Chapter 2: Rules of Survival

Eisenstadt was the western capital of the Autumn Branch and the second biggest city in Yuan next to Yuan Central City in the Spring Branch. Luckily for you, you ended up in a decent part of the city with the Old man, whom you learned to be Alven Volkner. All of the facts seemed to line up much to your dismay. You concluded that you were Isekai’d into the game “Alchemia: Myth of a World Tree '', a BL RPG where there was no happy ending.

Yes, you heard right, the game caused a lot of uproar among fans(you included). The ending upset everyone when all that bloodshed and war amounted to nothing since no matter what ending you got, the world tree burns and almost everyone dies. You played the game three times to realize that, you played the Sun Ending, the Moon Ending and of course the Eclipse Ending. It was only in the eclipse ending where innocents had the chance to escape and live beyond the ice wall.

Each end was focused on one of the two characters with Eclipse being known as the Perfect ending where you get to play both roles. The game’s climax stemmed from their argument where you could follow the perspective of the two characters after they separate from their journey. Their relationship was the inciting incident for the nation’s dividing war and you wanted no part of it and of course, you made it your ultimate goal to survive.

Let’s start with the facts you do know. First, thanks to Alven, the old man was willing to teach you Alchemy. Perfect for self-defense for someone as weak as you. Second, Eisenstadt was a danger zone. War would eventually break out between that city and the capital of Yuan and you wanted nothing to do with it. One way or another you had to move yourself to the Felshutz, a town found in the east of the Autumn branch.

Felshutz was barely mentioned in the game and was considered a safe haven for refugees of the war. Staying there could give you more than enough time to plan your escape from the world tree. This leads to the third fact, you had to figure out when exactly in the timeline you were in. If you were lucky, you could have maybe a year or two to plan your escape. If you were EXTRA LUCKY you could easily live your entire life without dealing with the inevitable war.

Alven was kind enough to tell you it was the year 5800 of the Leonis calendar; five years off from the start of The Great Pilgrim, which was, thankfully, the beginning of the game. At least five years gave you more than enough time to prepare for your great escape.

And Finally, you had to come up with an story for the old man about some your past. You needed to hide the part that you were from another world of course.

You created a story of how you were abused by your revolutionist-thinking parents. You told the old man how they forced you to train and refused to make you participate in the Tethering Ceremony. Alven seemed to believe your story so that was a relief.

Currently, it had been a week since the old man took you in and he would make you do various chores such as manning the shop and cleaning all the equipment while teaching the basics of Alchemy. With your help, the two of you cleared out a storage room so that you could have your own bedroom.

It had the a small room with the bare minimum that you needed. Like a desk in front of the window looking out into the city for you to study and a single-sized bed with a basic wooden frame at the corner of the room. You currently sat on the flimsy wooden chair in front of the desk as you bit onto the end of your pencil. You glared at your notebook as you reread the current facts you collected. Thankfully you could still remember how to write in English, so despite your body screaming for you to write in another tongue; you willed yourself to write in English. You couldn’t let anyone read what you knew so writing it in English was your safest bet.

Now… What else could you do? You glanced at your reflection out the window and came up with a plan. You made yourself ten rules of survival. It didn’t take long for you to come up with ten rules so you leaned back to look back at your work.

Rule 1. Don’t show this notebook to anyone

Rule 2. Learn Alchemy, could save your life

Rule 3. Be as insignificant as possible, blend in.

Rule 4. Avoid using modern language or English

Rule 5. Don’t tell anyone about your past or where you’re from

Rule 6. Do not let anyone know you have no Pathfinder

Rule 7. Run away from all danger

Rule 8. Find a way to escape before the war breaks out

Rule 9. Don’t interfere with the story significantly

Rule 10. Avoid contact with the main characters

You nodded to yourself as you hid the notebook under your bed. As soon as you did, Alven’s slightly muffled scream called for you.

“Get down ‘er now ya Racker!”

You leave your bedroom to greet the old man in the living/dining room. The stocky old man glared at you and gestured to the mess of notes and bottles you left on the dining room table. You purse your lips and look away from his gaze. That earned a good whack to the back of your head and you groaned. It seemed to be routine now, you left your mess everywhere earning a whack and a scolding from the old man.

Though…

You weren’t exactly annoyed during it all. The old man was kind enough to give you a home, he’s feeding you, caring for you, he even made you an apprentice! Sure the old man can be scary and mean but… He treated you like his own. You silently prayed to whatever God that cursed you that the kind old Alchemist would be safe from any harm. At least in this world, Alven was your only family and you would cherish each and every moment. You needed to enjoy each moment… Alven and everyone else would die soon at the hands of that war.

You received another whack in the back of your head. Alven ushered you to get ready, ah yes that’s right… today was the day you got to buy supplies with him. You went back into your room to get changed. The old man was nice enough to give you a new set of clothes.

You put on a sleeveless dark green vest with a popped collar over a white dress shirt with laced puffed sleeves. You struggle a bit to put on your dark brown airship pants and your laced knee-high leather boots. Brushing away your tangled pixie-cut rust red hair from your face. Your green eyes glimmered under the dim light of the room as you glanced back at the mirror in the room and put on your brown beret cap that had goggles on it. Your style was reminiscent of Steampunk which meant that they were the most technologically advanced compared to the other branches.

What were branches exactly? Think of them as different states in a country, each branch based on the season they are set in. In the world of Yuan, the world as they knew it exists atop a World Tree, and on the tree, there were permanent seasons starting from the center as Spring with its theme being Chinese Wuxia, then Summer as the Medieval Nordic, Of course, Autumn as Steampunk, and finally, the outermost ring being Winter, the frozen wasteland.

Honestly, flat earthers can eat their heart out for being right… somewhat. But one season all around meant that high-quality crops were available year-round. It was rather convenient. However, the crops did have a slight glow to them…

But putting that aside, there was another difference the world of Yuan had to your own. This world had what was called Even hours and Odd hours, as you could guess even hours were the time people were awake. The night was their day and our day was their night. It took you a while to get used to the change.

Now, where exactly are you going? You left the house with Alven and he led you towards the outskirts of the city. The pair of you were heading towards Beech Forest(Honestly the name made you laugh quite a bit), the trees were over 50 meters tall with thick grey trunks. The trees were known as Tricolor Beech and its leaves that littered the ground of the forest had a stunning deep purple color. Close to the city, In a small clearing of the forest, there was a bustling market for any alchemist’s needs. There were an array of tents filled with curiosities, forming a circle around the clearing. At the center of the market was a wooden stage for Alchemists to show off their discoveries. The market was lit with tall mushrooms that glowed a warm amber light as if they were streetlights. Currently, no one was taking the stage and it seems like today was one of those quiet days since there were sparsely any people in the market.

Alven dragged you to a tent filled with an array of mushrooms. There was a scent of burnt sugar emanating from the tent and there was a soft mix of neon glows coming from the mushrooms. Though there were some that you recognized from your own world, there were many more that looked out of this world such as mushrooms with fur, strange toadstools with spiraled caps, and even fungi that would occasionally fart! The old man hands you a small leather pouch that has a slight weight to it. You look inside to find the famous Amber pieces: the currency of Yuan.

They were coin pieces made from hardened tree sap that came in a variety of colors depending on the value. 1 Blue Amber being worth 10 Black Amber, 1 Black Amber worth 10 Green Amber, so on and so forth following Red then Yellow Amber. Inside the pouch was a handful of Red Amber Pieces, you weren’t exactly sure how there actually were. You look at the old man in confusion and he just huffs and turns his back to you, about to leave you alone next to the tent. “Buy Vhatever katches yer eye,” he said as he left for another tent.

The old man sure was nice… You decided to make the most of it and go through the array of mushrooms the seller had to offer. Starting with the farting mushroom! You take the strange shroom and examine it closely. Its cap was of a yellowish-green color and had small craters on top that would occasionally expel gas that smells of rotten eggs. The bright blue stalk was thick and had a fuzzy texture. You stifled a laugh as the tiny shroom in your hands let out a squeak-like fart. This was definitely going to be your favorite one out of your little shopping spree. You ended up buying five of the farting shrooms before looking at what else the tent had to offer.

As you were perusing the tent’s offerings, another patron joined your company, their identity hidden with a dark blue cloak with a large hood that covered their face... You couldn’t really tell who it was though nor did you exactly care to find out. Though it seemed the stranger was interested in you,

“Ya find anything interesting?” that stranger said.