《Wish-Fulfilling System》 Chapter 1: Lazy, Selfish, and Shameless ¡°My character stats are advancing quite nicely¡­¡± Lian examined his status screen as he was in the midst of storing items. He would grab one, as it instantly disappeared into his storage space. After completing the first quest, he was now ready to master a new skill. His cooking was at level 4 and he could already teleport to another location. ¡°That last trip was wild! I wonder what fuckery I¡¯ll get into this time¡­?¡± ¡°Regardless of the situation, with the system and my wit, I¡¯ll always end up on top.¡± System: ¡°Is the user ready to leave?¡± Lian murmuring: ¡°Calm down! Remember¡­always overestimate others and make them underestimate you. What¡¯s that quote again? The cicada stalks the¡­.¡± System: ¡°¡­¡± Lian: ¡°Crap. I totally forgot how that went! I need to learn a poetry skill soon.¡± System: ¡°Is the user ready to leave?¡± Lian: ¡°Ahem¡­uhhh¡­ yes¡­yes let¡¯s head out! ¡° System: ¡°The user might experience a slight headache¡­commencing preparations¡­¡± Lian: ¡°No problem, I¡¯ve already been through this once.¡± *System: Creating clone and setting disguise¡­..* *System: Clone created and transformation completed. User¡¯s clone is being transported¡­* *Shwoop!* Welcome to my life! I¡¯m Buyao Lian, but everyone just calls me Lian for short. You¡¯re probably wondering: ¡°What the fuck is going on right now?¡± I constantly ask myself the same question. Anyway, this shouldn¡¯t be much of a problem. Before we move along, let me introduce you to my life, and let¡¯s travel back in time to last month. Regarding myself, I¡¯m probably the best embodiment of what not to be. I¡¯m a 20-year old University student with no job, mediocre grades, and who still lives at home with no path in life. My weight fluctuates a lot and my looks are barely average; though I have no control over that. My only redeeming traits are my height, green eyes and ability to grow a beard. Otherwise, I have afro-style curly dark hair, no jaw line, a chubby body, and a dissimilar head-to-body ratio. I spend most of my time watching anime and online videos, playing PC games, or reading martial arts novels. In addition, I¡¯m obsessed with stories that use shameless MCs and systems. This is because it reminds me of my scheming self. I put on a fa?ade, my only bottom-line is my family, and my self-awareness results in philosophical outbursts and extreme fits of laziness. Ever since graduating High School, my lack of effort has become more obvious. I¡¯m not severely depressed, but sitting in front of a computer screen all night has definitely altered my mind. Rarely do I spend my days studying. However, when I do, it mostly consists of cramming the night before an exam or assignment. Frankly, it¡¯s only been a few years since I¡¯ve drifted along and mostly given up on reality. If I could trace it back to a common trend in my lifetime, it would be that I always quit halfway. I¡¯ve just learned to accept it now. I know... boohoo¡­ hail the self-pity sect! Both of my parents were doctors who quit their jobs when I was a child, and moved to Canada from China in order to provide myself and my older brothers with better opportunities. My father is retired and has Parkinson¡¯s disease and my mother works as a nurse to pay for the living expenses at home. We¡¯re well off with some savings, but they¡¯re quickly running out.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. My oldest brother is currently already married and lives in Vancouver, while the other one is also away from home and studying in Windsor. On other hand, my parents and I live in Toronto. At this point in my life, I¡¯m studying science at the Toronto University¡­ and currently, I¡¯m on my way to hand-in a paper¡­ *normal narration from now on* *thoughts in italics and quotations, system text in stars, and dialogue in normal quotations* After typing an essay by directly copying, pasting, and strategically rewording numerous articles, Lian was running on campus to hand in his environment assignment for the 4pm deadline. ¡°Fuck! Where was that class again¡­? I haven¡¯t been there since the first day.¡± ¡°This shit¡¯s worth 30%, and I¡¯m not trying to fail the course. It would have been easier if this was due online¡­ but then again I probably would have got caught plagiari¡­ahemm¡­¡± He pulled out his laptop and checked the room number on the syllabus. After a brief look, he bolted to the lecture room. Whilst rushing past dozens of people, Lian could tell that the class was over as everyone was in the midst of leaving. Sneaking to the front desk, Lian noticed that the professor was away from the table and engaged in conversation with a student. Therefore, he snuck his paper underneath a pile of essays, then started walking back out. In the hallway of the science building, he happened to bump into an acquaintance from his faculty. Mark: ¡°Hey Lian! How¡¯s it going bro? I haven¡¯t seen you in¡­ages! I never see you in class. Are you sure you¡¯re not going to start coming often?¡± ¡°Ahhh crap! It¡¯s this guy¡­ Just smile and make up an excuse. He gives some good damn notes. Better not to come off as a lazy shit.¡± Lian replied with a smile and came up with the excuse of having a difficult workload this semester. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he excused himself and rushed to the washroom. ¡°Fuck! I stayed up all of last night finishing that assignment and I couldn¡¯t even take a shit just to make it to the bus on time. My ass feels like it¡¯s going to explode¡­.¡± He ran to the male¡¯s lavatory and released a number 2 that shook the heavens. After checking to make sure that everyone left to avoid confrontation for the smell, Lian quickly washed his hands then headed for the bus back home. ¡°I really need to start being more organized¡­ and writing my own work. Otherwise, I¡¯ll just be a leech and a shut-in my whole life.¡± ¡°Sigh... oh well. I remembering reading somewhere that more than half of college students do the same exact thing. If you really think about, I¡¯m just a typical college student...¡± He stopped by the local convenience store and bought some junk food, before walking home with some bags. Along the way, his stomach was constantly growling. ¡°I¡¯m hungry as fuck! I¡¯ll grab a small bite of my mom¡¯s rice porridge and vegetables so she doesn¡¯t rip on me, then I¡¯ll snack on my own food upstairs.¡± Upon arrival, Lian had a quick meal. He then stopped by the living room where his father, Zaoshou Buyao, was found sitting on a wheelchair. Lian smiled as he filled his dad¡¯s water bottle then proceeded to walk up the stairs to his room. He opened some bags, lied down on his bed, and then began stuffing his face as he browsed for new novel releases. ¡°Is this MC for real!? He¡¯s literally whipped by his girlfriend. Can he not stand up for himself?¡± ¡°Why is this dude so adamant about marring dozens of girls? It¡¯s like he¡¯s never seen a woman in his damn life¡­ harems can be a reliability!¡± ¡°What about this other guy? He risked killing an entire clan because of one enemy? He¡¯s definitely a meathead.¡± ¡°Why are all these characters so one-dimensional? Wtf!? ¡°Why not be more realistic? Can they not just make a shameless character with a system who¡¯s good at everything? It¡¯s a fucking novel, you¡¯re supposed to be letting us live our dreams¡­¡± After ranting and spewing cookie crumbs all over his top¡­ Lian thankfully calmed down. ¡°Reading novels is sometimes so draining! I need to watch a few videos to reset my mind a little bit¡­¡± After shamelessly acknowledging that he is a lazy piece of shit, Lian continued his computer and junk food binge until late at night. Background noise: ¡°Ahhhhh! Aiiiii! Ahhh!¡± Lian squinted. This sound was coming from his father¡¯s room on the other side of the hallway. As his father had Parkinson¡¯s disease, every night he¡¯d have to go through a tremor episode where the movements of his body couldn¡¯t be controlled. A nurse was always there at that time to help tie him down and tend to his needs. Lian shook his head, turned up the volume on his laptop, and continued watching viral videos. ¡°I feel pretty groggy right now¡­ this is probably from that all-nighter.¡± ¡°Thankfully, everyone¡¯s sleeping. Time to whip out the tissues and open up the incognito¡­¡± Lian concluded his quick session of self-pleasure after washing his hands and experiencing some shame and regret for his actions. ¡°I should stop doing this crap. I know that most people say it¡¯s healthy, but I can definitely feel that I¡¯m addicted. It makes me feel so drained afterwards.¡± ¡°My left nut also hurts a little. I can¡¯t help but worry that if I keep going like this, I won¡¯t be able to have kids once I¡¯m older. Let¡¯s just hope that I¡¯m overthinking it¡­¡± Spending another hour in front of the computer screen, Lian was exhausted and decided to crash¡­ Chapter 2: Initializing the System Lian was passed out like a log. His snores were also powerful and consistent, demonstrating his accumulation of exhaustion due to a repetitive lack of sleep. Otherwise, the night was relatively silent. However, currently within Lian¡¯s dreams, an entirely different scenario was taking place. Unknown ancient voice: ¡°Hello Lian!¡± Lian: ¡°WTF!? Why do I hear an old man in my dreams? Miss me with that shit!¡± Unknown ancient voice: ¡°I¡¯m here for-¡° Lian: ¡°Aren¡¯t dreams supposed be a replay of your daily life? I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯ve watched enough adult videos throughout my lifetime to merit a hot chick in my dreams at least¡­¡± Lian: ¡°I¡¯m not even that horny of a guy but this is a dream so anything is fair play. Or, if anything, at least give me some powers! Can we get a reset?¡± Unknown ancient voice: ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± Unknown ancient voice: ¡°I am here to provide you with the system of your dreams. As a result of your ridiculously strong yet hidden desire for change in life and for becoming a master of all trades, the heavens and earth have slowly given birth to me. Unknown ancient voice: ¡°No one else has created me, nor will anyone else be able to form anything like me ever again¡­¡± Lian: ¡°Get on with it! I¡¯m a lazy ass, and I¡¯m not trying to think too much in my dreams...¡± Unknown ancient voice: ¡°Ahem¡­ yes¡­ Anyways, in the future, you can call me the Wish-Fulfilling System. Basically, through me, more some aspects of your life will become like a game.¡± Unknown ancient voice: ¡°Once we are fully integrated, the way you live your life can never be reversed as we will both become the same existence. A two-for-one package if you will...¡± Lian: ¡°This sounds like total bullshit but you¡¯ve peaked my interest. Go on¡­¡± Unknown ancient voice: ¡°Once we are integrated, I will be able to help you somewhat flexibly. However, I am not omnipotent.¡± Unknown ancient voice: ¡°Also, once we have integrated, like an automated system, most of my current personality will be lost¡­¡± Lian: ¡°Mhmmm interesting¡­ go on¡­¡± Unknown ancient voice: ¡°Can¡¯t you at least act like you feel bad? Sigh¡­ anyways¡­ the main goal of the new system once you¡¯ve integrated is to master all skills on earth. Though¡­very far into the future more places may be explored.¡± Lian murmuring: ¡°... So there might be skills in other planets¡­ I knew fucking aliens existed! Those conspiracies videos on the internet must have some truth to them¡­¡± Unknown ancient voice: ¡°¡­¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Lian murmuring: ¡°Either way, that¡¯s probably not something that I need to worry about for a really long time. But, this system definitely fits my needs¡­¡± Unknown ancient voice: ¡°Umm¡­ why are you looking at me like a piece of meat? I feel violated! Please stop and let me continue!¡± Unknown ancient voice: ¡°Regardless, your looks, physical capabilities, lifespan, luck, and other life abilities will be divided into levels that will be upgraded accordingly as your character levels up.¡± Unknown ancient voice: ¡°As well, you will have a skill interface that incorporates new skills as you train them. Training in these skills is what will provide you with enough experience to level up your character¡­¡± Lian: ¡°I get it¡­ makes sense¡­¡± Unknown ancient voice: ¡°On top of that, to make it easier for you, a significant amount of associated skills related to the main skill you train will also be automatically learned by the system. For example, Basketball, Soccer, and Tennis would all be classified as a single Sports skill. Of course, these skills would be harder to learn.¡± Unknown ancient voice: ¡°Once you reach level 10, the peak for each skill, any new advancements to the field of that skill will also be continually imparted to your mind indefinitely without additional effort.¡± Lian: ¡°This must be scam! Nothing can be that easy...but¡­ I¡¯ll take your word for it. Regardless, this is just a dream.¡± Unknown ancient voice murmuring: ¡°If only he knew what it took to reach level 10 for a skill¡­ it¡¯ll be better if he tries it himself rather than having me explain it.¡± Unknown ancient voice: ¡°Anyways, another detail you might want to know is that you get upgrade packages and other special perks once you level up. Unknown ancient voice: ¡°In addition, once you have mastered every skill on earth to its peak, you will attain a grand prize. Unfortunately, I don¡¯t know what that is.¡± Unknown ancient voice: ¡°There¡¯s a lot of other perks like a storage space that grows, divides, and evolves with your level, but frankly, as I am a creation brought upon from your existence, I¡¯m too lazy and can¡¯t be bothered to explain the details. Any last questions?¡± Lian: ¡°Let¡¯s say that this WAS real¡­ will I be able to ask you for details later on? Also, are you sure I¡¯m not missing any other important information?¡± Unknown ancient voice: ¡°I think that I¡¯ve done my job quite well. But¡­ I definitely forgot a few things. You can¡¯t blame anyone else but yourself because my personality is based off of you!¡± Unknown ancient voice: ¡°With regards to asking questions, you¡¯ll still be able to. However, I won¡¯t always be able to give you a response as flexibly as now.¡± Unknown ancient voice: ¡°You also asked about missing details¡­ hmmm¡­ oh I know! Once you integrate with the system, besides reconstructing your body, you¡¯ll no longer need to take a shit ever again. Any waste basically becomes disintegrated by the system. This also applies to any partners you may have.¡± Lian: ¡°Woah¡­ for real!? Is that supposed to be standard procedure for systems?¡± Unknown ancient voice: ¡°Of course it is! Have you ever read a novel where the main character goes to the washroom?¡± Lian: ¡°Now that you mention it¡­ no, I haven¡¯t.¡± Lian murmuring: ¡°Well¡­ then again, there¡¯s that one fucking guy who literally blows his enemies away from his farts¡­¡± Lian: ¡°Regardless, that¡¯s a good point you¡¯ve got there¡­ Quite enlightening actually!¡± Unknown ancient voice: ¡°Yes¡­ yes¡­. Ahem¡­ So, do you accept to integrate with the system?¡± Lian: ¡°Of course! It¡¯s my time to shine baby!¡± Unknown ancient voice: ¡°¡­. Okay. Initializing the system¡­ See you soon¡­¡± *Clink! Shkrrrrrrr¡­.. Clink! Clink! Clink!* New Voice: *Wish Fulfilling System is in the midst of initializing. User Buyao Lian is integrating with the system.* New Voice: *User¡¯s body health is horrid¡­replenishing vitamins¡­removing radiation, and solving hernia, extreme fatigue, and other side effects of the user¡¯s bad lifestyle¡­ * New Voice: *User has some body odour problems. Finding a solution¡­* New Voice: *Reconstructing the body¡­Solving vision and hairline problems¡­ Setting all stats to average¡­* New Voice: *Shamelessness level is too high and cannot be reset. Confidence is too low and cannot be given a stat. User must develop this trait on their own.* New Voice: *System has encountered an error with sperm count. Re-evaluating lifespan and setting a task. Wish-Fulfilling System integration complete!* Chapter 3: Stats and Embarrassing Task Lian woke up from bed drenched with sweat. It was late in the afternoon, and usually, at this time, he would wake up still exhausted. However, contrary to his expectations, he didn¡¯t feel any headache or discomfort. He could also see clearly without his glasses on. Shocked, surprised, and suspicious, he said the first thing that came to mind. Lian: ¡°Open system!¡± Unknown Robotic Voice: *Setting system displayer to ¡°Open System!¡± Opening user system.*
User: Buyao Lian
Age: 20
Lifespan: 53 years - Health Status: System reset should have set the user¡¯s lifespan to 100 years. However, too much self-stimulation along with a bad lifestyle has left the user with close to irreversible side-effects on the body. o Additional side-effects: Impotent by age 30. - *Task pending¡­*
Looks: Below Average (internationally) - *Better health and balding-prevention has resulted in the user becoming below average instead of very below average in terms of looks. This system message will no longer show up in the future.*
Character Level: 1 (Exp: 0/1000)
Physical Strength and Defense (STR/DEF): 1
Speed and Agility (AGI): 1
Spirit and Vitality (VIT): 1 - *This value will not directly be affected by current or future health status effects. This system message will no longer show up in the future. *
Intelligence and Cunningness (INT): 1
Luck (LUK): 1
Shamelessness: MAXED OUT
Unassigned points: 0
Abilities: Infinite eating, No washroom needed (transferrable to partners), Eternal youth (transferrable to partners), Game Character, Shameless Genius, Self-awareness, Unrelenting Critique, Seeing through bullshit.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Skills: Science and Mathematics (Lvl 3, 780/1000) Known Languages (3), Sports (Lvl 2, 47/100), Gaming (Lvl 3, 840/1000), Troll (Lvl 2, 40/100) - *All other skills must be re-learned through the system as your foundational knowledge of these skills could barely reach level 1. Your knowledge of them has not changed.* - *For most miscellaneous skills, the maximum level possible is 10. For now, as an exception, languages must be learned individually. However, in the future they can be learned together in the form of a new skill. This exception may also apply for certain other special skills. This system message will no longer appear in the future.*
Storage Space: 1 - Inanimate object storage: 1m3 wide.
¡°Holy shit! I only have 53 years to live!? Fuck! I knew those online doctors were dodgy¡­ saying that fapping regularly¡¯s good for your health¡­assholes¡­¡± ¡°No! I need to calm down... I still have over 30 whole years to deal with this issue. There¡¯s probably a simple way to solve this.¡± He continued looking through the status window as his expressions were constantly changing. ¡°There¡¯s quite a lot to look into and a few urgent problems to deal with as well. I¡¯ll learn some more about the system first, before dealing with anything else.¡± ¡°¡­..¡± ¡°With that being said, does the system have to be such an asshole!? Shameless level maxed? I may lack morals at times, but that¡¯s way too cruel¡­¡± From reading dozens ¨Cif not hundreds of novels, and making some inquiries with the new monotone-pitched system, Lian had a basic idea of how to make use of his new cheat. The system would only answer questions regarding parts of the users¡¯ status that are already known or seen. Specific inquiries about the future of the system are ignored; except for some basic answers. Furthermore, for every level, he would gain two unassigned half-points which he could use for certain stats; along with an overall stat, lifespan, and looks increase for certain levels. This would include a few other special perks as well. The maximum level for each character trait is indefinite. Lian found this a bit disheartening considering his maxed shameless stat. In addition, his storage space¡¯s size and capabilities would evolve with his level increase. He performed some further tests to confirm this newfound knowledge. *shwoop* *Item: ¡°Bed Sheet¡± have been stored. 0.80m3 of space remains* ¡°Interesting¡­ so each individual item is stored efficiently in a different space within the boundaries of the limited area. That¡¯s really useful! I don¡¯t need to worry about water or food spilling when I store them!¡± From Lian¡¯s analysis of his abilities, ones such as ¡°Self-Awareness¡±, ¡°Unrelenting Critique¡±, ¡°Shameless Genius¡±, and ¡°Seeing through Bullshit¡± were all abilities he had before integrating with the system.Most of these ones were self-explanatory. The less obvious skill ¡°Shameless Genius¡± basically means that he is able to use shameless tricks to make shortcuts for achieving his goals. Among Lian¡¯s other abilities, ¡°Infinite Eating¡± means that he can eat almost whatever and as much as he wants without harming his body or affecting his lifespan. All food will be converted to the necessary vitamins, liquids, and minerals for optimal health. ¡°No washroom needed¡± is more of a daily life skill. It instantly allows him to fully clean his body and emit a nice smell, get rid of bodily wastes, shave his nails and cut growing hairs, and brush his teeth and hair without needing to step one foot into a washroom. The system automatically performs this task on command. It can also be turned off at will, though that seems useless. ¡°Eternal Youth¡± means that his main body will never age and that he will forever look like he is in his 20¡¯s until the end of his lifespan. Lian was curious about the mention of a ¡°main body¡± but he believed that this would surely be explained in due time. ¡°Game Character¡± indicates that most factors of his life will be permanently lived in the form of a game. For example, Lian could still get injured and has no health bar, but he can level up his stats through earning exp. This ability is a direct result of his complete integration with the system. Some additional details include invulnerability to: radiation and loss of eyesight from electronic devices, hear loss from earphones, plastic container contamination, and other daily health status concerns which can be ignored for the most part. After another half an hour of tinkering with the system, he became more adapted to its existence. It was time to ask about some more pressing concerns. Lian: ¡°Hey system! Is there any way to fix my lifespan problem?¡± System Voice: ¡°The answer to the user¡¯s question is yes. Have you seen the pending task on your status window?¡± Lian: ¡°Yep.¡± System: ¡°Through completing the task, the user can not only solve their lifespan problem, but can also gain some exp for their character. Do you accept the task?¡± Lian: ¡°It¡¯s not like I really have much of a choice here¡­ so yes!¡± System: *Setting Task: NoFap for 1 month. After completion of the task, user¡¯s lifespan will reset to 100 years. Additional rewards can be gained as well.* Lian murmuring: ¡°One month? Damn that¡¯s going to be rough¡­¡± Lian: ¡°Is there any punishment for failing the task?¡± System: ¡°Usually, there is no punishment for failing to complete a task. However, upon failure of this task, the user will no longer be able to take it again in the future.¡± Lian shuddered. Lian: ¡°Fuck! That¡¯s worse than a punishment! Okay, okay¡­ I can do this¡­ probably¡­ maybe¡­ somehow¡­¡± Chapter 4: Training a New Skill After getting the new task, Lian knew that one month of self-control would be the key to his success. However, besides this side-quest, the system opened up many new possibilities for himself. The system¡¯s goal was to master all skills on earth. But, Lian himself always had this same desire from reading so many novels. To not just be a jack of all trades, but instead a peak master of all of them. It¡¯s hard to imagine such an accomplishment. If one could describe the sentiment, it would probably match the feeling of an antique enthusiast once they managed to collect all of the ancient antiques on the earth. Therefore, Lian had to get to work. Looking back, he was a lazy person for a large part of his life and wasted himself away on the computer. He was viewed as a smart and involved student in secondary school. But, for the most part, the lack of competition allowed him to succeed while never fully investing his time into anything. It was only when Lian entered University that his lack of talent and self-discipline became more prominent. However, with the system in his hands, he was now beyond a genius. In fact, one could say that he was cheating the heavens. Wasting time on the computer was no longer needed. Considering Lian¡¯s previous knowledge from novels, if he was too high-key with showing off his skills or training on the outside, some sort of conflict would probably arise to push the ¡°plot¡±, or in the words, the suspense in his life, forward. ¡°You can kiss my ass! I¡¯m not going to run around like a chicken with my head cut off while chasing chicks with low EQ and fighting degenerates. FUCK. THAT. SHIT.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to cause my family suffering or force them into a hostage situation due to my incompetency.¡± ¡°If I ever do go out in the future, I must be low-key, leave no traces, and if there really is suspense, I¡¯ll only risk my own life and not that of those close to me.¡± After racking his brains a little bit, Lian came up with an idea. ¡°Since I barely go to class anyways, I¡¯ll continue with passing classes at the base average for now and I¡¯ll stay at home for the most part. This will be a good cover.¡± ¡°My eyesight being solved shouldn¡¯t make anyone suspicious since everyone uses contacts these days. Heck, I¡¯m sure my parents won¡¯t even notice much unless I mention it.¡± ¡°I also don¡¯t need to worry about income or accolades in the future, since I¡¯m sure that with the system I¡¯ll be super rich eventually¡­¡± ¡°Hopefully, I¡¯ll even be able to help my parents out¡­¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Lian: ¡°Hey system! Will there be any way to get rid of my dad¡¯s disease in the future?¡± System: ¡°The user can heal his father once certain skills are mastered and certain leveling restriction are unlocked.¡± System: ¡°Furthermore, the complications for your father¡¯s disease will not be life-threatening for at least the next 15 years.¡± Lian: ¡°That¡¯s relieving¡­¡± Continuing to make sure that all aspects of his life were taken care of, Lian decided to push aside his currently attained skills for the time-being. Instead, he planned to gain the first and most obvious skill that came to mind: cooking. His father was currently still upstairs and his mother wouldn¡¯t come home until late at night. So, he snuck downstairs to the kitchen. ¡°Instead of scattering my mind, I¡¯ll aim to train a few related skills at a time. That way, I¡¯ll be able to keep track of my progress. I still need to master everything regardless, so there¡¯s no point in rushing.¡± After preparing some ingredients, Lian picked up an egg and cracked it onto the pan. *Sizzzzzle* *System: User has learned a new skill: Cooking.* *System: User has gained 1 exp point in: Cooking.* *System: Current experience to reach lvl 2: 1/10.* ¡°Sweet! Great user interface and very low exp to develop my proficiency. Just how I like it¡­¡± He continued cracking eggs over the stove until the liquid in the pan looked like a jumbled mess. After cracking the tenth egg, a new message appeared. *System: User has gained 1 exp point in: Cooking.* *System: Congratulations! User has reached lvl 2 in cooking. All aspects of the users¡¯ cooking abilities and knowledge of recipes have increased.* *System: Current experience to reach lvl 3: 1/100.* ¡°This sound is like music to my ears! With all that said, I can see how difficult it¡¯ll probably get in later levels if I need 10 times the experience each time. Yikes! I¡¯ll leave that problem for later on¡­¡± After leveling up, he gained a few very basic recipes that were permanently imprinted into his mind. He went along with the instructions, while continuing to experiment with vegetables and condiments. With his ¡°Infinite Eating¡± ability, he didn¡¯t need to worry about ever overstuffing himself or getting sick from food poisoning. As a result, he always tried tasting the food after cooking it. ¡°This stuff¡¯s not half bad¡­¡± ¡°If I keep leveling up, among many future options, I could probably make some good cash by selling my creations¡­better than being broke with no job and a useless degree, that¡¯s for sure¡­¡± He put on some music, and continued until the evening. His cooking level eventually reached lvl 3, with still quite a large amount of exp to reach the next level. He gained a larger breadth of recipes and more knowledge when it came to cooking in general. However, he was now sweaty and somewhat exhausted from overexertion. He used the effects of ¡°No Washroom Needed¡± to instantly clean himself and look hygienic, before changing into new clothes and heading out. ¡°I can¡¯t always occupy the kitchen to cook. Not only is it suspicious, but it will also get expensive to waste so many ingredients. Likewise, at some point, I¡¯ll have to find a way to gain more exp at later levels.¡± ¡°For now, I¡¯ll look into working on another skill that¡¯s kind of related. If my assumption is right, I should be able to get a planting skill¡­ or some skill along those lines.¡± He went to the local supermarket and began his shopping spree. Carrying some cheap pots, along with some soil and seed bags, he started walking towards the register. As he approached one of the lines, he felt a tap on his shoulder. High-pitched voice: ¡°Hey Lian, how¡¯s it going?¡± He turned around. After seeing who it was, he squinted. Chapter 5: Seeing Through the Bullsh*t The girl in front of Lian happened to be his old junior high crush. Although he used to like her, they had few interactions in class. After finding out about her true personality, and experiencing her evil first hand, he began to despise the girl. Lian couldn¡¯t help but acknowledge that this experience was probably what lead to his cynical outlook towards women and lack of empathy in relationships. However, if the system heard this, it would probably argue that this corrupted outlook was more a result of his exposure to days upon days of adult content... The girl¡¯s name was Leah Emerson and although she looked like a sweet, beautiful, blonde, and petite white chick, she could be classified as a wolf in sheep¡¯s clothing. She was the type to smile in front of you, then make rumours behind your back. She had also once been caught cheating on her previous partners unbeknownst to them. If that was all, since it had nothing to with himself, Lian would have just dismissed the crush as lust and moved on while being disgusted with himself for even liking such a creature. However, this girl had the nerve to make lies about him. Seeing that Lian was somewhat shy when conversing with her a few weeks beforehand in class, she came up with a way to fish for attention by making up a rumor. Hiding her identity, she claimed that he stalked her on her way home. On top of that, she even dared to make a lie that he sent explicit pictures to her through social media. But, regardless of Lian¡¯s questionable character, he would never go as far as stalk someone or do something so unwarranted. Since Lian was good at acting like a typical airhead in front of others, Leah didn¡¯t realize that he had easily traced the rumors back to her. After that experience, although Lian was able to develop a good circle of friends later on in senior high, and have a decent relationship with girls in other schools, most of the girls in his own high school still viewed him in a bad light. ¡°If this was a story, and with the perks of my system, it would probably end up with her changing for the better and then bossing me around like a ¡°tsundere¡±¡­ concluding with us falling in love, or becoming friends and reconciling ¡­¡± ¡°Once again¡­ FUCK. THAT. SHIT. If she was a dude, I would knock her the fuck out. If I got the chance, I would fuck with her feelings and leave her to forever contemplate on the meaning of Mt.Tai.¡± He chuckled in his mind and then put on a fake smile. Lian: ¡°Oh hey Leah! Long-time no see. I¡¯m doing great. How about you! ¡± Leah: ¡°Not so bad. Actually, late next month, I¡¯m going to be taking part in a national cook-off competition. Isn¡¯t that great? You remember how I was taking so many cooking classes back in high school? I even took a 2-year advanced cooking course after we graduated. I¡¯m sure to become a pro chef¡­ hahaha¡­¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Bleghh¡­ I think I just vomited in my mouth.¡± ¡°And why is she mentioning a cooking competition all of a sudden? I know that she¡¯s a prideful fuck, but isn¡¯t this too much of a coincidence? Are we supposed to end up having a Shokugeki or something?¡± ¡°Actually, that wouldn¡¯t be too bad¡­as long as there¡¯s no exp waste I don¡¯t mind letting her face the mightiness of Mt.Tai¡­¡± Zoning back into the conversation, he coughed quickly and pretended to laugh with her while silently mocking her. Leah: ¡°What about you? It¡¯s been three years since we¡¯ve graduated. Are you homeless now? Ha-ha, just kidding!¡± Leah: ¡°By the way, how¡¯s your dad doing? The last time I saw him, he looked super tipsy while moving around during the graduation ceremony¡­it¡¯s not good to drink during those types of events!¡± Lian frowned. That was both random and uncalled for. During his graduation, his father happened to have a tremor episode. This lead to a small scene in the audience. He had to excuse himself and head home half-way through to help hold down his father. Leah clearly knew this, yet she pretended to be completely unaware; assuming that Lian would go along with her play of being clueless. ¡°What a bitch. She¡¯s trying to disrespect my dad? Fuck that bullshit.¡± His facial expressions underwent a complete change. Lian: ¡°Listen¡­ can you fuck off? Like¡­ right now? Are you hearing yourself? I¡¯m not tolerating your disrespect. Fuck out of here¡­¡± After telling her off, Leah realized that she was being called out for her vile personality in front of other people in the store. Realizing that she went too far, she gave Lian a partially dirty look and walked away. ¡°Good riddance! Fuck, I wish I could knock her teeth out¡­¡± ¡°Thankfully, I didn¡¯t go too far. She won¡¯t be able to trace back my annoyance due to what happened in high school. I can¡¯t have people suspecting anything to do with the system or my wit.¡± ¡°Remember¡­ low-key. I don¡¯t need to start escalating conflicts because of petty reasons. I have a family behind me.¡± Lian: ¡°Hey System! Is there a way to avoid hostage situations or personal tracking in future conflicts?¡± System: ¡°Considering that this is your personal Wish-Fulfilling System, although the user is nowhere near invincible, privacy measures will be taken in the future to ensure 100% safety of loved ones when the user is training for reaching higher levels.¡± Lian was relieved after getting this much needed confirmation. Thankfully, not all girls had such an extreme character as Leah. Furthermore, not all guys want to kill you after merely look at them. Although others might be prideful and have certain motives, most of them know how to have restraint during a simple conversation. In fact, Lian began to think that Leah was acting more mentally challenged than since he last saw her; perhaps due to the guilt of living like a degenerate. But, she was already on his blacklist. After checking out of the store with his bags, he headed to a public restroom and entered a urinal. Although Lian no longer needed to relieve himself, he could use the spot as a cover to store the bags in his storage space without attracting any attention. Lian didn¡¯t need to do this, but he was too lazy to carry the bags. Afterwards, he once again headed back home to his room then shut the door. ¡°Let¡¯s see what magic we can do with this new stuff¡­¡± Chapter 6: Farming The bags from the super market miraculously appeared on the floor. With an idea already in mind, Lian began ripping open a bag of soil and pouring the contents into one of the pots. After opening up the other bags and making sure that none of the soil spilled onto the carpet, Lian took a seed and placed it in the pot. He waited for an entire minute but nothing happened. ¡°Damn it¡­I knew that my idea was too good to be true!¡± ¡°No... I won¡¯t believe that I can¡¯t cheat the system! What could I be missing¡­?¡± He began formulating some new ideas. After continuing in this state for a few more minutes, an obvious plan came to mind. It was a worth a try. Lian quickly headed to the kitchen downstairs, picked up a plastic container, and began filling it with water. While waiting for it to reach the brim, he heard a sound coming front the front door. Flustered, Lian instantly stored what he had in his hands, and grabbed a cup from the nearby cabinet. ¡°I feel like an undercover spy. Looking like I¡¯m drinking water while I¡¯m really a master schemer! Hehehe¡­¡± Mother¡¯s voice: ¡°Lian, is that you in the kitchen? Help me bring these bags to the living room!¡± Lian: ¡°¡­¡± Lian: ¡°Yeah mom, I¡¯m coming!¡± ¡°I probably didn¡¯t need to be so rattled¡­¡± He placed the cup back in its cabinet, and started carrying the groceries to the living room. There was no need to use the storage this time. Most of the bags consisted of organic fruits and vegetables. Although Lian¡¯s family had to be a bit tighter with their spending, his parents never compromised with their children¡¯s health. While walking back and forth, he started thinking about his mother, along with some positive future changes he can make in his family with the new system. Lian¡¯s mother, Tengtong Buyao, at the expense of her sleep, spends most of her time either helping his dad with his condition, dealing with house chores, or at work to help pay for living expenses and his father¡¯s medication. Unlike most foreign mothers, despite having been a doctor herself, she never forced her expectations onto her sons and just hoped for them to have stable jobs and live happy lives. Thinking back, Lian knew that these past few years he¡¯d always used the excuse of being incapable and spoiled as a child to stay in his room, barely study, and waste his life away.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Despite that, his aging mother still continued working hard for the family. Although she continually encouraged Lian that studying and getting better grades will lead him to better opportunities, she never forced him or threatened to cut off his provisions. He started somewhat tearing up thinking of how shitty of a son he must be for being so ungrateful. Clearing a few tears, his mind became more resolute on reaching his goals. ¡°Stop being a self-pitying fuck. You¡¯ve always been wondering if you could help your family, while blaming it on your incapability and doing nothing¡­Well, here¡¯s your chance! Now that you have the system, things can change. ¡° ¡°After all my transgressions, if I don¡¯t end up creating an eternal heaven for my parents, I swear that I¡¯ve truly failed as a human being!¡± As he continued carrying the groceries, he began discussing ways with the system to make this dream a reality and prevent any tragic mishaps. The system instructed him that the key to achieving his goals was to unlock his character and achieve higher levels. Besides his own motives, this now gave Lian even more of a reason to train. Eventually, there were no more bags left in the front door, and he began heading back upstairs. Mother: ¡°Lian! Did you eat yet?¡± Lian: ¡°Yes mom!¡± Mother: ¡°That¡¯s good! Have you been studying at all today?¡± Lian: ¡°Yeah, mostly!¡± Mother murmuring: ¡°Ahh¡­I hope so. I just don¡¯t want you to suffer in the real world when you get older¡­¡± He went back to the room and closed the door. A container filled with water appeared in his hands and he began to pour it over the soil. *System: User has learned a new skill: Farming.* *System: User has gained 1 exp point in: Farming.* *System: Current experience to reach lvl 2: 1/10.* ¡°So it does work this way! It seems simple, but as long as I have soil and water, I can literally farm exp by placing seeds into the pot. Ingenious!¡± *System: INT stat has increased by 0.1. Keep up the smart work.* Lian felt a small tingle in his mind and as his thoughts became just a bit clearer. The effects weren¡¯t significant but the change was still noticeable. ¡°Hmm? What a pleasant surprise! So it looks like I can also increase character stats not just by leveling up, but also by performing tasks related to them. How interesting¡­¡± After shamelessly praising himself for a brief period of time, he put on his earphones and played some music while he continued placing seeds into the pot. Continuing this for the next few minutes, his arms started aching. He came up with a better idea and tried pouring the entire bag of seeds onto the soil. *System: Nice try, but better luck next time!* *System: User has gained 1 exp point in: Farming.* Realizing that he couldn¡¯t cheat the system to the utmost extent, he still wasn¡¯t too disappointed. After all, individually planting seeds for only a few minutes had already allowed him to reach level 3 in farming. For less than half an hour of effort, he gained a lot of new knowledge with regards to farming. He mainly received information on the subject of increasing success when trying to grow plants. Nonetheless, he also somehow managed to learn some basic knowledge with regards to herding sheep and raising cattle. Although he was eager to try a lot of new skills, Lian knew that rushing wouldn¡¯t do anything. He would still learn a few skills at a time. Since he wanted to be a master of all trades and not just have a superficial understanding of the skills he learns, taking one step at a time would be key. Besides, if he really needed to use a random new skill in a last minute situation, he could probably reach level 2, or even possibly level 3, within minutes. Unfortunately, although everything up to now seemed easy, Lian knew that he reached a roadblock that needed to be discussed. Chapter 7: Skill Tasks: Cloning and Disguise With each skill level, the exp requirement rises significantly. For example, already by level 8, Lian would need 100 million exp to reach the next level. Such an absurd amount would be impossible to reach within his lifetime; especially considering that he wanted to learn a plethora of skills. Lian: ¡°Hey system¡­ my brotha! Bro! Homie! I seem to have a little problem with my exp. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s an error¡­ but do I really need 10 times the exp to level up, every level?¡± System: ¡°Yes.¡± Lian: ¡°¡­¡± Lian murmuring: ¡°So stingy¡­¡± Lian: ¡°Okay¡­ so¡­ is there any way to gain a large amounts of exp for a skill?¡± System: ¡°The user can take on tasks for each main skill. This will likely be the only way to reach the user¡¯s predetermined goal before the end of their lifespan.¡± Lian: ¡°WTF!? So you couldn¡¯t tell me this before? What if I lost time training like a noob? The exp waste!¡± System: ¡°The user never asked.¡± Lian murmuring: ¡°Lazy fuckin¡¯¡­¡± System: ¡°Did the user say anything?¡± Lian: ¡°Ahem¡­ no¡­no¡­ anyways, please go on.¡± System: ¡°For each skill, a set of random tasks must be given before the user is able to reach the peak. These tasks reward the user with significant amounts of exp, allowing them to level up.¡± System: ¡°Since the user¡¯s house is inconvenient, they will be transported to a somewhat random location. However, the area chosen will be in tandem with the users¡¯ desires and reservations.¡± System: ¡°Once the skill to train is chosen, the user will be given a two-way teleportation ticket to a location with the specifications previously mentioned. Only one location can be teleported to at once.¡± System: ¡°The goal for each time you teleport will be to master the skill in question before teleporting somewhere else and moving on to train another skill.¡± Lian: ¡°That seems pretty exciting and it aligns quite well with my goals¡­ There should be more right?¡± System: ¡°Yes. As the user had previously requested for ways of ensuring the privacy and safety of loved ones, a few measures among many will be put in place to prevent any mishaps regarding a recognized identity.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it System: ¡°For now, the user will be provided with both a clone and disguise ability. Unfortunately, these skills will not be permanent.¡± System: ¡°However, if the user masters the assigned skill within their first location, these abilities will be forever attained. Unlike some other abilities, these ones evolve and improve with time.¡± Lian: ¡°Two-for-one special¡­ all right¡­ I¡¯m digging it¡­¡± System: ¡°Using the clone skill, the user will be creating an extension of themselves. Once the clone is teleported, both bodies will be able to train skills simultaneously in their different environments.¡± System: ¡°It is a difficult concept to fathom, so in short, the user will be able to split their consciousness between both these existences, without having any effect on their performance.¡± System: ¡°Any injuries to the clone won¡¯t affect the main body. Nonetheless, the clone will still experience pain. Furthermore, if a clone dies, the punishment will be a small regression in the size of the member beneath the user¡¯s pants.¡± Lian shuddered. He was focusing intently on the details, but this piece of information rattled him. ¡°WTF!? Why is this system so obsessed with my junk? Have I slept with its wife in a previous lifetime¡­?¡± ¡°Regardless, I don¡¯t plan on ever dying with my clone. As long as I don¡¯t act like a stuck-up hot-head, I should be fine.¡± Lian: ¡°Ahem¡­¡± System: ¡°Continuing on, the user¡¯s disguise ability will allow them to transform into someone matching the traits of the location in which they have chosen.¡± System: ¡°The system will also create a government identity and online bank-account for the clone carrying this disguise. Currency conversions and inputting bills or coins onto the account will be solved by the system.¡± System: ¡°The current level of the disguise ability will only allow the user to create one permanent disguise per clone. No other disguise -physical or on paper, can be formed haphazardly. The disguise will not only change the users¡¯ face, but it will also affect the body structure, and voice.¡± System: ¡°There are also details such as restrictions for future clones to prevent cheating and evolving your disguise abilities once your first skill has been mastered. These will be discussed later on when those issues are relevant to the user¡¯s circumstances.¡± Lian: ¡°Wow! That¡¯s a lot to take in¡­ but it¡¯s damn well-thought out. So I¡¯ll be able to train in both bodies at the same time?¡± System: ¡°Yes, but the main body will not be able to perform tasks for the most part; so its growth will likely be slower.¡± Lian: ¡°That¡¯s a good point. What about my exp points for leveling up my character? I noticed that there¡¯s no real ratio with regards to skill exp and regular exp. When I am doing tasks, will the growth be faster?¡± System: ¡°It will. Regrettably, there is no direct correlation between skill levels and character exp. However, significant amounts of skill exp will likely help the user level up their character. There are many factors to take into consideration.¡± System: ¡°Such being the case, the calculation of character exp is flexible to prevent the user from cheating. This way, time won¡¯t be wasted on learning multiple skills to low levels to farm character exp. The best advice to the user is to continuously take on tasks and to train to their utmost abilities. ¡± Lian: ¡°Sigh¡­ That¡¯s a bit unnerving but at least I can directly calculate skill exp¡­.¡± Lian murmuring: ¡°I¡¯ll gain a few levels first, and maybe by then, I¡¯ll find out a way to mass level¡­ hehehe¡­¡± Chapter 8: Spain After collecting his thoughts, Lian began making some plans with regards to his main body. To summarize it, he would learn one or two new skills at a time while living out his normal life and training the current skills he already has in hand. Besides the exp, this would also allow him to avoid any suspicion and to stay in tune with his somewhat miserable social life. With regards to his clone, he decided to train farming first. Since the order of skills he trains doesn¡¯t really matter in the grand scheme of things, he wanted to experience the farmer life. Spending most of his time indoors, it would be a good way to get some fresh air. Although it would have no effect on his health, it could at least allow him to cultivate his mind and broaden his horizons. Among a large assortment of places to train, Lian ended up choosing Spain. From searching online, he found the scenery beautiful. Though hot at times, the weather was also tolerable. Before heading off and accepting the task, he first needed to learn Spanish to an acceptable level. From comparing with his other known languages, Chinese, English, and French, he deduced that complete mastery of basic writing and speech would require reaching level 4. To start taking on tasks, Lian needed to get to training. Recognizing that it was late into the night, he changed and headed to sleep in light of the preparations for the days ahead. While attempting to sleep, Lian began tossing around in bed with a slight itch to fap. But, it wasn¡¯t anything serious enough to stop him from dozing off. A few minutes later, he managed to pass out. After about eight hours, and slightly out of character, he woke up fresh and energized. He now only needed between 7-8 hours of sleep a day, with no lasting effects on his health status as long as he doesn¡¯t pull too many all-nighters. ¡°I don¡¯t have any exams or assignments any time soon¡­so¡­ I guess I now need to take some online Spanish Lessons?¡± Too lazy to cook for low exp, he reheated a meal that his mother made the day before and began searching for free Spanish courses online. He learned the Spanish skill and spent about one hour on a course. *System: User has gained 1 exp point for spending one minute on: Spanish.* *System: Current experience to reach lvl 3: 51/100.* Sitting down and actively thinking too much made him feel slightly exhausted. Nonetheless, he could definitely understand and speak somewhat decent Spanish. He could even write some phrases and barely understand the grammar; similar to an elementary school child who is native from Spain. Lian tried cheating a bit by playing a Spanish tutorial video on his phone while lying down on his bed with his earphones. Surprisingly, the exp gains were the same. ¡°This is a pretty cheat way to learn a language. Then again, I can¡¯t do this for more than one language at a time¡­ so I guess that it¡¯s fair. But, I can definitely use this to refine my English later on.¡± He continued until the evening and managed to get his Spanish to level 3 and well on its way to leveling up once again. However, he would probably need at least another day to do so. Somewhat sick of being confined in his room for so long, he downloaded the tutorial to his playlist and dressed up to walk around the neighbourhood while continuing to listen. Regardless, it would attract no suspicion as he would just look like he was taking a break from studying.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. While leaving from the front door, Lian happened to spot his neighbours waving to him from their car as they were parking onto the driveway. The two people in the car were both senior Canadians citizens and their presence in the neighbourhood was very enjoyable. They would regularly send gifts during the holidays and energetically greet their neighbours when encountering them outside. Their jovial existences narrated why one should look beyond the exterior and instead treat others with respect if reciprocated. Human nature dictates that people tend to find any reason to compare themselves to others. Whether that be through culture, skin colour, or nationality. Lian was an edgy troll online and loved making offensive jokes to push peoples¡¯ buttons. However, even he had certain limits. Thinking back to his past novel reads, the strong and unwarranted discrimination from the main character always ruined some of his enjoyment of the stories. Lian waved back to his neighbours and continued on his walk for about two hours. It was getting late and his mother would come home any time soon, so he grabbed a bite to eat and went back to his room. Being half-way through to level 4 in Spanish, he would finish training the skill by tomorrow. It wasn¡¯t too late, but from Lian¡¯s research, the first location would result in a six-hour time difference. Such being the case, he was planning on sleeping early. Thankfully, the system told him that the clone would have a different sleep schedule, and that any additional logistics will be dealt by itself. ¡°This is the life! I just need to come up with smart ideas and farm exp. Game characters are fucking hackers¡­¡± He checked his emails, played a few games online for fun and exp, and then lied down in bed with Spanish Tutorials playing until he passed out. Upon waking up, he found it unfortunate that he couldn¡¯t gain any exp while sleeping. After making a mental note to solve this problem in the future, he ate breakfast then continued training his Spanish skill; reaching level 4 during the evening. ¡°Now that I have all my skills ready, I should prepare a few items just in case. It¡¯s like I¡¯m going on a vacation!¡± The system informed him that he would be able to use the same storage system whether through his main body or as a clone. Therefore, he once again headed to the supermarket. Unfortunately, Lian needed to be a bit conservative with the space, so he had to choose wisely. Such being the case, he threw most of the pots and plants from his previous spree into a dumpster to vacate space before heading inside the shop. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­emergency first aid kit¡­ sleeping bag¡­water bottles¡­cookies¡­¡± After shopping for a while, he checked out the items using cash and hid off somewhere before storing them. Most of them were standard camping items. As summer was approaching in a few months, camping aids were regularly bought in these times because of discounts. Once back in his room, Lian was making a mental check to ensure that everything was taken care of. Just in case, he stored some plain and inconspicuous clothing for the trip in his storage. Regarding any other missing items, since Lian had a shared storage space, he decided that they could be dealt with when encountered. ¡°So¡­ I can still game, learn some new skills, practices languages, and study a bit in my main body. Regardless of what I do, almost all of it will contribute in the form of exp¡­ Fucking awesome¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make sure my grades are decent enough and I¡¯ll stay in contact with my few close friends on social media; though we rarely get together and tend to just post jokes in our group chat.¡± ¡°As a clone, I¡¯ll be able to live out new experiences and don¡¯t need to worry at all about being traced back. But, I still need to be cautious and avoid conflict with a random gang for no reason¡­¡± ¡°Are there even many gangs in Spain? Regardless, I can¡¯t die because my little guy is relying on it¡­¡± He officially accepted the first ¡°quest¡± after some self-reassurance and was given free time until 2am to mess around and wait to be transported. Lian took out the last pot in his storage and continued training farming until a few minutes before the predetermined hour; managing to just reach level 4. System: ¡°The user will now create their first clone and disguise. Once the process is completed, the clone will be instantly transported to the destined location.¡± System: ¡°As it is the first time, the user may feel somewhat disoriented for a few minutes upon their arrival. Is the user prepared?¡± Lian: ¡°Yes.¡± *System: Creating clone and setting disguise¡­..* *System: Clone created and transformation completed. User¡¯s clone is being transported¡­* *Shwoop!* Chapter 9: Andalucía ¡°Fuck! My brain feels like it¡¯s going to rip apart¡­¡± In his main body, Lian was currently grabbing his head and rolling around in the floor. He continued in this state for a few minutes until he was drenched in sweat and most of the pain vanished. Lian: ¡°That was torture! You really weren¡¯t kidding with the warning¡­¡± System: ¡°I always give advice in tune with what I know regarding the user¡¯s capabilities.¡± Lian: ¡°Sheesh¡­¡± After activating ¡°No Washroom Needed¡±, Lian changed into his pajamas and tried sleeping. Unfortunately, his urge to fap was starting to become more intense. Lian: ¡°Hey system, this doesn¡¯t make much sense. The withdrawal from NoFap shouldn¡¯t be so bad after only a few days. Are the urges supposed to be intensified to make the task more difficult?¡± System: ¡°Not at all. The user seems to forget that they haven¡¯t missed a single day of self-pleasure since the start of their early teens. Even some days, more than five times¡­ It would be abnormal if the user didn¡¯t feeling any form of discomfort¡­¡± Lian: ¡°Ahem¡­¡± Although the system was a portrayal of himself, Lian couldn¡¯t help but be embarrassed by its candidness. System: ¡°Even more-¡° Lian: ¡°¡­.Okay I get it! Is there any way to help me deal with the urges? Task aside, I¡¯ve been trying to quit this permanently for a long time, but it¡¯s fucking difficult!¡± System: ¡°There is indeed a way of solving this difficulty. Would the user be interested in meditation?¡± Lian: ¡°That actually works? I¡¯ve read a lot online on the benefits but it seems like a load of bullocks. Unless I¡¯m training to become some immortal cultivator, wouldn¡¯t that just be¡­¡± Lian murmuring: ¡°Wait¡­What am I saying? I have the-¡± System: ¡°Indeed. The user has hit the nail on the head. Unlike most meditation courses, through the system, one session would have a much larger significance and impact in calming your urges.¡± System: ¡°Since both the user¡¯s main body and their clone(s) technically share the same consciousness, the benefits of each session will also apply to all.¡± System: ¡°Furthermore, once the meditation skill is mastered to its peak, all urges to fap, or other forms of addiction besides innate personality traits or those openly welcomed will be completely abolished.¡± Lian: ¡°Holy shit! That¡¯s a huge bargain. Not to forget the exp¡­¡± System: ¡°Unfortunately, this can¡¯t do anything to solve the user¡¯s shamelessness¡­¡± Lian murmuring: ¡°Yeah, yeah¡­ keep talking asshole¡­¡± Lian sat down cross-legged and meditated for one hour by trying to clear his mind of any thoughts. Once the urges completely subsided, he ignored the changes occurring in his status screen and passed out on the bed. Andaluc¨ªa, Spain *Shwoop* After landing, Lian¡¯s clone experienced the same headache as his main body. However, this one lasted for about an hour. Once getting over the pain, he tried standing up. Lian: ¡°Owww! Fuck, my spine¡­¡± While rubbing his back, he realized that he was still naked. Checking to make sure that no one was around, Lian activated ¡°No Washroom Needed¡± and changed into a set of plain clothing from his storage. Lian: ¡°I already know what you told to my main body, but did the landing have to be so harsh¡­¡± System: ¡°Twisting space for teleportation is a difficult task for the user as their level is still currently too low. This will most likely change in the future.¡± Knowing that it wouldn¡¯t be fair to reprimand the system for stating a fact, he began truly examining his surroundings.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Currently, Lian was in a small forest-like area. Large green trees and bushes were all around him. However, not far from his current location, a vast green meadow could be found. After focusing his eyes even more, a barn like the ones found in typical rural settings could also be spotted. Before advancing anywhere, he made sure to examine his new disguise. While rolling around on the floor beforehand, he already noticed a transformation in his physique. Lian¡¯s skin was a shade darker; looking very tan. Although he wasn¡¯t in amazing shape, his new body was quite skinny unlike his main one. Pulling out a pocket-mirror from the storage, he began examining his new facial features. He had dark hair, sharp eyebrows, and a rough stubble. ¡°Wow! I may not look handsome but I¡¯m definitely above average. Sadly for now, I can¡¯t control my disguises. Otherwise¡­ hehehe¡­¡± Familiarizing himself with the new body, Lian began asking the system for more details regarding his new identity. Supposedly, his name was registered as Diego Andres and he was 25. Any transactions to the bank or other minor details could be ignored as the system had ways of resolving them. ¡°Finally! It¡¯s time to truly start my first quest. I¡¯ll probably head over to that barn over there first and ask about specifics. Let¡¯s hope that they¡¯re nice people¡­¡± As soon as Lian began walking towards the new destination, he was interrupted. System: ¡°¡­Before the user begins their adventure, I wish to give some advice.¡± Lian: ¡°You usually don¡¯t go out of your way to tell me anything¡­ this must be serious. What¡¯s up?¡± System: ¡°In the future, the user must remember to always do as they see fit. After solving the issue of being traced, the clone¡¯s self-preservation is the only major concern.¡± System: ¡°As I am the wish-fulfilling system, side-tasks and rewards for fulfilling the users¡¯ own desires may also be given to the user to help speed up progress.¡± Lian: ¡°More exp? That¡¯s fucking great! But¡­¡± System: ¡°It is good to be cautious, but risks are also necessary for success.¡± System: ¡°I never wish to manipulate the user¡¯s actions and the choice is ultimately up to the user. But, the system feels pained to see the user planning on holding themselves back.¡± System: ¡°For true progress and enjoyment, the user must have no inhibitions. Furthermore, the system will try to help with life-death scenarios.¡± Lian: ¡°Sigh¡­that really would be for the best¡­¡± Lian murmuring: ¡°Then again, if I die, you¡¯re not the one who ends up with the shorter d-¡­¡± Lian murmuring: ¡°¡­Ahhh forget it. I need to stop being so ungrateful. The system¡¯s fate is forever tied with mine. It¡¯s looking out for our best interests¡­¡± After truly giving it some thought, he quickly realized that the system was right. He was going in with wrong thought processing. ¡°I¡¯m always so cautious back home that I almost ended up bringing that same mentality with me here! As much as I pretend that I¡¯m some master schemer, being cautious and scheming are two different concepts.¡± ¡°If I pretend I¡¯m weak to avoid suspicion but don¡¯t really benefit from it, why the fuck would I do it? I can¡¯t just talk without action. I¡¯m going to stay low-key in my main body anyways to protect my loved ones, so why should I care about what I do as a clone?¡± ¡°Fuck it! I¡¯m a shameless piece of shit¡­and you know what? I¡¯m proud! So what if I like scheming? So what if I cause conflict and do some dumb shit? That¡¯s life! You live and you learn.¡± ¡°As long as I ensure my survival, then I¡¯ll do whatever the fuck I want for exp! Manipulation? Side-kicks? Gangs? If I don¡¯t cross my own bottom-line then fuck it! Bring on the shamelessness!¡± In a surprising twist, Lian had finally decided to start displaying his true inner self. What this means for his future adventures as a clone is undecided. However, it would definitely be interesting. Finishing his rant, Lian calmed his mind and headed towards the barn. With his stats being the following after only a few days, it could only be imagined how much progress could be made in the future.
User: Main Body: Buyao Lian - Currently Training Clone: Diego Andres
Age: 20
Lifespan: 53 years - Health Status: o Impotent by age 30. ¡ì Task: NoFap for 1 month.
Looks: Average
Character Level: 1 (Exp: 62/1000)
Physical Strength and Defense (STR/DEF): 1
Speed and Agility (AGI): 1
Spirit and Vitality (VIT): 1
Intelligence and Cunningness (INT): 1.1
Luck (LUK): 1
Shamelessness: MAXED OUT
Unassigned points: 0
Abilities: Infinite eating, No washroom needed (transferrable to partners), Eternal youth (transferrable to partners), Game Character, Shameless Genius, Self-awareness, Unrelenting Critique, Seeing through bullshit, Cloning (temporary), Disguise (temporary).
Skills: Science and Mathematics (Lvl 3, 780/1000) Known Languages (4), Sports (Lvl 2, 47/100), Gaming (Lvl 3, 853/1000), Troll (Lvl 2, 40/100), Cooking (Lvl 3, 270/1000), Farming (Lvl 4, 24/10k), Meditation (Lvl 2, 42/100) *User notice: 1k=1000, 1m=1,000,000, 1b=1,000,000,000.*
Storage Space: 1 - Inanimate object storage: 1m3 wide.
Chapter 10: Join the Farm! As he approached the barn, Lian noticed an old Spanish man pulling weeds in a vegetable field. The farmer was wearing a cap with some white hair showing, along with plain tattered clothing. System: *New Farming Task: Join the Farm!* System: *Task: convince the old man to let you join the farm as a worker.* System: *Upon completion, user will be rewarded with Farming exp.* Pleased by this task, Lian grinned. He prepared his Spanish and tried putting on the most mysterious expression possible. Lian: ¡°Hello!¡± The man stopped what he was doing and turned around with a questioning gaze. Old man: ¡°Who are you? How did you get here?¡± Lian: ¡°I am just a wandering youth. I hope to learn the ways of the world. As such, I wish to work in this facility for a short while. Would that be all right? I have some basic experience¡­¡± The man now started looking at Lian more and more suspiciously. Old man: ¡°What are your real intentions? If you¡¯re here to ruin our farm and force us to buy your products then you can fuck off! We already said that we don¡¯t want them!¡± Lian rolled his eyes. ¡°It seems like things here are more complicated than they seem to be. I hope that this quest isn¡¯t going to be a pain in the ass¡­¡± Lian: ¡°I¡¯m really just here to broaden my horizons!¡± Old man: ¡°Do you know how far the walk is to get here from the city? Are you sure this pile of old bones won¡¯t beat you?¡± ¡°Fuck! I totally forgot about that. This old man¡¯s too hard to get along with¡­¡± Lian put on the best crying expression. Lian: ¡°Please! My legs, oh! I can¡¯t walk all the way back! I think I need to stay here to heal for a few weeks. Owww!¡± Lian: ¡°I actually have some pretty decent farming skills. You seem like a professional and your abilities are too astounding! Just give me a chance!¡±You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Now, it was the old man¡¯s turn to roll his eyes. Old man: ¡°Okay, okay calm down. If you were those guys you wouldn¡¯t stoop so low as to beg. You may have some hidden motives, but I can tell that you don¡¯t have any bad intentions.¡± Old man: ¡°Let me see¡­I¡¯ll give you a month to work here but with no pay. Is that fine?¡± After hearing this, Lian didn¡¯t care much about having embarrassed himself. The money from here would also be negligible once converted. Instead, he just wanted to finally start some more tasks. Lian: ¡°Yes! Kind sir, thank you very much! Your magnanimity is-¡° Old man: ¡°Stop sucking up! Are all young men from the city such sissies? Sheesh¡­¡± Old man: ¡°Follow me.¡± Lian shut his mouth and followed the man along the field. After hearing the notification from the system, he was trying hard to hold back his smile. From this small task, he gained 15k farming exp and shot up directly to level 5 in farming. In doing so, a bulk of new information rushed into his mind. However, he couldn¡¯t get too complacent. Such an amount of exp would do nothing for him in the long-term. Calming himself, Lian decided to spur up conversation with the old man. Lian: ¡°Hey old man! What¡¯s your name?¡± Old man: ¡°Is that how you address your elders? Sigh¡­¡± Old man: ¡°You can call me Senor Pablo. What¡¯s your name young man¡­? Continuing their chat, Lian began to have a better understanding of this area. In total, the farm was around 1700 acres wide (6.9 km2), and had many facilities. Most of the livestock lived in the main barn. Within that area, chickens, cows, goats, horses, and sheep could be found. The chickens always lived in their own feeding area, but the other livestock tended to wander around the fields during the day. Other than the cows who tended to sleep outside in enclosed fields except for bad weather days, the others had their own stalls and feeding areas within the barn. Out in the fields, there was an assortment of plants. Vegetables such radishes and carrots were being grown; along with vast fields dedicated solely for planting rice. Among a few of the trees, figs and oranges could be spotted. Senor Pablo glossed over the storage process since machines needed to be used. Regarding the living areas, they were quite close to the barn. Inside the many large houses was a large population of residents. Among them were originally rural families, orphans, and some reclusive families or individuals who used to live in the city. Most of the kids were homeschooled with the adults either in charge of livestock, fields, storage, or other aspects of management. Senor Pablo was known as an experienced elder of the farm and helped with managing the place; though he still didn¡¯t slack with his farm work. Once they arrived close to the houses, many residents were conversing as they curiously looked at Lian. After a while, Senor Pablo stopped at a mid-sized house. He knocked on the door. Random voice: ¡°Who is it?¡± Senor Pablo: ¡°Antonio, it¡¯s me! Open the door. Quickly! I have a new recruit.¡± Random voice: ¡°Ahh! It¡¯s Senor Pablo. Sorry, I¡¯ll open the door right away!¡± A creak sounded as a tall muscular black-haired young man with dark circles underneath his eyes appeared. Senor Pablo: ¡°As you can see beside me, this young man from the city will be joining you guys to work for about a month. Find him a room and don¡¯t overwork him too hard¡­haha!¡± Antonio: ¡°Yes sir! No problem.¡± Once Lian followed Antonio into the house, Senor Pablo left. Senor Pablo murmuring: ¡°This child definitely seems problematic. I hope that he doesn¡¯t cause too much of a ruckus¡­¡± Chapter 11: Orphan House and Promiscuous Woman Antonio: ¡°What was your name again?¡± Lian: ¡°Oh, haha! I totally forgot to mention it. You can call me Diego.¡± Antonio: ¡°No problem! It¡¯s nice to meet you Diego. I¡¯m just going to get you set-up in a room, then I¡¯ll give you a tour of the place.¡± After walking upstairs, they reached a small room; large enough to fit a pillow and some covers, and leave a little bit of moving space. Antonio: ¡°I know that you¡¯re a city guy but this is honestly one of the bigger rooms that could be found in the house. Hopefully, this doesn¡¯t bother you.¡± Lian appreciated Antonio¡¯s kindness. He also felt guilty for not being as grateful for his already amazing situation back at home. Lian: ¡°No, no what are you saying! This is perfect!¡± After exchanging a few pleasantries, and with Lian pretending to care about the location of the shared washroom area, they started having a more detailed conversation. Apparently, this house belonged to either orphans or adults who lived on their own. As such, even though it wasn¡¯t completely the case, people named it the ¡°Orphan House¡±. All of the residents were male and most of them were in their early 20s to late 30s. Antonio was in his late 20s and he happened to be living away from home. Lian decided not to probe too much. Afterwards, Antonio began introducing Lian to his roommates. Antonio: ¡°This guy over here is called 3-balls. Believe it or not, he was actually born with a third testicle! And this guy¡­¡± ¡°What the fuck are these introductions? I can¡¯t lie though, they¡¯re quite funny¡­¡± Lian introduced himself to the residents and continued touring the house. Besides the kitchen which was an open space, all floors including the basement and upstairs were cramped with rooms and hallways. During the introductions in the basement, one of the residents named Francisco gave him a dirty look and completely ignored him.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Antonio: ¡°Don¡¯t bother with him. He just hates guys from the city!¡± Lian rolled his eyes. ¡°Is this supposed to be the start of some shitty conflict? Fuck!¡± After exploring the house, Antonio led Lian to tour the rest of the farm. They first explored the barn and tree area along the way; followed by some of the storage facilities. Inside, some rooms could be found for storing fruits and vegetables. Trucks would regularly transport this food to the city. A few large silos were also close-by; in charge of holding large quantities of rice grains. Parked beside were a few trucks, a plethora of varying tractors, along with combine harvesters and a few other vehicles. From his skill, Lian had some general knowledge on how to manage these machines but knew that his level was still a bit low to put them to their best use. Passing by a storage room filled with gardening tools, Lian noticed a mature-looking woman writing down some information onto a clip-board. She was a beautiful, slightly tan, and curvaceous brunette with sunglasses, jeans, and a short shirt stopping at her belly button. Detecting his sneaky gaze, she giggled then continued writing. Antonio: ¡°That lady over there is called Catalina Fernanda. She¡¯s in charge of management and inventory and tends to move back and forth from the city.¡± Antonio: ¡°If you have any thoughts, it¡¯s best that you let them go right now. We say that she¡¯s the type we can look at but can never touch. She¡¯s actually known around the area to be a bit promiscuous, but she only gets with men from the city¡­¡± Antonio: ¡°¡­But then again you¡¯re not from here, so who knows, you might have a chance¡­¡± Continuing to casually tease Lian, they continued along the fields. Lian appreciated beauty, but he didn¡¯t care for now because he was too focused on exp. Regardless, due to past experiences and a slightly skewed mentality in terms of relationships, for a long time it would probably be difficult for him to develop a real emotional attachment to a woman. Besides, his first sexual experience with women left a bitter taste in his mouth. Maybe once the quest over, he would make a move before leaving to help him get over it. Once they arrived at the vegetable fields, Lian received a new notification. He had been given a new task. Not showing any change expression, he continued the tour until they returned to the house. Only around two hours had passed since they left, and it was still around 11 in the morning. Antonio: ¡°Alright Diego! Hopefully, this tour gave you a better idea of what the farm is like and how everything works around here.¡± Antonio: ¡°I¡¯m heading to the fields to work, so feel free to have today off and just make sure to sleep early tonight in light of the long days ahead. Any last questions before I leave?¡± Lian: ¡°Yeah¡­ if you don¡¯t mind, would it be cool if I headed over to the vegetable fields? I actually have some experience working in that field and I¡¯d like to get some fresh air.¡± Antonio: ¡°Uhhh¡­yeah that¡¯s no problem! Just make sure to ask around if you get lost and try not to disturb people too much.¡± Lian patted his chest and assured to cause no trouble. Once Antonio left, instead of heading over to kitchen, Lian pulled a water bottle from his storage to rehydrate from the heat and took off to the vegetable fields. ¡°Damn, this task is going to be rough¡­¡± Chapter 12: Weeding like Mad Lian opened his task window. System: *New Farming Task: Solve the Weed Problem!* System: *Task: Pull 10k weeds from the vegetable field by 8am tomorrow.* System: *Weeds Pulled: 0/10k* System: *Upon completion, user will be rewarded with Farming exp.* Instead of feeling sorry for himself, Lian knew that time was of the essence. He didn¡¯t care about attracting any unwanted gazes and ran to the previously shown storage facility. Being already at level 5, he could be classified as a veteran so he knew exactly what was required. Carrying a garden trowel, he ran towards his destination. Along the way, he kindly greeted both male and female workers. After Lian made sure that he was far away from everyone else¡¯s view, he could finally begin his weeding task starting from the carrot field. All long weeds needed to be taken care of straight from the roots. ¡°Let¡¯s just fucking do this! I hope that my back doesn¡¯t break from all this work¡­¡± After pulling out the first weed, he received a notification. *System: User has gained 1 exp point in: Farming.* *System: Current experience to reach lvl 6: 5025/100k.* ¡°This gives farming exp too? Sweet, more exp for me!¡± Pleased, he continued for about an hour. His technique were efficient and he managed to pull around 600 weeds by noon. However, despite his currently healthy body, it was hard to be motivated. Lian rehydrated then sneakily pulled out a cheap music player and some earphones from the system for scenarios such as these. Stretching for about a minute, he continued for another 30 minutes until he had enough. The music pushed him to be faster but the earphones kept getting tangled which was frustrating. By now, he only managed to pull a total of around 850 weeds. Lian: ¡°Hey system! Aren¡¯t we supposed to be able to cheat life? Is there any way that I can play music directly to my head?¡± Lian: ¡°I know that it¡¯s a first world problem but you know how much of a whiny piece of shit I am.¡± System: ¡°¡­¡± System: ¡°There is indeed a way for the user to have such an ability. However, there is a condition.¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Lian: ¡°What is it?¡± System: ¡°The user must first learn the music skill.¡± Lian: ¡°What the fuck? That¡¯s it?¡± System: ¡°Yes.¡± Lian: ¡°Then why can¡¯t I learn an ability whenever I gain a new skill?¡± System: ¡°Each ability has its own restrictions. I was created spontaneously and the settings are random. Therefore, the organization in terms of some aspects still needs work.¡± System: ¡°Once the use¡¯s character becomes stronger, cheating the heavens may become easier.¡± Lian: ¡°Okay, got it. Give me a second¡­¡± Lian: ¡°Fuck! I¡¯m sleeping in my main body and hate when I have to wake up in the middle of the night because it ruins my sleep.¡± Lian: ¡°Whatever¡­I have the ¡°Game Character¡± ability, so I can ignore those details. I¡¯ll just wake up for a few minutes¡­¡± Sitting down, Lian waited for his main body to start a random free music course online. After a few minutes, he finally received a notification. *System: User has learned a new skill: Music.* *System: User has gained 1 exp point in: Music.* *System: Current experience to reach lvl 2: 1/10.* *System: User has gained a new ability: ¡°Stereo¡±* *System: ¡°Stereo¡±: allows the user¡¯s mind to stream all forms of music, radio playlists, and sounds as long as they have existed on earth. As the user is not technically downloading the music or playing it out loud, copyright issues are non-existent. * Lian: ¡°Hmm¡­ although I can¡¯t play this out loud, this is still ridiculously overpowered. I literally have a living stereo in my brain.¡± Lian: ¡°Then again, it¡¯s too bad I can¡¯t play this stuff out loud and record it to make a prof-¡­ I mean ahem ahem¡­ copyright is a serious issue and offenders must be prosecuted!¡± System: ¡°¡­¡± Lian meant this as a joke. Although he never saw himself as a righteous person, after some moral debate and a few failed attempts along with some warning emails, he finally drew the line at selling other¡¯s content for profit. In the past, he had always illegally downloaded music, like most people. But, he could understand why it could be problematic. To an extent, he could even sympathize with artists or writers. Although Lian never created a work that lead to others illegally downloading his content, he has had a similar experience in the past on a minor scale. ¡°I remember back in middle school when I was still somewhat motivated, sometimes I used to work all night on an assignment. Afterwards in class, everyone wanted to copy off of me. That pissed me off!¡± ¡°Now, imagine working an entire year on a project then having some random person stealing a quarter of its profits! Yikes¡­¡± Switching his focus back to the system, he couldn¡¯t help but grinning. Lian stored his music player and earphones, then set the stereo to play an upbeat playlist; continuing to pull weeds at an even faster pace. If he could describe the experience of having music playing directly in his head, it would be like constantly living in a movie. It also somewhat allowed him to heighten his focus. Moreover, his ears didn¡¯t hurt, the volume was just right, and he could turn it off at any time. Alternating between songs, rehydrating and stretching, snack breaks, greeting passersby, and continuously weeding in different fields, Lian finally managed to pull 5943 weeds. Every part of Lian¡¯s body was currently aching. It was now sundown, and everybody was heading back to their rooms. ¡°I¡¯m sore as fuck! If it wasn¡¯t for the music I probably wouldn¡¯t have managed for more than a few hours before giving up.¡± ¡°Continuing right now would be inefficient...so¡­I¡¯ll sleep at the same time as everyone else and head back to the fields at around 1am to finish up the task.¡± ¡°If someone notices me sneaking out, I honestly don¡¯t care. As long as I get my exp¡­¡± After returning his tool, Lian began walking back towards his residence while thinking back over to the random but suspicious events that occurred throughout this long day. All would most likely be unravelled soon enough. Chapter 13: Weirdo Antonio: ¡°Hey Lian! I didn¡¯t see you at dinner. Did you get lost?¡± Lian: ¡°No, I just grabbed a quick bite and went back to the fields. I like peace and quiet.¡± Antonio: ¡°I see... well it seems like you do have some abilities. Just as long as you don¡¯t overwork yourself!¡± Lian sighed inwardly. ¡°You¡¯re the one with the droopy eyes.¡­¡± They continued the conversation with Antonio giving Lian a briefing on some of the main tasks in which he could participate throughout the day; including a general idea of what the tasks entailed. As long as work was done and no one else was bothered, Lian could chose to either work in the fields, help with livestock, or transport produce. However, machines were off-limits. Antonio: ¡°Just take things one step at a time. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll at least be able to touch the basics in one aspect by the end of the month.¡± Lian: ¡°Yeah, hopefully so!¡± ¡°More like become the king of farmers¡­¡± Afterwards, Antonio excused himself and headed back outside. Based off of Lian¡¯s previous encounters with the man, he was able to infer that Antonio was going back to work. There was probably some reason behind Antonio¡¯s rigorous work schedule but Lian decided that it wasn¡¯t yet time to investigate. Piling up too many different tasks would just be problematic. One can only do so much. Upon arriving upstairs, Lian dropped by the washroom and took off his clothes. He washed them then put them to dry in his main body¡¯s room through the storage. After activating ¡°No Washroom Needed¡±, he summoned a similar-looking set of clothing and headed to his room. He then closed the door and began setting up his sleeping bag and pillow. Lian: ¡°System! Since I can technically time my music playlists with my stereo skill¡­ couldn¡¯t I also set an alarm in my head for when to wake up as well?¡± System: ¡°Indeed.¡± *System: INT stat has increased by 0.1. Keep up the smart work.* Once again, Lian¡¯s felt a brief jolt that cleared his mind and would help him make decisions and come up with ideas more easily in the future.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Lian: ¡°Goodness¡­ I love easy leveling!¡± Lian: ¡°On the other hand, this rate of increasing stats just seems a bit too simple¡­I can¡¯t help but get suspicious¡­¡± System: ¡°The user does not need to worry about the legitimacy of their stats. Although the INT stat seems easy to level now, as it increases, progress will became significantly more difficult.¡± Lian: ¡°Sigh¡­I had a feeling that this would be the case.¡± He set the alarm for 1am and crashed. *Beep baddum beep dadadada beep boop bop* Lian: ¡°Alarm, close!¡± ¡°Fuck, this thing is kind of headache inducing¡­ I need to learn how to adjust its volume later.¡± He woke up almost fully functional as lacking a few hours of sleep or even staying up once in a while would have no effects on his status or energy levels. Carefully making sure to wake no one up, he snuck out of the house. ¡°If people still wake up from the sounds, I¡¯ll just make up some bullshit about strengthening character through hard work.¡± He continued towards the vegetable fields¡­ Senor Pablo¡¯s House Senora Romina was knitting while her husband Senor Pablo just woke up from his nap. As he was now older, he would usually sleep 4-5 hours at a time, twice a day. Senor Pablo: ¡°What do you think? This place has changed a lot since we were younger hasn¡¯t it?¡± After a few seconds, Senor Pablo began wondering why his wife was being unresponsive. However, after looking off at the window, she turned back to him while completely ignoring his question. The workers in the field could technically be considered a large family. Most of the time, although there was a curfew, no one would really care for what others did as long as they didn¡¯t cause trouble or have any bad intentions. Therefore, being that the workers were considered family, from time-to-time they also tended to be concerned for each other¡¯s well-being. Senora Romina: ¡°Why are the youth so eager to overwork themselves? I can understand the circumstances of that other child, but this one¡­¡± Senora Romina: ¡°Was it you who offered him an extra shift? It¡¯s unhealthy. Go bring him back!¡± Curious about Senora Romina¡¯s intent, Senor Pablo walked to the window. He was able to vaguely see the shadow of a man walking towards the fields. Looking back to his wife, he silently shook his head. Senor Pablo murmuring: ¡°He shouldn¡¯t be up to anything too serious¡­¡± Storage Facility Antonio and a few others were working late in order to load produce onto the transport trucks leading to the city. The night was pitch black and the only lights were either from the starry sky, the storage rooms, or flashlights aimed at the trucks. While carrying over a large container of eggs, Antonio overheard a conversation from his older colleagues. Mateo: ¡°I¡¯ve never seen that kid before. Is he new?¡± Samuel: ¡°Yeah, I heard that he¡¯s from the city. He¡¯s a newbie who just joined the orphan house today. Mateo: ¡°Then what¡¯s he doing so late? What a weird one. If he¡¯s not used to the schedule, he probably won¡¯t even be able to last another day.¡± Nicolas: ¡°I¡¯d reckon so too¡­ he¡¯d need at least a year to acclimate¡­life in the city just isn¡¯t the same¡­¡± Antonio dropped the container and peaked at the direction in which they were talking about. As it was still dark, all he could see was the back of a man carrying a gardening trowel. Antonio: ¡°Is that¡­Deigo?¡± Fields Lian briefly engaged himself in some stretches. After setting-up a blood-boiling playlist, he once again began weeding away¡­ Chapter 14: Potential Side-Task As Catalina was a very diligent worker, she came back to the farm at 6am by car in order to continue taking inventory. She was in her early 30¡¯s and lived alone, so she didn¡¯t need to have any other commitments. Walking past some fields, she noticed a lone worker pulling some weeds in a field of radishes. Once she focused her eyes a bit more, she managed to identify the man. She happened to bump into him yesterday morning but although his looks were slightly above average, most likely, Catalina would have completely forgotten about him. However, when she was working in the storage facility area, she managed to overhear a conversation that changed her opinion of him. The man¡¯s name was Diego and he came from the city to work here for a brief period of time. For some bizarre reason, Catalina became more interested once she heard that he was from the city. Maybe it was her own bias, but she just couldn¡¯t find men who lived in farms attractive. Instead, as she wasn¡¯t interested in relationships, once in a while, she would just casually mess with a handsome man from the city. Catalina had money and looks, therefore, it was more due to her adventurous personality than any other form of motives that she did so. Being from the city, although there were still certain cultures and religions that dictated that one should technically be celibate before marriage, it was common in the current generation for women to be more open with men. Seeing Diego working so meticulously with all forms of distractions aside, she happened to find him more attractive. Continuing to walk towards her destination, she couldn¡¯t help but consider maybe trying to hook up with him¡­ Lian was drenched with sweat. Besides short breaks, he was hard at work in order to make the deadline for the task. Sighing, he pulled another weed before deciding to take a short break. *System: User has gained 1 exp point in: Farming.* *System: Current experience to reach lvl 5: 14571/100k.* ¡°Two hours left, and only 453 crops to go¡­¡± A few hours ago, Antonio asked him about what he was doing so late on his way back. Since Lian already prepared his excuse, he was able to get rid of most suspicion. Similarly, at around 4am, he heard the footsteps of someone running and just barely managed to catch the shadow of a person carrying what looked to be a bag. It was definitely suspicious, but since it was too late to investigate, he kept it in the back of his mind and focused on finishing his task. Lian also noticed Catalina walking by a few minutes ago and looking at him strangely before walking away. He may not be an expert with women but he knew what that gaze meant.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Thankfully she¡¯s looking more lustful, which indicates that she¡¯s not looking for a relationship. Otherwise, my lack of empathy may have lead to an awkward situation if I were to approach her.¡± ¡°Either way, I¡¯ll definitely make sure to briefly get in contact with her once all my tasks are over¡­¡± Acknowledging his hopelessly shameless mentality towards women, he shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but I¡¯ve always been so wishy-washy with my morals¡­¡± Most people would cultivate a certain character after their teens. By then, they would develop their morals and learn how to carry out their lives for the most part. Even psychopaths and manipulators tended to have some form of moral code; albeit it being incomprehensible. However, despite Lian¡¯s efforts, except for having a bottom line in certain specific situations and being a very petty and shameless person for the most part, he had a malleable character and could change his viewpoints very easily. Thankfully, even though he had this ¡°curse¡±, his ability to see through bullshit prevented him from being swayed or manipulated by others. Instead, other than a lack of identity, it provided him with the benefit of being self-aware and learning from his experiences more easily. In the past, he¡¯d made many wrong decisions. But, he learned from them. This is normal, as Lian wasn¡¯t some person with a cookie cutter personality like those found in novels. With the system, his self-growth would be even more noticeable and he would be able to slowly but surely evolve as an individual through his experiences. Focusing back on the task, he stretched then went back to work. After another hour, he finally received the long-awaited notification. System: *Task ¡°Solve the Weed Problem¡± has been completed.* System: *User has been rewarded with 75k farming exp.* *System: Current experience to reach lvl 6: 90024/100k.* System: *New Task ready to take on.* Pleased, Lian looked through his status window. ¡°Nice! Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t level after this task¡­but I¡¯m only a hair¡¯s breadth away.¡± Lian also noticed that his character exp increased by a larger margin than usual. ¡°It looks like I need to take on more tasks if I want to level my character. However, everything is advancing nicely¡­all in a day¡¯s work!¡± He could finally take a short break. It was only 7am so he could nap, eat, or just lie down to recover from the stress put on his body over the past day. On his way back, he looked through the new task. The requirements were basically to take part in regular farming tasks for a week. This includes helping with livestock, sowing seeds, and loading the trucks. Although the time period was longer, it would also reward him with much more exp and with a more flexible schedule. Finally arriving at the orphan house, he greeted one of his housemates then proceeded to walk towards the stairs. Coincidentally, Francisco just came up from the basement and happened to walk by. He purposefully bumped into Lian shoulder¡¯s while continuing to walk towards to the kitchen. Lian rolled his eyes. ¡°What the fuck? Are the heavens trying to start some shitty conflict like I predicted? This kid is much older than me but he acts like a child. I better cut this off before it becomes a pain in the ass.¡± ¡°But¡­it could lead to a side-task so I¡¯ll make sure to teach him a lesson then investigate as soon as possible...¡± Making this conclusion, Lian walked upstairs for a quick 1 hour power-nap in preparation for the task ahead. While setting the alarm, he also made sure to adjust the volume this time. Chapter 15: What’s Your Problem? A buzzing sound went off in Lian¡¯s mind; indicating that it was once again time to work. Usually a power-nap wouldn¡¯t do much if the person was already lacking sleep, but Lian could bypass this as long as he still slept a decent amount in the end. After switching into his dried clothes from yesterday and instantly freshening up, it was time to begin the new task. Lian went to the kitchen and decided to try some of the food despite his usual junk food diet. On the table, he had a fresh omelet, crackers, greens, and a small glass of milk. The workers always tended to drink coffee in the morning, but he didn¡¯t like the caffeine crash that came along with it. While eating his meal, Lian couldn¡¯t help but appreciate the healthy and fresh taste. The difference was a mile apart in comparison to the self-proclaimed organic ingredients sold back in Canada. Being a game character meant that he would still be in his prime state regardless of what he ate. But, credit must be given where it¡¯s due. *System: User has received a temporary stat boost for 1 hour: +0.1 to STR.* Lian¡¯s blood boiled for a short second before feeling a small pump in his muscles. Unfortunately, none of the changes were visible. But, he could still feel the minute increase in strength. ¡°Huh? Well that was unexpected!¡± Since Lian mostly continued with his junk food charade along with cold reheated meals since gaining the system, he never managed to notice this function until now. ¡°I guess that even if I don¡¯t need to eat healthy food, it¡¯s definitely the better choice. Beyond the freshness, it could definitely give me a small boost in performance. Besides, if I can eat ready-made food as fresh and tasty as this every day, quitting junk food would be a cinch.¡± He rinsed his dishes then began walking towards the barn. Lian thought it would be a good idea to familiarize himself with each aspect of his new task before moving on to investigate for side-tasks. On his way there, he heard a shout that caused him to turn around. Senor Pablo: ¡°Hello Diego, how are you doing? Aren¡¯t you heading over to the fields?¡± Lian: ¡°I¡¯ve been doing fine! I¡¯m actually just heading over to help with the livestock.¡± Senor Pablo: ¡°Oh? I saw you had some good technique yesterday with weeding. You managed to get done what a normal worker would take 3-4 days to do! Why don¡¯t you focus on what you¡¯re familiar with?¡± Lian: ¡°Senor Pablo overpraises me.¡± Lian: ¡°Well, I actually happen to know a thing or two with regards to dealing with livestock and I thought it would be the best way to get the full experience.¡± Senor Pablo: ¡°Haha! What a peculiar young man. You seem to be very bent on trying everything¡­sigh¡­but the young will always be ambitious!¡± Senor Pablo: ¡°By the way, no need to worry about cleaning up the weeds. Now that they¡¯re pulled, it will be easy for others to pile them up.¡± ¡°Yikes! After getting exp, I couldn¡¯t care less about what you did with the weeds. Heck, you could smoke them for all I care!¡± Lian smiled and thanked Senor Pablo. They then bid each other farewell with Lian finally reaching his destination within a few minutes. Inside of the barn, the sound of hooves hitting the floor and clucking chickens were the most prominent. While approaching one of the rooms, he was stopped by someone. Female Voice: ¡°Hey¡­are you sure you¡¯re in the right place? I¡¯ve never seen you here before.¡± Turning around, Lian noticed a pleasant-looking younger lady in loose clothing and braids. She was most likely a worker whose main focus was in this area.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Lian: ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m new. It was actually Senor Pablo who told me to come work here for a bit.¡± Being the shameless person he is, Lian decided to use the old man as his scape goat to do whatever he wanted on the farm in the future. Besides, if Senor Pablo didn¡¯t want Lian to get involved in something else, he would have stopped him already. After introducing himself and getting to know the lady, Lian found out that her name was Jimena. She was in charge of taking care of some of the livestock inside of the barn; with more of a focus on taking care of the horses. Jimena: ¡°If Senor Pablo brought you here then he probably already gave you a job. Do you need any help finding a room?¡± Lian: ¡°Actually yes¡­ do you know where I can find the chicken coop?¡± Among the tasks for the week, taking care of the chickens was one of them. Jimena lead him to a field behind the barn where the chickens would typically be taken care of. There were numerous chicken coops. Along the way, she also showed him the temporary storage room for eggs. After exchanging a few more greetings, she then excused herself. The barn also had many other rooms with numerous workers engaged in their designated tasks. Lian would always make sure to put on a smile and greet those working alongside him. With Lian already having high attainments in farming, it was an easy job to clean the coop, store the eggs, and feed the chickens. The smell was slightly off-putting, but he would have to get used it sooner or later. With his stereo ability and good technique, the task would at least be easier. As he worked, he made sure that the eggs were wiped instead of rinsed to avoid ruining their natural protective coating against bacteria. As well, although most people assume that chickens only eat grains, Lian also fed them some greens. Vegetables are still an important part of a chicken¡¯s diet. Completing this sub-task in a few hours, he also received some farming exp. However, as the system always surprised him, Lian was used to it by now. He moved on to the next sub-task which was to help with the cattle. Having already been given a tour, it wasn¡¯t difficult to find the field containing cows. He once again introduced himself to his fellow workers, then moved over to the milking area. Picking up a bucket and ignoring the uncomfortable feeling in his hands, he got to work. The udder of a cow has more than one projection, also called a teat. Lian made sure to clean the tip of the teat and remove any debris from underneath. Cleaning his hands to ease the task, he gripped the base of the teat with his thumb and forefinger, then gently squeezed downwards as he turned his wrist; making sure to avoid pulling down. Getting rid of any lumps in the milk, he then used his other hand to speed up the output of liquid. This continued for another few hours until dinner time arrived. Lian sped back over to the house in order continue researching the food stat boost ability. He tried making more inquiries on it through the system while working, but it wasn¡¯t able to answer his questions. For some things, he would just have to try them out himself. Grabbing a bagel with cheese, along with rice and some greens, he tried eating the meals separately. Lian also attempted many other variations when eating the food. Unfortunately, all he could deduce from his efforts were that he could only get one temporary stat boost at a time; with no possibility of stacking. ¡°Damn it! I knew that it was too good to be true¡­¡± Not feeling too down considering his still overpowered discovery, he smoothly transitioned over to the storage facility to help with carrying eggs, rice, vegetables, and many other items in containers. One of the workers familiarized themselves with Lian and offered him a ride to the city once the one of the trucks reached full capacity. This is because workers were still needed to load the items off the trucks once they reached their destination. This offer actually matched the requirements of some of the storage sub-tasks that he had for the week. However, he still had other sub-tasks to deal with in other areas, so he would probably do it later on down the line. After another period of time, he moved over to the fields. Taking a bag of seeds, he began planting in one of the newly fertilized areas alongside some other workers. He would also get rid of the occasional protruding weed from time to time. This process continued until sunset; close to 9pm. Eventually, Lian returned back to the orphan house. The day was mostly over, but there was still one issue to deal with. After instantly freshening up through the system, and changing clothes as usual, Lian sat in the kitchen with a glass of water. As his different housemates walked by, he would spark up a short conversation before they headed off to bed. Eventually, Francisco walked by. Pretending not to notice him, Lian then checked to make sure that the coast was clear. Cautiously sneaking into the basement, he noticed that most of the roommates living close to Francisco still hadn¡¯t returned. ¡°Hehehe¡­perfect¡­this makes it less difficult¡­¡± He summoned a half-eaten bagel that he saved from dinner and took a bite. *System: User has received a temporary stat boost for 1 hour: +0.1 to STR.* ¡°This will do for a sneak attack¡­¡± From Antonio¡¯s previous introduction, Lian already knew where to find Francisco¡¯s room. He knew that what he was about to do went way beyond his regular way of acting low-key as he did in his main body. In fact, it might even be going a bit too far. But, being a clone meant that he no longer had to hold himself back. He knocked on the door and waited¡­ Francisco heard a sound coming from outside his room. He grumbled then proceeded to open the door. Before even managing to look at the new guest, a fist pummeled into his chest. Losing his breath, Francisco fell to the floor while clutching his stomach. As he gasped for air, a cold but mysterious voice sounded from the door. Lian: ¡°What¡¯s your problem?¡± Chapter 16: Shameless Investigation Finally being able to act out his unreasonable form of revenge, Lian felt that one of his burdens holding him back in life had vanished. Being able to do as he wished outside of the confines of ¡°civilized human interaction¡± and without worrying for consequences truly felt liberating. *System: VIT stat has increased by 0.1. Congratulations for getting rid of a previous burden.* Lian¡¯s felt like his spirit was briefly cleansed. Ignoring the notification, he looked back at Francisco while waiting for a response¡­ On Francisco¡¯s end, he didn¡¯t whether to laugh or cry. After a long day of stress and work in the fields, he just wanted some rest for the night. Somehow, a random person ended up beating him up in his own room! They even dared to question him! ¡°What the fuck! Who have I pissed off!?¡± Francisco was truly lost for words. Looking back up, he finally saw the assailant¡¯s face. This made him even more confused¡­. Lian: ¡°I won¡¯t repeat myself. What¡¯s your problem?¡± Francisco: ¡°What do you mean? *Cough*¡­What did I do to you?¡± Lian: ¡°Heh¡­you think I¡¯m some pushover? Why did you bump into my shoulders today?¡± Francisco: ¡°What!? That¡¯s the only reason for this whole m-¡° Lian: ¡°You¡¯re not answering my question.¡± Francisco was still on the floor trying to catch his breath. Still muddle and confused, he finally surrendered. Francisco: ¡°Over the last few weeks, some rich guy from the city has been hanging out with my girlfriend. I think they¡¯re just friends, but I couldn¡¯t help but develop some jealousy and hatred towards you city guys. So, when I saw you come yesterday, I wanted to vent some stress.¡± After hearing this piece of information, Lian finally received the notification that he was looking for. System: *Side Task Created: Solve Francisco¡¯s Love Problem!* System: *Task: Help Francisco find a partner. More effort put towards this task along with a good resolution will lead to a greater amount of farming exp and other forms of rewards.* This situation was exactly what Lian wanted. It allowed him to solve two birds with one stone. First, he managed to put Francisco in his place while nipping any future conflict in the bud. Second, he also managed to receive a side task that will allow for faster growth.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°Hehehe¡­Now we can get the ball rolling¡­¡± Francisco stared blankly at the man in front of him while fearing for his life. This is because Lian had been staring at him for the past 30 seconds without a saying a word. If he could compare it to something, Lian closely resembled some serial killer from a scary movie. Eventually, Lian zoned back into the conversation. He already knew that he couldn¡¯t give Francisco a chance to view him as sane. This wasn¡¯t the time to be his usual self. If he wanted to probe more information for the task, he had to assert his dominance in this exchange. Lian: ¡°I see¡­what¡¯s this guy¡¯s name that you¡¯ve mentioned?¡± Francisco: ¡°His name¡­ his name is Rafael¡­ Rafael Ignacio.¡± Lian: ¡°Okay¡­ and what¡¯s your girlfriend¡¯s name?¡± After hearing this, Francisco tensed up and became defensive. Francisco: ¡°Why do you want to know my girlfriend¡¯s name? I don¡¯t care if you hurt me! I¡¯ll never-¡° Lian: ¡°Calm down. I don¡¯t have any bad intentions you weirdo. What¡¯s her name?¡± From seeing Francisco¡¯s protective reaction, Lian actually felt a little bit of respect for him, but that¡¯s all it was. On Francisco¡¯s end, this confirmation allowed him to slightly calm down. Deciding that Lian probably wouldn¡¯t go too far, he gave in. Francisco: ¡°Her name¡¯s Isabel¡­ Why do you want to know¡­?¡± Lian: ¡°If I told you that I can detect cheaters based on behavioural signs, would you believe me?¡± Francisco murmuring: ¡°Yeah he¡¯s definitely some psycho¡­¡± Francisco: ¡°Oh¡­can you? That¡¯s cool.¡± Francisco: ¡°Wait¡­why? You think my girlfriend might be cheating? There¡¯s no way. She¡¯d never do something like that¡­¡± At this point, Lian was making up complete bullshit. He just wanted to dig up some more information for his quest. Lian: ¡°Listen. Introduce me to your girlfriend tomorrow. Meet me up at 8am in the main barn.¡± Lian: ¡°I¡¯ll be able to tell if she¡¯s acting suspicious. Consider it my gratitude for punching you. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t bother you after that.¡± Francisco really felt like crying now. ¡°No that¡¯s fine. Why don¡¯t you just leave me be¡­¡± Then again, who knows? Francisco thought that there may be there some truth to what the guy was saying. Although he ignored Lian yesterday, the dude didn¡¯t seem too strange then. Even now, at least Lian didn¡¯t beat him up while he was down. Regardless, as long as he could get rid of this violent weirdo, Francisco would agree to almost anything. Besides, no one would believe him if he complained that Lian was this crazy. Since it was a small request, he might as well concede. Francisco: ¡°Sure, no problem! I¡¯ll meet you up there at 8am.¡± Lian: ¡°Good.¡± Leaving to his room, Lian cracked his knuckles while commending himself for his shameless investigational tactics. Making sure that no was in his line of sight, he shook his wrists and swore. Lian murmuring: ¡°¡­Fuck! That punch actually hurt my hand a little bit.¡± While preparing the bed, Lian once again set-up a mental alarm. Technically, he didn¡¯t need to use his ¡°stereo¡± ability this way. In fact, there were storage rooms in almost each house where cheap mini-alarm clocks were offered. However, Lian was a deep sleeper and knew that he would easily snooze through these types of alarms; therefore coming up with his revolutionary idea. He even managed to discover a clock function. With this, he would never have to use watches or worry about not knowing the time in the future. Yawning, Lian cleared his thoughts and passed out. With much left to discover, who knew what the future had in store...? Chapter 17: Huh? An alarm sounded, signalling Lian¡¯s third day in the farm. It was 6am, but he felt fully refreshed and energetic. After instantly freshening up and playing a music track, he left towards the barn. One of the sub-tasks for the week was to help with caring for the horses. As he only usually had one or two tasks per location per day, this would be quite easy. Already having learned the basic set of knowledge through the system, besides the smell and discomfort, the rest would be simple. Grabbing some gloves, he walked to a room filled with horse stalls and began picking up large amount of brown waste along with pieces of hay. Once the place was clean, he emptied then refilled the water troughs and fed the horses with grains and hay. As he was in the midst of trimming a horse¡¯s hooves using a nipper and a rasp, Jimena walked into the room. Jimena: ¡°Diego, you¡¯re here quite early! Didn¡¯t you want to work in the chicken coop?¡± Lian was still calmly trimming a hoof. There was no need to panic as he already had a shameless response in hand. Lian: ¡°Yeah, I slept early last night so I wanted to get a head start on the day¡­¡± Lian: ¡°The chicken coop was fun¡­but unfortunately Senor Pablo said that it¡¯d be a good idea for me to get experience through more than just one aspect of treating livestock.¡± Jimena: ¡°Oh¡­I guess that¡¯s fine then¡­¡± Jimena: ¡°Hmmm!? Your trimming technique is really good! In fact, it might even be slightly better than mine¡­ It looks like you really do have some skill¡­¡± Seeing that most of the other aspects of caring for the horses were dealt with, Jimena lead one of the horses out of the stall and walked towards a field in the front in order to allow it to get some exercise for the day. Lian continued his trimming for a brief period of time until it was basically 8am. Walking out to the front of the barn, he noticed Jimena still walking her horse. She was making longing glances at Francisco who seemed to have just arrived. Lian walked towards Francisco whilst grinning. Lian: ¡°Hey Francisco! Did you just wake up? Buddy, it¡¯s about time you came!¡± Francisco chuckled helplessly while looking at Lian. This guy¡¯s personality did a complete 360 from last night. Francisco: ¡°Yeah, I just woke up not too long ago¡­¡± Lian: ¡°Cool, cool¡­ by the way do you happen to know that young lady over there?¡± After hearing this, Francisco tried holding back a blush. Francisco: ¡°Ye¡­Yes I know who Jimena is. Why?¡± This reaction was slightly outside of Lian¡¯s expectations but he found it interesting nonetheless. ¡°Is this guy involved in a love triangle? Or maybe it¡¯d be more appropriate to call it a love square?¡± Ignoring Francisco¡¯s question, Lian continued following him towards the storage facility where Isabel worked. The walk was awkward due to the silence on Lian¡¯s part. However, Francisco didn¡¯t care much as he already labelled the guy as a weirdo.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. At the present time, Lian was relaxing to music while thinking of his work efficiency so far. Technically, he could have tried farming exp by learning multiple skill to low levels. In fact, to an extent, he¡¯d still been doing that by learning numerous skills in his main body such as: cooking, music, and meditation. However, the exp gained from training these tasks would be very inefficient towards all forms of his exp. This was especially noticeable after completing his tasks and seeing the large difference in growth. Besides, although his main body was being low-key, he was still training his other current skills along with learning new ones when needed. Lian also noticed something unusual. From time-to-time he would unconsciously perform a skill that he didn¡¯t have and not gain it. But, when he purposefully trained that skill with the goal of gaining it, he would eventually learn it. After inquiring with the system, he found out that this was a permanent function to allow the user not to clutter their skills and be distracted. When wanting to learn a skill, 100% of the time as long as he knew how to train it and if it wasn¡¯t locked due to a similar skill of a lower level not having been mastered, it would appear on his status window. But, only occasionally would he unconsciously learn or gain a new skill without having the direct intention of attaining it. The only exceptions where the odds of learning a skill by subconsciously training it increased were if the skill was really rare and it would be hard for Lian to uncover it or directly learn it. Eventually, Francisco and Lian arrived at the storage facility. Francisco: ¡°She should still be close to her brother¡¯s loading truck at this time...¡± Hearing this, Lian made a gesture with his hands indicating for Francisco to lead the way. They continued past a few loading spots until Lian spotted a slightly cute girl with dark hair and blue eyes sitting down in the passenger seat of one of the trucks with one leg outside of the door. Francisco felt a nudge and saw Lian discreetly pointing to the girl. Lian: ¡°Is that her?¡± Francisco: ¡°Umm¡­ yeah¡± They planned to make up the story that Francisco was helping Lian with a job, and that they both ¡°coincidentally¡± walked by. Francisco walked up to Isabel with Lian following right behind. Francisco: ¡°Hey Isabel!¡± The girl turned around and looked back at Francisco. A slight trace of annoyance and uncomfortableness showed in her expression before she once again regained her normal self. Lian managed to catch this, but didn¡¯t say anything. Isabel: ¡°Uhhh¡­hey Francisco¡­what are you doing here?¡± Francisco: ¡°I just happened to be helping a friend here for a bit so I just wanted to drop by to say hi!¡± Turning over, Isabel looked at Lian. A flash of disdain appeared in her eyes as she once again put on a fake smile without bothering to ask about him. Isabel: ¡°Oh I see¡­anyways I¡¯m going to be a bit busy for today but well I guess it was nice seeing you¡­¡± She then shut the door and continued with whatever she was doing in the car. Lian looked at Francisco and saw that he was still love-struck and most likely caught up with her smile. This 20-something year old man was completely unaware of the subtle undertones of the conversation he just had with his ¡°girlfriend¡±. This was mind boggling to Lian. ¡°Huh¡­?¡± ¡°What the fuck is wrong with this guy? Besides the fact that Isabel seems fake and acts like a spoiled brat, I¡¯m seeing no real indication that they¡¯re in any form of relationship¡­¡± ¡°Friends? Maybe¡­but even that¡¯s a slight push¡­he¡¯s probably deluded and thinks that he¡¯s in some imaginary relationship¡­¡± Waiting until they walked away, Lian finally spoke. Lian: ¡°¡­Are you sure that you¡¯re dating her?¡± Francisco: ¡°Of course I am! Although I have no family, hers already set us up to be engaged soon!¡± This changed the story for Lian. It seemed like this situation was more problematic than ever. Lian: ¡°Okay¡­ and did she agree to it?¡± Francisco: ¡°Obviously! When we spoke in private, I offered to save up money for a ring and she seemed really excited!¡± Lian shook his head internally and bid farewell to Francisco while promising not to bother him anymore. ¡°Fuck, this task is going to be a pain in the ass¡­¡± Chapter 18: Stalker for Justice Lian stayed at the storage facility to continue investigating along with doing some subtasks. If needed, he would stay longer at that storage facility and skip the fields for today. Regardless, he would be able to catch up at later time. Seeing Matias, the middle-aged truck driver whom he befriended the other day, Lian started loading the truck with materials. Most of his storage subtasks consisted of making sure to store some of the different products correctly, along with carrying them to their destination. There were also random ones like taking a ride to the city in one of the trucks. Peeking at Isabel¡¯s truck which wasn¡¯t too far away, he noticed that due to his late arrival, his loading speed was much slower. However, Lian needed to finish loading the truck quickly. This is because it was easy to deduce that Isabel was probably leaving to the city. She was just sitting in her brother¡¯s truck and doing no work. It looked like she was waiting for something. He quickened his pace and made sure to take care of as many storage subtasks along the way. Due to his investigation, he would probably lose out on time to complete the subtasks in the field. However, if needed, he could most likely do them early morning or late at night. Finally having fully loaded the truck with music still buzzing in his hears, Lian requested to join in the ride to the city. But, he made it clear that it was because he needed to do something there in private. Matias: ¡°So that¡¯s why you want to come this time¡­well, at least the ride won¡¯t be as boring for me now. Come on in, haha!¡± Lian jumped into the truck and they rode off towards the city. Usually, in a strict job setting, work is counted through hours employed. However, the farm worked differently. Everyone was treated like family. As long as you reached a minimum amount of work during normal or extra shifts, what you chose to do for the rest of the day was up to you. However, it was rare for people to perform on the level of Lian; who was already on the road to mastering all aspects of farming. Therefore, if Lian didn¡¯t have his tasks to do, with his position of being a low-tier farm-worker, he could probably take 3-4 day breaks at a time after a single day of work. Hence, he didn¡¯t need to worry about leaving to the city. Furthermore, there were always trucks that returned and Matias knew a lot of guys who had later shifts, so Lian didn¡¯t need to worry about the return ride. Eventually, they reached their location. Lian thanked Matias at the truck checkpoint then went on his way. Walking in the city, he noticed a huge difference between its appearance and that of the countryside.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Others might think that Spain isn¡¯t among the so-called ¡°developed countries¡±. However, from the buildings and infrastructure of this city, Lian couldn¡¯t help but praise it. He then hid in an obscure corner between two buildings. Making sure that Isabel¡¯s truck would be visible, he waited. ¡°Shit¡­ It looks I¡¯m really a stalker now¡­ all that¡¯s left to reach creeper status would be for me to send some-¡° ¡°What the fuck am I thinking!? That Leah bitch¡¯s rumours must have really traumatized me. Either way, I¡¯m not just any stalker! Ahem¡­yes¡­I¡¯m a stalker for justice! The justice we call doing anything for exp gain!¡± A few minutes apart from Lian hiding, the truck arrived and Isabel started walking off to the distance. It was clear to Lian that Isabel¡¯s brother, the truck driver, was just giving her the pass to do as she wished in the city without fully completing her work. Since Lian was very self-aware, he would always argue with himself whenever he was being hypocritical or not learning from his past mistakes. Therefore, Lian knew that he had no right to lecture others on being lazy. But, he still couldn¡¯t help but shake his head. ¡°I get that I¡¯m a fucking hypocrite¡­ so what? Fuck off! I¡¯m busting my ass at the farm; without pay! Come on, where is her work integrity!¡± Before continuing trail her, he changed into a cap and typical city clothing from his storage. He didn¡¯t care to be accidently seen, so he just ended up quickly changing in the corner before following. Isabel eventually stopped at a movie theatre. In front of her was a suave-looking Spanish man holding two tickets. Lian guessed that it was probably Rafael. The ticket in the man¡¯s hand was then taken by Isabel, following with them interlocking hands and walking into the theatre. ¡°Shit¡­ it looks like I was right! Francisco really is getting cheated on. What a cuck!¡± ¡°I would feel bad, but he¡¯s a fucking idiot with 0 EQ¡­ this task¡¯s going to be hassle¡­¡± Lian decided not to follow the two in. He didn¡¯t want to be a creepy voyeur and he was too cheap to transfer and convert money from his main body to buy himself in. ¡°Might as well tour a bit.¡± Planning to come back in an hour or two, he continued walking around the city. All around were tall buildings, roads, and lamp posts. It reminded him of Toronto, but this city was a lot more colorful. Lian played a piano track in his mind, and continued touring. As the place was so packed, he would sometimes stumble upon tourists. After a while, he returned close to the movie theatre and waited. To make time pass by faster, he coordinated with his main body and transferred an old phone through his storage. He might as well play games and get some exp. *System: User has gained 1 exp point for spending one minute on: Gaming...* Even before gaining the system, his gaming level was quite high due to him playing dozens of games to completion with many crossovers in terms of gaming ability. Therefore, the small exp he gained now wouldn¡¯t give any huge boost, but it would at least allow him to feel like he¡¯s being productive with training. Half an hour later, Isabel left with the man as they entered a bar. The suave man put on a filthy expression as he slapped her buttocks with Isabel yelping before leading her in. Isabel: ¡°Rafael, you dirty boy!¡± Lian shook his head. ¡°What the fuck am I doing here¡­?¡± Chapter 19: Malicious Intentions… Finally! While waiting for Isabel and Rafael to leave, Lian thought through some new changes he could make to speed up this task in the future. The main point he noted was that it would soon be necessary to convert money through the system in order to have some available for entering restaurants and shops. Although it was good to be cheap, Lian had to choose his battles wisely. Spending meagre amounts ahead of time from his main body was a good investment because if he managed to overhear something, it would be very helpful towards completion of the task. If he could just take a photo to convince Francisco that Isabel was cheating, he would. Unfortunately, Francisco was head-over-heels for the girl, and even picture proof would make him suspect fake tampering. ¡°Dammit! I hope they try to cause some trouble soon¡­ Otherwise, I¡¯ll be forced to frame them for some shit. Fuck it, we¡¯ll see what happens! All for the exp¡­¡± Slightly tipsy, Isabel finally left the bar with Rafael. They walked to a parking a lot a few blocks away, then proceeded to slobber each other¡¯s¡¯ faces. This continued for longer than Lian wanted, with them finally entering an expensive-looking red car, and Rafael driving away. This was Lian¡¯s cue to head back to the farm. It was evening time, and he felt that he had obtained enough information from today¡¯s investigation. Returning to the checkpoint, he helped one of the drivers with unloading before hitching a ride back in their truck. Before sundown, Lian caught up with most of his sub-tasks by weeding and sowing seeds in the different fields. He then ended the day by grabbing a quick bite, activating ¡°No Washroom Needed¡±, replacing his clothes, setting an early alarm, and passing out. This same situation played out for most of the week. During this time, Lian also managed to acquaint himself with a few dozen of the workers. By the third day, he received a notification after accumulating some exp from his sub-tasks. *System: Congratulations! User has reached lvl 6 in farming. All aspects of the users¡¯ farming knowledge and abilities have increased.* Every day, Lian would wake up very early in the morning in order to work at the barn, then switch to the fields. Afterwards, he would help Matias with loading his truck then head over to the city. Some days, he would spot Isabel at the checkpoint. Other days, she wouldn¡¯t even show up. So far, he¡¯d only seen her on trips to fancy restaurants or shops with Rafael. In order to avoid suspicion, Lian would wear different sets of believable wigs and fake glasses, courtesy of his main body. Unfortunately for now, he still couldn¡¯t use the disguise ability outside of the clones given by the system for tasks. Lian would also buy the cheapest meal, then proceed to sit at an obscure table that would allow him to eavesdrop. But, this rarely happened. Most of the time, he would be touring the city, or playing mobile games for fun and exp.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. On the sixth day, Lian woke up earlier than usual in order to complete his tasks quickly and head over to explore the city some more. By leaving earlier than usual, he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about missing Isabel at the checkpoint. ¡°Training is important¡­ but in a new environment, there¡¯s nothing wrong with exploring and enjoying the scenery. I will always work hard towards my goal, but if I live like a robot, am I even human?¡± Among the tourist spots in Andaluc¨ªa, Lian wished to view the ruins. From overhearing conversations from both guide and locals, he discovered that there once existed an amazing civilization in Andaluc¨ªa known for its pursuit of knowledge. In that era, although the ones residing here were mainly Muslims, they co-existed with both Christians and Judaists; all aiming towards advancing their society. For that reason, this time was known as ¡°La Convivencia¡±. Many scientific, linguistic, philosophical, educational, and mathematical breakthroughs were made during this period. Unfortunately, nothing ever lasts forever. Bigotry won, and the inquisition attacked. Even the Christian residents of the city weren¡¯t safe. Future rulers always made sure to kill anyone who questioned their actions. This continued until nothing could be done to return to that previous era. ¡°What a shame¡­¡± Lian was personally an agnostic and constantly questioned the existence of a higher power. Not caring for being viewed as indecisive, he believed that both sides of the argument were valid. This was contrary to his parents who were devout Christians. Regardless of his beliefs, he never looked down on others. From them, he would always take both physical evidence and anecdotal stories in order to formulate his own opinions. Perhaps, he could even develop his own ¡°truth¡±. In fact, with the system, his future understanding of the universe may reach greater heights; beyond even what humanity thought possible. Therefore, he believed that as long as others wouldn¡¯t harm one another, and could co-exist with their differing beliefs and even have civil discussions, there shouldn¡¯t be any problems. Sadly, humanity is imperfect and there always tends to be individuals with extreme views or hidden motives that ruin the party for everyone. Once the afternoon came, Lian returned to his corner and continued playing games as he waited for Isabel to arrive. Thankfully, she did. He followed her until she met up with Rafael, as usual, with them proceeding to enter a jewelry shop. They left quickly, possibly due to a lack of interest, then continued towards a fancy restaurant. Lian snuck in with them while hoping to overhear some dirt. ¡°These fuckers better plan something soon, otherwise, I¡¯ll have to summon the asshole within me to frame them. But, if that ends up being the case, I can only say¡­ if you cheat, don¡¯t complain if you get cheated!¡± For the next few minutes, he settled into a table, ordered some fried fish and waited¡­ Isabel: ¡°Rafael, do you think we¡¯ll ever be able to officially marry?¡± Rafael: ¡°¡­Baby...don¡¯t worry. Even if it¡¯s in secret, I¡¯ll give you the most splendid wedding¡­¡± ¡°Blegh, this lovey-dovey shit is too much¡­ More drama please! Come on¡­¡± Overhearing this conversation, Lian was really going to doze off. This was until he heard something of interest¡­ Isabel: ¡°So honey¡­ what are we going to do about Francisco? I¡¯m going to marry him so my family doesn¡¯t annoy me about it in the future, but-¡° Rafael: ¡°Hah, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll make sure that kid won¡¯t be able to touch you after I¡¯m done with him. It¡¯ll be a genius plan so he¡¯s forced to care for our children, while we¡¯ll still be able to have as much fun as we¡¯d like.¡± Rafael: ¡°I¡¯m going to get some guys in on the plan soon, so ¡­let¡¯s officially discuss this¡­say¡­ five days from now. Trust me, you¡¯ll love it. Hehehe¡­¡± Hearing this, Lian grinned. ¡°Finally¡­¡± Chapter 20: Machinery Task After spending many days eavesdropping on the two¡¯s conversations, Lian finally heard what he wanted. They wished to cause trouble for Francisco! This was exactly what he was aiming for. Soon enough, he¡¯d finally be able to cure the man of his emotional stupidity¡­ From the conversation, Rafael may have seemed like the only perpetrator. However, Lian could see through the bullshit. He couldn¡¯t help but praise the girl for her manipulative abilities. Isabel¡¯s personality reminded him a lot of a documentary he watched online regarding psychopathic tendencies. The girl put on an innocent expression and tried twisting the story to make it seem like she was being forced to marry Francisco. She even secretly chuckled when hearing of Rafael¡¯s plans. In reality, Lian knew that Isabel was just too selfish. She wanted both Rafael and her parents¡¯ acceptance. This may seem like an innocent intention, however, dragging down, manipulating, and potentially harming another individual for her own gain still made her a vile human being. ¡°Oh well, at least I won¡¯t feel bad if I end up ruining their lives¡­¡± Content with finally advancing in his side-task, Lian decided to head back to the farm. Tomorrow would be the last day of his week-long task, and there was still much to do. Thinking back to the two¡¯s conversation, he made a mental note to stay in the farm for the next five days. The following day, close to sun-down, Lian was in the midst of watering plants in a small field for his final sub-task. Though this job may seem easy, knowledge is still needed to execute it properly. For example, before seeds emerge, low volumes of water should be supplied frequently, followed by a lesser volume and frequency post-emergence, and finally a greater volume and lesser frequency closer to maturity. As Lian watered the plants, he couldn¡¯t help but notice that quite a few of them hide bite marks, or seemed to be on the verge of death. This was also a common trait for many of the fields currently on the farm. From his knowledge, this was definitely not a common occurrence; even with a slightly larger pest or insect count than normal in the soil. But, he would have to look more into this problem once his farming skill became more advanced, or once he found a lead. Covered in sweat, Lian finally received a notification as he finished spraying water onto the field. System: *Task ¡°Multi-tasking Farmer¡± has been completed.* System: *User has been rewarded with 600k farming exp.*Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. *System: Current experience to reach lvl 7: 607k/1m.* System: *New Task ready to take on.* ¡°Sigh¡­I should be feeling happy¡­but even with a week-long task, I still can¡¯t level up.¡± ¡°Oh well¡­ at least my character exp¡¯s been progressing nicely¡­ I should be able to level up my character before I leave the farm¡­¡± Walking back to the orphan house, Lian dropped by the kitchen and grabbed a piece of bread. He took a big bite and then stored the rest. *System: User has received a temporary stat boost for 1 hour: +0.1 to STR.* Recently, he¡¯d been doing this for most of his meals at the farm. Usually, he did it to gain some energy and speed up his task progress. However, this time, he was just hungry. Over the past week, he noticed that despite the fact that status effects from healthy foods were unstackable, he only needed a small bite to gain a single one for an hour. Therefore, he¡¯d always store some of the food he received to use for future scenarios. The system storage prevented spoilage and Lian didn¡¯t know when he¡¯d next be able to stumble upon such fresh food. ¡°Finally, the first week¡¯s over¡­¡± Upstairs, Lian quickly used the system to prepare for bed, then crashed in his room¡­ *Beep Bop Beep Bop Beep* The alarm rang in his mind; signifying the start of the day and a new task to complete. Concerning Lian¡¯s duties, he was given a week to gain the trust of his fellow workers by assisting with the use of all forms of machinery in the farm. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t convince anyone to let him join; even if he casually dropped Senor Pablo¡¯s name. This time, Lian needed actual written approval. ¡°It looks like I need to show off a bit¡­ let¡¯s see how it goes¡­¡± After changing and eating breakfast, Lian began walking towards the old man¡¯s house. *Knock Knock* Frail voice: ¡°Coming!¡± Once the door was opened, Lian saw an old lady with curly white hair, round glasses, grey pants, and a blue-striped white cotton sweater. The presence she gave off was similar to that of caring grandmother. Lian: ¡°Hello Ma¡¯am! I¡¯m wondering if Senor Pablo is still home at this time. I need his assistance with a small issue.¡± The old lady stared at Lian for a few seconds in investigative manner before she invited him in. As they walked towards the living room, she introduced herself as Senora Romina. Senora Romina: ¡°Young man, would you like some coffee?¡± Lian: ¡°No thank you! I just ate.¡± Senora Romina: ¡°Suit yourself¡­¡± She still went to the kitchen and came back with a cup of coffee and crackers which she placed on the table for Lian. Senora Romina: ¡°You¡¯re lucky that you came at this time. Pablo should be coming down any minute now.¡± Senor Romina: ¡°So... Diego, right? Would you mind telling me what brought you here from the city to stay with us for a month? You don¡¯t have to tell me if it bothers you¡­¡± Although Lian was shameless, he kind of felt bad cheating this old lady. However, he already came prepared with an excuse and it would be obviously idiotic to let anyone other than himself in on the system. Lian: ¡°Oh, no¡­ I¡¯m not bothered at all! I¡¯m actually an agricultural science graduate from the Andalusia University, and I¡¯ve finally decided to practice my knowledge of theory so that I can be able to run my own farm in the near future.¡± They continued their short chatter session until the sound of footsteps could be heard from the stairway close to the kitchen. Senor Pablo: ¡°Who came by today to bless our humble abode?¡± Chapter 21: Not bad at all! Once the old man was visible from the living room, he looked at Lian. Senor Pablo: ¡°Hmmm¡­it¡¯s you!? Diego, what are you doing here?¡± Senor Pablo murmuring: ¡°I have a feeling he¡¯s up to something¡­¡± Although Lian couldn¡¯t hear what Senor Pablo was saying, he had an idea of what the old man was thinking. Lian: ¡°Ahem¡­I want to gain permission to assist the other workers with controlling and maneuvering the machines that we have in the storage facil-¡° Senor Pablo: ¡°Absolutely not!¡± This reaction was expected by Lian. However, he had more tricks up his sleeve. Lian: ¡°Why so quick to turn me down?¡± Senor Pablo: ¡°I know that you have some decent agricultural knowledge, but have you ever driven or used any of the controls on those machines before? It¡¯s not the same as driving a car... In fact, it¡¯s very dangerous!¡± It seemed like Senor Pablo believed that the 25 year-old ¡°Diego¡± already had driving experience. This was because he¡¯d shown his system-provided clone ID to the old man when he first introduced himself. In reality, Lian still hadn¡¯t even gotten his driver¡¯s license; even though he was 20. Lian knew how to drive decently, but he was too lazy and lacked the confidence to take the test. But, since he had the farming skill, this issue could be bypassed. As long as the machinery used was directly related to the farming expertise, he¡¯d be able to control and understand it with varying degrees as he leveled up. Lian: ¡°How about this? Ask me any question about any machine used in the farm and I¡¯ll give you an explanation of each control and what it¡¯s used for.¡± The old man didn¡¯t believe that Lian would really be capable of this. But, he decided to give him a chance. At least it would stop the young man from bringing it up in the near future. Senor Pablo: ¡°Okay¡­I¡¯ll start off with an easy one. What does a combine harvester do?¡± Lian: ¡°It¡¯s used for the separation of grain and chaff which is inedible. When you drive the combine harvester, it cuts, threshes, and cleans the grains. Is this enough or should I continue?¡± Senor Pablo: ¡°Ahem¡­no, no that¡¯s fine. It seems like you do have some knowledge¡­But what about the different components and controls? Can you give me the names and their exact functions?¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Senora Romina: ¡°Honey! What are you trying to do? Even some of the drivers couldn¡¯t name all of the different components by heart¡­¡± Lian: ¡°Thank you for kind intentions¡­but its fine. The list of components are¡­¡± This continued for about half an hour with Lian giving step-by-step details of the many different machines used in the farm. This left both Senor Pablo and his wife speechless. However, the old man didn¡¯t want Lian to get too in over his head. Senor Pablo: ¡°Mhm¡­not bad at all! But, you still have much left to learn.¡± Senor Pablo: ¡°Give me a minute. I¡¯ll write up a form for you right now...¡± Hearing this, Lian chuckled inwardly. He knew exactly how the old man was feeling, but this wasn¡¯t really surprising. The system truly allowed him to cheat common sense. Once he received the letter and was sent-off, Lian then headed directly to the storage facility where the workers would mount the different machines. Eventually, he arrived at the area and approached a middle-aged man named Nicolas. Before Lian left, Senor Pablo previously described the man¡¯s traits and explained that he was a supervisor in charge of monitoring the use of the machines and ensuring the safety of the workers. Lian: ¡°Hello Nicolas, my name is Diego and I¡¯m here to assist with running machinery.¡± Nicolas: ¡°I see¡­which machine?¡± Too lazy to explain, Lian handed him the form written by Senor Pablo. As the man read it, he couldn¡¯t help but give an inquisitive look towards Lian before focusing back on the words. Eventually, he finished reading it but his gaze became conflicted, containing hints of both doubt and respect. Nicolas murmuring: ¡°¡­I wonder what¡¯s going on in that old geezer¡¯s head. How can someone control every machine that we have on the farm? But, Old Pablo definitely isn¡¯t stupid. If he said so, there¡¯s definitely a reason behind it.¡± He looked back at Lian for a few seconds. Nicolas: ¡°Follow me, I¡¯ll introduce you to the rest of the crew.¡± They walked to another room where many of the workers carrying the titles of drivers, specialists, and technicians resided. Nicolas introduced Lian to everyone. He also signed another form for Lian in case the workers already out in the fields didn¡¯t recognize him. As long as he didn¡¯t cause much trouble, Lian could assist the group and even be given test-runs. Since his performance was already beyond the regular quota, his current speed of work was a lot more flexible. But, with a task to complete, he couldn¡¯t slack off anyways. Thanking Nicolas, Lian headed to the fields and introduced himself before he pulled out a form to one of the workers driving a combine harvester. The man didn¡¯t seem too happy, but he was still nice enough to let Lian on through the stairs without complaining. Before Lian knew it, for the next few hours, besides explaining the controls as used he them, the man began rambling on about his life. His name was Simon and he couldn¡¯t help bragging about his newborn daughter. Almost dozing off, Lian played some music to tune out the man¡¯s words. Simon: ¡°And if you saw how strong she was for her age, you wouldn¡¯t believe it! Also...¡± ¡°Okay I get it¡­ you have a daughter. Congratulations, you didn¡¯t pull out! Now can I fucking drive already? I know this a task, but this damn exp waste makes me want to cry¡­¡± Finally, Simon stopped the vehicle and switched places with Lian. Simon: ¡°It¡¯s your turn now. Let¡¯s see how you manage to¡­huh!?¡± Chapter 22: Cunning Plan Lian was currently driving the combine harvester like a pro. As he already learned all the basic knowledge from leveling up through the system, there was no danger involved. Therefore, his expression was nonchalant. Simon was looking at him as though staring at some freak. He only gave Lian a few instructions these past few hours, and he already mastered the vehicle. There was nothing Simon could nitpick or criticize. In fact, Lian looked like he¡¯d been using the combine harvester for ages; even matching his own ease and experience with it! ¡°Now you give me that look. Of course I can drive it this well! If you would have shut up for two seconds and let me control it, I could have already moved on to the next machine¡­¡± As he drove, Lian noticed that outside of the norm, he managed to receive 10 exp per minute. This was much better than pulling weeds, milking cows, or individually planting seeds. Unfortunately, this amount of exp was useless with his current leveling requirements. However, it was good to know that a gain of one exp per action wasn¡¯t the limit outside of tasks. Who knows when a task would become too difficult to finish? It¡¯s good to have a back-up plan for leveling. With Simon commending him for his abilities, Lian felt that he had done his job in proving his capabilities. He had quite a few machines to control as subtasks, therefore time couldn¡¯t be squandered. Against Simon¡¯s encouragement to join his custom harvesting crew, he moved on to the next person. This routine continued over the next few days. Lian would join a driver or farm equipment specialist for a few hours, shadow them, and then convince them to allow him to operate their machinery. Consequently, he would stun them with his skills, before leaving despite their misgivings. For Lian, it was draining to deal with so many people. Just because he knew how to communicate with others, didn¡¯t mean he enjoyed doing it. Being introverted, although he could give off the impression that he was very social, he liked keeping to himself. But, everything was for the exp. On the second day of his task, Lian saw Catalina checking him out whilst driving a tractor. She looked at him lustfully, then walked away. ¡°I¡¯m obviously enjoying where this situation is going¡­ but I feel like I¡¯m in the plot of some weird adult film. Young handsome male farmer and mature hot female manager¡­WTF?!¡± ¡°Is this the law of attraction? I stopped watching that junk on the computer, so in turn it¡¯s become my reality¡­?¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ in a weird way, I feel like I¡¯ve been enlightened¡­¡± Lian knew that this wasn¡¯t exactly how the law of attraction worked, but there was definitely some truth to his view. If he didn¡¯t split his consciousness as a clone, he wouldn¡¯t be able meet so many new characters. Without giving oneself a chance to interact with others, despite looks or insecurities, it would be impossible to have any sensual or exciting opportunities. ¡°If I don¡¯t even give myself a chance to experience life, who else is going to do it for me? My parents? They¡¯re tired and older now. My friends? Their life doesn¡¯t revolve around mine.¡± ¡°¡­ I¡¯m already 20. I¡¯ve been passive for the past three years. I must create my own opportunities to become stronger and wiser. And you know what? I will.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Firming his resolve to continuing evolving as an individual, he continued with his task. On the third day, instead of heading over to the fields, Lian hitched a ride with Matias to the city. Moving to his usual hiding spot, he then dawned a new disguise. Consequently, Lian waited for Isabel while playing mobile games and listening to music. Eventually, she showed up and met with Rafael before following him to a fancy restaurant. Lian tried planning as much as possible for mishaps prior to this meeting, but one can only do so much with such little information. Besides, as long as he didn¡¯t have to follow Rafael¡¯s car by taxi, the risk of getting caught eavesdropping would be very low. Thankfully, this restaurant had a large wooden wall placed between certain sets tables. Therefore, even if Lian was sitting close-by, they couldn¡¯t see him. Hence, they wouldn¡¯t be on guard. In fact, even if the pair were cautious, who would care to listen to a conversation involving some random orphan with all the noise going on in the restaurant anyways? Lian ordered a rice-dish called ¡°paella¡± then waited silently across from the two. As they were ordering their meals, he prepared some loose change. ¡°The meal is around 10$, so¡­ ahem¡­ so I¡¯ll give the waiter 10 cents¡­I¡¯m sure that it¡¯s better than nothing¡­¡± Back in the day, Lian wasn¡¯t always a miser. He would always spot friends and give good tips to waiters or deliverymen when he ordered food. But, both friends and workers took advantage of his generosity to acquire higher tips or have their expenses paid without repaying Lian. Therefore, he changed and became stingy to the utmost degree. This was because he hated being used. Honestly, Lian did feel somewhat bad after changing. But, his previous experiences overweighed the lingering empathetic feelings he harboured. As Lian was in the midst of slowly eating his meal to bide time, he noticed that Rafael was ordering almost double the usual amount of food. ¡°I wonder what they¡¯re up to...¡± Once the waiters left the two¡¯s table, their conversation finally became interesting. Rafael: ¡°All right¡­everything¡¯s mostly ready for the plan¡­¡± Isabel: ¡°Honey, you¡¯re so smart! Come on. Tell me! What are we going to do?¡± Rafael: ¡°First, we¡¯ll get Francisco to come with you to the city. Once he¡¯s there, we¡¯ll pretend that you two accidentally bumped into me¡­¡± Isabel: ¡°That won¡¯t be too difficult. What do we do after that?¡± Rafael: ¡°You¡¯ll convince him to let me join you two around the city. I¡¯ve already found the perfect spot to cripple him.¡± Isabel: ¡°But how are we going to convince him to follow us? Are you going to fight him?¡± Rafael: ¡°Of course not. I¡¯ll find a way to ditch you guys, while you two will take a shortcut to the movies through a certain alley-way. Once you¡¯re there, I know some guys that are willing to permanently cripple him for some cash.¡± Isabel: ¡°¡­I don¡¯t care what happens to him. But do you think he¡¯ll still want to marry me if you make it so that he can¡¯t even have kids?¡± Rafael: ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I planned for that too. Remember how I said I¡¯ll leave you guys shortly? Well, once those guys do their job, I¡¯ll pretend that I¡¯ve come back to save you.¡± Isabel: ¡°Hmmmm¡­That¡¯s a great idea! With how Francisco thinks, he¡¯ll probably feel guilt for being unable to be the one protecting me.¡± Isabel: ¡°So¡­ he¡¯ll most likely hide that problem from my parents if I ask him to. Then, even if he looks somewhat crippled, my family will still go along with the marriage!¡± Rafael: ¡°And by that point, even if you and I have kids, he won¡¯t be able to say anything about it!¡± Listening in on their conversation Lian couldn¡¯t help but applaud Rafael for his well-thought out plan. ¡°How cunning! If I wasn¡¯t here, you would have probably gotten away scotch-free¡­¡± ¡°But¡­ what a dumb reason for all of this. Isabel¡¯s going to go through an entire marriage just to have a secret affair? Some people really have a weird train of thought¡­¡± He continued eavesdropping, but the conversation was mostly about the designated areas for executing their plan. Rafael: ¡°There¡¯s also another good spo¡­¡° The two randomly stopped mid-conversation. Lian was confused as to what was happening. However, he noticed the sound of footsteps approaching their table. Lian: ¡°Hmmm?¡± Chapter 23: Brawling Lian turned towards the entrance of the restaurant. A few meters from the door, two tall tan intimidating men were approaching. Both of them wore hoodies, looked to be in their 20¡¯s or 30¡¯s, and gave off a menacing vibe. One was bald and had a trimmed beard, while the other had dark hair, was clean shaven, and wore a cap. As he was visible to the pair, Lian pretended to be focusing on reading the texts on his cellphone while slowly eating his meal. Luckily, they didn¡¯t take notice to him at all. As they approached, Rafael stood up from his chair. Rafael: ¡°Alonso! Dante! You¡¯re finally here. Isabel, these are the friends I previously mentioned to you.¡± Finally, they sat down and ate their meals. Most of their conversation was a repetition of what Lian previously heard. The only additional piece of information he was able to find out was that their plan would take place in a week. However, at least now he knew about everyone involved in the plan. The two who just came were apparently typical thugs that would do any job for the right amount. Throughout Lian¡¯s previous investigations, Rafael would brag that his parents owned many high-end restaurant chains, so it would make sense that he could afford the cost. Once the group¡¯s conversation was over, he waited for them to leave the restaurant before heading out as well. Upon departing, Lian paid for his meal then shamelessly handed the waiter a 10-cent euro coin. Lian: ¡°Keep the change!¡± He then proceeded to change out of his disguise and hitched a normal ride back to the farm. Along the way, he began thinking of ways to use the system to advance his fighting capabilities. Seeing those two thugs, he would need some good fighting power in order to foil the group¡¯s plot. This would also be necessary to break Francisco of his love-spell. Realistically, it would be best to warn Francisco ahead of time. But, if he did, there was a higher chance that the love-struck idiot would pay no heed to any advice. Therefore, to advance in his task and to allow Isabel¡¯s true colours to come out, Lian had to take this risk. Besides, he didn¡¯t owe Francisco anything. Lian: ¡°System, do you have any recommendations for increasing my fighting capabilities?¡± System: ¡°The best way for the user to become powerful would be through leveling up their character. But, there are also many skills that the user can learn for a boost in fighting technique.¡± Lian: ¡°Okay¡­so can I learn martial arts¡­? Or maybe something else, as I assume that skill probably wouldn¡¯t be really useful in real-life situations.¡± Lian: ¡°I still remember once seeing a video of a tai chi master getting his ass beat by a boxer. It was brutal! Therefore, would increasing my sports skill then be needed to learn boxing as a better option?¡±The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. System: ¡°The user must not underestimate the martial arts skill as it might come as a surprise to them once higher levels are reached. However, as explained before, the user must also take into account that not all skills can be learnt at the same speed and certain skills have restrictions.¡± System: ¡°For example, since the sports skill encompasses many sub-skills that grow together, just to advance to a masterful level in terms of boxing ability, the current user would require years. This would be the same case for the medicine skill as it comprises a plethora of fields and can heal others easily once at its peak.¡± System: ¡°In addition, restrictions may consist of learning weaker skills in a relation to a subject before mastering higher-tier ones. The only way to bypass these restrictions would be through leveling-up or wasting more time than normal.¡± Lian: ¡°Fuck this restriction bullshit! Can¡¯t I just reach level 4 in Sports and use my boxing abilities in the fight? Though I¡¯m not sure how useful that would be¡­¡± System: ¡°Indeed. Unfortunately, as you know, level 4 for any skill only encompasses the basics. The user would be better off learning a lower-tier fighting skill like Brawling and mastering it, before learning other much harder skills such as Marksmanship or Martial Arts.¡± Not being able to cheat the already cheat-like system made Lian feel kind of sour. But, he already knew about the general rules behind restrictions and leveling up, so it wasn¡¯t too surprising. Basically, Lian was just a lazy person and wanted to find the most efficient way to take advantage of the system. He got off at the storage facility, and headed directly towards his room. He was already a little bit ahead in his task, so Lian decided to start learning the Brawling skill. Once he managed to gain it, he could spend time training it in his main body, while he focused on his farming tasks in his current state. Since the system could only provide Lian with general advice regarding skills through his probing, he would have to find out how to learn the new skill himself. ¡°So I guess I just start kicking and punching?¡± Making sure that his intention was to learn the brawling skill, Lian tried dishing out some normal kicks and punches into thin air. The room was very cramped, so he couldn¡¯t exert his full effort. After a few minutes, he stopped. Nothing was happening. ¡°Perhaps I¡¯m approaching this wrong¡­ Since it¡¯s unlike martial arts, maybe I need to attack like a thug? I¡¯ll give that a try.¡± Lian cued an underground music playlist. He focused his mind, closed his eyes, and tried imagining an anime thug holding a knife in front him. He faced-off against the enemy for half a minute without moving. His expression slowly changed as he began looking psychotic. ¡°You want to fuck with me!? Come on, I dare you to stab me!¡± He threw out his bent right forearm as he stepped forward. Pretending to have been stabbed in that same arm by the enemy, Lian inwardly laughed it off. He then feigned losing consciousness from shock. Even in his imagination, he couldn¡¯t help but pull shameless tricks. After a few seconds, he abruptly grabbed the imaginary thug¡¯s armed hand by the wrist with his free arm and kneed the aggressor with his right leg. Not realizing that this went against the laws of physics, Lian lost balance, tripped over, and hit his head on the wall. Lian: ¡°Fuck!¡± *System: User has learned a new skill: Brawling.* *System: User has gained 1 exp point for spending one minute on: Brawling.* *System: Current experience to reach lvl 2: 1/10.* Rubbing his head to ease the pain, Lian turned off the ringing music. He then looked at his new skill with pride. It seemed that as long as he could come up with dirty techniques to fight enemies, he would gain exp to level it up. However, before he had any time to further train or investigate this new power, Lian heard a knock from the door¡­ Chapter 24: Contemplating Suicide Lian: ¡°Hello?¡± Antonio: ¡°It¡¯s me! Diego, are you all right?¡± Hearing this, Lian couldn¡¯t help but berate himself inwardly. He assumed that most of the workers would be outside, so he didn¡¯t consider the consequences of making any sound. Lian opened the door and reassured Antonio that everything was fine. He was also curious as to why Antonio wasn¡¯t currently in the fields like everyone else, but it wasn¡¯t his place to ask. Once the room was quiet again, Lian decided to train brawling. Since his main body had only just woken up a few hours ago and was training the meditation skill, he might as well get a head start on strengthening himself before heading to the fields. ¡°Heh¡­If I continue training at this pace, next week is going be interesting...¡± Although Lian was a coward when it came to combat, he was also a very impulsive person. Most of the time, due to his fear of death, he was cautious and leaned strongly toward self-preservation. However, if he was forced into a nerve-inducing situation, the momentum would push him to act out crazily. Fortunately, he still liked being in control of the risks he faced in any situation, so this wasn¡¯t a huge problem. A few years ago, Lian was stuck on a ski lift that was only momentarily malfunctioning. Unfortunately, the feeling of being alone in the middle of nowhere was too nerve-inducing for him. Therefore, he removed all protective measures and jumped out. Since Lian was sitting over the edge of a mountain when he jumped, any mis-step could have meant death. Thankfully he survived. However, once he landed, someone on a nearby lift even yelled at him and called him a psycho. *System: User has gained 1 exp point for spending one minute on: Brawling.* As Lian trained, an hour went by quickly. The brawling skill managed to dive well into lvl 2, but he was now tired and somewhat sore. After the level-up, he gained some new information with regards to the vital points to attack in an enemy¡¯s body, as well a few techniques requiring nearby weapons to sneak-attack. His moves also became slightly smoother. Stretching to ease any cramps, Lian initially decided to head downstairs for a snack. But before walking out, he thought back to his encounter with Antonio. This would be a good opportunity to invite the guy and probe him for information. Lian might even manage to discover some sort of side-task! Despite already having one, he always welcomed more. Therefore, he stopped by Antonio¡¯s room.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Strangely, as he approached, a distinct sound could be heard. ¡°Sobbing?¡± Deciding against knocking, Lian tried thinking of a way to peak through the door. Toronto In his main body, Lian abruptly woke up from meditation and began to search through the internet for ways to peak through closed doors. Within less than a minute, he went to a box in the basement and took out an unused CD. He proceeded to shove it into the storage. Orphan House A few second later, Lian pulled out the same CD and use some techniques to shamelessly place into the crack underneath Antonio¡¯s door. Lian also made sure to scout the hallway so that he wouldn¡¯t be caught. Since the rooms were small and everything was usually placed on the ground, the reflective surface would be a smart way to investigate. ¡°Hmmm¡­!?¡± Inside the room, Antonio could be vaguely seen holding a rope in his hands. They were shaking as he seemed to be in deep contemplation. Lian could distinctly see Antonio mouthing words. He decided to place his ear closer to the door. Antonio murmuring: ¡°...can¡¯t do this. There¡¯s no way. As long as she can survive, I need to keep pushing.¡± Lian frowned. ¡°Fuck, what did I get myself into this time¡­¡± After investigating briefly, Lian concluded that Antonio was in a state of mental weakness. From the words spoken, Antonio¡¯s current plight was most likely due to an important women in his life who happened to be in a life-threatening situation. Furthermore, it might even have some sort of relation with his long work hours. However, knowing this information wouldn¡¯t currently change Antonio¡¯s mental state. Lian knew this from his own battles with moderate depression, and his experience with a friend who passed away due to suicide. From this unfortunate circumstance, Lian learned that even the most joyful of people could be hiding the greatest of inner demons for a very long time. They don¡¯t just disappear. Such being the case, Lian knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to deal with the cause of the problem by disturbing Antonio. Hence, despite the moral dilemma he was currently in, Lian chose not to barge into the room. This might seem ruthless, but Lian chose to act logically instead of emotionally. Nonetheless, considering Antonio¡¯s hospitality, he would definitely interfere if the situation progressed. ¡°Would I take the risk of bringing attention onto myself if it was to help someone else that I didn¡¯t know? I¡¯m not sure¡­¡± Throughout this situation, Lian was able to truly grasp just how uncaring he had become towards others. This was baffling, since he was very empathetic as a child. However, through his own life experiences, Lian came to the conclusion that his only responsibility was to take good care of those close to him. Perhaps this trait of his could change in the future, but he currently saw no real issue with it. Eventually, Antonio wiped away his tears and put away the rope. This was Lian¡¯s cue to leave the premises. He already knew that if he didn¡¯t interfere in some way, some day, Antonio might actually end his own life. However, before getting the chance to decide on the next plan of action, Lian received a new notification. Chapter 25: Suspicious Character System: *Side Task Created: Discover Antonio¡¯s Problem and solve it!* System: *Task: Find out about Antonio¡¯s specific dilemma and help him deal with it. More effort put towards this task along with a good resolution will lead to a greater amount of farming exp and other forms of rewards.* Lian grinned. These notifications were like music to his ears. Since he wanted to master the farming skill as soon as possible, any ways to increase his speed of exp-gain would be welcomed with open arms. On the other hand, he still had to deal with Francisco¡¯s problem; along with staying on track with his main tasks. Therefore, he left to the fields to continue shadowing the other farmers, whilst keeping Francisco¡¯s issue in the back of his mind. After a few more days of focusing on his main task, Lian noticed that his fellow workers were becoming much more trusting of him. Every machine he tried, he could operate like a pro. Due to his capabilities that went beyond comprehension, a disbelieving Simon reluctantly yielded and already gave him permission to drive the combine harvester, along with numerous types of tractors without needing any supervision. This might seem simple for someone who lived on a farm their whole lives, but to be given this responsibility within mere days was still significant. On the sixth day of his task, Lian was required to operate a plow. Although this vehicle could be classified as a type of tractor, each one is operated differently. Therefore, he needed to find someone to shadow in order to gain their trust in using this vehicle. On the fields, everyone was spaced out. They were either operating a vehicle or physically working whilst focusing on their separate jobs. Other than a supervisor who tended to walk by once in a blue moon, or group tasks, interactions were rare. Seeing a plow not too far away, Lian approached. However, in an obscure area outside of the vehicle and behind one of the tires, he noticed that the driver was tinkering with something. This made Lian curious. Within less than a few seconds, the driver mounted the plow with an empty bag in his hands. As Lian focused on that same tire from before, he could make out a large swarm of cricket-like insects that were jumping away from that same spot. ¡°Something is fishy here¡­¡± Lian waited a few minutes to avoid suspicion from the driver. He then approached the man, before explaining his need to train his plow-maneuvering skills. To Lian¡¯s surprise, the driver easily agreed. Of all the workers Lian interacted with during this task, he met many different characters. Most of them were nice. But, even the kindest ones felt somewhat bothered by his presence. On the other hand, this man was too welcoming! The man then introduced himself as Martin. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Martin: ¡°Alright! So, of course, like any other vehicle, you need to check to make sure that the tank is fueled up, the plow isn¡¯t clogged with soil and¡­.¡± This continued as the man was explaining the process of operating the machine step-by-step. However, Lian was still caught-up on the scene before-hand. Martin definitely poured some sort of insects onto the soil. What exactly, he wasn¡¯t sure. Lian only knew the basics and needed a higher farming level to understand more about each specific farm-related insect. However, he still knew that these types of insects definitely weren¡¯t beneficial to the soil or plants. Furthermore, the more he stayed with Martin, the more unusual his demeanour seemed. The man¡¯s kindness was a bit too over the notch. It¡¯s like he was trying to feign being easy-going and care-free. To someone else, Martin would come off as kind-hearted. However, to Lian-who was always looking for the worst in others, this was practically an admittance of guilt. As usual, Lian eventually operated the plow himself, with Martin finally commending him for his veteran-like skills. Afterwards, as it was getting dark, he returned to his room. Along the way, Lian was trying to put remember and put together any sort of suspicious encounters that he might have experienced since his stay at the farm. ¡°Well¡­ I remember seeing someone sneaking around on the first night¡­but I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s even related¡­¡± Racking his brain for a while, he still couldn¡¯t come up with any concrete ideas. On the other hand, he did manage to find a potential relationship between the abnormal amounts of dying plants across the farm, and Martin¡¯s sabotage-like actions. Perhaps, something even greater was going on. It was possible that there was someone with the intention of slowly ruining the farm. However, Lian had no clue why anyone would waste their time and effort to do such a thing. Therefore, he¡¯d most likely have to ask around and slowly investigate. Before sleeping, Lian prepared a set of chores for his main body. This was done in order to train, plan, and prepare tools in consideration for the encounter with the thugs in a few days. Since the system perfectly split his consciousness into two bodies-albeit it being a hard concept to fathom, he experienced no burden when normally living out life through both bodies. In fact, this even helped Lian to support his clone when it came to motivation. Since it was the same mind controlling both bodies, he could meditate and deal with any stress or worries in his main body, so that he could channel his productivity and focus while training as a clone. An easier example to understand would be a person¡¯s two separate arms whilst working out. During a back exercise, the same mind is controlling one arm to hold to onto a support, while the other is in charge of lifting the weights. But, in this case, the gains would be applied directly to the system. The next morning, Lian dropped by Senor Pablo¡¯s house. Due to his main tasks that regularly required permission from the old man, he might as well get used to going there. However, this time, Lian went for another reason. Senor Pablo: ¡°What¡¯s the problem young man?¡± Lian: ¡°Ehh¡­ I was wondering if you could tell me a little about Antonio. He always works late shifts, and lately, he seems to be even more stressed and exhausted than usual.¡± The old man looked at him strangely. Senor Pablo: ¡°Sigh¡­ I¡¯m not really permitted to tell you about private matters¡­ ¡° Senor Pablo: ¡°But¡­. I know that you¡¯re asking with good intentions¡­ so I¡¯ll give you a general idea¡­¡± Chapter 26: Assistant-Manager The old man gave Lian a brief run-down of Antonio¡¯s dilemma. The young man¡¯s mother had a heart disease with complications that could occur at any time. Nothing could be done unless a large amount of money was accumulated in order to transfer her to a hospital overseas for surgery. Hence, Antonio would work long hours, with no days off, solely to save up money for the operation. Lian wondered why Antonio didn¡¯t apply for government aid. However, considering that the surgery was only available overseas, this probably complicated things even further. *System: Congratulations! You have understood Antonio¡¯s dilemma. All that is left is to solve it!* *System: User has gained 300k exp points in: Farming.* *System: Current experience to reach lvl 7: 929k/1m.* Lian was pleased to easily receive such a large amount of exp. However, when hearing of Antonio¡¯s plight, he couldn¡¯t but help think back to his own parents. ¡°I know that nothing serious should happen to my dad anytime soon. I also have the system now just in case¡­¡± ¡°But¡­ what if our family savings run out and medical bills need to be paid? What about my mother who¡¯s working herself to death?¡± ¡°Alas, I can¡¯t be impatient. I need to remember the bigger picture. On that note, I just need to keep pushing so I can level up. Regardless, with my skills, I¡¯ll find efficient ways to make money soon¡­¡± He then excused himself, and headed off to the fields. It was the seventh and last day of his machinery task, and he had two left to operate. The day went by uneventfully as Lian easily shadowed the drivers and then ran the vehicles with his high skill proficiency until the evening. System: *Task ¡°Trusty Machine Operator¡± has been completed.* System: *User has been rewarded with 5m farming exp.* System: *Congratulations! User has reached lvl 7 in farming. All aspects of the users¡¯ farming knowledge and abilities have increased.* System: *Current experience to reach lvl 8: 4929k/10m.* System: *New Task ready to take on.* After the flurry of notifications, Lian felt a rush of information entering his mind. ¡°What a jump in exp gain!¡± ¡°¡­Sigh¡­the best feeling is definitely when you get a notification after a long task.¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Lian quickly looked through his newly acquired knowledge before proceeding to examine his new task. Within less than a minute he rolled his eyes. ¡°Fuck! It¡¯s only been a day and now I have to ask Senor for a favor yet again¡­¡± ¡°The system calls me shameless, but it¡¯s putting me in situations where I have to be awkward! Max shamelessness my ass!¡± This week, Lian had to focus on assisting with managerial tasks, along with continuing to operate certain machinery without needing supervision. Once again, the task should take around a week to complete, as long as he made sure to stay in tune with the daily sub-tasks. Lian took a deep breath, sighed, and then gazed at the sun. He then made use of his stereo ability to mentally play some slow music. Within a few seconds, Lian turned away from the brightness of the sun, then blinked and coughed. ¡°Why am I trying to act mysterious again? No one¡¯s even looking at me¡­¡± ¡°Oh well, that made me feel cool for a second.¡± He then shrugged and returned to his room. There were two options. He could either investigate the suspicious man from the other day, or assist his main body in preparing for the encounter with the thugs in three days. Lian was already at level 4 in Brawling. Therefore, despite not having been in a real fight, he had the basics of street combat down. Even if he were to be engaged in combat with more than one person, he would be able to act accordingly. Regardless, Lian was a cautious person by nature. This skill did not make him anywhere near invincible. Therefore in order to be prepared for any unexpected situations, he hoped to be as strong as possible. Unfortunately, reaching level 5 in three days would be a stretch. Nonetheless, Lian decided to keep training in his room and going through the motions. As he gained exp, all distracting thoughts of others side-tasks were pushed aside for the time-being to avoid being overwhelmed¡­ The next day, Lian dropped by the old man¡¯s house to request for permission to assist with managerial activities. With the advancement in his farming skill, Lian knew that the job would consist of working as a supervisor whilst directing and coordinating workers. He would also be recording storage and financial information, inspecting equipment, supplies, and machinery, and guaranteeing the safety of workers, along with ensuring consistent soil quality and correct treatment of live-stock. Senor Pablo: ¡°¡­¡± Senor Pablo: ¡°You really can¡¯t give us a break can you? Do you want to take over the farm before the month is over?¡± Lian knew that the old man was joking. However, with the route in which his tasks were going, this was most likely going to be the case. Such a rate of growth was unfathomable. As usual, Senor Pablo asked him some general questions to make sure that Lian had a basic understanding of each of his responsibilities. Although Lian was very skilled at pretty much every aspect of farming-including machine operation, the old man was still quite helpful. To manage a farm, a whole other branch of skills outside of general farm-work are required. Eventually, after going back-and-forth for half an hour, the old man conceded. Lian had done his research! He was genuinely thrilled to see such a knowledgeable young man. This time, Senor Pablo believed in Lian¡¯s abilities, despite having not yet seen him in action. Although ¡°Diego¡± was in his mid-20¡¯s, within an unbelievably short time, he had the potential to be a great manager! Senor Pablo: ¡°Okay¡­ I give up! I¡¯ll give you permission to work as an assistant manager.¡± Before continuing, he requested for a pen and paper from Senora Romina. Senor Pablo: ¡°Back to the topic at hand¡­ I can¡¯t have you working under me. I¡¯m older now and with my energy-levels, there¡¯s only so many things I can teach you at once.¡± Senor Pablo: ¡°For this reason, I¡¯m going to have you work under Catalina...¡±