Chapter 1: A New Beginning

Chapter 1: A New Beginning

November 9, 1348.

In the Rune Kingdom, the city of Tinggen.

The cold wind of late autumn blew into Iron Cross Street. At three in the morning, apart from homeless wanderers or drunken fools passed out, no one lingered on the streets. It wouldn't be until around five o'clock that the hardworking stall vendors would come out to prepare for a new day. Now was their time to rest, with only rats scurrying out from the sewer entrances.

A broken wooden sign labeled Vulture Pub swayed in the wind. Suddenly, a crisp bursting sound came from the half-open door, and the rusted iron chain on the upper left corner of the sign broke, causing it to collapse halfway.

No one came to see. The weary people were seizing the time before dawn to rest under their blankets, and the alert small groups knew that half a month ago, the owner of the pub had vanished into thin air. After the bartender ran off with the cash, anything of value left had been divided among them. In such a place, vanishing without a trace was tantamount to being declared dead. No one would bother to take over this rundown establishment. Perhaps in a month or two, a new owner would come with a sign like Vulture Pub and once again fill the basement with watered-down, inferior alcoholic beverages.

At this moment, in the empty storage room underground, a young girl was slowly pushing herself up from the ground.

Li Xing was awakened by the explosion sound right in front of her face. When she opened her eyes, her right hand was shielding her right eye, clutching something tightly. She didn't let go but used her fist to prop herself up, allowing her to sit up and take deep breaths. It felt as if she had been suffocating for a long time, like she had just crawled out from the bottom of the sea.

Her body was extremely stiff, almost unrecognizable as her own. Li Xing shook her head vigorously, trying to shake off the strange sense of dislocation.

A candle in the middle of the floor provided her with enough light, though it was nearly burnt out.

This is... Where am I? Why am I wearing... Li Xing murmured to herself. She lifted her arm, her gaze sweeping over the dusty, wrinkled suit she was wearing. The suit was ill-fitting, with the shoulders and sleeves too long for her. She shook her head and saw strands of hair hanging over her nose, not her familiar black but a pale golden yellow with a slight curl, almost like moonlight on frost.

Li Xing shivered suddenly, trying to use her empty left hand to pull more strands of hair down, but she pulled too hard and ended up tearing several strands out. She stared at the hair between her fingers, fear creeping up her spine: This is ridiculous, right? It was utterly absurd.

Li Xing had read many web novels about time travel and was someone who enjoyed spending time on various apps. Those fantastical stories always made her smile. But Li Xing never wished for such a thing to happen to her, a person with a stable social circle. Disappearing out of the blue would be too cruel for those close to her. Nagging parents, her pet tabby cat that liked to chew on charging cables, friendly colleagues, college classmates she occasionally met, and netizens who shared her interests—how would they cope with her disappearance?

Just thinking about it made her memories start to fade, details slipping away like sand in a broken hourglass. The faces and names of people she should be intimately familiar with gradually blurred, leaving behind only painful scenes: her parents crying over her belongings, bringing her cable-chewing tabby cat home, colleagues complaining about the work she left behind, friends sending messages to her social media accounts that went unanswered, asking when she would return.

The overwhelming sadness and despair nearly crushed Li Xing.

She couldn't hold back her tears, alone in this completely unfamiliar environment, drowning in increasing panic and loneliness. She covered her mouth and sobbed quietly.

Tears flowed down Li Xing's right fist into her palm.

It felt like something was moving inside, making Li Xing realize that she had been clenching her fist tightly for some reason, as if she had forgotten to open her hand.

So, Li Xing spread her palm open—inside was a semi-transparent little worm, covered in rings of patterns, with no distinguishable head or tail. Yet, the worm was arching its body, swaying back and forth on Li Xing's hand.

Though the worm made no sound, Li Xing heard it expressing disdain for her tears and conveying suppressed anger and dissatisfaction, making her feel inexplicably scolded.

Li Xing cried even harder, holding the worm as large drops of tears fell on it: I don't know either! I don't know why I'm here, where this is! I really want to go home. I don't know why I'm here, I didn't want this accident to happen! This scene, viewed from the side, seemed quite foolish, but the worm seemed to sense Li Xing's emotions. It slowly lowered itself and then curled up into a small ball, as if deciding to ignore Li Xing, letting the tears wash over it.

After her outburst, Li Xing's emotions gradually calmed down. A few minutes later, she stopped crying. But when she tried to place the worm on the ground, it burrowed into the sleeve of her jacket at an unbelievably fast speed.

Hey! Li Xing was a bit panicked, frantically shaking her sleeve, but the worm showed no intention of coming out.

Li Xing hesitated for a moment before deciding to say, Then don't move around, okay? Of course, she received no response.

Li Xing stood up and tried moving her limbs. Fortunately, everything seemed intact, and she didn't feel particularly uncomfortable. At this moment, she really wanted to find a mirror to see what this new identity of hers looked like.

After searching all her pockets, Li Xing found only a white handkerchief and a dark brown leather wallet, but she didn't recognize the denominations of the coins and banknotes inside, which didn't use the Arabic numerals she was familiar with. Hidden in a secret compartment of the wallet were several extremely sharp blades, which almost cut her fingers when she reached in. Besides that, there was nothing else—no ID card or driver's license, nor any contact information or place names.

Not finding a mobile phone was the most puzzling part for Li Xing. Would someone who could afford a suit not have the money to buy a phone?

Then she glanced at the candle on the ground and felt a block in her heart: This person didn't have a phone, but could it be that this place didn't even have electricity or a network?

After rolling up her sleeves and trouser legs to ensure she wouldn't trip while walking, Li Xing picked up the copper base of the candle and headed towards the wooden staircase.

Fortunately, the wooden board above the underground storage room was open, so Li Xing didn't have to move it herself. She saw many indistinguishable brown liquids on it. Mei Li walked into the front room, which was as messy as the back, with a damaged long bar and some broken tables and chairs. The floor was covered in a thin layer of dust, and the clearest footprints matched the shoes she was wearing.

Li Xing saw no electrical appliances, but another oil lamp was shattered behind the bar.

Then she walked out of the house.

Facing the crimson moon in the sky, Li Xing covered her eyes tightly, unable to suppress the laughter that intermittently escaped from her lips, gradually turning mournful.

Despair weighed heavily on Li Xing's heart—this was definitely not the world she remembered.

Where could she go?

Li Xing sat silently on an empty crate at the entrance of the Vulture Pub until dawn, quietly looking up at the sky as the red moon set and the sun rose.

Continuously pondering what to do, Li Xing felt fearful about the future, a fear that prevented her from taking any steps towards anywhere, hoping no one would disturb her.

Li Xing felt as if an invisible barrier surrounded her, isolating her from the outside world, but she didn't dwell on it.

Until people began to appear at the other end of the street, Li Xing watched various individuals pass by, their noisy calls and footsteps gradually warming her. However, these people all shared a common trait—the marks of poverty etched into their clothes, actions, and dim faces, a reminder that crime was rampant in such environments, making Li Xing curl up uneasily. Her gaze followed the others closely, observing them.

Fortunately for Li Xing, she could understand their language. She tried to absorb any information she could, eager to learn about this world.

Li Xing was relieved that she could understand the language of the people around her. She tried to absorb any information she could, eager to understand this world.

She mimicked a few passersby, quietly practicing phrases like Good morning, Nice weather today, Praise the goddess, Storm above, and Stay away from me, you little thief. To her surprise, she found that she could speak this language fluently, as if she had been speaking it for a long time.

Soon, Li Xing felt something wriggle in her sleeve. It seemed that the little worm understood what she was saying and was mocking her.

This time, Li Xing whispered to it in the language of the others: So do you know where this is? Or do you recognize me?

The worm's conveyed meaning was clearer and more specific this time. Li Xing felt it was disdainful, thinking her an idiot. Although it wasn't expressed in such harsh terms, she could fully sense the creature's contempt and scorn.

Why was a worm so arrogant!

Li Xing pursed her lips, looking at the nearby street where stalls were set up and shops had opened their doors, with the aroma of baked bread wafting over. She touched her stomach and surprisingly found she wasn't very hungry. Li Xing immediately decided to save her money, not knowing how much she could buy with it she had to be as frugal as possible.

As the small street became livelier, it also became more chaotic. Someone threw rotten fish into a nearby channel, and a pungent smell began to drift over. Li Xing didn't like this environment, but with nowhere else to go, she could only sit on the uncomfortable crate and continue to take it all in.

Fortunately, no one seemed to notice her. It was as if they couldn't see her.

Wait, she hadn't become a ghost, had she?

As Li Xing's mind wandered, a commotion suddenly arose from the crowd. A woman's voice shouted, Catch that thief! That kid there!

Almost at the moment the boy in the grey shirt and beret approached, Li Xing thought about catching the thief, and her hand reacted faster than her thoughts, accurately grabbing the boy's forearm. The swiftly running boy nearly fell from her tug. His hat fell to the ground, and he looked at Li Xing in shock, as if he had only just noticed someone was there.

Li Xing was startled by her own reflexes, staring wide-eyed at the boy. His gaunt cheeks looked as if he had never had a full meal, not to mention the bruises on his forehead and chin, which made Li Xing instinctively loosen her grip. The shouts from the crowd behind grew closer, and the boy suddenly pushed past Li Xing and ran forward. As Li Xing stepped aside, her hand subconsciously snatched something from the boy's embrace before letting him run into the crowd in another direction.

Catch the thief! There's a thief—huff... The middle-aged woman with graying hair pounded her waist with her hand. She had finally squeezed out of the crowd but lost track of the boy. The woman leaned against the crate, gasping for air, thinking about how she had lost this week's wages, the money for food at home, and she was on the verge of tears.

Just then, a rough red cloth bundle was handed to her. The woman snatched it, holding it tightly to her chest, before looking at the girl opposite her: Thank you, thank you so much...

Li Xing shook her head, but out of caution, she didn't speak, just smiled at the woman, then squeezed into the crowd and walked unhurriedly towards the street corner.

The feeling of being invisible that she had experienced before disappeared, replaced by a faint sense of fatigue. Li Xing rubbed her eyes and forehead, feeling a slight hunger that wasn't the usual physiological desire to eat but more like a reminder from her body to replenish what had just been expended.

Li Xing reflected on what she had just done: the invisibility effect, the rapid response when grabbing the boy, and the swift theft—all indicated that she had abilities beyond those of ordinary people.

But in Li Xing's memory, she was just an ordinary modern person.

While feeling strange about her situation, Li Xing also felt somewhat reassured. With such skills, she could try to find some work to earn money, right?

Li Xing's gaze swept over a fruit stand, with many fruits she had never seen before. The red, fist-shaped fruits looked similar to apples, but she wondered how they tasted.

As Li Xing thought this, she glanced at the fruit stand owner, a bearded man who was impatiently dealing with a couple trying to haggle. His attention wasn't on her.

Then Li Xing's hand moved before she was fully aware, and by the time she realized it, her bent arm and body were already holding two red fruits. The unpaid fruits were well hidden by her oversized sleeve cuff, completely invisible from the outside, and she had already moved several meters away with the crowd.

Li Xing walked stiffly through the crowd, panicked about her instinctive act of theft: Could this body be a habitual offender? How could she have acted on a mere thought and stolen something?

Should she return the fruits? But that would be hard to explain. Li Xing didn't even recognize the currency here she had no idea how much she should pay.

Lost in thought, Li Xing kept walking and finally left the messy street behind. Unable to find any clean water source, she wiped the red fruits several times with the inside of her shirt before daring to put them in her mouth.

The fruit was crisp and sweet, though not as delicious as the apples Li Xing remembered. Still, the taste wasn't strange, at least not beyond human comprehension.

But what next?

Li Xing stood at the street corner, looking at the road sign with characters she didn't recognize, falling into confusion again.

She needed to learn—desperately!

(End of Chapter)