It was a beautiful spring morning, filled with the chirping of birds and the smell of flowers in the air. Jiayi walked along a worn-down path, intending to head to the forest to gather herbs for her mother. Her mother had always told her to be careful of spirit beasts and cultivators who might attack a defenseless girl, but she had waved off her worries. The Purple Dragon Sect had always kept the Sapphire Zone free of life-threatening danger. She didn’t know why, but such was the way of the Immortals.

  A scream nearby jolted her out of her thoughts. She tilted her head, her brows furrowing. Shouldn’t the forest be safe? She wondered why someone would need to scream in such a safe space. Shaking her head, she began using her qi to boost her speed, quickly reaching the source of the scream. What she saw made her burst into a fit of laughter.

  A mortal was running away from a Realm 1 beast! The man, seeing her laugh, rushed over to her, intent on begging her for help. She was tempted to let him suffer a little longer, but she remembered about the herbs. simply unleashed her aura and the beast knew it was outmatched and began running away. As for the man, she realized he was unaffected and began studying him.

  A little taller than her with a lean muscular frame and curly black hair that was uncared for. His face was squarish, with a sharp jawline and beautiful brown eyes that drew her in. He wore clothes she had never seen before, and wouldn’t know how to describe. It was ripped in many places, most likely from the spirit beast she had just scared off. She knew mortals were rarely allowed into the Sapphire Zone, so she began questioning him.

  “State your name and business” she ordered, her earlier mirth all gone.

  The man brushed himself off before replying, “ My name is Adam, and I am a traveler who got lost, Esteemed Cultivator,”

  “Ah Dum?”

  The man laughed, before correcting her, “Adam”

  “It matters not. What matters is what you were doing in this forest,”

  “I was lost and I saw herbs nearby,” said the man casually, “I wanted to gather them to make food for myself,”

  Jiayi knew this “Ah Dum” was probably lying, but she couldn’t care less. She had to gather herbs before her mother scolded her for being lazy. Besides, what harm could a mortal do? Hopefully not a lot. Making up her mind, she handed him a token, and said, “Show this to the guards at the front of the village. They will let you in. Make sure you do NOT continue along this path, or they will think you are an invader,”

  The man cupped his fists and bowed. “Thank you for your help, Esteemed Cultivator. But where is the front of the village?”

  She sighed, before explaining that he should go left until he encountered a red ribbon. Then, he would turn right and walk straight until he saw a wall. Saying this, Jiayi knew she could no longer afford to wait, or her mother would scold her for bringing the herbs late. She bid him a short goodbye and zoomed off, her qi-empowered legs pushing her faster and faster until she was nothing but a blur.

  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Adam glanced briefly at the speeding woman before continuing towards the village. He knew from the woman's directions that he would see ribbons soon, but he still didn’t trust her fully. Sighing, he checked the glowing blue screen, knowing he could no longer put it off.

  “Status”

  [Universal Remote System]

  Name: Adam Rolander (Ah Dum)

  Race: Human

  Cultivation: None

  Quests

  Shop (TEMPORARY SHUTDOWN)

  Remote Functions

  [LOCKED]

  He clicked on the remote functions and was immediately greeted with another screen.

  [Remote Functions]

  Pause Time (5 seconds)

  Rewind (1 Month - Cooldown will be twice the time rewinded)

  [LOCKED]

  Note: Remote functions can only be used once a day. Use this function wisely.

  From his system descriptions, he had gathered that [Pause Time] would pause time for 5 seconds before resuming time, and rewind would let him go back in time one month, but he doubted they’d be useful. He had thought of abusing rewind but the cooldown time disabused him of that notion. He was so absorbed in his musings about the system he almost missed the red flag. Quickly turning right, he began jogging, noting the sun high in the sky. He clicked on quests, hoping for something new after meeting that cultivator.

  [Quests]

  None

  He frowned but decided there would be more opportunities for quests later. The shop function was shut down, whatever that meant, which meant he had almost nothing to do. He thought back to when he was transported to this world. He had been sitting in front of his TV after a long day at work when the screen flashed blue and he was dumped near that beast. His system hadn’t bothered giving him any information, and he was only thankful that he could understand the language. In the distance, he could make out walls of some sort and knew he was close to the front of the village. He picked up his pace and soon enough, one of the guards noticed him.

  “Halt! State your name and business,”

  He flashed the token to them, thankful for the mysterious woman who had given it to him. One of the guards recognized the token and waved him through with a curt nod. As he walked into the village, his senses were bombarded with everything. The scent of meat slowly being cooked, merchants selling their wares, and the presence of humanity after so long. As he made his way through the village, a sudden, sharp pain exploded through his head. As his body crumpled to the ground, he could feel the sensation of a mask being forced over his head, cutting off his senses.

  “Not even one day,” he thought before everything went black.