‘Aren’t you a curious fellow?’

He stared at deer. ‘Looks like you need some time to recuperate.’ Lin Ming stroked behind its ear causing the deer to narrow its eyes and place its head on Lin Ming’s lap. He stared at the deer as his thoughts turned to something he had been avoiding; his purpose. ‘I don’t know what I’m doing in this world. And I don’t know what to do.’ He took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh mountain air. ‘I’m not like the protagonist of this book. That Lin Ming wanted to pursue the end of the Martial Path and then after encountering war and death, he set out to find the way to resurrect people he cared about.’ A sigh was released as his gaze turned to the deer resting its head in his lap. ‘I know life is beautiful precisely because it isn’t eternal.’ Flashes of memories appeared in his eyes as his gaze rested at the deer.

“You know, sometimes I wish I could do this all over again.” A pale and thin hand was held by his own. “To fall in love, to experience pain, joy and sorrow.” The hoarse voice was nothing more than a whisper, as her green eyes peered into his. “If its with you, I don’t mind a repeat.” A smile hung on her pale blue lips.

He opened up his inventory and pulled out the map he had received from the Seven Profound Valleys. The mark indicating the position of the Divine Phoenix Island was particularly conspicuous. More memories appeared in his mind, as he felt like he had been transported.

“Good morning cadets, today is the first day of deployment. I won’t say much, just that it will be hell from here on out!” He remembered the stern he stood with a weight pressing on his chest and a barren land before him.

“Captain, I need some backup!” He remembered clutching desperately to a scalding hot barrel, the scent of blood floating through the air and the deafening explosions echoing in the distance.

“Hang in there buddy, we’re almost there, just hold on!” He remembered his limbs rebelling against him and not willing to move, yet somehow moving nonetheless as he dragged the body of his comrade.

“He was one of the best soldiers I knew, but more than that, he was a really bad liar and one of the best tellers of punny dad jokes.” He remembered the moistness of his eyes when speaking about a lost close friend. “I wish I was faster, I wish I was the one in front, I wish I…I wish…I wish that things would have gone differently, but I know I can’t change the past. In that case, above all else, I wish him a happy journey.”

“Commander, we just got word, its an ambush.” The burden of controlling the lives of others.

“I know. Proceed.”

“Commander, they stand no chance.”

“I know. Proceed.”

The burden of sacrificing the lives of his subordinates.

“Congratulations commander, or should I say general? Thanks to your maneuver, we now have an excuse to invade.”

“I don’t want the promotion chief.”

“Well its too late for that now. Listen, I know the way you view yourself and its best if you change that view now, trust me it doesn’t get easier.” The hands stained with filth patting his back. “You’re gonna have to dip your toe into this cesspool if you want to progress. I know your wife’s illness is really weighing on your wallet. Just trust me and take the promotion, the dollars will help you lighten the load.”

He remembered building it up, only to watch it all crumble and explode in a ball of fire. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. Finally, the bustling noise of children moving about as well as the sound of chairs scraping against the tiled floors as they were moved about in a hurry entered his ears. In a crowded cafeteria, a lone student sat in the corner, unbothered by the noise.

‘War is inevitable.’ His eyes remained unmoved from the map. ‘I can’t stop it. Its a downpour.’ A cool current emerged from his mind, subduing the churning feeling in his chest. ‘I can only hope to guide the path of a single droplet.’ Lin Ming knew from the test that his current power was enough to at least tackle a Revolving Core realm enemy but he was unclear about his exact power level. He had hoped that by joining the Divine Phoenix Island, he would be able to deter the South Horizon Demon Region in order to delay the war slightly.

‘Its too naïve of me to think that way. In the end, despite the Gamer’s Mind helping me clam down, I was still too rash and far too confident on my abilities.’ This was the reason behind him deciding not to go to the Divine Phoenix Island any longer. After facing Xiantian and witnessing the intensity of true essence in their bodies as well as the way their bodies functioned, he knew that Revolving Core would be his limit when fighting an enemy. Although he could escape from Life Destruction realm enemies using Zephyr Body as well as Meditation, fighting them was out of the question.

‘The rumors should be enough to create some tension however. I know the ancestors of the Divine Phoenix Island and the South Horizon Demon Region are far too cautious. They wouldn’t make any moves for the time being, afraid that a third-party would benefit.’ Shaking his head, he placed the map back into his inventory. ‘This is all I can do for the time being, I'm still too weak at the moment. Now I simply need to wait and hope that my luck is strong enough to keep everything in the same flow as the original plot, at least until I get my hands on the Magic Cube. After that, I should be in a high enough realm to be able to dictate the script.’ A smile appeared on his face as he closed his eyes and leaned back.

“Yo! Did you read it the latest chapter?”

The student looked up from the ipad sitting in front of him. “Which one? GravityTales releases three chapters per day.”

“Wait what?”

“Yeah, I was just reading the latest chapter.”

“Damn, I need to catch up then.” The girl sat opposite him and quickly fished out her ipad, beginning to read. The student would occasionally look up, seeing her green eyes focusing on the ipad. A smile would also appear on his face briefly before going back to reading. A little while later, he closed the browser and leaned back. The girl also placed her ipad down almost at the same time. “I’m getting so tired of this repeating loop. All Lin Ming does is get chased before somehow managing to become powerful enough to kill his enemy before repeating the cycle. I wish the author would come up with something new.”

“You can only go through so many scenarios before running out of ideas. Its already good enough that Cocooned Cow is somehow managing to keep things interesting.”

“Whatever!” She waved her hands. “Hey, you wanna play a match of Vainglory?”

“Alright,” he released a sigh, “but please stick to your role of Jungler okay?”

“I can't...the urge to gank...its too strong!”

“Its called baiting for a reason.”

The two soon got busy furiously tapping on their ipads as the afternoon sun shone through the cafeteria window.

‘Childhood memories are still the best.’ A smile appeared on Lin Ming's face as he immersed himself in his memories.

Ekeriel

Hey guys, I've been suffering really bad migraines all week this week so I'm not quite done with the other chapters. I'll release them sometime later today.