It took Lin Feng the better part of half a day to figure out what had happened to him.
Even so, staring at the towering trees and the tangle of vines all around him, he could not stop a faint, hollow feeling from settling in his chest.
A few hours ago, he had still been sitting in front of his computer, playing an online game called Genshin Impact.
He had just queued up for a weekly boss run with his party when the Raiden Shogun's Musou no Hitotachi came crashing down on the screen; the instant he opened his mouth to greet his teammates, his vision went dark.
When he came to, he realized he was hanging from a tree at least twenty meters high.
Only after watching a group of long‑legged mushrooms swagger past beneath him did Lin Feng finally accept that he had crossed over into the world of Genshin Impact—the continent of Teyvat.
Back in his original world, he had always been on his own; ending up in Teyvat did not really count as a bad turn of fate.
After all, finding a little courtyard near Wansheng Funeral Parlor, holing up there, grabbing the occasional meal at Wanmin Restaurant, then heading to Liyue Harbor's bridge to pet dogs after dinner had always been his dream.
But his current situation really took the shine off that dream.
Compared to being stuffed in a Treasure Hoarder cage or simmering in a hilichurl stew pot, being hung in a tree was not the worst possible outcome—provided it was an ordinary forest.
He had finally gotten used to how to balance himself on the branches.
Then a long‑maned tiger, lips pulled back from its teeth, sprang into view in front of him.
"…"
Lin Feng stared at those two ridiculous fangs and, for a moment, seriously wondered if his arm was thinner than one of that beast's teeth.
"Roar!"
The long‑maned tiger let out a thunderous bellow, making its displeasure at the human trespassing in its territory very clear.
One look at his own scrawny arms and legs was enough; Lin Feng decisively gave up on the idea of roaring back and bolted.
The long‑maned tiger's footfalls clung to his heels like a shadow.
Thankfully, while this body was young, its stamina put his previous life's physique to shame. Sliding down the rough trunk, bark scraping his palms, Lin Feng felt like he had been thrown into a real‑life version of Pac‑Man—only this time, he was the pellet.
"Awoo!"
The long‑maned tiger, a natural climber, launched itself at him.
"To hell with it. All or nothing!"
Watching the tiger close the distance and the ground still four meters below, Lin Feng squeezed his eyes shut and jumped.
He hit the ground and rolled several times, bleeding off the impact; he came out of it without injury, but a new problem immediately presented itself—the tumbling had robbed him of a clear view, and one bad blind spot was all it would take to hand the tiger the perfect opening.
"Rip."
Cloth tore behind him, followed by a hot sting across his back that snapped his thoughts back into sharp focus.
It's over, it's over, I just delivered myself to the buffet…
The thought tasted bitter.
Ready to make one last, pathetic struggle, Lin Feng pushed himself up from the ground and seriously considered going in for a sliding tackle. At least then, he could die with a tiny shred of dignity.
Just then, he spotted a few spine‑crested crocodiles basking on the wet bank behind him. His eyes lit up, and he rolled aside, narrowly slipping past the long‑maned tiger's pounce.
He sprang to his feet and sprinted straight toward the crocodiles like a madman.
Let's hope the in‑game bestiary wasn't lying about long‑maned tigers being territorial, he thought to himself.
Since another group of carnivores had claimed this spot, chances were high this was the edge of the tiger's territory; Lin Feng was betting it would not pick a fight with a whole pack of spine‑crested crocodiles just to chase down a scrawny human with barely a few scraps of meat on him.
He was close enough now that the stench between the crocodiles' teeth was beginning to prickle his nose. Gritting his teeth, he kicked off hard and leapt, vaulting right over the crocodile heads.
"Roar!"
The long‑maned tiger, which had been glued to his heels, pulled up short when it saw the irritable neighbors already lifting their bodies off the mud. It let out a couple of unwilling snarls, then faced the spine‑crested crocodiles and slowly backed away into its own territory.
"Whew."
Lin Feng did not stop running until he reached a smaller pool away from the crocodile group. He stood there, waiting for his heart to settle down, then finally let out a long breath and dropped onto a blackened dead log.
He watched a column of ants marching past his feet and a few red‑and‑green parrots drinking from the water's edge.
That was when it hit him: this was no longer the trimmed‑down, sanitized game world. Even a single animal here carried a real, tangible life.
Dragging his suddenly exhausted body—now the adrenaline had worn off—he shuffled to the pool. The face in the water, handsome and not all that different from his previous life's, made him loosen up inside.
As expected of me. I was this handsome even in my early teens.
The thought warmed him in a way the humid air could not.
After that long run, his clothes were soaked through.
During the chase, he had noticed the oversized mushrooms in the forest and the colossal trees so wide it would take several people to encircle them.
From that alone, he could tell he was in some rainforest somewhere in Sumeru. But the real Sumeru was so absurdly vast that he had no way to guess exactly where he was.
His outfit was still the one he had worn before crossing over: a white shirt and a sun‑blocking jacket on top, black casual pants below. Shrunken down to this current body, they fit surprisingly well.
After a brief check of his surroundings, he decided this place was relatively safe, then reached back to inspect his wound. To his surprise, aside from the torn fabric, the claw mark was not very deep.
He did not dare wash it directly with pool water, so he could only use a bit of his clothing to wipe the blood away as best he could.
Watching the wound continue to seep, he could not help worrying about infection.
All he could do was hope the beasts here were not carrying anything too strange.
"Grrr~"
The moment his nerves relaxed, his stomach let out an ill‑timed growl. Considering he had just spent half the day in high‑intensity exercise, the fact that hunger was only catching up now made him feel oddly proud of his endurance.
He glanced over at a parrot drinking by the pool, weighed the stone in his hand, and felt a sudden, inexplicable surge of confidence.
"Whoosh."
The stone cut through the air and struck home—squarely hitting the frog behind the parrot.
Lin Feng's face went dark as he watched the startled parrot flap away, and he finally understood what people meant by one of life's three great delusions.
He sighed, then walked over to the frog still twitching on the ground and picked up this hard‑won bit of emergency rations.
The instant his fingers brushed the frog's skin,
a flood of information crashed through his mind.
[Individual Data: Amphibian – Jungle Tree Frog]
Level: 1 (Just an ordinary little life)
Element: None
Traits: Glide, Mucus, Unconscious
Mood: @#￥%&
Affection: 0 (It does not know you)
His earlier disappointment vanished in a flash. Lin Feng straightened up, realizing that this was very likely the cheat that had crossed over with him.
He focused his attention on the traits listed there.
More detailed text unfolded in his mind:
Glide: Outstanding individuals among jungle tree frogs can glide through the rainforest. This frog counts as a gifted specimen.
Mucus: The jungle tree frog's skin can secrete mucus with multiple medicinal uses; licking it directly will cause numbness.
Unconscious: Temporarily lost consciousness. Will recover in 417 seconds.
As he watched, the number next to "Unconscious" flicked from 417 down to 416.
So it even updates in real time, Lin Feng mused.
Does it do anything besides show me information?
The next moment, another block of text surfaced in his mind:
Primal Beast Cultivation System (Internal Test Build v0.53)
Functions:
Data View
Data Modification
Trait Enhancement
Modified Primal Beast: Novice Treasure‑Hunting Weasel (click here for details)
Disclaimer: "This system is for personal study use only and not for commercial purposes. Please delete it within 24 hours of downloading."