Etsusa Bridge - Volume 3, Chapter 2-A: Paw and Circumstance

Shi Hao, a young man, managed to turn the tables on a powerful figure trying to possess him. He gained countless cultivation techniques, martial skills, formations, alchemy knowledge, and talisman arts, setting him on a legendary path.Now, every genius and tyrant must bow before him.Those who refuse? They'll be eliminated!

Li Yanchu transmigrated into a strange world of martial arts, Daoist spells, ghosts, and monsters, only to land in the body of a young Daoist at the rundown Qingyun Temple. Just across the street? A rowdy inn run by a stunningly seductive innkeeper. Life could be worse.Gifted with the mysterious Decree of Bestowal, Li Yanchu can transform ordinary herbs into century-old divine medicine, giving him an unparalleled advantage in cultivation. With this cheat-like ability, he advances rapidly in cultivation, despite being told he had no talent for it.But cultivation isn’t his only path forward.After slaying a ghost and earning merit points, he realizes there’s more to this world than martial arts. Hidden behind the scenes is a karma-based system, one that rewards righteous deeds.As his saber technique grows sharper by the day, Li Yanchu finds himself entangled in eerie mysteries, deadly encounters, and strange happenings in Wei City…Now, with the authorities pounding on his doors, Li Yanchu’s peaceful days of tea and training might just be over.Ghosts. Bandits. Cultivation. A cheat system tied to karma. When the mortal world and the supernatural collide, only one Daoist stands between chaos and order.

[P-CORE BIOS VER 7.3.1 INITIALIZING... 10%][30%][60%][90%][100%][SUBJECT Kael - GENETIC MARKER: PHOENIX PRIME - CONFIRMED][CRYO-STASIS SEQUENCE: ...100%][NEURAL PATHWAY: STABLE][VITAL SIGNS: DETECTED - SUBOPTIMAL][LOADING PHOENIX CORE AI - DESIGNATION: ASHA][ASHA ONLINE - AWAITING SUBJECT CONSCIOUSNESS]Asha: “Kael, your current objective is not to get eaten. My calculations give you a 37.4% chance if you actually follow my advice this time.”Kael: “Right, Asha. 'I'll make sure not to be a snack by these mutated.” He gripped his trusty pipe. “I still haven't met the others who are still sleeping in their pods. How can I think about being eaten?” He glanced towards the cryo-pods, 14 Beautiful girls still on their cold sleep.[Affinity System Sub-Routine... Online. Monitoring Subject Interactions.]Sera (her long silver hair glinting through her waist. Her arms crossed and glaring at Kael who just offered her a slightly squashed ration bar): “I don't need your help or your pitiful food! I can handle myself just perfectly fine..… I know this situation… is temporarily, everything will be fine.”Kael: “Umm.. O-O-Okay. Just… eat this first it's the last one we have.. and you looked really hungry, Sera.”Asha: “[Affinity with Subject Seraphina: -2. Critical Analysis: Subject exhibits classic tsundere defense mechanisms. Probability of her actually wanting the ration bar: 89.7%.]”Kael (to Asha,): “Umm.. Asha?.. What now?”[Humanity's Last Hope: Subject Kael. Current Status: Confused, but trying his best.][Objective: Survive. Protect the 14 Girls. Maybe figure out what 'Affinity' means before someone hits *him* with a pipe.]

Being sucked into a fantasy world that nobody leaves doesn't sound half bad to Cain. He was a high school dropout with a drinking problem, living off disability due to his poor health, so it's not like he had much to lose except a few faithful friends he didn't talk to enough.

After a long night of drinking, Cain wakes up looking at what he believes to be the character creation screen of one of his beloved virtual reality games, but with no recollection of having purchased it. His unwitting choice to use the Random Character Creation option, unaware that the choice would be irreversible, sends him into this new world as a Puppet Master, a Summoning based class nobody else in the starting zone has ever heard of.

But as he soon realizes, this is no game, him and hundreds of others have been brought to another world with no instructions, no clear goals and no way home. It's a second chance to live a good life, but what will Cain be able to make of it?