《Clicker System》 1 The Flaming Swordsman A loud noise off in the distance sounded out. Meanwhile Tang Gon who was still fast asleep inside of the dark cave rolled over. His sudden movement caused him to bump into a large boulder. The sudden impact woke him up, but instead of the checking his surroundings like one would when they wake up, all he could think of was the aching hunger he felt. Not paying the least bit of attention to where he was or how his pillow, blanket, or even his whole bed had magically disappeared, Tang Gon unsteadily stood up. Still a bit drowsy, Tang Gon walked to the bathroom. ... Suddenly a feeling of wetness pervaded his whole body. Finally waking up, Tang Gon has realized that he had somehow managed to get knee deep into the water without even knowing. Shocked, Tang Gon hurriedly got out of the water. His clothes up to the edge of his shirt was now completely drenched. Not knowing what to do, Tang Gon slapped himself. It was a strange sight seeing someone in the middle of the lake suddenly slap himself and then look around in utter befuddlement. Straight ahead of him Tang Gon saw that there was a tranquil lake ahead. Colorful creatures swimming inside, paying no notice of him as he approached. Noticing the lack of attention they had towards him, Tang Gon raised his head high up to the ceiling and did the same. Paying absolutely no heed to the creatures in the water, Tang Gon gazed off into darkness. Appearing in his sight was a wooden treasure chest off to the right in the distance. "I should still be sleeping at home in bed in front of my computer, no?" A little bewildered, the words had unintentionally left his mouth. From what he could still remember, he should still be at his apartment complex taking care of the new project. But now he was in a cave. After that another sound in his head came. ***** Clicker System Initiated ***** ***** Binding To New Host ***** [As Host has recently transmigrated to the world of Huaxia, where strong rule supreme, he will be given a gift bag to increase his survival chances.] After the messages faded away a new one popped up. [Would Host like to open the gift bag now?] A loud breath of air was sucked in. "Ssss...." There''s no way. This is exactly like how the game I was testing for turned out. I would wake up in a cave and start my way off to rule the world. Then that treasure chest in the middle of water is... All of a sudden, the voice from the system interrupted his thoughts. A display screen popped up showing his information. Host: Tang Gon Power Level: Lower than Low Comments: (A Newbie who has just begun his journey to power with the help of the all mighty system) Experience Points: 0/100 Clicker Points: 0 point Prestige Level: None Status: None "..." OH MY GOD?!!?! Tang Gon started to curl up into a ball on the floor and began doing his routine. "My heart isn''t strong enough for such shock! I almost suffered a heart attack! Where''s my life insurance?" The next second, however, it was as if he was a new person. I got a system! HahHahA!!?! It''s exactly like those novel of people who go to new worlds and turn insanely powerful!!?! I''m going to be one of those people!! A loud sudden noise from outside came in. An animal was coming in! It looked like a bear, but the fur it should of have was instead sleek and armor-like. A loud roar echoed throughout the cave the moment it saw Tang Gon. Tang Gon''s eyes widened in shock when he saw the bear charging right at him. And before he knew it, his feet were moving, running so fast it was like he was flying. While running from the bear inside the enormous cave, he had a moment of epiphany. Remembering the gift pack he had gotten earlier, he quickly shouted to the system, placing all of his hope on it. "Receive the Gift Pack!!!" [Ding! Host will now be receiving the gift pack] A bright burst of light appeared behind him, standing right between the bear and him. [Ding! Host has just received Swordsman of Forever Burning Flames] [Host can now view the status of the summoned in said status mode] Imagining what all the other people in the novels had done, he closed his eyes and tried to see the status of his new helper. The second he did, the information popped up. In fact he tested it out a few more times, and it seemed like he didn''t even need to close his eyes. It would easily pop up with just a thought. And while he was testing out the new things the system could do, the light had settled down. And in the light''s place was a heroic looking warrior. A fiery sword was attached to his broad back. The bear had once again continued his charge, but this time he was cut down with a single swipe from the swordsman. A blinding glare came from the swordsman as it turned around. All it was wearing was a fur pelt of some dangerous looking beast and two straps on his back holding the sword he just welded back into place. Tang Gon was in shock which can be noticed by his oval shaped gaping mouth. The swordsman paying no heed walked steadily towards him before getting down on one knee. [Swords of Forever Burning Flames Confirmed] There was of course the timely notification from the system. After that the man would follow him around, doing nothing. Then it hit him, he hadn''t properly checked the status of the swordsman. Earlier he had just glanced through all the minor details. And in most novels you can look at the status inside the status. A confusing situation as it would be like using an inspection skill on a inspection skill and continuing that process. So once again he thought of the swordsman, and once again it popped up. Name / Title: Swordsman of Forever Burning Flames Level: 1 Rarity: Epic Power Level: 10000 Special Skill: Spirited Followers This time he focused on the name. A brand new page popped up. Synopsis: A warrior of true legend. Coming from a poor village in the south, he journeyed to many treacherous areas before making a contract with the Godly Sword in the pits of Blue Fire. There he was bound to the system after his death in the fight for one of the rarest treasures, a blessed golden fruit. A treasure that should of rightfully been his, instead he was betrayed by one of his closest friends and followers. Unable to escape the cold grasp of death, he chose to make a contract with the system. Exchange Contract: Once the Host gains more power, he will have to help the Swordsman complete his quest for revenge in exchange for his absolute loyalty. Currently, the system can only bind him to the Host for a hundred and nine years. Tang Gon was estatic. The gift pack in most of the other novels would only give a small amount of help, while his basically gave him a powerful guardian. With this the world shouldn''t be too far from being conquered!!! It wasn''t that he wanted to control everything, it was just the guideline that was set down for transmigrators in the novels. They would either do whatever they want, traveling place to place enjoying the benefits of the world or would try and conquer everything and unite everyone under one banner. And of course he has only read the novels where the transmigrator would conquer everything. But oddly enough he doesn''t have any memory of who''s body he was in. It looked like his body when he looked at his reflection from the pool of water, but there was also the possibility of another him in this alternate universe. Tang Gon was a big fan of web novels, but first and foremost he was a scientist that dabbed in many of the techno arts. From Theories to Life, he experienced many works of science. Basically, he was a jack of all trades kind of guy. Nevertheless finally able to be calm he had sat down and started to think of all the reasons he might of came here, but there was none. "Might as well make the best of it and try to live a little" 2 One of the Best System Ever Notifications began pouring back in the minute he unmuted everything. The messages that the system muted earlier were now flashing past his eyes. Everything was just a blur moving down. It was only a few seconds later did the notifications stop. [Ding! Congratulations to Host Tang Gon for successfully opening the Systems Gift Pack] [Ding! Would Host like to summon his first warrior ''Swordsman of Forever Burning Flames''] [Yes] [Ding! Congratulations to Host Tang Gon for successfully obtaining his first warrior ''Swordsman of Forever Burning Flames''. Host is now awarded the Status Title of <> ] [Ding! Congratulations to Host Tang Gon for successfully obtaining his second warrior ''Frigid Ice Shadow Demon''] [Ding! Would Host like to summon his second warrior ''Frigid Ice Shadow Demon''] [Yes/No] [Ding! Congratulations to Host Tang Gon for successfully obtaining his third warrior ''Amazonian Death Tiger''] [Ding! Would Host like to summon his third warrior ''Amazonian Death Tiger''] [Yes/No] [Ding! Congratulations to Host Tang Gon for successfully receiving 100 Clicker Points] [Ding! Congratulations to Host Tang Gon for successfully receiving one {DET} Divine Escape Token] [Ding! Congratulations to Host Tang Gon for successfully achieving his first kill. Host is now awarded the Status Title of <> ] [Ding! Congratulations to Host Tang Gon for killing one Silver Armored Bear. Host is now rewarded 50 experience points for his very first kill] [Ding! The System has detected that the Host is weaker than his follower. The Swordsman of Forever Burning Flames will now be temporary sealed until Host gets stronger] "HAhaHaahah" Tang Gon became lively all of a sudden, I mean who wouldn''t? The only things the systems in the web novels gave was a hard time, while others were basically useless and unhelpful. But he had one of the best system ever. No, the very best!!!! Plus the names of the warriors he got was also awesome and cool. "Wait..." Did it say it''ll seal my swordsman? Scrolling back up he saw it was true... Turning around, he saw it was also true... The Swordsman from earlier was now gone. Tang Gon drooped his head down and laughed softly. "Hehehe..." I guess you win some and you lose some. All of the notifications from earlier were now starting to give him a headache, trying to be funny, he tried his luck and loudly shouted "Customer Support" ... Surprisingly there was one. [Ding! Host will now be brought to said ''Customer Support'' where all of his questions and doubts will be answered by the system] The sudden popup of the system caused him to back up. Tripping on a piece of rock that was fatefully placed there, he fell down onto his butt. Annoyed at himself for tripping over a piece of rock and shocked how there was customer support, he froze and became lost in his thoughts. This can''t possibly be real, why would there be freaking customer support!?!!? Wait where the freak am I? How could there be customer support in here?!?!! This has to be a prank right, right!!?!? Someone answer me!!!! How could there be customer support?!!?! [Host has been brought to the world of Huaxia, Host can be assured that this is neither a joke nor a prank] [Customer Support was brought forth by the 38th Host, Zhang Lin] All of his earlier calmness was now gone, he had tried to accept everything, but customer support was the last straw. I mean why would there be freaking customer support in this world. I know I said that I will try and live a little but isn''t this a little too much!?!?!! The next thing you''ll tell me is that I struck the jackpot for the lottery or something... Silence filled the empty cave as he stood still waiting. Seriously, nothing? This is usually the part where I obtain some rare treasure from the last user or maybe a lifesaving treasure, no maybe even an old grampa. But these thoughts were just him trying his luck. He had always been thin skinned. Receiving even more gifts and treasures than he already had from the system would truly be embarrassing. In fact, most of his thoughts were just for show. His mindset was still in the 21st century, after all. Trying to calm himself down, he actually started some yoga and some other breathing exercises. Tang Gon stood up and got into a tree pose. He placed both of his hands together and started stretching it to the sky. His right leg went up , before gently resting it on his inner thigh. Now, breathe in, hold, now breathe out. Repeat 2 more times. In, and out. In, and out. Much better. Of course, he knew nothing about yoga and was just trying to mimic things on TV to calm himself down. Now, if this is like that game, there will be a lot of events later that I''ll have to prepare for. First let''s get that treasure chest. Nothing too hard... right? But before that let''s see if we can get some answers out of the system. "Hey System, compile a list of everything you can do." [Host''s Level is inadequate, request denied] Tang Gon scratched his head in thought, before resting his hand onto his chin. Okay, so it looks like there''s a limit to the system or at least a limit on what I can order the system to do. How about asking what level I''m at in the system. [Host''s Level is currently at 0] Hold on, how does the system know what I want? [The connection the Host has with the System is at a worldly level] Speechless at what is going on and not understanding what the system means by worldly level, he could only put down his pride and ask. Tang Gon was a little bit embarrassed but luckily there was no one else there. "Laymen Term please." [...Update 2.1] [The system will now be updated to provide future explanations in "Laymen''s Term"] [Host''s name will now be entered in the systems Ultimania for future users to appreciate his hard work and dedication in making the system easier and more accessible to use] "..." Sighing, Tang Gon gave up, thinking that this is going to be the end of him if he continued. [Due to the Host''s help in improving the system, the system has upgraded the Host''s level to 1] [Host Level: 0 > Host Level: 1] [The System will now give the Host a tutorial on the functions of the new additions] [Yes/No] "So the higher the level that I have is, the more benefits and help I get. I might as well try and see if there''s anything else I might have missed. Plus with the upgrade in my level, there might be some new things too." Tang Gon was practically smirking as he said those words under his breath. Choosing ''Yes'' of the two options, it brought him to a clean blank screen. [The Host will now be able to access the {Inventory}, {Shop}, {NPC Home}, and {Clicker}] 3 Inventory "Pop!" a semi pop sound came out of Tang Gon''s mouth bu using his lips. Had anyone asked what he was doing, Tang Gon would have cheerfully uttered "for dramatic effects." He was the type that just could not stand the silence. The type that would rather cause an explosion than to enjoy the peace and silence. Yet, almost miraculously, a portal of some sorts appeared in front of him. The sudden apparition of the door caused him to flinch and shrink his head back. But unlike what he expected, there were no alluring temptation drawing him in, except for the innate curiosity that every creature possesses. Honestly speaking Tang Gon wasn''t even that curious. He just wanted to know what it was inside the portal. It wasn''t as if he had to know... Being absolutely dramatic for no one''s entertainment, Tang Gon closed his eyes and jumped through the portal. [Would Host like to enter?] [Yes/No] By the time Tang Gon got the message he was already on the other side of the portal. Not through space and time to get to where the portal should have transported him, but directly on the other side of the portal. Same room, same cave, same portal, no changes. "...Yes." This time the portal opened and enabled Tang Gon to go to the other side of it. But had he turned his head amidst the crossing, he would have seen a ghostly smile with lifeless eyes tilting it''s head at him. The scary thing was that it wasn''t staring at Tang Gon rather it was staring directly at something else. Almost as if it knew there were other listeners or perhaps readers. [AN: Muhawaha!!! The creepy smile thing is going after my readers!!! I just wanted to add that in, because I''m the author and you can''t stop me.] Unbeknownst to Tang Gon and everyone but the narrator of the journey, this was just the start. ... Another door. "Why are there so many door?!" shrieked Tang Gon. It was starting to get annoying and too complicated. The author had to add in so many fillers and so many unnecessary details. The door was similar to the portal in that it was plain white in color, completely out of place when it was surrounded by the sheen of the metallic walls. But at the same time it was brimming with enchantments and elegance. A contradicting statement in its own way. Opening yet another door, the room that he peered his head into was pretty much empty. The room wasn''t that interesting at all. In fact, other than some empty bookshelves and containers randomly placed around, the room was desolate no matter how long he kept staring. The room was seemingly endless. Tang Gon couldn''t tell as for every step he took a strong weightsoon began to pile up onto his back. It wasn''t a tangible pressure, but one that coated his back with sweat. It was dimly lit, the bookshelves seemed normal, and it was blank. He could not even see what was off into the far distance as misty fog was blinding his view from the things not yet ready for his eyes. It was utterly hard to explain or describe. Tang Gon had no reason to fear as it can be confirmed that there were no signs of life in the area. But the atmosphere was just dreary. For example, the fog had no reason to appear, it just drifted out from nowhere. There was just too many weird occurrences that would perfectly make an episode of the supernatural by itself. But out of the so many emptiness, there was one shelf at the front off to the side that just caught his eyes. A book of some sorts labeled with odd looking runes intricately eased onto the cover. It was the only thing in the whole room that was seemingly normal. Picking it up, Tang Gon got a closer glance of the book. Some sort of leather coating. "Crash" A subtle sound of glass breaking startled Tang Gon from his thoughts. A nervous gulp and 58 goosebumps later, Tang Gon had enough. Deciding it was time and there was absolutely no sights to foresee, Tang Gon ultimately chose to exit the place. No sooner than had he decided he exited. The face that was following him from earlier appeared where he had just left. It was the same careless face that entered the portal a few minutes after Tang Gon. And at the same time it had entered, was where and when the glass shattered. Of course there was no actual glass, but it was the warning set in place by the previous Host and his system. A warning to temporarily ward off whatever it was. 4 Shopping Spree Shop Tang Gon was back in the cave where the portal had first appeared. This time instead of the portal ,there were four doors. Now three as the door showing {Inventory} was now gone. Walking forward, he saw a new door with a sign displaying {Shop} hanging just above the door. Reaching out his hand, Tang Gon pushed the door open. When he opened his eyes, he found himself standing on top of a summoning circle. To his left was a simple counter, with a girl behind it. "Lucky!" Tang Gon laughed out loud happily. He prepared himself first, before casually approaching her. [Welcome to the {Shop}] The sudden voice from the system startled Tang Gon and almost made him trip, luckily he balanced himself just in time. When he appeared in front of her, the system''s voice was once again heard. [This is Alexis, A.I.3. She is stationed here to assist you within the {Shop}] "Sss..." Tang Gon sucked in a breath of cold air. At this point he realized that the girl he wanted to get to know better was actually just a robot. Three boxes appeared after he had finished sighing. They displayed a Spinner, a Summoners Circle, and an Exchange System. Alexis then approached him from behind, passing him a small box while he was lost in thought. Opening it up, gifts started to pour out. [Ding! Congratulations to Host for receiving 1x Spinner''s Ticket] [Ding! Congratulations to Host for receiving 15000 Clicker Points] [Ding! Congratulations to Host for receiving 1x Summoners Ticket] "Hahaha." Tang Gon grinned at his good luck. Tapping on the first image, a spinner appeared in front of him. More messages appeared when he touched the wheel. [Ding! Would Host like to use 1x Spinner''s Ticket?] Clicking [Yes] three more messages popped up. [Equipment] [Skill] [Bloodlines] Tang Gon tapped on Skill, as that was the only thing he really need. The board that was originally blank and had nothing written down on changed. Words started to appear on the board. Some of them looked like skills from the game, the others were unknown. [Dark Hellfire] [Mystical Barrage] [Elemental Arrows] [Blood Law] [Shadowy Corruption] [Demonic Flare] But while there were amazing skills there were also multiple spaces on the board filled with [Blank]s. Not bothering to check out the other options, Tang Gon pulled down on the lever. It started making the wheel spin, though slowly at first, before speeding up to a blur. Tang Gon tried to count how many spins it took, but it was just too fast. 1 Turn.. 3 Turn.. 5 Turn.. About 30 seconds later the wheel finally started to show signs of slowing down. The arrow at the top, continued to make its sound before finally landing on the space labeled Defeniatis Sword Scripture. In that instant, a flash of light flashed across his mind as he acquired the mighty skill. His body moved with essence of the world, while at the same time creating a worldly essence flowing out from him. His deposition was now one of a saint coming down to the world. At least that was what Tang Gon imagined when he obtained his newest skill. The system automatically opened up, the interface appeared showing information about the new skill. Skill Name: Defeniatis Sword Scripture Rarity: Rare Type of Skill: Sword _______________________ Hidden Sword Style There was only three words for the description, it just made him wonder. What could it possibly be? Why does the description only have three words? Tang Gon got excited and wanted to test out the new skill, but he knew now was not the time. The new sword skill that was integrated into his body made him feel stable and steady. [Ding! Congratulations to Host for receiving his first skill. Host is now awarded the title {One Skill to Conquer All}] [Ding! Host is now able to access {Upgrades}] [Ding! The skill Defeniatis Sword Scripture will now be added to {Upgrades}] Holding himself back, he tapped on the top arrow in the left corner, which brought him back to the home screen. Then he clicked on the next one, a summoning circle appeared in front of him. It looked many times more advanced than the circle that was used to transport him here. Unknown symbols coated the edges of the circle, while shapes were inter-connectedly linked on the inside. Two cartoonish circles appeared, one with the word Warrrior, the other with the word Pet. As he had only gotten one summoner''s ticket, Tang Gon wanted to check the both of them out. He first looked through the warrior section, and did see some he liked. But he held himself back, just in case there was something better in the pet section. Going back, he clicked on the pet button. It brought him into a machine that showed him the possible pets he could win just like the warrior section. There were a lot of unique pets, but right now, what he needed was power. Pets would take too long to grow. Warriors, on the other hand were much faster. Returning back to the summoning circle for the warriors, he got another one. A summoning circle appeared in mid air. A green body was coming through, reptilian claws scratched out while holding onto two machetes. A scaly head with two small horns came out. Then it suddenly jumped out, slowly approaching him. Tang Gon would have fled if it wasn''t for the timely voice of the system. [Ding! Congratulations to Host Tang Gon for successfully obtaining his fourth warrior ''Pyromanian Snake''] Name / Title: Pyromanian Snake Level: 1 Power Level: 100 Special Skill: Pyro Orbs Synopsis: A common snake that had fatefully mutated over the course of time after swallowing a flare fruit. Tang Gon frowned wondering "Why is it so weak?" The system as if on cue quickly responded. [The rarity of the current summoned Warrior is lower than the rarity of the previous warriors. Host can confirm the rarity of the said Warrior] Opening up the system''s interface, he reloaded the screen. Name / Title: Pyromanian Snake Level: 1 Rarity: Common Power Level: 100 Special Skill: Pyro Orbs Synopsis: A common snake that had fatefully mutated over the course of time after swallowing a flare fruit. Scrolling through it, Tang Gon saw that there was now a new tab showing the rarities of warriors. [Common, Rare, Epic, Mythic, Divine, Legendary] Opening up the system''s interface, he clicked on the exchange system. A conversion table was quickly brought fourth. A single Clicker Point was worth Billions of Gold Coins. But Tang Gon was only able to exchange the coins for points and not vice a versa, or he might have been extremely rich. Just as he was about to leave, the system rang once more. [Host still has {Upgrades} left] Baffled Tang Gon opened up the {Shop}. And the system was right. There was now an additional box, showing an image of an arrow pointing upwards. Chuckling at the systems cartoonish functions, he tapped on the shop to see what else there were. On the Top right corner of the screen showed how many Clicker Points he had. {15050 Clicker Points} Slowly loading onto the screen were the Warriors he had, with the snake being his newest warrior at the very bottom. Then there was the newly acquired skill Defeniatis Sword Scripture just below the warrior tab. Right below that was the three empty tabs displaying Equipments, Bloodlines, and Pets. Slowly looking through them, Tang Gon finally noticed the price of the upgrades on the right side of the screen. Eyes wide open, he finally knew how poor he really was. A single skill upgrade would cost him 15000 Clicker Points. The Warrior upgrades had costed even more, at an even insaner price of 20000 Clicker Points, double the cost of a single skill. Tang Gon practically jumped back in surprise when he saw the prices. Freaking out, Tang Gon quickly tried to back out from the shop, but while in the midst of doing so, he accidentally upgraded his new skill. 15000 Clicker Points disappeared from the screen, leaving him with only 50 left. 5 NPC Home [Ding! Congratulations to Host Tang Gon for successfully upgrading the ''Skill Defantis Sword Scripture'' to Level 2] Horror continued to fill Tang Gon''s face as it never really left, he had spent almost all of his points on a single item. Tang Gon stared straight ahead, mouth agape in shock. He had spent 15000 Clicker Points on a single item. He had spent 15000 Clicker Points on a single item, a single item. But before he could even react any further, a nostalgic feeling washed over him as the system once again manually transported him out of the room. Tang Gon didn''t really complain or even ask why the system had transported him out of the shop. Tang Gon knew himself best after all. He was just not in the mood anymore to continue shopping, especially after he had spent 15000 Clicker Points on a single item, a single freaking item. How many times had he repeated that in his head now? A single item. Who knew that the once fair system that he once had would now try to rob him. It used to be so fair in giving out gifts and packets of helpful items, but now it just looked like the system did all that just so he could continue living, earning Clicker Points, and spending it all on a single item just like right now. A forever endless and torturing cycle. Not to mention that he still did not know how to earn Clicker Points. Tang Gon was starting to feel a little annoyed, but at least he understood that from now on he would have to be more careful and that he would also need to try harder. Then perhaps, one day, he could buy everything the system has. It would be amazing, the system that he had could change a lot of things, it had changed his life, and it could potentially do the same for many others in this world. Just imagine the things he could do. If only he had enough Clicker points to do them, maybe if he had enough, he could even go back to Earth. His Earth. But right now, he still had a few more things to do. Looking straight ahead, his head dropped down, remembering that he still had two more doors left to go through. The system just wouldn''t let him rest. Or even let him wallow in his misery for a few minutes. Tang Gon had experienced so many emotions in the last few hours alone than he ever had in his whole entire life on Earth. Letting go of all of his hopeful thoughts and wishes, Tang Gon opened the next door, where he then stopped in astonishment. [Ding! Welcome to {NPC Home}] In front of him was his first warrior, just casually sitting on the sofa reading a book. Plus the genre of the book was obviously romance, much evidented by the shirtless 8-pack man tending to a black stallion while a young country girl was peeking around the corner. Everyone had a secret unknown side to them, but who knew that he would find one just by entering a door. The swordsman looked up without any hint of embarrassment in his eyes, as if wondering why the master, Tang Gon, was here. Placing a small bookmark in, he slowly got up from the sofa and welcomed Tang Gon in. [Host, please follow "The Swordsman" as he guides you around the {NPC Home}. "The Swordsman" will then explain the functions of the house] A deep voice resounded throughout the house. "This way, master." Gesturing forward, he then started leading Tang Gon around the place. They entered rooms after rooms of similar rooms. There was the dining room, the kitchen, the living room, the kitchen, the dining room, the living room, beaches in the back, lakes to left, ponds out front, and bedrooms somewhere in the right side of the house. There was just too many to count, it was countless. At one point during the tour, they had traveled through 4 living rooms in a row. If not for them opening the doors, Tang Gon would of thought that it was all just one enormous living room. And even when Tang Gon, asked about it, the system just responded by saying that the house was endless and was constantly expanding. So it was fairly normal for him to travel through many similar rooms in a row. Fearing that the swordsman might continue the tour, Tang Gon hurriedly exclaimed "System, I want to end the tour." Tang Gon got no replies from the system, but luckily the swordsman understood, and teleported them back to the original room that they came from. Tang Gon yelped in surprised when the swordsman grabbed him earlier, but was only able to when they had landed, as the teleportation was in an instant. "How did you do that?" asked Tang Gon. "We have a array inside our body, capable of teleporting us anywhere the system allows us to. It ranges from all around to this house, the places that you have traveled to, and from here to your side when commanded so." replied the swordsman. It was the most Tang Gon has ever heard him talk. There was no short pauses or any pauses, as a matter of fact when he talked, instead of the short uneven broken sentences, it was instead a deep broad voice that flowed smoothly. Which was surprising to Tang Gon as he had believed that the swordsman would have at the very least a few quick pauses since he seldom talked. Beleiving that the tour was done, Tang Gon said his thanks, and prepared to go out. At the same exact time, that Tang Gon opened the door, the system interrupted. [Ding! Would Host like to deposit his second warrior ''Frigid Ice Shadow Demon''] [Yes/No] [Ding! Would Host like to deposit his third warrior ''Amazonian Tiger''] [Yes/No] [Ding! Would Host like to deposit his fourth warrior ''Pyromian Snake''] [Yes/No] "What do you mean deposit?" Tang Gon asked while he was blinded by something bright and intense outside of the door. [The system will place the warriors into the {NPC Home}, until the Host summons them] "How do I summon them?" Tang Gon asked wondering if he had gotten lucky in finding the way to summoning the swordsman in battle earlier. [Host has 3 ways to summon his warriors. 1. Host can directly call for them. 2. Host can picture or think of the name of the selected warrior in his head. 3. Host can manually select them from the system''s interface] Tang Gon continued to question the system. "How do I un-summon them?" [Host has 3 ways to un-summon his warriors. 1. Host can directly recall them back. 2. Host can manually recall them with the system''s interface. 3. Host can imagine the selected warrior returning to the system. If Host does not un-summon his warriors, they will continue to stay out, but their needs will have to be met] The system then responded without Tang Gon even asking. [Needs include basic human needs, such as food, shelter, and sleep to name a few] Without blinking an eye Tang Gon moved on to his next question. "How many can I summon at once?" [Host currently has the power to potentially summon a maximum of 10 warriors] [But as Host only has 4 warriors currently, one of which is currently sealed, Host can only summon a total of three warriors.] [Host, please try harder to improve] Tang Gon just quietly accepted the comment from the system as he knew that he was really weak right now. Tang Gon then used his hand to click [Yes] to depositing all of his new warriors. They started to appear, but it was a lot slower than when Tang Gon had first summoned the Pyromian Snake in the draw. Leaving it for next time, he walked out of the door. But what greeted him instead wasn''t the same place he came through earlier. Instead it was a long coastline beach, wind was blowing in his face, the smell of the ocean and sea breezes in the air. The bright and intense thing that was glaring in his face was actually a sun. A sun, because looking across the horizon, Tang Gon saw another one, just a little bit smaller than the previous. Confused he was about to ask the system, but right as he was about to, the feeling came again, and he was transported out. The question dying down as he was transported back. 6 Aeruk 1 Tang Gon was back in the cave / room, where he originally came from. This time, however, three out of the four glowing doors had disappeared making it a lot dimmer and darker than he was used to. But at least he was finally going to complete the tutorial, as there was only one door left. Walking towards the final one, he soon felt a force propelling him forwards from the back, and another force yanking him forwards from the front. Either way, his feet were moving without him noticing, walking closer and closer. The forces moving him forwards, penetrated through his mind and blocked out all of the notifications that the system had sent out. x[Ding! System has detected DANGER!!!! Host Turn Back! Turn Back! Turn Back!]x x[Ding! System has detected DANGER!!!! Host Turn Back! Turn Back! Turn Back!]x x[Ding! System has detected DANGER!!!! Host Turn Back! Turn Back! Turn Back!]x When he finally stood face to face with the door, all of the pressure he had faced earlier had now disappeared. The door in front of him was unlike any of the other ones that he gone through. For one, it wasn''t even a door, instead it was a steel gate with two stone pillars on the side. And etched on each of the gate''s steel bar was the letters Aeruk. The gate then swung open with a loud "Screech" as Tang Gon was observing it. The gate was somewhat rickety, and when the gate had swung open, it had also pulled one of the nails off. Ahead of him was the darkness, shrouded by a hazy mist that was covering everything from Tang Gon''s sight. Going inside, the gate had suddenly closed behind him. Turning back, the gate seemed perfectly fine, so perfect that the hinges that were originally broken were now completely fixed. And the places on the bar where there used to have scratches and claw marks had now disappeared. It was completely shining and new. A little unsettled, Tang Gon just continued walking further in, believing that this was most likely a test by the system. And that his current performance would later decide the quality of the reward he would get. Feeling a presence behind him, he turned back once more. Then he saw that the gate that was suppose to still be there had disappeared. It was nothing new, but the presence that he felt made it unsettling. The hazy mist surrounded him from all sides, he could barely see his feet now, much less the couple of feet ahead of him. Tang Gon wanted to call out for the system, but it felt like if he did, whatever was with him would know. And Tang Gon didn''t feel like taking such a risk that could potentionally endanger his life. Tang Gon soon got tired, the paths in this strange place was too tiring, and he really didn''t feel like walking anymore, but the quicker he got out of here, the better. At least then, he wouldn''t constantly feel that lingering presence. It felt like an endless walk. At times, Tang Gon felt that he was just going in circles. The paths that he was taking led him all over the place. It had started off fairly normal with the road being paved. Accelerating further in, the road started to crack, and the once straight path had started to curve and turn at every couple of meters. And as it turned and curved, the road ahead slowly changed into sand and gravel. The boulders and stones that were at every turn slowly started changing into rocks and pebbles. At the end, it had just suddenly stopped, the path was now covered in sand and gravel. A few more minutes ahead, a new path had started to form surrounded by trees. It was similar to the last path, but this time, there was the forestry. Though the forestry was slowly starting to thin as he walked further in. Then the first paved concrete path had appeared. On the side of the road were beautiful roses in full bloom. Wanting to enjoy the beauty, Tang Gon carelessly picked a rose off the bushel. But as he did his finger had been pricked by one of the thorns on the rose. It had made a small cut across his pointer finger, but it was barely visible. Trying to get a closer look at it, Tang Gon squeezed his finger, trying to see exactly where the cut was made. Beleving that it was just a minor cut and would fade in a day, Tang Gon continued with his brisk jog. But as he got further in, the rose he was carrying was starting to wither. It looked like the rose wasn''t suppose to be plucked by him. Laughing it off, Tang Gon kept his head up and slowed down to a walk to save his energy. He believed that he was going to reach the end soon. The paths that he was walking on looked almost the same, but he knew he wasn''t going in circles. If he didn''t look carefully, he wouldn''t of noticed the distinct differences between each of them. There were roses in some, gnomes hidden in others, and minor cracks in the end of some. But the most obvious factor was the weather would constantly change as he went. Turning from cloudy to sunny, raining for a few moments before disappearing, and at one point it was even snowing for a few seconds. But other than those key differences there really wasn''t anything else. Deciding that he was probably lost, he tried to turn around. But the moment he took his first step back, the intense pressure that was pushing him forwards had appeared once more. This time, however, it leaked a little killing intent, making Tang Got shiver in fear. Knowing that he would never come out alive if he continued back, Tang Gon helplessly continued straight ahead. Further and further, nothing new came to sight. Half a hour later, he soon approached a small body of water inside the oak forest he was at. It was the newest thing Tang Gon had seen so far. But it wasn''t that surprising as it was raining quite a bit a few blocks back. Gravel and sand coated the edge of the waterside, but here there were no fishes or life in the water, but he did see someone in the water. It had a human shape, but the scary part was that, earlier there was nothing there, it had just suddenly appeared. Getting closer, he saw his reflection and an old man that looked strangely like an older him. Shaking, Tang Gon, reached his hands upwards to touch his face. No, it was still his face, there was no wrinkle or scars on his face like the man in the reflection. The man in the water, never reached out. He just continued to swim in the water completely ignoring Tang Gon. Tang Gon on the other hand, just stared at the old man in the water that looked strangely like him. He now understood. While he was staring out, his surroundings had changed. 7 Aeruk 2 The mini lake had disappeared, and in its place was the forest, filled with colossal evergreens. But none of that mattered as Tang Gon had chosen his own path. His own path to the top. All of the previous paths were all doomed to fail. Meant to end in destruction and ruins if he were to follow them. Those paths were the paths that Tang Gon''s predecessors had taken. Their paths, not his. And for him to succeed and rise to the top one day, Tang Gon must forge his own path. Rising up, Tang Gon peered into the distance. A new path had opened up. One shrouded in darkness. Tang Gon knew that this was another test tempting him, but he now knew that this test was one of choices and decisions, not endurance and perseverance. Tang Gon took a deep breath and prepared to forge his own path in this wild land. Along his way, many new paths opened up, ones where anything could happen. But, Tang Gon knew that if he was to choose one to follow, he would forever continue in this lost land. .... After passing through peaks of endless mountains and traversing the endless terrains, Tang Gon had finally arrived. The journey he had taken made him a new man, the once weak and powerless Tang Gon of the past had disappeared, in his place was the new him. The new him that had died and been reborn countless times on this perilous journey. It wasn''t until Tang Got had understood the effects of his choices, did the fog finally vanish along with the illusions. It had brought Tang Gon back to reality, and the illusions he had experienced on his journey were completely cleared. The powerful and strong image of Tang Gon had also disappeared, but in his heart, the man who had completed the treacherous journey still exists. The same exact man who had learned many lessons on his trip across numerous lifetimes. The same man who has learned patience and understanding. The same exact man, who can now survive and react in any scenarios. Tang Gon may look exactly like he was before he started the system, but he was a changed man. And in that place, full of forestry and land, Tang Gon descended from the mountain, and stood tall in front of the island surrounded by what appeared to be water. Squinting at what was in the distance, he was directly brought forward. The dark area in the far distance was now directly in front of him. Tang Gon was shocked, but the many years and lifetimes in the illusions had taught him to expect the unexpected, therefore the unexpected is expected. Though, that small lesson was unexpectedly traded with many years in his different lifetimes in the illusion. But it had also taught him to control his facial expression. Hence, the lack of emotion in Tang Gon''s face when he was directly transported forth. He was the ruler of the system, he controls the system, the system doesn''t control him. Reminding himself that, Tang Gon fearlessly continued inward the island. He yelled out for the system to appear, but his voice was gone. All he could let out was a dried old crackling screech. But as expected, nothing answered back, he''s been trying to reach the systems for years. But that was during the illusion, so it was kind of unexpected that the system really didn''t answer back. Silence filled the air, nothing answered back not even the system as it had long since disappeared. Tang Gon could no longer access the system manually or in his head anymore. Crouching down, curiosity got the better of Tang Gon. As philosophers would put it, curiosity was the lust of the mind. It made humans pursue the unknown and Tang Gon was no exception as it brought him closer and closer to the center of the island. He was no longer frightened, scared, nor anxious of what was ahead of him, either way he could do nothing, but continue. Even the lessons that he had learned on the endless paths were of no use. Then the weirdest thing of all happened, weirder than all of things that have happened so far. The moment Tang Gon got on the island, he was dragged forward to the middle. In front of him was the black area he had saw earlier back from a distance. The fog that was around the island was flickering and gently swaying along with the slight breeze. Whatever was inside was controlling the dark area, making it move back and forth. It, as if noticing Tang Gon, disappeared. Then Tang Gon felt pain in the back of his head. The black area that was ahead of him had turned into a murky mist. Making a quick circle around Tang Gon, the mist had then swiftly entered him through the top of his head. The next thing he knew, the system that had been quiet the whole time had rang out. But the system''s usual voice had changed or rather it felt like it had been replaced. Instead of the usual robotic tone of voice, a silvery demonic voice appeared. [Ding! Congratulations to Host Tang Gon for being the first to pass the test] [System Update A.24] [My name is Aeruk, I will now be your new A.I. Guide, along with the previous guide, S.39] A chilling feeling blew over Tang Gon. His heart had suddenly felt so much heavier. The new system guide, Aeruk had the same pressure as the ones he felt earlier, when he wanted to turn around, the killing intent, the reflection at the lake, and just now when the mist had entered him. The journey was long, but Tang Gon could clearly remember all of the terrifying moments. But now thinking back, this might of actually of been the final test by the system. The test that he might of unintentionally entered. Reasoning with himself, Tang Gon started to believe that the killing intent he felt earlier was most likely A.24''s disappointment with his choices. Or maybe even his thoughts of retreating and turing around, instead of going head in. Still a little worried, Tang Gon checked the various functions of the system to make sure everything was truly all right. All of functions seem to work perfectly fine, but the moment Tang Gon checked on the shop, he quickly laughed at his luck. The prices for all of the skills and monsters he had were now twice as high, everything had doubled. The previous Defantis Sword Scripture priced at 15000 Clicker Points was now priced at 30000 Clicker Points, it had doubled. Laughing at his previous misclick, the silvery demon from the system released a reward. [Ding! Congratulations to Host for receiving 1x ClickerMon] For a second, Tang Gon thought the old guide had returned, but then Aeruk''s voice was heard again, but talking about himself in third person. [Due to the systems recent consistent updates, Aeruk will be temporarily under repair. Aeruk will be unable to help the Host in his endeavors for at least 5 years. The previous guide from the system S.39 will now be in full control] Tang Gon was slightly relieved as A.24 or better known as Aeruk would now be unable to appear. Moving on, Tang Gon quickly clicked receive, this time a slight breeze erupted in front of him. Instead of the fancy summoning that came along with the warriors, all the happened was the little fur ball appearing along with a small gust of wind. The small ball of fur with two little horns on its head and a tiny spade tail popped out of the air, and approached Tang Gon in an adorable manner. It had almost toppled over when it landed, but carefully balancing itself it half ran, half skipped to Tang Gon. Jumping on Tang Gon, it gently landed on his shoulder. Meanwhile, a small bar, visible only to him appeared at the bottom of his screen. [+1 Clicker Point] [+1 Clicker Point] [+1 Clicker Point] [+1 Clicker Point] [+1 Clicker Point] A sudden influx of Clicker Points started appearing, the bar at the bottom quickly started rising up. At the current rate, it looked like Tang Gon was earning a clicker point every 2-3 seconds. But after Tang Gon received 20 Clicker Points, the little critter vanished from his sight. Following shortly afterwards was the release of the missions. [Ding! Host can now obtain Clicker Points by completing the Main Missions and Side Missions] [Main Mission: ????????????] [Side Mission 1: ????] [Side Mission 2: ????] [Side Mission 3: ????] Unsurprisingly, all of them were covered and shrouded in question marks. Thinking that the mysteriousness was too expected of the system, it suddenly surprised him when it uncovered the main mission. [Main Mission: Due to the System''s constant and consistent updates, the world of Huaxia has damaged the system, mainly A.24 who is now under repair. Host must search for the Golden Orb to hasten the recovery. Objective: Obtain the Golden Orb Golden Orb: Highest Healing Artifact in the Central Continent, capable of repairing the damage inflicted to the system. Lead: ClearMarsh City Reward: 5x ClickerMon] The next second, a Teleportation Gate appeared in front of Tang Gon. 8 Lucky Treasure Ches Gremlin Forest. -------------- Tang Gon returned back through the Teleportation Gate that was opened up by the System. Specifically, the cave in the middle of the woods where he had first woken up at. Walking through, Tang Gon saw that everything was still there, the fishes in the water, the ripped remains of the silver bear, and more importantly the treasure chest that he still hasn''t gotten to. Rushing past the remains of the bear scattered on the ground and the little critters in the waters, Tang Gon swiftly made it to the treasure chest. Stunned, he wiped his eyes, no, it was real, an unlocked uncommon chest. A chest he has never seen even as a tester of the game. He had gotten extremely lucky, finding an uncommon grade at the cave, talk about good luck. These chest weren''t something that anyone can just go out and find. It has to be known that Uncommon Grades could only be found in some of the most dangerous of places. Places where even experts at the pinnacles could lose their lives. And even then there was no certainty that it would even be there. And although the chest was named as uncommon, chests like these were actually really rare, far and few in between, especially considering the enormous size of this world. It was luck, the only way to find these sort of treasure chests, were by going to extremely dangerous places, and even then there was an even lower chance of there being a chest. Luck was the honestly the only factor. One could enter all sorts of dangerous places in search of one, but that doesn''t mean that one will find, or even catch a glimpse of an uncommon grade chest. While Tang Gon was in a state of euphoria, the system of course had to ruin all of that by making it known that this was actually the beginners chest, that every Host receives. Still hopeful, Tang Gon went to inspect the treasure chest in front of him, but the system doused all of his hopes by releasing the informations about the treasure chest in this world. [Due to Huaxia being a Lower Tiered World, it can only inhabit a small percentage of Potential and Influence. Therefore Treasure Chests in this realm are below Junior Rank. __________ Treasure Chests are separated into two classes, locked and unlocked. Locked Treasure Chests requires certain keys which the system can exchange for Clicker Points. Unlocked Treasure Chests do not require keys, and therefore can be opened by anyone. Locked Chests, however, do contain more valuable items. Treasure Chests are divided further into three ranks. Junior, Intermediate, and Grand. Junior, in worlds that have evolved and have entered the Official Ranks. Intermediate, in worlds that have bypassed restrictions and have entered the Commanding Ranks. Grand, in worlds that have understandings over the Laws, and thus have entered the Ruling Ranks. Going further down the line, Treasure Chests are then divided into three Grades, Common, Uncommon, and Dark. Common, being the lowest grade of Treasure Chest. Uncommon, being the intermediate Grade Chest. Dark Grade, being the highest Chest ever found. Reminders: Treasure Chests can not be moved. Treasure Chests of Common Grade would continuously spawn at random locations over time. Treasure Chests of Uncommon Grade require longer spawn periods, and have the risk of self destruction after too many openings. Treasure Chests of Dark Grade will disappear after a single opening. As a sign of good will, the creator of the Treasure Chest has allowed the system to display the amount of Dark Grade Chest left in Huaxia. (37851)] Suppressing down his excitement, Tang Gon followed the instructions in his head as it told him to place his hand on top of the Chest. Placing his hand on top of it, Tang Gon waited for it to open just like the image that was shown to him. Everything so far was just like the game, including the chest opening. Lights started to shine out of the tiny cracks in the opening of the treasure chest, blinding everything in the cave. The system popped out and a bar showing the progress of the opening appeared to his left. Numbers started to appear right above the chest, displaying a progress bar on the opening of the chest. 11% 36% 48% 78% 100% As Tang Gon was starting to get worried, a loud click was heard coming from the Treasure Chest. "Click" The progress bar seemed like it loaded pretty fast, but because the chest was an uncommon grade chest, even if it was below the lowest uncommon grade it still took over 10 mins of unlocking. During that time, Tang Gon had grew worried by the light that was shining out of the cave, but luckily no one came. Glad, that the chest was finally open, Tang Gon quickly scanned the inside of the chest the second it was open to see what he got. Though a little disappointed, Tang Gon still picked up what he got from the chest. It looked like there was nothing special about the things he received. Honestly, Tang Gon was half expecting a rare legendary weapon or artifact, especially considering that this was an uncommon grade chest he opened, not the basic wooden common grade chest. But it looked like that legendary artifacts and equipments would never be found here, especially considering all that he read about the Worlds having a limit on what it could contain. Disappointed, Tang Gon went back inside to see if he missed anything else, but there was nothing else except for a sword, a dagger, and a red potion. The treasure chest then disappeared as Tang Gon carelessly took out everything and got up. Dusting off the imaginary dust off his clothes, Tang Gon examined each of the items he got with the system. Short information boxes popped right above each of the items as he held them. This time the system didn''t display much other than the basic information about the things he received. But this wasn''t because the system was lazy or inattentive, rather it was because that the system believed that such things were not worthy to be mentioned. It was mainly due to the fact that the system had come from a higher world or maybe even beyond that as it had a lot of classified informations and secrets. But because his Level in the system was too low, such informations were withheld and locked far away from him. And even without the informations that the system provided, Tang Gon had easily guessed that the system came from something or someone powerful, as it had deemed all three of the items he received as trash. But to the system, if it wasn''t trash what else could it be? It had gone through many worlds with many different Hosts way before Tang Gon. It had even considered treasures of the most powerful elites as trash at some point in time. Much less the three basic items that Tang Gon received. [Brute Sword Rarity: Green Effects: ATK +15] [Small Dagger Rarity: Green Effects: 5% chance to poison enemy with minor poison] [(Minor Heath) Potion Rarity: Rare Effects: Recovers Heath +25] And though Tang Gon ignored the systems origin and backgrounds, he was still dumfounded when he saw the ranks of the items. Dumfounded, Tang Gon questioned the system. "How does your ranking work?" But what greeted him wasn''t a response, instead it was just a scale showing the rarity for each grade. [Grey =\u003e Green =\u003e Blue =\u003e Red =\u003e Purple =\u003e Gold =\u003e Dark Gold] With Grey being the lowest, and Dark Gold being the highest. Confused Tang Gon asked again. This time, the system had sort of given a proper response, though it was uncertain if it satisfied Tang Gon or not. [Warriors and Pets are classified by the first rankings, [Common, Rare, Epic, Mythic, Divine, Legendary] while equipments and others are classified by the Color Ranking [Grey, Green, Blue, Red, Purple, Gold, Dark Gold] Not knowing what was really going on, Tang Gon just nodded his head and went along with it. This way it would best for them all, and that he would avoid another headache from questioning the system. As Tang Gon didn''t have a single weapon yet, he just grabbed the weapons out of the chest, even if they were classified as Green by the system. Grabbing the sword, the system popped up, showing an interface full of slots pointing towards him. [Equip-able Slots] [Host can materialize equipped items twice as fast as manually operating them] Equip Brute Sword? [Yes/No] Equip Small Dagger? [Yes/No] Tang Gon pressed [Yes] for the both of them, and then a picture of the sword and dagger appeared in the two slots. Sword, being the main weapon, and the dagger being the secondary. Tang Gon then tossed the red potion into his inventory without a second glance. 9 Ribs Gremlin Forest. -------------- Tang Gon was so tired after completing everything. The tutorial, alone, took away most of his energy. Honestly, outside of the system, it might have just been a few hours at most, but the tutorial inside the system had felt so much longer, days, years even. It was a miracle that he even got out of there alive, it just felt so realistic while it was happening. He had all five of his senses while inside, everything was there, nothing was missing, even the smallest details weren''t overlooked by the system. But now it was all a blur to him. The steps and paths that he took for years inside, now flashed by in his mind as seconds. Everything had felt so real, his fatigue, his hunger, his thirst. Yet somehow, the opening of the chest had taken more energy out of him than all the years inside the tutorial combined. It was what really drained him. Maybe if he had opened the chest before the tutorial, he would have been completely fine. Maybe a minor headache afterward, but fine nonetheless. Many didn''t know this, but opening the Treasure chest required energy. In the games, it was time but in real life, or in this world, the energy was required. Not mana or magic, but an unexplainable sort of power that everyone had. A power that was uncontrollable, but still useable. No one knew the exact specifics on how to use it, but it was just there. It would unknowingly affect all aspects of people''s life. From the smallest to the biggest life-changing events. And over the years, people had used this energy to open the treasure chests that would appear from time to time. But they just believed it to be normal, never knowing about the energy or questioning the reasons and logic behind everything. But regardless of what it was or what had happened, all Tang Gon knew was that he was tired. And after having nothing to do, all of the fatigue gathered over the days rushed back at him all at once. The fatigue rushing back towards him completely overwhelmed Tang Gon. He became so tired that he basically collapsed on the ground, his body forcing him to take the much-needed rest. ... A half-hour later, with all the rush gone, Tang Gon was awoken by the rumbling of his stomach. It was a half-hour of sleep, but that was all Tang Gon needed. In normal cases, most would need a solid 12-14 hours of sleep after all the fatigue, if not more. But the system had once again helped Tang Gon without his knowledge. The first time, which wasn''t mentioned was when he first felt the killing intent. It wasn''t much, but the system did shield him to a certain degree, more than anyone knows. A truth that will come to light a few years down the road. Anyhow, during his sleep, the system had mended his body and provided enough nutrition to help him overcome his lethargy. Basically the system had cleansed his body and gotten rid of his need for sleep and rest temporarily. The only evidence of that was the silent message in his inbox describing what had happened. [Ding! Host''s present state is currently reaching an alarming state, the system has taken the liberty of temporally suppressing the Host''s critical need for sleep] The system had basically filled in the remaining hours of sleep that he needed to focus and concentrate. But even then the system had only taken care of his sleep. Right now, his mind was telling him to focus on how he was going to eat. He was just too busy over the past few days, it was still bearable when he was completing the tutorials inside the system, but the moment he had time to think about it, all that came to his mind was the rumbling of his stomach. Uncertain of what to do, his first thought led him to ask the system. "Food?" asked Tang Gon to the system uncertainly. The system provided him with all kinds of cheats, but it was still uncertain if it could provide him with food. However, it would be amazing if it did. And to his utter delight and amazement, it seemed that the system was truly the almighty system. It could provide him with almost anything, and that included food. "Food. Miracle of life." Tang Gon, happily muttered underneath his breath. All of a sudden, Tang Gon''s face turned cold. His body, rigid and slack as he focused his entire attention straight ahead. His breath was starting to pick up in anticipation of what was to come. To anyone that was spying on Tang Gon, it would seem that something major was going to happen. Something life-changing, even more so than what the system did to Tang Gon. Yet, in the middle of the atmosphere so tangible, all that was heard was the whisper. The whisper that completely ruined the serious and worldly atmosphere. The noble air that was once there, now completely vanished, disappearing just as quick as it was formed. But ignoring all of that, the only thing that was on Tang Gon''s mind was "What is good?" Nothing did really happen, but the way Tang Gon sternly focused himself does make one wonder. It felt like there was nothing more important than what he was currently doing. Truly a life-changing decision for a foodie. Tang Gon completely ignoring the judging glares of the readers, sincerely believed that this was an important decision, if he could have food, he might as well make it good, no? The search bar in front of him caused Tang Gon to further scrunch his brows. Taking a deep breath in, Tang Gon resolutely typed in ''meats'' with the keyboard underneath. Thinking that this was it, Tang Gon excitedly, but still patiently waited for the screen to finish loading. All types of meats started to cover the screen. There were meats from all kinds of animals. In fact, anything was possible, as long as you could name it, it was there. Cow, chicken, duck, pigs, everything. Going further down the list, there were even some meats from other places, far beyond. Two-horned jaguar, queen hornet, slime, and even a snow gator. Who knew slimes even had meat? But according to the system''s mini description, they had an energy core that was similar to the prize meats of other creatures. That was how amazing the system was, able to extract meat from slimes. Feeling beefy, Tang Gon eliminated the other choices. He wasn''t ready or that adventurous to try all the foreign delicacies, maybe another time. [Chuck Sirloin Round Short plate Flank Brisket Foreshank ...] It was a gluttons heaven, everything sounded amazing, but the thing that caught his eyes the most? Ribs. Juicy succulent ribs. Ribs so tender that they would fall off the bones. [-3 Clicker Points] The sudden familiar ding from the system caused Tang Gon to look back down from his daydream and into focus. Tang Gon was already excited. And the 3 Clicker Points being taken away only made him grow even more with excitement and anticipation. A large rack of ribs for only 3 Clicker Points. How amazing was that? He was ready, ready to go all out and devour that enormous rack of ribs. It would truly be divine. The tenderness of the juicy meat, the spices from the dry rub that would trap the juices inside and then explode after a bite, the slightly charred sides that would undoubtedly enhance the flavors by giving it that extra bitter and slightly sour taste. Godly. That was what it was, godly. But at the same time, Tang Gon was afraid. What if the system only gave him a tiny piece of ribs for 3 Clicker Points? What then? Tang Gon as if having a moment of enlightenment, calmed his mind. ''Think positive.'' He didn''t want to jinx things. There could only be good things that would come around, right? After all the system did say a single Clicker Point could be traded for Gold and unimaginable wealth. Well, maybe it didn''t say that, but the currency exchange function basically downright implied it. The system wouldn''t be that cheap in giving a small piece of rib, Right? But with Tang Gon''s excitement and readiness to eat, you could imagine his surprise when the ribs appeared. It was humungous, enormous, impossibly large. But there was a single problem. It was pink. The ribs were raw. Bloody Raw. 10 Oceanic Flame There was nothing wrong with it. Perfection was all Tang Gon could say about the piece of prime meat. The only thing he was now worried about was how to properly cook it as this was not any kind of rib he had ever seen. The bone alone glistened in the dark. Sparkling off the shine of its surroundings. Despite its obsidian color, it seemed to draw in all the light, casting jagged shadows in every corner of the room. And that was with the bone being covered by a delicate juice pressed piece of red sumptuous. The contrast of the dark bone along with that of the bloodied flesh created a salivating expression on the face of Tang Gon. Noticing the lack of necessities and other ingredients, Tang Gon went to work. First, he needed a setup to create his meals. Even though this was a cavern of sorts and there was no need for it, Tang Gon made it a requirement of his to enjoy everything to its full potential when he can. With that said, he went outside to find some large boulders. With the tutorial done and his basic stats augmented by his summons, Tang Gon was able to meet the strengths of this world''s inhabitants. That was to say everything of his increased by a considerable sum. Searching around, he found that the rocks inside were either too small or covered in grime. But after some careful selecting outside, Tang Gon gathered 10 double palm-sized rocks near the entrance of the cave. A quick washing soon followed. After a quick washing, Tang Gon grabbed the ribs and gently placed it on top of the rocks outside. He then took out a bowl from the system. Soon after, Tang Gon took out the ingredients for the dry rub. These condiments were items that he had also bought along with the purchase of ribs. Throwing everything in, Tang Gon mixed the ingredients with his hand. A snarling growl could be heard. Not long after, yells from deep within the cave echoed out, startling all of the creatures in the nearby areas. "SYSTEM!!!" Something came out of the cave... Tang Gon? Yes, it was him, the idiot finally remembered that there was no flame for the meat he was going to cook. His focus earlier was entirely on how to prepare the layout and how he was going to process it. What he forgot, however, was what he was going to cook it with. The system was just way too crafty. How dare it do this to me, giving me everything but something to cook with. Or something along that train of thought... Lol... idiot Mc. At this point, the system popped out another message. [Purchase of Oceanic Flame?] [Yes/No] It was the same robotic tone as usual, but to Tang Gon at the moment, it felt like it was mocking him. Acting all cocky and just randomly spouting nonsense and nonchalantly showing up at this exact moment to persuade him to purchase a flame from it. Tang Gon was slightly disappointed that he would have to wait and personally cook the ribs, but in the end, he ultimately chose to purchase the flame. The ribs would take at most half an hour of cooking and sizzling on the flames considering its size. [-50 Clicker Points] 50 Clicker Points quickly disappeared casing Tang Gon to suddenly freeze while getting up. He was in an awkward position, but now looking back, Tang Gon came to the realization that the system didn''t mention how much the flame would cost him, and once again he didn''t ask. [Ding! Congratulations to Host ''Tang Gon'' for purchasing Oceanic Flames] Eyes wide open, mouth agape, ears high up. Complete Shock. 50 Clicker Points. One flame. He was flabbergasted, but the previous accidental purchases did lower his shock quite a bit. But that wasn''t an excuse, the system acting all sweet and naive had casually recommended the flame, and he had taken the bait, hook, line, and sinker. But how could he have known that the flame would cost him 50 points? Should have asked. It was 50 points if he knew that, Tang Gon would rather have tried to make his own fire. How hard would that have been? But now it was too late, he was left with scraps of Clicker Points. "Why don''t you go rob a bank." Tang Gon mad at the system threw out a random insult. [The system is virtuous and upright. The system will never rob a bank.] Tang Gon was so distracted that he didn''t even notice that the system had started to develop intelligence. If he wasn''t careful the system might even take him over, lol. But right now, Tang Gon was too busy throwing a mini tantrum to notice. And before he could throw an even bigger one, a surge of light entered his mind, much like the other time he accidentally purchased something. The information surged across his mind, his body started to alter and adjust for the flame. It felt like a thousand burning knives slowly penetrating his body from the inside out. Luckily, the pain that was starting to become too unbearable soon began to subside. Then a cool feeling rose from the pits of his body, releasing a cooling air as it moved around. It was the new Oceanic Flame settling in. Along with it, it made Tang Gon exude a mighty deposition, making one cower from its might. This flame was truly powerful, making one feel small and insignificant in front of it. But even then, nothing could stop Tang Gon as he tried to get a refund from customer support. To him, it didn''t matter how powerful the fire was, he still believed that the system had ripped him off. [Refunds are unavailable.] It was a single message, but it somehow confirmed Tang Gon''s suspicion on the systems scheme of ripping him off. But the no refunds was kind of expected as the flame had already adjusted to his body. There was nothing Tang Gon could do. But since he had the flame, he might as well test it out. Twirling his finger in the air like the image shown, a small flame magically burst from the tip of his finger. It was deep blue, and the moment it appeared, it released a chilling frost permeating through the cave. The flame caused the air in the room to grow colder. It caused the temperature in the room to jump between frigid Siberian waters back to the serene gentle springs. The flame flickered and swayed in front of Tang Gon, causing him to feel a heavy pressure and weight about him. The aura Tang Gon emitted now gave others a sort of constricting feeling, causing others that would appear in front of him in the future to be afraid to even speak. Putting a little more of his energy into the flame, it suddenly erupted and rose sky-high. Surprised, Tang Gon pushed his finger far away from his face. In doing so, the direction of the flame targeted the entrance of the cave, destroying the roof of the cave. But when he didn''t feel any heat, Tang Gon opened his eyes and saw the flame had diminished back to the original small flicker. A streak of burnt ground covered his surroundings. Not to mention the now-collapsed cave around. Seeing the path of destruction, Tang Gon wanted to deck out each of his fingers with fire, but the price fo a single flame made him reconsider. The Oceanic Flame that he purchased was one of the cheapest at 50 Clicker Points. The others like the Demonic Flames were well over thousands of Clicker Points. After some time, Tang Gon snapped back to reality. The altering of his body added with his use of the flame just made him feel hungrier. It was time to prepare the ribs. He was gonna eat his heart out for all the clicker points the system had slyly taken away from him. "Rumble. Rumble. Rumble." The loud rumbling from his stomach reminded him of his hunger. Putting away the system, Tang Gon focused his whole attention on the ribs. This time he controlled the flames to the smallest setting. He then shot a mini blast of the flame at the ribs. The ribs started sizzling after the flames landed on it. "Sizzle." The outside of the ribs started to spark, and the applied dry rub turned a dark red. The juices from the ribs started to flow out, causing the flames below to crackle. A few seconds later, the ribs were done. But even with Tang Gon''s experience in cooking and the heat control, the ribs were slightly charred at the end. It still wasn''t bad for his first try with the flame, but considering that the system had basically guided the whole operation, it was a little below the standards of the system. Tang Gon would need some time to adapt to the new flame. Practice makes perfect, or less charred ribs. "Now, for the sauce." [-Honey Ray''s Award Winning BBQ Sauce] Tang Gon then took out the rest of the ingredients from the system. From time to time while waiting for the flames to die down, Tang Gon would occasionally apply a dab of the award-winning sauce on the ribs. "Mhmm, perfect." A compelling, seducing aroma flowed out from the ribs. Salivating, Tang Gon carefully cut up a piece sitting on top of the burnt rocks. It was perfect. The slice separated that piece of rib from the rest. At the same time, the fragrance grew even stronger, as most of the juice and sauce was absorbed inside. All of his Clicker Points were spent on this single meal, but if he was asked if it was worth it. "Well, is my name Tang Gon?" No. Of course, it was not. His name was the supreme leader of all and everything. 11 Rich Cocky mc was one of the most annoying things the system has ever experienced, but what was more annoying right now was the current changes going on in its functional setup. Well, maybe, the mc right now seemed to be extra cocky. Sadly, most of the mc was cocky, even more sadly was its duty to change this. No matter what Tang Gon was going through, it was stuck experiencing everything with it. Yes, ''it'' being the host after host it has to go through. Nevertheless, this was the one. ... It truly was the most amazing meal Tang Gon ever had, there was nothing he could ever compare it to. Although he made a simple rub, then dripped in the juices of the rib, most of it was simply guesswork from videos he had seen online. Some areas such as the stones were pure experimentation of the expectations of what he thought was required. But because of the quality of the meat, it was simply impossible to ruin anything. Grabbing with both of his hands, Tang Gon energetically tore off the best parts of the rib. It simply peeled off the bone and every single action of his caused it to overflow with juices. Tang Gon after finishing his meal and storing the leftover made his way back around to the cave entrance. Completely stuffed and with his stomach prodding out, Tang Gon cheerfully cleaned up. He was the type to move around; so while he did eat his meal at the top of the cave, everything he had was taken back to the bottom. That was to say the destructive power of his flame leveled his surroundings at the top, destroying the original entrance and creating an entirely new one a few feet away. The cave wormed its way half a mile down the mountain. Its general shape was ovoid, the walls below the ridge smoothly curved to the floor, the walls above arched another hundred feet up to giant stalactites. Small, loose stones littered the floor causing Tang Gon to almost trip as he got closer to the rock face. The lake that was originally inside the cave disappeared after the shockwave of the flame. It seemed that it splattered every which way. As it was still currently dark and that only the moon was shining in the sky, Tang Gon quickly went to the system. "Torch" [-1 Clicker Point] Anything in the system was seemingly possible as long as the Clicker Points were enough. This was something Tang Gon learned after the spice rubs and other nonessential items he received. But he still needed to be careful as sometimes there were no confirmations of purchases. He still needed to be careful of his words in the presence of the system, which was always. Regardless of the outcome, Tang Gon shone the torch ahead and several paths came into view, the entrance was so small he almost missed it. But because he followed the crumbled rocks, Tang Gon was able to quickly find his directions. The cave was built into the muddy brown rock of the cliff, the stone guarding the entrance was jagged and uneven, arranged in such a way, that it would be difficult for passers-by to spot. This was the result of the collapse. Inside, the beam of the torch was enveloped and lost in the blackness, Tang Gon had to move around by following the damp wall of the cave with his hands. All of a sudden, flaming torches sparked to life, lighting up the tunnel ahead and bathing the entire cavern in a flickering orange glow. Everything has a past and unsurprisingly enough, the cave that Tang Gon woke up in did to. The author of this novel is very protective of his mc, this is why there is a need for the mc to be powerful enough to get rid of troubles and challenges with ease. But because there is a need for the readers to support this author, he needs to balance it out, so voila. The cave used to be overwhelming with wealth a long time ago, back when the two empires in the surrounding areas were still developing villages. It used to hold all the valuables that a Flood Dragon had accumulated over the years, almost overwhelming with wealth at one point. But now, that Flood Dragon had either left or died. But the latter was more likely as no dragon would leave their treasure behind. And even though Flood Dragons weren''t true Dragons, they still had some Dragon Blood in their body. No matter how diluted the blood is, a dragon is still a dragon. And along with that is their habit of hoarding. It was more likely that a dragon was killed rather than the possibility of any dragon leaving their treasure behind. Not to mention that Flood Dragons in the recent hundreds of years had almost been hunted down to extinction and the closest one that has ever been sighted in the area was more than 200 hundred years ago. But ignorance was bliss, Tang Gon knew none of that, and none the wiser, took his time as he walked around the cave that used to house a Flood Dragon. The orange flame was still there, but by now, Tang Gon ignored it and didn''t care too much as it posed him no harm. This cave should have been decked out in riches and extravagance, but considering the amount that is now there, it truly was a pitiful amount. Everything else that used to be in the cave was long since taken. Tang Gon left the cave after he had taken the liberty of thoroughly cleaning the place. He looked underneath every nook and cranny, searching for any possible treasures that could be left behind. There wasn''t much treasure or valuables in the dead cave. But the things he did find, regardless of what it was, as long as it looked even the slightest bit valuable, he would toss it into the Inventory. But in the end, after so many hours of rummaging through the cave, he had only found a small bag holding some coins. Even this, however, seemed to have been dropped behind by a random traveler rather than the hoard of a dragon. "Tch" Tang Gon sneered while looking at the small bag. Truly pitiful, the exchange rate made the coins essentially worthless in the eye of the system. Tossing the entire bag into the system, Tang Gon saw that it had magically divided itself. The Coins had each taken up a spot, and then there was also a separate slot for the bag that was holding the coins. [Depositing Items] [4 Gold Coins] [23 Silver Coins] [234 Copper Coins] [Spatial Bag] The system knowing that Tang Gon had no clue of this world''s currency quickly displayed its rates. This seemed to be the average rate in all worlds, something was particular about this sort of evenness and orderliness. [1 Gold = 100 Silver 1 Silver = 100 Copper] When Tang Gon tossed the coins into the inventory, He realized that each of the different coins took up a block while displaying the amount in the upper right corner. While the coin was worthless and of no value right now, the system still maintained it as this was Tang Gon''s inventory. The bag contained so many coins simply because it was a spatial bag. But he already had the system. There wasn''t much use for the spatial bag. But still, the bag was worth a lot more than the paltry of coins it contained. Everything was useful one way or another. When he goes back to civilization, for example, and needed to take something out from the system, he would need a way to do it without attention. Everyone knew that it would like weird if he took something out of mid-air. Tang Gon already had the system which could hold everything, but in public, he would still need to cover the system up. But all of that didn''t matter to Tang Gon as he was brought into a great mood almost instantaneously when he saw that he now had gold coins. It looked like a lot, but considering the amount that used to be there, it truly was pitiful. Everything in the cave was long since taken away before Tang Gon had ever arrived. But as Tang Gon didn''t know better, he believed himself to be extremely rich right now. 12 Three Scouts Whistling, Tang Gon left the cave and started to explore the surrounding forest. It was finally morning and the sun was high up in the sky. The weather seemed normal enough with the occasional breeze passing through. But none of this mattered to Tang Gon right now. It seemed the experience of being alone for the past few days has finally gotten to him. There was both a lack of focus and care for his actions. Even in his past work experiences, he still had people checking up on him from time to time. Usually every hour after his regular mealtime to check upon him. Whether it was the cleaner, his advisor, or the restaurant owner next door that took care of him. The cleaner would come by every so often to help maintain the cleanliness of his place. The advisor was the person that usually sends the cleaner and also the person that helps maintain his schedule and overall health. The restaurant owner, however, had no direct connection with Tang Gon. Tang Gon always thought that the food left on his doorsteps was usually the work of his advisor as it was always him that texted the arrival of the food. These were the major people in his life back on Earth. It wasn''t that he wasn''t close with his family or that he was a workaholic, this was simply the way it turned out. Eventually, over time, a sense of dependency on these people grew, but that was not to say he couldn''t take care of it himself. Unlike other game developers, Tang Gon took his schedule and deadlines sincerely and almost sinisterly. In most cases, Tang Gon would finish projects day or weeks before the deadline is due, resulting in a bonus lasting him enough time to not take another project for a while. There was this one time while rushing to finish a project, Tang Gon ended up working overtime. Yeah, that was pretty much it. Even the most interesting aspect of his life prior to the system wasn''t that important to him or anyone else. But this was the type of thing he went through. No great development or major fall in life. ... Currently, Tang Gon was standing at the exit of the cave. Surrounding him was a new location of greenery. Shrubs and medium-sized trees of varying discernable heights surrounding the plain of grassland he was at. The ground was wet and seemed to have rained the night prior to his journey of exploring the cave. Similar to the forests back on Earth, the birds would chirp, bugs would buzz, and other animals would be around. Occasionally, there would be loud impacts of noise here and there every few hours or so, but for the most part everything was quiet and calm in nature. Openly strolling through the forest, Tang Gon completely ignored his surroundings. Mainly because the system would warn him of any dangers that would come his way. A bunch of new functions seemed to have been unlocked after his tutorial, it was only that he had to actively search and test out their functions. While aimlessly walking, Tang Gon went through the system, making sure that there was nothing else the system was hiding from him. As there seemed to be nothing of importance, Tang Gon took his time as he walked around his surroundings. While one could say he paid no attention, he did try to remember the paths he took after the cave. For example, there was indeed a small brook he crossed before exiting the forest and entering a small river littered with giant pebbles. But then again, there were several of these rocky banks in the forests. The sense of adventure in a world that he never explored is what now motivates him, this and the new amazing food that is beyond what he expected in any circumstance. The pure motivations of people is what boosts them and other time confuse them. Unsure of his next actions, Tang Gon continued to fiddle with the system. Before he knew it, there appeared a visual setting containing a variety of perspectives of how he wanted to view things. This in a way gave it a more of a fantasy-like feel. With a press of a button, the Visual Functions would turn on. Everything looked like it was working, but Tang Gon still couldn''t get used to controlling the system with his mind. It still felt natural using his hands to control everything, so it might still take some more time for him to get used to using his mind to control things. But because Tang Gon, despite being a developer was never truly a gamer, he left it off. He was the type to enjoy simplicity in life. Other times, he was very extravagant, but this was simply his personality. One that was very contradicting and would often switch from one to another rather quickly. One might call him an eccentric, but the reality of the matter was that Tang Gon did what he wanted with little care for others. Sure, he did go out of his way to help those in trouble, but as it was more troublesome than it was worth, Tang Gon spent the majority of his time getting by in life. Anyway, Tang Gon turned on the Numerical Value, which appeared after turning on the Visual Functions. Tang Gon was unsure of what both of the settings did as there were no messages or notifications that appeared to teach him, so he just kept it on, waiting to see if anything happens. He waited for a few minutes expecting something to happen, but seeing that nothing was happening, Tang Gon went back to digging around the system some more. Other than what he already knew and found, Tang Gon had also discovered a second version of the status bar. When he turned that on, a red heath bar and a blue stamina bar appeared directly above his head. Both were full and there was no sign of anything dropping. Believing that was the last thing hidden by the system, Tang Gon, satisfied, got off from the systems interface and started enjoying the peaceful surroundings. And because he was feeling rather simple today, Tang Gon turned off the two additional settings in the system. But before he could do anything further, a loud rustle from the other side of the bank was heard. It was slightly adjacent to the area where Tang Gon was sitting down. A dense bush hid him from whatever was coming out. Taking small steps back as to not attract any attention, Tang Gon safely retreated without any harm. Moving the leaves in front of him, Tang Gon took a peek of what was in front of his line of sight. Only now did he notice that the system had rung earlier. Recently, his train of thought and his actions of daydreaming seems to have stopped him from paying attention to any alerts offered up by the system. Just as he was about to get in the right mood to enjoy mother nature, the system had to suddenly ring, completely breaking his rhythm. This was his way of putting it, but as he was lost in his thoughts again, Tang Gon could only blame the system. Three figures soon appeared out of the underbrush, all three judging solely on their height appeared to have been men. As they wore dark coverings that covered the entirety of their face and any other discernable body parts, Tang Gon couldn''t see anything. The three men were dressed in some sort of green coverings that matched the shading and shadowing of the forest, enabling them to better hide and cover within the surroundings. One had almost noticed Tang Gon. Luck, however, was still on his side as none of them appeared to have made any move in his general direction. Two rushed to the stream and went to fill up their canteens, the other one in the meantime kept watch of their surroundings. After they were done, they would switch. The small showing of communication without actual communication was proof enough that they were trained. After finishing, they left as quickly as they appeared. Tang Gon finally seeing some sign of human life, quickly followed them. He ended up taking a detour around the stream in order to not attract any other attention. The three that he had seen seemed to have been a part of some bigger party as there was no reason for people in tracking suits to just wander around. There was definitely something going on and Tang Gon was happy to follow them and find out who they were and what was going on. As the main mission of the System was currently shrouded in question marks, Tang Gon could only make his way by following major developments. This based on the amount of secrecy the three kept was more than enough reason for him to follow. 13 Ore Scouts [Gremlin Nests] [Hordes] Notifications from the system appeared in front of Tang Gon. Just as he was about to question the system, several gremlins jumped down from the treetop holding nothing but pointed sticks. At the same time, more gremlins popped out from his side. They were very similar in build to the goblins, except for the occasional few being covered in fur or leaves. This being the first battle, Tang Gon quickly sent out his monsters. [Amazonian Death Tiger] [Frigid Ice Shadow Demon] [Pyro Snake] As the Flaming Swordsman was still on restriction, Tang Gon was only able to send out three of the four monsters he had. Fearing the worst of what was to come, Tang Gon shouted for them to quickly finish it off while imagining it to be a simple victory. A flash of light and the three monsters in his head quickly appeared in front of him, protecting him from the advances of the gremlins. The gremlins almost in shock at the sudden appearance of new unfamiliars screeched out in outrage. The Amazonian Death Tiger upon seeing the steady circling of gremlins, quickly lept out, tackling a random gremlin in the process of doing so. Seeing the sight of his Amazonian Death Tiger tearing the gremlin directly in half made Tang Gon relieved. ADT as Tang Gon would call it, directly pounced on the gremlins one after another. It made use of all its current tools to tear, rip, and shred the gremlins apart. The Frigid Ice Shadow Demon and the Pyro Snake, however, kept close to Tang Gon and made no efforts of straying far from him. The Frigid Ice Shadow Demon acted as a guard, taking the majority of the hits aimed at them. The Pyro Snake from time to time would spit out flames, directly incinerating one or two gremlins in the surroundings. As they strived to clean up the remaining Gremlins in the surrounding area, Tang Gon soon realized that more and more were appearing around them. The screeches of one Gremlin made Tang Gon realize that he was traveling deeper and deeper into their nests. Fearing for the worst and remembering the destructive flame he purchased the night prior, Tang Gon quickly aimed at the one gremlin as a way to prevent further attention. The flame covered one of the gremlins, making it screech in pain. And almost as if by making an example of one, the rest soon retreated in a hurry. Tang Gon glanced at the system. Dead gremlins littered the ground near him. Looking up into the sky, Tang Gon frowned and disappeared from the area, leaving the carcasses on the ground. A few moments later, the bodies had also disappeared, leaving the green blood as the only indication of what happened there. After Tang Gon left, the man on top of the nearby hill, secretly recording everything came out. The system deemed him as no threat whatsoever as there was simply too great of a distance between Tang Gon and the hill that he was on top of. The man on top of the hilltop, shrouded in greenery, was known as Hailer. He was part of the Ore Scout Party that was recently sent out by the Gear Empire to explore and keep a watch on the comings and goings inside the Gremlin Forest. And it was only by chance that he had spotted Tang Gon strolling around, while he himself was out patrolling the areas nearby. From there, he started following Tang Gon around, believing him to be a suspicious and dangerous character. He made sure to keep a wide enough distance between him and Tang Gon. Even then, Hailer made sure that he would be able to quickly escape if he was sighted. It truly wasn''t Tang Gon''s fault of being mistaken as an evil-doer, but to Hailer, it was strange and equally suspicious that someone was just calmly taking a stroll in such a dangerous place. Especially right now, considering that things have been tense between the Hart Empire and Gear Empire. But luckily there was still the Gremlin Forest, directly situated between the two nations, acting as a natural barrier separating the two from war. But while the forest prevented each of them from attacking each other, they still had many other dangers to deal with. Specifically the gremlins and other monsters that would come out to attack. Hence, the unspoken alliance between the two nations protecting the edges of the forest. Many were stationed around the edges of the forest, making sure no gremlins would sneak past and wreak chaos in the towns and villages. Hailer, however, was a part of the group who were stationed inside the forest, keeping a track of the major events happening inside, like the birth of a new monster that could affect the future of the empire or an old beast awakening from its long slumber. These were just a few of the many things that the Ore Scouts were in charge of inside the Gremlin forest. The other things inside were better left unsaid and unknown. But what even the common people know is that there are many dangerous things inside, more dangerous than the gremlins. Some, thousands of times more dangerous and capable of wreaking havoc than the gremlins. But for the most part, these strong monsters wouldn''t bother anyone as long as nothing bothers it. Generally, it was these small gremlins that caused the most problems. They were like goblins, parasites, constantly spawning more and more when conditions were met. With spring coming around, humidity would be higher, causing more rainfall, and that would lead to gremlins breeding from being in contact with the rain, hence the increase of guards around the place. Not to mention that the two empires were preparing the annual sweeping campaign in the forest to keep the gremlins from overpopulating. Hailer was one of the many elites sent out into the forest ahead of time to scout. But even then, it was truly shocking to see anyone daring enough to walk out in the open. Let alone, how somehow being this deep into the forest could stay so clean. One shouldn''t compare oneself. Hailer had to hide and cover himself as he patrolled, jumping into the nearest bushes every time he heard a growl or grunt. His clothes were a mess. And he had just washed them the night before. But what Hailer didn''t know was that Tang Gon had transmigrated over yesterday. And for the most part, he was in the system, away from the outdoors. From the moment, he first spotted Tang Gon, he had secretly recorded everything from the start with the recording crystal that each scout was assigned to use for important events. Only their unit were given crystals, as crystals were scarce and limited. It was only because they needed to have a way to record important information, that they were given such rare commodities. At first, Hailer only followed Tang Gon believing that he was a spy sent out from one of the other powerful nations. But the way Tang Gon carried himself quickly made him change his mind, re-evaluating Tang Gon as a crazy person. He didn''t take any action, instead, Hailer continued to follow Tang Gon, carefully paying attention to his every movement, watching exactly what he was doing. For all he knew, Tang Gon might have been an eccentric expert. But even then, Hailer still believed Tang Gon to be suspicious and dangerous. Who in their right mind would be out in the open in such a dangerous place? But what pushed Hailer over the edge was when he saw Tang Gon repeatedly tap the air in from of him, at times the left, at the right. From there Tang Gon was then marked as a crazy person by Hailer, a completely unstable person. But once again, these things truly wasn''t his fault. There was nothing Tang Gon could do, the system was only visible to him, and when he was going through the systems interface, it had genuinely looked like he was repeatedly tapping the air. ... After the final gremlin was slain, and Tang Gon disappeared from the spot, Hailer believing that his time was up, stealthy sped away. He took his time as he made his way back to the main camp, but even with Hailer taking his time avoiding all the creatures that he met, it still took him a good half an hour. He was quite skillful in making sure that no-one was following him, at times taking detours through open grounds and through rapid waters to evade anyone following him. These were just some of the steps ingrained to him when he was trained, making sure that no-one was following him when returning. Completely dirty and drenched, Hailer finally made his way back to camp. 14 Hailer The furball, otherwise known as the unconventional clicker to Tang Gon hasn''t shown up in a while. The system, unlike the previous time, did not summon the furball for Tang Gon. Nor was there any way for Tang Gon to make the system summon it. From time to time, Tang Gon would see shadows of it pop out of the trees or in the bushes off in the distance. Every time he would try to approach it, the furball would just magically disappear. It was always too quick and ran away before Tang Gon had any way to react to it. Seeing the furball once again, Tang Gon having learned his lesson, quickly summoned his Pyro Snake. The Pyro Snake following his command lunged at the furball and wrapped around it, preventing it from escaping. This time, Tang Gon was successful in capturing it. Rushing towards the Pyro Snake that held the furball in its grasp, Tang Gon quickly grabbed it afraid that it would disappear once again. This time, upon contact with Tang Gon, the furball started glowing. Before he knew it, the furball gave off a warm bright light and disappeared. [+50 Clicker Points] The system was starting to get on Tang Gon''s nerves. The previous time was him petting it and gaining 20 some clicker points easily, but now he had to actively search and catch it. This was not getting easier for him. The 50 plus clicker points, however, was in fact an added bonus. While this couldn''t compare to the bonus clicker points he received as part of his beginner''s bag, this was still a considerable amount. [Tracker -10 Clicker Points] Tang Gon cheerfully laughed as he watched the scout leave his sight. There was no way he was going to let the scout get away this easily. ... The encampment was situated south of a nearby stream, right off of the leveled plain. As resource was scarce, the main camp had to essentially live off of the land. The proximity to the stream provided them the use of water and the occasional fish for meals. Sometimes, there would be wandering animals that approached too close, giving them the opportunity to hunt them down, providing meat, lard, fur, and other items that were scarce, but high in demand. The scout unaware of being tracked by Tang Gon and his system made his way to the main camp, prepared to show the commander of the dangers and harm Tang Gon just caused their camp when he entered the gremlin nest. Seeing the site just over the horizon Hailer ran forward. He was finally there. It wasn''t that far, but in the forest, one always needed to be careful. Careful of everything. Pitfalls, quicksand, hordes, and poisonous plants were some of the few dangers that they had to be careful of when going in. These alone claimed the lives of many of the soldiers stationed there. As a result, the recruitment stations were open at the start of every month. The only requirement was to prove their strengths. Very little training was involved and as long as they could fight, they could join. The military structure of the empire was more profit-oriented, operating more as a mercenary guild with military structure. Because the empire was involved in the manufacturing of ores and production, they shared a close relationship with merchants, traders, and dealers. The work was dangerous, but the considerable benefits offered by the empire lured in many people. The majority of which came from poor families or were orphans that had nowhere to go. This was where most members of the lower society came to rise to the top. As long as they survive for enough years, they could then maintain a comfortable position as a sentry or even a captain of the guards in a small town nearby. From there they would earn enough coppers and silvers to comfortably get by. There was the occasional beer on the weekends and excess splurges on holidays with extra side dishes. The yearly campaign was a way that the current empire maintained its power. Although it was filled with gremlins and other minor hordes, there were considerable benefits to attacking and raiding the monsters. By using the monster population to its advantage, the current empire bolstered their combat force and advancements. For one, this protected the nearby towns that lived off of mining the nearby forestry and metal veins. The second was that the army was able to collect the valuables that the Gremlins and other monsters had a habit of hoarding and stealing. The forest was extremely dangerous and forced those to be in a constant state of caution. Hailer was just one of the many scouts recruited and sent out. Before he knew it, Hailer was in front of the main camp. Along the way, he heard the workers pounding the ground and constructing wooden barriers. The sounds of construction rang out with the workers busy and making sure everything was in working condition. People watched as Hailer raced in from the gate. The majority of them kept to themselves as this was just another regular occurrence. Scouts went out every day, trying to keeping track of the events occurring in the forest and any indications of dangers coming. Approaching the gate, he saw that there were a lot more people here today than any other day. Most of them were people he had never seen before this day. Servants, minor officials, and guards crowded the camp. Hailer soon came to a slow walk. He kept his head low, but his ears high. As he walked, he managed to eavesdrop on a nearby conversation. Something about talks of dignitaries coming by to inspect the conditions of the camp. Not sure whether this was the time or not, Hailer began to pace back and forth in front of the main tent. Finally deciding that it was important enough, Hailer walked in. He flashed his badge to the two guards and pushed them aside. After walking in, he saw several high ranking officials sitting around a table. His commander was one of them, sitting there and making small talk. A servant poured drinks just as he walked in. Seeing all the officials, Hailer felt that he was interrupting something important. By then, it was already too late to make himself small and unnoticeable. Building up his confidence and knowing the importance of what he had just recorded, Hailer quickly spoke up. "Commander, something happened in the forest! Someone disturbed the gremlin nests three miles south!" "Insolent! Report that to your commanding officer." The commander while mild-tempered for the most part was currently tense and on edge after dealing with inspectors all morning. Hailer seeing that the current situation was not in his favor, quickly tried to bring it out. Fumbling around in his jacket, Hailer took out the recorder and presented it to one of the attendants to appease the commander. A minor official noticing the awkward atmosphere currently going on stood up and took the crystal from Hailer. Aware of the frowns on several other members'' faces, the minor official quickly set it to play. A scene of Tang Gon soon appeared, all covered in scratches and covered with dirt. Tattered in rags, Tang Gon looked like a lost traveler or perhaps an explorer of ruins. Both were possible assumptions of what profession he was, but the lack of supplies caused them to look down on him as someone unfit and dependent on luck. Several seconds passed and the officials watched the scene with little interest as Tang Gon just kept walking, doing nothing out of the ordinary. Hailer, on the other hand, was nervous and had cold sweat lined on his back. The commander kept glaring at him, thinking of what punishment should be dealt out. A while longer, just as they were getting bored, the commander noticed that gremlins were soon appearing, stalking Tang Gon. More and more gremlins appeared. The gremlins screeched and circled Tang Gon, threatening him with their makeshift weapons. "Idiot. He''s just going to get torn apart." "Another nobody trying to gain fame." "There must be a good reason for him to show this to us." "Quiet down and just watch. Just consider it to be a show." Words of insult were hurled at Tang Gon but quickly settled down once they saw that the commander said nothing. The commander, despite remaining calm, had a migraine at the trouble this scout had just brought him. Regardless of the outcome of the video, he was going to be required to take action. Before long, the scene of Tang Gon summoning his monsters and burning the gremlins reenacted. Summoning circles appeared around Tang Gon and flames covered everything in the video. The sudden shift of their expectations changing caused their expression to be in shock at what they had seen. While gremlins were one of the weakest monsters and it was possible for anyone to fight back, the proximity to the hordes nest could overpower anyone. A certain level of skill regardless of strength was required to escape the gremlins, much less decimate an entire nest of gremlins. The speed that Tang Gon took out the gremlins shocked them and the array of monsters and fire caused them to be wary. 15 Lower Disguise Unbeknownst to the group of officials and guards around them, Tang Gon was already in the tent with them. He was standing in the corner of the room, just in front of one of the furniture pieces. He was carefully watching the group and gauging the expression of those sitting down. Even he did not expect the scout to have recorded everything. As the crystal took a while to process the image, the system did not take notice of the scout until the recording was stopped. Even then, it was a scary thought to realize that the system did not take notice of all dangers such as those recording him. Luckily, he followed the scout and realized this sooner than later. The purchase of the [Lower Disguise] from the system was more than worth it. The item cost him 100 Clicker points, but he was able to infiltrate the tent in return, disguised as one of the attendants. It allowed him to perfectly blend in without anyone taking notice. As there were so many attendants, it wasn''t that difficult to join in. The clicker points earned were dependent on his actions, sometimes even when there was no mission or reward, his actions as long as it aligned with the goal of the system would earn him points. But this wasn''t where he got the extra points that allowed him to take advantage of the system''s store. The points he earned came from his tracking of the scout. While following him, Tang Gon was able to capture three more furballs. This resulted in an additional 150 clicker points, more than enough for him to purchase the [Lower Disguise]. Along the way, he had seen a furball of a different color, though it disappeared too fast. Following this process, the only logical conclusion he could draw from this event was that there were grades of rarity concerning the furballs. And considering the system''s style, the color of the furball equates to its rarity, which in turn results in a higher return of clicker points. The way the system keeps dealing out new information, kept Tang Gon on the edge. But currently, this wasn''t what he was worried about. The image of himself covered in grime made Tang Gon laugh awkwardly as he looked like a beggar. Everyone was paying attention to the crystal, so his soft laughter went unnoticed. After finishing the recording, Hailer stepped forward and took the crystal back from the minor official. He stood there with his head lowered and waited for the commander to address him. Noticing no reply, Hailer looked up at the commander and those officials around him. None of them talked, but all of them looked like they were deep in thought. The commander alone, had his brows arched down and veins could be seen coming from the top of his forehead. The recording stressed him out, but what could he do. The commander finally gathering his thoughts, spoke up addressing Hailer. "For crimes of intrusion, you will be dealt with accordingly. As it is standard, a rank deduction of subgrade will be deducted from your current rank." Some were shocked at the severity of the punishment. Even though it was a subgrade, the deduction in rank would be recorded in all reports. The punishment did match the crime as any leak of information could potentially cause great damage. However, this wasn''t wartime nor was it currently in a state of emergency. The commander was dealing out the punishments and rewards following the emergency state. While this did serve as a deterrent for those who try to act recklessly, it also prevented those from forming bonds and making connections. No matter how unreasonable it was, the commander had his way of doing it. Before anyone could further react, the commander continued "Likewise, for your exemplary performance, you will be awarded 10 Gold Bullocks and an increase in major grade. " Just a moment ago, he was angered at the demotion, but the sudden major grade promotion shone upon him. The sudden increase in a major grade right after a minor setback was Hailer''s happiest moment. Even though he knew that he had no right to be angry, then happy, his expression gave him away. The commander saw his train of thoughts but did nothing to further it. The punishment was to be expected as Hailer knew that barging in was a crime and considering the nature of who he interrupted, the punishment was to be expected. The commander was fair, but also very strict with the rules. Going off of his nature, severe punishment was expected. Luckily, the nature of the commander caused him to separate the reward from the punishment. This way, the commander made sure that Hailer did not lose his reward. Likewise, the punishment was more of a paper record and a shock than anything truly harming to his career. Then if one was to look at the material award of ten gold coins, it was quite a substantial amount. A single gold coin was more than enough for a person to live lavishly for several months. That same gold coin if used sparingly by a family of four could be extended into several years. The gold coin in the eye of the commander, although quite a bit and well deserved by Hailer, was a small fraction of his total income. As one climbs higher in the ranking, the gap between each rank increases as does the difficulty. The monetary income along with other benefits such as future prospects widens with each climb up. The rank between a common scout and a commander was barely attainable, but when that gap is compared to the status of a noble youth in terms of wealth, the gap becomes unreachable. Regardless of this gap, what commoners were more worried about was how they could spread their money as best as they could. Simply put, if he were smart with his money and invested in an inn, Hailer could potentially secure the income of his family for generations to come. After daydreaming for a bit, Hailer stepped back and escaped out of the tent. The officials, only now waking up from their shock started chattering nonstop. "Dangerous. He will certainly be a threat. We need to quickly get rid of him." "No, we can not make any rash actions. What we need to do is to get him on our side. " "But such a person can not be controlled that easily." "He can as long as we know his weakness." "And what would you propose that to be?" "We can try to entice him with wealth, prestige, or women. I don''t care what it is as long as it can work." "Wouldn''t it be easier to threaten him with something than such an unsure method." Tang Gon at the moment trembled slightly in fear. The very image of these men exploiting him made him fearful, but also angered at their talks. It seemed like they thought this was just a matter of when and how. Not any case of whether it was a possibility, but how much trouble it will take. Tang Gon wasn''t ready to show his appearance as he would be interrupting their plan of enslaving him. He still wanted to hear what else they got to say. There was something about these peoples. The commander and the official were not any worry for Tang Gon. But what really did worry him was the fragile boy sitting there surrounded by those giants. The ones with sabers crossed across their back and several daggers hanging from their sides. If that wasn''t enough, each of them carried themselves with confidence. The fragile boy was rather pale and despite looking fragile, sat upright with just as much confidence as those that guarded him. Before Tang Gon could make a move to escape, one of the giants taking note of his actions stared him down. Tang Gon unsure of how to respond was stuck in a mid-step. He could only place his foot back down and return to his spot in order to cause the rest not to pay further attention to him only served to backfire on him. His actions caused the boy to look at him carefully in concentration. Neither was backing down, but after Tang Gon realized the position he was supposed to be in, he hurriedly looked down. But by then, it was already too late. "Who are you?" A single question from the boy caused the others to stop their chit chat and focus their attention on the attendant. One of the minor officials off to the side, trying his best to get in the good books with the fragile boy answered for Tang Gon. "He seems to be an attendant, my lord. There should be nothing for you to be worried about." "Quiet! I wasn''t asking you." He directed his gaze back at Tang Gon. The minor official, fearing to say anything else, stayed quiet. Tang Gon only trying to play his part in the disguise could only play his role as one of the attendants. Tang Gon steadily calmed his heart and answered subserviently. 16 Journey as a Butler "My lord, I apologize for my transgressions. Please do not take offense should I''ve offended you." This was the only thing Tang Gon could think of when he was directly questioned. He was slightly nervous, but seeing all the eyes on him only made him more confident. Life is a play that does not allow testing. So sing, cry, dance, laugh, and live intensely before the curtain closes and the piece ends with no applause. As if taken aback by Tang Gon''s confidence, the only thing the officials could do was stare and stay quiet as everything played out. As this was currently the young lord''s conversation, they did nothing but carefully watch. They were unsure if they should step in as the lord seems to be quite interested in this servant. Though, that wasn''t to say that the boy was not in shock. He seemed to be in even more shock than any of the others sitting around. Unprepared for such an answer, he stared at Tang Gon for a while longer. [Indomitable Presence Detected] [Pressure Detected] [Negate Pressure] Tang Gon, while paying attention to the young lord made sure that he kept his head slightly lowered. His stance was unwavering underneath the stare of the young lord. Although the stare was from an eight-year-old child, it was still unnerving considering that he was brought up with a noble''s disposition. [Yes/No] [Pressure Negated] Even at such a young age, the pressure that came off of the boy shocked the officials and made the other servants tremble with fear. Although the stare was directed at Tang Gon, the surrounding aftereffects pervaded the air and condensed in the hearts of the other servants. As a result, the attendants who had weak physiques were soon trembling and covered in cold sweat. The giants and other guardians had it slightly better than those attendants. These were powerful warriors sent out to protect the young lord, but even then, there were a few shaking from time to time. As they were warriors trained in protecting the young lord, they had very little to fear. Tang Gon, unlike the others, was entirely calm and peaceful as he stood there. Nothing seemed to be capable of fazing him or changing the gentle smile Tang Gon wore on his face. The boy noticing that his pressure did not affect Tang Gon, finally decided to release it Realizing that the silence had gone on long enough, the boy as if believing it to be a privilege for them stated. "Name." The voice was barely audible, but Tang Gon was already paying very close attention to the boy; listening very carefully, so this was no trouble. Tang Gon calmly took it into stride and responded at a steady pace, neither too quickly nor too slowly. "Tang Gon, my lord. This servant''s name is Tang Gon, my lord." Flashing a quick smile, the small boy laughed as he told Tang Gon his name. "You will follow me from this day forth. Brooke Everglades. Remember it." Tang Gon deciding that this was the best option for him currently, who had no awareness of the land and no clue on the mission of the system, quickly agreed. He maintained his upright professional stance and gently bowed down to the young lord with a smile. Deciding to make the best of this situation, Tang Gon ordered for the system to make it work. A dark shadow soon enveloped Tang Gon, only an outline of Tang Gon could be seen. Just as the shadow fell, a strong gust of wind appeared and surrounded him, making it so that no one was able to get close. [-50 Clicker Points] Although the process of transformation was rather detailed and extensive, the process took no longer than a second or two. Before the guards or the giants could react, Tang Gon stood back up and stepped out of the shadow. The moment he did, the shadow along with the strong gusts of wind disappeared. In the place of the strong gust stood Tang Gon entirely decked out in black and perfectly playing the role of a traditional butler. He was dressed very conservatively and formally. His uniform consisted of a waistcoat, a black trouser, a Windsor white shirt and a short black tie tucked within his uniform. "Demon." The voice had barely escaped from one of the official''s mouth before one of those nearby motioned for him to be quiet. Another as if echoing this statement agreed and somehow without hesitation also whispered it out. "Demon." The others in response to the two''s statements tried their best to make themselves smaller. Some slouched down in their seats, others slowly retreated, some were paralyzed in fear, and several others stood down shaking in fear. Tang Gon was still smiling as he took in the sight of those trembling and others shaking. The only one that wasn''t shaking or begging for mercy was that Everglade boy. [Waiting Points: 150 Clicker Points] [+50 Clicker Points] [Collect] [Yes/No] [Yes] A sudden notification rang out from the system. It was now time to collect his dues. The Pyro Snake was still out there catching the furballs and just now it had caught another one. Even now, the snake was still hunting, and as far as Tang Gon could see there was no limit on the distance of summoning. Holding out his hand, Tang Gon watched as the furballs to appear. This time, the furballs, miniaturized, as they appeared out of thin air on top of Tang Gon''s hand. [+50 Clicker Points] [+50 Clicker Points] [+50 Clicker Points] [+50 Clicker Points] A total of 200 Clicker Points soon entered Tang Gon''s system. The upper right-hand corner quickly added up those additional 200 points. Tang Gon had been waiting for the points and seeing that everything was prepared decided that it was finally time. The very second the points entered the system, Tang Gon gave a quick nod. The system aware of his every action took that as a sign and went to purchase the item. [Memory Fog Selected] [-200 Clicker Points] [Purchase Complete] Each time, the system would give back a different response. Sometimes it would say nothing and complete his purchase, other times it was quite wordy. This time, it felt normal enough for Tang Gon. Either way, he gave no response after the ding and notification from the system. A misty, yet dense fog soon appeared from around Tang Gon''s body. It appeared from the ground, the ceiling, and every place imaginable around Tang Gon. Its movements were quite fast and before those could respond, it had already covered the room. Those still inside the camp screamed as they attempted to run out. Their voices, however, remained trapped in the room. Everything turned white, nothing could be seen when looking around. Those that were running and trying to find the exit were soon frozen in place. The fog had managed to stop them completely. The only one that was still capable of moving, besides Tang Gon, was the boy. Brooke was scared, the fear was evident on his face. Even then he tried his best to not let it show. But because of his young age, any attempt of hiding his emotions was difficult and strenuous for Brooke. Tang Gon, completely ignored him, watched as the fog entered the heads of those in the camp. It was shocking even for Tang Gon as he watched the system set everything up. But after waking up in that cave and spending already several days in this forsaken place, there wasn''t much he could do besides going along with the system. Even his current actions did not feel like his own. His facial expression and voice no longer felt like his. In a way, it very felt like he was being taken over by the system. Yet, despite all of this, he knew that he was still strong and in complete control. Nothing was holding him back and nothing stopped him from doing what he wanted to. Rather, it felt like the system was guiding his actions, giving him a vivid image of the choices he could potentially make. Regardless of what he was experiencing, Tang Gon knew that now was not the time. There was still that boy he had to take care of. Finishing up his thoughts, Tang Gon walked meticulously towards the boy, every step with ease and precision. Giving him a careful look in the eye, Tang Gon purposefully took his time as he resumed his position off to the side of Brooke. The minute he stopped, everyone returned to their previous position. The officials were sitting back down and the guards were once again stationed around the place. Everything remained the same, save for their memories which were altered. They longer remembered anything about Tang Gon, the scout, or the recording crystal. And as if time never stopped, the officials continued their conversation regularly. Nothing was off about it. Brooke, however, remained aware of everything that happened. His earlier actions seemed presumptuous when he looked back on it. 17 500 Clicker Points Conversation resumed with the current talks of energy use discovered in the surrounding forest. Everything was placed back on a loop. The only one aware of it besides Tang Gon was Brooke, who he did not bother to fog. "We are two months away from enriching the uranium source encampment located on the southern front of the Higher Mountains." "But some of those reserves are on densely populated areas." "Then un-populate them. The new energy will surely bring greater benefits and stability to the nation. It can be used to replace the current energy source at a cheaper and more stable cost. That is also including the cost of researching the mechanics of it." "After that, there may even be military utilization of the uranium source. Think of how concentrated the energy is. A small percentage of it can be used to instill greater efficiency and constructs within the military." "No. There can not be any more of that. Think of the consequence should it be disclosed and spread to the other nations. At this moment, there can not be talks of this new energy. I simply will not allow it. This should end here." ... Brooke glanced back at the unfamiliar figure now standing off to his side. There must be a reason why this person did what he did and kept it a secret. It wasn''t like he could scream and run, he knew better than that. The mysterious fog was more than enough proof for what happened and the strengths of the person behind it. Despite, knowing that, Brooke could not stop himself from looking at the mysterious stranger. No prominent features, everything despite being so close was shrouded in shadows. Brooke could see Tang Gon, but every time he tried to focus on that face, it would disappear. Tang Gon, on the other hand, was thinking about what the system had in store for him and the newly released notifications and messages indicating Brooke to be the target of his mission. Everything had to have a reason as long Tang Gon was concerned, even more, if it came from the system. It had to be repeated and instilled into Tang Gon that the system and everything it had was one of a kind and powerful beyond imagination. Take the Defantius Sword Skill, for example, it allowed Tang Gon to master a sword skill without any form of experience or knowledge. What was more amazing was the extra bonuses attached to the skill. One skill had entirely raised his strength by a level or rank or whatever it was called now. There was even a bonus of subtlely masking his physique. Not to mention, raising his awareness, concentration, and other skills. Tang Gon noticing the boy''s stare, smiled and retreated a pace back. His earlier actions of swiping everyone''s memory was surprisingly useful, everything they were talking about referred to a new application of energy that they were still unfamiliar with. This had to do with the mission that was released earlier. His actions were not based merely on a whim. Instead, the system had released something about a dense indication of aura and that was what led Tang Gon to Brooke. Everything after that was a matter of Tang Gon''s choice of getting close with whatever this dense energy was. The green indicator that appeared on top of Brooke''s head for that single second was more than enough for Tang Gon to make that decision. "It''s getting late, we should head back. General Lin, it is about time for us to leave. Tomorrow at sunrise, we will be off by then. Until then, we will have to trouble your camp for a while longer." "Of course, it is no trouble. Should you need anything, please bring it to our notice. I won''t bother with the formalities any longer. Have a good rest and I hope to see one last time before you leave." With that, the officials left. Brooke left. The Giant Guards also rose up and followed Brooke out. The only person falling behind was Tang Gon, but even then, he left before anything could be asked about him. There were maybe 20-30 officials that left the place and maybe 15 Giants following. It was a confusing number, officials would pop in at indeterminate intervals and the Giants were rotated repetitively on a shifting schedule. Regardless, Brooke got on to one of the carriages and returned back to his personal space. The Giants and other guards followed behind in several small carriages. Tang Gon ignored all of them and shifted in the back of one of the carriages. The second he got on, the [Ding!] notification from the system was heard. Apparently he had completed another mission. The details of the missions, however, were getting more vague as time passed. [Brooke] [Accept Rewards 1. +500 Clicker Points 2. +5 All Stats 3. Select Drawing] Making sure no one was around, Tang Gon accepted the Rewards. "The system is rather generous with this. Accept." [+500 Clicker Points] [Added +5 to all Stats] Tang Gon watched as the clicker points and stats were added to his information profile. Currently, he was sitting at a base level of around 0-10. But the stats greatly increased everything about Tang Gon. Another [Ding!] resounded, reminding Tang Gon he still had one more reward. [Prepare Drawing?] [Yes/No?] [Yes] [Summoner''s Key Unlocked] [???] [Use] Considering that this was still the earlier stage of his adventure, Tang Gon decided to wait until he needed to use the Key. Making that as his final decision, Tang Gon relaxed at the back of the carriage, unaware of the troubling thoughts taking place in Brooke''s head. ... About a half-hour later, the carriages slowed down and Tang Gon woke up from the backseat. Although he was asleep, the slightest noises would have awakened him. Brooke did not bother calling out for, so there really wasn''t much for Tang Gon to do. The carriage pulled up to a considerably large log cabin. Upon stopping, Tang Gon walked to the front door and opened the door to the carriage, allowing Brooke to walk down. By now, the boy had calmed down and no longer feared Tang Gon as much as he did earlier. But even then, Brooke was reluctant to take Tang Gon''s hands. Instead, he jumped down, ignoring the hand and the stairs. Racing inside, Brooke found it to be as empty as he remembered it to be when he first arrived a month ago. Tang Gon taking notice of the boy''s mood dismissed the other servants and guards stationed here and there. The servants and other workers now knew that Tang Gon was in charge simply because of his attitude and more of his dressed attire. Brooke placed himself down on the couch and watched the flames flicker in the fire. The atmosphere was rather somber, but Tang Gon ignored it while standing there in place. It was ridiculous, but Tang Gon knew this was another role that he would have to play according to the system. "Why are you here?" the quiet whisper drifted out of Brooke''s mouth. It was about time some questions were to be asked. Tang Gon was surprised it had even taken that long for them to appear. On the long trip back, he had already prepared all of the answers he would be asked. "A debt." There had to be a reason for everything as far as Tang Gon was concerned, no matter if it was a lie or not. Luckily, the system already offered him the information package. [Brooke Dtls.] [Cost: 500 Clicker Points] [Purchased] No wonder it was so generous with the reward. Everything no matter what had to return back to the system. The clicker points were the best examples of this. "Collect." It was a good thing he was prepared and took that step of allowing the Pyro Snake to hunt. Once again, the little furballs appeared and fell down on top of Tang Gon''s hand. [1x Common] [1x Common] [1x Uncommon] [1x Common] [+250 Clicker Points] This occurred while Tang Gon was talking to Brooke about his debt. To Brooke, this was another form of power that the stranger yielded. To Tang Gon, this was stealing knocking two birds out with one stone. Maintaining close distance with Brooke for the mission and collecting the furballs so as to not need a reason to hide. His powers can be explained as this was the world of Huaxia as far as he was concerned, but some of his abilities would cause him to be hunted down. As long as he played his cards right, Tang Gon will return back to his world without worry. By then, he would have experienced everything and gained unimaginable power, allowing him to do anything he wanted back home. This was redundant considering if he had the power to do anything he wanted here, why would there be any reason to go back besides family and friends. But there was definitely some sort of appeal showcasing his powers back in the modern world or his world. ... Finishing up the story of how there was a time when Brooke''s family saved his life, Tang Gon quieted down, allowing Brooke to fully take in everything. 18 Capital A loud buzzing sound penetrated the camp just as someone shouted it was time to pack up and go back to the capital. Troops standing nearby from the night prior were relieved and leisurely ran to get their supplies before preparing for the trip back to the capital. Tang Gon heard the call and thought it was time to go. He was awake a few hours before the call but was still laying down on the makeshift bed in his part of the room. The last hour of being awake had him staring at the ceiling of the tent and thinking about what else was left. He had just lied about owing a debt to the boy''s family last night on a whim of his and the countless transmigration novels he read, but this was too dangerous and full of loopholes, he had to find a way to get past this sticky situation. Throwing off his blanket, Tang Gon got up from his bed and walked to the bed across from his. Brooke was still sleeping and the blankets that were supposed to be covering him were wrapped across his legs. "Time to wake up." Although Tang Gon was loud and crass for the most part, he had to play a part of a butler. He had introduced himself to the boy like this and it was best not to deviate too much from the role that he placed himself in. Brooke gently woken by Tang Gon, sat up and looked around his room, still tired and groggy from waking up so early. Noticing Tang Gon, however, Brooke was instantly awake. Tang Gon wanting to quicken the process of preparing the child''s morning routine, decided to use the system. "Purchase." [200 Clicker Points Deducted] The loud jeering sound of the system filled his mind and once again a process of light entered his mind. "Clothes Selection." A clear sound came out of Tang Gon''s mouth and filled the room. Brooke looked back at Tang Gon and saw that the stranger was similarly looking back at him. The scary thing was it looked as if he owed the stranger a large amount of money. A quick light shot out of Tang Gon''s hand and covered Brooke. A few seconds later and Brooke was completely clothed in a new outfit. It was simple and looked to be a traditional black and white outfit similar to the one Tang Gon wore last night. The only contrast was that there were additional details and outfits that paired with the one he was wearing. Brooke was momentarily surprised, but considering the circumstances that he met Tang Gon in, this was the least of his worries. Not to mention how he was still a child and the things Tang Gon did was not as impactful as they would be to an adult. Putting this out of his mind, Brooke just let Tang Gon take care of these minor details as he just gained a servant. ... Tang Gon helped Brooke into the carriage and disappeared in a wisp of shadows. [+200 Clicker Points] A surprising notification sounded out from the system to Tang Gon. Confused, Tang Gon asked the system, "Check Feed." [-200 Clicker Points] [Clothes Selection Purchased] [+200 Clicker Points] [Brooke] Scrolling through the feed, Tang Gon checked the past half hour to see if there was anything new that popped up that could explain the additional 200 Points he had just received. The only thing that came to his head was what he did just before the points arrived. The skill [Shadow Splurge] was used. It was a more recent purchased skill that had many uses, but the only use that Tang Gon had in mind was maintaining appearances and keeping the kid on his toes. "This is too confusing and scary. I just want a peaceful life in the countryside while rolling in thousands of Gold Coins." A sad sobbing was heard from the back of the carriage where Tang Gon was hiding. Of course, the words that were let out by him were all his inner thoughts and were not said out loud. The sad sobbing was his coping mechanism with poverty, but based off of the riches that he would snag from following this noble around, the sob was fake and muttered to a point where no one would hear it. This was the start of the thousand-mile journey back into the capital. For the most part of the trip, it should be peaceful as the current kingdom is stable, and without internal fighting. [-Insuffiecent Clicker Points] A ring sounded out while Tang Gon was trying to buy another item from the shop interface. Although there was a physical store that could be entered, Tang Gon still preferred the intangible screen from the system. A sigh escaped from Tang Gon while he looked at the hills. There was nothing to do and the amounts of furballs in the nearby distance decreased as he traveled. The Pyro Snake that he had out in the wild hunting for these furballs, returned back to the system after several hours and hundreds of miles passed. This was the world of Huaxia and nothing could be judged by the standards of the old world. The beasts that were pulling on the carriage were racing while following the main camp, but even then the carriage remained stable and without interruption as it floated and was dragged by the beasts upfront. Although the monsters looked normal enough, they were huge compared to any beasts of burden back home. Even Tang Gon was surprised when he first saw them, but because he had used the mask, the tiniest bit of emotion was controlled. There were so many new things in this world that were waiting to be searched and sought out, but as of right now, Tang Gon could not care any less. For the remaining of the morning, the carriage had been following the main camp and traveling on the road. There was nothing interesting that could be described. It was just a repeat of the previous scenery. Brooke who was laying inside had already fallen asleep several times and had just fallen asleep a few minutes ago. Tang Gon seeing that the source of entertainment that he had found was dead with sleep, decided to look over the system. He had looked at his skills and his stats for the hundredth time but there really was nothing to do. This was the only way he could think of to pass the time. Tang Gon shouted out to the system, "Status Check" A list of his skills popped out in a listing order of when he acquired them. [Defantis Sword Scripture] [Blaze] [Shadow Splurge] [Clone] [Split] [Clothe Selection] There were some day to day skills that were not listed, but for the most part, these were the ones that he had most recently used. The Sword Scripture for one was used during the hunt for furballs and gremlins. The others were rather recently purchased when he got the clicker points for the furball and for killing the monsters for experience and resources. ... Half a month had passed before the party had reached the walls of the capital city. For these weeks of travel, Tang Gon had been butlering, raising, and taking care of Brooke''s everyday needs from feeding to washing. At first, it was weird for both of them, but because Tang Gon was emotionally stunted in the face by the after-effects of Lower Disguise and because Brooke was an awkward mature child they soon entered a silent relationship. A side note from the system was that the effects of the Lower Disguise have long since left the Host''s system, but because of using a certain degree fo integration was inevitable, not to mention the amount of shock that contributed to the problem. The majority of emotion from Tang Gon was hidden and as a result, it continued to because of the unknown world. Loud shouts from vendors were heard as the main party passed through the gates. Exotic fruits and trinkets were being sold and marketed by the people. There were everyday citizens of the nation walking about with adventurers in heavy equipment walking and cheerfully talking to the locals. Brooke who has been sleeping more and more over the journey was awake and cheerfully looking out the window. There was a tint of happiness that shone in his face because of returning back to the capital. Even Tang Gon could notice that the city was very welcoming. Everything will calm down soon once their party leaves this market area. A commotion was heard anytime a large group entered the gates, merchants saw these groups as bags of coins. However, the remaining of the guards taking Brooke home was more than enough to persuade the merchants to take their business elsewhere. The troops that were accompanying Brooke had long since left, the ones remaining were the ones sent to protect him. 2 Laymen Term Tang Gon looked around for the tenth time that afternoon. The cave was winding and every step he took was draining his strength. There were no markers that could help him record his path and help him find his way out of the cave. At one point, Tang Gon tried to find the bear that they killed yesterday, but any traces of the bear was gone. It was dragged away by something as there were claw marks on the ground. Tang Gon purposely ignored those marks and walked away from that general area. For something to be able to drag a bear of that size, it had to be strong. Although Tang Gon had the swordsman guarding his sides, there were always exceptions that could lead him to harm. Tang Gon was not scared, but making risky decisions to try and find treasure just for the sake of it was pure stupidity. The system for one, agreed with Tang Gon''s thoughts and at this moment released a new notification. The second it did, all of the other notifications from the last time were released and flooded Tang Gon. The messages poured down on Tang Gon and everything that was ignored during the fight glared at him. [Ding! Congratulations to Host Tang Gon for successfully opening the System''s Gift Pack] [Ding! Would Host like to summon his first warrior ''Swordsman of Forever Burning Flames''] [Yes] [Ding! Congratulations to Host Tang Gon for successfully obtaining his first warrior ''Swordsman of Forever Burning Flames''. The host is now awarded the Status Title of \u003c\u003cStarting Warrior\u003e\u003e ] [Increase Attacking Power Efficiency when Flaming Swordsman is Summoned] [Ding! Congratulations to Host Tang Gon for successfully obtaining his second warrior ''Frigid Ice Shadow Demon''] [Ding! Would Host like to summon his second warrior ''Frigid Ice Shadow Demon''] [Yes/No] [Ding! Congratulations to Host Tang Gon for successfully obtaining his third warrior ''Amazonian Death Tiger''] [Ding! Would Host like to summon his third warrior ''Amazonian Death Tiger''] [Yes/No] [Ding! Congratulations to Host Tang Gon for successfully receiving 100 Clicker Points] [Ding! Congratulations to Host Tang Gon for successfully achieving his first kill. Host is now awarded the Status Title of \u003c\u003cFirst Blood\u003e\u003e ] [Ding! Congratulations to Host Tang Gon for killing 1x Armored Bear. Host is now awarded experience for kill] Tang Gon was ecstatic after reading all of the notices and notifications that popped up from the system. The Flaming Swordsman was not the only summon he received from the Gift Pack, there were two more. The names of the two were terrifying and sounded awesome. Frigid Ice Shadow Demon and an Amazonian Death Tiger? What else could be said about his new summons other than amazing? Tang Gon continued reading the notifications until he stumbled onto the very last one. [Swordsman of Forever Burning Flames temporary sealed] "Wait..." Did it say it''ll seal my swordsman? Scrolling back up and then back down as if he was refreshing the feed from the system, Tang Gon looked once again and saw that it was true. Turning around, he saw it was also true. The Swordsman from earlier was now gone and appeared to be nowhere in sight. This was the ultimate sadness after experiencing the ultimate gains. Tang Gon drooped his head down and laughed softly, "Hehehe..." This could not stop Tang Gon. Although it looked like he had lost his strongest summon back to the system, there were always gains within losses. He still had two more summons, there was no way they could possibly be any worse than the first, right? You lose some, but you will always win the next, right? Tang Gon continued to comfort himself before he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Something large was approaching him from the back and it looked like it was creeping up on him silently and waiting to catch him off guard. Tang continued his act for a second longer and just as the large shadow approached, Tang Gon ran. There was nothing that could stop him from ruling the world, but first, he must survive. All of the notifications from earlier stopped. The shadowy figure from earlier also looked like it had given up on chasing Tang Gon. Noticing that he was once again lost and had fallen deeper into the cave, Tang Gon screamed at the system while trying to be funny. He tried his luck and loudly shouted "Customer Support!" ... The system remained silent and just as Tang Gon was ready to continue his journey of exploring, the system responded. Surprisingly there was one. [Ding! Customer Support! Forum Opened!] Tang Gon glanced at the system and jumped back in surprise, but because the system was attached to him, the screen followed his field of vision. This gave him more of a surprise and caused him to trip on himself before falling on his butt. This couldn''t possibly be real, why would there be a freaking customer support system, much less a forum. I am in a cave, how could there be customer support without any connection to the outside. I am still dreaming right? This has to be a prank, right? Someone answer me.... [FAQ] ... Seriously? All of his earlier calmness was now gone, he had tried to accept everything, but customer support, a forum, and now a FAQ appeared, this was truly the last straw. I mean why would there be a forum, much less freaking customer support here? I know I said that I will try and live a little but isn''t this a little too much. The next thing you''ll tell me is that I struck the jackpot for the lottery or something... Silence filled the empty cave as he stood still waiting. A part of Tang Gon was hoping that the system was messing around with him earlier, but based off of the system responses and notifications, this was highly unlikely. Even the playful bit by Tang Gon was ignored. How could there possibly be treasures in this empty cave? Not minding the silence, Tang Gon waited a few seconds more. There really was no response or treasure left to Tang Gon, how could there be? His words and thoughts were only him trying his luck. He had always been thin-skinned. Receiving even more gifts and treasures than he already had from the system would truly be embarrassing. Most of his thoughts were just for show, there was no way he would continue his shameless begging to the system. From the day he had arrived to this new world, he had not met a single person. He had done more staring and exploring his surroundings than entertaining and enjoying the life of a new otherworldly person. Even now, he was picturing himself and looking around at everything as if there might be a clue on one of these faceless walls that would lead him out of here. Giving up, Tang Gon once again asked the system for answers. "Hey System, compile a list of everything you can do." As expected, Tang Gon was ignored, there was nothing that could be done from a machine. "Hey System, compile a map of the cave." Another silent response from the system. Either Tang Gon was getting tired or the system was getting tired. Tang Gon scratched his head in thought, before resting his hands onto his chin. Okay, so it looks like there are limits to what the system can do. What about asking for my level or level of the system? [Host''s Level is currently at 0] Hold on, how does the system know what I want? [Linked] Speechless at what was going on and not understanding what the system meant by linked, Tang Gon could only cough and put down his pride to ask. Luckily there was no else there watching his shameless actions. "Laymen Term please." [Update] [Laymen Term Introduced] [Host will be entered into Codex for improving the capability of the system] "..." Sighing, Tang Gon gave up, thinking that this will be the end of him if he continued. As if he was not embarrased enough, the system piled on with notifications. [User Level Updated] [Host Level: 0 =\u003e Host Level: 1] [An Introduction will now be provided to the Host] [Yes/No] "So the higher the level that I have is, the more benefits and help I get. I might as well try and see if there''s anything else I might have missed. Plus with the upgrade in my level, there might be some new things too." Tang Gon was practically smirking as he said those words under his breath. Glad that no one was around in the cave, Tang Gon prepared himself and began shouting at the system. "Call Support!" "Customer Feedback!" "User Login!" Tang Gon was now desperate in raising his level within the system, but considering how technologically advanced it was, raising levels was going to be difficult. The Laymen Term was only a consideration that was going to debated and it was hard to say if it was going to be implemented. The only reason he had leveled up was that the system was considering the suggestions. The ones he made right now, however... were ignored. The system wisely chose to make itself scarce and temporarily decided to ignore Tang Gon as he was spouting nonsense. Tang Gon will eventually stop when he becomes tired and a few minutes later, he did. The words that came out of Tang Gon were dry and carried now power as they jumped. "Customer Complaint...?" There was nothing left, but to click [Yes] and carry on to the tutorial made by the system. Choosing Yes, Tang Gon was brought away by the system. 3 Spiritual Dwelling Tang Gon dropped down onto the empty space or rather it felt like he was suddenly burdened with a great weight. Tang Gon tried to look around, but it felt like his feet were bolted to the ground and any minute movement was made impossible. Even turning his head was strenuous and took great effort. Tang Gon was resistant and the difficulty only made him want to resist more. However, the majesty of the area could not be taken down this easily. His thoughts along with his body were distracted. Calling out to the system was also made impossible by this area. Tang Gon, however, wasn''t scared. This area felt sacred, but not in the traditional sense of speaking as there was an air of mystique and money-making that could simply be felt. Tang Gon knew that this area was not made to harm him and because of that, Tang Gon continued to resist with all his efforts. An hour later and Tang Gon was still resisting. A half-hour later, Tang Gon felt that the suppression was weakening. Another half-hour later, Tang Gon felt the resistance disappearing enough for him to take a step. This continued on for a few more hours with the suppression effects weakening every time Tang Gon resisted. The suppression was really weakening and Tang Gon was actually able to progress and make several steps, one after the other, after several days of staying in this area. During this time, all pangs of hunger or thirst were nonexistent. Although it sounded like a lot of time spent, it was only a few days and of those few days, Tang Gon was able to take 83 steps. The area around him was still blank and white with fog covering his field of sight. Just as Tang Gon took the 92nd step, he froze. The suppression was back and this time it was greater than ever. His determination instantly disappeared without thought. Any form of resistance was naturally abandoned by the sight that appeared in front of Tang Gon. Several white steps leading upwards appeared in front of him. He could sense a giant building somewhere off in the distance, but the more steps he traveled, the thicker the fog became. The fog continued to cover the area, growing thicker by the second. By the time, Tang Gon snapped into focus, the suppression disappeared. He had gotten back free mobility of his arms, but an invisible wall prevented him to go forward. Tang Gon was able to walk back and look around the area he already traveled to, but the majestic palace and the stairs leading up to it were past the invisible barrier. At the same time, the path that he was walking on glowed with a faint blue light. Markings on the path appeared and at the same time, rows of markings glowed in uniform rows and columns. Tang Gon approached one of the nearest glowing blue markings on the ground and the second he approached it, the markings glowed green. The next second, the outline on the ground rose and formed a rectangular box. It was similar to the interface designed by the system with gamelike slots. The only difference between the two was that the box only had outlines and the grids for slots only appeared when he touched the screen. The slots were sadly empty, but considering the large amount of storage space Tang Gon had just received, it was more than acceptable. This was only one of the blue markings on the ground and considering the distance he has traveled along with the number of markings as far as the eye could see, Tang Gon had truly gained an infinite storage space. This was amazing, but there was a lot more than just that. The storage space and the gridlike chests were only the entrance area of the Storage Room. There was still the steps leading up and. the large building on top of those steps. Just imagine what else could be in this storage area. He had only walked for a few days, but there were many more steps ahead of him. Just imagine all of the functions the system had in store for him. The only problem was that he was unable to reach the top of those stairs. Based off of his guesses and testing of the system, Tang Gon believed that it was a matter of strength or something else that directly corresponded to Tang Gon''s growth. Tang Gon looked across the horizon and the markings on the ground were endless. Everywhere he looked, the markings would glow. Even though the area was bright, the glows were brighter. Tang Gon wanted to see if there were truly nothing inside the chests and decided to go look at a few more. Making up his mind, Tang Gon spun around and chose a direction before running off as fast as he could. This felt a lot freer as there was no longer any form of oppression that was pressuring him down on the ground. From time to time, Tang Gon would check a chest. The chest would rise and turn green before Tang Gon searched, but because everything was shown in grids, searching didn''t take long. Tang Gon was completely tired after searching through so many chests. This was the best way to describe these storage spaces, chests. How else could you call it? Regardless of the events, he had enough with the endless space and the lack of response from the system. It was too quiet and there really was nothing he could do here that he hadn''t already done. He tried summoning and talking to the system, but the summoning failed and the system didn''t respond. Before long, Tang Gon returned back to the entrance of the stairs. "Why are there so many storages" shrieked Tang Gon. It was starting to get annoying and too complicated. The area was way too large and returning to the entrance had also taken a lot of his time. There had to be an easier way of traveling. Sadly this option was not open to him as of right now. This will be a different story well into the future. But as of right now Tang Gon opened another chest and once again the empty grids revealed that the storage container was empty. This was probably the hundredth chest that he had checked and of those hundredth, every single one was empty. "Aghhhhh. I give up, how is it possible that there is nothing inside any of the chest? Why is life so cruel to me? No, I will not give up, one more time then I will give up!" Tang Gon looked around him and at all of the chests that he had already searched through. Of course, once the chests were searched and Tang Gon left their vicinity, the chest went back into the ground and became markings again. Because of this, there was no way for Tang Gon to tell which one he had already searched. Tang Gon approached a random chest nearby and hesitantly approached it before looking at the grids. Silence filled the area before it was disrupted. "Hahaha Haha" The grids were empty. What else did he expect? The system was his prize and he had dared to think of any more. This was gluttony at its finest, but who was Tang Gon? Tang Gon is the chosen host made by the system and after a good cry, he felt better. The chest that he peered his head into was truly empty and no matter how much he wailed, this fact would not change no matter what. This was a seemingly endless field, sadly the storage room was empty and repeating this fact only made him sadder. Deciding that it was time, Tang left the fields of storage chests and returned to the main field. This wasn''t too hard as the field somehow always led to the main path. There was nothing magical about it, but because of the way it was designed, it could be called magical. The trip, unlike his previous explorings, did not take that long as he managed to quickly return to the entrance of the field and unlike before Tang Gon was able to hear the system. Or rather he was able to interact with the functions of the system that were previously closed to him during the suppression and the following days after it. Knowing that it was now the time to go, Tang Gon no longer hesitated and yelled happily to the System, "I am done with your tutorial! Now take me out and set me free!" A few seconds passed and nothing happened. The surroundings were similarly quiet and without noise. Tang Gon was starting to get annoyed and just as he was about to yell at the system once more, it responded. [Ding! Exiting the Spiritual Dwelling] The white light covered Tang Gon and prepared to carry him out of the area. In the meantime, Tang Gon was still thinking about the notification that the system just released. Spiritual Dwelling, what a place. He was happy to leave and glad that he would no longer be in this strange place, but it was still weird just leaving like this. 4 Defeniatis Sword Scripture Tang Gon sat down on the ground, it was rough. There was nothing comforting in this cave, but seeing that everything looked the same, Tang gon felt comfortable. For the past 4-5 days, Tang Gon had been frozen in the spiritual dwelling and now that he was out, he felt a great weight of pressure lifted off of his chest. Now relaxed and in a better mood, Tang Gon looked around at the cave he was in. It was still dark and he was barely able to make out anything in front of him. The only reason he could see was that there were cracks of light shining from above and the occasional flashes of light that appeared around him. Nothing looked different or seemed to have changed in the cave, but it was hard to tell considering that it was a cave. The only thing on the ground was the rocks and the only thing on the cave wall was the cave wall. There were no features that can help him distinguish if anything in the cave had changed. Tang Gon walked around a bit, thinking about the new situation he was in. Over the course of these past few days, Tang Gon had been thinking more and more. The main issue was that he had no one by his side to talk to him. The swordsman was sealed, the demon was a literal shadow, and the tiger was a tiger. What could you expect? Although the system was ominsncet, there was no way he could talk to animals. The swordsman, alone, was hard enough to talk to. He was just silent and stoic when standing there. ''When can I get a summon that can talk? When can I get someone to talk to? When can I get someone?'' At this point, Tang Gon was depressed and willing to compromise for anything. He really wanted a companion to travel with, but how could he meet someone while in this cave? At this moment, a rock fell from above and made a loud smack on the ground, Tang Gon hearing the sound looked up. It was only a bat, but sudden noises were not good for the human health. "But more importantly why was it called a Spiritual Dwelling. " Tang Gon ignored the bat and just stood there, thinking about what it meant. As far as he could tell, there really wasn''t anything spiritual in that area. The only thing he saw were the infinite storage rooms. There was also that enormous building and the stairs leading to it near the end, but there was a barrier blocking it so Tang Gon threw that out of his head. Another period of silence filled the cave and before Tang Gon could continue his thoughts, he was transferred again, and this time without any prior warning from the system. Another sigh was let out by Tang Gon as he saw that he was transferred again. When he opened his eyes, Tang Gon found himself standing at the entrance of a long hall. There was no indication of life here and maybe because of that, all the shops and stalls were empty. To his left, he saw that there were empty stalls. To his right, he saw that there were empty stalls. All of the stalls were empty just like the storage room he was transferred to prior to this room. It was really a hall, but considering that it held nothing and all of the stalls were empty, Tang Gon could only call it a room. Once again, Tang Gon ran as far as he could and then back to check if there was really nothing here. The last time, he was trapped and stuck in the dwelling for several days, this time he would actively escape from this new area within a day max. Making up his mind, Tang Gon continued to look around and check all of the things that he missed. By taking it slow, Tang Gon found something new and different. The only place that was different was the one with a shop sign hanging from the door. The letterings on the shop were clear and could be read by Tang Gon, "Skill Shop". This progress wasn''t too bad, it was a hundred times faster than the other area. At least he found something he could use. The storage area was great and all, but Tang Gon was poor and out in the wild. What use could a storage room hold? Well, it could hold a lot, but that wasn''t important to Tang Gon right now. Tang Gon laughed out loud as he shouted to himself, "Lucky me! Who knew that it would only take a few minutes to get this far. This is what it feels like to be blessed. HahAha" More cheerful than ever, Tang rushed to the door and opened it while jittering around. Once the door opened, he saw that there were shelves of thin scriptures and rows of round pills. Then he noticed that there was a counter to his right with items neatly organized in stacks. A mechanical figure soon appeared in front of him and before he could say a word, a screen popped up, displaying the items for sale. This entire shop was solely dedicated to selling scripture, manuals, and books. There was nothing in the shop unrelated to books or the art of writing. The screen that popped up displayed the titles of the book along with the front covers, but the front covers were all solid shades of colors with the name in front. The only difference between the books was the different colors and the name listed off to the side. Tang Gon could only sigh as books were among the items that he had a love and hate relationship with. There was no need to explain, he loved and hated books. It was pure emotion mixed with terrible memories. Sadly all of the items on the list that the shop projected cost him Clicker Points. The cheapest item on there, [Evade] would set him back 10k. How was it possible for him to purchase anything in this area. Thinking that it would take him a long time before he could ever amass such an amount, Tang Gon walked out of the shop and returned back to the empty commerce. This time there were changes to the outside shopping market. The empty stall directly in front of the store was restored and started to glimmer. Several images were soon projected with the spinner at the far left, the gatcha machine in the middle, and an exchange system being opened in the far right. Eager to start, Tang Gon Clicked the introduction bar at the top right of the screen as he began to read. The system only rang out after he finished. [Ding! Congratulations to Host for receiving 1x Spinner Ticket] [Ding! Congratulations to Host for receiving 1500 Clicker Points] Tang Gon grinned at the benefits that he had just received. The ticket was most likely a part of the tutorial that the system was forcing onto him thus the clicker points had to be the reward. Happy at his discovery, Tang Gon opened up the clicker screen and inserted the golden ticket that just appeared in his hand. Two buttons appeared on the screen after Tang Gon entered. [1xSpinTicket] and [10xSpinTicket] Clicking on the first one, the spinner started to spin. 1 Turn... 3 Turn... 5 Turn... About 30 seconds later the wheel finally started to show signs of slowing down. The arrow at the top continued to make its sound before finally landing on the space labeled Defeniatis Sword Scripture. In that instant, a flash of light flashed across his mind as Tang Gon acquired the mighty skill. His body moved with the essence of the world, while at the same time feeling a worldly essence flowing out from within. His deposition was now one of a saint coming down to the world. At least that was what Tang Gon imagined when he obtained his newest skill. The system automatically opened up, the interface appeared to show information about the new skill. Skill: Defeniatis Sword Scripture _______________________ XVI Sword Style The information on the new skill was too vague and there was nothing Tang Gon could learn from the sword style except that it was the 16th. The roman numeral numbering and the two-word description only made Tang Gon wonder. ''Based on the numbering, the skill should be an incomplete 16th style. Other than, I will have to experiment and see what it is that I just got. Who knew that I would be so lucky and powerful.'' Tang Gon got excited just thinking about testing his new skill, but he knew that now was not the time. Although it could be said that he did feel a little taller and stronger just from the skill. It made him feel more stable and steady if that could be used to describe his current emotion and state of wellbeing. 5 Summoning Hall All of a sudden, the market place started to rain with dark clouds covering the skies. Thundering could be heard, but not seen as the rain lightly drizzled on the nearby shops. The moment passed while the storm picked up and the original light sprinkle turned to an outright beating by the elements. Tang Gon being the person in the center of this storm was the one that suffered the most. There was wind and there was rain. Nothing could be done to stop the duo while they tag-teamed Tang Gon, drenching and freezing him. Everything just changed all of sudden with no prior warning being made. One moment it was relatively clear with the ''sun'' shining its rays, the next, rain began downpouring on everything. It was too quick of a change and Tang Gon was sadly caught up in the motions. The elements smacking Tang Gon''s face. ''Why is there rain? Did you not have enough fun trapping me in the last few days? '' Tang Gon wanted to take shelter under one of the stalls, but he was physically unable to go behind the counter. He tried jumping across, but a barrier stopped him. This has been happening more and more, a lot of stuff like this has been happening more and more. The system was blocking him and all of the other stalls and shops were either closed or too far away. The book shop that he was in several minutes ago was now too far away. By the time he ran to the shop, the rain would have stopped. Helpless, Tang Gon raised his hand over his head, attempting to block out the rain. At this time, a nearby stall opened up. Raincoats, boots, and weather attire filled the stall. It was simple and extensive as it covered all range of clothes for going out against the weather. Tang Gon reached out to grab one of the raincoats, but before he could grab it, his hand froze. The raincoat was only a projection from the system. Tang Gon grabbed one of the umbrellas hanging off of the side. It was also a projection. Before Tang Gon could do anything else, the system appeared and a list of the items appeared in front of the stall. It had all the items that Tang Gon could see in the shop, but it would cost him clickers and as of right now, he had nothing. Tang Gon looked up to see how long the rain could last and why there was even rain inside. The wooden ceiling was no longer wooden or rather it was dark with clouds that covered the entire sky. Luckily, the rain stopped shortly. The system was trying to force him to use all of the clickers that he did not have. Well, no clickers that could be wasted for something like this as Tang Gon realized that clickers were extremely valuable. In other words, he was drenched from head to toe and freezing. Out of the corner of his eyes, a shop opened and the sign that was hanging overhead glowed with a dark red light. The only thing that was different from the shop was a sign. All of the stalls and stores in this hall looked identical, the only thing that could differentiate them was the shop names on the sign. Tang Gon wanted to wait there just for the system to transfer him out of the commerce hall. But how could it be that easy considering the amount of time and effort it took him with the first area. Tang Gon knew that it was too good to be true and looking at the new shop that opened, he knew he was right. He probably had to actively search and enter all the shops in the commerce area, but looking at how many shops that were closed, Tang Gon knew that this was going to be a fruitless journey. The shops were infinite and just as many as the storage boxes in the first area. A flash of light appeared out of that shop. It was only several blocks down and Tang Gon knew that he was going to go there one way or another. Wanting to get it done, Tang Gon ran to the shop. It was a lot harder than he expected, not because there was anything that stopped him but that the clothes that he wore were bogged down with water. Tang Gon grabbed the end of his clothes and twisted, forming another puddle on the now muddy ground. After cleaning himself up a bit Tang Gon walked in feeling somewhat dry and not as wet as before. The shop looked a lot bigger inside than it did outside. This might be attributed to how bare the room was. The only thing in the store apart from the counter to his left were the marble pillars lined up against the west wall. Nothing special could be felt from the pillars, but after experiencing the quirks of the system, Tang Gon knew better and walked up. Touching the first pillar, the system rang out. A spell that was not noticeable earlier glowed and highlighted the other pillars. The others following the first also flashed and a spell circle also appeared on them. Each one was distinctively similar and different in the small details. Slightly shocked, but not the least bit surprised, Tang Gon stepped back and watched the glowing pillars activate. Bright solid colors alternated from one to the next. [Ding! Congratulations on obtaining a Summoner Ticket] A notification appeared in front of the first pillar. Looking around, Tang Gon saw that a similar message in front of the second, third, fourth, and fifth pillar. [Summon] Tang Gon clicked on the screen and the summoning circle enlarged outwards. It was a lot bigger and looked many times more advanced than the initial circle engraved on the pillar. The two seemed very similar with the larger one looking like an upgrade on the basic circle. Symbols flashed outwards before coating the edges of the circle. Various lines and engravings linked them all together. The summon option that he clicked on just happened to fall under the bestial type. Lights started to flicker as the summoning circle started to shake in mid-air. A swamp colored body was coming through with reptilian claws scratching out while holding onto the edge of the summoning circle. Sharp claws extended in and out as the summoned struggled outwards. Cracks could be seen and every time it struggled, the cracks grew. A sleek scaly head popped out and struggled to move as it looked around. It struggled for a few more seconds before the summoning circle completely shattered. The summon jumped out just before the final crack and landed safely on the ground as it approached Tang Gon. He would have fled if it wasn''t for the timely voice of the system. [Ding! Congratulations to Host Tang Gon for successfully obtaining his fourth warrior ''Pyromanian Snake''] Name / Title: Pyromanian Snake Inheritance: Entanglement Tang Gon glanced at the new summoned. Now that it was under his control, it didn''t look that scary. The only thing unique about it was the faint red lines running down its back. It was faint to the point that it felt nonexistent. Then Tang Gon frowned. The new summoned looked as if it would pass out. It was practically shaking as it tried its best to stay upright. "Why is it so weak?" The system responded. [Direct Summonings] Tang Gon sighed as he cursed the system inwardly. He knew better than to curse out loud as the system might just force him into another tutorial. ''How the heck am I suppose to know what that means?'' He tried opening up the system''s interface and refreshing the screen, but all that got him was a name. Name / Title: Pyromanian Snake A summary or any additional information would be nice, but the only thing Tang Gon got was the name. Tang Gon had tried to ask about this before, but the response from the system was like usual, lacking in detail. This was not the least bit surprising, but it was extremely annoying. Even more annoying was the fact that he was starting to get used to this. Regardless, it will be nice to have an additional summon to help around. There might not be any roles to fill, but an extra handyman will be nice. Tang Gon just had to find a job for each of his summonses to maximize the use of the system. Thinking back to the new summon, it did not look like a snake, it was more like an upright gator if anything. Tang Gon wanted to get a closer look, but the system already transferred the Pyro Snake out making it seem like it never existed. The room was quiet again and the summoning circle on the wall restored itself, it was as if nothing major took place. This time, the system instantly transferred him out. 6 Sky Island This time, the system directly transferred him to the new area, completely avoiding the transfer point in the cave. It was a matter of seconds from the time Tang Gon disappeared and reappeared in this new location. Currently, Tang Gon was in the sky, looking down at everything below. The entire island was enormous, but this time there was a limit to how expansive the new location was as the outer areas of the island were bordered by entwining rocks with no gaps in between. There was one main island in the middle of the field and several smaller ones branching off with bridges extending between connecting to each other. For the most part, the island was empty and green with short grass but there were buildings and complexes spread out. However, because of how big the island was, the immensity of the buildings made no difference on the mapping of the island. It was a quick view and Tang Gon soon found himself in front of a castle located on the middle islands. It just came into his sight and the second he found himself at the entrance, the doors opened. Tang Gon walked inside and started to look around. There were empty barrels nearby and training equipment neatly arranged on the wall. Swords, Halberts, even hammers were on the wall. Everything that could be imagined was up there. A podium screen was on the right-hand side of the wall and displayed everything in neat and clean order. The training ground was only a small part of the middle islands that were located near the edge. For the most part, the islands were barren, there were the occasional complexes spread out. At first, it was only the wide-open ground that was barren, and then there were sentry towers, chambers, and other large encampments in the nearby surroundings that came to sight. At one end of the ground was a mountainous cavern that extended deep underground. This was the first thing Tang Gon would have to explore. It might take him a long time or a very short time, but he had to explore and try to meet the hidden criteria to get out. The entrance was open and a tad bit narrow, but as Tang Gon walked further in the cave began to expand. This continued for some time until Tang Gon was finally met with five pillars at the end of the cavern. It was very similar to the ones he found in the commerce hall and nothing aside from the environment could be used to distinct the two apart. Tang Gon did the same as last time and touched one of the pillars, but this time there was no reaction from it. A few seconds passed and the system finally responded. [1xSummonerTicket] [10xSummonerTicket] Two option bars appeared underneath the pillars. Tang Gon went to click on the first one before going to click on the second one. [Insufficent] [Insufficent] Both times, the system rang out with the same message telling Tang Gon that everything was spent and he essentially was broke. Nothing could be done and Tang Gon had just wasted the majority of his time walking down and now he had to walk back up. However, an array grabbed the corner of his eye just as he was about to leave the cavern and head back up. The spell was similar to the magic circles that Tang Gon saw earlier, but this had a different feel to it. [Exit Array] Tang Gon moved his finger towards it and then disappeared back out to the cave entrance. If only there was an entrance array that could help him save time when he needed to go down. Sadly, Tang Gon was mistaken and that there was nothing that could be done as no Entrance Arrays appeared. Seeing that he had spent the majority of his time traveling, Tang Gon decided that he might as well spent some time enjoying the outdoors while he was at it. Because of this sentiment, Tang Gon ended up spending several days outside and traveling to the various islands. Tang Gon started to explore his surroundings. At this point, he knew that he had to explore and meet some kind of goal to get to the next part of the tutorial. It was mostly general knowledge and basic introduction, but Tang Gon knew that he would be able to understand more of these functions as time passed. Right now, all that mattered was clearing the condition of each part of the tutorial. Regardless of what he thought, he had to keep moving and exploring the islands until the system did something. [Ding! Defeniatis Sword Scripture Transcends] [Defeniatis Sword Scripture XVI Branchs Off] [Defeniatis Sword Scripture XI Obtained] Shock registered but subtly faded away on Tang Gon''s face. He had just entered the chamber in the mountains and the second he did, the system upgraded his new skill. There was no mention of clicker points being taken away so Tang Gon took it as a random reward. It was amazing and every time he explored, something would be discovered and added to his arsenal of resources. In the first region, there was an endless field of storage space that was gained. In the second, there was a new summon added to his team. Now in the third, a skill branched off and boosted his skills. It was amazing, the system that he had changed everything. It changed his life and it could potentially do the same for many others in this world. Just imagine the things he could do. If only he had enough Clicker points to do them, maybe if he had enough, he could even go back to his world. But right now, he still had a few more things to do and because the system was quiet, there were still functions left to discover. This can only mean that Tang Gon was going to be busy for a few more days trying to find everything. [Central Plaza] At this moment, Tang Gon was returning to the main island and was once again exploring the countryside. It was essentially an independent world in these islands; just earlier he saw the Pyromanian Snake nesting. It looked slightly bigger than the last time he saw it which wasn''t very long ago. Tang Gon continued and along his way he noticed the Death Tiger stalking him for some time before disappearing and the Swordsman training his sword skills in the training ground. But for the moment, Tang Gon avoided the both for them. All of the summonses were doing their own thing. There was no order to the islands, but it was magical given the irregularity and complexity of the structures. Nothing could be seen below the island and Tang Gon wasn''t ready to jump down and see what was underneath. Maybe when he learned the skill to fly then he might consider looking down below and finding out what was keeping the island afloat, but for the moment this was above his paygrade, not that he was being paid by the system but still. Regardless of how magical this experience was, Tang Gon still needed to find the trigger to get out and finish this tutorial. However, rushing about would only prolong the process and further misguide his sense of direction. Most areas of the map were already explored including the smaller islands that took several days to search and scavenge. The castle should of been the first place that Tang Gon checked but seeing how many rooms there was, Tang Gon had temporarily put off. The past few days living in the wild made Tang Gon feel bad for his summons living in this isolated and barren land, but that was until he entered the interior of the castle. After entering, he discovered that it was a direct contrast with how comfortable it was despite the lack of amenities. There were several points where Tang Gon had got completely lost inside the rooms. It was simply impossible for this many to fit inside the castle unless there were something else. But as of yet, there was nothing that Tang Gon could pinpoint. Luckily, Tang Gon encountered the swordsman on his tour and was finally guided out of the rooms. There seemed to be several entrances in and out of the castle leading to all parts of the islands. There were also arrays located at the end of each floor that worked similar to an elevator in carrying people from one location to another. At this point, Tang Gon truly believed that he had finished the tutorial. The criteria from this one might have been to check all of the rooms or escape the maze of rooms or something very similar to that. The system would not deny or confirm these requirements, but every time he was sent out, he knew that he had finished one of these criterias to pass the tutorial. The system confirmed this belief as the next minute he was transported out. 7 Frigid Water Another transfer later and Tang Gon found himself back inside the cave. Every time this happened, Tang Gon would glance around, but before he could do anything else, the system would transfer him to the next location. There was that one time he had several minutes to himself, but other than that, the system would snap and move him. It was very punctual, despite being flawed in everything else. It was a constant push or be pushed with the system because regardless of his wants or needs, the system would push. As a result, time became nonexistent with how regular and strict his schedule became. The past several days, weeks, or perhaps years with the system was unknown. There was no indication of time passing and Tang Gon never felt the need to eat or sleep inside the tutorial. The few times that he did sleep was more of a routine than a necessity. The system never gave any time limit, but Tang Gon wanted to finish and this meant a constant pursuit. Everything was good and the schedule that he made for himself so far was being kept. The only issue was that there was no food anywhere inside the tutorial, but Tang Gon never felt hungry because of the system. So eating and other basic bodily functions were never an issue. It was the farthest thing from his mind while he was exploring the tutorial lands. This time, Tang Gon had a few minutes to himself before the system transferred him. There wasn''t much to explore so Tang Gon stayed put and waited. As far as he could tell, this cave seemed to be the central exchange point between the system and Tang Gon. The last three tasks were time-consuming and effort draining. All Tang Gon could hope for in this last one was that it will be fast and quick. Thankfully, the system initiated a taskbar in the lower right-hand corner of the interface that would appear every time Tang Gon progressed. [Finish Tutorial 3/4] At least now Tang Gon knew that the next one was going to be the last. A few more minutes passed, and Tang Gon was transferred out of the cave and into the tutorial area. This time, there was an entrance leading out to the tutorial area. Fog covered his surroundings and as far as he could tell, the room that he was in was rather small and empty. He could just barely make out the outline of the wall and looking around, there were only this room and a single door leading out. And unlike the room that was rough and desolate, the door appeared to be intricate and almost delicate to a point. But when pushing outwards, Tang Gon realized that the door was thick and made of dense wood causing his initial judgment to be wrong. Nothing special appeared after Tang Gon opened the door. The world outside of the room was simply more dark and empty. The only difference was the fog that covered everything below the waist, but glowing cobblestones could still be seen scattered and randomly placed around the surrounding areas. It was a solemn atmosphere with pure blackness and the occasional glow from underneath. The fog was a mixture of masses clumped together. At times it was dense and others it was light and airy. This should have been the same type of fog in the room, but because he had stepped out and wandered about, the room was entirely gone. Tang Gon would have loved to wander about some more, but because of the current mysterious surroundings, his thoughts were in disarray. There was simply no time to worry about the fog or his surroundings. It was time to escape and finish this tutorial. Settling his thoughts, Tang Gon began to explore the tutorial area. Everything so far was bizarre but there were no exceptions or shortcuts Tang Gon could take to get ahead. The only thing left was to walk towards the sound of the swinging gates in the far distance. Shuffling footsteps could be heard on the ground as Tang Gon approached the gate. Every sound imaginable could be heard, but nothing could be seen. Groans, moans, and scratching could all be heard. The only thing that could be seen was a brittle gate incapable of stopping anyone. This was the only landmark in the vast empty hollow grounds. Tang Gon went inside only for the gate to slam shut behind him. This time, Tang Gon was shocked to see that the original tattered gate was now shiny and without any of the original indents and claw marks. A little unsettled, but unable to go back out Tang Gon continued walking further in, believing that this was most likely another test by the system and that his current performance would later decide the quality of the reward he would get. However, the unsettling part about this ordeal was that every time he looked backward, the scenery appeared to have changed. It was rather hard to tell with the fog, but everything did seem to change. Tang Gon had made a few marks on the ground by dragging his feet but when he went back and searched, they were gone. This was unnoticeable at first with how limited his vision was but after several attempts, Tang Gon knew that there was something else. This was a frightening experience and Tang Gon wanted to call out for the system, but he knew that the tutorial areas were dead zones. In the past, he had tried to no avail and this was no different. Not to mention, Tang Gon had a feeling that should he even try, whatever was with him would know. As of right now, Tang Gon was not in the mood to play around with his life. There was a potential risk and there was a potential danger to his life. Tang Gon knew that at this moment he was too weak and every little small thing could end him. There was only one way to get out and that was to become stronger. The system was obsolete and his summons was unsummonable. Tang Gon could only count on himself, but even then he knew that he had to be careful to get out. Throwing these thoughts to the back of his mind, Tang Gon continued walking. There were the constant screeches and sounds from around him, but nothing jumped out to grab him. There was no particular path ahead so Tang Gon could only pick a direction and stick to it. It was tiring mentally to be constantly on the guard and physically to be so tense. ''Should I run.'' Several times, thoughts of running ahead appeared in his head, but Tang Gon threw them out. This was not the time or place. Who knew what was out here in the darkness. Everything had to be taken slowly and carefully. He wanted to get out, but not at the cost of his own life. Several more times, Tang Gon would pick up his pace and jog ahead, but every time Tang Gon would remind himself to take it slowly. There was still that lingering presence that would make itself known from time to time. This was truly the limit of what was called an endless walk. The past tutorial was similar in the exploration of the unknown areas, but even then there was a clear and visible destination in mind. This was taking him to no particular location and at times, Tang Gon felt that he was just going in circles. Luckily, the fog gradually lightened as he stepped ahead. This helped in improving his mood, but the presence around him also increased. It was roughly around this moment that the first sign of life was found. It was out of the corner of his eyes, but Tang Gon was sure that he saw a small flash of fur before it took off. This was also roughly around the time a worn path appeared along with some small shrubs and bushes. Gradually, the path twisted and turned before leading into the massive undergrowth. The fog was still present, but now the surrounding was bursting with life. Flowers were on full bloom and soon tall trees filled his entire field of view. It was at this moment that Tang Gon realized he was lost. It was a sudden experience knowing that the path he had moments ago been walking on simply disappeared from underneath. He turned around in an attempt to relocate it, but it was of no use. The general direction of the path was now covered in dense forestry. He wanted to turn around, but at this moment he knew it was impossible. It was easier to continue along this path rather than retracing his steps as there was simply no point in going back, the only way to pass was to keep moving. As a result, Tang Gon would walk, jog, and run past all of the landmarks that appeared. There was no use in trying to keep a map because every time Tang Gon tried to retrace his steps, the landmarks would change. It was a futile effort and knowing this only made Tang Gon sigh. The only thing that he could do now was to set his mind at peace. He needed a break and seeing the lake ahead, Tang Gon decided to rest for a bit before continuing. The path around him was flat and surrounded by a large field of flowers that would sway and dance every time Tang Gon walked by. A few steps past this field was the lake that stretched across the horizon, but was still too small to be called anything else. The water was still, but gusts of wind would come from below the surface and freeze the surrounding parts of water before fading. It was a miraculous sight with so many oddities and creatures that Tang Gon had never seen. 8 Chrysanthemum Core Flowers The field next to the expansive lake was surrounded by randomly scattered opulent white flowers that glistened every time a gust of wind would appear from out of the lake. As far as Tang Gon could tell, it came out from a shell-shaped object that would crawl on the seafloor. Crystal clear rocks smooth as polished jade could also be seen coating the bottom edges of the shallow lake. The deeper waters were just as clear, but harder to take in with how immense the lake was. This was the first time in the tutorial land that Tang Gon felt relatively safe and at home, but it was still too early to relax. There was still that constant presence that would follow from behind and disappear from time to time. Thinking back, this seemed to be the first time that it disappeared for so long. It might have been the water being so pure and untainted that it somehow pushed back the unknown. However, this was of no major concern to Tang Gon as he stared at the creature coming out of the water. Naturally, Tang Gon stepped far back from the edge of the water the instant he realized the size of the monstrosity. It was still several meters off the shore and was only staring upwards at Tang Gon from an angle underneath, but just by size judgment alone, it had to have been several meters long. It looked around and seeing that Tang Gon had already noticed, did not bother to continue hiding. It showed no intention to harm anyone but given the calculating look, it gave when the two crossed eyes, Tang Gon knew that it was better to stay further away. It was an ancient monster that had to have some level of intelligence. The two sides continued to stare at each other, but once the creature realized that Tang Gon was adamant in not approaching, it sank to the bottom of the lake. Once again, the surface of the waters became silent and calm, but there was no question that it was still there. Tang Gon had inspected the creature when it first appeared, but the system was still not cooperating. All it showed him was a name and a small description, though this was probably the most it had ever given. [Crystal Gator - Youngling - Minor Breed] [Crystal Gators are an independent breed of hunters typically found in waters inhabited by Chrysanthemum Core Flowers and Acrylic Wind Shells. Adult Crystal Gators are known to be hostile and extremely territorial both in waters and on land. However, younglings are found in groups of twenty to one hundred with several adults nearby forming a pack. These gators spend most of their time hibernating and the rest on the swim and hunting for prey.] Once Tang Gon finished reading all of the descriptions, he knew that the gator and the current situation he found himself in was dangerous. A youngling was already twice his size with enough power to have him for any meal. This was only a youngling and based on the description the system gave, Tang Gon knew that there had to be several more nearby. This was only a small part of the tutorial land that Tang Gon explored, but already he could tell that anywhere in the land was dangerous. This was the literal wildlife and the most dangerous area the system had brought him to so far. Luckily, Tang Gon was cautious and did not enter too far into the lake to get surrounded by several of these monsters. Not to mention that the gator was still young and was more curious of Tang Gon than hungry. This could be considered as a narrow escape by Tang Gon from start to finish. In fact, this event of escaping the monster could all be attributed to a combination of both lucky and disastrous factors coincidently set up by Tang Gon. For starters, there was the fact that Tang Gon would inspect everything the instant he entered the new tutorial area. The [Inspect] function provided by the system did not work on any of the fog and other landmarks, but it did for this area of the tutorial. Since entering the tutorial, Tang Gon had realized that there were times that Inspect did not work, but there were also times that the use of Inspect had saved his life, this happened to be one of the latter time. There were so many factors on Tang Gon''s side this time, but who knew what would happen the next time. Some of these things could just snap him from behind and without any prior knowledge, Tang Gon knew he would be dead. The things that saved him this time was the flowers. Thinking back on it, Tang Gon was relieved that he experimented as much as he did. For starters, there were the chrysanthemum core flowers that Tang Gon threw into the water and watched as they spread out. He saw that these flowers would separate from the root and float while the root would latch onto the rocks underneath and grow to be vines in a matter of seconds. Tang Gon had seen this firsthand and as a result, threw handfuls of flowers into the lake for fun. The flowers would float and latch onto the bottom of the lake, but whenever there was an influx of roots, the flowers would float further from the shore and then grow the vines. Tang Gon had even inspected the flowers earlier, but there were two contrasting descriptions with the first describing the Gold Core Flowers and the second being the water leeches. [Chrysanthemum Core Flowers] [Chrysanthemum Core Flowers are wild medicinal herbs that produce a sickly sweet scent to attract nearby animals for hosting. These types of flowers unroot and carry themselves to the water''s edge when hitting maturity. The flowers are relatively harmless, but lose their ability to produce when separated from the roots.] [Parasitic Water Lilies] [Parasitic Water Lilies is a secondary form of the Chrysanthemum Core Flowers. These flowers breed rapidly in the water on the condition that petals of the Chrysanthemum Core Flower are present. These lilies are trappers that bait animals with cores before lashing out and binding themselves to the opportunist.] He had also inspected the shells that produced the wind underneath, but these were more mysterious and had fewer details and descriptions. [Acrylic Wind Shells] [Acrylic Wind Shells are simple shell-based life forms that produce freezing gusts of wind from under the water. As a result, the environment near the shells have short calming water with strong underwater currents.] This was nothing major and could be ignored since there were already underwater vines and floating flowers. The superfluous details about the shells and the secondary life forms could be ignored for the moment. The thing that saved Tang Gon was that when he threw more of the flowers in, the vines became dense and overlapped themselves to create a barrier reef in the water. This could be said to be part of the natural environment in the waters near the lake. The flowers acted as the habitat and nursery when forming the reefs and vines that protected the young critters. At the same time, the flowers would attract predators and use them as hosts to spread further out to sea. However, when Tang Gon started skipping rocks and throwing them out to hit the flowers, the territory of the vines expanded. The rocks were the energy source and stable ground for the flowers and by throwing them out further to sea, Tang Gon created a bed of vines that expanded further outwards. Typically, the area around the lake was peaceful and calm, but with the movements made by Tang Gon and the expansion of the vines, the peaceful nursery expanded to include everything in the Crystal Gator''s territory. This just so happened to catch the attention of a youngling, the one that happened to be the one that Tang Gon saw. The flower was what originally drew the attention of the creatures living in the lake, but it was the constant splashes made by the rocks that Tang Gon threw out along with the rapid expansion of vines that attracted the creature to Tang Gon. However, once the creature swam to the shallow waters near Tang Gon, the petals would all be moved and the movement would have been caught by Tang Gon. Not only that, but the creature also seemed to only have been drawn over by curiosity. Similarly, because it was a youngling, it was rather well taken care of and fed. These helped Tang Gon escape the monster. Tang Gon could only run away, it would be smart to tame the monster, but with what. It would already be lucky for him to not be tamed by the older monsters much less hope for something like this to happen. As a result, Tang Gon could only continue his journey and soon the lake disappeared while a forest replaced it. 9 Forest Path But none of that mattered as Tang Gon had chosen his path. His path to the top. All of the previous paths were all doomed to fail. Meant to end in destruction and ruins if he were to follow them. Those paths were the paths that Tang Gon''s predecessors had taken. Their paths, not his. And for him to succeed and rise to the top one day, Tang Gon must forge his path. Rising, Tang Gon peered into the distance. A new path had opened up. One shrouded in darkness. Tang Gon knew that this was another test tempting him, but he now knew that this test was one of choices and decisions, not endurance and perseverance. Tang Gon took a deep breath and prepared to forge his path in this wild land. Along his way, many new paths opened up, ones where anything could happen. But, Tang Gon knew that if he was to choose one to follow, he would forever continue in this lost land. .... After passing through peaks of endless mountains and traversing the endless terrains, Tang Gon had finally arrived. The journey he had taken made him a new man, the once weak and powerless Tang Gon of the past had disappeared, in his place was the new him. The new him that had died and been reborn countless times on this perilous journey. It wasn''t until Tang Got had understood the effects of his choices, did the fog finally vanish along with the illusions. It had brought Tang Gon back to reality, and the illusions he had experienced on his journey were completely cleared. The powerful and strong image of Tang Gon had also disappeared, but in his heart, the man who had completed the treacherous journey still exists. The same exact man who had learned many lessons on his trip across numerous lifetimes. The same man who has learned patience and understanding. The same exact man, who can now survive and react in any scenario. Tang Gon may look exactly like he was before he started the system, but he was a changed man. And in that place, full of forestry and land, Tang Gon descended from the mountain and stood tall in front of the island surrounded by what appeared to be water. Squinting at what was in the distance, he was directly brought forward. The dark area in the far distance was now directly in front of him. Tang Gon was shocked, but the many years and lifetimes in the illusions had taught him to expect the unexpected, therefore the unexpected is expected. Though, that small lesson was unexpectedly traded with many years in his different lifetimes in the illusion. But it had also taught him to control his facial expression. Hence, the lack of emotion in Tang Gon''s face when he was directly transported forth. He was the ruler of the system, he controls the system, the system doesn''t control him. Reminding himself that, Tang Gon fearlessly continued inward the island. He yelled out for the system to appear, but his voice was gone. All he could let out was a dried old crackling screech. But as expected, nothing answered back, he''s been trying to reach the systems for years. But that was during the illusion, so it was kind of unexpected that the system really didn''t answer back. Silence filled the air, nothing answered back, not even the system as it had long since disappeared. Tang Gon could no longer access the system manually or in his head anymore. Crouching down, curiosity got the better of Tang Gon. As philosophers would put it, curiosity was the lust of the mind. It made humans pursue the unknown and Tang Gon was no exception as it brought him closer and closer to the center of the island. He was no longer frightened, scared, nor anxious about what was ahead of him, either way, he could do nothing but continue. Even the lessons that he had learned on the endless paths were of no use. Then the weirdest thing of all happened, weirder than all of the things that have happened so far. The moment Tang Gon got on the island, he was dragged forward to the middle. In front of him was the black area he had seen earlier back from a distance. The fog that was around the island was flickering and gently swaying along with the slight breeze. Whatever was inside was controlling the dark area, making it move back and forth. It, as if noticing Tang Gon, disappeared. Then Tang Gon felt pain in the back of his head. The black area that was ahead of him had turned into a murky mist. Making a quick circle around Tang Gon, the mist had then swiftly entered him through the top of his head. The next thing he knew, the system that had been quiet the whole time had rung out. But the system''s usual voice had changed or rather it felt like it had been replaced. Instead of the usual robotic tone of voice, a silvery demonic voice appeared. [Ding! Congratulations to Host Tang Gon for being the first to pass the test] [System Update A.24] [My name is Aeruk, I will now be your new A.I. Guide, along with the previous guide, S.39] A chilling feeling blew over Tang Gon. His heart had suddenly felt so much heavier. The new system guide, Aeruk had the same pressure as the ones he felt earlier, when he wanted to turn around, the killing intent, the reflection at the lake, and just now when the mist had entered him. The journey was long, but Tang Gon could clearly remember all of the terrifying moments. But now thinking back, this might of actually of been the final test by the system. The test that he might have unintentionally entered. Reasoning with himself, Tang Gon started to believe that the killing intent he felt earlier was most likely A.24''s disappointment with his choices. Or maybe even his thoughts of retreating and turning around, instead of going head in. Still a little worried, Tang Gon checked the various functions of the system to make sure everything was truly all right. All of the functions seem to work perfectly fine, but the moment Tang Gon checked on the shop, he quickly laughed at his luck. The prices for all of the skills and monsters he had were now twice as high, everything had doubled. The previous Defantis Sword Scripture priced at 15000 Clicker Points was now priced at 30000 Clicker Points, it had doubled. Laughing at his previous misclick, the silvery demon from the system released a reward. [Ding! Congratulations to Host for receiving 1x ClickerMon] For a second, Tang Gon thought the old guide had returned, but then Aeruk''s voice was heard again but talking about himself in third person. [Due to the system''s recent consistent updates, Aeruk will be temporarily under repair. Aeruk will be unable to help the Host in his endeavors for at least 5 years. The previous guide from the system S.39 will now be in full control] Tang Gon was slightly relieved as A.24 or better known as Aeruk would now be unable to appear. Moving on, Tang Gon quickly clicked receive, this time a slight breeze erupted in front of him. Instead of the fancy summoning that came along with the warriors, all the happened was the little furball appearing along with a small gust of wind. The small ball of fur with two little horns on its head and a tiny spade tail popped out of the air and approached Tang Gon in an adorable manner. It had almost toppled over when it landed, but carefully balancing itself it half-ran, half skipped to Tang Gon. Jumping on Tang Gon, it gently landed on his shoulder. Meanwhile, a small bar, visible only to him appeared at the bottom of his screen. [+1 Clicker Point] [+1 Clicker Point] [+1 Clicker Point] [+1 Clicker Point] [+1 Clicker Point] A sudden influx of Clicker Points started appearing, the bar at the bottom quickly started rising up. At the current rate, it looked like Tang Gon was earning a clicker point every 2-3 seconds. But after Tang Gon received 20 Clicker Points, the little critter vanished from his sight. Following shortly afterward was the release of the missions. [Ding! Host can now obtain Clicker Points by completing the Main Missions and Side Missions] [Main Mission: ????????????] [Side Mission 1: ????] [Side Mission 2: ????] [Side Mission 3: ????] Unsurprisingly, all of them were covered and shrouded in question marks. Thinking that the mysteriousness was too expected of the system, it suddenly surprised him when it uncovered the main mission. [Main Mission: Due to the System''s constant and consistent updates, the world of Huaxia has damaged the system, mainly A.24 who is now under repair. The host must search for the Golden Orb to hasten the recovery. Objective: Obtain the Golden Orb Golden Orb: Highest Healing Artifact in the Central Continent, capable of repairing the damage inflicted on the system. Lead: ClearMarsh City Reward: 5x ClickerMon] The next second, a Teleportation Gate appeared in front of Tang Gon. 10 Lucky Treasure Ches Gremlin Forest. -------------- Tang Gon returned back through the Teleportation Gate that was opened up by the System. Specifically, the cave in the middle of the woods where he had first woken up at. Walking through, Tang Gon saw that everything was still there, the fishes in the water, the ripped remains of the silver bear, and more importantly the treasure chest that he still hasn''t gotten to. Rushing past the remains of the bear scattered on the ground and the little critters in the waters, Tang Gon swiftly made it to the treasure chest. Stunned, he wiped his eyes, no, it was real, an unlocked uncommon chest. A chest he has never seen even as a tester of the game. He had gotten extremely lucky, finding an uncommon grade at the cave, talk about good luck. These chest weren''t something that anyone can just go out and find. It has to be known that Uncommon Grades could only be found in some of the most dangerous of places. Places where even experts at the pinnacles could lose their lives. And even then there was no certainty that it would even be there. And although the chest was named as uncommon, chests like these were actually really rare, far and few in between, especially considering the enormous size of this world. It was luck, the only way to find these sort of treasure chests, were by going to extremely dangerous places, and even then there was an even lower chance of there being a chest. Luck was the honestly the only factor. One could enter all sorts of dangerous places in search of one, but that doesn''t mean that one will find, or even catch a glimpse of an uncommon grade chest. While Tang Gon was in a state of euphoria, the system of course had to ruin all of that by making it known that this was actually the beginners chest, that every Host receives. Still hopeful, Tang Gon went to inspect the treasure chest in front of him, but the system doused all of his hopes by releasing the informations about the treasure chest in this world. [Due to Huaxia being a Lower Tiered World, it can only inhabit a small percentage of Potential and Influence. Therefore Treasure Chests in this realm are below Junior Rank. __________ Treasure Chests are separated into two classes, locked and unlocked. Locked Treasure Chests requires certain keys which the system can exchange for Clicker Points. Unlocked Treasure Chests do not require keys, and therefore can be opened by anyone. Locked Chests, however, do contain more valuable items. Treasure Chests are divided further into three ranks. Junior, Intermediate, and Grand. Junior, in worlds that have evolved and have entered the Official Ranks. Intermediate, in worlds that have bypassed restrictions and have entered the Commanding Ranks. Grand, in worlds that have understandings over the Laws, and thus have entered the Ruling Ranks. Going further down the line, Treasure Chests are then divided into three Grades, Common, Uncommon, and Dark. Common, being the lowest grade of Treasure Chest. Uncommon, being the intermediate Grade Chest. Dark Grade, being the highest Chest ever found. Reminders: Treasure Chests can not be moved. Treasure Chests of Common Grade would continuously spawn at random locations over time. Treasure Chests of Uncommon Grade require longer spawn periods, and have the risk of self destruction after too many openings. Treasure Chests of Dark Grade will disappear after a single opening. As a sign of good will, the creator of the Treasure Chest has allowed the system to display the amount of Dark Grade Chest left in Huaxia. (37851)] Suppressing down his excitement, Tang Gon followed the instructions in his head as it told him to place his hand on top of the Chest. Placing his hand on top of it, Tang Gon waited for it to open just like the image that was shown to him. Everything so far was just like the game, including the chest opening. Lights started to shine out of the tiny cracks in the opening of the treasure chest, blinding everything in the cave. The system popped out and a bar showing the progress of the opening appeared to his left. Numbers started to appear right above the chest, displaying a progress bar on the opening of the chest. 11% 36% 48% 78% 100% As Tang Gon was starting to get worried, a loud click was heard coming from the Treasure Chest. "Click" The progress bar seemed like it loaded pretty fast, but because the chest was an uncommon grade chest, even if it was below the lowest uncommon grade it still took over 10 mins of unlocking. During that time, Tang Gon had grew worried by the light that was shining out of the cave, but luckily no one came. Glad, that the chest was finally open, Tang Gon quickly scanned the inside of the chest the second it was open to see what he got. Though a little disappointed, Tang Gon still picked up what he got from the chest. It looked like there was nothing special about the things he received. Honestly, Tang Gon was half expecting a rare legendary weapon or artifact, especially considering that this was an uncommon grade chest he opened, not the basic wooden common grade chest. But it looked like that legendary artifacts and equipments would never be found here, especially considering all that he read about the Worlds having a limit on what it could contain. Disappointed, Tang Gon went back inside to see if he missed anything else, but there was nothing else except for a sword, a dagger, and a red potion. The treasure chest then disappeared as Tang Gon carelessly took out everything and got up. Dusting off the imaginary dust off his clothes, Tang Gon examined each of the items he got with the system. Short information boxes popped right above each of the items as he held them. This time the system didn''t display much other than the basic information about the things he received. But this wasn''t because the system was lazy or inattentive, rather it was because that the system believed that such things were not worthy to be mentioned. It was mainly due to the fact that the system had come from a higher world or maybe even beyond that as it had a lot of classified informations and secrets. But because his Level in the system was too low, such informations were withheld and locked far away from him. And even without the informations that the system provided, Tang Gon had easily guessed that the system came from something or someone powerful, as it had deemed all three of the items he received as trash. But to the system, if it wasn''t trash what else could it be? It had gone through many worlds with many different Hosts way before Tang Gon. It had even considered treasures of the most powerful elites as trash at some point in time. Much less the three basic items that Tang Gon received. [Brute Sword Rarity: Green Effects: ATK +15] [Small Dagger Rarity: Green Effects: 5% chance to poison enemy with minor poison] [(Minor Heath) Potion Rarity: Rare Effects: Recovers Heath +25] And though Tang Gon ignored the systems origin and backgrounds, he was still dumfounded when he saw the ranks of the items. Dumfounded, Tang Gon questioned the system. "How does your ranking work?" But what greeted him wasn''t a response, instead it was just a scale showing the rarity for each grade. [Grey =\u003e Green =\u003e Blue =\u003e Red =\u003e Purple =\u003e Gold =\u003e Dark Gold] With Grey being the lowest, and Dark Gold being the highest. Confused Tang Gon asked again. This time, the system had sort of given a proper response, though it was uncertain if it satisfied Tang Gon or not. [Warriors and Pets are classified by the first rankings, [Common, Rare, Epic, Mythic, Divine, Legendary] while equipments and others are classified by the Color Ranking [Grey, Green, Blue, Red, Purple, Gold, Dark Gold] Not knowing what was really going on, Tang Gon just nodded his head and went along with it. This way it would best for them all, and that he would avoid another headache from questioning the system. As Tang Gon didn''t have a single weapon yet, he just grabbed the weapons out of the chest, even if they were classified as Green by the system. Grabbing the sword, the system popped up, showing an interface full of slots pointing towards him. [Equip-able Slots] [Host can materialize equipped items twice as fast as manually operating them] Equip Brute Sword? [Yes/No] Equip Small Dagger? [Yes/No] Tang Gon pressed [Yes] for the both of them, and then a picture of the sword and dagger appeared in the two slots. Sword, being the main weapon, and the dagger being the secondary. Tang Gon then tossed the red potion into his inventory without a second glance. 11 Ribs Gremlin Forest. -------------- Tang Gon was so tired after completing everything. The tutorial, alone, took away most of his energy. Honestly, outside of the system, it might have just been a few hours at most, but the tutorial inside the system had felt so much longer, days, years even. It was a miracle that he even got out of there alive, it just felt so realistic while it was happening. He had all five of his senses while inside, everything was there, nothing was missing, even the smallest details weren''t overlooked by the system. But now it was all a blur to him. The steps and paths that he took for years inside, now flashed by in his mind as seconds. Everything had felt so real, his fatigue, his hunger, his thirst. Yet somehow, the opening of the chest had taken more energy out of him than all the years inside the tutorial combined. It was what really drained him. Maybe if he had opened the chest before the tutorial, he would have been completely fine. Maybe a minor headache afterward, but fine nonetheless. Many didn''t know this, but opening the Treasure chest required energy. In the games, it was time but in real life, or in this world, the energy was required. Not mana or magic, but an unexplainable sort of power that everyone had. A power that was uncontrollable, but still useable. No one knew the exact specifics on how to use it, but it was just there. It would unknowingly affect all aspects of people''s life. From the smallest to the biggest life-changing events. And over the years, people had used this energy to open the treasure chests that would appear from time to time. But they just believed it to be normal, never knowing about the energy or questioning the reasons and logic behind everything. But regardless of what it was or what had happened, all Tang Gon knew was that he was tired. And after having nothing to do, all of the fatigue gathered over the days rushed back at him all at once. The fatigue rushing back towards him completely overwhelmed Tang Gon. He became so tired that he basically collapsed on the ground, his body forcing him to take the much-needed rest. ... A half-hour later, with all the rush gone, Tang Gon was awoken by the rumbling of his stomach. It was a half-hour of sleep, but that was all Tang Gon needed. In normal cases, most would need a solid 12-14 hours of sleep after all the fatigue, if not more. But the system had once again helped Tang Gon without his knowledge. The first time, which wasn''t mentioned was when he first felt the killing intent. It wasn''t much, but the system did shield him to a certain degree, more than anyone knows. A truth that will come to light a few years down the road. Anyhow, during his sleep, the system had mended his body and provided enough nutrition to help him overcome his lethargy. Basically the system had cleansed his body and gotten rid of his need for sleep and rest temporarily. The only evidence of that was the silent message in his inbox describing what had happened. [Ding! Host''s present state is currently reaching an alarming state, the system has taken the liberty of temporally suppressing the Host''s critical need for sleep] The system had basically filled in the remaining hours of sleep that he needed to focus and concentrate. But even then the system had only taken care of his sleep. Right now, his mind was telling him to focus on how he was going to eat. He was just too busy over the past few days, it was still bearable when he was completing the tutorials inside the system, but the moment he had time to think about it, all that came to his mind was the rumbling of his stomach. Uncertain of what to do, his first thought led him to ask the system. "Food?" asked Tang Gon to the system uncertainly. The system provided him with all kinds of cheats, but it was still uncertain if it could provide him with food. However, it would be amazing if it did. And to his utter delight and amazement, it seemed that the system was truly the almighty system. It could provide him with almost anything, and that included food. "Food. Miracle of life." Tang Gon, happily muttered underneath his breath. All of a sudden, Tang Gon''s face turned cold. His body, rigid and slack as he focused his entire attention straight ahead. His breath was starting to pick up in anticipation of what was to come. To anyone that was spying on Tang Gon, it would seem that something major was going to happen. Something life-changing, even more so than what the system did to Tang Gon. Yet, in the middle of the atmosphere so tangible, all that was heard was the whisper. The whisper that completely ruined the serious and worldly atmosphere. The noble air that was once there, now completely vanished, disappearing just as quick as it was formed. But ignoring all of that, the only thing that was on Tang Gon''s mind was "What is good?" Nothing did really happen, but the way Tang Gon sternly focused himself does make one wonder. It felt like there was nothing more important than what he was currently doing. Truly a life-changing decision for a foodie. Tang Gon completely ignoring the judging glares of the readers, sincerely believed that this was an important decision, if he could have food, he might as well make it good, no? The search bar in front of him caused Tang Gon to further scrunch his brows. Taking a deep breath in, Tang Gon resolutely typed in ''meats'' with the keyboard underneath. Thinking that this was it, Tang Gon excitedly, but still patiently waited for the screen to finish loading. All types of meats started to cover the screen. There were meats from all kinds of animals. In fact, anything was possible, as long as you could name it, it was there. Cow, chicken, duck, pigs, everything. Going further down the list, there were even some meats from other places, far beyond. Two-horned jaguar, queen hornet, slime, and even a snow gator. Who knew slimes even had meat? But according to the system''s mini description, they had an energy core that was similar to the prize meats of other creatures. That was how amazing the system was, able to extract meat from slimes. Feeling beefy, Tang Gon eliminated the other choices. He wasn''t ready or that adventurous to try all the foreign delicacies, maybe another time. [Chuck Sirloin Round Short plate Flank Brisket Foreshank ...] It was a gluttons heaven, everything sounded amazing, but the thing that caught his eyes the most? Ribs. Juicy succulent ribs. Ribs so tender that they would fall off the bones. [-3 Clicker Points] The sudden familiar ding from the system caused Tang Gon to look back down from his daydream and into focus. Tang Gon was already excited. And the 3 Clicker Points being taken away only made him grow even more with excitement and anticipation. A large rack of ribs for only 3 Clicker Points. How amazing was that? He was ready, ready to go all out and devour that enormous rack of ribs. It would truly be divine. The tenderness of the juicy meat, the spices from the dry rub that would trap the juices inside and then explode after a bite, the slightly charred sides that would undoubtedly enhance the flavors by giving it that extra bitter and slightly sour taste. Godly. That was what it was, godly. But at the same time, Tang Gon was afraid. What if the system only gave him a tiny piece of ribs for 3 Clicker Points? What then? Tang Gon as if having a moment of enlightenment, calmed his mind. ''Think positive.'' He didn''t want to jinx things. There could only be good things that would come around, right? After all the system did say a single Clicker Point could be traded for Gold and unimaginable wealth. Well, maybe it didn''t say that, but the currency exchange function basically downright implied it. The system wouldn''t be that cheap in giving a small piece of rib, Right? But with Tang Gon''s excitement and readiness to eat, you could imagine his surprise when the ribs appeared. It was humungous, enormous, impossibly large. But there was a single problem. It was pink. The ribs were raw. Bloody Raw. 12 Oceanic Flame There was nothing wrong with it. Perfection was all Tang Gon could say about the piece of prime meat. The only thing he was now worried about was how to properly cook it as this was not any kind of rib he had ever seen. The bone alone glistened in the dark. Sparkling off the shine of its surroundings. Despite its obsidian color, it seemed to draw in all the light, casting jagged shadows in every corner of the room. And that was with the bone being covered by a delicate juice pressed piece of red sumptuous. The contrast of the dark bone along with that of the bloodied flesh created a salivating expression on the face of Tang Gon. Noticing the lack of necessities and other ingredients, Tang Gon went to work. First, he needed a setup to create his meals. Even though this was a cavern of sorts and there was no need for it, Tang Gon made it a requirement of his to enjoy everything to its full potential when he can. With that said, he went outside to find some large boulders. With the tutorial done and his basic stats augmented by his summons, Tang Gon was able to meet the strengths of this world''s inhabitants. That was to say everything of his increased by a considerable sum. Searching around, he found that the rocks inside were either too small or covered in grime. But after some careful selecting outside, Tang Gon gathered 10 double palm-sized rocks near the entrance of the cave. A quick washing soon followed. After a quick washing, Tang Gon grabbed the ribs and gently placed it on top of the rocks outside. He then took out a bowl from the system. Soon after, Tang Gon took out the ingredients for the dry rub. These condiments were items that he had also bought along with the purchase of ribs. Throwing everything in, Tang Gon mixed the ingredients with his hand. A snarling growl could be heard. Not long after, yells from deep within the cave echoed out, startling all of the creatures in the nearby areas. "SYSTEM!!!" Something came out of the cave... Tang Gon? Yes, it was him, the idiot finally remembered that there was no flame for the meat he was going to cook. His focus earlier was entirely on how to prepare the layout and how he was going to process it. What he forgot, however, was what he was going to cook it with. The system was just way too crafty. How dare it do this to me, giving me everything but something to cook with. Or something along that train of thought... Lol... idiot Mc. At this point, the system popped out another message. [Purchase of Oceanic Flame?] [Yes/No] It was the same robotic tone as usual, but to Tang Gon at the moment, it felt like it was mocking him. Acting all cocky and just randomly spouting nonsense and nonchalantly showing up at this exact moment to persuade him to purchase a flame from it. Tang Gon was slightly disappointed that he would have to wait and personally cook the ribs, but in the end, he ultimately chose to purchase the flame. The ribs would take at most half an hour of cooking and sizzling on the flames considering its size. [-50 Clicker Points] 50 Clicker Points quickly disappeared casing Tang Gon to suddenly freeze while getting up. He was in an awkward position, but now looking back, Tang Gon came to the realization that the system didn''t mention how much the flame would cost him, and once again he didn''t ask. [Ding! Congratulations to Host ''Tang Gon'' for purchasing Oceanic Flames] Eyes wide open, mouth agape, ears high up. Complete Shock. 50 Clicker Points. One flame. He was flabbergasted, but the previous accidental purchases did lower his shock quite a bit. But that wasn''t an excuse, the system acting all sweet and naive had casually recommended the flame, and he had taken the bait, hook, line, and sinker. But how could he have known that the flame would cost him 50 points? Should have asked. It was 50 points if he knew that, Tang Gon would rather have tried to make his own fire. How hard would that have been? But now it was too late, he was left with scraps of Clicker Points. "Why don''t you go rob a bank." Tang Gon mad at the system threw out a random insult. [The system is virtuous and upright. The system will never rob a bank.] Tang Gon was so distracted that he didn''t even notice that the system had started to develop intelligence. If he wasn''t careful the system might even take him over, lol. But right now, Tang Gon was too busy throwing a mini tantrum to notice. And before he could throw an even bigger one, a surge of light entered his mind, much like the other time he accidentally purchased something. The information surged across his mind, his body started to alter and adjust for the flame. It felt like a thousand burning knives slowly penetrating his body from the inside out. Luckily, the pain that was starting to become too unbearable soon began to subside. Then a cool feeling rose from the pits of his body, releasing a cooling air as it moved around. It was the new Oceanic Flame settling in. Along with it, it made Tang Gon exude a mighty deposition, making one cower from its might. This flame was truly powerful, making one feel small and insignificant in front of it. But even then, nothing could stop Tang Gon as he tried to get a refund from customer support. To him, it didn''t matter how powerful the fire was, he still believed that the system had ripped him off. [Refunds are unavailable.] It was a single message, but it somehow confirmed Tang Gon''s suspicion on the systems scheme of ripping him off. But the no refunds was kind of expected as the flame had already adjusted to his body. There was nothing Tang Gon could do. But since he had the flame, he might as well test it out. Twirling his finger in the air like the image shown, a small flame magically burst from the tip of his finger. It was deep blue, and the moment it appeared, it released a chilling frost permeating through the cave. The flame caused the air in the room to grow colder. It caused the temperature in the room to jump between frigid Siberian waters back to the serene gentle springs. The flame flickered and swayed in front of Tang Gon, causing him to feel a heavy pressure and weight about him. The aura Tang Gon emitted now gave others a sort of constricting feeling, causing others that would appear in front of him in the future to be afraid to even speak. Putting a little more of his energy into the flame, it suddenly erupted and rose sky-high. Surprised, Tang Gon pushed his finger far away from his face. In doing so, the direction of the flame targeted the entrance of the cave, destroying the roof of the cave. But when he didn''t feel any heat, Tang Gon opened his eyes and saw the flame had diminished back to the original small flicker. A streak of burnt ground covered his surroundings. Not to mention the now-collapsed cave around. Seeing the path of destruction, Tang Gon wanted to deck out each of his fingers with fire, but the price fo a single flame made him reconsider. The Oceanic Flame that he purchased was one of the cheapest at 50 Clicker Points. The others like the Demonic Flames were well over thousands of Clicker Points. After some time, Tang Gon snapped back to reality. The altering of his body added with his use of the flame just made him feel hungrier. It was time to prepare the ribs. He was gonna eat his heart out for all the clicker points the system had slyly taken away from him. "Rumble. Rumble. Rumble." The loud rumbling from his stomach reminded him of his hunger. Putting away the system, Tang Gon focused his whole attention on the ribs. This time he controlled the flames to the smallest setting. He then shot a mini blast of the flame at the ribs. The ribs started sizzling after the flames landed on it. "Sizzle." The outside of the ribs started to spark, and the applied dry rub turned a dark red. The juices from the ribs started to flow out, causing the flames below to crackle. A few seconds later, the ribs were done. But even with Tang Gon''s experience in cooking and the heat control, the ribs were slightly charred at the end. It still wasn''t bad for his first try with the flame, but considering that the system had basically guided the whole operation, it was a little below the standards of the system. Tang Gon would need some time to adapt to the new flame. Practice makes perfect, or less charred ribs. "Now, for the sauce." [-Honey Ray''s Award Winning BBQ Sauce] Tang Gon then took out the rest of the ingredients from the system. From time to time while waiting for the flames to die down, Tang Gon would occasionally apply a dab of the award-winning sauce on the ribs. "Mhmm, perfect." A compelling, seducing aroma flowed out from the ribs. Salivating, Tang Gon carefully cut up a piece sitting on top of the burnt rocks. It was perfect. The slice separated that piece of rib from the rest. At the same time, the fragrance grew even stronger, as most of the juice and sauce was absorbed inside. All of his Clicker Points were spent on this single meal, but if he was asked if it was worth it. "Well, is my name Tang Gon?" No. Of course, it was not. His name was the supreme leader of all and everything. 13 Rich Cocky mc was one of the most annoying things the system has ever experienced, but what was more annoying right now was the current changes going on in its functional setup. Well, maybe, the mc right now seemed to be extra cocky. Sadly, most of the mc was cocky, even more sadly was its duty to change this. No matter what Tang Gon was going through, it was stuck experiencing everything with it. Yes, ''it'' being the host after host it has to go through. Nevertheless, this was the one. ... It truly was the most amazing meal Tang Gon ever had, there was nothing he could ever compare it to. Although he made a simple rub, then dripped in the juices of the rib, most of it was simply guesswork from videos he had seen online. Some areas such as the stones were pure experimentation of the expectations of what he thought was required. But because of the quality of the meat, it was simply impossible to ruin anything. Grabbing with both of his hands, Tang Gon energetically tore off the best parts of the rib. It simply peeled off the bone and every single action of his caused it to overflow with juices. Tang Gon after finishing his meal and storing the leftover made his way back around to the cave entrance. Completely stuffed and with his stomach prodding out, Tang Gon cheerfully cleaned up. He was the type to move around; so while he did eat his meal at the top of the cave, everything he had was taken back to the bottom. That was to say the destructive power of his flame leveled his surroundings at the top, destroying the original entrance and creating an entirely new one a few feet away. The cave wormed its way half a mile down the mountain. Its general shape was ovoid, the walls below the ridge smoothly curved to the floor, the walls above arched another hundred feet up to giant stalactites. Small, loose stones littered the floor causing Tang Gon to almost trip as he got closer to the rock face. The lake that was originally inside the cave disappeared after the shockwave of the flame. It seemed that it splattered every which way. As it was still currently dark and that only the moon was shining in the sky, Tang Gon quickly went to the system. "Torch" [-1 Clicker Point] Anything in the system was seemingly possible as long as the Clicker Points were enough. This was something Tang Gon learned after the spice rubs and other nonessential items he received. But he still needed to be careful as sometimes there were no confirmations of purchases. He still needed to be careful of his words in the presence of the system, which was always. Regardless of the outcome, Tang Gon shone the torch ahead and several paths came into view, the entrance was so small he almost missed it. But because he followed the crumbled rocks, Tang Gon was able to quickly find his directions. The cave was built into the muddy brown rock of the cliff, the stone guarding the entrance was jagged and uneven, arranged in such a way, that it would be difficult for passers-by to spot. This was the result of the collapse. Inside, the beam of the torch was enveloped and lost in the blackness, Tang Gon had to move around by following the damp wall of the cave with his hands. All of a sudden, flaming torches sparked to life, lighting up the tunnel ahead and bathing the entire cavern in a flickering orange glow. Everything has a past and unsurprisingly enough, the cave that Tang Gon woke up in did to. The author of this novel is very protective of his mc, this is why there is a need for the mc to be powerful enough to get rid of troubles and challenges with ease. But because there is a need for the readers to support this author, he needs to balance it out, so voila. The cave used to be overwhelming with wealth a long time ago, back when the two empires in the surrounding areas were still developing villages. It used to hold all the valuables that a Flood Dragon had accumulated over the years, almost overwhelming with wealth at one point. But now, that Flood Dragon had either left or died. But the latter was more likely as no dragon would leave their treasure behind. And even though Flood Dragons weren''t true Dragons, they still had some Dragon Blood in their body. No matter how diluted the blood is, a dragon is still a dragon. And along with that is their habit of hoarding. It was more likely that a dragon was killed rather than the possibility of any dragon leaving their treasure behind. Not to mention that Flood Dragons in the recent hundreds of years had almost been hunted down to extinction and the closest one that has ever been sighted in the area was more than 200 hundred years ago. But ignorance was bliss, Tang Gon knew none of that, and none the wiser, took his time as he walked around the cave that used to house a Flood Dragon. The orange flame was still there, but by now, Tang Gon ignored it and didn''t care too much as it posed him no harm. This cave should have been decked out in riches and extravagance, but considering the amount that is now there, it truly was a pitiful amount. Everything else that used to be in the cave was long since taken. Tang Gon left the cave after he had taken the liberty of thoroughly cleaning the place. He looked underneath every nook and cranny, searching for any possible treasures that could be left behind. There wasn''t much treasure or valuables in the dead cave. But the things he did find, regardless of what it was, as long as it looked even the slightest bit valuable, he would toss it into the Inventory. But in the end, after so many hours of rummaging through the cave, he had only found a small bag holding some coins. Even this, however, seemed to have been dropped behind by a random traveler rather than the hoard of a dragon. "Tch" Tang Gon sneered while looking at the small bag. Truly pitiful, the exchange rate made the coins essentially worthless in the eye of the system. Tossing the entire bag into the system, Tang Gon saw that it had magically divided itself. The Coins had each taken up a spot, and then there was also a separate slot for the bag that was holding the coins. [Depositing Items] [4 Gold Coins] [23 Silver Coins] [234 Copper Coins] [Spatial Bag] The system knowing that Tang Gon had no clue of this world''s currency quickly displayed its rates. This seemed to be the average rate in all worlds, something was particular about this sort of evenness and orderliness. [1 Gold = 100 Silver 1 Silver = 100 Copper] When Tang Gon tossed the coins into the inventory, He realized that each of the different coins took up a block while displaying the amount in the upper right corner. While the coin was worthless and of no value right now, the system still maintained it as this was Tang Gon''s inventory. The bag contained so many coins simply because it was a spatial bag. But he already had the system. There wasn''t much use for the spatial bag. But still, the bag was worth a lot more than the paltry of coins it contained. Everything was useful one way or another. When he goes back to civilization, for example, and needed to take something out from the system, he would need a way to do it without attention. Everyone knew that it would like weird if he took something out of mid-air. Tang Gon already had the system which could hold everything, but in public, he would still need to cover the system up. But all of that didn''t matter to Tang Gon as he was brought into a great mood almost instantaneously when he saw that he now had gold coins. It looked like a lot, but considering the amount that used to be there, it truly was pitiful. Everything in the cave was long since taken away before Tang Gon had ever arrived. But as Tang Gon didn''t know better, he believed himself to be extremely rich right now. 14 Three Scouts Whistling, Tang Gon left the cave and started to explore the surrounding forest. It was finally morning and the sun was high up in the sky. The weather seemed normal enough with the occasional breeze passing through. But none of this mattered to Tang Gon right now. It seemed the experience of being alone for the past few days has finally gotten to him. There was both a lack of focus and care for his actions. Even in his past work experiences, he still had people checking up on him from time to time. Usually every hour after his regular mealtime to check upon him. Whether it was the cleaner, his advisor, or the restaurant owner next door that took care of him. The cleaner would come by every so often to help maintain the cleanliness of his place. The advisor was the person that usually sends the cleaner and also the person that helps maintain his schedule and overall health. The restaurant owner, however, had no direct connection with Tang Gon. Tang Gon always thought that the food left on his doorsteps was usually the work of his advisor as it was always him that texted the arrival of the food. These were the major people in his life back on Earth. It wasn''t that he wasn''t close with his family or that he was a workaholic, this was simply the way it turned out. Eventually, over time, a sense of dependency on these people grew, but that was not to say he couldn''t take care of it himself. Unlike other game developers, Tang Gon took his schedule and deadlines sincerely and almost sinisterly. In most cases, Tang Gon would finish projects day or weeks before the deadline is due, resulting in a bonus lasting him enough time to not take another project for a while. There was this one time while rushing to finish a project, Tang Gon ended up working overtime. Yeah, that was pretty much it. Even the most interesting aspect of his life prior to the system wasn''t that important to him or anyone else. But this was the type of thing he went through. No great development or major fall in life. ... Currently, Tang Gon was standing at the exit of the cave. Surrounding him was a new location of greenery. Shrubs and medium-sized trees of varying discernable heights surrounding the plain of grassland he was at. The ground was wet and seemed to have rained the night prior to his journey of exploring the cave. Similar to the forests back on Earth, the birds would chirp, bugs would buzz, and other animals would be around. Occasionally, there would be loud impacts of noise here and there every few hours or so, but for the most part everything was quiet and calm in nature. Openly strolling through the forest, Tang Gon completely ignored his surroundings. Mainly because the system would warn him of any dangers that would come his way. A bunch of new functions seemed to have been unlocked after his tutorial, it was only that he had to actively search and test out their functions. While aimlessly walking, Tang Gon went through the system, making sure that there was nothing else the system was hiding from him. As there seemed to be nothing of importance, Tang Gon took his time as he walked around his surroundings. While one could say he paid no attention, he did try to remember the paths he took after the cave. For example, there was indeed a small brook he crossed before exiting the forest and entering a small river littered with giant pebbles. But then again, there were several of these rocky banks in the forests. The sense of adventure in a world that he never explored is what now motivates him, this and the new amazing food that is beyond what he expected in any circumstance. The pure motivations of people is what boosts them and other time confuse them. Unsure of his next actions, Tang Gon continued to fiddle with the system. Before he knew it, there appeared a visual setting containing a variety of perspectives of how he wanted to view things. This in a way gave it a more of a fantasy-like feel. With a press of a button, the Visual Functions would turn on. Everything looked like it was working, but Tang Gon still couldn''t get used to controlling the system with his mind. It still felt natural using his hands to control everything, so it might still take some more time for him to get used to using his mind to control things. But because Tang Gon, despite being a developer was never truly a gamer, he left it off. He was the type to enjoy simplicity in life. Other times, he was very extravagant, but this was simply his personality. One that was very contradicting and would often switch from one to another rather quickly. One might call him an eccentric, but the reality of the matter was that Tang Gon did what he wanted with little care for others. Sure, he did go out of his way to help those in trouble, but as it was more troublesome than it was worth, Tang Gon spent the majority of his time getting by in life. Anyway, Tang Gon turned on the Numerical Value, which appeared after turning on the Visual Functions. Tang Gon was unsure of what both of the settings did as there were no messages or notifications that appeared to teach him, so he just kept it on, waiting to see if anything happens. He waited for a few minutes expecting something to happen, but seeing that nothing was happening, Tang Gon went back to digging around the system some more. Other than what he already knew and found, Tang Gon had also discovered a second version of the status bar. When he turned that on, a red heath bar and a blue stamina bar appeared directly above his head. Both were full and there was no sign of anything dropping. Believing that was the last thing hidden by the system, Tang Gon, satisfied, got off from the systems interface and started enjoying the peaceful surroundings. And because he was feeling rather simple today, Tang Gon turned off the two additional settings in the system. But before he could do anything further, a loud rustle from the other side of the bank was heard. It was slightly adjacent to the area where Tang Gon was sitting down. A dense bush hid him from whatever was coming out. Taking small steps back as to not attract any attention, Tang Gon safely retreated without any harm. Moving the leaves in front of him, Tang Gon took a peek of what was in front of his line of sight. Only now did he notice that the system had rung earlier. Recently, his train of thought and his actions of daydreaming seems to have stopped him from paying attention to any alerts offered up by the system. Just as he was about to get in the right mood to enjoy mother nature, the system had to suddenly ring, completely breaking his rhythm. This was his way of putting it, but as he was lost in his thoughts again, Tang Gon could only blame the system. Three figures soon appeared out of the underbrush, all three judging solely on their height appeared to have been men. As they wore dark coverings that covered the entirety of their face and any other discernable body parts, Tang Gon couldn''t see anything. The three men were dressed in some sort of green coverings that matched the shading and shadowing of the forest, enabling them to better hide and cover within the surroundings. One had almost noticed Tang Gon. Luck, however, was still on his side as none of them appeared to have made any move in his general direction. Two rushed to the stream and went to fill up their canteens, the other one in the meantime kept watch of their surroundings. After they were done, they would switch. The small showing of communication without actual communication was proof enough that they were trained. After finishing, they left as quickly as they appeared. Tang Gon finally seeing some sign of human life, quickly followed them. He ended up taking a detour around the stream in order to not attract any other attention. The three that he had seen seemed to have been a part of some bigger party as there was no reason for people in tracking suits to just wander around. There was definitely something going on and Tang Gon was happy to follow them and find out who they were and what was going on. As the main mission of the System was currently shrouded in question marks, Tang Gon could only make his way by following major developments. This based on the amount of secrecy the three kept was more than enough reason for him to follow. 15 Ore Scouts [Gremlin Nests] [Hordes] Notifications from the system appeared in front of Tang Gon. Just as he was about to question the system, several gremlins jumped down from the treetop holding nothing but pointed sticks. At the same time, more gremlins popped out from his side. They were very similar in build to the goblins, except for the occasional few being covered in fur or leaves. This being the first battle, Tang Gon quickly sent out his monsters. [Amazonian Death Tiger] [Frigid Ice Shadow Demon] [Pyro Snake] As the Flaming Swordsman was still on restriction, Tang Gon was only able to send out three of the four monsters he had. Fearing the worst of what was to come, Tang Gon shouted for them to quickly finish it off while imagining it to be a simple victory. A flash of light and the three monsters in his head quickly appeared in front of him, protecting him from the advances of the gremlins. The gremlins almost in shock at the sudden appearance of new unfamiliars screeched out in outrage. The Amazonian Death Tiger upon seeing the steady circling of gremlins, quickly lept out, tackling a random gremlin in the process of doing so. Seeing the sight of his Amazonian Death Tiger tearing the gremlin directly in half made Tang Gon relieved. ADT as Tang Gon would call it, directly pounced on the gremlins one after another. It made use of all its current tools to tear, rip, and shred the gremlins apart. The Frigid Ice Shadow Demon and the Pyro Snake, however, kept close to Tang Gon and made no efforts of straying far from him. The Frigid Ice Shadow Demon acted as a guard, taking the majority of the hits aimed at them. The Pyro Snake from time to time would spit out flames, directly incinerating one or two gremlins in the surroundings. As they strived to clean up the remaining Gremlins in the surrounding area, Tang Gon soon realized that more and more were appearing around them. The screeches of one Gremlin made Tang Gon realize that he was traveling deeper and deeper into their nests. Fearing for the worst and remembering the destructive flame he purchased the night prior, Tang Gon quickly aimed at the one gremlin as a way to prevent further attention. The flame covered one of the gremlins, making it screech in pain. And almost as if by making an example of one, the rest soon retreated in a hurry. Tang Gon glanced at the system. Dead gremlins littered the ground near him. Looking up into the sky, Tang Gon frowned and disappeared from the area, leaving the carcasses on the ground. A few moments later, the bodies had also disappeared, leaving the green blood as the only indication of what happened there. After Tang Gon left, the man on top of the nearby hill, secretly recording everything came out. The system deemed him as no threat whatsoever as there was simply too great of a distance between Tang Gon and the hill that he was on top of. The man on top of the hilltop, shrouded in greenery, was known as Hailer. He was part of the Ore Scout Party that was recently sent out by the Gear Empire to explore and keep a watch on the comings and goings inside the Gremlin Forest. And it was only by chance that he had spotted Tang Gon strolling around, while he himself was out patrolling the areas nearby. From there, he started following Tang Gon around, believing him to be a suspicious and dangerous character. He made sure to keep a wide enough distance between him and Tang Gon. Even then, Hailer made sure that he would be able to quickly escape if he was sighted. It truly wasn''t Tang Gon''s fault of being mistaken as an evil-doer, but to Hailer, it was strange and equally suspicious that someone was just calmly taking a stroll in such a dangerous place. Especially right now, considering that things have been tense between the Hart Empire and Gear Empire. But luckily there was still the Gremlin Forest, directly situated between the two nations, acting as a natural barrier separating the two from war. But while the forest prevented each of them from attacking each other, they still had many other dangers to deal with. Specifically the gremlins and other monsters that would come out to attack. Hence, the unspoken alliance between the two nations protecting the edges of the forest. Many were stationed around the edges of the forest, making sure no gremlins would sneak past and wreak chaos in the towns and villages. Hailer, however, was a part of the group who were stationed inside the forest, keeping a track of the major events happening inside, like the birth of a new monster that could affect the future of the empire or an old beast awakening from its long slumber. These were just a few of the many things that the Ore Scouts were in charge of inside the Gremlin forest. The other things inside were better left unsaid and unknown. But what even the common people know is that there are many dangerous things inside, more dangerous than the gremlins. Some, thousands of times more dangerous and capable of wreaking havoc than the gremlins. But for the most part, these strong monsters wouldn''t bother anyone as long as nothing bothers it. Generally, it was these small gremlins that caused the most problems. They were like goblins, parasites, constantly spawning more and more when conditions were met. With spring coming around, humidity would be higher, causing more rainfall, and that would lead to gremlins breeding from being in contact with the rain, hence the increase of guards around the place. Not to mention that the two empires were preparing the annual sweeping campaign in the forest to keep the gremlins from overpopulating. Hailer was one of the many elites sent out into the forest ahead of time to scout. But even then, it was truly shocking to see anyone daring enough to walk out in the open. Let alone, how somehow being this deep into the forest could stay so clean. One shouldn''t compare oneself. Hailer had to hide and cover himself as he patrolled, jumping into the nearest bushes every time he heard a growl or grunt. His clothes were a mess. And he had just washed them the night before. But what Hailer didn''t know was that Tang Gon had transmigrated over yesterday. And for the most part, he was in the system, away from the outdoors. From the moment, he first spotted Tang Gon, he had secretly recorded everything from the start with the recording crystal that each scout was assigned to use for important events. Only their unit were given crystals, as crystals were scarce and limited. It was only because they needed to have a way to record important information, that they were given such rare commodities. At first, Hailer only followed Tang Gon believing that he was a spy sent out from one of the other powerful nations. But the way Tang Gon carried himself quickly made him change his mind, re-evaluating Tang Gon as a crazy person. He didn''t take any action, instead, Hailer continued to follow Tang Gon, carefully paying attention to his every movement, watching exactly what he was doing. For all he knew, Tang Gon might have been an eccentric expert. But even then, Hailer still believed Tang Gon to be suspicious and dangerous. Who in their right mind would be out in the open in such a dangerous place? But what pushed Hailer over the edge was when he saw Tang Gon repeatedly tap the air in from of him, at times the left, at the right. From there Tang Gon was then marked as a crazy person by Hailer, a completely unstable person. But once again, these things truly wasn''t his fault. There was nothing Tang Gon could do, the system was only visible to him, and when he was going through the systems interface, it had genuinely looked like he was repeatedly tapping the air. ... After the final gremlin was slain, and Tang Gon disappeared from the spot, Hailer believing that his time was up, stealthy sped away. He took his time as he made his way back to the main camp, but even with Hailer taking his time avoiding all the creatures that he met, it still took him a good half an hour. He was quite skillful in making sure that no-one was following him, at times taking detours through open grounds and through rapid waters to evade anyone following him. These were just some of the steps ingrained to him when he was trained, making sure that no-one was following him when returning. Completely dirty and drenched, Hailer finally made his way back to camp. 16 Hailer The furball, otherwise known as the unconventional clicker to Tang Gon hasn''t shown up in a while. The system, unlike the previous time, did not summon the furball for Tang Gon. Nor was there any way for Tang Gon to make the system summon it. From time to time, Tang Gon would see shadows of it pop out of the trees or in the bushes off in the distance. Every time he would try to approach it, the furball would just magically disappear. It was always too quick and ran away before Tang Gon had any way to react to it. Seeing the furball once again, Tang Gon having learned his lesson, quickly summoned his Pyro Snake. The Pyro Snake following his command lunged at the furball and wrapped around it, preventing it from escaping. This time, Tang Gon was successful in capturing it. Rushing towards the Pyro Snake that held the furball in its grasp, Tang Gon quickly grabbed it afraid that it would disappear once again. This time, upon contact with Tang Gon, the furball started glowing. Before he knew it, the furball gave off a warm bright light and disappeared. [+50 Clicker Points] The system was starting to get on Tang Gon''s nerves. The previous time was him petting it and gaining 20 some clicker points easily, but now he had to actively search and catch it. This was not getting easier for him. The 50 plus clicker points, however, was in fact an added bonus. While this couldn''t compare to the bonus clicker points he received as part of his beginner''s bag, this was still a considerable amount. [Tracker -10 Clicker Points] Tang Gon cheerfully laughed as he watched the scout leave his sight. There was no way he was going to let the scout get away this easily. ... The encampment was situated south of a nearby stream, right off of the leveled plain. As resource was scarce, the main camp had to essentially live off of the land. The proximity to the stream provided them the use of water and the occasional fish for meals. Sometimes, there would be wandering animals that approached too close, giving them the opportunity to hunt them down, providing meat, lard, fur, and other items that were scarce, but high in demand. The scout unaware of being tracked by Tang Gon and his system made his way to the main camp, prepared to show the commander of the dangers and harm Tang Gon just caused their camp when he entered the gremlin nest. Seeing the site just over the horizon Hailer ran forward. He was finally there. It wasn''t that far, but in the forest, one always needed to be careful. Careful of everything. Pitfalls, quicksand, hordes, and poisonous plants were some of the few dangers that they had to be careful of when going in. These alone claimed the lives of many of the soldiers stationed there. As a result, the recruitment stations were open at the start of every month. The only requirement was to prove their strengths. Very little training was involved and as long as they could fight, they could join. The military structure of the empire was more profit-oriented, operating more as a mercenary guild with military structure. Because the empire was involved in the manufacturing of ores and production, they shared a close relationship with merchants, traders, and dealers. The work was dangerous, but the considerable benefits offered by the empire lured in many people. The majority of which came from poor families or were orphans that had nowhere to go. This was where most members of the lower society came to rise to the top. As long as they survive for enough years, they could then maintain a comfortable position as a sentry or even a captain of the guards in a small town nearby. From there they would earn enough coppers and silvers to comfortably get by. There was the occasional beer on the weekends and excess splurges on holidays with extra side dishes. The yearly campaign was a way that the current empire maintained its power. Although it was filled with gremlins and other minor hordes, there were considerable benefits to attacking and raiding the monsters. By using the monster population to its advantage, the current empire bolstered their combat force and advancements. For one, this protected the nearby towns that lived off of mining the nearby forestry and metal veins. The second was that the army was able to collect the valuables that the Gremlins and other monsters had a habit of hoarding and stealing. The forest was extremely dangerous and forced those to be in a constant state of caution. Hailer was just one of the many scouts recruited and sent out. Before he knew it, Hailer was in front of the main camp. Along the way, he heard the workers pounding the ground and constructing wooden barriers. The sounds of construction rang out with the workers busy and making sure everything was in working condition. People watched as Hailer raced in from the gate. The majority of them kept to themselves as this was just another regular occurrence. Scouts went out every day, trying to keeping track of the events occurring in the forest and any indications of dangers coming. Approaching the gate, he saw that there were a lot more people here today than any other day. Most of them were people he had never seen before this day. Servants, minor officials, and guards crowded the camp. Hailer soon came to a slow walk. He kept his head low, but his ears high. As he walked, he managed to eavesdrop on a nearby conversation. Something about talks of dignitaries coming by to inspect the conditions of the camp. Not sure whether this was the time or not, Hailer began to pace back and forth in front of the main tent. Finally deciding that it was important enough, Hailer walked in. He flashed his badge to the two guards and pushed them aside. After walking in, he saw several high ranking officials sitting around a table. His commander was one of them, sitting there and making small talk. A servant poured drinks just as he walked in. Seeing all the officials, Hailer felt that he was interrupting something important. By then, it was already too late to make himself small and unnoticeable. Building up his confidence and knowing the importance of what he had just recorded, Hailer quickly spoke up. "Commander, something happened in the forest! Someone disturbed the gremlin nests three miles south!" "Insolent! Report that to your commanding officer." The commander while mild-tempered for the most part was currently tense and on edge after dealing with inspectors all morning. Hailer seeing that the current situation was not in his favor, quickly tried to bring it out. Fumbling around in his jacket, Hailer took out the recorder and presented it to one of the attendants to appease the commander. A minor official noticing the awkward atmosphere currently going on stood up and took the crystal from Hailer. Aware of the frowns on several other members'' faces, the minor official quickly set it to play. A scene of Tang Gon soon appeared, all covered in scratches and covered with dirt. Tattered in rags, Tang Gon looked like a lost traveler or perhaps an explorer of ruins. Both were possible assumptions of what profession he was, but the lack of supplies caused them to look down on him as someone unfit and dependent on luck. Several seconds passed and the officials watched the scene with little interest as Tang Gon just kept walking, doing nothing out of the ordinary. Hailer, on the other hand, was nervous and had cold sweat lined on his back. The commander kept glaring at him, thinking of what punishment should be dealt out. A while longer, just as they were getting bored, the commander noticed that gremlins were soon appearing, stalking Tang Gon. More and more gremlins appeared. The gremlins screeched and circled Tang Gon, threatening him with their makeshift weapons. "Idiot. He''s just going to get torn apart." "Another nobody trying to gain fame." "There must be a good reason for him to show this to us." "Quiet down and just watch. Just consider it to be a show." Words of insult were hurled at Tang Gon but quickly settled down once they saw that the commander said nothing. The commander, despite remaining calm, had a migraine at the trouble this scout had just brought him. Regardless of the outcome of the video, he was going to be required to take action. Before long, the scene of Tang Gon summoning his monsters and burning the gremlins reenacted. Summoning circles appeared around Tang Gon and flames covered everything in the video. The sudden shift of their expectations changing caused their expression to be in shock at what they had seen. While gremlins were one of the weakest monsters and it was possible for anyone to fight back, the proximity to the hordes nest could overpower anyone. A certain level of skill regardless of strength was required to escape the gremlins, much less decimate an entire nest of gremlins. The speed that Tang Gon took out the gremlins shocked them and the array of monsters and fire caused them to be wary. 17 Lower Disguise Unbeknownst to the group of officials and guards around them, Tang Gon was already in the tent with them. He was standing in the corner of the room, just in front of one of the furniture pieces. He was carefully watching the group and gauging the expression of those sitting down. Even he did not expect the scout to have recorded everything. As the crystal took a while to process the image, the system did not take notice of the scout until the recording was stopped. Even then, it was a scary thought to realize that the system did not take notice of all dangers such as those recording him. Luckily, he followed the scout and realized this sooner than later. The purchase of the [Lower Disguise] from the system was more than worth it. The item cost him 100 Clicker points, but he was able to infiltrate the tent in return, disguised as one of the attendants. It allowed him to perfectly blend in without anyone taking notice. As there were so many attendants, it wasn''t that difficult to join in. The clicker points earned were dependent on his actions, sometimes even when there was no mission or reward, his actions as long as it aligned with the goal of the system would earn him points. But this wasn''t where he got the extra points that allowed him to take advantage of the system''s store. The points he earned came from his tracking of the scout. While following him, Tang Gon was able to capture three more furballs. This resulted in an additional 150 clicker points, more than enough for him to purchase the [Lower Disguise]. Along the way, he had seen a furball of a different color, though it disappeared too fast. Following this process, the only logical conclusion he could draw from this event was that there were grades of rarity concerning the furballs. And considering the system''s style, the color of the furball equates to its rarity, which in turn results in a higher return of clicker points. The way the system keeps dealing out new information, kept Tang Gon on the edge. But currently, this wasn''t what he was worried about. The image of himself covered in grime made Tang Gon laugh awkwardly as he looked like a beggar. Everyone was paying attention to the crystal, so his soft laughter went unnoticed. After finishing the recording, Hailer stepped forward and took the crystal back from the minor official. He stood there with his head lowered and waited for the commander to address him. Noticing no reply, Hailer looked up at the commander and those officials around him. None of them talked, but all of them looked like they were deep in thought. The commander alone, had his brows arched down and veins could be seen coming from the top of his forehead. The recording stressed him out, but what could he do. The commander finally gathering his thoughts, spoke up addressing Hailer. "For crimes of intrusion, you will be dealt with accordingly. As it is standard, a rank deduction of subgrade will be deducted from your current rank." Some were shocked at the severity of the punishment. Even though it was a subgrade, the deduction in rank would be recorded in all reports. The punishment did match the crime as any leak of information could potentially cause great damage. However, this wasn''t wartime nor was it currently in a state of emergency. The commander was dealing out the punishments and rewards following the emergency state. While this did serve as a deterrent for those who try to act recklessly, it also prevented those from forming bonds and making connections. No matter how unreasonable it was, the commander had his way of doing it. Before anyone could further react, the commander continued "Likewise, for your exemplary performance, you will be awarded 10 Gold Bullocks and an increase in major grade. " Just a moment ago, he was angered at the demotion, but the sudden major grade promotion shone upon him. The sudden increase in a major grade right after a minor setback was Hailer''s happiest moment. Even though he knew that he had no right to be angry, then happy, his expression gave him away. The commander saw his train of thoughts but did nothing to further it. The punishment was to be expected as Hailer knew that barging in was a crime and considering the nature of who he interrupted, the punishment was to be expected. The commander was fair, but also very strict with the rules. Going off of his nature, severe punishment was expected. Luckily, the nature of the commander caused him to separate the reward from the punishment. This way, the commander made sure that Hailer did not lose his reward. Likewise, the punishment was more of a paper record and a shock than anything truly harming to his career. Then if one was to look at the material award of ten gold coins, it was quite a substantial amount. A single gold coin was more than enough for a person to live lavishly for several months. That same gold coin if used sparingly by a family of four could be extended into several years. The gold coin in the eye of the commander, although quite a bit and well deserved by Hailer, was a small fraction of his total income. As one climbs higher in the ranking, the gap between each rank increases as does the difficulty. The monetary income along with other benefits such as future prospects widens with each climb up. The rank between a common scout and a commander was barely attainable, but when that gap is compared to the status of a noble youth in terms of wealth, the gap becomes unreachable. Regardless of this gap, what commoners were more worried about was how they could spread their money as best as they could. Simply put, if he were smart with his money and invested in an inn, Hailer could potentially secure the income of his family for generations to come. After daydreaming for a bit, Hailer stepped back and escaped out of the tent. The officials, only now waking up from their shock started chattering nonstop. "Dangerous. He will certainly be a threat. We need to quickly get rid of him." "No, we can not make any rash actions. What we need to do is to get him on our side. " "But such a person can not be controlled that easily." "He can as long as we know his weakness." "And what would you propose that to be?" "We can try to entice him with wealth, prestige, or women. I don''t care what it is as long as it can work." "Wouldn''t it be easier to threaten him with something than such an unsure method." Tang Gon at the moment trembled slightly in fear. The very image of these men exploiting him made him fearful, but also angered at their talks. It seemed like they thought this was just a matter of when and how. Not any case of whether it was a possibility, but how much trouble it will take. Tang Gon wasn''t ready to show his appearance as he would be interrupting their plan of enslaving him. He still wanted to hear what else they got to say. There was something about these peoples. The commander and the official were not any worry for Tang Gon. But what really did worry him was the fragile boy sitting there surrounded by those giants. The ones with sabers crossed across their back and several daggers hanging from their sides. If that wasn''t enough, each of them carried themselves with confidence. The fragile boy was rather pale and despite looking fragile, sat upright with just as much confidence as those that guarded him. Before Tang Gon could make a move to escape, one of the giants taking note of his actions stared him down. Tang Gon unsure of how to respond was stuck in a mid-step. He could only place his foot back down and return to his spot in order to cause the rest not to pay further attention to him only served to backfire on him. His actions caused the boy to look at him carefully in concentration. Neither was backing down, but after Tang Gon realized the position he was supposed to be in, he hurriedly looked down. But by then, it was already too late. "Who are you?" A single question from the boy caused the others to stop their chit chat and focus their attention on the attendant. One of the minor officials off to the side, trying his best to get in the good books with the fragile boy answered for Tang Gon. "He seems to be an attendant, my lord. There should be nothing for you to be worried about." "Quiet! I wasn''t asking you." He directed his gaze back at Tang Gon. The minor official, fearing to say anything else, stayed quiet. Tang Gon only trying to play his part in the disguise could only play his role as one of the attendants. Tang Gon steadily calmed his heart and answered subserviently. 18 Journey as a Butler "My lord, I apologize for my transgressions. Please do not take offense should I''ve offended you." This was the only thing Tang Gon could think of when he was directly questioned. He was slightly nervous, but seeing all the eyes on him only made him more confident. Life is a play that does not allow testing. So sing, cry, dance, laugh, and live intensely before the curtain closes and the piece ends with no applause. As if taken aback by Tang Gon''s confidence, the only thing the officials could do was stare and stay quiet as everything played out. As this was currently the young lord''s conversation, they did nothing but carefully watch. They were unsure if they should step in as the lord seems to be quite interested in this servant. Though, that wasn''t to say that the boy was not in shock. He seemed to be in even more shock than any of the others sitting around. Unprepared for such an answer, he stared at Tang Gon for a while longer. [Indomitable Presence Detected] [Pressure Detected] [Negate Pressure] Tang Gon, while paying attention to the young lord made sure that he kept his head slightly lowered. His stance was unwavering underneath the stare of the young lord. Although the stare was from an eight-year-old child, it was still unnerving considering that he was brought up with a noble''s disposition. [Yes/No] [Pressure Negated] Even at such a young age, the pressure that came off of the boy shocked the officials and made the other servants tremble with fear. Although the stare was directed at Tang Gon, the surrounding aftereffects pervaded the air and condensed in the hearts of the other servants. As a result, the attendants who had weak physiques were soon trembling and covered in cold sweat. The giants and other guardians had it slightly better than those attendants. These were powerful warriors sent out to protect the young lord, but even then, there were a few shaking from time to time. As they were warriors trained in protecting the young lord, they had very little to fear. Tang Gon, unlike the others, was entirely calm and peaceful as he stood there. Nothing seemed to be capable of fazing him or changing the gentle smile Tang Gon wore on his face. The boy noticed the weird expressions of those around him and realized that Tang Gon did something and most likely the blame was shifted to him. Realizing that the silence had gone on long enough, the boy looked at Tang Gon and asked. "Who are you." The voice was clear and still very childlike. Tang Gon, however, looked past his age and smiled while stating "My name is Tang Gon and I will be taking care of you for several years." Flashing a quick smile, the small boy laughed as he told Tang Gon his name. "You will follow me from this day forth. Brooke Everglades. Remember it." Tang Gon deciding that this was the best option for him currently, who had no awareness of the land and no clue on the mission of the system, quickly agreed. He maintained his upright professional stance and gently bowed down to the young lord with a smile. Deciding to make the best of this situation, Tang Gon ordered for the system to make it work. A dark shadow soon enveloped Tang Gon, only an outline of Tang Gon could be seen. Just as the shadow fell, a strong gust of wind appeared and surrounded him, making it so that no one was able to get close. [-50 Clicker Points] Although the process of transformation was rather detailed and extensive, the process took no longer than a second or two. Before the guards or the giants could react, Tang Gon stood back up and stepped out of the shadow. The moment he did, the shadow along with the strong gusts of wind disappeared. In the place of the strong gust stood Tang Gon entirely decked out in black and perfectly playing the role of a traditional butler. He was dressed very conservatively and formally. His uniform consisted of a waistcoat, a black trouser, a Windsor white shirt and a short black tie tucked within his uniform. "Demon." The voice had barely escaped from one of the official''s mouth before one of those nearby motioned for him to be quiet. Another as if echoing this statement agreed and somehow without hesitation also whispered it out. "Demon." The others in response to the two''s statements tried their best to make themselves smaller. Some slouched down in their seats, others slowly retreated, some were paralyzed in fear, and several others stood down shaking in fear. Tang Gon was still smiling as he took in the sight of those trembling and others shaking. The only one that wasn''t shaking or begging for mercy was that Everglade boy. [Waiting Points: 150 Clicker Points] [+50 Clicker Points] [Collect] [Yes/No] [Yes] A sudden notification rang out from the system. It was now time to collect his dues. The Pyro Snake was still out there catching the furballs and just now it had caught another one. Even now, the snake was still hunting, and as far as Tang Gon could see there was no limit on the distance of summoning. Holding out his hand, Tang Gon watched as the furballs to appear. This time, the furballs, miniaturized, as they appeared out of thin air on top of Tang Gon''s hand. [+50 Clicker Points] [+50 Clicker Points] [+50 Clicker Points] [+50 Clicker Points] A total of 200 Clicker Points soon entered Tang Gon''s system. The upper right-hand corner quickly added up those additional 200 points. Tang Gon had been waiting for the points and seeing that everything was prepared decided that it was finally time. The very second the points entered the system, Tang Gon gave a quick nod. The system aware of his every action took that as a sign and went to purchase the item. [Memory Fog Selected] [-200 Clicker Points] [Purchase Complete] Each time, the system would give back a different response. Sometimes it would say nothing and complete his purchase, other times it was quite wordy. This time, it felt normal enough for Tang Gon. Either way, he gave no response after the ding and notification from the system. A misty, yet dense fog soon appeared from around Tang Gon''s body. It appeared from the ground, the ceiling, and every place imaginable around Tang Gon. Its movements were quite fast and before those could respond, it had already covered the room. Those still inside the camp screamed as they attempted to run out. Their voices, however, remained trapped in the room. Everything turned white, nothing could be seen when looking around. Those that were running and trying to find the exit were soon frozen in place. The fog had managed to stop them completely. The only one that was still capable of moving, besides Tang Gon, was the boy. Brooke was scared, the fear was evident on his face. Even then he tried his best to not let it show. But because of his young age, any attempt of hiding his emotions was difficult and strenuous for Brooke. Tang Gon, completely ignored him, watched as the fog entered the heads of those in the camp. It was shocking even for Tang Gon as he watched the system set everything up. But after waking up in that cave and spending already several days in this forsaken place, there wasn''t much he could do besides going along with the system. Even his current actions did not feel like his own. His facial expression and voice no longer felt like his. In a way, it very felt like he was being taken over by the system. Yet, despite all of this, he knew that he was still strong and in complete control. Nothing was holding him back and nothing stopped him from doing what he wanted to. Rather, it felt like the system was guiding his actions, giving him a vivid image of the choices he could potentially make. Regardless of what he was experiencing, Tang Gon knew that now was not the time. There was still that boy he had to take care of. Finishing up his thoughts, Tang Gon walked meticulously towards the boy, every step with ease and precision. Giving him a careful look in the eye, Tang Gon purposefully took his time as he resumed his position off to the side of Brooke. The minute he stopped, everyone returned to their previous position. The officials were sitting back down and the guards were once again stationed around the place. Everything remained the same, save for their memories which were altered. They longer remembered anything about Tang Gon, the scout, or the recording crystal. And as if time never stopped, the officials continued their conversation regularly. Nothing was off about it. Brooke, however, remained aware of everything that happened. His earlier actions seemed presumptuous when he looked back on it. 19 500 Clicker Points Conversation resumed with the current talks of energy use discovered in the surrounding forest. Everything was placed back on a loop. The only one aware of it besides Tang Gon was Brooke, who he did not bother to fog. "We are two months away from enriching the uranium source encampment located on the southern front of the Higher Mountains." "But some of those reserves are on densely populated areas." "Then un-populate them. The new energy will surely bring greater benefits and stability to the nation. It can be used to replace the current energy source at a cheaper and more stable cost. That is also including the cost of researching the mechanics of it." "After that, there may even be military utilization of the uranium source. Think of how concentrated the energy is. A small percentage of it can be used to instill greater efficiency and constructs within the military." "No. There can not be any more of that. Think of the consequence should it be disclosed and spread to the other nations. At this moment, there can not be talks of this new energy. I simply will not allow it. This should end here." ... Brooke glanced back at the unfamiliar figure now standing off to his side. There must be a reason why this person did what he did and kept it a secret. It wasn''t like he could scream and run, he knew better than that. The mysterious fog was more than enough proof for what happened and the strengths of the person behind it. Despite, knowing that, Brooke could not stop himself from looking at the mysterious stranger. No prominent features, everything despite being so close was shrouded in shadows. Brooke could see Tang Gon, but every time he tried to focus on that face, it would disappear. Tang Gon, on the other hand, was thinking about what the system had in store for him and the newly released notifications and messages indicating Brooke to be the target of his mission. Everything had to have a reason as long Tang Gon was concerned, even more, if it came from the system. It had to be repeated and instilled into Tang Gon that the system and everything it had was one of a kind and powerful beyond imagination. Take the Defantius Sword Skill, for example, it allowed Tang Gon to master a sword skill without any form of experience or knowledge. What was more amazing was the extra bonuses attached to the skill. One skill had entirely raised his strength by a level or rank or whatever it was called now. There was even a bonus of subtlely masking his physique. Not to mention, raising his awareness, concentration, and other skills. Tang Gon noticing the boy''s stare, smiled and retreated a pace back. His earlier actions of swiping everyone''s memory was surprisingly useful, everything they were talking about referred to a new application of energy that they were still unfamiliar with. This had to do with the mission that was released earlier. His actions were not based merely on a whim. Instead, the system had released something about a dense indication of aura and that was what led Tang Gon to Brooke. Everything after that was a matter of Tang Gon''s choice of getting close with whatever this dense energy was. The green indicator that appeared on top of Brooke''s head for that single second was more than enough for Tang Gon to make that decision. "It''s getting late, we should head back. General Lin, it is about time for us to leave. Tomorrow at sunrise, we will be off by then. Until then, we will have to trouble your camp for a while longer." "Of course, it is no trouble. Should you need anything, please bring it to our notice. I won''t bother with the formalities any longer. Have a good rest and I hope to see one last time before you leave." With that, the officials left. Brooke left. The Giant Guards also rose up and followed Brooke out. The only person falling behind was Tang Gon, but even then, he left before anything could be asked about him. There were maybe 20-30 officials that left the place and maybe 15 Giants following. It was a confusing number, officials would pop in at indeterminate intervals and the Giants were rotated repetitively on a shifting schedule. Regardless, Brooke got on to one of the carriages and returned back to his personal space. The Giants and other guards followed behind in several small carriages. Tang Gon ignored all of them and shifted in the back of one of the carriages. The second he got on, the [Ding!] notification from the system was heard. Apparently he had completed another mission. The details of the missions, however, were getting more vague as time passed. [Brooke] [Accept Rewards 1. +500 Clicker Points 2. +5 All Stats 3. Select Drawing] Making sure no one was around, Tang Gon accepted the Rewards. "The system is rather generous with this. Accept." [+500 Clicker Points] [Added +5 to all Stats] Tang Gon watched as the clicker points and stats were added to his information profile. Currently, he was sitting at a base level of around 0-10. But the stats greatly increased everything about Tang Gon. Another [Ding!] resounded, reminding Tang Gon he still had one more reward. [Prepare Drawing?] [Yes/No?] [Yes] [Summoner''s Key Unlocked] [???] [Use] Considering that this was still the earlier stage of his adventure, Tang Gon decided to wait until he needed to use the Key. Making that as his final decision, Tang Gon relaxed at the back of the carriage, unaware of the troubling thoughts taking place in Brooke''s head. ... About a half-hour later, the carriages slowed down and Tang Gon woke up from the backseat. Although he was asleep, the slightest noises would have awakened him. Brooke did not bother calling out for, so there really wasn''t much for Tang Gon to do. The carriage pulled up to a considerably large log cabin. Upon stopping, Tang Gon walked to the front door and opened the door to the carriage, allowing Brooke to walk down. By now, the boy had calmed down and no longer feared Tang Gon as much as he did earlier. But even then, Brooke was reluctant to take Tang Gon''s hands. Instead, he jumped down, ignoring the hand and the stairs. Racing inside, Brooke found it to be as empty as he remembered it to be when he first arrived a month ago. Tang Gon taking notice of the boy''s mood dismissed the other servants and guards stationed here and there. The servants and other workers now knew that Tang Gon was in charge simply because of his attitude and more of his dressed attire. Brooke placed himself down on the couch and watched the flames flicker in the fire. The atmosphere was rather somber, but Tang Gon ignored it while standing there in place. It was ridiculous, but Tang Gon knew this was another role that he would have to play according to the system. "Why are you here?" the quiet whisper drifted out of Brooke''s mouth. It was about time some questions were to be asked. Tang Gon was surprised it had even taken that long for them to appear. On the long trip back, he had already prepared all of the answers he would be asked. "A debt." There had to be a reason for everything as far as Tang Gon was concerned, no matter if it was a lie or not. Luckily, the system already offered him the information package. [Brooke Dtls.] [Cost: 500 Clicker Points] [Purchased] No wonder it was so generous with the reward. Everything no matter what had to return back to the system. The clicker points were the best examples of this. "Collect." It was a good thing he was prepared and took that step of allowing the Pyro Snake to hunt. Once again, the little furballs appeared and fell down on top of Tang Gon''s hand. [1x Common] [1x Common] [1x Uncommon] [1x Common] [+250 Clicker Points] This occurred while Tang Gon was talking to Brooke about his debt. To Brooke, this was another form of power that the stranger yielded. To Tang Gon, this was stealing knocking two birds out with one stone. Maintaining close distance with Brooke for the mission and collecting the furballs so as to not need a reason to hide. His powers can be explained as this was the world of Huaxia as far as he was concerned, but some of his abilities would cause him to be hunted down. As long as he played his cards right, Tang Gon will return back to his world without worry. By then, he would have experienced everything and gained unimaginable power, allowing him to do anything he wanted back home. This was redundant considering if he had the power to do anything he wanted here, why would there be any reason to go back besides family and friends. But there was definitely some sort of appeal showcasing his powers back in the modern world or his world. ... Finishing up the story of how there was a time when Brooke''s family saved his life, Tang Gon quieted down, allowing Brooke to fully take in everything. 20 Capital A loud buzzing sound penetrated the camp just as someone shouted it was time to pack up and go back to the capital. Troops standing nearby from the night prior were relieved and leisurely ran to get their supplies before preparing for the trip back to the capital. Tang Gon heard the call and thought it was time to go. He was awake a few hours before the call but was still laying down on the makeshift bed in his part of the room. The last hour of being awake had him staring at the ceiling of the tent and thinking about what else was left. He had just lied about owing a debt to the boy''s family last night on a whim of his and the countless transmigration novels he read, but this was too dangerous and full of loopholes, he had to find a way to get past this sticky situation. Throwing off his blanket, Tang Gon got up from his bed and walked to the bed across from his. Brooke was still sleeping and the blankets that were supposed to be covering him were wrapped across his legs. "Time to wake up." Although Tang Gon was loud and crass for the most part, he had to play a part of a butler. He had introduced himself to the boy like this and it was best not to deviate too much from the role that he placed himself in. Brooke gently woken by Tang Gon, sat up and looked around his room, still tired and groggy from waking up so early. Noticing Tang Gon, however, Brooke was instantly awake. Tang Gon wanting to quicken the process of preparing the child''s morning routine, decided to use the system. "Purchase." [200 Clicker Points Deducted] The loud jeering sound of the system filled his mind and once again a process of light entered his mind. "Clothes Selection." A clear sound came out of Tang Gon''s mouth and filled the room. Brooke looked back at Tang Gon and saw that the stranger was similarly looking back at him. The scary thing was it looked as if he owed the stranger a large amount of money. A quick light shot out of Tang Gon''s hand and covered Brooke. A few seconds later and Brooke was completely clothed in a new outfit. It was simple and looked to be a traditional black and white outfit similar to the one Tang Gon wore last night. The only contrast was that there were additional details and outfits that paired with the one he was wearing. Brooke was momentarily surprised, but considering the circumstances that he met Tang Gon in, this was the least of his worries. Not to mention how he was still a child and the things Tang Gon did was not as impactful as they would be to an adult. Putting this out of his mind, Brooke just let Tang Gon take care of these minor details as he just gained a servant. ... Tang Gon helped Brooke into the carriage and disappeared in a wisp of shadows. [+200 Clicker Points] A surprising notification sounded out from the system to Tang Gon. Confused, Tang Gon asked the system, "Check Feed." [-200 Clicker Points] [Clothes Selection Purchased] [+200 Clicker Points] [Brooke] Scrolling through the feed, Tang Gon checked the past half hour to see if there was anything new that popped up that could explain the additional 200 Points he had just received. The only thing that came to his head was what he did just before the points arrived. The skill [Shadow Splurge] was used. It was a more recent purchased skill that had many uses, but the only use that Tang Gon had in mind was maintaining appearances and keeping the kid on his toes. "This is too confusing and scary. I just want a peaceful life in the countryside while rolling in thousands of Gold Coins." A sad sobbing was heard from the back of the carriage where Tang Gon was hiding. Of course, the words that were let out by him were all his inner thoughts and were not said out loud. The sad sobbing was his coping mechanism with poverty, but based off of the riches that he would snag from following this noble around, the sob was fake and muttered to a point where no one would hear it. This was the start of the thousand-mile journey back into the capital. For the most part of the trip, it should be peaceful as the current kingdom is stable, and without internal fighting. [-Insuffiecent Clicker Points] A ring sounded out while Tang Gon was trying to buy another item from the shop interface. Although there was a physical store that could be entered, Tang Gon still preferred the intangible screen from the system. A sigh escaped from Tang Gon while he looked at the hills. There was nothing to do and the amounts of furballs in the nearby distance decreased as he traveled. The Pyro Snake that he had out in the wild hunting for these furballs, returned back to the system after several hours and hundreds of miles passed. This was the world of Huaxia and nothing could be judged by the standards of the old world. The beasts that were pulling on the carriage were racing while following the main camp, but even then the carriage remained stable and without interruption as it floated and was dragged by the beasts upfront. Although the monsters looked normal enough, they were huge compared to any beasts of burden back home. Even Tang Gon was surprised when he first saw them, but because he had used the mask, the tiniest bit of emotion was controlled. There were so many new things in this world that were waiting to be searched and sought out, but as of right now, Tang Gon could not care any less. For the remaining of the morning, the carriage had been following the main camp and traveling on the road. There was nothing interesting that could be described. It was just a repeat of the previous scenery. Brooke who was laying inside had already fallen asleep several times and had just fallen asleep a few minutes ago. Tang Gon seeing that the source of entertainment that he had found was dead with sleep, decided to look over the system. He had looked at his skills and his stats for the hundredth time but there really was nothing to do. This was the only way he could think of to pass the time. Tang Gon shouted out to the system, "Status Check" A list of his skills popped out in a listing order of when he acquired them. [Defantis Sword Scripture] [Blaze] [Shadow Melt] [Clone] [Split] [Clothe Selection] There were some day to day skills that were not listed, but for the most part, these were the ones that he had most recently used. The Sword Scripture for one was used during the hunt for furballs and gremlins. The others were rather recently purchased when he got the clicker points for the furball and for killing the monsters for experience and resources. ... Half a month had passed before the party had reached the walls of the capital city. For these weeks of travel, Tang Gon had been butlering, raising, and taking care of Brooke''s everyday needs from feeding to washing. At first, it was weird for both of them, but because Tang Gon was emotionally stunted in the face by the after-effects of Lower Disguise and because Brooke was an awkward mature child they soon entered a silent relationship. A side note from the system was that the effects of the Lower Disguise have long since left the Host''s system, but because of using a certain degree fo integration was inevitable, not to mention the amount of shock that contributed to the problem. The majority of emotion from Tang Gon was hidden and as a result, it continued to because of the unknown world. Loud shouts from vendors were heard as the main party passed through the gates. Exotic fruits and trinkets were being sold and marketed by the people. There were everyday citizens of the nation walking about with adventurers in heavy equipment walking and cheerfully talking to the locals. Brooke who has been sleeping more and more over the journey was awake and cheerfully looking out the window. There was a tint of happiness that shone in his face because of returning back to the capital. Even Tang Gon could notice that the city was very welcoming. Everything will calm down soon once their party leaves this market area. A commotion was heard anytime a large group entered the gates, merchants saw these groups as bags of coins. However, the remaining of the guards taking Brooke home was more than enough to persuade the merchants to take their business elsewhere. The troops that were accompanying Brooke had long since left, the ones remaining were the ones sent to protect him.