Chapter 1: The World's Creator

Translator: D4sk

It was 8 PM. Jiang Qiao tapped away at his keyboard, and after uploading the final chapter of the day, he let out a long sigh of relief.

Jiang Qiao was an ordinary author and a university student, but he had a secret: he was a transmigrator.

He had arrived in this world, which was similar to Earth, nearly eight years ago. Initially, Jiang Qiao thought he could rely on his knowledge from Earth to make a name for himself in this new world.

But to his disappointment, he soon realized he had no talent for drawing, nor for programming. The only skill he could somewhat manage was typing and writing.

Over the span of eight years, Jiang Qiao had written five novels. Each one had done just well enough to allow him to make a living from writing, but none had achieved the explosive success he'd hoped for, like some of the big hits back on Earth.

After reflecting on why this was, Jiang Qiao concluded that it was likely because the technology in this world, called Bluestar, was five to six years ahead of Earth's. VR games had already become mainstream, and people like Jiang Qiao — who still clung to PC gaming — were becoming a relic of the past.

Fortunately, as of today, after eight long years, Jiang Qiao finally encountered his "cheat," or golden finger, from transmigrating.

"Can you hear me now?!" A translucent woman, who appeared to be about fifteen years old, hovered in mid-air, looking at Jiang Qiao, who was just about to start eating his takeout.

"Go ahead, I'm listening."

Jiang Qiao took a bite of the chicken leg from his takeout. As a transmigrator, he could calmly accept the sight of a translucent ghost appearing before him.

"I'll introduce myself again. My name is Hailan, and I was once a creator." Hailan placed a hand on her modest chest as she spoke.

"Once? What about now?" Jiang Qiao's question caused Hailan's slightly haughty tone to catch in her throat.

"I… I'm currently unemployed. My world was destroyed. But the world you're in now is also in grave danger. It won't be long before invaders arrive to tear it apart, and it will vanish into the void!" Hailan said seriously, warning Jiang Qiao of an impending apocalypse.

"Why come to me?" Jiang Qiao set his takeout aside and asked, "I'm not being modest here, but I'm just a writer. If you're really that powerful, shouldn't you be talking to someone in charge?"

"Because my soul is bound to you. I only recently absorbed enough of this world's conscious energy to awaken." Hailan replied, a bit helpless.

"Well, that's an explanation. So, are you planning to make me a savior? Do you have any world-breaking powers to give me?" Jiang Qiao asked.

"I can't break through the world's rules and barriers. Just creating things within this world is already the limit of what I can do, let alone granting someone extraordinary powers…"

As she spoke, a small piece of iron appeared in Hailan's hand, and it floated into Jiang Qiao's palm. He could tell it was a real, tangible object.

"World rules and barriers?" Jiang Qiao toyed with the piece of iron, latching onto a key phrase Hailan had mentioned.

"In the world I once created, there was a power you would call 'magic.' But in your world, there is no magic, nor any extraordinary powers. Even gravity is much weaker here compared to my world. Under the constraints of this world's rules, I can't grant you any powerful magic," Hailan explained.

"So, what do you plan to do? Throw this little piece of iron at the invaders and hope it kills them?"

Jiang Qiao weighed the iron in his hand. If he threw it at someone's head, it would probably hurt a lot. A well-aimed hit to the temple might even be fatal.

"I can guide your consciousness into my world. In my world, I can strengthen your consciousness and grant you immense power," Hailan said, her tone taking on a divine quality, as if she were a goddess guiding her followers.

"That sounds a bit like a scam to me. But whatever. How do I enter your world?"

Jiang Qiao set down the piece of iron and stood up, stretching his arms. Sitting for long periods had made his body weak.

"You believe me that easily?"

Hailan was a bit taken aback by how readily Jiang Qiao accepted her words. She had expected to spend a lot more time convincing this human.

"I've written this kind of 'golden finger' scenario countless times. A consciousness world sounds a bit like a dream. Do I need to lie down on my bed?" Jiang Qiao acted like a seasoned transmigrator.

"Just sit down and close your eyes," Hailan said, relieved that she had bonded with someone so open-minded.

Jiang Qiao sat back down and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he found himself standing in an endless grassland.

This grassland felt like it was straight out of Minecraft's creative mode.

"Your world is pretty empty."

Jiang Qiao looked around. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but grass. The sky was a plain blue, without even a hint of clouds. It looked as fake as a backdrop.

"This is just a basic world I've created. Listen to my plan first." Hailan's figure materialized in front of Jiang Qiao. Here, in this world, she had a physical form. "I can imbue the creatures of your world with extraordinary powers, and we can train a group of warriors to fend off the invaders."

"And how do you plan to make those warriors obey?"

Jiang Qiao had many more questions, like why she didn't just create someone herself.

But after seeing this world, Jiang Qiao already had some ideas of his own.

"I haven't figured that part out yet. The humans I created in the past had very primitive minds. But the civilization in this world has developed far beyond my expectations," Hailan said, pausing for a moment before adding, "So, the people of this world might not be as easy to deceive as I thought."

Deceive? This creator was surprisingly self-aware.

"You could still try to establish a religion and scam people that way, but it's too slow. I have a faster method."

Jiang Qiao rummaged through his pockets and pulled out something that should only exist in the real world: his phone. He unlocked it and opened a mobile game he had recently been playing.

"You want me to enslave them?" Hailan saw the game on Jiang Qiao's screen, where his character was in a dark dungeon.

"No! What I mean is, instead of calling them 'warriors,' you should call them 'players'!" Jiang Qiao pointed at his in-game character. He had spent over 300 hours on this mobile game, firmly establishing himself as both a whale and a grinder.

"The essence of human nature is laziness. They might avoid training, homework, or work, but there's one thing they will never tire of."

"Games?" Hailan began to follow Jiang Qiao's train of thought.

"To be more precise, video games." Jiang Qiao locked his phone and stood up from the grass. "Creator, I think it's time to start transforming this world."

"Transform it? Do you have any ideas?"

Before her awakening, Hailan had spent some time observing Jiang Qiao, including watching him play various video games. She thought his idea was feasible, but she didn't quite understand what video game worlds were like.

"First, we need a system. Do you know how to code?"

The girl, who could easily create an entire world, shook her head honestly at this simple question.