I was just fishing, how did I become a Great Old One?

[Dimensional jump complete.]

[Current coordinates: Pixel World.]

[Warning: The laws of physics are being reconstructed...]

[Warning: Your body structure is being "voxarized"...]

……

After a dizzying sensation, like the static on an old television screen.

Jiang Li felt his feet touch solid ground.

The texture was strange.

It's hard and angular.

It didn't feel like stepping on mud; it felt more like stepping on some kind of hard plastic building blocks.

"We've... arrived?"

Jiang Li subconsciously wanted to rub his eyes.

however.

When he raised his hand, he was completely stunned.

What appeared in his field of vision was no longer the pair of slender, fair, and well-defined chef's hands.

Instead, it is a...

[Square].

Yes, his hand turned into a flesh-colored cube.

There are no fingers, no nails, and not even palm prints.

It's just a bare cube with an arm, which is also a cuboid, attached to one end.

"Holy crap?"

Jiang Li suddenly looked down.

His body, his legs, his feet...

They all turned into "block people" made up of blocks of different sizes.

The once flowing chef's robe has now been replaced by a pixelated texture with a somewhat blurry image.

Even the Crimson Lotus Ship-Slaying Blade at his waist has been transformed into a "pixelated greatsword" with serrated edges.

"This art style..."

Jiang Li raised his head and looked around.

This is a world made entirely of blocks.

The earth is made up of neatly arranged green blocks (grass blocks) and brown blocks (soil).

The tree in the distance has a brown rectangular trunk topped with a bunch of green cubic leaves.

The clouds in the sky are white squares.

Even the sun...

They were all giant squares hanging in the sky, radiating blinding light!

"W-what...what kind of place is this?!"

A voice with a synthesized electronic tone came from the side.

Jiang Li turned his head to look.

There stood a square-headed man wearing golden armor (pixelated version), holding a pixelated spear that looked like a toothpick.

"Odin?"

Jiang Li asked tentatively.

"It is I!"

Odin raised his square hand and touched his beard, which had turned into a rectangle.

"How did I turn into a building block?"

"and……"

Odin tried swinging his spear.

"This joint... can only go straight up and down, it can't bend!"

The creatures here have no knees or elbows.

It walks entirely by swinging its two square legs back and forth, which looks extremely comical.

You'll get used to it.

Jiang Li quickly adapted to this setting.

After all, as a veteran gamer, this art style is a memory etched into my DNA.

"This is a voxel."

"We are now in a world of three-dimensional pixels."

"Here, curves do not exist."

"Everything is straight."

……

Just then.

"Click—click—"

A strange chewing sound came from the side.

Everyone looked over.

A golden-yellow creature, shaped like a pizza with a missing piece, yet also a three-dimensional sphere, was perched on a square tree.

It opened its huge mouth (gap).

He took a bite out of the tree trunk.

"Wave!"

A miraculous scene unfolded.

It swallowed the entire cube of wood in one gulp.

Followed by.

Its body flickered.

"puff--"

It spat out a piece of... [a processed wooden board].

It even spat out a few sticks.

"sweet dumpling?"

Jiang Li looked at the guy who looked like a 3D version of Pac-Man.

"Dad! I've become stronger!"

The glutinous rice ball bounced excitedly on the ground (it's round, so it doesn't need to walk in a square shape).

"I feel like this world... tastes so good!"

"Everything here is made of blocks!"

"and……"

Tangyuan ate another stone from the ground.

puff--

It spat out a round stone.

"I feel like I've become a... processing plant?"

Jiang Li's eyes lit up.

"sure."

"This is not just evolution, it's the awakening of the ability to convert resources."

"From now on, we won't have to lift a finger to build houses or make furniture; we can just feed you dirt."

……

Now that we've arrived in a new world...

The first thing to do, naturally, is to explore the environment.

Jiang Li led his team, who had been transformed into Lego minifigures, as they explored the path paved with Lego blocks.

The physical rules here are very interesting.

If you break the bottom of a tree.

The tree trunk at the top will not fall down.

Instead, it would remain suspended in mid-air, defying the law of gravity.

Unless you break them all, they will turn into smaller, floating "drops" on the ground.

"magic."

Abel (now a black blocky man carrying a blocky knife) reached out to grab the falling objects.

"Ding!"

The instant his hand touched the fallen object.

The item was not being held in hand.

Instead, it was directly absorbed into the body and disappeared.

"It's in my backpack."

Jiang Li explained.

"In this world, everyone comes with a subspace backpack."

"No need to carry it; you can take it out with a thought."

……

They hadn't been gone long.

A plain appeared ahead.

On the plains, there is a small village.

The houses in the village are also blocky buildings like matchboxes, with triangular roofs and transparent glass block windows.

The village is surrounded by a wooden fence.

"There are people here!"

Odin was invigorated.

"Let's go! Let's ask where we are!"

The group increased the frequency of their square-legged swings, like a group of clumsy penguins rushing towards the village.

however.

As soon as we got close.

Then they heard strange noises coming from the village.

"Ha~"

"Hmph~"

"Ha~ Hmph~"

The sound was like someone with a severe cold blowing their nose, or perhaps a helpless sigh.

Jiang Li walked into the village.

We saw the original inhabitants of this place—the [block villagers].

They have very distinctive features.

The head is a huge cuboid.

It has a large, drooping nose (also rectangular) on its face.

With his hands tucked into his sleeves (actually, both hands were joined together), he strolled around the village like a wealthy landlord.

Upon seeing Jiang Li and his group of outsiders.

The villagers did not show fear, but instead gathered around.

It tilted its big head and looked at them.

"Huh?" (Who are you?)

"Hmph~" (Don't block the way if you're not buying anything.)

"Ha~ Hmph!" (I'd like to trade two wheat grains for the emerald in your hand.)

Jiang Li: "..."

"I don't understand."

"System, is there a translation plugin?"

[Ding! Loading "Villager Language Pack"... Loading successful.]

[Current translation mode: Literal translation based on meaning.]

The system has just finished loading.

A commotion suddenly broke out at the village entrance.

"Ha!!!" (Help!)

"Ha! Hah!!!" (The monster is coming!)

The villagers, who had been leisurely, suddenly erupted into chaos, scrambling into their huts and slamming the doors shut.

"monster?"

Jiang Li turned around and looked at the plain outside the village.

All I could see was at the end of the grass blocks.

Several green figures appeared.

They are entirely emerald green, with mosaic-like camouflage spots on their bodies.

They have four short legs, but no hands.

They walk silently.

Quietly.

Like a green ghost.

Creeper.

Or you could call it—the self-destructing monster.

This is a specialty of the pixel world, a nightmare for newbies.

"That is..."

Odin squinted.

"It looks like a cactus that has come to life?"

"Since it's a monster, then let this old man handle it..."

Odin was about to rush forward.

Jiang Li's expression changed.

"Don't go! That's a bomb!"

But he was too late.

One of the Creepers had already sneaked up to the wooden fence at the village entrance.

Its target is not people.

Instead, standing in the village square is a... [pixelated statue].

The statue appeared to be made of some kind of rare sapphire blocks, which had a deadly attraction to these monsters.

The Creeper approached the fence.

Its body began to flash white light.

And then that chilling sound came out:

"Screech—screech—screech—"

That was the sound of a fuse burning!

"not good!"

Jiang Li knew the power of this thing.

Once it explodes, not only will the fence be gone, but the statue will also be blown to pieces.

At a critical moment.

Jiang Li moved.

But he did not draw his sword.

In this world filled with the rules of "synthesis," he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and felt an unprecedented impulse.

That was... the urge to [rub] my hands.

With a thought, he opened his personal backpack (system panel).

He casually chopped down a few trees and dug up a few pieces of iron ore (exposed on the ground) on the way.

"In this world, there is no need for forges."

"As long as the recipe is correct..."

"Hand-wash everything!"

Jiang Li's hands (square hands) waved rapidly in the void.

It's like manipulating an invisible nine-square grid.

Two iron ingots.

A wooden stick.

They were not arranged according to the usual sword or pickaxe layout.

But...

The iron ingots were placed in the middle and on top.

Place the wooden stick underneath.

"synthesis!"

"Buzz—"

A pixelated beam of light flashed by.

In Jiang Li's hand, a weapon appeared out of thin air... black, square, with metallic edges...

[Pixel Frying Pan]

【Item: Heavy-duty cast iron frying pan (pixelated version)】

[Quality: Excellent]

Attack Power: +10

[Special Feature: Knockback II (can knock any object away like a baseball)]

"This is it!"

Jiang Li gripped the pot handle tightly.

At this point, the Creeper had swelled to its limit, and its body was almost white.

"SSSS——"

Just 0.01 seconds before it was about to explode.

Jiang Li slid in and rushed towards it.

"Get out of here!"

He used his waist (though he didn't have a waist) to swing the frying pan in a wide arc.

He slapped the Creeper's bitter and resentful face hard.

"when----!!!"

A crisp, melodious metallic clang echoed across the plain.

This sound is incredibly relaxing.

That was the perfect, intimate encounter between the frying pan and the blocky head.

With the attribute bonus of [Repel II].

The Creeper that was about to explode turned into a green cannonball.

whoosh-

It flew away.

It flew over the plains and over the forests.

It flew all the way to the group of Creepers, which was several dozen meters away.

then.

"BOOM!!!"

A loud bang.

A square-shaped mushroom cloud rose up.

The creeper exploded in mid-air.

The massive shockwave blasted a huge crater into the ground.

Meanwhile, the few companions that were still lurking around were also blown away by this wave of "friendly fire".

"Home run!"

Jiang Li maintained his swinging stance and stylishly blew away non-existent smoke from the frying pan.

……

After the explosion subsided.

Jiang Li walked to the huge crater that had been blown out.

All I could see was the bottom of the pit.

Some gray, powdery debris was floating in the air.

Jiang Li jumped down and picked it up.

[Received: Gunpowder x 5]

He stretched out his square finger, dipped it in the gray powder, and put it in his mouth (the square man can eat things just by putting them on his face).

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey..."

"So spicy!"

"It has a strong smell of sulfur and coke..."

"but……"

Jiang Li's chef radar went off.

"This spiciness is very pure."

"If it undergoes purification and blending..."

"Isn't this just a natural 'super spicy spice'?"

"In this pixelated world, this thing is—[Explosive Salt]!"

Jiang Li's eyes lit up.

Monster? No.

This is clearly a walking seasoning packet!

……

The crisis is over.

The villagers who had been hiding in the houses began to peek out when the commotion subsided.

"Huh?" (Finished blowing up?)

"Hmph!" (That blocky guy is amazing!)

A villager dressed in a white robe (indicating a profession such as librarian or village chief) slowly walked over.

Its nose is a size larger than that of an average villager.

It looked at Jiang Li, crossed its arms in front of its chest, and nodded.

"Ha~Hmph~Ha~" (Stranger, thank you for saving the idol.)

"Ha~" (I'm the village chief of this beginner village.)

Jiang Li put away the frying pan.

"It was just a small favor."

"Village chief, why are these green-clad creatures always staring at that statue?"

The village chief sighed (letting out a long "humph").

It pointed to the center of the square.

The blue statue had been piled up to form a blurry human shape.

"Ha~ Hmph..." (That's... a statue of the creator god.)

"Ha..." (Long ago, the creator god was responsible for maintaining the code and rules of this world.)

"Hmph~" (But... I haven't seen him in a long time.)

"Ha!" (Ever since the god disappeared, this world has started to have... bugs.)

"BUG?"

Jiang Li keenly caught the word.

"Ha~" (Yes, a vulnerability.)

The village chief pointed to the sky.

Jiang Li looked up.

On the once perfect square of blue sky, black cracks would occasionally flash by.

Or perhaps the textures of some clouds suddenly became misaligned, turning into purplish-black gibberish.

"Ha~ Hmph..." (The creepers and the zombies at night became increasingly ferocious.)

(They want to destroy the idols and completely destroy the underlying logic of this world.)

(If the statue falls... the protective barrier in the starting village will disappear.)

(We'll all turn into... gibberish.)

The village chief looked at Jiang Li, a pleading look in his eyes (although pixelated eyes can hardly express emotions).

"Ha~" (Strong one, can you help us get ours?)

"Ha~ Hmph!" (If you're willing to protect the village, we can give you... land.)

(You can build houses and farm land as you please.)

……

Jiang Li touched his chin.

Has the creator god disappeared?

World bug?

It sounds like a typical main quest.

However, for him now, saving the world is not the most important thing.

But...

He looked around.

Everything in this world is made of blocks.

This means that construction is extremely simple.

No foundation is needed, and no cement is required.

All you need to do is stack the blocks on top.

"Land?"

Jiang Li looked at the flat land that had been blasted open at the entrance of the village.

He then looked at the frying pan he had just crafted in his backpack, as well as the gunpowder he had picked up.

"Since it's a blocky world..."

"Given such a good building mechanism..."

"If we don't do some infrastructure work, it would be a disservice to my obsessive-compulsive disorder."

Jiang Li waved his hand.

"make a deal!"

"Village chief, I'll take this land."

"I'll not only help you fight monsters."

"I'm also going to build the number one hotel in the entire server here—the [Pixel Hotel]!"

"I need to use the gunpowder that the Crew members dropped..."

"Let's make... Spicy Cube Tofu!"

……

Just do it.

"Tangyuan! Transform!"

"Activate [Excavator Mode]!"

"Eat all the dirt around here! Spit out the bricks!"

"Odin! Go chop down trees! I need lots of wood!"

"Abel! Go dig! I need stones and coal!"

"Ergou! Go..."

Jiang Li glanced at Er Gou.

"Go lure a few Creepers over here."

"We need more seasoning!"

In this land full of blocks and opportunities.

A massive infrastructure construction boom has officially begun.

And those "garbled codes" and "bugs" hidden deep within this world.

At this moment, they are quietly watching this group of outsiders.

They don't know.

This group of people are not only good at fixing bugs.

They'll even cook and eat the bugs...