Chapter Text
Fuck! This shitty system, zero stars, zero stars! Shen Yuan cursed internally as he fisted his hands, teeth clenched in anger. Got up from the dirt floor and dusted himself off. Fuming at his terrible fortune.
It was an ordinary day for him. As ordinary his day could be for a man who choked on a bun and died and miraculously transmigrated into the world of Proud Immortal Demon Way as the villainous scum Shen Qingqiu. After he calmed down over that heart dropping realization he tried his best to fit in. The system did not help, it was out for him. Chiding him for the smallest things, is it really that ooc to smile at his disciple.
Well, what he gathered from his stay so far is that Luo Binghe had not been accepted to Qing Jing peak. Which was a sigh of relief, he could change things. He really did not want to be a human pickle, he thought with a grimace.
He picked up the ornately decorated tea cup and brought it to his lips. He sipped it gracefully as he was planning what he should do. Right as he was about to take another drink the system popped in for seemingly no reason.
[User! User! This system has encountered an error!]
It said in a rather alarming voice for a robot and was blinking in flashing red lights.
Shit. What now! His mouth was open in panic, the tea cup halfway to his mouth in his hand. He quickly put it down. Can’t he enjoy his peace before Luo Binghe crashes into his life. What error!
[This system will commence the fix! Loading 0%.]
“What error! What are you doing, stop that!” Shen Yuan was completely fine before this, nothing had to change! He voiced his panic but it fell on deaf ears.
[No worries user!]
[Loading 42%]
What a garbage system, curse you and all of your ancestors! What should he do, it wouldn’t affect him that badly right?
[Loading 67%]
He wasn’t as panicked now, he was the peak lord Shen Qingqiu, the epitome of aloof and calmness. He would deal with it, he would be fine. He tried to reassure himself.
[Preparing transfer, loading 88%]
Transfer? What transfer! The shitty system never said anything on this. He felt that this was going to change many things, he felt unprepared, his mouth felt dry.
[Loading 100%, Fix commencing]
Before he could curse the system even more, his vision erupted in bright white light. Holy fuck, warn a man, he shut his eyes tightly and put his arm up to try shielding himself from the brightness. He hoped wherever he went wasn’t too bad.
What a surprise he was in for.
It was calm in the forest, towering trees with branches swaying in the wind. All types of wood type birds whistled and sang. A decently sized river ran though the landscape cutting the land, housing fish that leaped and swam in it to new waters. It was, dare you could say, beautiful but then the calmness was broken by a yell of man. It disrupted the calm, sending birds to flight to escape possible danger, woodland critters scattered for shelter.
In the sky the man appeared out of nowhere falling from it and clearly voicing his displeasure at the situation.
“Shitty system!” Shen Yuan yelled as he rapidly came down to meet the unforgiving earth. What he could have done in a past life to deserve this. The ground was very close now, any second.
“AUGHoof” He let out a strange pained sound as he finally met the floor. Everything hurts, his toes, his back, his head, his back, he was old and brittle. He ached.
Which brings us where we were before.
As he mourned the state of his back and well, his whole body, he came to the conclusion that nothing was broken. He would probably be cursing a lot more. That and there was no blood gushing out of him. Hopefully there was no internal bleeding, a hernia seemed a lot worse than choking on a bun.
Small mercies.
It would probably be best to figure out where he even was, the shitty system hasn’t appeared. In the back of his mind he wondered and prayed it was gone for good but the chances were very slim.
He looked around, the trees were huge wherever he was. They were the height of four, maybe even as high as six story buildings. The forest didn’t seem familiar to anywhere near Qing Jing peak.
He felt that he was very very far from there, a whole different world perhaps? He thought with a frown. It did seem like some fuckery the system would put him through, the little shit. Maybe it was for the best if he was in a different world, no more human pickle. That was a comforting thought.
He also noticed quickly that his luxurious peak lord robes made from the softest cotton and shimmering silk were replaced by rather drab garb. That was probably for the best. He would stand out a lot more, it was better to be dressed as one of many. At least it would be easier to change, it was awkward how long he struggled to get dressed when he first transmigrated.
He wondered.
He walked over to the river, he wondered if he still looked like the peak lord. He peered down at the water and the reflection that stared back at him mildly surprised him.
There was a young boy, no not that young, maybe a teen? He wasn’t sure. He looked like himself when he was younger perhaps he gained back his body he mused. His brow was furrowed and the reflection furrowed his brow back. He wasn’t sure what the scum villain looked like when he was younger. There was fan art but no official art, hell he didn’t even know a lot of Shen Qingqiu’s backstory, it was very dark and murky. Shitty author, couldn't even write a decent backstory for the main villain.
In a different world, peak lord Shang Qinghua sneezed.
“Shizun! Have you caught a cold?” His disciple who was helping him questioned.
“No, no, this master is fine” Qinghua assured his disciple, frankly he was insulted. He knew he wasn’t as great a cultivator as the rest of his martial siblings but not that bad that a little cold would infect him. He ordered the disciple out and continued the task of writing budgets for Bai Zhan peak. What a lot of work he sighed internally.
What Shen Qingqiu did notice was his eyes, they were a teal green, the same as Shen Qingqiu, guess that stayed the same. He had short black hair that reminded him of his own, he almost missed the long hair. It was different, almost tedious given that he had to take care of it but he liked how it looked. He might grow it out.
He was done looking at himself so he wandered away from the river. The next big question, did he still have his cultivation? Well he was in a forest. He concentrated and flicked his wrist as expected leaves sailed from the confines of their branches and floated in front of him sharpened to shed blood. If he could do that it’s safe to assume he still had his cultivation. Xiu Yia hadn’t traveled with him, unfortunately. He doubted he could get a sword as good.
What would be best would be to find civilization. He was no survival expert, he would not survive long. He would definitely eat some berries and die. The problem was, it was all forest.
Time to start walking and so he put his right foot over his left and went.
A big thing he observed was that everything was strangely… normal. It was almost like being in the modern world, no papapa plants, demonic energy, or mythical beasts. He doubted the system would send him into a normal world, he dreaded what would be different but it could be that bad, right?
And so he walked, and walked, walked, even more walking. This got boring fast but he trudged on. Eventually throughout the leaves of trees he saw a field, wow, and stone in the far distance, stone bricks to be exact.
Wait, bricks?
Buildings! People! Thank the heavens he praised, his face broke into a grin. His luck was coming up. He went quicker through the wood, with renewed energy. As he broke through the treeline into the large, empty field he realized something.
The “buildings” were in fact not buildings but a huge, colossal stone brick wall that seemed to stretch on for miles and miles.
Okay? He thought that was weird, seemed archaic to him but he didn’t question it much. What he did see was that there was an entrance and there were many people coming in and out. Perfect! He would get to know more about this world and then figure out what the hell he would do.
He went onto a nearby already paved path and walked along it to the entrance. He observed and concluded that he was not in his world, he sighed. The people were dressed in very foreign garb, clothes that were not of the ancient Chinese world he was in before or modern China. Geography wasn’t his best subject but he could guess that it was European. The counties that came to mind were the Netherlands or Germany. He was very, very far from where he’s from.
The clothes he wore right now came in handy. At the entrance he slipped through like a fish gliding in water. No one noticed a scrappy teen, one of hundreds probably. He could infer that this civilization lived behind walls for a reason he did not yet but his guess was for protection.
Also they spoke differently. It was not mandarin and he worried that he would struggle but to his surprise he understood what they talked about. The weather, the prices of goat at the market, how a lady thought her husband was having an affair and ranted to her friend. Yeah. It also tied into the European theory and he concluded that he was probably in a German based city.
He wondered if this world was from a media from his world, it probably was. It was when he sat down on a rock outside a pub, deep in thought, hand under his chin, like a wise old man where he got it.
The giant walls, the german based society, it had to be Attack on Titan. It was the only logical option. While he did read mainly web novels he did consume other media, he had a lot of free time. He remembered watching it a couple weeks ago, there was only one season so far and it was very good, if only season two could come out sooner.
Wait.
Fuck.
He was in Attack on Titan. The same Attack on Titan with people eaten alive by monstrous titans.
He may not become a human pickle but he could still be cannon fodder. The heavens laughed at him. He was down trodden at the realization. It’s not like he could stop… say the fall of Shiganshina. Speaking of that, where was he?
He got up from his rock. He would probably seem crazy if he walked up to someone and asked where he was but he could say he was a traveler. This is when he noticed the sign of the pub he was next to.
“Shiganshina’s Sip Stop”
Fuck
That wooden sign was mocking him.
He sighed what a cosmic joke he was. Well not like he can prevent the fall. Perhaps he would have some time before then. He should get the hell out and go to the other wall but what if could do something. If he remembers well, and he usually does, then the protagonist, Eren Jaegar lives somewhere around here.
He figured that he wouldn’t need food soon, he could just practice inedia, simple. Same for water. He would need money for shelter, he did not want to sleep outside but seeing as he just spawned in, it would be hard to get money. Then again he could just steal money but he was a stand up citizen but then again he was a scum villain stealing some money wouldn't be as bad, compared to what he did, right? He was in conflicting thoughts about his morals wandering the streets that he was caught by surprise when a slightly smaller body collided with him.
Another boy, the one he didn’t bump into, sneered “Move out the way”
He was shocked, the audacity of this boy. He was the peak lord of Qing Jing peak, but then he remembered that he was homeless and penniless. Sigh.
He noticed who bumped into him. It was a blonde boy with blue eyes and his eyes, his eyes showed he was scared. This was no simple roughhouseing between friends.
“You pushed him into me, shouldn’t you be apologizing to me?” He said coldly while he stepped to stand in front of the blond boy, arms crossed, he missed his fan.
“Psh no” The bully said rather dumbly, his buddies sniggered.
He glared his eyes, standing his ground. He noticed one was holding a rather thick book, he doubted it was theirs they didn’t seem very intelligent.
“Is that your book?” He questioned the ringleader.
“Of course it is” He smiled cruelly as he took the book from the other boy.
He was fed up with these kids already, he did not like rude and undisciplined children, his disciples were better. He turned his head around to look at the blonde boy behind him, softening his gaze.
“That’s your book, isn’t it?”
The blonde boy stammered “y-yes”
Poor boy. He turned around to the bullies.
“Give me that book please” He said sweetly but his eyes did not show that.
The ringleader taunted him, “Come and get it”, his crew snickered while the leader held the book up.
He sighed, children. He internally rolled up his sleeves, this should be easier fighting these kids than say a demon.
Faster than a blink of an eye he did a sweeping quick to the leader, taking him by surprise as he fell and let go of the book. It sailed through the air and he caught it with his left hand. The crew reacted and charged at him, only two more. He quickly sidestepped a punch and delivered a swift chop to the neck and he fell. One more. He dodged another punch from the last boy and punched him in the stomach, he clutched his stomach and dropped. Of course he did this swiftly and gracefully befitting his peak lord status, book still in his hand.
“You alright?” He kindly said to the blonde boy, he held out the book for him.
“Uh yeah” He said quietly while taking his book and clutching it to his chest. “Thanks”
“Your welcome” Shen Yuan smiled at him “What’s your name?”
“Arlert, Armin Arlert”
Oh what the fuck.
The boy, Armin, was quiet. It was then that he realized that he was waiting for him to give his name as well. Wow he did not think this through he was only trying to figure out his plans but he did not plan this through. Should he give his name, the scum villain’s, a whole new name? Scum villain was a no go and his name wasn’t exactly from this place. Then again he didn’t know many German names. Basic English ones he knew some. German? Not so much and a new name would be a hassle.
“Shen Yuan”
He felt this would bite him in the ass later but spur of the moment thing or something who knows.
Ok so what now. He was sweating bullets at this point, should he do something or walk on his merry way or? It was awkward now but he didn’t show it on his face. A month as Shen Qingqiu gave him an amazing poker face.
Well might as well go for it.
“Say… do you know of any job openings?”
Armin scrunched his brows in thought. Oh how cute it reminded him of his own disciples. He would miss them.
Armin started slowly “I’m not sure,” he hesitated “do you mean for someone else in your family?”
“Don’t have one”
“Oh”
“Yeah…”
He could feel the pity, he didn’t really mind. It’s not like they died but Armin wouldn’t know that. He missed them, especially his mei mei, she was probably the one who found his body, she visited frequently to nag him about socializing and eating healthier. It was a bit morbid now that he thinks of it.
Armin seemed to be in thought, clutching his book harder to his chest.
“Come with me”
Huh?
“Alright”
Shen Yuan followed Armin back to presumably his house, he hoped Armin being this trusting wasn’t that common. Then again he was like twelve or something so he seemed harmless then again Eren did kill a man at eight.
They walked into a nice, cozy house. If he remembered right then it should be just Armin and his grandpa. It was clean too.
Armin broke the silence, “My grandpa should be home soon”
Who knew what Armin was thinking, Shen Yuan personally thought this was going quickly but he’s not about to argue.
So he and Armin sat at the table and chatted about anything and everything. Shen Yuan tried not to let any of his knowledge of the future. Well it couldn’t exactly be called future either. Anyways he wasn’t going to tell Armin about ramen noodles and web novels.
He wonders if Armin is already friends with Mikasa and Eren but he isn’t sure how to bring it up.
They were talking about birds somehow. He tries to keep up with the topic but he doesn’t know much but he does talk about the birds in his original world. Hopefully kingfishers and herons exist in this world, they’re not that outlandish he hopes. He wonders how Armin would react to parrots.
He heats the door before Armin does, heightened senses. Armin’s grandpa walks in from work. Shen Yuan couldn’t remember his job. When Armin does notice he gets off his chair and goes to greet his grandpa, they exchange hellos. Then Armin starts talking about him so he just stays where he’s at, Armin’s grandpa couldn’t see him from here.
Armin’s grandpa comes in where Shen Yuan sits and takes his time sitting in the chair across from him.
“I heard you helped my son get his book back”
He’s not sure what to say but he should be polite.
“Yes sir”
“No need for sir” He chuckles goodheartedly, waving his hand around “It makes me feel older”
Shen Yuan nods in response.
“I also heard you don’t have no one”
“I don’t”
The man pauses and leans forward.
“How would you like to stay here?”
Shen Yuan was shocked, wow just like that huh. “I’d like that”
The man smiled “Perfect” He clapped his hands “It rests my weary heart to know that someone will be with Armin”
Shen Yuan doesn’t mind playing babysitter or more like bodyguard, Armin is a very well behaved child. He would treat him like one of his own disciples.
“Now what’s your name?” He continued “I’m afraid Armin didn’t tell me”
“Shen Yuan”
“Foreign?” He mused. Shen Yuan felt this was more rhetorical so he didn’t comment on it “Lovely name”
Shen Yuan smiled “Thank you”
“No thank you, grateful you helped out my grandson” He took his hand out, for a hand shake.
Shen Yuan's soft hands clasped Armin’s grandpas and they shook hands.
What did he get himself into?