3 - Dungeon Growth Log

Dan Peak, Reflective Pavilion. Morning sunlight filtered through the mountain mist and the lattice windows of the Reflective Pavilion, languidly casting its light onto the pearwood desk littered with rice paper. Xia Ge's hand trembled slightly as she held her brush. A single dot of ink spread thinly across the red-threaded yellow paper, leaving a faint stain. Xia Ge felt tormented. Three thousand times, Dan Precepts!! Three thousand times! Her precious glasswood! How could she be so unlucky... Xia Ge's heart twisted in agony. So… how did she end up in such a dire predicament? She placed the finished sheet of rice paper on the window sill, glancing at the tiny, neatly written characters, waiting for the mountain wind to dry the ink. Then she returned to the pearwood desk, pulled out a fresh sheet of rice paper, and continued copying from the thick, red-covered book in front of her. Yes, she was a transmigrator. A transmigrator who first narrowly escaped death under the wheels of a car, ended up a vegetative patient in a hospital for two years, miraculously woke up and thought she'd finally see good fortune and reach new heights in life—only to transmigrate into a book as a beggar girl a few days later. People spoke painted, vivid descriptions of that car accident as a horrifying ordeal, but all she remembered was feeling like she'd napped under the car wheels. Perhaps with a terrible dream. When she awoke to the pungent scent of disinfectant in the hospital, she glanced at the date. Hah, incredible—two years had passed. Even now, Xia Ge admired her former self for the remarkable mental fortitude shown in accepting the reality of losing two years of her youth without batting an eye. Impressive. Truly impressive. Once the ink on the first sheet of rice paper had almost dried, Xia Ge gathered it, placed it on the stack of finished sheets, then positioned the second completed sheet and used a paperweight to secure it. Returning, she resumed work on the third sheet. So, in summary, she was a sorry, transmigrated character named Xia Ge who'd muddled through this wretched new world for three or four years, still considered a nobody in the grand scheme. Oh, and when she first arrived, it took her some time to realize she was in a book. In the real world, she had a younger brother named Xia Wuyin—a loving, considerate sibling who managed to study and work hard to earn money for her medical expenses during her comatose state. Their parents had died early, leaving behind a sizable inheritance managed by her. So when she became comatose, her newly adult, inexperienced brother had to work even harder, juggling multiple jobs to care for his accident-stricken sister. Upon finally waking up, getting discharged from the hospital, and no longer needing her brother's care, life started to get back on track. Xia Ge couldn't fathom how she ended up transmigrating into a book. Post-discharge, Xia Wuyin suggested she take time to rest and recuperate at home. Agreeing, she stayed home and lazed around like a salted fish. But when one is idle, they often seek activities to pass the time, such as reading novels. Searching her bookshelf revealed all the "exciting" novels she'd collected two years earlier were gone—stuff like “Battle x”, “Cover x”, and “Stellar x”. Infuriating. But it didn’t matter much; after all, those books originally came from her brother’s shelf. He must have taken them back while she was ill. Xia Ge raided her brother’s bookshelf—instead of the usual fare, now filled with serious books like “Western Economics”, “Five Millennia of Chinese History”, and “Western Historical Stories.” Indeed, suffering builds character and transformation. Xia Ge felt deeply gratified. To think, back in the day, she'd confiscated countless bad books from Xia Wuyin’s desk—titles like “How x Is Tempered”, and “The Bodyguard of x School Beauty”… Very well, indeed. Adversity certainly transforms even the most unpromising into pillars of society, like herself! But just as Summer Pillar-of-Society Ge was basking in pride, She turned, and there on Summer Pillar-of-Society Wuyin’s desk was a thick, black-covered book, about seven or eight centimeters thick—one you could gnaw on for half a month or swing like a brick in a fight. “Boundless Wind and Moon” Summer Pillar-of-Society Ge: “……” Rescind the previous statement. Transformation is hard; true nature remains unaltered. Why couldn’t he be more like her, a pillar of society? Reading such books would definitely warp the mind! Not to mention it was a pirated copy! Even worse! Determined, Xia Ge resolved to read the book carefully to understand the parts where her brother was supposedly corrupted—thus, curing him. If she could turn back time, if she could transmigrate again, if... Xia Ge would definitely, definitely hang the purchasing-pirated-books Xia Wuyin up and beat him a hundred times! A hundred times! Still, at that moment, while outwardly condemning, inwardly, Xia Pillar-of-Society Ge picked the book up with a happy heart, relishing her opium literature. Righteously denouncing all the while, in truth, her own bookshelf was filled with male-oriented, power-up novels confiscated from Xia Wuyin. Online, we warmheartedly and intimately call these people—— Double-standard dogs. Back then, Xia Double-standard Ge didn’t realize how hypocritical her actions were. She only lamented the loss of her "precious" collection. The endless chain-harem, Gary Stu, and overly ridiculous stories were tossed in the trash—the true gems lingered on her shelf. But now her loves had vanished. They were nowhere in her brother’s closet either, so she had to make do with this opium literature. “Boundless Wind and Moon”—quite a romantic title; the content might be decent; her brother's taste should be somewhat refined... Looks like it’s not too late; his tastes haven’t completely rotted away with those unredeemable one-guy-multi-girl stories. After reading for a while, Xia Ge: “……” Closing the book, Xia Ge concluded that her brother might not just be compromised; he had a terminal illness, utterly incurable. Suffocating. If it weren’t for the doctor's advice to avoid using her phone... If it weren’t for her collection of “precious” books gone missing... If it weren’t for the tedium of recovery days... Xia Ge’s sight wandered over the bookshelf filled with “xx Economics,” “Five Millennia of Chinese History,” “Practical Economic Law”... Finally, her gaze fixed on “Boundless Wind and Moon.” Xia Ge: “……” Her brother’s life must be so tough. Even reading a chain-harem novel, the protagonist must undergo hardship to triumph; really, what’s the point? Reflecting on the content, she’d never seen such a pitiful protagonist before. What’s more exasperating, this was a chain-harem novel! Hey, hey, how did these perfect girls fall for this wimp of a protagonist, damn it?! From the very fragments of the weak script, one could fully envision the infinite cowardice of the protagonist, how did that xx Sect Master see his exceptional talents at first glance and realize his potential for greatness?! For a cowardly protagonist, someone could see their down-to-earth ambition and grand dreams. No wonder he’s a sect master while she’s a hapless accident victim; the difference between people really lies in perception, hahaha. Xia Ge stoically turned the page. What’s wrong with each of these girls’ eyes? Why did they fall for such a coward? Xia Ge steeled herself and continued. The early chapters had countless holes, but the latter plot was somewhat decent. It was about a cowardly protagonist who watched his sect members get massacred, then rose from the ashes with the sect master’s insight and token, gradually becoming powerful, confident, and increasingly beloved by the ladies. Xia Ge took three or four days to finish it. Why did she finish such a problematic story? Because the protagonist eventually became very strong, and overall, the story was quite inspiring, not mindlessly arrogant. … Just that he acquired a lot of girls, which made her somewhat uncomfortable. Why did all these excellent girls fall for a jerk? Frustrated as she was, she couldn’t deny the author’s skill. The protagonist started weak and a bit prideful, but was loyal and gentle towards women— Later, as he grew powerful, he became the type who exuded unrestrained charisma, with a heart so ruthless and calculating it could scheme even one’s undergarments away, all while maintaining the facade of a gentle, elegant gentleman. And certainly, a central-heating type of warm-faced gentleman. Thus, the author smoothly proceeded to collect various girls. Each girl threw herself at him, saying things like, “I know you don’t like me, but it doesn't matter if I love you.” “I only love you!” “I’d die for you, who cares if I love you!” “...” Truly enjoyed every flower without leaving one behind. Protagonist: The author made me do it! Xia Ge: “……” Alright, fine, it’s all the author’s fault. Reading a novel to kill time wasn’t really a big deal since, ultimately, it was fictional. Even if it was enjoyed, even if the harem genre had been ingested, getting angry wasn’t worth it. Accept it with a smile and move on. After all, it was a harem novel. Isn’t that typical for harem novels? Accept it. However, Xia Ge couldn’t fathom that after reading a harem novel one day, the next she’d transmigrate into it and be force-fed the genre’s nonsense again. And she couldn’t take the protagonist’s perspective, so the pleasure wasn’t even hers. The smile gradually faded from her face.jpg Unable to accept.jpg Never reading harem novels again.jpg If her brother reads them again, she’ll break his legs.jpg But as the saying goes, when God closes a door, He often opens a window. And if God forgets to provide a window, keep searching and you'll eventually find a dog hole to crawl through. When Xia Ge first arrived in this world, she accidentally transmigrated into the body of a little beggar. Unluckily, when God closed the door, he evidently forgot to open a window for her. Enduring two or three years of miserable begging, Xia Ge finally had God's grace to find her a dog hole...no, finally remembering to give her a glimmer of hope. She met the protagonist. Ye ★ Beggar ★ Ze ★ Protagonist She met the fellow beggar, the male lead who also suffered the annihilation of his family. Xia Ge: … Slumming in this monstrous world for two miserable years, Xia Ge suddenly had an epiphany in her third year. She, Xia Ge, didn't just transmigrate to another world. She had transmigrated into a book. The book she’d previously read, a harem novel, “Boundless Wind and Moon.” And after meeting the protagonist— 【Ding! Encountered a key character, system loading. √】 【Ding! Puppet System loaded! Welcome host to the book world, “Boundless Wind and Moon.”】 No, wrong. This isn't “Boundless Wind and Moon.” It’s boundless debt, boundless begging, boundless hunger. Despair. "Squeak." Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted. The tightly shut wooden door of the Reflective Pavilion was quietly pushed open. A stern-faced youth came in, carrying a pile of rice paper, and approached the pearwood desk beside her, his expression looking quite grim. Recovering from her painful memories, Xia Ge glanced over, a look of utter defeat on her face: "Yo, Ye Ze." Yes, this was the male lead of “Boundless Wind and Moon,” the harem jerk, Ye Ze.