Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Chat Group, the Villain Simulator! The Female Emperor Arrives!

The Great Qian.

The capital city, top floor of the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion.

The imposingly noble Zhao Jin lay sprawled across an ivory bed, letting several enchantingly beautiful women knead and massage him.

The Drunken Fragrance Pavilion's foremost zither master was performing heavenly music for him from behind a folding screen.

This was the pinnacle of worldly pleasure.

【Ding, the Transmigrators' Chat Group invites you to join. Do you accept?】

A gender-neutral electronic chime suddenly rang out in Zhao Jin's mind, jolting him upright in a start.

He stared at the pale blue "Yes" and "No" options floating before his eyes.

Zhao Jin was so excited he nearly burst into tears.

Fck, my cheat ability has finally arrived!

Damn it all. Half a year. A full half year since he'd transmigrated—did anyone have any idea how he'd spent that half year?

Day after day at the pleasure quarters listening to music—his body was on the verge of giving out!

That's right.

Zhao Jin was a transmigrator.

He had been transmigrating for half a year.

Half a year ago, he'd been nothing more than a company drone enjoying the 996 grind.

Then, in a push to meet year-end deadlines, the overtime had grown brutal.

After pulling several all-nighters in a row, Zhao Jin collapsed and fell asleep.

When he woke up, he found himself in this fantasy world called the Primordial Realm.

It was a boundless, infinite world.

Mighty cultivators could overlook heaven and earth, summon wind and rain, split mountains and sever rivers, soar through the sky and burrow through the ground, and shatter the heavens with a snap of their fingers.

But the tragic part was—Zhao Jin was a cultivation deadweight.

Even if he wanted to keep being the pack mule of the production line and grind through a 996 cultivation schedule, it simply wasn't possible.

Fortunately, Zhao Jin's identity was no small matter.

He was the only grandson of Zhao Shi-zhong, the Guardian King who propped up the entire Great Qian.

In a place like Great Qian, no one dared lay a hand on him openly—not even the imperial princes were an exception.

Since every method he had tried to begin cultivating had failed, Zhao Jin could only sink into a life of debauchery each day, drowning himself in the pleasure quarters until his back ached.

This wasn't Zhao Jin giving up on himself.

In truth, Zhao Jin was an upright gentleman who despised gambling and vice to the core.

Even without cultivation, he never would have come to such a place on his own.

The real reason was the considerable hidden danger lurking within the Guardian King's Manor.

Pressured from within by the imperial family's wariness, and beset from without by a host of powerful enemies.

The blood relatives of Zhao Shi-zhong had been dying off under all manner of strange circumstances. Of several hundred descendants, only a scant few remained.

In order to avoid catching the eye of his family's enemies, the good-for-nothing Zhao Jin had no choice but to indulge himself to excess.

But he had always been waiting for an opportunity.

Every transmigrator had a cheat ability.

What he had been waiting for all this time was precisely this moment—today!

His cheat ability had finally arrived!

Paying no mind to the wounded gazes of the beauties around him, Zhao Jin's focus locked onto the word "Yes" and he pressed it without hesitation.

【Ding, congratulations to Transmigrator No. 9527, Zhao Jin (Primordial Realm), for joining the Transmigrators' Chat Group!】

Liu Kun (Primordial Realm): "Holy sh*t, another fellow sufferer!"

Wang Xiao-chuan (Five Elements Realm): "LOL, another poor sap who transmigrated into the Primordial Realm!"

Wu Kai (Golden Sun Realm): "Moment of silence. A few newbies in the Primordial Realm just died. Let's hope this one survives past the first year."

Zhao Jin stared, completely bewildered.

What's going on?

Is there something wrong with the Primordial Realm?

Zhao Jin opened the chat group's member list and found that all the members tagged as "Primordial Realm" were clustered together.

There were roughly 100 or so members in total, but only a scant dozen or so still had active profile icons.

Among all the transmigrated worlds represented, they stood out like a crane in a flock of chickens—utterly unique.

A death rate of eighty to ninety percent… that seems a bit outrageously high…

But among the members, there was also a peculiar batch of people.

Their profile icons were still active.

Yet their tags carried no world name—only 3 question marks.

For example: Ye Hei (???)

Tang San-zang (???)

Xiao Huo-huo (???)

……

Just then, the one called Liu Kun @-mentioned him in the chat group: Bro, let me pull you into a smaller group. Just accept it.

【Liu Kun is inviting Zhao Jin into the "Primordial Realm" group chat. Do you accept?】

Zhao Jin immediately pressed accept.

He had far too many questions and wanted to ask them all.

【Congratulations, Zhao Jin. You have entered the Primordial Realm Transmigrators' Chat Group.】

Once inside, Zhao Jin found that Liu Kun was the group's administrator.

Just as Zhao Jin was about to send a message, the Primordial Realm group suddenly lit up with a new notification.

You Luo: "The bastards from the Heaven's Mechanism Pavilion are back again, Brother Kun save me save me save me save me save me save me!"

Chen Gong-jia: "Little Luo Luo, you've been discovered 3 times this month already—don't tell me you're about to die?"

You Luo: "Go f*ck yourself, you're the one who's about to die!"

Liu Kun: "Brother Zhao, check the group announcement. There's a cheat draw below the announcement. I'm going to go save someone."

After that, the group went quiet.

The Heaven's Mechanism Pavilion?

Zhao Jin found that unfamiliar name somewhat curious.

The neighboring kingdom of Wu had a Thousand Mechanism Tower.

But the Heaven's Mechanism Pavilion—Zhao Jin had never heard of it. He wondered if it had something to do with the high death rate.

Zhao Jin switched screens and opened the group announcement.

On it, 3 items were written in stark, prominent text.

Primordial Realm Transmigrators' Prohibitions:

If you need assistance, use the group's teleportation function!

Zhao Jin's pupils contracted when he read the 3rd rule.

The Heaven's Mechanism Pavilion appears in the group announcement too—this organization is absolutely a mortal enemy to all transmigrators.

Below the group announcement was a glittering golden egg icon.

Zhao Jin's focus shifted toward it, and it transformed into a hammer.

Clearly, he was meant to smash the golden egg.

"Lords of the Way, Buddhas, and God above—please, give me a powerful cheat ability!"

Zhao Jin made his prayers to every divine being he could think of, then selected 1 golden egg and brought the hammer down.

The egg shattered, and a black rectangular frame materialized in a burst of radiant light before surging straight into Zhao Jin's mind.

【Congratulations, Host, for obtaining the cheat ability——Villain Simulator!】

【The 1st simulation is free!】

【Prior to a simulation, you may draw Talent Tags. During a simulation, you may obtain information about the future. Upon completing a simulation, you may extract simulation rewards!】

【Thereafter, you must alter reality and accumulate Villain Points to continue simulating!】

Zhao Jin's brow furrowed.

Judging by the description, his cheat ability was extraordinarily powerful.

But the name—it didn't suit Zhao Jin's character at all.

Zhao Jin had lived his whole life as a generous and charitable man. At most, he'd done a few things that were somewhat morally questionable, but he had never once done anything truly wicked.

So why had he been given a Villain Simulator?

Zhao Jin's intent projected outward into a voice: "You'd better change the name for me, or I won't take it!"

【Ding……】

The electronic chime fell silent for a moment, then rang out again.

【Congratulations, Host, for obtaining the cheat ability——Merit Simulator!】

【Sufficient Merit Points are all you need to initiate a simulation. The 1st simulation is free!】

【Wishing Host a pleasant simulation!】

Zhao Jin felt much more at ease now.

Now that's more like it.

How could a proper gentleman like me possibly use a Villain Simulator?

Just as Zhao Jin was about to run a simulation—

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Someone suddenly hammered violently at the door.

"Open up! Let this young lord see just which turtle-egg bastard has grown tired of living and dares to steal my woman!"

A young man's arrogant, overbearing voice rang out from beyond the door.

The "woman" he referred to was clearly the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion's foremost zither master.

Zhao Jin calmly walked to the door and delivered a single powerful kick.

The person behind the door let out a wretched scream as the wooden door sent him flying.

"What are you barking about?"

Zhao Jin pressed the advantage without mercy, charging forward and delivering a flurry of punches and kicks.

"Young Master!"

The young man's 2 bodyguards cried out in alarm, but upon seeing it was Zhao Jin, they didn't dare step forward.

Zhao Jin—the third-generation scion of the Guardian King's Manor. Who in all of the capital didn't know his name?

His grandfather was the Guardian King, and he himself was the fiancé of the Ninth Imperial Princess, Xiao Yue-huang.

With that double identity, he had run utterly rampant throughout the capital.

If things didn't go his way even slightly, blood would be spilled!

The 2 bodyguards didn't dare step forward to intervene at all.

"Spare me! My father is Wang Er-he!"

The young man knew he'd hit a wall of iron. He rolled about on the ground, wailing and pleading for his life without stop.

Wang Er-he—the Minister of Revenue, a name that thundered through the capital.

But what of it?

"Even the King of Heaven himself couldn't save you today!"

Zhao Jin paid him no mind whatsoever and kept raining blows down upon him.

Only when his strength was fully spent did Zhao Jin head downstairs, board his lavish carriage, and leisurely drift away from the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion—the grandest pleasure den in all the capital.

By the time Zhao Jin departed, Wang Er-he's son had only half a life left in him.

Zhao Jin returned to the Guardian King's Manor and drank several bowls of restorative tonic.

After that, he prepared to open the simulator.

However, just at that moment, the housekeeper Wang Fu came rushing over in a flurry, clasping his hands to Zhao Jin and saying, "Young Master, your fiancée Xiao Yue-huang has arrived!"