Miners and Cultivators

Brave had never expected to open his eyes again after being shot in the head. However, his game would go onto be the most famous in all of history, spawning massive spin off attempts that were never as good as the original.

Finally, one god in the heavens got a hold of the game. He immediately looked for the soul of Brave in the Reincarnation cycle, and found a very smart beaver that was building a unique and interesting house out of wood… Seeing this little beaver building an actual house, he could only exclaim immediately that this had to be a genius!

He immediately grabbed the genius beaver and pulled out his soul. Leaving with the soul of Brave, he went to a new world he had created based on Immortal Kingdom before putting Brave's soul into the body of the recently deceased emperor.

Brave woke up searching for wood before he noticed all these unbelievable thoughts flooding his mind. What felt like just yesterday, but what was actually over a million years ago, appeared in his mind. He saw Tokugawa shooting him in the head as he jumped back in fright.

A mysterious bald man hovered in front of him, and he was wearing the robe of an emperor from his game.

"Ha, you must be the eminent game creator, Brave… I've been hoping to meet you for the last 10,000 years…" The bald man helped Brave up causing him to put his hand on his head.

"My head… I am still in one piece? What happened at the Gaming Center?"

"Ah, you mean when Tokugawa shot you in the head? You died and reincarnated for over one million years…"

"As for Tokugawa, he became the best player of Immortal Kingdom… Isn't it weird that after he killed you for making the game, he got addicted to it and spread your name!"

"You mean… he got away with killing me? I actually died a thirteen year old virgin? I would've confessed to Maya if I knew that…" Brave looked extremely depressed, and confused. Why was he alive now? Where exactly was he?

The bald man named Kairo pat him on the back with a bright smile on his face. "To answer your question… his dad was very rich and had him expedited to Japan to serve his sentence… For ten years, he served house arrest for first degree murder…. He played your game for ten years and became filthy rich during his house sentence!"

"So, does that answer your question?"

"Wow," Brave felt his body shake as the news pervaded his soul, "I didn't receive any justice, and even made my murderer rich… but why am I alive again? Can you please inform me…"

"Ah, my name is Kairo, and I'm a god from the third realm… I want you to play your game for us gods… If you survive to the maximum stage, we will even invite you into the third realm… Do you not like how I made the sect hall? Is it not to your liking?

Brave finally looked around noticing he wasn't nearsighted anymore. He indeed saw the components of the sect that he coded on the wall, and even a few servants cleaning up the space.

He felt completely baffled seeing his work in three dimensions, and he felt an extreme shock descend upon him.

"You… you are really a god? You are telling me you really made a game where I can cultivate and aim for the heavens? Is this not a joke?"

Immortal Kingdom was a game where you'd start off as a sect leader, also called the emperor. You'd start off with a selection of cultivators, and minors that would gather resources, gems and energy. With these resources, you could build a sect from the ground up, and create buildings, arrays, and even go to war with other countries…

However, had a million years really gone by?!

"Ha, of course this isn't a joke… You are called the greatest game designer that ever lived… Because of that, it is only natural that I would let you reincarnate, and show us all how it's done…"

"We gods regularly play Immortal Kingdom when we are not contemplating or pursing the greater Daos… It is only right we give you a chance to play your own game. As for that Tokugawa bastard, we reincarnated him to be one of your miners…"

Brave gulped realizing what this meant. He would be able to become a god and cultivate like he'd read about in his favorite Wuxia novels! He immediately smiled and felt thankful he got shot in the head!

After all, would he have been able to reincarnate like this if Tokugawa didn't shoot him? Compared to living one hundred years, being able to live for millions of years sounded much more promising, intimidating, and goal worthy. He held out his hand towards Kairo, shook his hand, and immediately thanked him for letting him come to this world…

"Ha, just show us how it is all done, little genius… I have wagered ten star systems that you will win, and over 2000 interstellar coins! If you don't win, I will have no choice but to banish you back to reincarnation…"

"Regardless, try your hardest, and don't let the thousand greatest players in history beat you!"

"Thousand greatest players? You mean that a lot of people played my game?" Brave felt a little bit intimidated by his odds… After all, he'd only been a human being for thirteen years, and didn't feel like he stood much of a chance.

"Ha, yes! Your game has been played in over fifteen galaxies, and five dimensions… Please get ready to play, and win this old god some money! Remember, the reward is an astounding start in another universe! Your first match is about to begin!"

"I'm not ready…" Brave replied, "I… I just created the game yesterday, and hardly had time to come up with a strategy guide… How long have my opponents played the game for?"

Kairo didn't seem bothered, and patted Brave on the back. "Ha, you created the very code of the game! The strategies of the game are part of your blood! The other players have only played between a measly thousand to ten thousand years… You will wipe the floor with them!"

"Anyways, I can't keep talking to you or it will be seen as favoritism by a reincarnation sponsor… Do your best to make it to the next level, and never surrender! Bow and begin the game! Don't let us down little god of man!"

Brave didn't know how to respond, and just nodded his head. However, to his dismay, the man vanished into thin air leaving him with just his interface and a class selection list…. In one thousand seconds the game would begin according to the countdown. He had one thousand seconds to out think gamers who had played for 10,000 years! The odds of him winning were little to none, but he still tried his hardest to think of the best strategy…

"Select a class Heaven Venerable, Lord of Heaven, or Deity of Heaven… Deity of Heaven…"

"Please select your starting ratio of cultivators to miners: one cultivator and twenty minors, two cultivators and ten miners, or five cultivators and one miner…"

"I planted the last option to be a trick, so I should select the second option… Without the miners, you wouldn't be able to gather resources fast enough, and without the second cultivator you couldn't defend against a five-cultivator ambush…"

"So the only choice is option B… However, what strategies could my opponents have come up with in 10,000 years of gameplay?!"