Chapter Text
Proud Immortal Demon Way was potentially one of the worst novels Shen Yuan had ever read. The base plot was interesting enough, with a good protagonist and relatively fleshed out characters, ones that he could confidently say he related to in some aspects- but, that’s where his compliments had ended. He had started reading because he thought it was about Luo Qinghe ( Otherwise known as Luo Binghe ) overcoming any obstacles his demon disciple, Shen Qiu, would throw at him, eventually pushing him into the abyss, never to be seen again. After that, Luo Qinghe could finally live happily ever after with a pretty lady and his sect siblings.
Sounds great, right? Right? Anyone would read that!
But that’s how that cursed author, Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky, gets you! He makes you think he can write and create interesting plots, and then tricks you into reading his shitty, boring, papapa filled stallion novel! Plot holes everywhere, side stories that lead to nowhere, and useless, “mentioned once” characters, are all staples of that god forsaken novel that took up so many hours of Shen Yuan’s life.
He spent hours upon hours ranting and raving about just how horrible this book was! He would write walls of text on each update, criticising every word. He did it so often that, coincidentally, that was what he had just been doing mere moments ago.
Shen Yuan had been furiously typing on the latest, and last update of Proud Immortal Demon Way, absolutely baffled at how it could have ended like that. Luo Qinghe divorcing all of his hard earned wives, leaving the sect to Ning Yingying, and becoming a lowly farmer!! What kind of ending was that?! He couldn’t believe it, Qinghe at the start of the book would be furious!
He had just bit into his mantou, yelling out, “What a terrible novel!” while pressing send on the multi-paragraphed message he had typed, when he felt a large portion of unchewed dough get lodged in his throat. He gasped and heaved, crawling at his throat, even going so far as trying to pull the piece out with his fingers, and while it made him gag, it wasn't enough for him to vomit the food out. His breath eventually ran out, his vision blurred and turned, and he collapsed on his desk.
When he awoke.. which, what the hell? Wasn’t he meant to be dead? dead people don't wake up! … he was floating in what was basically the void. He could tell he was in water, if the cool, wet feeling on his back said anything. There was a large, green .. loading bar? in front of his eyes, but other than that, he was in complete darkness. The strange loading bar emitted no light, but was still as clear as day. Was this heaven? Hell? Purgatory? Was he forced to stare at a loading bar while floating in water until he was reincarnated? If so, get him out of here!!
As if something could hear his thoughts, on cue, the loading bar seemed to reach its end, and he was suddenly blinded with a bright light. He winced as he put his hands up over his eyes that instinctively squeezed shut, all while a strange whirring sound played in his ears. When the light behind his closed eyes finally dulled, he cracked them open while slowly moving his hands away. Shen Yuan was immediately greeted with a weird screen that, in bold text, read “SYSTEM”, and then it spoke.
[ Welcome to the system and Proud Immortal Demon Way. The「you can you up, no can no bb」system is currently in its development phase, but we wish to provide you with the best experience. It is our sincere hope that during this process, you will achieve what you have stated: to transform a piece of stupid writing in accordance with your critiques into a high-end, expansive, and classic work. We wish you luck. ]
Shen Yuan blinked. And then blinked again.
What?!?!?
What on earth was happening? He was in Proud Immortal Demon Way, there was a weird system speaking to him, he seemed to be someone completely different, and on top of all of that, he was still nearsighted! He had transmigrated and was still blind! He would like a thorough explanation for this, thank you very much!
[ User 002 is linked to Shen Qiu’s account. 「Current status; alive. Age; fourteen..」 The system took creative liberties and used some of Users previous assets for Shen Qiu to fill in previously undisclosed features. ]
Shen Yuan gaped at the system. While what it said made sense, it really didn't need to mess with Shen Qiu’s vision! The boy was evil through and through, no need to add pity points– he paused, before he reread what the system still had up. Hold on. Shen Qiu. Fourteen. He was in Shen Qiu’s body, which was already alarming enough.. but in his fourteen year old body?! Oh no. No.
He looked down at his shockingly tiny and frail hands with- which was slightly concerning, because Shen Qiu should have far more skin on his bones for a young boy- more horror than he had ever experienced in his life. This couldn't even compare to when he found those cut sleeve fanfics of Luo Qinghe and his sect brother, Liu Qingge.
Shen Yuan had quickly pushed those memories down to instead focus on the realisation that if he was Shen Qiu, he must be in the wood shed, if the lumber strewn about wasn’t a clear indicator, and that meant he was on Qing Jing peak. Being on Qing Jing peak meant he was absolutely, thoroughly, fucked. He needed to get out of there, and never return. He would probably be beaten to death by Ning Yingying before the main plot even started!
[ OOC! OOC! Shen Qiu wouldn't dare give Luo Qinghe or anyone on Qing Jing the satisfaction of leaving the sect! OOC! OOC! ]
Shen Yuan– Shen Qiu? flinched at the loud alarms blaring in his ears, frantically reaching up to cover his ears with his palms. He glared at the system, and it seemed to catch the hint as the noise stopped. What the hell? OOC? Was this some roleplaying simulation? Why should he need to be in character! He should be allowed to just leave!
[ The user must stay in character to further the plot. ]
He rubbed at his temples. All of this hurt his head, and this information only brought his spirits down. The whole reason the plot went the way it did was because of Shen Qiu’s poor attitude and personality! If he couldn’t adjust Shen Qiu’s personality and had to be in character, that’d mean he was done for. He would die in the abyss, loved by no one, not even his shixiong, Ming Fan, who clung to his thighs half of the time when he was a disciple, would ever care for him ever again.
“Is there any way I can be out of character without it harming the plot?” Shen Qiu asked.
[ User must complete a series of beginner level quests, and get his cultivation points higher than 50 in order to unlock OOC. ]
… Impossible! Utterly impossible!! He wanted to complain, and explain just how bad Shen Qiu’s cultivation had been in practically every aspect but medicine in the novel, and how it was an impossible task to get his cultivation up unless he could focus solely on cultivating plants, but he had been interrupted when he heard the sound of running, and a figure skidding to a halt in front of him. Shen Qiu looked up, dark green eyes meeting soft, worried, milky brown eyes. The system dinged again, and a less than helpful info tab popped up, explaining that this was Ming Fan. Of course it was! Who else would bother being worried about Shen Qiu, the scum disciple?!
“Is shidi alright? Aiyah, let me help you up, let me help you up! Yingying really didn’t need to beat you today, forgetfulness is common! I already scolded her,” Ming Fan said, and without waiting for Shen Qiu to say anything, he grasped at Shen Qiu’s arm to pull him up.
However, Shen Qiu hadn’t noticed just how poor of conditions his legs were in. He had been sitting down, and focused far more on the weird system in front of him, and the fact he had just been isekai’d into his least favourite novel! How could he have noticed the weird, stinging pain in his legs?
He let out a gasp of pain, before his legs buckled and he was sent tumbling into Ming Fan’s arms. His vision dizzied, his head felt incredibly light, and the pain that he was ignoring earlier swallowed all of his thoughts immediately. While Shen Qiu was used to his legs hurting, it was always a dull, thrum of pain under his skin, but this was totally different! He felt like his legs had been shredded, rebuilt, broken, and then shredded again! On top of that, his head had started to pound, and his ears rang. It really was too much! Who could blame him for passing out?! He was sure that if anyone else was in his position, the pain would also be too much to bear! He would much rather shamefully faint than tough this one out!
The last thing he had seen before fainting was an incredibly alarmed Ming Fan, paired with bold, green letters that spelt out “ OOC “ floating just beside his head.