Stuck in a Chinese novel

'Where is this?' Wei Jun confusedly asked. He looked around, confused over what he was seeing. Unlike a moment ago when he was about to be pounced on by a group of cultivators from the CSF, he was now in an entirely different place.

"Sit down." A voice flowed into his ears. A voice that he recognized and it wasn't in his head this time. He turned to look at a man he recognized very well, sitting on a table, enjoying a steak.

Across him, there was another chair prepared but the prepared cuisine was different. It wasn't a steak but a Chicago-style pizza.

"You like this, right? Go ahead, eat." The handsome man who seemed to be somewhere between 20-25 said, not a lot older than Wei Jun but in reality, he was a lot older than he seemed.

"Sit down, brother. This isn't an illusion," The young man said once again, claiming to be Wei Jun's brother. Well, that's who he was. The brother of the original owner of Wei Jun's body.

Wei Jun did as he was asked, he sat down, still confused and acting mostly on autopilot. He took the pizza almost on reflex and began to eat it. The familiar taste and feeling were too real for him to believe it was all in his head.

"Because none of it is," The brother said, as if he could read his mind.

"You can hear my thoughts?" Wei Jun asked.

"Of course." The brother said before he added, "In here, I'm everything. I can do anything. I can be anything."

"Like a god?" Wei Jun asked.

"Nope. God can do anything anywhere, I can only do that in here." The brother claimed before he said, his hands under his chin and his eyes analyzing Wei Jun, "You're not quite there yet. The one I met was a little older."

"What?" Wei Jun asked, confused over all of this and all the more confused over the ambiguous words of his brother.

"Nothing. You wouldn't understand any of it anyway." The brother said before he added as if talking to himself, "But it's mostly my fault. When you were born, I made sure you weren't exposed to our world. I wanted you to remain free of it at least. Well, that didn't turn out so good, did it?"

Confused, Wei Jun just let his brother rant like he usually did. It was his brother's habit to talk to himself, questioning his past decisions. Even though the monologue this time was about him, Wei Jun felt best to ignore it because he'd rather not go deep into it.

Instead, he focused on the pizza.

"What? No Chicago in Hekaton?" The brother asked.

"Hekaton?" Wei Jun asked.

"Yes. It means 'Hundred' in Greek." The brother replied.

"I know what it means. I'm asking about the… this world." Wei Jun said, momentarily losing himself because he didn't even know what he was talking about.

"It's the name of the world you're in." The brother replied but he didn't go in depth over it. Since he didn't, Wei Jun knew there wouldn't be an in-depth explanation. That's how his brother was so he didn't waste any time. He felt like he didn't have much in the first place so he just focused on the pizza.

"You're right. We don't." The brother replied, "Even now the world is rejecting me as we speak."

"Why?" Wei Jun asked.

"Because it would shatter under my power," The brother replied.

"But let's not talk about that." The brother said before he asked, "Now that you've used it, I hope you've realized what your mistake was?"

"What?" Wei Jun asked.

"Death. Once you've wielded it, I'm sure you understand where you went wrong, right?" The brother asked.

"No. Not really." Wei Jun said.

"Haa…" The brother sighed before he added, "You tried to control it."

"Of course, I tried to control it. It's inside me." Wei Jun replied.

"Doesn't mean it belongs to you." The brother said before he added, "There is one thing that Death doesn't like more than anything and that is being controlled. Many have tried to avoid it, cheat it, confuse it but their fates were predictable. But those who tried to control it, well, they wished they died a horrible death a million times than do that."

"Death doesn't belong to anyone. It comes and when it does, nothing can stop it. Stopping it means controlling it and it doesn't like that. It would do anything in its power to avoid that from happening." The brother continued.

"Then how do I control it?" Wei Jun asked as he shoved another slice of pizza in his mouth.

"Didn't you hear me? You can't control it." The brother said before he added, "What you need to do is to control yourself."

"Myself?" Wei Jun asked. He didn't think he did anything wrong so why was he being asked to do so?

"Anger is an emotion that can be ignited by any reason. Hate, joy, or just because of one being tired. Many things cause anger and what causes you to be angry is love." The brother replied.

"I don't let my anger get to me," Wei Jun replied, his expression as cold as always.

"Really?" The brother asked before he said, "Julie. Angelina. Millie. Serena. Court---"

"Enough!" With each name, Wei Jun's face changed to that of an extremely angered one.

"Hahaha." The brother laughed, "You were always a sucker for love."

"But those were all failed loves," The brother said, he stopped laughing and his expression endearing, "But with this one, you actually see a chance. It's given you'd get angry if anything were to ever happen to her."

"And I'm not telling you to not be angry. Anger is the base of humankind and it can never get rid of it. What you need to do is control it. Anger is a powerful weapon. You saw the buff you got when you got angry, didn't you? It was even devoid of the system limitations. But you couldn't control it. You let it get the better of you. And then, in that anger, you tried to control death as well. All of them were clear mistakes, lil bro." The brother said, pointing out all the flaws and mistakes in Wei Jun.

"Then what do you suggest I do? I've never felt this way before." Wei Jun replied, sincerely asking for help since he really hadn't ever felt such intense emotions before.

"Just try hard." The brother replied.

"Seriously? Try hard? What do you mean by 'try hard'? Ever since I came to this world, I've done nothing but work hard." Wei Jun replied as if his hard work was being dismissed.

"And? Was that all?" The brother asked.

"Tell me, how many times have you broken yourself and then fixed yourself? How many times have you endured that pain of your bones returning to their structure?" The brother asked.

"All you've done until now is level up and try to end the life of some people. That's not working hard. That's doing the bare minimum. You won't get paid for overtime if you only do what's asked of you. Do more." The brother said, leaving Wei Jun to ponder on his actions so far. He could have asked the system to train him early on but he didn't. He did what was working for him. Killing cultivators was working for him so he didn't pay much attention to cultivation.

"Break yourself and then let your being repair yourself. That's how we Smiths grow." The brother said before he added, "And don't try to control death anymore. Try to befriend it. That would be much more advantageous to you."

"What now then?" Wei Jun asked.

"Now you go back. But don't expect this assistance every time. I only saved you this time because you were in a tough spot and I have a soft spot for you. But if I always acted upon it, you'll never grow." Wei Jun's brother said.

That's how his brother always was. He always did what Wei Jun asked him to do like a child but when he was strict, he wouldn't stop no matter what.

Wei Jun nodded and asked one final question on his mind. He didn't ask what that place was or why was he there. He simply asked, "I'm destroying this place, aren't I?"

A smile appeared on the brother's face and he said, "Yes, you are."

"Why?" Wei Jun asked. He had felt it before and he felt it again. It wasn't apparent when he killed Run Long but when he killed Shao Chen, he felt that something was happening to the world. As if it was weakening.

"Because you're destruction, Damien," Wei Jun's brother spread his hands and said, "And this is your playfield. Play to your heart's desire."

"…" Wei Jun looked at his brother's face. His expression not budging in the least.

"Haa…" the brother sighed before he said, "Fine. That's not the only reason. But you will understand soon. Just not now. You're, how should I say, in the beginning phase yet. Traverse to the middle one, at least. Only then will some of your questions be answered."

Before Wei Jun could say something to that, a tremor passed through the entire place, and before Wei Jun knew it, he was back in his penthouse, looking at a shocked Yan Rong and screaming Xia Lu.

""What the…"" Wei Jun and Yan Rong said at the same time, confused over what was happening.