Jiang Qiao typed rapidly on his keyboard, uploading the final chapter of the day. After hitting "publish," he let out a long sigh of relief.
He was an ordinary writer—and a college student. But he held one secret: he was a transmigrator.
It had been almost eight years since he arrived in this world, one very similar to Earth. At first, Jiang Qiao thought he could rise to the top using the knowledge he'd brought with him.
Sadly, he realized he had no talent for art, nor for coding. All he could manage was typing words.
In these eight years, Jiang Qiao had written five novels. Each performed just okay—enough to let him live off his writing, but never hitting bestseller status like back on Earth. He blamed the world he lived in now—called Blue Star—for being about five to six years ahead in tech compared to Earth.
Here, VR games had become the mainstream. Writers like him who targeted PC gamers were seen as outdated.
But finally, on this very day, Jiang Qiao met his golden finger—his cheat.
"Can you hear me?!" a translucent girl, around fifteen in appearance, floated mid-air and stared at Jiang Qiao, who was about to dig into his takeout.
"Speak. I'm listening," Jiang Qiao replied casually, biting into a chicken drumstick. Having transmigrated once, he wasn't the type to freak out over ghostly apparitions.
"I'll introduce myself again. I'm Hailan. I used to be a Creator." She placed a hand over her modest chest with a sense of pride.
"Used to? What about now?" Jiang Qiao asked. The question caught Hailan mid-sentence, her pride faltering.
"Un...unemployed. My previous world was destroyed. Now, your world is in grave danger. Soon, invaders will arrive. Your world will be shredded and vanish into the void!" she declared gravely.
"Why come to me?" Jiang Qiao put down his takeout. "Not trying to be humble, but I'm just a writer. If you're so powerful, shouldn't you go find some world leader or official?"
"Because… my soul is bound to yours. I only just regained consciousness by absorbing the awareness energy of this world's lifeforms," she said helplessly.
"Well, that's a decent explanation. So, you want me to be the Savior? Got any world-ending powers to hand over?" Jiang Qiao asked.
"I can't break this world's rule barrier. Just creating simple objects is already my limit, let alone giving you supernatural powers…"
As she spoke, a small iron lump appeared in her hand and floated toward Jiang Qiao. It was definitely real.
"Rule barrier?" Jiang Qiao repeated, toying with the iron.
"In the world I created before, there was something you'd call 'magic'. But your world has neither magic nor any extraordinary powers. Even gravity is lower. With your rules, I can't bestow you with strong magic," she said.
"So... we fight invaders with this lump of metal?" Jiang Qiao weighed the iron. It'd probably hurt if thrown at someone's head. A solid hit to the temple might even kill.
"I can guide your consciousness into my world. There, I can strengthen it and grant you great power," Hailan replied in a divine, goddess-like tone.
"Sounds like a scam. But sure, what do I do to enter your world?"
Jiang Qiao placed the iron aside and stretched his arms. Sitting too long had made his body stiff.
"You believe me just like that?"
Hailan was stunned. She expected to have to persuade him for hours.
"I've written this kind of 'cheat story' too many times. Consciousness world sounds like a dream realm. Should I lie down?" Jiang Qiao asked, clearly experienced.
"J-Just sit and close your eyes."
She was relieved to have bound to someone this adaptable.
Jiang Qiao sat down again and shut his eyes. When he opened them, he found himself on a vast, endless grassland.
It felt like he was in Minecraft's creative mode.
"There's… nothing here," he muttered. Just grass stretching as far as he could see. Even the sky looked fake, like a flat image.
"This is a basic world I just created. Now listen to my plan." Hailan appeared beside him, now in physical form. "I can bestow your world's beings with extraordinary power—train them into warriors capable of resisting the invaders."
"And how do you get them to obey?"
Jiang Qiao had other questions too—like why not just create people directly? But deep down, he already had a plan forming.
"I haven't figured that part out yet. In the past, my humans had very primitive minds. But your civilization has developed far more than I expected," Hailan said. "They might not be as easy to trick."
Trick? At least she was self-aware.
"If you want to act like a god and start a cult to fool people, that's fine, but too slow. I've got a faster method."
Jiang Qiao rummaged in his pocket and pulled out his smartphone—which shouldn't have existed here—and opened a mobile game he had been playing.
"You want me to enslave them?" Hailan asked, watching the dark dungeon scene on the screen.
"No! I mean instead of calling them 'warriors'—call them players!"
Jiang Qiao pointed at his in-game avatar. He had sunk over 300 hours into that game—a prime example of a whale and a grindlord.
"Humans are lazy by nature. They avoid training, homework, and work. But there's one thing they'll never get tired of…"
"Games?" Hailan followed.
"More specifically, video games," Jiang Qiao locked his phone and stood up. "Creator, I think it's time we start remodeling this world."
"Remodeling? Got any ideas?"
Before awakening, Hailan had spent time observing Jiang Qiao and watching him play. She found his idea promising—but had no clue what a video game world really was.
"First, we need a system. Can you code?"
The girl who could shape entire worlds just shook her head honestly.
(End of Chapter)