Entering the VR World

Inside the VR World.

"What the heck!" Xu Huiwen didn't know what else to say.

Just as she was about to calm her rapidly beating heart, the sight in front of her made her want to pull at her hair in frustration.

From as far as her eyes could see, there were trees; there were a lot of them everywhere. No matter where she looked, she could only see nothing but trees and more trees.

Aside from the pebbled path she had been trudging on, there was really nothing else here that could pique her interest.

Shouldn't there be something like a prompt message now?

You know, that registration thingy or something?

Wasn't it usually like that in novels?

Xu Huiwen pondered as she continued walking absentmindedly through the forest at a leisurely pace, letting the soft and gentle breeze play with her hair.

Whatever. Let's just walk around and see.

Under the protection of the thick green foliage of this seemingly endless forest, Xu Huiwen walked and walked and walked, and yet, she did not manage to see even a single shadow of a human being.

"Ugh, this is getting boring." She sighed, looking up at the azure sky, which was coincidentally the same color as the silk robe she was donning today.

Without any clue on what she should do next, Xu Huiwen could only keep walking while bearing hope that she would find any signs of life.

Her initial excitement towards this virtual reality had long died down.

To be fair, she found the picturesque view pleasing to the eye. Every time she took a deep breath, she could feel the refreshing scent of nature washing away her accumulated stress.

And then...

Thud!

Snap!

"Ouch!" Xu Huiwen groaned in pain, caressing her now aching kneecaps. It would surely bruise later.

The pain she felt was so realistic that she temporarily forgot she was in a virtual world.

It was fortunate that she was dressed in a robe reaching down her feet, or else the fall would have left her soft skin with bloody scrapes and scratches.

As they say, never take your eyes off the road. Always look where you're going.

Xu Huiwen only had herself to blame for not paying attention to where she was going and tripping over a protruding root.

"How unlucky!" Another sigh escaped from her thin, pale lips as she dusted the dirt off her robes.

One must know that this female writer was not easily bogged down by any adversities — oh well, writer's block was not included here. In any case, she could be considered as a resilient person.

Putting this embarrassing moment at the back of her mind, Xu Huiwen continued down the pebbled path, now fully paying attention to everything around her.

It was only this time that she was thankful no one was here to witness this scene.

After a short while of walking, Xu Huiwen paused; her attention directed at that odd looking branch up ahead with a cold expression on her face.

She had accidentally broken a third of that particular branch earlier when she tripped earlier. She couldn't be mistaken; she clearly placed that broken branch beside that small tree.

Xu Huiwen walked over and grabbed that detached branch, holding it tightly in her hand.

She had been here earlier, that's for certain. Was she really walking in circles all this while?

Damm*t!

Was this that little devil's plan?

To make her go around in circles?

"Damn you, little Mo!" Xu Huiwen cursed under her breath. She couldn't care less if Mo Jun heard her or not.

What's with this darn virtual world, making her walk around aimlessly?!

That Mo Jun must be having fun playing with her like this!

What was she even supposed to do now?

Should she continue walking until she just collapses from exhaustion?

"I should have asked that little devil for clear instructions earlier," Xu Huiwen lamented.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of rustling from the bushes not too far away from where she was standing.

Shui! Shui!

Xu Huiwen tightened her hold on the broken tree branch in her hand as her pair of obsidian eyes met two pairs of ferocious sapphire blue eyes.

Well, technically, there were only a pair and another eye. Nonetheless, the mere sight of them caused Xu Huiwen's scalp to tingle. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears much faster than it ever did in her whole life.

She dared not break eye contact as she slowly backed far away from these two fearsome white tigers.

"Sh*t!" A series of expletives were shouted out in her mind, all of which were directed at Mo Jun.

"Grrr..." chuffed the white tiger on the left, its tail hanging languidly.

Xu Huiwen's hair stood on end when she heard the tiger's roar. She couldn't even differentiate a friendly roar and a ferocious growl.

Despite being a well-read person in this life, she hadn't gone that far in reading books and articles about white tigers. Thus, any sound that this one-eyed white tiger made was all the same to her ears, a sign of danger.

Her legs felt like jelly, and she could barely keep herself from cowering in fear.

Then...

She turned around and began to run, faster and faster, as quickly as her slim legs could carry her, not daring to look back.

Xu Huiwen was never the sporty type of person to begin with. After sprinting for a couple hundred meters, she could already feel her chest constricting in pain, her breathing ragged as she leaned on a tree trunk.

"I can't..." she gasped, "take it anymore."

Those were her last words before she completely lost consciousness.

She had reached her limit.

...

Outside the VR World.

Mo Jun sat on his bed as he watched Xu Huiwen's expression change every now and then.

Frustration, surprise, embarrassment, helplessness, anxiety, fright and many more...

Seeing these plethora of emotions flashed across Xu Huiwen's androgynous face, Mo Jun smirked in satisfaction.

More so, the expletives Xu Huiwen muttered under her breath were like music to his ears, making the wicked smile on his young facial features turn wider.

"That's enough."

With a snap of his fingers, a black wisp of smoke floated away from the VR headset before dispersing into nothingness.

Tap tap tap, enter...

Mo Jun's pair of nimble hands flew across the keyboard of his laptop, typing away a series of codes without rest. Not long after, his screen showed a dense forest setting.

He dragged the cursor to where a tiny dot of blue could be seen among the vast green forest, then he zoomed in; the familiar figure of his sleeping neighbor was shown on the screen.

Mo Jun was stunned into silence before uttering in disbelief, "Why does 'he' look like...?"

...

Back inside the VR World.

Birds flew in flocks across this stretch of land, singing their fine and sweet morning melodies, their chirps reaching far and wide.

The soft rays of the sunlight enshrouded the whole forest in a golden halo, making it seem like a holy piece of land. From the tiny gaps of the thick foliage, the warm rays seeped through and shone on Xu Huiwen's exquisite features.

Her fair brows furrowed slightly as she felt something poking her side.

"Hmm... shoo shoo..." She mumbled incoherently, swatting whatever that was poking her; her eyes remained shut.

The poking did stop and her creased forehead smoothed out. Without anything to disturb her, she turned to her side and got into a more comfortable position, leaning her body against the rough yet sturdy trunk of the tree.

Just a second later though, Xu Huiwen bolted upright.

What was she doing?!

She was being hunted down by two ferocious white tigers, yet here she was sleeping soundly!

Her gaze instinctively wandered around her, surveying her immediate surroundings.

It was then that she realized that she had company: two white tigers and a little boy.

Xu Huiwen froze on the spot, staring wide-eyed at the little boy who sat atop one of the white tigers.

The little boy had smooth and silky jet-black hair with features as that of a finely carved jade. He appeared to be around four or five years old.

'He looked awfully familiar.' Xu Huiwen thought to herself, but she couldn't lay a finger on where she had seen him before.

Hats off to this young lady for thinking about miscellaneous matters even when faced with danger!

Fortunately, this was inside a virtual reality world, or else she might have really been eaten by ferocious beasts in the wild.

The little boy's mechanical gaze, which was seemingly capable of peering through her darkest secrets, stared straight at Xu Huiwen, making her feel a bit uncomfortable.

What's the deal with this child?

Left with no choice, Xu Huiwen meekly raised her hands up in the air, resigning herself to fate. Her chances of fleeing under the gazes of these tigers were close to nil. Why would she risk it?

Just then, a prompt popped up right in front of her.

*[Full body scan complete. Identity verified. Welcome to Heaven Mandate Domain! Courageous transmigrator, you have passed the test.]

"What?!" Xu Huiwen was taken aback.

Test? Being chased by ferocious beasts was just a test? She didn't dare imagine what other incredulity she would face if she insisted on staying here.

Without hesitation, she yelled, "Mo Jun! I want out this instant!"

But nothing seemed to be going her way today as another dialogue box suddenly appeared in front of her eyes.

[Please choose a name: Mo Wen or Mo Wen."]

Xu Huiwen was speechless.

What the heck was this sh*t! Was she even given a choice?

Five seconds passed before the same prompt flashed in front of her.

[Please choose a name: Mo Wen or Mo Wen."]

Left with no other option, she could only begrudgingly choose, "Mo Wen."

[Name selection, success!]

Right after the dialogue box disappeared from her view, Xu Huiwen saw the little boy hopped down the tiger and walked towards her.

"Pleasure to be your acquaintance, traveller Mo Wen. I, the Third Royal Prince of the Heaven Mandate Domain's Imperial Court, graciously invite you to my fiefdom. Do you accept?"

[Accept] or [Decline]

Staring at these two options and back at the Third Royal Prince, Xu Huiwen felt conflicted.

On one hand, she wanted to leave because she's afraid; on the other, she wanted to stay because things were finally starting to get interesting.

To leave or not to leave, that is the question.

In the end, Xu Huiwen decided to throw caution to the wind and chose [Accept].

"To heck with this!"

...

Notes:

*[insert_text_here] - Texts written inside the brackets [ ] are pop out dialogue boxes issued by the game system, which only Xu Huiwen could see.

**Please do note that Xu Huiwen is still inside the virtual reality world for the succeeding chapters.