Chapter 9: Reentering the Fairy Tale
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Wang Xi watched the girl enter the elevator before closing the door and returning to the living room, carrying the takeout and delivery packages.
“Ning Meng?”
He muttered quietly.
“A strange delivery girl… doubling as a courier.”
It wasn’t unusual for a young girl to hold two jobs simultaneously, but her serious attitude, even role-playing to some extent, was a bit much.
Wang Xi’s attention was soon drawn back by the enticing aroma from the bags, dispelling his wandering thoughts.
“At this point, better just eat.”
He unzipped the insulated bag and took out four or five food containers, beginning to feast heartily.
Spicy stir-fried pork, oil-drizzled fragrant tofu, braised pork knuckle, mapo tofu, and a taro vegetable soup.
Wang Xi’s mouth was oily and flavorful; inside, a little voice bowed repeatedly in gratitude.
“I thank heaven and earth! I thank my parents! I thank this new world’s cuisine for being just like my previous life!”
He wiped away the tears and dribbles, silently relieved.
If he had crossed over into a culinary wasteland, how miserable that would be.
Surely no traveler would survive on bread and dried fish every day?
Wang Xi almost laughed out loud.
“Ahem, ahem—”
Suddenly coughing and gasping, the chili oil caught him off guard. He grabbed a cup of water and gulped it down, finally releasing a relieved hiss.
While eating, Wang Xi unwrapped a sealed wooden box.
Inside was black foam padding, carefully protecting a purple stone ingot about three fingers wide and half a palm long. At its center was a tiny inscription: “170g.”
Wang Xi carefully took it out, examining it closely.
“It seems the New World’s authorities have long mastered mature magic stone smelting technology…”
Indeed, it resembled a gold bar.
But gold is highly malleable, corrosion-resistant, extremely stable, and humans had researched it for thousands of years, a familiar old friend.
Magic stones, however, were completely different. Having only appeared for a decade or two, they were a mysterious resource, a harbinger of disaster for humanity.
From this alone, Wang Xi glimpsed how much time and effort the five great nations of the New World had invested in researching and exploring paranormal powers.
To develop so many technologies and establish a nearly complete system around these powers in such a short time was truly remarkable.
“Indeed, the strongest trait of us terrifying upright apes is adaptability and creativity.”
Wang Xi mused.
What doesn’t kill humanity only makes it stronger.
“I wonder if my parents had any hand in this technology…”
He thought of his parents, both labyrinth researchers, who had spent most of their time at the institute, with only rare moments of companionship.
Shaking his head, he refocused.
Holding the magic stone, he willed it.
Whoosh—
The purple ingot vanished from his palm, and characters streamed out from the dark crack in his mind:
“Energy: 200”
“Extractable 2 times”
Wang Xi’s face brightened.
Just as he suspected, one gram of magic stone provided one point of energy, exactly enough for two draws.
Moreover, the online shopping in the New World was quite reliable—170 grams meant 170 grams, down to the last fraction.
In his previous life, he might have received a basket of two kilograms of purple sweet potatoes instead. Following the “fake one, pay ten” rule, some could exploit that to unleash unstoppable fighting sect domains—terrifying indeed.
Recalling the eleven cartoon airplane mugs he once received, Wang Xi clenched his fist tightly.
“Draw cards!”
He finished the last sip of soup and threw down his chopsticks.
The crack in his mind slowly opened.
Two white light spheres appeared distinctly on the left and right, each occupying a corner without interference.
“Two independent card pools? One for ‘Wendy’ and one for ‘Little Sugar Man’. Convenient!”
Wang Xi thought and chose “Wendy” first.
One hundred points of energy vanished instantly. The left light sphere flashed brightly.
“A swordsman without a sword is like a fierce tiger without fangs? Hmph, I refuse to believe that…”
Wendy’s voice echoed in his mind.
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Hum—
In the living room, a glow appeared before Wang Xi.
He cupped his hands.
A cool card materialized in his palm.
“Iris Martial Arts: Battlefield Combat (Skill Card)”
“Quality: White, One Star (Upgradeable)”
“A 26-year-old female knight tempered by war, who integrated army combat techniques to develop a martial art emphasizing efficient kills and stamina conservation. She once killed over a dozen armored bandits barehanded.”
“Upon use, you will master battlefield combat and gain complete control over your body.”
“A permanent martial art!”
Wang Xi was delighted.
Another passive skill card.
Teacher Wendy was indeed a treasure trove, with three universal cards all being valuable.
Without hesitation, Wang Xi activated it.
The card’s light enveloped his body.
In an instant, he felt new combat skills flood his mind, and his body seemed already adapted to deploy them anytime.
With his current athlete-level physique, it was like adding wings to a tiger.
Eager, Wang Xi stood, shook out his arms, threw a few punches into the air, and practiced elbow and leg strikes, adopting ready stances.
The gusts of his punches whistled. Compared to his previously crude movements, his form was now natural and pleasing to the eye.
“If I encounter those sugar monsters again, maybe I won’t need a chainsaw to take one down one-on-one.”
He clenched his fist, silently assessing his strength.
“Even if attacked by three or four at once, it should be manageable to take them down one by one. But beyond that number, it might be difficult.”
“Continue!”
He commanded the crack in his mind again.
The last 100 energy points were consumed, and the remaining light sphere was drawn out.
“So sweet! Just like you, Mom!”
A little boy’s laughter rang out.
Wang Xi found another card in his hand.
The card showed a melting blue hard candy.
“Blueberry Candy Coating (Skill Card)”
“Quality: White, One Star (Upgradeable)”
“Apparently a candy magic created by a forest-dwelling witch. Initially, the spell was just for decoration.”
“Upon use, your body will be covered in a hardened blue candy coating with a blueberry scent, providing defense. Each use consumes some mana (if no mana, double stamina is consumed).”
“Interesting.”
Wang Xi smiled, holding this universal card.
Clearly, it was an active skill card.
He lacked mana, but the double stamina consumption was manageable.
He tried activating it.
Hum—
The card’s light flashed and merged with his body, able to manifest physically or reside internally.
This was the difference between original universal cards and artificial ones. Artificial cards could only be held as physical objects.
Crackling sounds—
Wang Xi raised his hand. A pale blue substance spread from his index fingertip across his hand, wrist, and arm at a visibly rapid pace.
Soon, his forearm looked like it wore a smooth, shiny blue leather glove.
He tapped his fingers, making a popping sound.
A curious texture.
Hard as metal, yet soft like leather.
He instinctively felt he could cover his entire body with this “blue candy coating” in just a second if he wished.
With the addition of the “Cupid Protection Suit,” under dual defenses, he could likely withstand attacks from the sugar monsters’ candy ball spit with just minor scratches.
“Another way to survive.”
Wang Xi was quite satisfied.
He lowered his hand, and the “blue glove” quickly faded like starlight mist, leaving a faint blueberry fragrance lingering in the air.
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Wang Xi exhaled deeply, as if he had just jogged for seven or eight minutes, his heartbeat slightly elevated. This tentative use hadn’t consumed much stamina.
“Without mana as a source, forcibly using it with stamina alone won’t last long.”
He had a clear sense of this card’s consumption.
“About five minutes, maybe.”
...
Two days passed.
Paid leave was comfortable. Wang Xi barely left the house, spending most of his time in bed.
Scrolling through his phone, watching live streams.
His awakened memories and original memories gradually merged, deepening his understanding of the New World through intensive online surfing.
His female colleague, Zhu Yuhe, stopped pestering him after seeing he didn’t reply, which was a relief.
Just after eight in the morning that day,
Wang Xi was already sitting impatiently on the living room sofa, relaxed and with eyes closed.
“Projection has been entrusted.”
“World: Fairy Tale”
“Exploration progress: 0.01%”
“Cooldown complete, ready for descent.”
“Descend.”
Wang Xi gave the command.
The narrow crack in his mind named Kaerus opened, emitting dazzling light. An invisible force pulled his consciousness.
Almost instantly,
Wang Xi sensed a shift in his surroundings.
Opening his eyes again—
The living room was gone.
His vision was misty and moist, surrounded by fog.
He was leaning back in a wooden bath tub, soaking in warm water, with a clean white towel draped over the rim beside him.
Two pairs of smooth, delicate hands were gently rubbing and massaging him, one on each side.
Wang Xi was momentarily stunned.
Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed two maidens with golden hair, about seventeen or eighteen years old, earnestly helping him bathe.
“Have I… been released from prison?”
He was surprised.
“Looks like Wendy didn’t kill me… What happened during the time the projection was entrusted?”
Time flowed at roughly a 1:7 ratio between the two worlds. Two days in the main world meant two weeks had passed in the fairy tale world.
Strictly speaking, this was his third descent.
The first two times, he was trapped in prison.
At the start, when Wang Xi awakened his memories in the main world, he noticed Kaerus’s presence in his mind and first opened the door to cross worlds.
Unfortunately, he immediately fell into captivity, clueless about the situation.
By repeatedly interrogating the guards, he roughly pieced together his identity and the events.
In this other world, he was “Guy Farrell,” a fallen noble of the Earl of Landor, and fiancé of the Earl’s daughter, “Sarah Crawford.”
Landor was located in the north of the Deer Kingdom, guarding the border for the queen and intimidating the northern tribes.
Unexpectedly, the Landor knight commander, one of the Earl’s most trusted lieutenants, Wendy Barov, secretly betrayed them. While the Earl was visiting the Dunkirk Duchy, she allied with the northern tribes to attack the domain.
The attack was sudden, and the territory fell.
Sarah, Guy, the Crawford family, and many domain nobles were all taken prisoner.
Wang Xi tried many methods and attempts but never managed to escape the prison.
Now, for some unknown reason, he had suddenly been released.
“Do you think Lord Guy will still be conscious?”
One maid whispered on the left.
“I don’t know.” The other shook her head hesitantly. “I heard Lord Guy was… cough, shocked by Wendy.”