The Stranded Immortal

An hour and a half ago.

"So noisy!" A muffled groan sounded out from the bundle on the bed. The voice was surprisingly gentle despite the obvious irritation.

Not long after, a fair hand popped out of the sheets and felt around the soft covers, seemingly looking for something.

Inside the pitch black room, the sudden burst of light from the unlocked phone screen almost made Mo Jun screech in horror as the blazing light seared his eyes.

It took quite some time before his eyes adjusted to the brightness, and he couldn't stop himself from muttering a curse upon seeing the time on his phone. "Dammit!"

4:30 am? What could that guy be possibly doing at this hour? Jeez! Whatever.

Mo Jun tossed his phone somewhere on the bed before rolling himself up in the blanket once again to become a human burrito.

However, despite trying his best to fall back to sleep, he couldn't bring himself to. His sensitive ears could pick up every single movement from the room next door.

Soft footsteps dragging on the floor, the booting sound of a computer being switched on, the creaking computer chair, the alternate slow and fast tapping of keyboard keys—everything.

He could almost perfectly picture the scene as though his gaze could pierce through the wall separating both rooms.

That 'guy' [1] Xu Huiwen must have woken up earlier today to work on 'his' project.

"Argh! Can't 'he' just let him sleep in peace? Just this once!" Mo Jun grumbled.

In spite of his dissing, he quite admired Xu Huiwen. Such dedication should be applauded.

More so, Xu Huiwen reminded him so much of his old friend, the famous scholar Huang Ru. Old Ru would often wake up in the wee hours of the morning to continue working on the paperworks on his post.

Thus, Mo Jun who was currently wrapped like a human burrito, took a trip down memory lane.

It had been five years, in this domain's time, since he last saw the familiar setting he grew up in. He wasn't entirely sure how long had passed in the Heaven Mandate Domain though.

Apparently, this lower domain was called the Earth Domain.

Earth Domain, if he would compare it to the vast and majestic Heaven Mandate Domain, was nothing but a barren wasteland.

The sparse qi in this domain was not enough for him to properly cultivate.

It would take him a week's worth of time to gather an infinitesimal amount of qi to try to fill up the void in his dantian.

He was akin to a mortal now that he couldn't use his powers. He was nothing but a stranded immortal in this qi-deprived land.

Every day, thoughts of coming back to his homeland constantly filled up his mind. He wanted so badly to go back, but unless the curse was lifted, he knew he couldn't return.

Much worse, he was trapped inside the body of this 13 year old boy, wherein fact he was already nearing his seven hundredth year of birth.

It might take a very long time to explain the origin of this damnable curse and how he came into this world, but one thing should be first told: he needed to go back soon.

The lives of his people were at stake. While he was in this world living a carefree life, the people of his fiefdom must have been subjected to maltreatment.

As the Third Royal Prince of the Heaven Mandate Domain's Imperial Court, Mo Jun had the Eastern provinces under his wing. Several hundreds of thousands of people relied on him to rule the East and reach greater heights.

The other Princes would surely take advantage of his disappearance to subjugate his territories.

"I need to find the quickest way to break this curse, or else…" He dared not think of the possible consequences.

The damnable curse had not only transferred him to this domain, even the more than half of his lifetime's cultivation was also sealed by that wretched traitor.

To break the curse, he needed a "first true love's first kiss".

Very cliche, wasn't it?

However, Mo Jun was at his wit's end.

Not only should it be someone's first kiss, it should also be from a person who deemed him as their first true love.

What could this stranded immortal know about love?

Letting out a long sigh, the dejected shota resigned himself to his fate.

Another thing that made him want to pull at his hair every night was the fact that he couldn't 'grow up', or more accurately, this body couldn't 'grow up'. Meaning, he was perpetually a 13 year old boy.

Unless the person was a shotacon [2], he wouldn't be able to find anyone who would love a kid like him in a romantic way.

Now, he was just a special student in X University, studying VR & AR Development. Maybe he should try looking for a match from his schoolmates?

As he thought of this, someone's face, which could easily pass off as either a man or a woman, surfaced in his mind.

Xu Huiwen?

What the actual f–?!

He was not swinging that way, okay?

"Aaahhh!!!" He screamed out in frustration, the thick layer of blankets muffling his venting.

Xu Huiwen was even a head and a half taller than him! 'He' usually wore baggy clothing, but underneath those loose garments, Mo Jun was certain that 'he' had a killer body to boot.

Thinking about Xu Huiwen made him all the more depressed than he already was.

It made one wonder how he would react once he realized that the Xu Huiwen he always thought of as a man was actually a girl all along.

"—heard?! WSA already started a few months back! You should definitely join this time! I'll send you the link for the themes, okay? Make sure to write me some good stuff! Mata ne~"

Mo Jun's ears perked up.

WSA?

That sounded familiar for some reason. Not that he cared, anyway.

Unfortunately or fortunately, Mo Jun wasn't able to catch the first part of Little Yu's ramblings. In his defense, he totally didn't have any intention to eavesdrop on Xu Huiwen's phone call. His sensitive hearing was to be blamed for picking up on other people's conversations.

Gurgle~

Gurgle~

"Ugh! I'm so hungry!" Despite having a small body, Mo Jun discovered that his appetite was big. He could even eat a family-size meal all by himself.

Just a few minutes more.

Xu Huiwen would cook for him, and he would get to eat good food!

As he thought of that, he overheard Xu Huiwen mumbling under 'his' breath. "The devil shouldn't be awake at this time, right?"

Mo Jun was speechless.

When did he become the "devil"?

Tsk.

Just you wait, Xu Huiwen!

Worming himself out of the blankets, Mo Jun quickly set into action. He would make Xu Huiwen experience the devil in him through his VR set.

A little tweak of the VR settings here and there with a tiny bit of qi in the mix, the little devil had created a masterpiece that would surely make the 'guy' next door suffer.

Unknowingly, a devilish smirk made its way on the shota's kawaii face.

"It's about time."

But of course, he couldn't let the other party get wind of his plans. And so, the "cross arms and puffed cheek" posture was the first thing Xu Huiwen saw when the locked door opened.

"Hey, little dev–, little Mo! Good morning!" Dammit! The gall of this 'man' to call him little!

"You're so noisy!" Although he tried to sound irritated, Mo Jun couldn't help his voice sounding gentle and cute. "Call me that again, and I won't let you use my VR set."

...

Notes:

[1] Mo Jun mistakenly thought that Xu Huiwen was a guy, hence the narrative used "guy" and male pronouns while referring to her.

[2] A shotacon is a person who adores or is attracted to a shota.