Chapter 1: Chapter One: Before Stuff Hits a Wall

Chapter One: Before Stuff Hits a Wall

Chen Mei had been working as a waiter in a restaurant for the past few months to support herself while she looked for a better job that would allow her to pay off student debt more quickly.

On the morning of her first day off. She decided to use the time to finally start Demon Lord's Reverence (or DLR for short.) A popular xianxia cultivation novel that she had been meaning to get to for ages.

After working all day, she finally had some free time. So she decided to use it to marathon one of her favorite pastimes: reading web novels.

She spent the next few days without a break, completely consumed by the book and unwilling to put it down even for a moment.

However, the more chapters she breezed through the more the quality of the writing dropped for the worst. Eventually she began to suspect that the book was a hoax.

There was no way a web novel so popular would have such poor writing. It was almost as if the author had paid for bots to get the high ranking.

Against better judgment she kept going. The more that time passed the more she was convinced that the novel was indeed a fraud. The plot was so generic that she couldn't help but feel sorry for the main character.

It was just like what she had been told by her friends in class. The world's newest famous xianxia writer Buff Ginseng had obviously hired someone to fake the reviews to increase profits.

Soon a scandal broke that it was indeed the case. Nonetheless, whether negative or positive, any publicity is good publicity.

If only that one time Chen Mei didn't leave a bad review because fate seemed to curse her; 'Flat characters and terrible plot! The only thing that is two dimensional are the countless big boobs from the main character's harem of copy paste jade beauties.'

The next thing she knew she was bombarded by advertisements for the novel.

Thus sometimes being infamous is far better than being celebrated. The book's sales skyrocketed and it quickly became a widely known internet sensation.

It also helped that the DLR was translated into several languages and even had an animated adaptation in the works.

Eventually Chen Mei's twenty-third birthday approached and she got a package in the mail. It was from an online friend, who was an avid fan of DLR.

"Really?" She sighed to herself with a surprised discontempt. It had to be a gag gift of some sort.

The present was a high quality limited edition plushy of the protagonist Yun Jianyi. It was almost a perfect replica of the character alright. He had large sad eyes instead of his usual arrogant expression.

Mei didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The only thing that the plushy had going for it was that it was soft to the touch.

For one she had never been a fan of plushies. They were too cutesy for her tastes. She always preferred things that had a practical use like clothes or money.

Yet the way the plushy was staring at her made her hesitate. Silently it seemed to plead with her to take it and love it no matter how badly written the novel was.

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It was so lifelike that it could have passed for a real person. Chen Mei knew that she should be outraged by such false advertising.

The way that it was staring at her made her feel weirdly uneasy. It was like it was looking at her with its own pair of human eyes, but a plushy is just that, an inanimate object.

Up on a shelf the inanimate object would be left to collect dust. Because while Chen Mei was a hater of DLR she didn't have the heart to throw out a present.

Nonetheless, it was also a Saturday. So she could afford to drink, unwind, relax and not worry about getting up early tomorrow for work. 

At first she started with the sugary crap before her mind was numb enough to handle the much stronger stuff. She chugged the last sip, soon she found the bottom of the bottle.

Feeling tipsy enough Chen Mei decided to head off to bed. But first she stopped to look at the time. It was already past midnight.

Lying on her back, she stared at the ceiling. The room was spinning, her vision was blurry. The second her head touched the pillow she apparently clocked out.

There was a sudden flash of light, but Chen Mei was sound asleep and so the strange phenomenon went unnoticed.
The next thing she knew was that she was being woken up by the glaring sun. 'Was I asleep for that long?' She thought groggily.

An idea that came to mind was that she needed to get up. Yet presumably it was a Sunday so no point in rushing. She could sleep in for another few minutes.

Chen Mei slowly opened her eyes, the sunlight streaming in made it difficult to adjust. This wasn't her apartment!

Her surroundings were completely ethereal, with only a faint light coming from the window. It was as if she was in some sort of dream. It took a few seconds for her to compose herself.

Plus she only ever had a single bed. Wait... Was she now in someone else's room? Yet it also made her feel conflicted, as if she were safe at home.

Chen Mei finally managed to fully open her eyes and look around. The space was small but expensive looking. It was well lit with natural sunlight instead of artificial light.

A bookshelf was set against the far wall and a window was at the far end with a chair in front of it. On the desk were an oil lamp, a quil and a stack of papers mixed with strange medical texts.

She had never been one to appreciate the finer things in life. But she couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder at her surroundings.

Yet those feelings soon began to turn into dread. All Chen Mei had to do was look outside to see cultivators on flying swords for the realization to set in.

The situation wasn't a fate worse than death but it certainly felt like that. Of all things she had woken up within that shitty novel as a certain cannon fodder fictional character.

One thing for sure: Demon Lord's Reverence was a book that deserved to be thrown away...

Now it was probably within her best interest to quickly adapt and avoid any interactions with Yun Jianyi.