen Qingqiu thought. How unfair! As expected of the Demon Emblem protagonist.
However, before Shen Qingqiu could truly get lost in his thoughts, the moonlight was cut through by a quick flash of red light and the sound of what appeared to be thunder echoing over the region. Shen Qingqiu quickly looked up just in time to see a crack from on the surface of the night sky, as if the atmosphere was just as delicate as an egg shell. It wasn’t until the red light began to seep through the crack when Shen Qingqiu finally started to react.
It was time! The epic beginning cutscene before the story truly began!
Quickly, Shen Qingqiu hurried over to Luo Binghe, who only sat a short distance away and shook his shoulder.
“Luo Binghe!” he called. Almost obediently, Luo Binghe stuttered awake, his hand quickly falling to his sword. When he first looked at Shen Qingqiu, there was a terrifying glint in his eye that made Shen Qingqiu back up. “It’s me! Shen Qingqiu!”
Luo Binghe regarded him for a moment and then seemed to relax when the red lightning flashed once again.
“Wh-what’s that?!”
Ning Yingying had woken up in the commotion as thunder cracked right above them. She pointed at the sky falling away, pieces shattering in the air like glass to give way to a dark black hole.
Shen Qingqiu felt his gut drop as he watched dozens of dark figures—no, he was close enough to see what they were—dozens of Risen climb their way out of the dark hole and land onto the forest floor with a thud. Roars resounded, shaking trees as animals scurried away from the emotion in an attempt to save themselves.
Shen Qingqiu knew that he was coming—recognized this event like the back of his hand after playing the game so many times, but when faced with a real threat, he suddenly felt shaken.
He was just some nerd in his past life! Could he even handle this?
“Damn!” Luo Binghe called, drawing his sword with a flourish. Next to him, Mobei-jun rose to his feet. “Mobei-jun, protect Ning-shijie. We will be your rear guard!”
"I can fight, too!" Ning Yingying protested, brandishing her staff as if it were an axe.
"Shijie, please heal us as needed," Luo Binghe commanded, with a sympathetic twitch of his lips. "Stick closely to Mobei-jun."
"A-Luo—!"
Shen Qingqiu couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for her as Mobei-jun tugged her along. Ning Yingying acted like a petulant child in the game—players were rather torn in their opinions of her, either hating her to hell and calling her an annoying brat with an IQ of 10 or doting on her and calling her the rightful canon Luo Binghe love interest.
As for Shen Yuan… Well, truthfully he had a hard time levelling her up and gave up on reclassing her after getting a stronger healer unit. It was enough to be kind of endeared to her in the story cutscenes anyway. Big F.
No matter. Shen Qingqiu would see how he felt about Ning Yingying soon enough.
Almost instinctively, Shen Qingqiu quickly moved to stand back-to-back with Luo Binghe, and the general gave him a surprised look that gave way to a smile that made Shen Qingqiu feel flustered.
Don't think anything of it! Shen Qingqiu was just looking for protection and what place was safer than by the protagonist's side?! Besides, if Shen Qingqiu was going to do this right, he couldn't let Luo Binghe out of sight during this scene.
...Ah, don't shoot that dazzling smile this way Binghe! Save it for your potential marriage supports!!!
"Your guidance would be appreciated right now, Strategist Shen," Binghe said.
"I'm Strategist Shen now?" Shen Qingqiu shot back, raising an eyebrow at him. "I thought I would be struck down immediately at the first sign of betrayal." To punctuate his statement, Shen Qingqiu flourished his hand to send a burst of wind magic at a horde of Risen. Luo Binghe gave an appreciative hum that sent a shiver down Shen Qingqiu's spine.
Haha! See? Even this scum villain can be cool!
"Head towards the entrance of the village," Shen Qingqiu called over the roars of monsters. "If they get out of the forest, it'll be a massacre!"
Everyone sounded their assent and began to move as Shen Qingqiu puffed up proudly to himself. The original goods had shown his own selfishness and declared that they head to the safety of the capital instead, which put the team in danger for his own purposes. Luo Binghe had suggested protecting the village because he was a good man. If Shen Qingqiu could show that he was helpful and decent, then maybe Luo Binghe would be less likely to rip him to shreds.
As they ran down the hill, darting past the trees and slashing through any creature that blocked their path, the horde of Risen never seemed to end. They began to spread out a little further on Shen Qingqiu's orders—they were at risk for getting cornered.
The party fought with all of their might, with Mobei-Jun at the head of the village entrance, making sure no one got past him and his lance. Ning Yingying was glowing with magic and healed them as much as she could.
Seeing Luo Binghe fight was enough to make Shen Qingqiu's heart skip a beat. He truly was the protagonist, with the moonlight glimmering off of Xin Mo's blade and the cool fierceness of his expression as he tore down enemies. The blade pulsed with each kill, Luo Binghe's eyes growing red, and Shen Qingqiu suddenly felt dread wash over him.
In the original game, using Xin Mo so excessively without rest began to take a toll on Binghe. Eventually, he would get hurt— his chest stabbed through by a Risen while Shen Qingqiu coldly watched—and the cursed sword would take hold of him in an attempt to heal his body. Unable to control his demonic powers, Luo Binghe began to go berserk, putting everyone in danger, but especially Ning Yingying. Eventually as part of a big plot point, someone calms him down, but not before his closest friends begin to grow a bit worried and Shen Qingqiu discovered Luo Binghe’s demonic roots—a future twist that will allow Shen Qingqiu to take advantage of him and betray him.
Shen Qingqiu saw the Risen out of the corner of his eye and leapt to Luo Binghe’s side before he could stop himself. With his back against the protagonist’s and the Risen’s horrible, rotting claws mere centimeters away from his face, Shen Qingqiu steeled his gut, the dreadful impulse to run and save himself nagging at him. What the hell was he doing! There was no reason to sacrifice himself this early in the game—this was the protagonist!
Before Shen Qingqiu could rethink his actions, the Risen dug its claws into his shoulder and Shen Qingqiu let out a cry as his eyes flashed as pain through his shoulder. Luo Binghe yelled in distress at the sight, but before he could retaliate, Shen Qingqiu focused his energy into his palm and sent a powerful blast of air towards the Risen. The force of the attack knocked the Risen backwards against a tree, smashing it into smithereens.
Shen Qingqiu let out a heavy breath, his chest heaving as the pain began to subside. When he looked over to the side to inspect his wound, he saw that the Risen’s hand had been ripped from its body and had firmly lodged itself in his shoulder. With a gulp, Shen Qingqiu gripped it firmly and tore it right out of his shoulder, yelping at the sharp pain.
Wow, that looked really disgusting! Who knew rotting flesh could smell and look so awful? Especially so close to his skin! Haha!
...Was it just him, or was the world spinning?
Shen Qingqiu’s knees suddenly became weak and he found himself toppling, but instead of landing on the cold earth, he found himself cradled in a set of firm arms, his head leaning against a red shirt stretched over Binghe’s chest.
“Are you alright?!” Luo Binghe asked urgently.
“Didn’t anyone ever teach you to watch your back?” Shen Qingqiu scolded, albeit half-heartedly. “I’m alright—just get me to a healer. There doesn’t seem to be any poisonous magic, so I should be fine.”
Luo Binghe examined him for a moment, his arms holding Shen Qingqiu so firmly, as if he were afraid to drop him, before the furrow in his brow finally relaxed.
“Of course, Strategist Shen,” he said. “Shizun is so wise.”
Shen Qingqiu startled for a moment, wondering if he had imagined it. “‘Shizun’?” he asked. “Who said I was your Shizun?”
Luo Binghe’s eyes started to sparkle with tears, but his voice was smooth and noble, even as it cracked with emotion. “You saved my life,” Luo Binghe said. “I’m just some general and you know so much more. I was the one who endangered myself, but you saved me. From now on, I only have respect and admiration from you.”
“You can’t just go around calling everyone you respect ‘Shizun’,” Shen Qingqiu countered, feeling his face grow hot.
“But you were the one who offered to teach me first,” Luo Binghe pointed out, his lips pulling into a pout.
Shen Qingqiu’s heart stuttered in his chest. Wh—Binghe?! This was the cool future exalt and demon lord, why was he crying! When Luo Binghe looked at him like that, what was Shen Qingqiu supposed to say?!
However, before Shen Qingqiu could think of a retort, a scream suddenly rang out and reminded Shen Qingqiu that he had forgotten something key. He turned towards the source of the scream to see Ning Yingying backed up against a tree, her staff held in front of her and blood dripping down her sleeve as a Risen gained on her.
Shen Qingqiu’s heart plummeted. Wait, but Ning Yingying should be safe since Luo Binghe had yet to reveal his demon powers! What—
They were too far to get to her, but both Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe had started to shift to move anyway, before there was suddenly another flash of red lightning that struck the forest ground. All around them, debris, dirt, and smoke suddenly scattered in the air, clouding their line of sight. When the debris finally began to settle, Shen Qingqiu caught a glimpse of something standing between Ning Yingying and the Risen, the glint of a large silver sword, and a crimson cape rippling in the wind.
Shen Qingqiu sucked in a sharp breath as he put his utmost effort into stopping himself from squealing. IT’S HER!! IT’S THE BIGGEST FORESHADOWING PLOT POINT IN THE GAME! LUO BINGHE’S FUTURE DAUGHTER, LUO MEIFENG!!!!
If there was one character that rivaled Luo Binghe in Shen Qingqiu’s heart in Demon Emblem: Awakening, it was the future exalt and beloved daughter, the precious demon lady lord of the wind Luo Meifeng. She was of noble character, and sacrificed so much to go back in time to save her family. She took after her father in almost every aspect, including his intimidating power that hid a heart of gold. In fact, the only thing that Luo Meifeng didn’t take from her father were the color of her eyes. Rather than being the bright red that accentuated Luo Binghe’s demonic heritage, Luo Meifeng’s eye color always took on that of whoever the player wanted her mother to be. Shen Qingqiu adored her to bits, and was especially upset about the scrapped Luo Binghe-player unit marriage support because of the lost chance for him to dote on Luo Meifeng as his daughter. He frequently got into fights on the Demon Emblem forums with people who had chosen to marry their player units to Luo Meifeng.
That’s Luo Binghe’s daughter, you disgusting ingrates! Get away from her!!
This early in the game, there was no way to tell who Luo Meifeng’s mother was yet—although after poking around with the system for a bit, Shen Qingqiu was starting to suspect that he was going to be in charge of the marriage supports too. Her features were mostly covered by a black mask with her dark hair done up and hidden away from view. As she wielded Xin Mo, it was actually pretty obvious that she was Luo Binghe’s relative of some sort, but of course there was no way for everyone else to know.
Nonetheless, Shen Qingqiu wanted to sneak a peek at his second favorite character, his mind turning as he began to think about his endless charts of best possible Luo Binghe marriage supports. Shen Qingqiu craned his neck, trying to catch a glimpse, when suddenly Luo Meifeng looked directly at him, and he found himself staring into a pair of emerald green eyes.
...Huh?!
Wait, green eyes?! Were there any Binghe marriage supports who had green eyes?! Most of them had brown, blue, or even red eyes, but Shen Qingqiu couldn’t think of a single character with green eyes. It was an unusually rare eye color for a video game—even when he was considering the whole playable cast, aside from Shen Qingqiu himself, there wasn’t another character with green eyes due to it being a genetic trait belonging to an enemy kingdom.
Could Shen Qingqiu be misremembering a character’s eye color? Or worse, could he have forgotten an entire character?!
Luo Meifeng parried the monster’s attack and then sliced it down. Then, with an amazing flourish, she stabbed the sword into the ground. Suddenly, the endless horde of Risen suddenly froze in their footsteps and glowed a harsh red light and produced a ringing noise that reverberated throughout the clearing. Quickly, Shen Qingqiu reached for Luo Binghe and pulled his face down to cover his eyes while shutting his own eyes tight.
When the ringing finally stopped and Shen Qingqiu could no longer see the harsh red light from behind his eyelids, he opened his eyes again. Moving his hand away from Luo Binghe’s eyes, he cupped his cheek as he checked Luo Binghe for injuries. He should have been fine, but strangely, Luo Binghe was looking at him with wide eyes, as if shaken, and his skin felt unnaturally warm.
“Are you alright?” Shen Qingqiu asked, brows knitting together in concern. Had the attack actually affected him worse than he had expected? A light that bright was just close to being blinding, although Shen Qingqiu had a suspicion that at most it would just make them a little dazed.
Luo Binghe's cheeks looked flushed, and he quickly pulled away, shaking his head furiously.
"I'm fine!" he said quickly. "Are you okay?"
Although his shoulder still stung something awful, Shen Qingqiu was able to function just fine. His HP wasn't too low either, so he probably just needed some healing.
Speaking of which, Shen Qingqiu quickly turned to Ning Yingying, who looked dazed as he had expected, staring at the spot where Luo Meifeng had appeared and now… disappeared. Shen Qingqiu couldn't help but pout. In the original game, after saving Ning Yingying from Luo Binghe's demonic rampage, Luo Meifeng stayed for a bit longer. Shen Qingqiu wanted to take a closer look at her—he was just too curious about who her other parent could be.
Ning Yingying finally looked up and immediately paled upon laying her eyes on Shen Qingqiu. She hurried over and began to fuss, speaking quickly as she demanded that Luo Binghe lay him down so that she could heal his shoulder properly.
Honestly, there was no need to fuss. It was just a little blood. It wasn't like Shen Qingqiu was going to faint—
...Okay, it wasn't like Shen Qingqiu was going to die.
Nevertheless, Shen Qingqiu allowed himself to get healed, sighing in relief as the warmth of the healing magic caressed his shoulder and ran through his veins, mending his wounds at an astounding rate. Wow, healing magic was truly the best! If Shen Yuan could have used this every time he had gotten sick in his past life, he would have been unstoppable!
Mobei-jun had finally walked over after making sure the perimeter had been cleared.
"What," Mobei-jun began, "was that?"
Luo Binghe frowned. "I… I don't know. I've never seen anything like it."
"It was a demonic rift," Shen Qingqiu said, sorting through his mind for information. He was careful not to reveal too much, even though he was thrumming with the urge to reveal more. There was time travel! And future marriage support children! And more monsters!! How could he not be excited?!
"What about that person who appeared?" Mobei-jun asked. "They came out of the rift. Are they a demon then?"
"They can't be!" Ning Yingying protested. "They saved me so heroically! No one that good-looking could be demonic."
Out of the corner of his eye, Shen Qingqiu saw Luo Binghe flinch at Ning Yingying's comment. But as soon as he blinked, Luo Binghe's grimace was replaced by a smirk.
"Shijie, you can't be biased just because you found a stranger attractive," he teased, to which Ning Yingying turned bright pink.
"A-Luo!" she scolded.
"Regardless of h—their roots, being demonic in nature is not enough to determine whether they were a friend or enemy," Shen Qingqiu said. Luo Binghe looked at him with a shocked expression, as if he expected Shen Qingqiu to say something different.
Which, to be fair, the original goods had declared openly that demons were not to be trusted. Shen Yuan had thought that made absolutely no sense considering Shen Qingqiu had figured out by then that Luo Binghe was a demon. Way to dig your own grave.
"There lies a more important matter about them though," Shen Qingqiu let his eyes fall to Luo Binghe's sword.
Luo Binghe smiled at him. "I was wise to choose you as my shizun," Luo Binghe said in understanding.
Of course, blissfully unaware, Ning Yingying prodded for more information. "What? What are you talking about?"
Luo Binghe held up his sword for them to see. Xin Mo's blade shone in the moonlight. "That masked stranger was wielding Xin Mo."
Despite not knowing the full history of Xin Mo, Mobei-jun and Ning Yingying seemed to understand the gravity of this.
"Is… it possible that there's more than one Xin Mo?" Ning Yingying suggested.
Luo Binghe frowned as he sheathed Xin Mo. "Not that I know of," he said. "Honestly, Xin Mo is as much of a mystery to me as it is to you. It's the last I have of my parents, but I have never known either of them."
Shen Qingqiu couldn't help but sigh sympathetically. Even if he already knew this part of Luo Binghe's backstory, the reminder that Luo Binghe was dealt an awful hand at every turn of his life never failed to make his heart ache.
Orphaned as a baby, Luo Binghe was raised by an older washer woman at a village at the base of Cang Qiong palace. When she passed away when he was a young teen, she bequeathed him with Xin Mo, telling him that it was the only possession with him when she found him. With Xin Mo in hand, Luo Binghe trained by himself to enter the army, and with no formal education or specific mentorship, was so formidable that he rose up to become a prominent general at a young age—but not without being stepped on and spat at. He really had to cross every brutal hurdle along the way.
Although Shen Qingqiu could easily explain Xin Mo's sordid backstory in a second, he elected to stay silent and play dumb. It would be much too suspicious of him to know the history of some demon sword.
"Well, that will have to be examined at a later time—we still have a summons to answer," Luo Binghe said. He turned to Shen Qingqiu and his pensive expression softened as he smiled. "If you would like to accompany us, you are more than welcome. I truly would be honored to be your student."
Shen Qingqiu couldn't help but blush. Don't flatter him so much, Binghe!! These are all the cheats of a transmigrator!
A chime rang in his head and a dialogue box popped up.
>Congrats on finishing the prologue chapter! ♪ヽ(･ˇ∀ˇ･ゞ) You have successfully gained the protagonist's trust!
>Will you continue the adventure? *･゜ﾟ(^O^)
Shen Qingqiu wanted to scoff. What choice did he have? He highly doubted that he would be sent to live his former life in peace if he declined. And yet, Shen Qingqiu couldn't find it in himself to be wholly angry at his only choice.
"I'm a strategist with no memory—it would be foolish of me not to accept," Shen Qingqiu said, feigning coolness. "I suppose I could be bothered to teach you as well."
Luo Binghe's face lit up, and Shen Qingqiu couldn't help but smile.
"You won't regret this, Shizun!" he said.
Ning Yingying gasped. "What! No fair, I want to learn from Strategist Shen, too!" she complained childishly.
"Alright, alright, I can teach you both," Shen Qingqiu rolled his eyes, although his response held no actual annoyance.
Ning Yingying clapped her hands excitedly. "Oh! Then we'll have to introduce you to the exalt!"
Shen Qingqiu paused. "Huh?"
Luo Binghe nodded enthusiastically. "Of course," he agreed. "Shizun, I will personally take you to meet Exalt Yue Qingyuan myself."
… Oh no.
>Thank you valued customer for accepting this journey! We hope you work hard to unlock the true ending of Demon Emblem: Awakening (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*.✧