Chapter 0: Gaming: A Fundamental Skill for Factory Workers
For small factory workers, gaming was practically a basic life skill.
Of course, some would argue that certain mobile apps—where all you did was auto-hunt, spend money, and roll gacha—couldn’t even be considered real games.
But to factory workers, these games were more than just games.
They were the loyal companions that leveled up even while tucked away inside a locker during work hours.
Even if their salaries never increased, their in-game levels did.
More importantly, games made up over 70% of workplace conversations.
At this point, it wasn’t just a game—it was modern-day socializing.
However, when it came to PC or console games, things were different.
For factory workers, gaming wasn’t exactly a mainstream hobby.
Their main pastimes were drinking (with meals), drinking (at company gatherings), drinking (with women), and if not drinking—fishing.
In that sense, his hobby being gaming was quite rare.
He was a dedicated gamer.
Factory work followed a two-shift rotation, cycling between day and night shifts, with brief one- or two-day breaks in between.
Whenever he got time off, his routine was simple:
First, sleep like the dead.
Then, pour cold beer into a thermal mug, take slow sips, and settle in front of his monitor to spend his break gaming.
He wasn’t particularly picky about games.
Sometimes, he was a gunslinger roaming the Wild West.
Sometimes, he was a superhuman commander defending Earth from an alien invasion—though he also managed to destroy a few planets before finally saving one.
Sometimes, he was a god-slaying, patricidal warrior.
But most of the time, he played a warrior or a mage in some vaguely medieval Western fantasy world.
Then one day, he made a post asking for game recommendations.
Someone left a comment:
— Try "Murim Chronicles," it's fun.
— Chinese trash game, gtfo.
— No, seriously, it's good!! There's even a Korean patch. Hey, try it, try it!
Murim, huh.
The only thing he knew about Murim came from a few Stephen Chow movies.
Maybe something like Shaolin Soccer?
Didn’t Kung Fu Hustle have Buddha’s Palm or something?
Thinking about it piqued his curiosity.
Without hesitation, he bought the game.
A single factory worker’s wallet was surprisingly well-stocked, so there was no reason to hesitate.
While the game downloaded, he looked up some info:
— A Chinese-made open-world RPG.
— 99.6% unofficial Korean translation patch available.
— High degree of freedom in gameplay.
The fact that someone had taken the effort to make a translation patch was a good sign—who would bother translating a bad game?
— Open-world exploration, leveling, and farming.
— When reaching a certain reputation threshold, major random events occur: Early Crisis, Mid-Crisis, Late Crisis.
— Survive them to reach the ending.
— Can continue playing after the ending or start a new game with a descendant.
— Multiple endings based on choices.
He had never played a Wuxia game before, but judging by the search results, this one had a decent reputation.
He was the kind of gamer who preferred power fantasies over difficult challenges.
Rather than pioneering his own path, he liked following proven meta builds—the strongest, most efficient, and easiest way to play.
So, he started researching character builds.
The anticipation was already making him smile.
Soon, the download was complete.
He applied the Korean patch.
And finally—Game Start.
Having skimmed through some guides, he quickly went through character creation.
— Difficulty: Wandering Scholar (Easy Mode).
Since the game had a replay system, he figured he could raise the difficulty in the second playthrough.
— Body Constitution: Blood-Toxin Body (Boosts overall combat performance).
— Fate Trait: Heavenly Slaughtering Star (Reportedly the most overpowered option).
— Gender: Female.
He always picked female characters in games that allowed it.
Unfortunately, no customization options were available.
So, he picked the preset with the biggest chest.
If nothing else, at least he’d have something nice to look at while playing.
After all, gaming was about immersion.
There was a certain joy in rotating the camera to admire his character's figure while smoking a cigarette and sipping beer.
A single man’s privilege.
Finally, he pasted the pre-selected name into the character field:
阿靑 (Aqing).
He had no idea why the name was Aqing.
But according to the guide, choosing this name would unlock one of the strongest martial arts in the game from the start—True Moonlight Swordplay.
And with that, character creation was complete.
Before pressing the "Enter Murim" button, he pulled up a guide on his phone detailing the optimal early-game farming routes.
In any open-world game, the best way to start was always to rush through the opening, grab all the best loot, and then begin the real adventure.
But in the end—
It was all pointless preparation.
Because the moment he pressed "Enter Murim"—
He found himself standing inside a cold, dark cave.
And suddenly—
He felt a heavy weight on his chest.
