Yang Haoxuan wanted to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt as heavy as mountains. A searing pain surged through his skull, making his mind feel like it was being torn apart. Cold sweat drenched his body, and a chilling numbness spread through his limbs. An overwhelming sense of dread took hold.
He couldn't move. Couldn't speak. The only thing he could feel was the cold, hard ground beneath his back.
"What… what's happening to me? Am I dying?"
Panic swelled in his heart. Suddenly, a torrent of fragmented memories erupted in his mind, nearly shattering his consciousness.
"Ugh…"
A faint groan escaped his lips—so weak it was barely audible.
"Yang Haoxuan! Yang Haoxuan! Young Master Yang!"
Voices rang out in the distance, accompanied by the rustling of footsteps over grass and leaves. But instead of worry or concern, the voices were laced with irritation, even resentment.
"Are they… calling me?"
"Why do their voices sound so unfamiliar?"
Instinctively, he wanted to call out for help, but all he could do was lie there like a corpse. His body felt colder by the second, and he could sense blood seeping from his waist.
"We found him! Yang Peng, he's over here!"
A female voice called out nearby.
"Really?"
A male voice responded, laced with displeasure.
Somehow, Yang Haoxuan felt an inexplicable dislike for the man, as if the animosity was mutual.
The woman knelt beside him. A faint fragrance drifted through the air as she gently examined his injuries, bringing him a small sense of relief.
"He was attacked by wolves. It must've been our shouting that scared them off," she said. Then came the sound of rummaging. "Good thing I brought some healing medicine."
"Wait."
The man's voice cut in sharply, hesitated, and then added coldly, "Let's just leave him. Don't help him."
A chill ran down Yang Haoxuan's spine.
"No… don't…"
His lips moved, but no words came out.
"We can't just abandon him!" the woman protested immediately.
"Ruo Lan! I'm doing this for us!" the man snapped. "We've known each other since we were kids. But Yang Haoxuan—he used his status to force that engagement on you. He's nothing but a cripple now, his cultivation ruined. Saving him will only bring you pain. But if we let nature take its course... we can finally be together."
There was no shame in the man's voice—only venom.
"No… she wouldn't…"
But to his horror, the woman hesitated.
"Don't be soft-hearted!" the man urged. "If someone else finds him, this chance will be gone. He wandered off on his own. It has nothing to do with us. Do you really want to marry a good-for-nothing and be the laughingstock of the clan?"
In the darkness, Yang Haoxuan couldn't see anything, but he could feel the woman stand up abruptly.
A moment later, his fears were confirmed.
"…Alright…"
Her voice trembled, filled with uncertainty.
"Yes!"
The man's delight was obvious. Yang Haoxuan heard their footsteps retreating into the distance.
"No… don't go…"
With all the strength he could muster, he whispered a plea—but they were already gone. Defeated, he shut his eyes and lost consciousness once more.
He didn't know how much time had passed when he awoke again. He was still weak, still lying on the cold forest floor—but this time, he could move. His eyes fluttered open. The world was blurry at first, then slowly sharpened.
No time to ponder where he was. His first thought was survival.
Even the slightest motion required immense effort. As he reached out, his hand brushed against something—small, round, and oddly warm.
A pill?
Holding it up to his face, he saw a pitch-black medicinal pellet. Then it clicked—he remembered the girl mentioning healing medicine. Could she have dropped it?
"Whatever. I'm dead anyway if I do nothing."
Without hesitation, he popped the pill into his mouth. To his surprise, the hard shell instantly melted, sending a warm surge down his throat and through his body.
Almost immediately, strength began to return to his limbs.
"What the hell? This stuff works like magic! No way modern medicine is this advanced…"
Yang Haoxuan sat up slowly and took in his surroundings: dense forest, towering ancient trees, thick canopies that blocked most of the sunlight. He was definitely not in his room playing an MMORPG anymore.
"Where the hell am I? Wait… last I remember, I was gaming at home…"
Then—bam!
The fragmented memories surged again, this time clearer and more coherent.
"No way… I transmigrated?!"
His voice was hoarse and shaky, but the realization struck hard. He looked down at his tattered robe, stained with blood. His waist had been mauled, but thankfully, the wound had stopped bleeding.
He slowly got to his feet, still weak but mobile.
As his thoughts cleared, he delved deeper into the memories of this new body. The world he was in was called Tianhe Continent, a place ruled by strength. It was said that at the pinnacle of the world stood the celestial Tianhe River—crossing it would grant immortality and divine ascension.
"So it's one of those cultivation worlds… and I'm this world's Yang Haoxuan?"
The original Yang Haoxuan, as it turned out, was a complete scumbag—a spoiled noble brat who abused his status, bullied the weak, and even committed heinous crimes against innocent villagers.
In his past life, this was exactly the kind of person Yang Haoxuan had always cursed online.
If not for his powerful father—the patriarch of one of the Four Great Clans of the Dayan Empire—he would've been torn apart by angry mobs long ago.
"Geez… lucky for me, his name isn't Li Gang, or this would be a bad meme come true."
He laughed bitterly.
Then, he recalled the two who had left him to die. The woman, Yang Ruolan, had been forcibly betrothed to him after he defiled her. The man, her childhood friend, clearly hated Yang Haoxuan's guts.
"No wonder they left me…"
Ironically, the old Yang Haoxuan had already paid for his sins. During one of his "exploits," he had tried to force himself on another girl—only to get caught by a passing expert who shattered his dantian on the spot.
Since then, he'd been a cripple, but still arrogant thanks to his father's protection.
"Wow. Scumbag. Trash. You're really setting me up for a redemption arc, huh?"
Yang Haoxuan groaned and staggered to his feet. A short distance ahead, he found a saber—the original owner's weapon. He picked it up and used it as a walking stick.
As he moved through the forest, a new fear crept in. He knew this mountain range. In fact, the memories made him too familiar with it.
That was the problem.
Because once the sun set completely, the Dayan Mountains became exponentially more dangerous.
"Shit."
He tried to move faster, but his weak body betrayed him. Night fell. Howls echoed through the trees.
"Whoosh… rustle…"
Bushes stirred nearby. He froze, his eyes narrowing at the shifting leaves.
A pair of glowing eyes emerged from the darkness.
"Gulp…"
He was just a basement gamer back in the real world, not some martial arts assassin. His legs trembled.
A wolf. A big one.
With a low growl, the beast stepped forward—its fangs bared, drool dripping from its mouth.
"Screw this—I'm out!"
He turned to run, but the wolf was faster. He could hear it gaining on him, practically feel its hot breath.
His legs gave out. He collapsed.
The wolf leapt.
In a panic, Yang Haoxuan gripped his saber and thrust it upward with closed eyes.
"Pssh!"
The blade met resistance—deep resistance.
When he dared open his eyes, the wolf's body lay sprawled beside him, the saber pierced clean through its throat.
Silence.
"…No way…"
He shoved the body aside and stared in disbelief.
"I… actually killed it? Holy plot armor!"
Then—
DONG!
A strange chime echoed in his mind.
"Congratulations, Player. Level Up! Character is now Level 2. Health +50%, Mana +50%, Random Attribute Increase: up to 50 points. You have 5 freely distributable stat points. 1 skill point available."
"…Wait. What?!"
In that very instant, Yang Haoxuan felt a surge of white light radiating from within him, spreading outwards. The glow gently soaked into every muscle and vein in his body, nourishing him from the inside out. His previously frail and sickly body began to recover its strength—until he felt invigorated, even powerful.
To exaggerate a little, his breath flowed easier, and the chill that had haunted him was replaced by comforting warmth. Shocked, he tried to recall what had just happened. Suddenly, his vision blurred—and the next thing he knew, a pitch-black interface appeared before his eyes.
It was a game interface.
Upon closer inspection, Yang Haoxuan's jaw dropped. Everything he saw matched the virtual MMORPG Fantasy World. Back on Earth, before his mysterious transmigration, technology had evolved to such heights that full-immersion VR gaming was the norm.
Put on a helmet, and you'd step into a new world. Right now, it felt exactly like that—like he was still inside the game. In Fantasy World, there was no need for keyboard input. With a single thought, the interface would respond.
Now, in his mind's eye, he saw it all: character stats, equipment slots, skill trees, inventory, crafting panels, enchanting, refining—every familiar function from the game. There were some differences, though: for one, there were no quests. Even more shocking, his class wasn't limited to one—it was set to "Omni-Class."
In Fantasy World, there were only three main classes: Warrior, Mage, and Healer. But his current class and level display was:
Warrior +2, Mage +2, Healer +2.
"All three classes at once?" Yang Haoxuan muttered, opening the skill tab. To his disbelief, every skill was already unlocked and active.
His character stats looked like this:
Name: Yang Haoxuan
Level: 2
Realm Equivalent: Martial Novice – First Layer
Class: Omni-Class
HP: 154/154
MP: 80/80
Strength: 10
Intelligence: 23
Spirit: 13
Agility: 14
Combat Skills: None
Life Skills: None
"Holy crap!" Yang Haoxuan gasped, rubbing his eyes. "Is this some kind of VR overdose hallucination?" But instinctively, he exited the interface—and the forest reappeared before his eyes, complete with the still-bleeding corpse of the wild wolf he had just slain.
Oddly, he no longer felt fear. Instead, he picked up the worn battle blade on the ground—and in that moment, a sword appeared in his equipment panel.
There was only one way to test if this was reality or a game: pain. The first rule of full-immersion gaming was that players never felt pain.
"Is this real… have I actually transmigrated?" He drew the blade across his palm.
A sharp sting lanced through his nerves. The pain was real.
Stunned and thrilled, Yang Haoxuan recalled how he'd been playing Fantasy World with his VR helmet on, then everything went blank—and now here he was. "Could that be what caused this... a system integration with my brain?"
He stared at the blade in his hand, then willed it into the inventory panel. Instantly, the sword vanished from his grip and appeared in the inventory.
"Awesome!" he cheered. Yang Haoxuan was nothing if not adaptable, and he immediately grasped the most important implication of this game-like system—power. The rule of survival in this new world.
Back on Earth, his dantian had been shattered, making him a cripple. But now? He didn't need a dantian. He had experience bars. He didn't need to study cultivation manuals. He had access to three entire class trees!
Curious to test the system further, he summoned the interface again. This time, he focused on the gear slots. Oddly, instead of earrings or belts, the accessory slots had only one label: "Magical Artifact."
Next, he checked the attribute allocation panel. In Fantasy World, the main attributes were Agility, Spirit, Strength, and Intelligence—each representing one of the three class paths. Each level-up granted five points. Right now, he had five unallocated.
He added one point to Strength—and instantly felt his muscles surge with raw energy.
One point in Intelligence—and his mind became clearer, sharper, as though a veil had been lifted.
He paused before spending the rest. In games, misallocating stat points could ruin a build.
After some basic combat testing—just a few punches—he felt significantly stronger. Grinning, he made his choice: all remaining points into Intelligence. His reasoning? High damage, long range. Being a Mage was the safest bet for now.
As his Intelligence stat rose, his thoughts became sharper, old questions finding answers with ease. Then, he opened the Mage skill panel. Familiar names from the game greeted him. For now, he could only learn one: Fireball. After some hesitation, he tapped to learn it.
Just like before, knowledge flooded his brain—no need for incantations, no training—he simply knew how to cast it.
He extended his hand and focused. A blazing fireball appeared in his palm, swirling with heat, a black core at its center.
"Cool!" Yang Haoxuan beamed. He launched the fireball at a nearby tree. It streaked through the air, slammed into the trunk with a thunderous bang, and set a massive patch of bark aflame.
This was only level 2—and the power already thrilled him. What about future, higher-tier spells?
Even better—it felt more real than any virtual game ever had.
Just then, a wolf's howl echoed from the forest depths.
Meanwhile, in the Imperial Capital of the Great Yan Dynasty...
An explosive rumor spread like wildfire—igniting excitement and gossip across all social classes. The infamous bully, Yang Haoxuan, heir of the Yang family, had vanished during his clan's wilderness trial. He had gone missing deep in the mountains, and not a single trace had been found.
The commoners—long tormented by his tyranny—rejoiced. Some even secretly celebrated with wine and feasts, hoping this meant justice for the women he'd wronged. Even the noble houses looked down on him. After his dantian was destroyed, most dismissed him entirely—thinking he survived only thanks to his powerful father.
Now that he was missing in the perilous Great Yan Mountains—where even sixth-layer martial artists dared not linger overnight—it was widely assumed he was dead. The Yang clan had sent search parties, but no news came.
Most believed Yang Haoxuan was gone for good.
Even within the Yang family, many had begun making moves. Only his father held out hope—and worry. As clan leader, he knew that without an heir, his leadership would be challenged. The family's power was inherited, and without a son to pass it to, his rivals were already urging him to step down.
What no one knew—was that Yang Haoxuan's disappearance was the start of something no one could predict.
The Next Morning
Yang Haoxuan awoke groggily on a tree branch. Sunlight streamed through the canopy. He leapt down—only to find the ground littered with wolf corpses.
Dozens of them. Maybe over a hundred.
"Heh…" He grinned shamelessly. Last night, he had baited the wolves below while launching fireball after fireball from above—turning the area into a slaughterhouse.
Somehow, the killing hadn't fazed him. Maybe it was the game system's influence, shifting his mentality.
Though his mana had been depleted, his omni-class status gave him a shared MP pool. And since his level was low, the experience curve was shallow. He leveled up mid-battle, restoring his resources—making him a little fireball machine.
He didn't know why he was gaining XP from killing beasts—maybe the system considered this entire world a massive game instance.
Still, one problem emerged: leveling slowed dramatically.
In Fantasy World, most experience came from quests and dungeons—neither of which he had access to now.
Originally, he'd aimed for level 20 overnight. Instead, he barely hit level 4. Still, it wasn't nothing. He continued pouring points into Intelligence and upgraded Fireball to level 4.
Updated Stats:
Name: Yang Haoxuan
Level: 4
Realm Equivalent: Martial Novice – Second Layer
Class: Omni-Class
HP: 278/278
MP: 124/124
Strength: 35
Intelligence: 87
Spirit: 24
Agility: 30
Combat Skills: Fireball +4 (Mage)
Life Skills: None
With power at his fingertips, Yang Haoxuan began comparing his stats to the cultivators of this world.
Here in the Tianhe Continent, martial power reigned supreme. People trained their bodies to gain strength. But cultivation was slow, and the strong were few.
And that was fine with him—because Yang Haoxuan had something none of them did.
A cheat. A system. And soon… this world would be his playground.