"God, I can't get used to this," Kaan muttered, stumbling out of the rapidly collapsing vortex. The air was heavy, thick with an invisible, energized density. It made his limbs feel energized, but his head throbbed.
"Interface!"
The holographic display snapped to attention instantly, confirming his location and mission.
Dimension Name: Xingluo (Level 1)
Objective: Reverse-engineer a stable, basic Qi Accumulator Formation.
Reward: Basic Qi Cultivation Manual (Foundation Stage).
Failure: Revocation of all travel rights and usage of the Interdimensional Travel Inc. system.
"Qi? This is a Murim dimension! I've hit the jackpot, nice." Kaan grinned, but the smile died as he registered the failure condition. "Revocation of all travel rights? High stakes this time." He looked around warily. "By the way, where the hell am I?"
DING!
Initializing Map function.
"Oooh, that's new. Let's see." Kaan watched the terrain render on the holographic display. "I'm in the middle of the forest right now, but I see a large civilization directly to the south." He quickly unzipped his backpack and pulled out the smooth, flowing fabric of his disguise. "I knew this would happen, I swear." He quickly changed into the Murim robes, securing his modern gear safely beneath the layers.
Just as he was about to hit the road, a sharp, terrified sound cut through the dense silence of the forest:
"AAAAAAH!" It was a woman's scream.
As soon as Kaan heard the scream, his instinct was to run toward the voice, but his strategic mind took over. He had no powers and no idea of the danger level. He slowly approached the scene, utilizing the thick brush for cover.
Behind the bushes, Kaan saw a woman, approximately sixteen years old, with skin of the fairest porcelain, surrounded by three large, wolf-looking creatures with unnatural speed. Kaan carefully pulled out an MRE package containing heavily flavored meat, opened it, and threw it as fast as he could toward the beasts.
"Hey! I have a meal for you creatures! Get lost!" he shouted.
The wolf-like creatures looked at Kaan with confusion, but immediately smelled the rich, delicious scent of the highly preserved meat. They abandoned the girl and scrambled toward the MRE package as if their lives depended on it.
The woman, now free of danger, quickly ran to Kaan's side. "謝謝你救了我,請問你叫什麼名字?"
DING!
Starting Auto-Translate.
Language: Mandarin (Traditional) - Full function achieved due to absorbed language base.
All of a sudden, Kaan perfectly understood the woman's voice in his mind. "Thank you for saving me. May I know your name?"
"Kaan," he decided to use his original name.
"Kā ēn? That's a different name. You are not from here, I suppose?" she said, looking at Kaan's robes and the large, modern backpack with suspicion.
"Yes, I am not from here," Kaan lied easily, maintaining a confident posture. "I am a traveler coming to these opportune lands—the Central Plains—to appreciate its beauty. When I saw you, I couldn't just stand by."
"Again, thank you for saving me. I am Mei, and my father is an influential figure in The Obsidian Cauldron Pavilion. Have you heard of it?"
Kaan instantly processed the information. "Obsidian Cauldron Pavilion... this could be an alchemy or refinement society. Perfect. And this girl might take me straight to the source."
"I think I heard of it while traveling," Kaan said and then asked, "So what were you doing in the middle of the forest?"
"I was out hunting," Mei replied. "And my guards suddenly disappeared. I didn't know what to do and just ran away in a random direction. You know the rest."
As soon as Mei finished speaking, Kaan got a firm grip on her hand and quickly pulled her down into the nearest, most concealed bush. In Kaan's mind, this was the perfect setup for a Murim assassination. Part of his consciousness silently thanked him for reading too many Murim manhwa.
"What are you doing?" Mei whispered, startled.
"I think you are a target for assassination," Kaan whispered back, scanning the treeline. "Do you find it believable that your guards just 'got lost'? What I know is that every influential person has strong guards, and with proper training, they can't just vanish. Think about it."
Mei panicked. "So what are we going to do?"
"I have an idea," Kaan replied, "but I'm not entirely sure it will work."
"What is it?" Mei asked. "Do you have spare clothes with you?" Kaan asked.
Mei pulled a sack out of thin air, inside which were women's clothes. "Is that a spatial ring? I have to get one of these," Kaan thought, his eyes momentarily fixated on the disappearing sack while scattering the clothes around them.
"I'm making this to fool the assassins," Kaan explained, ignoring her concern for the scattered clothes. "You just have to spill some blood on this piece, and I will plant it where you were originally. We'll set a very primitive rope trap, and as soon as they get captured, we'll knock out the assassin and vanish, because we don't know how strong they are. There is a town right to the south of us. We should be safe once we get there."
Mei nodded, then quickly cut her hand slightly to spill blood onto the fabric. While she did this, Kaan set up the trap—a very primitive deer snare he had once seen while researching survival techniques. "I never thought this would be beneficial," he thought. They planted the bloody clothes and set the trail leading toward the snare.
After a few minutes, a man, approximately 1.80 cm tall, wearing a black cloth hiding his face, appeared.
"So, you're struggling for your life!" the man sneered, following the trail. "I will capture you and ransom you for a hefty amount of Qi stones."
Swoooosh!
The man stepped right into the snare. "Aaaaaaaah! What the hell?" he screamed as his leg was tied and he was yanked upside down. Kaan didn't hesitate, delivering a hard, precise BONK! to the back of the man's head with a heavy rock.
"Ah!" The assassin lost consciousness immediately.