Volume One: The Lonely Beta Test Chapter Three: Your Long-Held Wish Has Come True—Satisfied?

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“Young master... young master...”

Lin Feng felt as though he were drifting in a dream, yet that voice echoed so vividly by his ear, sweet and persistent, urging him to open his eyes. But his eyelids seemed glued shut, no matter how hard he tried. Deep in his subconscious, he recalled being sucked beneath the waves by a massive whirlpool.

“This must be the ocean floor—how could there be someone calling out to me here? Surely, I’m dreaming. But that voice is so real, right beside me. What’s going on?”

As these thoughts swirled, Lin Feng felt himself growing ever more weary, and the voice faded into the distance.

He felt himself floating upward, then settling upon a cloud, soft and tranquil, without wind or motion. Never in his half-year at sea had he felt such comfort.

Just as he was surrendering to the peace, a cool sensation touched his eyelids, soothing the dryness in his eyes. He half-opened them to see a pair of delicate, slender, lily-white hands wringing what looked like a towel. Her hair was tied in a falling-horse bun, her brows faintly furrowed in worry. Red threads marred the whites of her phoenix eyes; the skin beneath them was dark and shadowed, still glistening with the traces of tears. Her exquisite nose was tinged with red and slightly swollen.

“What a pitiful, weeping beauty,” Lin Feng marveled in silence. “But I must be dreaming. Where else would I see a woman dressed like this, straight from ancient times? A dream within a dream, perhaps. Ah, let me sleep on.”

Lin Feng closed his eyes again, basking in the rare serenity.

“Miss, our young master has been unconscious for so long—why hasn’t he woken up yet?”

It was clearly the voice of a girl just past her coming of age.

“Xin’er, alas…”

After that sigh, Lin Feng distinctly felt a drop of something warm land on his face. A delicate fragrance wafted by, then something smooth and soft brushed lightly across his cheek, carrying the warmth away.

“How can this feel so real…?”

His heart pounded with confusion. Was this not a dream after all?

His doubts were not without reason—Lin Feng had often experienced dreams within dreams before. Many times he had dreamed of flying through the air like a martial hero, waking only to find that he had somehow retained the dream’s abilities: as light as a swallow, he could leap three or four miles, thrilled and exhilarated. A single push sent him flying from rooftop to ridge, a shove of his hands could move mountains and seas. But just as he was enjoying himself, sharp pain would wake him—he’d fallen off his bed, the bedding in disarray, sometimes even torn to shreds!

Remembering this, Lin Feng kept his eyes closed and pinched his thigh hard.

Pain. Real, undeniable pain.

“This isn’t a dream!”

Lin Feng’s eyes flew open, and he sat up in shock, the bedding sliding to the floor.

Clang!

A sharp collision, and Lin Feng saw stars, his head buzzing. At that same moment, he felt a gentle pressure on his thigh.

“Miss...”

The girl called Xin’er dropped her wooden basin and hurried to the bedside to help up the young woman who, in the collision, had fallen face-first onto Lin Feng’s leg.

“Miss, are you alright?” Xin’er asked anxiously, helping her to sit by the edge of the bed.

“I’m fine, Xin’er... Brother Feng is awake!” she replied, massaging her bruised forehead.

“Let me see—oh! There’s a little bump! You ungrateful—” Xin’er turned, brimming with indignation, ready to give Lin Feng a piece of her mind.

“Ah... young master, you...!”

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Xin’er darted out of the room, not sparing another glance for her mistress, muttering as she fled, “See no evil, speak no evil…”

Lin Feng, still dazed from the collision, rubbed his forehead. Now fully awake, he saw that the woman he’d first glimpsed was massaging her own brow, a deep blush spreading across her face, the pain still visible in her expression.

“Sorry, miss…” Lin Feng’s voice was low, as if the words “miss” were difficult to utter.

After all, in the society Lin Feng came from, “miss” was hardly a term of respect.

“Miss…” The woman choked on the word, gazing at Lin Feng, her nostrils flaring, lips trembling, crystalline tears welling in her eyes and tracing down her lovely cheeks.

“Oh, what a tongue-tied fool I am! Judging by her bearing and attire, she’s clearly a well-bred young lady—how could I just call her ‘miss’?” Lin Feng cursed himself inwardly, but his mind was blank, unable to conjure a single comforting phrase for the beauty before him. He was, after all, a science student whose life revolved around numbers, not words.

“Um, I mean… apologies, beautiful lady, that was a slip of the tongue. May I ask, who are you?”

As he spoke, Lin Feng reached instinctively for his pocket, intending to offer her a tissue, only to find nothing there. Looking down, he realized all he wore was a nameless loincloth-like garment, with his upper body bare.

His face flushed crimson. “This…”

“Brother Feng, it’s all my fault! How could you be so heartless, to abandon Yan’er like this?”

The woman who called herself Yan’er rose to flee, but Lin Feng caught her by the arm.

“What is going on? Someone already ran off when I was groggy, now this one wants to run too, and both of them speak so strangely!” Lin Feng thought.

“Sorry, I was too rash just now. Can you tell me what happened? Where am I? How did I get here?”

At his questions, Yan’er stopped crying and stared at Lin Feng, dumbstruck, silent for a long moment.

“What’s wrong? Do you not know where this is, either?” Lin Feng pressed.

The woman suddenly reached out and touched Lin Feng’s forehead, then her own, murmuring, “Normal… how can this be?”

“What do you mean?”

“Brother Feng, look around you—don’t you recognize this room?”

Now, for the first time, Lin Feng took a careful look at his surroundings. The walls were a muted, reddish wood, with four dark red pillars set into each corner. Not far from his bed stood a folding screen, and the floor was a rich, chestnut-colored timber. The entire room exuded a sense of antique elegance—just like the bedrooms he’d seen in southern Chinese gardens. “Am I in Suzhou?” he wondered aloud.

“Suzhou? Where is that? Brother Feng, this is your room. Don’t you recognize it?”

“My room? When did I buy a house?” Lin Feng was feeling increasingly disoriented. “Please, just tell me—how did I get here?”

“A month ago, you said you’d personally dive for a pearl for me, and went to sea with the uncles. When everyone returned, you were already unconscious. They said you’d encountered danger underwater—almost didn’t make it back…” Tears welled up again, “But thank heavens you’re safe now, or Yan’er would have…”

“I really did have an accident at sea, but what she’s describing is all wrong. I’d better comfort her, or she’ll never stop crying and I’ll never figure out what’s going on.” Lin Feng pondered.

“I’m fine, see? But there are some things I truly can’t remember.” Lin Feng furrowed his brow, feigning deep thought.

“Brother, you’ve just survived a brush with death—of course your mind and body are affected. You’ll recover in time!” Yan’er soothed him. “But do you really not remember this place? Don’t you at least recall your own name?”

Why does she speak so formally? Resigned, Lin Feng replied in kind, “Um… my surname is Lin, and my given name is Feng, is that right?”

“Yes, that’s right! You still remember!” Yan’er exclaimed, squeezing Lin Feng’s hands in delight, her joy plain to see.

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“Could it really be such a coincidence?” Lin Feng muttered, barely audible, but Yan’er heard.

“Brother, what’s such a coincidence?”

“Oh, it’s nothing…”

He had just been guessing.

“So tell me, what is this place, and what’s your name? Oh, and what’s the date today? Maybe that will help jog my memory?” Lin Feng rattled off three questions in a row.

“This is your home, Liekou County. I am Teng Yan—your cousin! As for ‘the date,’ I’m afraid I don’t understand the term,” Teng Yan replied earnestly.

“Liekou County? What a strange name, and you don’t know what a date is?” Lin Feng was at a loss. “Fine, then what province is Liekou County in?”

“My father once explained that our Great Han realm is divided into provinces, commanderies, and counties. Liekou County is part of Le Lang Commandery, which is under the jurisdiction of You Province. I have never heard of a province beyond that. Brother, could you tell me what rank a ‘province’ is?”

At this, Lin Feng’s mouth dropped open in disbelief.

At last, he began to understand what had happened.

He played Three Kingdoms games every day—he could practically spot the major administrative divisions of that era on a modern map by heart!

“Le Lang? No way… wasn’t that the birthplace I set for my last game of Three Kingdoms? If that’s the case…”

The realization struck Lin Feng like a thunderclap.

“Brother… brother…”

Teng Yan’s voice brought him back to himself. “Sister, it seems I really did hurt my head. How long have I been unconscious? What year is it now, and what day?”

“Don’t fret, brother, you’ll recover soon. This is the second year of Guanghe, in the year of the Goat. You went to sea on the eighth day of the fifth month, and today is the fifth of the sixth month. So you’ve been unconscious for a little over half a month.”

“Guanghe, year two… Oh!” Lin Feng calculated inwardly: “Guanghe year two, year of the Goat—that’s 179 AD! Good heavens, I’ve really landed in the late Eastern Han. In five years, the Yellow Turban Rebellion will break out. Heaven, is this some kind of joke?”

Ah, human nature—always longing for the impossible, cursing the present. But when the impossible actually arrives, who can calmly accept it? Lin Feng suddenly felt as though a thousand wild horses were stampeding through his mind.

He had still been hoping this was just some obscure coastal county, but never imagined he’d awaken nearly two thousand years in the past, in a remote corner of the Korean peninsula, by the Datong River! Le Lang—bordered to the south by the Samhan, to the north by Goguryeo and the Wuzhu tribes, a place rocked by chaos in the mid-Eastern Han.

Lin Feng stared upward, silently beseeching, “Heavens, I was only joking before! Please, don’t be so generous—send me back! I don’t like it here at all!”

But the heavens, evidently displeased, ignored his plea.

“Teng Yan? Wasn’t the Le Lang prefect during the Guanghe era Teng Shu? Could they be related?”

Now calmer, Lin Feng began to think. He knew well the major Han-era officials, having grown up in a family with three generations of Three Kingdoms gamers. So he asked, “Is the current prefect of Le Lang Lord Teng Shu? If so…”

“Yes, that’s my father—your uncle! Brother, you remember now! That’s wonderful!” In her excitement, Teng Yan flung her arms around Lin Feng, pulling him into her embrace.