Short, Light, Free - Chapter 200: Ghost Market (Part 5) II

A century after the Spirit Qi Awakening, the world enters a new era. Humans are able to absorb the world’s awakened spirit qi, allowing them to tread on a new path—spirit qi occupations!

“Impossible… Why are you not following my orders!? Clearly I sucked your blood, why!?”

On the very first day of high school, the youth subscribing to the philosophy of “absolutely ordinary everyday life,” Kujou Hisui, encountered disaster head on: He was attacked by Rushella Daamu Draculea, the vampire who had lost her memory. Rushella was greatly intrigued to find her vampire powers ineffective against Hisui. Not only did she make Hisui’s home her own, she even enrolled in his school to stick to him–

Hisui had no choice but to help Rushella regain her memory. But before one crisis could be resolved, many more had risen. With tempting advances from the mysterious Sudou Mei, and kidnapped by the girl from the Supernatural Investigations Section in search of Rushella, Hisui’s ordinary life has been replaced by its complete opposite, drama–

Romantic comedy and supernatural action in a school setting!

Warning This fiction contains:

Graphic Violence Profanity Sensitive Content

Summary – Level 1:

Delve is an isekai litrpg that follows an average guy who just happened to wake up in a forest one day. He wasn’t summoned to defeat the demon lord or to save the world or anything like that, at least as far as he can tell. The only creature there to greet him was a regular old squirrel.

Soon enough, he meets other people, only to discover that he can’t speak the language, and that not everybody immediately trusts random pajama-wearing strangers they met in the middle of the wilderness. Things generally go downhill from there, at least until the blue boxes start appearing.

Delve is a story about finding your way in a new, strange, and dangerous world. It’s about avoiding death, figuring out what the heck is going on, and trying to make some friends along the way. It’s not about getting home, so much as finding a new one.

Did I mention that there will be math?

Summary – Level 2:

Okay, but what are you in for, really?

Well, this story is supposed to be realistic, or at least, as realistic as a fantasy litrpg can be. The main character doesn’t instantly become an all-powerful god and murder-hobo his way across the universe. Delve is, at its heart, a progression fantasy, but that progression is meant to feel earned. The numbers in this story actually mean something. Everything is calculated, and if you find a rounding error, I expect you to tell me about it. That said, if math isn’t your cup of tea, there is plenty more that the story has to offer. Characters are meant to feel real, and progression isn’t only about personal power; it’s also about allies, connections, and above all, knowledge. Figuring out how the system works is a significant theme.

...

What, you want more details? Okay, fine, but this is going to get a bit spoiler-y. Are you sure?

Yes!

Really sure? I mean, this summary is practically half as long as the first chap–

Now!

Okay, okay!

The main character becomes a magic user, but he takes a route that is not very popular in adventurer culture, namely that of a support. There is a full magic system with various spells, skills, and abilities, but our MC decides that aura magic is the way to go, and that the only stat worth investing in is mana regeneration. Most people at the Adventurer’s Guild think that this makes him a bit of a dumbass, but he’s playing the long game. We’ll see how that works out for him, won’t we?

Because of his build, the MC levels up fast, at least compared to normal people. There are no cheats, though, and he is limited in other ways. There are some clear and pretty obvious downsides to his build. That’s what makes it fun, no?

Morals? Our MC has them. Again, we’ll see how that works out for him. Realism, remember? Would you be okay with killing someone and looting their body? I sure hope not.

POV? The focus is on the main character, but there will be occasional varying perspectives from people around him, or involved in the events related to the main plot. It isn’t going to jump all over the place.

Tech is standard medieval stasis. No smartphones, but the MC does have a technical background. Computers and their programming might be involved. There might even be a bit of uplifting down the road, who knows? Anyway, it isn’t the focus. He isn’t going to invent the gun in chapter 1 and change the face of warfare.

Romance is not a major focus. Friendships are more the name of the game, though there will be some characters in romantic relationships.

There is exploration, though not as much of the geographical nature as you might expect. It is more about exploration of the system and the culture.

The pace is slow and detailed, sometimes verging on slice-of-life. The action is meant to be realistic and grounded in the numbers, and it is intended to have meaning beyond simply punching things until they stop moving.

The general tone of the story is grey, and some parts can get quite dark. People die. Sometimes, people with names, but not anywhere near GoT level. There is plenty of light, too, though, to balance the darkness. The world is dangerous, but overcoming that danger is why we’re all here, isn’t it?

Anyway, if you’ve made it this far through the summary, you clearly like words. I hope you enjoy the story!

Sixteen years after transmigrating into the world of cultivation, Lu Yi’s long-lost cheat finally awakened. The cheat was a simple task panel where one could earn various rewards by accepting and completing tasks. Lu Yi was surprised to find that he could publish tasks for himself and complete them for rewards. So Lu Yi embarked on the path of self-publishing tasks for himself. He published a task for himself to “practice the Divine Sword technique ten times,” and upon completion, his level in the Divine Sword technique increased by one. He published a task for himself to “defeat an outer disciple,” and upon completion, he obtained a precious Perfect Qi Condensation Pill. He published a task for himself to “break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm,” and upon completion, he obtained a top-grade magical weapon. Without realizing it, Lu Yi found that even becoming a saint or ancestor seemed easy with this system.