Death is a heavy topic, one that people always think is far away. Yet when it truly arrives, they are suddenly struck by how abrupt it is.
Bai Shi was just an ordinary person. Although his parents divorced early and started new families, they humanely left him a tiny house. He grew up healthy under the care of relatives, attended a local university, and after graduating, found a quiet job close to home that required minimal interaction with others. The pay wasn't high, but the hours were short, leaving him plenty of time to game after work.
Because he didn't have to pay rent, he gradually saved a good amount of money. Besides his daily expenses, almost all of his spending went into gaming. On his 28th birthday, he had set up almost every gaming console, from Xbox to PlayStation, and converted his bedroom into a full-fledged gaming room.
So naturally, when the BCI was first released, he bought it. Sadly, it was also the BCI that brought his life to a halt at the age of 29.
Due to his early childhood family situation, Bai Shi had long found solace in games. Whenever life got tough, he would retreat into the virtual world for shelter. The virtual world was his true home—at least, that's what he used to think.
He had imagined death before, but he never expected it to come in this way, at this time, so suddenly.
"Please, anyone, just let me go back..."
But the Chapel of Anticipation remained desolate and cold. Only the statue on the wall watched him with cold indifference.
In this Lands Between, where hope had long been lost and everyone was busy fending for themselves, no one would answer his plea.
Bai Shi knew in his heart that a miracle like this was impossible. He just needed to vent.
"This is no good. How can I survive in a world like Elden Ring...?"
"But I don't want to die again. I want to live."
"I must live."
Bai Shi's mind raced. He still couldn't fully accept reality, but staying in the Chapel of Anticipation meant waiting for death.
He carefully laid the maiden's corpse flat on the ground and covered her face with her hat. This was the maximum amount of respect he could show her.
After tidying up the maiden's remains, Bai Shi found the last item in the room: the Tarnished's Old Finger.
With the room thoroughly searched, Bai Shi took stock of what he had on him: a helmet with a broken visor that couldn't be lowered, a set of armor that, though weathered, was still reliable, a straight sword, a halberd, a metal medium shield, and a pouch containing two stone swords, a pack of white meat slices, two pieces of jerky, some loose runes, and the Tarnished's Old Finger he had just picked up.
Apart from the extra meat and runes, this was the standard Vagabond Knight's starting gear in the game. If this was truly a transmigration, it made sense to have food and runes as provisions.
After reviewing his supplies, Bai Shi's mood was heavy. While it was slightly better than the game's starting condition, the improvement was negligible. He could only take things one step at a time.
He pushed the main door open, and light poured into the room, bringing a small glimmer of hope. However, the sky was covered in thick, dark clouds, and a perpetual storm seemed like a grim omen.
The vast, open landscape before him didn't make Bai Shi happy, because he knew what kind of enemy he was about to face.
It was the Grafted Scion, a bona fide elite enemy in the game. In terms of sheer stats, it could even overpower its own boss, Godrick the Grafted.
If this were a game, Bai Shi would have many ways to defeat it. But now, he had to challenge it with his own human body.
He knew nothing about fighting.
Besides, even if he did manage to defeat it, the Chapel of Anticipation was located in the middle of the sea. He would have to jump off a cliff to leave. The game's protagonist could revive infinitely, but he couldn't be sure if he could. He didn't want to risk his precious life on a guess.
Ultimately, Bai Shi didn't even know if he had truly transmigrated or if this was just a dying hallucination.
"Am I really here? I guess I'll only know once I learn magic, incantations, or skills with a supernatural force."
"If I can actually feel some kind of transcendent power, rather than just pressing a button to activate a skill, maybe then I'll know I'm truly alive."
Stepping out of the room, Bai Shi suddenly remembered that there were two important in-game items in the side door. In the game, you had to leave this isolated building and then teleport back to get them. He couldn't get them right now.
But with the precedent of the Finger Maiden's Hat, he wanted to try. He walked over to the side door and pulled the ring handle, but the door wouldn't open.
However, the wooden door looked like it was no longer sturdy, ravaged by time.
Bai Shi took out the halberd from his back. A halberd combines the features of a spear and an axe. He first tried to use the axe blade to chop the door open, but after a moment of practice, he realized the halberd was too long, and the side door was wedged between two walls. Using it would inevitably hit the walls, and he didn't want his weapon to be damaged in such a place.
So, Bai Shi drew his straight sword. He didn't plan on using the sword in the upcoming fight; the Grafted Scion was large and very agile, and the longer halberd would be a better choice for attacks. So, he didn't mind if the sword got worn out now.
Bai Shi gripped the sword with both hands, stepped forward with his left foot, and put his body into a powerful, twisting motion. He brought the sword down in a swift diagonal chop, and to his surprise, the wooden door shattered in one blow.
"What was that? This body is so agile. Is it muscle memory?"
Bai Shi was startled by his own swing. A person who had never held a sword in his life had just performed a flawless strike. This muscle memory had to be the result of a thousand hours of rigorous training. The Tarnished truly were descendants of warriors.
Bai Shi inspected the straight sword; there was no obvious damage. He sheathed it and stepped inside.
After climbing a short flight of twenty or thirty steps, a broken terrace appeared before him. At the edge of the terrace, closest to the sky, was a small stone box. It was the Spirit Ashes of Stormhawk King.
In the distant past, the Storm King ruled the southwestern part of the Lands Between, and the Stormhawks were one of his powerful armies. Although they were hawks, the strongest among them possessed combat prowess equivalent to human heroes. They soared in the storm, summoning tempests and tearing apart all enemies. The Stormhawk King was the ruler of the Stormhawk species, and after his death, his ashes were naturally placed closest to the sky.
Bai Shi walked forward to pick up the ash box, but as he approached, the eternal storm above the Chapel of Anticipation suddenly grew more violent. However, it subsided within a few seconds, as if it had all been an illusion.
Bai Shi waited for a few more seconds. When nothing else happened, he walked up and put the ash box into his bag.
Bai Shi simply thought it was a normal change in the weather, but he didn't know that even time could not erase the pride of the ancient king. Only those with the qualifications of a king could receive the ancient king's approval, and not everyone could have entered the Chapel of Anticipation in the first place.
Note: Spirit Ashes are an item in the game. Using another item, you can summon the spirits within the ashes to aid you in combat.