Ch. 1 - Fantasizing Again

[Lost Calendar Year 1000, June 7th, Starberry Town, torrential rain.

One year into my travels, I was kicked out of a tavern...]

Fantasizing again.

Fantasizing that after being killed by a dump truck, he'd transmigrated into a fantasy world, into the body of a bard named Tang Qi.

Because of a disastrous performance, he'd just been kicked out of a tavern.

At this moment, he was sprawled face-down on the muddy street with his ass in the air, half his face buried in the wet earth.

A stench of soil and feces faintly wafted around his nose—

That unique smell that belonged to medieval country roads.

The torrential rain drenched his entire body, soaking through his worn leather jacket and undershirt. A feeling of weakness overtook him, as if he were submerged in a swamp, allowing the damp cold to penetrate every pore.

Tang Qi became increasingly clear-headed: "This isn't a fantasy? Is all of this real?"

He struggled to prop himself up, pulling himself out of the mud, picking up the lute and tattered bundle from the ground, involuntarily kneading his aching lower back.

His head was still spinning, but the double vision before his eyes slowly merged—

Dark clouds made the gloomy night even more obscure.

He could only dimly make out the outlines of a few scattered wooden houses, and the flickering points of light by the eaves—some unknown source.

A flicker of firelight came from behind him.

Bright yellow candlelight mixed with chaotic clamor and cursing, displaying the only signs of life in the cold, silent night.

The tavern only became lively at night.

And Tang Qi had already missed his chance to be part of it—

The Wandering Song Academy, which outwardly promoted peace and the spread of poetry and music culture, was actually sponsored by Terran nobles to sing praises for the lords and never proactively expelled a student.

Unless that person truly had no talent whatsoever.

The previous Tang Qi Weinberg was an inconspicuous premature baby among his noble father's dozens of bastard children.

After his mother's early death, he was treated as trouble and sent to the poet academy to sever ties.

Various factors made him introverted and dull.

Even though he could memorize songs and music theory and master some archery and martial arts.

He still lacked the essential quality of a bard—

Adaptability.

When they realized he could only follow the script mechanically, singing fabricated ancient legends from textbooks.

And when facing noble masters, he couldn't even utter a single auspicious word.

His mentor realized he couldn't arrange any work for him.

So he simply patted his shoulder lightly and sighed:

"The academy has nothing more to teach you. Next, go create your own story."

Thus, Tang Qi shouldered his pack and was sent off toward what he thought was poetry and distant places.

He wandered aimlessly eastward, crossing the sea.

Finally, he passed through an eerie forest and arrived at Starberry Town, famous for its plum-fruit specialty.

The Goddess of Fortune blessed him to survive, but a year of hardship inevitably took its toll on his health.

Finally, having lost the goddess's favor, Tang Qi was kicked into a mud pit because of his terrible performance disturbed the drunkards' mood...

Thinking of this, the Tang Qi with the same name and even identical appearance had completely merged his memories.

Unlike his predecessor, he was just a third-rate online singer.

He didn't know much music theory, usually just copied trending songs, mixing them into fast-food-like pop music to post on short video platforms to get by, occasionally dabbling in some vocational school rap.

At the same time, as a TRPG enthusiast—a kind of tabletop game similar to adult pretend play—he'd haunted forums for over a decade but had struggled to find anyone to run games.

When he finally got into a game and excitedly joined his first session.

He didn't survive the oncoming dump truck...

But none of that mattered anymore.

What game could compare to experiencing this firsthand?

Living a second life, that's all.

For Tang Qi, who had no ties, accepting all this wasn't difficult.

Moreover, there was no time to worry about the past—

He walked to the tavern's eaves, where the slanted roof blocked some of the wind and rain:

"Achoo!"

The feeling of hunger and cold was far from pleasant.

The last meal was two days ago.

After getting lost in the forest, he'd roasted some wild mushrooms on the spot, then passed out in the woods—saved by someone unknown and left at the village entrance.

Right now he was nearly frozen, his legs trembling from hunger. If his willpower had been slightly more fragile, he'd be dizzy and fall headfirst back into the mud.

And then he might not get another chance.

"No matter what, I need to find somewhere warm to keep myself alive."

Tang Qi reached out his hand, cupped the rainwater from outside the eaves, splashed it on his filthy face, washing away half the mud, which also helped him stay more alert.

After thinking for a moment, he pushed open the tavern door again.

"Creak—"

The country tavern's furnishings were unremarkable. Several long tables and benches were filled with people, but they'd already been pushed askew by the drunks in their intoxication.

The door suddenly opened wide, and cool wind rushed in together with the torrential rain, making the flames in the fireplace flicker.

"Cut off his goatee! Who’s the blind bastard who opened the door!?"

A one-eyed dwarf wearing an eyepatch shivered from the cold. His beard was tied together like a goat's beard, but thick enough to cover his chest.

His sinewy arms slammed on the table, rattling the cups, and he raised his voice almost to a roar, nearly waking his drunk companions.

Other half-asleep, half-awake drunkards also turned to look.

Only then did they see the soaked man at the door, with a thick beard and messy curly hair, dressed like a vagrant.

Tang Qi closed the door. The pervasive smell of alcohol replaced the stench of feces, and the warmth brought some color back to his face.

"It's you again?"

Everyone recognized this vagrant.

He had once listlessly entered the tavern, begging the tavern owner, that penny-pinching Dawnbloom, Catherine, to give him a chance to earn a meal.

It wasn't unusual for bards to earn a living singing in taverns.

Except—

"You little shit, we already gave you one chance, but you screwed it all up!"

"Before I have the desire to get up, take your screeching broken lute and get lost!"

"The Golden Oak doesn't need old moldy stories. Your songs are so old my grandmother's ears have calluses from hearing them!"

The burly drunkards laughed and cursed.

The stupor of alcohol made these people lose what little courtesy they had.

No one wanted to hear that lute produce piercing noise while also having to endure stories praising nobles or legends of dragons and heroes on this night—

Please, daytime doesn't belong to them at all!

They had to finish harvesting the crops before tomorrow.

So that after the Harvest Festival, the merchant caravans dispatched by the landlord living in Longgold City could purchase them at extremely low prices—

Ordinary people didn't dare cross that eerie Dawnmist Forest west of the town.

"Fuck the stories, fuck the legends!"

There were no more dragons in this world, and no heroes existed.

On this boundless plain, there were only groups of savage monsters.

And nobles who were more savage than monsters, exploiting their labor!

To escape tomorrow, they hoped this drunken night would last longer.

They didn't want to be disturbed in their drunken stupor.

Twice!

Tang Qi understood this well.

But his body wouldn't allow him to sleep rough.

His face became the least important thing.

So he walked alone toward the bar.

There stood a woman wearing a plain linen dress.

She looked very young, but years of toil had still left marks on her pretty face, making her skin appear dull.

Her reddish-brown hair was braided into a single plait, resting on her full chest.

Setting aside fatigue and weariness, among this group of drunkards, she could be considered quite a striking sight.

"Give me another chance." Tang Qi requested in standard Common Tongue.

Catherine shook her head.

She'd inherited this tavern, Starberry Town's only one, from her deceased mother.

For a young woman, maintaining such a large establishment wasn't easy.

So from childhood, she valued money more than anyone.

To the point that no one could extract an extra copper's worth of benefit from her hands.

So her refusal was composed.

She slowly extended her slender fingers, pointing toward that group of muddled drunkards.

Her voice was pleasant but cold:

"You can't compensate for the loss of driving them away."

"I guarantee I won't."

"I gave you one chance, but based on the level you showed before, your credibility is like a paladin's lie."

"Paladins don't lie."

Tang Qi's thinking hadn't completely converted yet, and he responded subconsciously.

"And you have no credibility." Catherine actually didn't want to be this harsh.

Tang Qi was momentarily speechless.

His predecessor's skills weren't exquisite, just barely passable.

And the long-neglected strings always produced piercing noise.

Combined with his weak voice, yet he insisted on singing a grand epic praising nobles and heroes.

All these inappropriate combinations made the previous performance an absolute disaster.

The current Tang Qi wouldn't make such choices, but it was difficult for him to defend himself.

So he simply went all in, placed his fingers on the strings, and cleared his hoarse throat—

Before he could make a sound, Catherine covered his mouth.

The calluses on her palm tickled Tang Qi's lips slightly, but also snuffed out the rising melody.

The girl's clear eyes instinctively glanced past his shoulder.

At a table in the corner, a long-haired man leaning against the wall was drowsy but had sharp, snake-like features, and seemed to have already noticed this direction.

Her tone became urgent as she said softly:

"If you just want to fill your stomach, I'll prepare some bread and water for you.

The rain is heavy, you can also warm yourself by the fireplace and leave when it stops.

But please don't cause trouble anymore.

You don't want to be driven out again, do you?"

Obviously, letting Tang Qi continue singing would result in far greater losses than providing him with some food.

But Tang Qi wasn't satisfied with just this.

He couldn't keep living by begging, and Catherine wouldn't pity him every time.

After this rainy night, he'd still be sleeping rough.

So he hoped to prove himself.

He wanted to earn a temporary livelihood and find shelter from the wind.

Only after stabilizing could he make plans for the future.

But since she'd already said this much, insisting further would just make him annoying.

He could only nod and bow in thanks:

"May gold and silver pave the path of every kind person."

Catherine was momentarily stunned, suddenly realizing the vagrant before her didn't seem as dull as before:

"If you'd been this eloquent before, they wouldn't have..."

Before she finished speaking, she saw movement behind Tang Qi and quickly pushed at his shoulder, saying in a low voice,

"Go quickly, don't stand in front of me."

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