Chapter Text
So, Zhou Mingrui is currently not having a good time. Which is, per se, not to say it's the worst, but it's confusing enough to be considered terrible. 'How unlucky!' he thought, frustrated and so, so exasperated with his situation. He'd been incredibly unfortunate for a while now. His job had been full of mishaps, he had lost his phone once and had to buy another—which, if you asked him, was a complete waste of money—and the night before, he had stubbed his pinky toe. To make matters worse, he had fallen asleep in the sweltering heat because his air conditioner had broken, and he hadn't had the time to call a professional to fix it.
He squinted at his reflection, and his body obeyed. He knew he looked like a lunatic, but he couldn't help it. He hesitantly opened his mouth. He spoke to the bathroom mirror uncertainly, though for some reason, his voice reached his own ears sounding more amused than anxious, despite how he truly felt inside. "Who am I?" he asked. "What's my name?" Zhou Mingrui. He knew. He knew it in both his mind and his heart. That was his name. Mingrui, his given name, and Zhou, his family name. His parents loved him, and his name reflected that. So why, then, did a completely different name come out of his mouth instead of the one he intended to say?
"Laozi," he said. "The Immortal Lord of Heaven and Earth for Blessings; The Sky Lord of Heaven and Earth for Blessings; The Exalted Thearch of Heaven and Earth for Blessings; The Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings." Zhou Mingrui jerked his head back, appalled by such a long title. Yet it felt so strangely familiar that he found himself leaning closer, wanting to inspect his reflection more carefully. Now that he had a clearer view, he noticed that his eyes were strangely dark. So dark, in fact, that he couldn't distinguish his pupils at all. It was as though they had disappeared.
He reached up and grasped a strand of his suddenly long black hair, examining it carefully. Finding nothing unusual beyond its unexpected length, he let it slip through his fingers and returned his attention to the mirror, only then noticing the pince-nez resting on the bridge of his nose. 'Who even is this?' he thought. 'It definitely isn't me!' Laozi. The one generally considered the founder of Taoism? That guy? Then, a spark of realization struck him. Or was it connected to the distant, dark past of the very young, highly imaginative Zhou Mingrui from, at least, more than a decade ago? He shuddered, cringing at the reminder.
"Must it be...?" he blurted out instead of, "No way!" Zhou Mingrui winced, though outwardly he showed little emotion, maintaining instead a serene composure that carried an air of mystery. Then something clicked, like a stray puzzle piece suddenly snapping into place. It was an awakening. It seemed he had become a Player. It was surprising, but not particularly strange or uncommon. What mattered was—"No matter how I look at it, this seems to be about twelve years ago," he murmured. "Laozi." He was thirteen years old, recently turning into an official teenager. The memory had grown faint over the years, but the original character he had created now stood out clearly as he actively searched through his memories.
The Lord of the Mysteries. A Great Old One more or less inspired by all the eldritch horrors he had indulged in when he was younger. Laozi was the name he had chosen for it, simply because it sounded cool and carried a sense of dignity. Zhou Mingrui couldn't remember much of the character's backstory, only that he was an elusive and cunning old master who resided in Sefirah Castle. 'Tsk. This wasn't ideal.' Despite his thoughts, his demeanor remained relaxed. With practiced, if somewhat questionable, grace, he took an unused teacup from the kitchen cupboard and brewed himself a cup of Japanese green tea.
He had never been much of a tea drinker, but he enjoyed it enough to keep a small selection on hand. Hojicha, in particular, had a nutty, toasty sweetness that he quite liked. It also had little to no bitterness, which made it all the more enjoyable. He sat down at the table and took a sip. "I could use a smoke after this," he let slip, musing as though he were actually considering it. Zhou Mingrui didn't like the smell of tobacco. He frowned. He could tell that his behavior and tone of voice had changed under the influence of an awakening. A player awakening. He thought it had nothing to do with him. He had forgotten about it. It had happened more than a decade ago. 'The Arcana Continent Biography.' A virtual reality game that had never fallen from the top since its release.
No, it wasn't just a game, it was another life. Unidentified structures began appearing around the world. Arcana had become reality. Monstrous creatures emerged in various parts of the globe. He placed his cup onto the glass saucer with a quiet clink. He was twenty years old when he lost his parents to a rupture in reality. After that, consumed by grief and helplessness, he decided to pursue a scholarship in Korea, hoping it would give him a chance to leave the country. He stared at his drink blankly, then shook his head as he stirred his tea in slow, repetitive circles. 'Five years had passed now,' Zhou Mingrui mused. Monsters from that reality could be hunted, and players awakened to the abilities of their Arcana characters.
He used to play the game before it all became a reality, but he stopped after a few months of gaming. He doesn't remember the reason clearly, though he thinks it was simply because he wanted to focus on his studies. Still, if he had known that life would turn out this way, he would have played a little longer. Zhou Mingrui tapped the table out of habit as he thought. The character he awakened into was one had created, inspired by the game. Laozi, the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings, the Lord of Mysteries. 'Questions about what it's like to awaken were common,' he thought. He remembered that most people described it as an assimilation between the real-life person and the in-game character, merging into a single identity. It wasn't like possession because, as most had said, it felt more like controlling the character rather than being overtaken by the character's personality.
Zhou Mingrui had been deeply immersed in this character, much to his embarrassment now that he reminisced about it. He thinks it's because of the awakening that he remembered the barely fleshed-out, made-up backstory he had given him. Of course, it had been part of a really extensive setting he created when he was suffering from a severe case of middle school syndrome. Laozi. His exact age was unknown. The owner of the mysterious Sefirah Castle. Supposedly a very powerful deity with vague eldritch powers, abilities he'd mostly thrown at a wall to see what stuck and made sense.
The Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings was characterized by his long, dark hair, handsome appearance, and a manner of speech that reflected the nobility of his position. His lips twitched. It was really just the imagination of a child, but it still made him cringe knowing it had once been his own. Zhou Mingrui even remembered creating a successor, a self-insert version of himself who inherited the mantle of the Lord of Mysteries. 'Ah,' he thought. 'How embarrassing.' So much for being so specific about something so useless.
Though, it's strange. Most people who awakened assimilated into the characters they had played in the game. That's what the news and countless articles said. But Laozi wasn't exactly something that had ever existed in the game. He was an original character Zhou Mingrui had created, one he'd written about in an old notebook. He shook his head, dark hair shifting against his shoulders with the motion. He really should tie it back. As much as he disliked having long hair, it seemed like a huge waste to cut it. Keeping it tied up would be much neater.
'No.'
He begged silently, raising the knife high into the air.
'Please.'
He pleaded again, seeing fear reflected back at him.
'No, no, no—'
The blade caught the sunlight, its cold edge glinting for a fleeting moment.
'You demon—'
Then.
It was red.