Thank you to my new patronos: Crimson, Killer Condor, Mathieu, Dlaws11, Jesper
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Jin had very high standards for the entirety of the scenario he was creating, however, for Helgen, his standards were even higher.
This was going to be an introduction to his masterpiece, the first work that he had picked and worked on in its entirety of his own volition. No wars, no sects, no exams, just sheer choice.
That meant it had to be perfect. And anything that was meant to be perfect, required a perfect introduction. Helgen was that introduction.
And no narrative structure, even one that was a smaller part of a bigger hole, could have a lacking antagonist.
Alduin, as he had been depicted at Helgen, was underwhelming. Sure, he made you run through a few burning buildings and escape underground, razing a whole outpost as he did so.
But… Considering the potentiata of Worldeater, was that really that impressive?
Especially in a cultivation world, where high-level cultivators could achieve a similar destructive effect without much effort, Aldiun's efforts seemed almost feeble.
But Alduin was necessary to start the narrative, the dragons were awakening, starting their subjugation of humanity once again one attack at a time.
Alduin was a necessary and integral part of Helgen.
Or, was he?
"Just remove him?" Jin curiously asked, putting up a hand to stroke a beard he did not possess.
"Ah, I see what you mean," Hashimi suddenly said at Francis' most recent suggestion, banging a fist into the palm of her hand.
"I don't quite follow," Jin said honestly, looking at his two co-workers.
"Think!" Hashimi urged, dramatically pointing a finger straight at his nose. "In any of the novels you've read, has the great evil behind the insidious plot ever just come out in the first chapter to announce its dastardly plans?"
Jin was just about to open his mouth and answer, before the girl continued with an agitated tone of voice.
"Of course not!" she shouted. "He or she first sends a subordinate of a much lower rank and much lower strength. Then, when the main character surpasses this lackey, they realise that they have yet to see Mt. Tai and have to survive a test of will at the helplessness of the situation!"
Jin inadvertently found himself nodding along.
In fact. Why did Alduin have to be the first dragon to appear?
Francis interrupted with a cough. "My idea specifically would be, why not simply have Helgen be attacked by another dragon. The fact that Alduin has awoken and is plotting somewhere can simply be included in a few lines of dialogue." He dramatically swept out his arm and mimicked how the dialogue might look. "Raaaoorrrghhh, I am reborn. Thank you, great master Alduin, for this boon!" he shouted dramatically.
Jin snapped his fingers, "visual effect," he suddenly blurted out. "Originally, Alduin was supposed to be the first dragon to make his appearance known. After that, he visited the burial mounds one by one, resurrecting his compatriots. What if, instead, the execution is interrupted when a great meteor shower erupts from the sky, causing streaks of fire to wash over the continent. However, it is not extra-terrestrial rocks that fall from heaven, but the resurrection of the dragons. Each one of the falling lights lands on a burial mound. It just so happens that one was exactly outside of Helgen this whole time! The dragon awakens, thanks Alduin with a roar and immediately attacks Helgen."
Francis nodded frantically, his beard whipping up and down. "Yes! And the fact that the dragons awaken, not all at once, can be explained by the fact that the stronger a dragon, the longer it needs to wake up. The one attacking Helgen was the weakest, thus awakening first. This also makes it possible to scale their strength towards the end of the scenario!"
Hashimi dramatically threw a hand forward. "Whomst has awoken this young master!" she shouted with narrowed eyes. "Humans," she snorted. "You will serve as a fitting sacrifice for this great boon sect leader Alduin has chosen to grant me!"
Jin's world spun. This was… Literally sacrilege. But in the end, which game didn't need to be adapted to fit the cultural and narrative standards of a new reality? Skyrim would become a game where you started beating up dragons from weakest to strongest. This not only fitted perfectly with the concept of an RPG, but also with the cultivation culture he was suddenly living in.
"Fool, I am only a dragon of the 2nd dan pixue realm, my senior brother, who has successfully cultivated the metal scales technique and who holds the cultivation of a pixue realm pinnacle expert, will avenge this loss of face you have caused today!" Jin said with a sweep of his hands.
Hashimi and Francis both looked at him with wide eyes before exchanging a look.
"He gets it, he gets it!" Hashimi screamed and threw herself at Jin while Francis happily nodded in the background.
Falling to the floor under Hashimi's weight, Jin couldn't help but laugh.
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"It seems that you've figured out a shortcut," Elder Flower said critically as she watched Jin use the beginning stages of the templating technique to do a weird dance that the disciple referred to as a 'floss'.
She didn't really understand the naming sense, but seeing the idiot happily throw his hips left and right at the same time as his arms swung in the opposite directions, she could only agree that his progress had sped up.
"I was actually holding the technique in too high regard," Jin explained with closed eyes when he stopped dancing. He thus missed the Elder's twitching brow. "I thought that I really had to work through every muscle fibre, tendon and nerve ending in my body one by one to get a bigger movement. But actually, I just had to touch on each part of the body once to include it in the automatism of the technique, after which singular movements can be completed without considering the biological specifics. Now I just have to practice the thousand or so human body movements that are most inherent to basic body mobility, after which I could probably freestyle the rest since I'll always have 99% down after I do the basics that area always repeated," he explained and opened his eyes only to see Elder Flower staring at him blankly and pulling out two practice swords.
"Did I do something wrong, Elder Flower?" Jin asked confusedly as the woman threw one of the practice swords at him.
"Of course not," the woman said kindly with a stiff mouth. "It's actually very impressive how far you've managed to come with the technique, considering that others, whose name we don't have to mention, took years to get to the level you're at now."
Jin blinked before frowning. "Well, it's no wonder their names aren't worth mentioning," he said with a sigh and a shake of his head. "It's really not that complicated."
The grip on the practice sword in Elder Flower's hands tightened, forming an indentation in the wood.
"Why are we practising with the sword again?" the boy asked, looking at the practice sword in his hand.
"Most of the enemies you'll meet at the tournament will be wielding a jian; those who won't will have sabres. A few will use their fists, and perhaps one or two will use staves. It's important to continue familiarising yourself with the weapon," Elder Flower said through gritted teeth.
Jin nodded with a frown. "Shame, I think I got the technique down enough that I could have started channelling Dragonslayer Ornstein today if I got lucky. It really wasn't as complicated as I feared. It's easier for stupid people, actually, one could say, since they probably just do the gesture without thinking about what it does to the muscles, tendons and capillaries. They likely waste more qi, but they should get the technique down faster with such an idiotically simplistic approach." After saying this, Jin looked down only to find himself being assaulted by a literal mountain of force being channelled through his teacher's practice sword.
He yelped and barely avoided a concussion by using the body control technique, and then went on to dodge the next strikes with an ever-increasing fluidity as he worked out the kinks of the movements. "I see, so it's even easier with a sparring partner!" the boy exclaimed happily, causing the strikes to start flying at him even faster.
Eventually he was struck of course and lost the sword, but the progress continued at an incredibly rapid face.
After an hour or two, Jin found himself unable to continue, having run out of qi to power the technique. There were several bruises on his body, but he smiled happily at the progress he'd made.
Elder Flower for her part was frowning and had completely ruined the grip of her practice sword during the practice. It was only kindling now so she threw it away.
It bounced harshly against one of the trees surrounding the clearing they were in and shattered into a cloud of dust and splinters.
Jin narrowed his eyes as he looked at the Elder.
Something deep within him, an instinct, was telling him that…
She wasn't in a good mood.
"Thank you for your guidance, Elder!" He suddenly shouted and bowed so deeply his face was stuck between his knees. His clasped hands were held above his head in a sign of sheer devotion. "This foolish disciple dreams of one day fighting with even a percent of the grace and strength of the Elder."
His words seemed to, if nothing else, break Elder Flower out of some sort of funk.
The woman slowly shook her head before sighing. "At ease, inner disciple," she said. "Unfortunately, I will not have much time for these sessions in the future. My role in the sect has… changed." She quirked a small smile.
Jin, meanwhile, was jubilating inside his head, while outside he held an expression of extreme disappointment. "This inadequate disciple will try to survive without the Elder's guidance. Please forgive my failure in advance!" he shouted again, bowing again.
Elder Flower looked at him with a blank face before running a hand down her face. "Regardless, it will soon be announced that twice per week, all rings of the Illusion Room Sect will hold mandatory combat classes. As the originator of this initiative, I will be teaching those classes. After a year or so, a certain level of combat ability will be included in the requirements for advancing to a higher position within the sect." She paused. "Something for you to consider after the tournament, but also in a year, missions involving combat will be subsidised by the sect, the rewards being equalled once more in sect contribution points."
Jin's mind ran as he thought of the implications. Elder Flower had been pushing for a bigger focus on combat. Her feats at the border… They had elevated her position?
"This disciple looks forward to guidance!" he exclaimed.
"You will be teaching alongside me, as one of the few disciples who actually knows which part of the sword to hold. It would be a waste to have you not impart your…" The Elder's smile grew fragile. "Wisdom."
Jin stared at her blankly. He, a teacher's assistant? He was like the second youngest inner disciple in the ring.
"For this help you will gain sect contribution points and…" here the Elder paused. "I will try to exempt you from scenario-creating missions until you have finished your passion project so that you may give it your all."
"Disciple, thanks, Elder!" Jin said with another bow. "But… may this disciple ask… After the resounding victory at the border, why was the focus on combat implemented now?"
Elder Flower snorted. "Do not repeat this, although it will certainly get out eventually," she said in a vexed tone of voice. "But, while we have not lost any land and have taken fewer losses than the other side, the real objective of the demons has been fulfilled. This zombie virus has been spread past the border, as was likely inevitable. Some of the infected hid their wounds and deserted, and while thousands were caught and executed, a few escaped. Despite the fact that the virus simply kills cultivators if not treated and cannot reanimate them, the Empire now has a big problem on their hands."
Jin's world spun.
This… It was too much of a genre shift.
Help, my video game plagiarist cultivation webnovel suddenly shifted genre to zombie apocalypse?
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AN: If you want to read further ahead on this now zombie apocalypse cultivation novel, support me on Patreon :P