Other than the human realm, or Planet-2099 in this case, there were three main realms: the Heavenly Realm for Constellations, the Demon Realm for powerful beasts that rejected Constellation status, and the Ghost Realm for regular humans who fell from grace and became deadly spirits.

According to my stellar and very original worldbuilding from Surviving My First Round, these three realms had always existed but only became accessible to Planet-2099 at the start of the web novel. Of course, there were always anomalies given transmigrators, reincarnation, et cetera et cetera, but I avoided most of the complexities by avidly banning any form of regression from my novel. Call it lazy writing, but I considered it caring for my mental health.

Jun Wei, however, transcended this system.

Yet he had no knowledge of this fact, and he was now the man standing just beside his car, watching as the bear stormed toward my truck.

Yang thrust his arm across my chest and forced me back into my seat as he leaned over, blaring the car horn and flashing the headlights at the bear. 

I exhaled in surprise before squeezing my eyes shut in anticipation of a sudden attack, but I slowly realized the sound had upset the bear.

“Black bears hate noise,” Yang whispered, his hand still firmly pressed on the car horn. The bear growled before standing on its hind legs, bringing an arm to shield its face before turning to another way in search of an easier meal.

Once the bear retreated, Yang let out a tense breath and turned to face me. “You alright?”

A complicated expression crossed my face as the arm pinning me to my chair off. “I was thinking of doing that. You just beat me to it.”

He quickly withdrew his arm like he was burned as realization set in. “Ah, sorry,” he said in a nervous tone, waving his hands in front of his face. Yang opened his mouth to say more in a panic, but I moved my hand in front of his lips in a gesture to shush him. The goblins were casually wandering the streets, never attacking people as they continued to panic, but that wouldn’t last long. 

A sudden knock sounded from the car window causing me to jolt before I saw Wei’s face. I rolled down the window a sliver, peeking at him through the crack. 

“Jie, are you alright? Please don’t panic—I’m sure officers will be here soon.”

Aw, cute! Wait, did he say jie? 

One of my eyes twitched as I heard a slight laugh from Yang. Clearing my throat, I responded, “Thank you, ge,” I said with a pressed smile, enunciating the title. “Do you mind if we join you? What’s your name?”

Wei’s face flushed bright red at the correction, and he awkwardly choked on his own words for a moment. “My family name is Jun, and my given name is Wei. Please feel free to join. I’ve already called the police… mei niu.”

Did I look that old??

Yang made a sputtering sound beside me as he did his best to hold in a violent laugh. 

Wei’s eyes lingered on me for a moment before he spoke up. “Is something wrong?”

“Huh? Oh,” I mumbled. I had zoned out for a moment, and my hand had moved up as if trying to push up Wei’s sleeve to look at his bandages. “My name is Wu Peijin.”

Before he could respond, a quick flash appeared beside us, causing both of us to turn away from the burning light. 

The Azure Dragon appeared and gave a little wave toward me with its small clawed hand.

[You seem to have adapted pretty fast.]

“Move your broadcast somewhere else. I’m kind of in the middle of something if you haven’t noticed,” I replied in a snarky tone, waving my hand back and forth as if shooing an annoying fly.

[Do you wanna die?!]

“You haven’t done anything since the Chapter began, so I doubt you’re allowed to. Besides, I’m bringing you a lot of constellation viewers, right? I’m already receiving notifications.”

The Azure Dragon gave me a stunned look as it continued to float on its tail in the air. After all, what I said was true. Even though this was my own novel, it was limited by how realistic the plot could be. No being could defy that unless they had enough spiritual power.

The Azure Dragon opened its long snout to respond, but its attention quickly turned toward the sound of a desperate cry down the freeway.

Right, it was going to start soon. The timer was ticking down, and people were panicking. In testing times like these, people became the real monsters.

A woman stumbled out of her car, wielding a baseball bat. “I-I can’t take it anymore! I don’t want to die!” Tears streamed down her face, and she raised her arms in the air before bashing the bat down on the head of a curious goblin that had been peering inside her car. Its skull quickly cracked in half as the goblin collapsed onto the ground, convulsing as she continued to strike it.

More and more people seemed to join the woman as they attacked the goblins, tearing off their small limbs as the goblins cried out in pain, trying to scramble away. They let out pained, vulnerable cries, but they continued to be massacred. Even some of the elders and children that Wei had escorted began to attack the goblins out of sheer fear.

Yang stared at the sight, his glowing orange eyes seemingly enchanted. “Peijin, what happens if more than half of us survive the Chapter? Don’t half of us need to die in the time constraint?”

As if on cue, a ghastly, animalistic scream rang out into the crowd.

The woman who had first attacked was suddenly swarmed by goblins. They grabbed her hair and pummeled her onto the ground. One picked up a sharp skewer and stood above her face as she let out blood-curdling cries. He lifted up the skewer and pierced it through her eye and into her brain. She fell limp as her eye slowly oozed out onto the hot pavement below her and sizzled, cooking.

More and more goblins began to attack people, swarming the ones that had assaulted or killed others. Wei scrambled forward to protect the children who were now being cornered, but I gripped his hand and pulled him back toward the truck.

“You can’t change their fate! If you do, the goblins will kill you next. You can’t save the kids and avoid the goblins!” I shouted, my fingers pressing into his arm and leaving red marks. 

Wei turned to me, a mixed expression of shock and disgust on his face as he tore his bandaged arm from my grasp. “I can do both!”

A small smile crossed my lips as I unbuckled the seatbelt and jumped out of the car, signaling for Yang to follow. I looked up at the sky, spotting the bright, twinkling star just overhead. As long as I could paint Wei as someone who fought for justice, things were going just as I planned.

Wei reached down and picked up a young child being assaulted by the goblins and dashed toward his car, quickly locking her in the backseat. I watched as he darted back to try and reach an older man who had fallen while trying to run from the swarming goblins.

Suddenly, a young girl wearing her school uniform lunged at the man and bashed her fists into his face, goring him and assisting the goblins. She panted, his fists drenched in blood, and the goblins began to clamor around her, seeming to cheer as they circled her. 

Liu Yue.

She was a truly despicable character, and it was easy to see how she became a Ghost Queen later on. Cruel, calculating, and menacingly intelligent, she approached her newfound world in a purely statistical manner. But, did she appear in the first scene? Didn’t she join later on?

“No!” Wei cried as he made a mad dash to try and attend to the man. But, it was far too late for him. 

Yue cackled as she slowly stood up, blood dripping down her arms in thick black streaks. Glittering blue particles seemed to explode from her feet, creating a halo of light around her. Lifting a finger, she pointed it at a parked car—the same car that Wei had just left the child in—and watched as the goblins raided it, smashing the window and goring the child inside. 

I scowled. I hated Yue the most out of every character I created. She adapted too fast, far too fast, as if she had awaited this situation just like me. 

“How dare you!” Wei shouted, his fists balled and trembling in sheer rage. “How could you ever kill another person!”

Yue’s head swiveled over to face him in a nonchalant manner as she gave a wide and thin smile. “Just trying to get some more coins.”

It was like watching two parts of myself fight one another. Had I not known anything about this world, who was to say I wouldn’t have taken a similar route to Yue? Even now, my actions were guided by a form of author manipulation; I had a desired conclusion for Wei, and I was simply pushing him toward my goal. 

My eyes shifted to Wei’s arm, where it seemed as if the bandages started snaking around his arm. Now was my time to jump in.

“Hey, Yue!” I shouted, walking toward her, cracking my knuckles before shaking out my hand.

She whipped his head around and stared at me with insane eyes. She let out a scoff as he turned toward me, the goblins seeming to await her orders.

“Using my first name? You’re entitled. Who are you?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

I said a few words to myself in my head: invest 500 coins into strength and 1000 into physique.

Yue’s eyes trailed to the truck behind me, reading the large company font. “So you’re in pest control, too? That’s pathetic.”

“I’m an oracle now, actually.”

She tilted her chin up, mocking an impressed look. “Really? Then tell me. What’s about to happen?”

 

“I’m about to beat the shit out of you.”