Surviving in Another World Through Gacha [Western Fantasy]

[The neighboring novel, "He's a Fish," is now available]

1.

Sixteen-year-old Lilu never imagined that just wanting an ice cream would lead her to pick the one hiding a key to another world. By the time she came to her senses, she was standing on a desolate path.

A huge shadow suddenly passed overhead. She looked up and saw a dragon.

Wait, it really was a dragon!

2.

Dragons, elves, merfolk, beastfolk... These fantastical beings were all real, and they appeared right before Lilu. But she was only a fragile human girl who couldn't even lift an axe.

No matter. Thanks to the law of conservation of luck, Lilu could still draw cards and obtain all kinds of incredible items.

A small piece of a red dragon's nail that had accidentally broken off, scales shed by an underage mermaid, a hair ribbon once worn by an elven prince... Lilu stared at the pile of junk before her in disbelief, unable to imagine what any of it was for.

3.

Just as Lilu was about to despair, she suddenly discovered that these materials could actually be combined. Without much hope, she tossed the three pieces of junk into the crafting slot. Since she'd been so unlucky today, surely she could at least make something that might be useful, right?

A thoroughly ordinary series of clinks and clanks rang out, and a dagger appeared out of nowhere in front of Lilu.

[ Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained a sharp dagger. It can slice stone as easily as a block of tofu, and even inflict minor injuries on the thick-skinned dragons of the continent! ]

Clutching the dagger, Lilu was nearly moved to tears. She finally had her first weapon!

Her otherworldly adventure was finally beginning.

-- Prepublication blurb: "He's a Fish" --

1.

The Shen family owned three hundred ships, with a total carrying capacity of thirty million tons. They sat firmly at the top of the world's three great shipping dynasties.

As the first child of her generation in the Shen family, Shen Suxin had been doted on since childhood and was the heir everyone had their eyes on.

But after graduating from university, she casually handed the enormous family business over to her younger sister and resolved to study the legendary merfolk.

2.

Everyone said Shen Suxin was crazy. How could merfolk possibly exist in this world?

Only Shen Suxin knew that in the stillness of every night, a mermaid's long tail swam through the seawater in her dreams. Smooth, cold scales brushed against the fragile skin of a human, while a handsome, pale face emerged from the shadows of the deep sea.

The mermaid rescued a little girl who had accidentally fallen into the water, then slipped back into the sea like something from a fairy tale before anyone else could find him.

That beautiful figure seemed like a dream.

3.

The surging seawater flooded Shen Suxin's nose, throat, and lungs.

As her oxygen dwindled, her consciousness grew hazy and the scenery before her eyes blurred.

Was she going to die?

Shen Suxin let herself sink, drifting farther and farther from the surface.

It seemed the Reaper was already whispering in her ear, but a strong pair of arms wrapped around her waist and snatched her from death's embrace.

Shen Suxin broke through the surface. As she gulped in air, she grabbed the mermaid's wrist, her smile exposed at the same time as the fishing net that fell over them.

"Caught you."

-- Prepublication blurb: "Don't Discriminate Against the Hehuan Sect" --

1.

Fu Ci was a proper female cultivator of the Hehuan Sect. To put it plainly, she was a pretty vase with nothing but her looks.

To rapidly raise her cultivation and become a true powerhouse, she needed to find a strong partner and cultivate through dual cultivation with him.

So Fu Ci, who had only reached the Qi Refining stage, resolutely entered this year's Immortal Path Tournament. The tournament was packed with the most outstanding young geniuses in the cultivation world.

But before long, the tournament had barely begun, she still hadn't found a partner, and she was already filthy, exhausted, and nearly half dead. Fu Ci couldn't help thinking about giving up.

Perhaps she should find another way after all.

2.

"You saw that just now?" The handsome young sword cultivator, with features so sharp they were almost intimidating, cast her an icy glance.

"I didn't see anything!" Fu Ci promised. Even if she had seen something, she'd pretend she hadn't, as long as the young sword cultivator moved the sword away from her neck.

"Unfortunately, I don't believe promises made by the living." He curled his lips into a smile, but there was no warmth in his eyes.

Fu Ci looked at the bodies sprawled nearby and shut her eyes with difficulty. Was she about to lose the other half of her life today?

3.

Yan Zhengsheng had entered the Tianyuan Sect to avenge a blood feud.

He relied on the resources of one of the cultivation world's top sects to advance rapidly, while also taking pains to conceal his cultivation so his enemies couldn't find him.

He never expected that a single Immortal Sect Tournament would let a female cultivator from the Hehuan Sect discover his secret.

She couldn't be allowed to live.

Yan Zhengsheng quietly formed a murderous intent.

4.

"Yan Zhengsheng, you've taken your revenge, and your secret isn't a secret anymore. Why are you still following me?"

Yan Zhengsheng was about to become the new sect leader of the Tianyuan Sect. Fu Ci thought their ill-fated entanglement was finally over, and happily packed her things to return to the Hehuan Sect.

But before she could even leave the sect gates, Yan Zhengsheng, clad in green and leaning against an old bamboo tree, blocked her path with his sword.

"Why are you running?" Yan Zhengsheng asked.

"Running? I'm going home." It was plainly the most reasonable thing in the world, but for some reason Fu Ci suddenly felt guilty when she met Yan Zhengsheng's gaze.

"Your great path is not yet complete. How can you go home?" Yan Zhengsheng smiled.

"Why not let me help you attain the great path, so you can return in glory?"

Fu Ci froze. What great path did the Hehuan Sect have? Wasn't it just...

Reading Guide:

1. The author's personal worldbuilding is everywhere.

2. Comment threads are open!

3. The heroine's personality is a plot point. I really think she's a good person. If she's not your type, perhaps we'll meet again in another book, QAQ.

4. I'll add more if I think of anything.

Blurb saved on 25/07/28.

Theme: No matter how rough things are from the start, you can turn your future around through your own efforts