The Sovereign of the Psychic Necropolis

Sadly, his luck had run out. The man who had introduced him to the cult, Old Bill, was nothing more than a lackey who failed to explain things properly, leading to a deadly misunderstanding. Instead of being used in a ritual to summon an evil god, Green had been placed in the center of a summoning circle and stabbed to death as a blood offering. The ritual failed, and Green died needlessly. Yet, unbeknownst to him, the summoning ritual hadn’t failed entirely. While the evil god’s arrival was thwarted, Xu Mu’s consciousness was drawn into this world. A world where necromancy, evil gods, and steam engines coexisted… The industrial revolution had sparked a new era of scientific discovery, but the supernatural still held sway. Magicians remained mysterious and dangerous; druids roamed from town to town under the guise of circus performers; beautiful witches, impervious to fire, were regulars at noble gatherings; knights had abandoned their horses and heavy armor, opting instead for rifles and bayonets, firing bullets infused with their own battle aura… The cold wind howled, and distant wolf howls echoed through the night. Green lay on the frozen earth for an unknown amount of time, his chest wound slowly healing. The excruciating pain dulled, though his limbs remained stiff and immobile. Yet, he could now sense his hands and feet, and with great effort, he managed to twitch his fingers and toes. This small victory brought him some comfort. Although the situation was strange, at least he was no longer dying. After a while, Green summoned all his strength and managed to sit up, gasping for breath. A simple motion had drained him of his energy. His body felt numb, his limbs stiff, making movement difficult. "This is unbearable. Please don’t let this body have any other issues!" Green muttered, his concern growing. Though he had narrowly escaped death, if he had been left crippled, that would be another disaster. Fortunately, after some time, his limbs began to regain feeling. He quickly checked his body. The wound from the dagger was still there, but the injury had healed, leaving only a faint scar. The new skin was paler than the surrounding area, and a tingling sensation lingered when he touched it. He pressed his hand to his chest, relieved to find that his heart was still beating. At least, for now, he was alive. With a slight sense of relief, Green began to survey his surroundings. Snow began to fall once again, the cold wind cutting like knives. Green had been inside before, wearing only a shirt and sweater, yet now he felt oddly comfortable, as though the temperature was just right. He had not noticed earlier, but now he realized his heartbeat was slow, only twenty or thirty beats per minute. "What’s happening?" Green furrowed his brow, a sense of foreboding filling him. "No fear of the cold, slow heartbeat... This is a sign of lichdom!" Recalling the fragments of necromantic magic he had learned, Green realized what had happened. He had inadvertently absorbed spiritual energy from a necromancer’s artifact, which had settled in his heart. That energy had spread throughout his body, and now, thanks to the wound, his body was beginning to transform, marking the onset of lichdom. However, his soul had already been sacrificed in the summoning ritual, and Xu Mu had taken his place, finding himself reborn in this world.