Wulin : Martial Heroes

Chapter 01: A Week Since Then

Lucas look at the status window and he shook his head

‘No, my name is not Lucas anymore’ he mutters to himself

He is sitting on his rattan bed while looking at his status window. He just woke from his sleep and it is the first thing he do after waking up.

‘It still feel so surreal’ he mutters to himself.

It has been a week since he is at this world. And he still could not believe it. There are memories in his mind that did not belong to him.

But the memories itself is blurry. He remembers a few black clothed man, a fire, a fight and that’s it.

There is not much he remembered. At least, not the memory of this person name Li Xin. His name right now is Li Xin

Lucas transmigrated.

If that is the right term for what happens to him

A week ago, he was at his home, playing a game when he seems to be struck by lightning and suddenly appears in a world just like the game

And the moment he arrives at this world, there is already problem from the get go. There was a pack of wolves that was coming to him.

He was then attacked by wolves who he had killed with the kit that he got. Most of that kit had been destroyed since then

As for what he did in these past few weeks was him accumulating points. He fought a few packs of wolves which he could kill easily now

He even kills a few wild boars. He however likes killing deer. He likes eating deer meat. In this one week, he had been making a living for himself inside the forest

Though he believes he is in a mountainous forest

Li Xin could not be sure really where he is now.

He swipes his hand in the air and the status window disappeared from his gaze. Probably he is the only one that could see the status window

Li Xin sighed and shakes his head.

He got up from his bed. He takes a deep breath and then exhale. For a week he was alone. But also in a week, there is a lot of things that he manages to achieve.

First of all, he had finally accepted that he is on another world. Or another reality. He could never be sure 

Li Xin previous live is the son of a wealthy family.

He lost his mother when he was sixteen, and before he came to this world, he had a father. He had his whole life in front of him

But one decision had probably landed him here in this other world. he went to the back and scoop up a few of the hot water and put it in the wooden tub.

Then he jumps onto it

His body is quite sturdy after all the skill points that he had invested.

As he leans his back on the wooden tub, he closes his eyes while thinking about the crazy journey he had in one week.

When he first came here to this world, to this forest, he was in pain. That and dizziness. And there is a scar on his forehead. A thunderbolt shaped scar.

He likes to think of it as a mark of him being struck by lightning. That is the last memory he had of the modern world

Then he came here in what probably the end years of the Tang dynasty.

Li Xin actually does not know whether this is true or not since he based this on the game he played. In the game that he played, he played as a young wandering hero of Wulin, ready to exact justice and uphold righteousness and all that stuff

That is his game character and the setting was at the late years of the Tang dynasty. His main objective was at that time to join one of the sects in Wulin and started the journey of a hero

The game is simple enough.

Thinking about it again, Li Xin should really have felt the weirdness of that game from the start.

Not only the quality of the game was top notch, there is even an open world map.

From what Li Xin had already played, the game itself had a lot of freedom when it is about making decision.

Quest is very important because that is where you get the skill points.

Unlike some games that uses Experience points, this game heavily rested in Skill points that is used to raise the rank of the martial skill

The martial skill could be bought in the System Store with money that is gained by completing quest.

It is simple on some parts and a bit complicated on other parts

What Li Xin realized was that the game itself had no objective. He could basically do anything he wants with the power he has.

And to trigger the quest, he either stumble into it or depends on his intuition to sniff out events or happenings that could trigger a quest

It does however have a story mode. And even in the story mode it is the same. But considering that it is a story mode it had a few Main objectives.

One of his objective was to come down the mountainous forest called the Gray Mountain and join a sect or a martial arts school.

When he plays the game, he felt like it was a complete game and not like some kind of beta or alpha test game that he usually plays with

He should have notice that him able to play that game is weird in itself. He got the game from a shady website.

Let’s just say that Lucas is quite the rebellious but kind hearted kid.

There are some things that he needs to find in a dark web.

What he was searching for is irrelevant now in this ancient world that doesn’t even have a computer but when he was still Lucas, he downloaded a few things and for some reason one of the things he downloaded was a game

He felt weird though but then he tries to play the game. Wuxia theme style game. It is weird that he downloaded a game that fits perfectly with what he likes but he keeps playing it and for some reason, he suddenly is here

Li Xin sighed as he moves a bit his body in the wooden tub. He could hear the sound of the birds and felt the caress of the wind.

He releases his breath.

Then he leans back and close his eyes again. And his mind keeps recounting of what had happened a week ago.

When he arrived at this world he could spoke the language of the Tang dynasty. The memory comes naturally to him.

Considering that he might inhabits the body of a person of this world and also possess all of his memory, then it is not that surprising

Unless he concentrates when he spoke, it is the Tang dynasty language and not English which his primary language

For some reason he did not feel awkward saying this unknown language.

Of course, when he first came the first thing that felt unfamiliar to him was his body. Lucas was a twenty-two-year-old man.

While he is not a gym nerd, he keeps himself fit. In his house he had his own personal gym. But when he arrives at this world, his body seems to shrunk. Lucas is six feet two.

However, Li Xin is a teenager. He still doesn't know whether this is because he picks a teenager as his starting point in the game or not

Maybe, it is just random.

Li Xin sighed again.

He tries not to think about it too much but when you are in a forest and you are alone without human contact, other than sleeping, eating, practicing his marital arts, there is not much to do.

Sometimes he hunts. But, there is a time and place for that.

However, now is the time for him to eat

Li Xin eats a lot.

He thought it must have something to do with the fact that he could practice martial arts.

But, since he did not have much thing to do other than those activities, when he wakes up every morning and take his bath in the wooden tub, he would rest and try to make sense of things.

He recounts back his experience and try to find some answer to it.

And that is what he is doing right now.

For the seventh day.

When he first arrived, he was shocked but then there was the system.

Like a game.

That is why he believes that this world is derived from the game he had played before

The system awarded him the Helping Kit as congratulation for surviving the thunderbolt. It was absurd and something that he did not expect at all.

But he quickly adapts at that time.

He does read a lot of web novels and fantastical novels.

So, even though what is happening to him was absurd, he knew standing there without doing anything is stupid.

He tries to talk with the system but the system did not say anything back to him.

Unlike some stories he reads, his system does not seem to respond to him or have a consciousness of its own.

When he achieved something or hits the requirement for something, the notification would appear to reward him

The first thing he heard was that the System Store was open for him.

He also looks at his status window and found out that his name is Li Xin

As for the time he recovered the memories of Li Xin it is a day after the battle between him and a pack of wolves.

Anyway that happens and then he built a hut. It is not that hard after ranking up and buying a few skills in the system store.

He then got up from the wooden tub and jump out like an elegant immortal. Li Xin is fifteen years old. That is the age on the interface.

He wears his white flowing robe with loose sleeves and a red belt on his waist.

He did not forget his sword as he put his sword inside the sheath on his left waist. He taps his sword and smiles a bit.

‘Those wolves would fetch me a lot of points’ Li Xin actually has an advantage in this world other than the system.

The advantage was that he played this game before.

Even though the circumstances are a bit different, he knows a few things about this mountain and he is ready to take all the treasures and fortuitous encounter that is present at this place

 This is one of the reason why he did not yet come down the mountain even after a week

One of that part was that he still did not want to acknowledge his reality. The other part of himself somehow believe it and wanted to wait for that opportune moment

Li Xin is ready to fight a pack of wolves.

There is a cave not far from where he is. That cave is home to a lot of wolves. Someone had been rearing wolves in this mountain.

Li Xin did not know who it is but from his experience playing the game, he believes that there is a martial artist that is also in the mountain.

These wolves however are not like normal wolves. These were drugged up wolves. That is the best description Li Xin could give.

In the game he was already pretty powerful when he went to this mountain. So, when he kills the wolves, he cleared the quest and got a lot of skill points.

At that time however, he went to this mountain with his sect members and the identity that he has is not Li Xin.

The wolves’ itself is not that powerful. Drug induced, the wolves is more powerful and crazier but also lacks tactical control. For some reason, they would only come out at night.

Li Xin had a theory that whoever is raising these wolves is doing it as his or her protection.

Li Xin smiles thinking about the possible skill points that he could get after he cleared these wolves from the mountain.

After he had decided to accept that this is all real and he had to forget his old life so that he could survive in this new world, he drafted a plan last night.

He listed out all of the treasures, the martial arts manuals and the rumors that he heard when playing the game before

Some of those things might not be something that he could get. But for some of those, there is opportunity for him to get it

And he could choose differently this time.

Li Xin did not finish the game but there was a lot of things that he did know.

 The game did provide their own Wikipedia about the historical events and the characters that lives inside this world

Most of the characters is the character in the history of the Late Tang dynasty.

Li Xian shakes his head as he goes out to the yard.

He had made a canopy like place where he could eat his breakfast outdoors when   it is not raining.

The one thing that Li Xin could praise about was that the air in this ancient world is very clear and even just by inhaling it, you would feel like you are energized.

The water is clear, breathing is easy and unlike the world where Lucas come from where most of China had been destroyed by Antimatter Nuclear Bomb, it is not polluted

The world itself is polluted and there was a plan for humans to go to the Moon. And…. Li Xin shakes his head trying to rid of his thought

There is no confirmation that this world that he is in, is the same world, the same Earth that he is from

Even though this world also has a Tang dynasty, the way the history developed in this world is quite different

Of course at that time when he was reading the information of the game he just thought that the game developer was just changing the history to better fit the narrative of Wulin warriors going around fighting people.

Li Xin quickly brought out a few deer meats that he stored before and quickly roasted it with a few spices.

The system store does sell spices but damn, was it expensive!

But it is not like Li Xin could eat meat without salt.

Even though he could bear it considering the body of this kid has never yet tasted the luxurious eating experience of the modern world, when he did try, he just couldn’t bear it and he just splurge a lot of money to buy spices

He eats slowly savoring each taste while feeling the breeze of the wind.

It is still morning. Usually he would wake up at dawn.

But last night he had a lot of thoughts and he did not practice any martial arts. Instead he was thinking of what to do

He thought about what he could do and what is his plan now.

First, he needs to strengthen himself first.

There are many events that would be happening in the next few years.

And Li Xin wanted to participate in those events. It is different now. When he was playing the game, it was just a game

Interesting, addicting but in the end it was still a game. He could play it carefreely without thinking too much.

But…. now it is not just a game. It is his real life now.

And by god, this world is dangerous.

There is war everywhere and when the tang dynasty crumbles, war would break out in all directions.

Weak, and he would be trampled. Strong, he could survive.

So, when he is thinking about matters last night, he was not thinking of trying to do it like when he was playing the game

He could not risk everything like when he did playing it. Because it is not a game

Even though he has the system, is it really a game? Li Xin get hurt a few times. There is even some scar on his body, the effect of being swiped by a claw of a large wolf.

It hurts. He bleeds and he felt pain. There were times when it was a close call. He wonders if he died, would he get revived?

Would he somehow get back to his world? One time…. there is this one time a few days ago, he had this thought.

It was when he kills a horde of wild boars. The prize for that losing of focus, was a deep cut on his rib

He sews his own skin with needles and thread after that to settle the bleeding. He does have a healing pill but he did not want to use it

It was only a week but he had experienced more in this week than his whole entire twenty years of life.

He kills beast twice his size by his bare hands. He built a hut. Learn to farm and hunt. Learn to distinguish herbs and poisonous fruits.

Seven days that felt more than twenty years. A few days ago, when he was battling that wild boar, he thought to himself, if he dies, would he go back?

Back to his family? Back to his friend? To his world?

For a moment, he thought of whether dying was no so bad. And in that moment, he was pierced by the tusk of a wild boar.

The pain woke him up. He slashes and sword qi shoots out and cut the wild boar into two.

That day, he learns the hard way losing his focus in a battle. When he got back, he thought to himself whether did he thought about suicide?

Scarily enough, he did.

He thought if he died, would he not go back?

But then his rationality returns.

There is no guarantee that if he died he would go back to his world. There is no guarantee that if he died, he would be revived.

If everything around him is real, if even his pain is real, then if he died, wouldn’t that death be real too?

It took him a few days before he gets his head straight. And it was last night that he had the determination to finally treat this seriously.

That this is not a bad dream, this is his reality now. And acknowledging that, fills his heart with determination

He won’t think about things like suicide anymore.

That was a low point for him.

That is why he now no longer called himself Lucas.

Because it reminds him of his old world.

And he is afraid that if he thought too much about a world he could no longer goes to, he might think of some drastic measures

He called himself Li Xin.

But this did not mean that he is giving up entirely.

Who knows?

If he became the strongest in Wulin or the most powerful person in martial arts way, he would reach some achievement that would give him the chance to go home

There is always a chance.

He decided to think like that and to try to live in this world. he is not exactly a positive person but he is not the type of guy that wallows in misery all the time either

He knows that he needs to take action.

This is his first action that would give him a foothold to survive in the turbulent years ahead. Strengthening himself.

That is his current priority right now

>>> 

Instead of showing you his status window and going through all that basic stuff, the system that Li Xin had would be explained slowly over the course of him living and interacting with the system in the forest.

I also skipped right through to a week after he had arrived in this new world.

So, there is things that the readers wouldn’t know and I like it to be a mystery.

For example, what kind of sword technique he has, what kind of knowledge he had about this world and so on and so forth

I think this is the best way of revealing the attributes in the system without making it look too much like an info dump.

So, it would be explained slowly and after almost all of it the core is explained, only then I would show the status window of Li Xin.

This story is about Jianghu, Wulin and wuxia. It would not have people slicing worlds or Xianxia like world.

If that is what you wanted, this is not the story for you. If you like the kind of world that Jin Yong and Gu Long had created, this work intends to emulate certain parts of that kind of vibe.

Though, they would be a little bit superhuman than just normal martial artist.

There would be politics and entanglements between sects and country and the conflict between the relationship of differing faction.

But because Li Xin is not really from this world, the readers would see Jianghu from his eyes and how he affects Wulin bad or good.

Of course, this is just a few chapters and this is just the long term planning I have and maybe I would change it in the middle. I hope to see what you all think.

And it would drag a bit in the beginning because of wanting to show certain part of life of Li Xin. However, since I already accumulated a lot of chapters, you don’t have to worry since I would be posting it all in one go so you could go to the good stuff.

Think of it as one infodump suffering that you would not have to suffer after that.

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