Nabu!" Aiden yelled into the darkness, his voice bouncing off the walls. "Where the hell am I?"
His heartbeat was loud in his ears as he took in the room. This wasn't the grand bedroom he'd imagined for the protagonist he'd written about. The walls were nothing but rough wooden planks, the ceiling low enough that he could almost reach it, beams exposed like ribs. Pieces of hay pricked at his ankles and clung to his clothes, scattered everywhere in uneven piles. A small window sat crooked on one side, sunlight leaking through a crack in the glass.
It was a barn.
He was in a damn barn.
A chime rang in his head, sharp enough to make him twitch.
[Ding!]
[Hi Aiden!]
[Welcome to your first book: Return of the Heavenly Sword God II]
He glared at the floating text. "Yeah, I know that already," he muttered, dragging a hand down his face and through hair that didn't feel like his own. "But why am I inside a barn? I wrote the MC as a freaking sect master about to break into immortality. He was supposed to reincarnate into a young master's body. Not… this." His eyes narrowed. "And why is there a 'II' in the title?"
Another chime answered him.
[This is the sidequel of your book]
[You are in the same world and timeline, but you are now a different protagonist]
[Return of the Heavenly Sword God II runs parallel to your original manuscript]
"What do you mean sidequel?" Aiden snapped, voice rising with each word. "I wrote one book. One! Nobody said anything about a second—"
[The Narrative Embodiment skill generates necessary story context for a complete narrative experience]
[You are currently inhabiting a character whose story runs alongside the original protagonist's journey]
"That's not…I didn't—" He was seconds away from losing it when he heard footsteps outside.They were heavy and seemed to be getting closer and coming towards…where he was.
Aiden's heart skipped, as he looked around the barn for somewhere, anywhere, to hide—
Bang!
The door slammed open, revealing a young man in a dark-blue servant-division robe. He marched into the space, his robe swaying behind him. His long black hair was tied in a careless bun, strands falling down his back as if they'd given up trying to stay in place. His eyebrows were thick, angled in a way that made him look like he judged people for a living.
"Long Chen!" he barked. "Still lying around like a pig in mud?"
Aiden froze, his heart in his throat. Who the hell—
But somehow, he knew the man's name without being told. He was Zhang Wei.
Zhang Wei stepped in fully, disgust twisting his mouth. He was the servant manager—strict, loud, and apparently very committed to hating Long Chen.
"You think Elder Dugu Wei's kindness means you get to sleep while everyone else works?" Zhang Wei's tone went cold. "Training grounds need cleaning. Senior disciples' quarters need tending. And you're here, passed out in a barn like you're still anyone of importance."
Aiden started to speak, but Zhang Wei cut him off.
"Pathetic," he spat. "No talent. No cultivation. You can't even look someone in the eye. I don't know what the elder saw in you. You're an insult to his memory."
Aiden swallowed his retort. Not because he agreed, but because the confusion still spun around him like smoke. Why did he suddenly know this man? Why did it feel like a memory he'd never lived?
"And listen well," Zhang Wei added, voice dripping with contempt. "If Third Young Master Dugu Shenlie catches you slacking again, you'll wish you were left in that forest to die."
He turned to leave, then threw one last warning over his shoulder. "Get to work. And try not to embarrass the clan today. I'll be watching."
The door slammed again, harder than necessary, jolting dust from the rafters.
Aiden stood in the center of the barn, chest tight. Then the memories hit him. Not slowly or gently, they crashed into him, sharp and overwhelming, like a wave that didn't care who it drowned.
He didn't linger. He pushed through the barn doors and stepped onto the dirt path. Cold air met him instantly, sharper than the words he'd just endured. Ahead, the Dugu Clan's pavilions rose high and elegant, stone bridges linking each building, spiritual energy humming faintly in the air.
More memories slid into place.
Long Chen, he was fourteen, orphaned and thin from years of barely enough food. He'd been found as a screaming infant in the Fallen Dragon Forest by Elder Dugu Wei, and raised in the clan despite everyone insisting he didn't belong. The elder had taught him basic cultivation theory, but no matter how hard he tried, nothing ever responded to him.
And then the elder died.
Killed by a spirit beast on a mission three years ago. From that moment, everything changed. The clan stripped Long Chen of protection first, then position, then respect.
But the final blow came two months ago, during the grand event with lanterns, decorations, elders from every courtyard. Youths demonstrating their progress and families watching with pride.
Long Chen remembered placing his hand on the awakening stone, hoping and begging it to respond to him. But, the stone had remained dead.
No spirit root. No glow. No future.
A world built on strength had no space for someone like him. He was demoted again—this time to servant.
Aiden—no, he was Long Chen now, wasn't he? He gripped a wooden post to steady himself, his stomach twisting. Nothing in the system message had warned him about this. About Shenlie's hostility, or being treated as the clan's mistake.
'I don't know what comes next,' he thought, panic tightening like a fist. 'I never wrote this part. I don't know this story.'
By the time he reached the training grounds, his heartbeat had settled into a dull, anxious rhythm. The courtyard stretched wide, disciples already practicing sword forms and techniques that sent sharp movements slicing through the air. Weapon racks lined the edge, and cultivation platforms shimmered faintly beneath the rising sun.
He spotted a broom leaning against the wall near the equipment shed and reached for it. The moment his fingers wrapped around the broom handle, the system chimed in his head.
[Ding!]
[Initial integration complete. Displaying full status.]
A translucent window materialized in front of him, larger and more detailed than the welcome mesage he got earlier.
[STATUS]
Name: Aiden Jus (Currently inhabiting: Long Chen)
Age: 14
Cultivation: None
Spirit root: None
[MISSION: CHANGE LONG CHEN'S FATE]
Part 1:Reach Body Refining Stage 8 before the clan gathering ceremony (7 days remaining)
Rewards:
- Awaken Sword Aura (Variant)
- Random Secret Technique
- ???
Penalty for Failure:
- Loss of Narrative Embodiment skill
- Death
System Remarks: You're definitely fucked (◕‿◕)
Aiden stared at the status window, his mind going completely blank for a moment.
Seven days.
Seven day to reach Body Refining Stage 8 or he dies.
"I really am trash," he muttered, gripping the broom handle till his knuckles turned white. "I wrote myself into an early grave."
And then, the world of the Azure Cloud Continent unfurled before him, vast, brutal, and suddenly far too real.
Authors note
Sorry for the late upload. My editor was sick