Chapter 2

2. He had drawn, but the system of soulless spirits was no different from the common mobile games. You defeat the enemies that appear and move on to the next stage. Naturally, as the story progresses, the enemies get stronger, and you have to continuously enhance your allies' strength to win. There are basically two ways to enhance strength. You can either develop your avatar character or invest in the heroes you can recruit. And the menu for that was this drawing system. A translucent menu appeared as if asking him to choose one of the two, but there was only one option he could immediately choose. 'This side seems to be deactivated.' The hero drawing slot was painted in a dark color, indicating it was not yet selectable. He tried pressing it just in case, but there was no response. 'Is there something wrong? Hmm... Then in the end, I can only choose the treasure drawing.' When he selected the treasure drawing, the window changed, and the options increased to three. "Huh?" The treasure boxes were divided into three types: Heaven, Earth, and Man. However, the resources required to purchase them were all different. He had obtained silver from the login reward, but he didn't know if he could get gold and blue jade stones the same way or if there were other methods. Moreover, he only had 400 silver, so he couldn't buy the Man-grade treasure box at the moment. 'Don't they usually give the first purchase for free as part of the tutorial? This game doesn't care about new players at all; it's a complete piece of crap!' Complaining wouldn't change anything, so he closed the window with a sigh. 'If I had known this would happen, I would have broken my savings and spent real money.' If he could have spent a few million won, like in these common mobile games, wouldn't he have been able to become a decent expert, even if not the strongest? 'Well, I just came right after the intro, so I didn't have time to pay anyway.' There was no point in dwelling on what couldn't be changed. Therefore, he recalled the Man-grade treasure box, which was marked as purchasable for 1,000 silver. 'To draw, I need to gather 1,000 silver first, right?' Since it was a daily login reward, he could receive something every day. In the end, he had to wait to use the drawing system. 'So, I need to receive two more rewards to use the drawing system? Ah! No, that's not it. Since the roulette wheel turned and I won a prize, the reward isn't fixed at 400 silver, right?' No matter what, he would have to wait until the next reward to know what was what. Finally, he selected the window labeled "Information." A full-body image, as if taken from a photo, appeared. 'This is... my body? Is it character information?' He thought it was someone else at first, but it was his own face. When he pressed the image, a window opened, listing various items. It was a status window, showing abilities and skill lists, which are common in many games. 'The name is obviously the same. The nickname is a title that comes with fame, right? A 15-year-old who entered the academy after practicing family martial arts and training is naturally not going to have one.' The abilities were divided into four categories, and he could guess what they meant from the words. 'Wits seem to be related to intelligence, and physique to physical strength. Perception is a bit ambiguous... Is it related to the development of the five senses? Internal energy is, well, internal energy.' Perception had the highest value, and internal energy the lowest, with wits and physique in between. Without a reference, he couldn't tell if these values were high or low. 'No, they are probably on the low side. If the body had high abilities, the entrance exam results would have been better.' Looking at the abilities, he was particularly dissatisfied with the low internal energy value. In most martial arts stories, internal energy is one of the major criteria for the strength of martial arts. 'It seems pretty weak...' As he lowered his gaze, the martial arts section caught his eye. This section was more concise, listing only two: Qingming Tona Gong and Zhu Ying Quan. He remembered that these were family martial arts passed down through generations. 'These aren't particularly great martial arts, either.' Having checked everything he could, Xiao Zhongtian closed the window and fell into thought. It seemed he could grow through the drawing system, but he couldn't use it immediately, so he would have to do the same activities as the other students for now. 'First, I need to review the memories of this body to avoid making mistakes in this place's life.' He closed his eyes and rewound the time lived by 15-year-old Xiao Zhongtian, gathering information. Unbeknownst to him, the other people in the room were looking at him with strange expressions as he muttered to himself and his face changed constantly. 'He's a pretty unique guy.' 'I must have been assigned to the wrong room. I have to share a room with this guy for a year?' '...' Unaware that he was ruining his first impression, Xiao Zhongtian focused on reviewing the memories left in his body. * * * "Huh!?" Xiao Zhongtian opened his eyes, feeling the characters rising in his mind. The unfamiliar room came into view. He had tossed and turned for a while on the uncomfortable bed in the changed reality, but he must have fallen asleep at some point. 'It was a dream... No, it wasn't. I was reviewing the memories and gathering information about the martial arts world before going to bed.' As Xiao Zhongtian steadied his breathing, the wheel from yesterday appeared before his eyes. 'Oh?' The reward had increased from yesterday. Whether the daily rewards were getting better or it was just luck, he couldn't tell yet. 'More importantly, I now have 1,000 silver.' He thought he would have to wait about two more days, but the resources to draw were gathered sooner than expected. He brought up the treasure drawing window and displayed the list of treasure boxes. 'I press this...?' 'Yes.' As he thought about pressing the purchase item, 1,000 silver disappeared, and the wheel appeared again. 'Another roulette?' The wheel was a bit different from the login reward wheel, with several sections. Most were colorless and unlit. There were a few green sections and a very small silver section. There were three types of sections in total. "There's no point in looking at this." Anyone could guess that the most valuable treasure would come from the silver section. Naturally, he wished the pointer would land on the silver. "Damn." As if mocking him, the pointer landed on a colorless section. 'Well, the probability of the colorless sections was obviously higher, so it's not really bad luck.' Swallowing his disappointment, he was about to check what he had obtained when an additional notification appeared. 'A shop?' He turned his eyes and saw that a "shop" section had been added next to the existing items. Assuming it was a function to buy or sell items with resources, he decided to first check what the colorless elixir was. Opening the inventory, he saw an opaque sphere with a question mark symbol. 'What am I supposed to do with this?' Using his imagination, he touched the sphere with a virtual hand, and a notification appeared. "Ah..." It felt cheap. With a stern expression, he opened the newly added shop window, and as expected, there was an appraisal scroll for sale. The price was 100 silver. "Is this a piece of crap game?" He had drawn but couldn't use it. As he felt dejected, someone's voice reached his ears. "Hey, Xiao. Why are you talking to yourself as soon as you wake up?" Turning his head, he saw Zhang Zijun, who he remembered was from the Zhen Chang Sect. His face was still damp from washing up. "Since it's dawn, you should start preparing. You don't want to be lazy on the first day, right?" "I was just about to get up anyway." Since his resources were depleted and he couldn't buy the appraisal scroll, he couldn't do anything more with the game system today. After tidying up his bed, Xiao Zhongtian checked the schedule posted in the dorm. 'Classes start at Xun time, right? It's really inconvenient without a clock.' There was a bell tower that rang to announce the time, but he found it frustrating not to be able to check the time in seconds, as he was used to in the modern world. 'I thought life as an academy student would be strict, but it seems to be more relaxed than I expected.' Except for a few mandatory subjects, most classes could be attended at the students' discretion. Since everyone had about ten years of martial arts training and there were top-notch training facilities everywhere, they only attended classes when they wanted to listen to a lecture and trained as they pleased during the rest of the time. They could also skip non-mandatory classes and focus on areas they felt they were lacking or wanted to improve. Of course, being lazy was also an option. However, if they failed the comprehensive evaluations held every semester, they would have to bear the consequences. 'It's similar to college. Well... Anyway, the first day's classes were mandatory, right?' Since there was still time before class, he headed to the cafeteria for breakfast. Since this was not a place with advanced material circulation like Earth, it was not easy to have regular meals. Therefore, providing three balanced meals a day was a notable advantage of this place. The cafeteria was quite crowded, and he had to wait in line for his food. 'There are over 200 students, so it's bustling. Oh? That guy?' He received his food on a wooden tray and looked around for a place to sit, noticing a familiar face. A handsome appearance that could make even men envious. A dignified aura that felt different from other 15-year-olds. This must be what it feels like to be from a prestigious family. 'Why does he look familiar? Is he a friend of the original owner of this body? No, but the memory... Ah!' As he was thinking, a memory suddenly came to mind. Nangong Jian from the Chuantian Sword City. One of the impressive heroes in the intro video when the game started. Chapter 3 of the Wu Lin Zui Qiang drawing system.