#so i looked it up and it wasn't the same song actually orz

[dtriad]

《早安！三国打工人》 Good Morning! Workers of the Three Kingdoms, written by 蒿里茫茫

here to shout into the void with a cnovel rec!

The world is boiling, the people are suffering. In truth, Lu Xuanyu didn't quite understand the meaning of those eight words. Ever since she had landed face down in the dirt of the sixth year of the Zhongping era, the fleeting dream she'd once held had scattered like ashes and vanished into thin air. She had a plain face, low EQ, no family background, and a baffling debuff that made everyone mislike her—but it didn't matter that she wasn't treated as the white moonlight of whatever duke or prince. She could work hand and foot, balance the books, butcher hogs, and even had a sword that was enough for her to walk alone in a chaotic world. Her goal was also very simple: a small house, some close friends and neighbors, a room full of food, and a courtyard where she could enjoy the cool breeze at night. So—in the end, just what had gone so wrong for her path to turn entirely in another direction? "I am ready to die here." She held the Black Blade, fully focused as she stood amid the flames, and looked arrogantly at the tide of Danyang soldiers pouring in. "If you want to seize Xuzhou, be ready to do the same."

I have a weakness for the sub-genre of cnovels that's about the main character transmigrating into a historical setting, preferably stories set in an actual historical dynasty (tagged 古色古香) instead of an invented historical setup (tagged 架空历史) or in-universe fictional storyline. And even more specifically, the kind that deals in infrastructure building or military conflict. Conveniently, JJWXC has tags for specific periods, e.g. Qin, Han, Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties—and of course the Three Kingdoms period, which is how I came across 早安！三国打工人 aka Good Morning! Workers of the Three Kingdoms while on a historical transmigration reading spree, and consequently fell down a very, very, very deep hole orz

Among the stories that I’ve read in this sub-genre, 3K Workers really stands out to me as one of the best (imo!). The MC Lu Xuanyu doesn’t transmigrate into someone native to the Three Kingdoms period, but as her own DnD character with high combat and terribly low charm per the debuff from the summary. 😂 There is no System, only her sentient sword—the Black Blade—that may be as much of a hidden existential poison to her as it is her one “friend” in the beginning. Slowly, she makes an ordinary life for herself in the capital city of Luoyang, with sufficient food and necessities, a decent-paying job, friendly and nosy neighbors, a small home of her own… But none of it can last, because these are the deathbed years of the Eastern Han dynasty according to history—and the people are suffering.

Over the course of more than a decade, from a lone hunter to a butcher, from a handyman to a refugee, from a night watchman to a general—who’s responsible for the lives of many thousands, both soldiers and civilians (the line blurring as ever between them)—Lu Xuanyu never forgets why she decided to step up and fight: to save people. And her struggles in the attempt, both internal and external, comprise the propelling force of the story, as we can see from the author's notes in which they say up front that Lu Xuanyu will join Liu Bei’s team, and then add:

The heroine is an idealist unto death; don’t think about using reality to change her.

(no way!!!! I love her as she is.)

Some things I really like in 3K Workers:

Lu Xuanyu starts out as a true no-name, rather than someone with an established and/or influential family background (b/c lbr that is quite common for this sub-genre). When she appears through an outsider's POV in Ch. 1, she’s been living alone in the wilderness for several months and is a little desperate for some kind of positive human interaction (the low charm debuff does her no favors, which makes the instances people overcome it more notable—it either says something about the impact her behavior has on them, or their ability to disregard inexplicable annoyance). She doesn’t have power or influence to leverage; she doesn’t have the ambition to do something great or world-changing. She simply wants to live a normal life. It’s just unfortunate that “normal” in the 3K period easily leads to death. Her abilities make her abnormal—she is, quite literally, something like an android according to Word of God, a superhuman who’s a wrinkle in the fabric of this timeline’s reality—but she feels and thinks as a 21st century human, with the assumption of a common humanity that makes her a fish out of water.

There's a strong focus on the consequences of war for the common people, and the PTSD that is a simple fact of existence for those exposed to the conflicts; it consistently turns its lens back to look at the farmers, the soldiers, the people who are treated like trampled grass, and shares their perspectives as well. I recall seeing this done in a few other novels, but iirc the framing in those cases was set up more as a way to show people reacting to the changes wrought by the MC, whereas here the framing allows the MC to better understand the attitudes & status quo of the period.

A lot of stories in the sub-genre have the MCs quickly adjusting to the past on the outside and leveraging the power of their position (again, typically based on preexisting family clout) to proactively push for changes, whether it’s to protect themselves or drive swift societal/technological change. In contrast, Lu Xuanyu doesn’t ever truly adapt to the values of the past, is clearly an oddball to others in her behavior and actions, and has enough on her hands with battles without any time or attention to initiate some golden-finger-boosted upheaval of norms. But the ripple effect of her existence is such that other characters, native to the period, are the ones who see clearly what changes they can make and want to make, and pursue those goals of their own accord: reducing the power of the gentry, sharing knowledge more widely, establishing a strong foundation to support better opportunities for women… They come self-motivated to their own enlightenment, which I feel really enriches the story—Lu Xuanyu is the match that lit the fire, but they keep the fire burning. A special shout-out to Lu Bai, who proposes and leads the women-only Jianfu Battalion; her character has some fantastic development throughout the book ♥

I consider this novel very anti-war in attitude—even though we want Lu Xuanyu to win her battles, by the end there’s only bitter weariness rather than delight in victory.

It’s the Three Kingdoms period, so if you like loyalty kink then this naturally caters 300% to that!!!

Ft. great content about battle strategy, tactics, and logistics that makes my inner history geek super happy, and it's combined very effectively with character portrayal and development shown via battle; outside of battle, it gives attention to rebuilding during the rare periods of temporary peace in a historically grounded way.

Plus the tension in the (im)balance of power—there’s the imperial court, the various warlords, appointed officials, aristocratic families—and how the norms of society slowly, slowly start to change...

Despite the subject matter, it is also incredibly funny 😆 Lu Xuanyu's 21st-century-shaped outlook does not jive with period attitudes, and the resulting disconnects in communication are hilarious if you enjoy dry humor; the low EQ squad, ft. founding members Lu Xuanyu and Lü Bu lololol, are an absolute riot, whether they’re interacting with each other or anyone else, and outside their low EQ sphere of immediate influence the story doesn’t shortchange readers on everyday absurdities either, whether it’s the internal squabbling within Yuan Shao’s harem of strategists/advisors or the 3K period take on “lying flat” among certain scholars (paging Zhuge Liang’s uncle…)

The events and historical characters are based on actual historical records rather than fictionalized Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but you don’t have to be knowledgeable about 3K history at all! Lu Xuanyu certainly isn’t! (And if you are, you’ll enjoy all the references to 3K memes & whatnot… actual lol at the “burning of the thatched cottage” in 3K Workers @ 2010 Three Kingdoms drama do you see that!!! do you see what proper plot logic is!!!)

Technically it falls under JJWXC’s m/f category, but I consider this story essentially gen with background UST at most. Lu Xuanyu is very shippable, in the sense that she has lots of interesting relationships with characters in roles ranging from loyal subordinates to tsundere colleagues to ideologically opposed enemies. (And I was pretty satisfied with the endgame ship, though it really isn’t the focus at all during the main story.) She passes as a man for the first ~20% of the cnovel before revealing she’s a woman, and while the f/f potential is limited (alas!), I do love the supporting female characters.

The bad news: … it’s long… and untranslated… /cries/ I want to translate some excerpts as I reread it, but I gotta be realistic—despite my love for this cnovel I just can’t sign myself up rn to translate 2.7 million Chinese characters over 700+ chapters. If you can read Chinese or if you’re ok with reading via mtl, then you can find it at:

JJWXC [how-to guide]

OR here, Ch. 1-601 (Parts 1-5) and Ch. 602-757 (Part 6+extras)

OR you can message me for a formatted ereader-friendly file >_>

Additional links (potential spoilers)—

Reviews on Weibo & Lofter (one) (two) (three)

Review - Peking University Online Literature 2022-23 Biennial List

Interview with the author 蒿里茫茫

Lu Xuanyu's Pathfinder character sheet

Meta re: Lü Bu

Maps of Luoyang; army movements in the years 193, 195, & 199 CE (+zoom in on Puyang); Emperor Xian's journey 195-199 CE

Translated excerpts—

Ch. 13: LXY defending the neighborhood

Ch. 23: Mei-niang invites LXY over

Ch. 66/73: "you cannot retreat, you cannot lose, and you cannot die!"

Ch. 99: funerals for the dead

Ch. 210: Lü Bu's innate taunt skill

Ch. 679/687: the two sides of Sima Yi

Audiobook adaption (in progress)—

Ximalaya homepage

Bilibili playlist (eps 1-1110+, updating)

Youtube playlist (ep. 1-550)

[last updated 1/17/2025]

[noviceaoiryusei]

FAN REPORT 「 Stunned 」

Hello! It has been a while.

Yesterday, Originally posted on my livejournal on February 25th was the last day of the musical Koihana Bakumeiroku starring Kihara Rui, Ueda Kandai among others AND I WATCHED IT via livestreaming of course. Lol. Honestly, I was hesitant of buying a ticket because of common problems like "is the live streaming available worldwide?" or "can I pay via cc?" and things like that. I'm glad that it was available for overseas livestreaming so this makes my FIRST LIVE MUSICAL. Don't get me wrong, okay? I watched two others last year (my firsts) but they are already archived ones SO TECHNICALLY THIS SHOW IS MY FIRST TO WATCH LIVE. ASDFGHJKL :(((((

Oh well anyway, sorry for the extra story so without a further ado, here's my fan report about Koihana Bakumeiroku musical.

「 Stunned 」

So fast forward to yesterday, I was nervous and at the same time with overflowing excitement watching my first live musical.

Opening act, Rui opened the scene with his monologue as he walked down the aisle going to the stage. As for the game connection, I think the script writer made a befitting act for the monologue. In the game, it wasn't really stated how Saito is thinking of his former master (Katamori-sama) so having it acted out at the opening was really a nice touch, I'd say. ✨✨

"Saito, you are bad at lying" -- Katsu said.

Enomoto is out of the prison with Mori sensei... for some reason a.k.a well-being. lol I loooooooove that Mori's actor is so playful and FAR MORE PLAYFUL THAN THE GAME ONES (for now, okay). Just fair judgment since I'm not playing Mori's route (blehhh).

As he was reminiscing his former days, Mori gave him sheets of paper to write about his memories.

AND THEN!!!! THE OPENING SONG!!!! IT SERIOUSLY GAVE ME CHILLS If I were at the venue, I would be sobbing hard for real. That's the power of Kihara Rui to me.

Now we travel to the past... Although it's not really time travelling but more of story telling. (I reconfirmed it with another fan) It's how Saito wrote the story and now it's executed at the stage.

Not to mention that I love the rivalry between Enomoto and Kido.

For the ensemble men, one of them appeared to Enomoto and he proceeded with his monologue. TO MY SURPRISE, as we go deep in the story, some of the ensemble men have lines!! They speak!! Oh my God!! It was actually something I wasn't expecting actually since the previous stages that I've watched, they usually speaks in chorus like AHHHHH IKUZOOOO WOOOOO something like that.

Speaking of ensemble men, I've got an eye candy amongst them. His name is JUN SATO. There's this one particular scene that I'd like to commend his acting with. It's the part with he and Kondo. His facial expression at that very moment was marked in my memory. The horror in his face mixed with sadness like damn! He really caught my attention at that very moment. I do wish he improves more in the upcoming productions and I hope I can watch him again.

Continuing, a new character was introduced and his name was JOHN. Fret not, I did my assignment on researching about Edward Snell which is also hard if you aren't searching the name in katakana. 🙄 Before that, when I saw the photos from official twitter I thought maybe this guy beside Edward is his older brother. Back then I still don't know who is the actor (it's not on official HP, okay). Two days before the final show, Fujita Rei posted a photo of him and John and I kept on zooming it because he looked familiar. 😅 And yes, to my surprise, HE'S THE SAME FREAKING PERSON AS THAT GUY PORTRAYING MORI WTF!? It like "oh, let's just cost reduct by hiring the same actor" production-wise. Lol.

And this is the fiction part of the story. History-wise, Mori and John are not the same person. As much as I would love to tell more about it, I'll end up spoiling it. orz

Oh well anyway, another thing that I love was Kondo and Hijikata relationship. uwu Kondo is the only person who can tame Hijikata like a puppy. :((( He becomes incredibly cute when Kondo is around. :((( Saito became like some sort of chaperone between the two (yeah, not a third party lol).

Moreover, they had depicted why Kirino was smitten to Saigo... in a most adorable way. :((( I just can't help but comment with Kirino's actor BECAUSE HE WAS GOOD LOOKING. Don't get me wrong, the Kirino is game is good looking too but I don't find him appealing... unfortunately. Following Kirino's profession of admiration, Kido also shared his. Kirino was amazed and even asked Kido about the man's whereabouts but unfortunately... he's already dead. 🥲 I think I forgot to run over spi. It's my first time watching him and I was... yes, smitten. His voice, his modulation, it was so amazing when he sang!

And also, I said that I like Enomoto and Kido's rivalry. Enomoto has more deep relationship with Katsu, I guess? I still have to do an assignment on their relationship.

Script-wise, I also happened to read the tweets of the script writer and how he commented on the casts too. Edward's twisted personality just originated with him yearning for a family. John really worn as grief looking face althrough out, it's as if he didn't really wish for this to happen.

*slams fist* I ENDED UP FOLLOWING KYOTEN WAKU FOR THIS!! FUUUUUCK *sighs in disbelief*

The last part is really full of action. The casts and the ensemble men really gave them all. Yes, there are camera angles that I can see all of them catching their breath lying down. Good job everyone. 👏👏👏👏

The last time that Saito and Hijikata meet, he was trying to recruit Saito to come along with him. Saito sticked to his belief and refused him. And!!!! The pop-ish song. I really like it. But heck, I cried hard over that song. I had a breakdown when he patted Saito's head.

"EVEN IF WE CROSS PATHS SOMEDAY, YOU GONNA SEARCH FOR YOUR OWN PATH"

HOW THE HECK I WOULD NOT BREAKDOWN, TELL ME!!!! :((((( --- And that wraps up my thoughts. There's still a lot to learn historical-wise. I was stunned with the production. The actors and the ensemble men we're all amazing. If I was at the venue, I would literally breakdown and cry. :(((( I'm glad to have bought the ticket. I'll treasure this forever.