My Martial Spirit is My Fiancée

Chapter 1: First Encounter

It was a spring night.

A gentle breeze rustled the tender branches of a willow tree outside a farmhouse. The willow tree stood right in front of an open window, or perhaps it was the window that faced the willow tree.

The breeze drifted in through the window.

Smack!

A young man lying alone on a bed suddenly reached out and smacked his own buttocks with the blanket he was using as a pillow, as if something had been biting him.

It didn't seem very painful because the young man only briefly opened his eyes before closing them again.

He was tired from a busy day.

However, at this moment, a mechanical voice suddenly echoed in the young man's mind:

『Ding! System binding in progress, 10, 9, 8... 0, binding successful.』

With a slightly furrowed brow, the drowsy Zheng Li, still keeping his eyes closed, mumbled, "Am I dreaming? A system... How can something like that even exist?"

After his muttering, Zheng Li seemed to remember something, and a smile formed at the corner of his mouth.

Meanwhile, the system appeared to be at a loss for words and remained silent for a while.

After a moment, the system abruptly asked, 『Host, do you want to start it?』

Zheng Li, who was still half-asleep, rolled over and didn't respond to the system.

Seeing this, the system fell silent for a moment.

『Host, do you want to start it?』 The system's voice became louder, still mechanical and devoid of emotion.

Zheng Li finally reacted, still in a daze, and asked, "....Start?"

The system remained silent.

『Ding! Host's consent obtained, activating the dimensional traveling portal! Activate the protection mechanism!』

As the voice fell, a black vortex suddenly appeared above Zheng Li, creating a strong suction force that seemed to be pulling him in.

At the same time, a faint white light enveloped Zheng Li's skin.

Outside the window, the willow branches continued to sway in the breeze, but the bed inside the room was empty without Zheng Li.

...

Day turned into night, and the sun shone brightly in the sky.

On the edge of a cliff, a warm breeze blew against Zheng Li, causing his loose pants to flutter. In his bewildered gaze, he saw a vast, dense forest below the cliff.

The scenery was beautiful and full of vitality, but...

"What the heck! Where is this? What's going on?" Zheng Li, now fully awake, was utterly confused, even though he had overlooked the height of the cliff and the forest below. Little did he know, he had a severe fear of heights.

"Could it be... I'm dreaming?" Zheng Li thought, and to confirm, he reached out and pinched his own face.

Hmm, just making sure, because the scenery in front of him seemed too real.

"Ouch!" A pain shot through him, and Zheng Li, with an expressionless face, lowered his hand, feeling his body stiffen as his brain went into a momentary freeze.

At that moment, a terrifying roar from a beast in the forest below the cliff snapped Zheng Li back to reality. His subconscious directed his gaze towards the source of the roar.

Zheng Li: "..."

"I must be dreaming," he muttered to himself, disbelief in his eyes as he beheld a gigantic creature. The creature was moving in his direction.

Although only a portion of the creature's body was visible, it was clear that it had four legs and sharp spikes running from its neck down to its thick and lengthy tail. The exposed skin was black, with patterns resembling molten lava coursing through it. Especially on each spike, the lava-like patterns spiraled from the rocky skin.

Undoubtedly massive, and even though Zheng Li couldn't see the creature's face, the word "ferocious" immediately came to mind!

If he had to describe it, removing the spikes and tail, the creature somewhat resembled an orangutan.

Seeing this creature filled Zheng Li with fear, not just fear of the creature itself but also fear of the unknown place he found himself in.

After processing his fear, Zheng Li suppressed his emotions and his lips twitched slightly. He thought to himself, ‘This can't be a real creature! I must be dreaming!’

『Host, you are not dreaming. Everything you see is real』

A sudden voice startled Zheng Li. "Who?!" he exclaimed.

Before Zheng Li could look around, the system quickly spoke up.

『Host, don't panic. I am the system』

Zheng Li blinked. "System? Host?"

He glanced around but saw no one. Combined with the unfamiliar surroundings and the recent pain he felt, his acceptance level was...

"Believe in what?!" Zheng Li retorted, but deep down, he was already 90% convinced. The forest could be explained, but the ferocious creature couldn't.

"So, you're saying I really was bound by the system in my dream?" Zheng Li's lips twitched.

He must be in this place because of something the system did. He decided to ask about it.

Taking a deep breath and about to speak, Zheng Li noticed the condition under his feet.

"Oh my god!"

His heart raced, and he felt fear and a loss of control. His body involuntarily moved backward, but his legs didn't cooperate, causing him to collapse to the ground.

At that moment, Zheng Li didn't care about the cliff's issue. He used his hands and his weakened legs to scramble backward.

After retreating to a certain distance, Zheng Li paused for a moment and then angrily questioned, "System, what the hell are you doing?! Sending me to an unknown place is one thing, but this cliff is too much!"

『...Host, the system isn't to blame for this. In the system settings, the landing point for the dimensional travel is random. In this situation, you can only blame your own bad luck』. the emotionless mechanical voice explained.

Zheng Li: "..."

Though the system's voice lacked emotion, Zheng Li felt like the system was mocking his luck.

But that wasn't the main issue.

Dimensional travel? The word finally registered in Zheng Li's mind.

Thinking about it, he realized that due to his fear of heights, he hadn't immediately grasped this concept. Now that he was calmer, he understood.

After pondering the likely reason for his appearance in this place, Zheng Li couldn't help but look up at the sky with a resentful expression. He muttered to himself, as if talking to no one in particular, "Dimensional travel, huh? Well, that's great. But! My wedding is in three days..."

『...』 the system had no words.

Zheng Li, who had just reached the legal marriage age, had been subjected to multiple arranged meetings by his parents. The last one had clicked, and after spending half a year getting to know each other in a family-approved match, they had decided to get married.

As Zheng Li had mentioned earlier, the wedding was only three days away...

"Sigh..." Zheng Li sighed. Some of his friends would ask, "Why are you getting married so young?" In truth, he didn't want to get married so early, and he scoffed at his parents' traditional views. He had merely gone along with the arranged meetings, never expecting that he would hit it off with the final candidate. So, marriage it was. He wasn't entirely opposed to it.

But then, this happened! He had actually been transported into this strange place!

Dammit!

What kind of situation was this!

Shaking his head and snapping out of his thoughts, Zheng Li decided to first gather information about this world from the system. From the recent encounter with the monstrous creature, it was clear that this wasn't a simple world.

"System?"

『Here』

"I want..."

At that moment, a rushing wind sound came from behind Zheng Li, and his instincts told him that something was amiss. He was about to turn and look when the system issued a warning.

『Host, be careful! Move forward!』

Without hesitation, though the system's voice lacked any emotion, Zheng Li immediately took a step forward.

The next second, a thick, dark-green vine pierced the spot where Zheng Li had been sitting just moments ago. He couldn't tell how deep it had penetrated. Simultaneously, the immense force carried by the dark-green vine caused the cliff to tremble slightly.

Cracks began to appear where the vine pierced the ground, spreading in both directions.

After taking a few more steps forward, Zheng Li turned around and saw that the dark-green vine was the best-developed plant among a group of similar plants not far behind him.

Having missed its target, the plant promptly withdrew the vine from the ground and swung another vine towards Zheng Li. However, at that moment, the ground beneath Zheng Li began to collapse due to the earlier cracks.

The speed of the vine made Zheng Li's pupils contract. He was about to dodge when he found himself falling along with the collapsing ground towards the forest below.

Although he had evaded the vine's pursuit, Zheng Li was now in a state of panic. He couldn't help but think, why couldn't the system have placed him in a safer location?

Tears welled up in his eyes. The vine seemed to have grown eyes and continued to chase after Zheng Li. Was he going to be impaled by this vine?

Fortunately, after pursuing him for a short distance, the vine abruptly stopped, as if it had reached its maximum length. Otherwise, given the vine's speed, it would have surely caught up to him.

Relieved, but only slightly, Zheng Li caught his breath.

"System, help me!"

The cliff was exceptionally high, and if he fell like this, he would undoubtedly lose more than half of his life.

『Host, the system wants to— forget it』

『Activate the protection mechanism』

『Activation successful. Reminder: The protection mechanism can only safeguard the host's soul』

Zheng Li: "?!"

"What's the difference between that and not protecting me?"

『When you die, your flesh may perish, but your soul will remain, upon dying,  The host can choose to be reincarnated』

"...," Zheng Li was tempted to give the system a piece of his mind.

『Host, don't be pessimistic. In such a dense forest, maybe some familiar tree will catch you and save you』

"System!"

『Here』

"You can uninstall now."

『Ding! Received uninstall command, uninstalling…』

Zheng Li: (⊙o⊙)

"No no no, I was just kidding, just kidding!" Zheng Li quickly said, alarmed.

Uninstall? That was out of the question. Besides the immediate life-and-death issue, this was another world. If he uninstalled the system, he would probably be in a hopeless situation, and he wanted to return to his own world.

『Ding! Terminate uninstallation』

Hearing the system's prompt, Zheng Li breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried that he wouldn't be able to cancel it.

Now...

"Help me!!!"

Zheng Li shouted for help at the top of his lungs. The chance of someone coming to his rescue might be slim, but it was still a glimmer of hope.

Some might wonder: You fell off a cliff, even if someone came, how would they save you?

Zheng Li didn't think too much about it. Even if he did, he would probably say, "It's an otherworld, maybe humans here can fly with their own power."

After calling for help a few times, Zheng Li had become desperate.

Now, he could only hope that as the system had suggested, some tree or entity in this world would recognize him, or perhaps the system's idea of reincarnation might be feasible?

Just at that moment, a beam of emerald green light rose from the distant forest and rushed towards Zheng Li. Although it seemed far away, the beam crossed the distance in just a few seconds.

As the emerald green beam approached, Zheng Li felt himself gently lifted, and the sensation of falling vanished in an instant.

However, Zheng Li's position in mid-air didn't look very graceful; he looked like he was crawling like a dog.

Before he could react, the gentle force brought his body upright. This allowed him to get a clear look at the person who had saved him.

She was a young girl, around eighteen or nineteen, with bright and beautiful eyes and a very lovely appearance. Seeing her filled Zheng Li with a strong sense of familiarity.

Blinking his eyes, Zheng Li couldn't help but say, "Miss, you're so beautiful."