“Thud!”
That was the sound of a tablet hitting someone’s face.
“Crack!”
That was the sound of the Spirit Measuring Jade shattering.
…
[Today is the day when cultivation sects routinely accept new disciples.]
[It still seems early. Thin mist lingers among the emerald-green mountain ranges, and those who have come to test their Spirit Roots resemble several lines of foraging ants.
Hovering in mid-air at the front are palm-sized small mirrors, resembling fine mutton-fat jade pendants—warm, smooth, and translucent.
There are fifteen in a row, with a noticeably larger gap between the last one and the second-to-last on the right. On the ground lie fragments of the Spirit Measuring Jade.
The people who have come to seek entry into the sect exclaim in surprise, while the disciples in charge from the sect also gasp in astonishment. They quickly send a message to their elders, and in no time, someone appears before them.
This elder has long eyebrows reaching his temples, a ruddy complexion, and wears a Dharma Robe that gleams with radiant light.
He examines the young man who caused the Spirit Measuring Jade to shatter, then claps his hands and laughs heartily: “Excellent! It turns out to be the Moon-Hiding Physique! Good child! What Spirit Root do you have?”
A disciple hurriedly reports: “Mu Liuyun, Thunder Spirit Root.”
“Excellent! Come with me quickly!”
The elder is extremely excited, but the young man remains unmoved. He turns back to look at the crowd: “My younger sister is still here.”
Following his gaze, the elder’s eyes fall upon _____.]
[System prompt: Please give your character a name!]
This is the opening of the otome game “Die Without Love.”
Set against the backdrop of immortal cultivation, the story begins at the Spirit Root testing site of the All-Laws-One-Sect.
The All-Laws-One-Sect is not a single sect but an organization formed by numerous top sects, functioning similarly to the United Nations.
The game’s setting is vast and intricate. To meet the demands of an otome game, there are countless handsome men of various styles and appearances. The game offers high freedom, and the male leads are not mere static figures—the opening animation is exceptionally realistic.
Only after entering a name will the game proceed.
[Following his gaze, the elder’s eyes fall upon AAA Wholesale Eggs. He notices that although her attire is simple, her appearance is ___.]
[System prompt: Please create a face you like!]
Character customization.
[Following his gaze, the elder’s eyes fall upon AAA Wholesale Eggs. He notices that although her attire is simple, her appearance is delicate and lovely.
Though still young, she has an apricot-shaped face with rosy cheeks, as if carved from jade and adorned with powder. The elder feels an instant fondness for her and can’t help but say: “Child, come forward quickly. After testing your Spirit Root, follow your elder brother and me.”]
[Congratulations! You have received the character customization evaluation: Graceful forehead and moth-like eyebrows, apricot-shaped face with rosy cheeks.]
[Please follow your elder brother and set off!]
…That was how the original plot was supposed to unfold.
But now.
The elder awkwardly twists his tongue, “Eh, eh, eh, professional…” He remarks with confusion: “What a long and strange name. Which part is the surname, and which is the given name? Why have I never heard of such a thing?”
[Your name does not comply with the regulations. The player’s real name has been automatically used.]
Beside him, the elder brother coughs lightly, “Don’t be mischievous.” Then, addressing the elder respectfully, he says: “My younger sister is playful; I hope you can forgive her. Her surname is Su, and her given name is Tangxing.”
“Hurry up.”
He extends his hand toward Su Tangxing in the crowd.
Mu Liuyun was only fifteen this year, yet he was fair-skinned and handsome, with a calm and steady demeanor. In the game, a progress bar for favorability hung above his head, and after he came of age, it was blatantly labeled with the words “Available for Romance.”
He was the first male character introduced in the game, the protagonist’s non-blood-related older brother. The forbidden nature of their relationship made it thrilling, and his popularity remained consistently high.
When Su Tangxing played this game, she didn’t pursue any of the other characters, leaving their progress bars at zero. Out of the five pages of handsome male illustrations, she hadn’t unlocked a single one.
Only this older brother was different for her, with a two percent progress. That was only because his storyline was unavoidable in the early stages; otherwise, the game couldn’t begin.
She hadn’t been aiming to romance anyone in the first place.
Admittedly, the game had put great effort into crafting the male characters and constructing the plot, but what always attracted Su Tangxing the most were the other gameplay elements within the immortal cultivation sects.
Due to the game’s high degree of freedom, after completing the opening storyline, she didn’t touch the main plot. Instead, she joined the “Leisurely Immortal Abode,” a sect focused on beast taming, and then started farming and raising livestock in her own courtyard, occasionally fighting Demonic Creatures to level up.
She was a life-simulation player.
Her favorite activities, besides naming characters and customizing appearances, were building houses, decorating, buying furniture and clothes, raising livestock, and setting up stalls.
But she had always struggled to find a suitable game.
Until “Die Without Love” burst onto the scene.
It combined all the elements Su Tangxing loved, and she became deeply obsessed with this game.
However, perhaps because too many players deviated from the main storyline, the game developers decided to optimize and remove some of the life-simulation content.
When Su Tangxing saw the announcement, her world instantly collapsed.
Life was already annoying enough, and now the one comfort she had to pass the time was being ruined by these changes!
As soon as she logged in, sure enough, many things were missing from the updated game.
Taking stock of her assets, Su Tangxing first discovered that her home was gone.
The Cultivation Cave she had painstakingly built bit by bit—gone!
Gone!
And her dog!
Her loyal, home-guarding dog!
Had also been “optimized” away by this terrible system.
She immediately contacted customer service, and after getting no results, left her first negative review.
A lengthy, meticulously crafted critique.
The official response came quickly.
“Dear player, we’re sorry for the poor experience, but have you really not tried romance? It’s really fun! We have all kinds of handsome men, and you can pursue them as you like.”
Su Tangxing: That’s absurd. In an otome game, I’m supposed to pursue men instead of them trying to win me over? Is that reasonable?
“Dear player, that’s just how our game is! Hehe~”
“And you know this is an otome game, right? Turning an otome game into Minecraft and The Sims—is that reasonable? (covering mouth and laughing).”
She had been lying down playing on her tablet, but the “hehe” with the tilde and the sarcastic smiley face made her eyes widen in shock.
Are official accounts this bold nowadays?
“If you don’t follow the main storyline or pursue romance, who will stop the tragedies about to happen?! Who will save the unfortunate characters?! Can you bear to see those handsome men trapped in darkness with no hope of redemption?!”
Su Tangxing: Yes, I can bear it.
She grew impatient: I’m stuck in the darkness of the grind too, and no one’s saving me. Stop with the useless talk. Give me back my stuff.
“Alright, alright (sigh). We can open a special channel for you. Would you like to give it a try?”
【After activating the special channel, you can continue with the life gameplay as well. How does that sound, dear? Here is our agreement.】
Su Tangxing skeptically opened the electronic agreement.
【The special channel can be understood as transporting the player into the game world, or according to your terminology, it can also be called transmigration.】
【The player will confirm entry into World 0001.】
【Click to confirm】
Su Tangxing carefully read through the agreement’s contents, not quite believing in this so-called special channel.
Could this broken game really make someone transmigrate?
Let’s try clicking confirm.
The moment she pressed it, her wrist suddenly went numb.
The tablet she was holding slipped and hit her face.
Before she could feel the pain, she opened her eyes to find herself facing the game’s visuals, with a cheerful mechanical voice ringing in her ears:
【Great! The special channel has been activated.】
【Dear, as long as everyone in the full collection achieves max-level affection toward you, you can return!】
Starting a new story here, just a heads-up.
*My take on immortal cultivation, entirely made up.
*Lighthearted slice-of-life style. No romance, just daily life, daily life, daily life! The pacing is very slow, written to relax.
*If you have high moral standards for the female lead, proceed with caution. Not all characters are perfect. As we all know, people are multifaceted.
*There are many non-human and various strange settings. The author can handle anything and write about anything (really, currently includes male lactation).
*No BL content.
*Additional note regarding the title 【Master】: Initially, I researched the difference between “master” and “teacher”.”Shīfu” later became a general term for someone who teaches a skill; “Shīfu” specifically refers to a formal master-disciple relationship (involving kowtowing and an introducer). That’s why I used 【Master】 at the start. Later, some readers pointed out the inaccuracy, but due to the large number of instances, it couldn’t be changed. Replacing it later might affect the reading experience. My apologies here.