How to Cultivate a Game

"Do you think he was a God? The Game Master, I mean?"

"Who knew? Heavens above, I wouldn't even know if gods exist."

"You sounded like an old man, little Gao…"

When the two of them exited the cave, they saw the sweating Nee Chen slash with his sword against an empty space, making a crisp swishing sound. Nee Chen was getting a feel of his own strength. He swung his sword a second time, so much faster than the first time. He was slowly adjusting to his new attributes.

"Awesome, big bro!" Lu Gao childishly remarked.

Nee Chen turned his head to face the two. He was confused seeing them from the Game Master's Cave Abode when the last time he saw them, they should have been with the Little Bunny. "Huh? How did you come from there? Weren't you two supposed to be down the mountain? In the forest? Where was Senior Bi Yuan?"

"Let me explain, brother Chen," Xiang Ya said.

"You see, we died." She added and explained… a soundly discounted version of what happened to the two of them.

After Nee Chen heard their story, he couldn't help himself… but try.

So he stabbed himself right through his heart as if his actions were logical.

Xiang Ya and Lu Gao were speechless. Who in their right mind would do something like that?

???

~~~

Ping! -1 quintessence.

I..I…. I.

Fuck it! You knew what? Fuck it! I was beyond speechless!

You heard that you would resurrect after you die, so you tried it? Was he mental? People could be so unreasonable and insane sometimes that I feared it might be me who was wrong. 

I would not know which was more insane. My transmigration? Or you who committed suicide just to check if you would resurrect? Were you a game character?

Well, it was my intention to turn you into one.

But were you even human?

I realized something had changed in them by becoming players: Nee Chen, Xiang Ya, Lu Gao, and Bi Yuan at the fundamental level. This was the only logical explanation for Nee Chen's odd behavior. It would be natural for the others to also exhibit the same oddness if it is really the effects of becoming my players, but I wouldn't exactly know for sure.

Perhaps, the Gift of Immortality was too much for a person to wield. I had to research more about 'resurrection' and the consequences of having nigh immortality. There was a saying that too much was always bad, and this also applied to dying and resurrecting.

[Name: Fu Shi

Quintessence: 0

Players: 4/10]

In front of me was Nee Chen who was guiltily looking left and right. He seemed to be aware of the folly he had just committed. There was a first time for everything, and it appeared that Nee Chen was so eager for his first resurrection that he went and did it.

I was indelibly and purely speechless.

"…"

"U-uum…"

"Speak."

"T-thank you for resurrecting me, Game Master?"

That sounded like a question. Thanks to me!? It didn't sound sincere to me. But I have bigger problems at hand with Nee Chen's mental stability being my top priority.

"Just out of curiosity... Was it really necessary for you to kill yourself just so you could check if you would resurrect?"

"Y-yes… Uuhh…"

"Stop the stuttering, it was annoying. Tell me, why?"

"Well, you told us to get used to it, right?"

"…"

In the far future, I imagined similar happenings to occur. It looked like, I too have something more to 'get used to', huh? I was reminded that I said something similar to Xiang Ya and Lu Gao. On second thoughts, I should be extra careful with using the power of resurrection... and also my words.

I had to be more responsible with my words and actions!

Frankly, while I might appear old and sage-like, I was far from it... I could not know everything, and clearly, I was capable of mistakes. There was still a lot of thinking for me to do. A lot of integrating into this new world. And a lot of more to come.

"I take it back," I softly uttered. "Don't get used to it.”

Life was important and a creature born of life should cherish it. There was a reason why lifeforms such as the human species had ‘life’ in its namesake. I controlled my emotions and asked Nee Chen to gather the players.

“Get me the others, I will wait here.”

Nee Chen meekly nodded and went on his way to fetch the others. I didn’t bother using the Quest Function of my system. Though I was ambitious and even wanted to turn this world into a game, I was not so mad as to discard the core that made games fun, which was humanity.

If we ceased being humans, how could we enjoy games anymore?

When the others had gathered, I made them sit in a lotus position to get comfortable.

I stand up. There was something called ‘Preaching’ in this world. I reflected on the meaning of preaching from old Fu Shi’s memories through his know-how. This ‘preaching’ was unlike religion or the philosophical crying of speakers on the streets.

In this Cultivation World, the act of preaching was closer to the combination of philosophizing, storytelling, and advertising. This is how sects around the world nurtured their disciples. Senior practitioners, experts, and masters share their experiences to their juniors through words, and by showing off their martial skills which was very Xianxia… though it could be grammatically misunderstood, I was pretty sure I nailed it on the head context-wise. This preaching served to inspire, advise, and elevate the listeners, which was a crucial method for sects to encourage disciples.

However, my purpose of preaching was different. Though it would be nice to inspire, advise, and elevate, I would rather my players be chill and less suicidal. Nee Chen’s blatant suicide left quite a mark on my mind.

“Do the four of you know why I gathered all of you here?”

“KYU!”

I frown.

The little bunny was pretty energetic. Because the others could not talk ‘bunny’, only I understood Bi Yuan’s chirping which roughly meant something like this— ‘Let’s KILL the STUPID CROC!’

I gulped. I knew it. Becoming a player had side effects. In Bi Yuan’s case, she had become bloodthirsty, and her sense of self-preservation must be damaged too. I knew being reckless and fearless was a player’s hallmark. I should be happy about it, but there had to be a line somewhere.

Too much power could corrupt, and my players were not free from this corruption. Because of the inherited memories from old Fu Shi and my values when I was human, I could not bring myself to bring unprecedented harm to the world.

I would still make my best ‘MMORPG’, but it had to be done in a moral capacity.

“No, we did not gather here to kill that croc, Yuan’er…” I told the little bunny and continued. “I had you all gather so that I could tell all of you to cherish your lives.”

I addressed Xiang Ya and Lu Gao. “I was wrong when I said that you had to get used to being resurrected.”

The two were flustered. It must be out of their expectations to see me apologize. I am like a God-like existence to them, so their reaction was natural, but I would not see myself as such. I was not a supreme existence who could easily lift the sky.

I was just a guy who happened to possess peculiar powers over creation. Yep, I was selling myself short, but what mattered to me was that my players were enjoying the game. “The power of my resurrection was a benefit for joining my sect. As long as I breathe and live, death will be meaningless to any of you, but that doesn’t mean you will be happy.”

There was silence.

And I broke that silence like how a hammer would to a vase.

“It had been a few days since the three of you arrived, so let this old man talk more.” I addressed the human trio, and then I glanced at Bi Yuan. “You little Bunny. You must also hear my words.”

“Kyu~!”

I nod.

“Because death had become meaningless, it didn’t necessarily mean life would be the same. Take this life lesson to heart— live! Live every second of it! I was very displeased when Nee Chen decided to kill himself like that!”

Nee Chen turned his head in shame, trying to avoid my eyesight. But through my Mind’s Eye, I could see him clearly blushing. I berated him in front of his peers for a good several seconds, but it wasn’t really my intention to shame him. I controlled my temper.

“As you could see, I possessed the power to resurrect any of you. There was a reason why I did not give a heads-up… to any of you… about this privilege.” I could imagine the fear Xiang Ya and Lu Gao had to go through in the face of death, but Nee Chen disregarded it and even went so far as to kill himself. “The reason was I had not perfected this resurrection yet. There were 'bugs' errm… There were side effects… into becoming my players, and I deduced that it had something to do with resurrection”

I was hoping that none of them would die so early until I made a further understanding of quintessence. “It must have made a poor impression for me to take my words back, but I meant it— Don’t Get Used To It.”

“Again,” I bow my head apologetically. “I was sorry.”

I definitely would have to fix my respawning system.