Seeking the Tao in the Mortal World - Chapter 2: Refuse Immortal Cultivating

Warning This fiction contains:

Graphic Violence Profanity Sensitive Content

Summary – Level 1:

Delve is an isekai litrpg that follows an average guy who just happened to wake up in a forest one day. He wasn’t summoned to defeat the demon lord or to save the world or anything like that, at least as far as he can tell. The only creature there to greet him was a regular old squirrel.

Soon enough, he meets other people, only to discover that he can’t speak the language, and that not everybody immediately trusts random pajama-wearing strangers they met in the middle of the wilderness. Things generally go downhill from there, at least until the blue boxes start appearing.

Delve is a story about finding your way in a new, strange, and dangerous world. It’s about avoiding death, figuring out what the heck is going on, and trying to make some friends along the way. It’s not about getting home, so much as finding a new one.

Did I mention that there will be math?

Summary – Level 2:

Okay, but what are you in for, really?

Well, this story is supposed to be realistic, or at least, as realistic as a fantasy litrpg can be. The main character doesn’t instantly become an all-powerful god and murder-hobo his way across the universe. Delve is, at its heart, a progression fantasy, but that progression is meant to feel earned. The numbers in this story actually mean something. Everything is calculated, and if you find a rounding error, I expect you to tell me about it. That said, if math isn’t your cup of tea, there is plenty more that the story has to offer. Characters are meant to feel real, and progression isn’t only about personal power; it’s also about allies, connections, and above all, knowledge. Figuring out how the system works is a significant theme.

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What, you want more details? Okay, fine, but this is going to get a bit spoiler-y. Are you sure?

Yes!

Really sure? I mean, this summary is practically half as long as the first chap–

Now!

Okay, okay!

The main character becomes a magic user, but he takes a route that is not very popular in adventurer culture, namely that of a support. There is a full magic system with various spells, skills, and abilities, but our MC decides that aura magic is the way to go, and that the only stat worth investing in is mana regeneration. Most people at the Adventurer’s Guild think that this makes him a bit of a dumbass, but he’s playing the long game. We’ll see how that works out for him, won’t we?

Because of his build, the MC levels up fast, at least compared to normal people. There are no cheats, though, and he is limited in other ways. There are some clear and pretty obvious downsides to his build. That’s what makes it fun, no?

Morals? Our MC has them. Again, we’ll see how that works out for him. Realism, remember? Would you be okay with killing someone and looting their body? I sure hope not.

POV? The focus is on the main character, but there will be occasional varying perspectives from people around him, or involved in the events related to the main plot. It isn’t going to jump all over the place.

Tech is standard medieval stasis. No smartphones, but the MC does have a technical background. Computers and their programming might be involved. There might even be a bit of uplifting down the road, who knows? Anyway, it isn’t the focus. He isn’t going to invent the gun in chapter 1 and change the face of warfare.

Romance is not a major focus. Friendships are more the name of the game, though there will be some characters in romantic relationships.

There is exploration, though not as much of the geographical nature as you might expect. It is more about exploration of the system and the culture.

The pace is slow and detailed, sometimes verging on slice-of-life. The action is meant to be realistic and grounded in the numbers, and it is intended to have meaning beyond simply punching things until they stop moving.

The general tone of the story is grey, and some parts can get quite dark. People die. Sometimes, people with names, but not anywhere near GoT level. There is plenty of light, too, though, to balance the darkness. The world is dangerous, but overcoming that danger is why we’re all here, isn’t it?

Anyway, if you’ve made it this far through the summary, you clearly like words. I hope you enjoy the story!

“This guy, how heavy is his taste, he’s still able to eat?” Waking up, she looked at her reflection in the mirror, explosive hair, tattoos, and a demon-like face. Look at her for more than a second and you’ll have spicy eyes (your eyes will bleed-aka she looks really ugly).

Before her rebirth, she was in love with someone else, bent on escaping, and after having relations with him, hates him deep to his bones.

After her rebirth, she looked at the beauty on the bed, seriously thinking, the one who left his shadow in the past, seemingly should be him?

In her past life, her mind was muddled. She tried to get rid of the outstandingly beautiful husband that she didn’t want, was victimized by slag men and cheap women, and her most trusted friend brainwashed her. In the end, she found people rebelling and friends deserting (isolated and alone).

In this lifetime, all of the evil people scheming and longing for her divorce should yield. Sorry but this young miss’s IQ is on the line!

- Description from novelupdates

After getting banned from her own world at an young age for a greater purpose, Esme Watts was living happily in the human world.

Disguising as a human girl, she was getting immense love from her human parents.

Slowly, she was forgetting her own identity and was living her life well with some beautiful and loving people around her.One day her joyful world turned upside down when she was suddenly kidnapped.

After getting kidnapped by the ruthless vampire king Aaron Richards, Esme Watts was forcefully locked up in a dark room waiting to be rescued by her dear ones.

Even every breath she took was too painful for her numb body..As days passed, she kept searching a way to escape from this terrific vampire world.

But after knowing Aaron personally and closely, will she try to escape or will she be trapped by his possessive love?

Will Aaron love her after knowing her true identity??

Why did Aaron want her desperately? All is in the name of love or something else!

Tae-seo, a villain who tormented the main character in an Omega verse novel, suddenly finds himself reincarnated into that very antagonist role. What’s worse, he reincarnates just as he’s about to administer a heat-inducing drug to the main character!Tae-seo, the protagonist of the original story, thwarts Seo Da-rae’s plan to administer the drug and, in order to avoid triggering a dead flag, casually drinks the inducer. Reincarnated not as an Omega but as a Beta, Tae-seo expects nothing out of the ordinary to happen.“Well, causing a cycle right here is quite audacious. Or are you asking just anyone to pick you up?”Unfortunately, due to side effects, Tae-seo manifests as an Omega and experiences the heat cycle. By chance, he ends up sharing a bed with a man named Kang Se-heon.“Don’t expect me to take responsibility later. I have no intention of being manipulated by a bloodthirsty person like you.”“I don’t have any intention of asking you to take responsibility either.”Initially unaware of his relatively minor role in the original story, Tae-seo is surprised to learn that Kang Se-heon happens to be the main character’s cousin. As Se-heon starts approaching Tae-seo in a suspicious manner and even other characters from the original story oddly gravitate towards him, Tae-seo’s confusion deepens.“Yoon Tae-seo, you should choose me, even if it’s for the sake of the child.”Will Tae-seo be able to navigate through the night with Kang Se-heon and escape the grasp of the original story’s main characters unscathed?