A farce was unfolding at the entrance of Cangxing City Middle School.
"Chen Li, you'd better hand over that Jixia Academy invitation letter as compensation for my shield, or you'd better sleep with your eyes open tonight! My dad is…" a teenager in a school uniform shouted, kicking at the countless shield fragments scattered on the ground. Despite his defeat, his arrogance remained.
"Shut up." Chen Li shoved the barrel of his alchemy pistol directly into the other boy's mouth.
I don't care who your dad is. It would be useless even if I was your dad.
"By the way, my father is a Legendary Investigator," Chen Li stated. (T/N: In the Cthulhu Mythos, investigators are typically human characters who confront cultists or mythical creatures. A Legendary Investigator is on a whole other level.)
Chen Li activated his trap card: [You Started the Dad-Off].
"…" The teenager opposite him instantly calmed down. The effect of that sentence seemed even more potent than having a gun shoved in his mouth.
A Legendary Investigator? One of those madmen that even Evil Gods find unhinged? After all, what kind of sane person would dance on an Evil God's grave?
"Now, cut the crap and give me the promised [Relic] as compensation." Chen Li withdrew the alchemy pistol, ignoring the gasps from the other students at the school gate.
They would all forget about his parents tomorrow anyway, thanks to the memory-erasing curse affecting them.
So, there was no need to care.
"Ahem, uh… Bro, I'm just a student."
"I don't care if you're a bastard. You don't have to pay, but your whole family had better sleep with their eyes open." Chen Li acted nonchalant; after all, he wouldn't be the one dying.
"I'm sorry, I was wrong!"
It took the boy a total of three seconds to practically slide to his knees and produce his wager.
The moment he got the item, Chen Li turned and walked away, heading for a taxi, worried he might have to pay extra waiting fees.
"I can't believe Chen Li's dad is a Legendary Investigator. Say, why does Chen Li seem so skilled at handling situations like this?"
"Of course, it's because… I've seen it all too often," Chen Li muttered to himself in the car, unable to resist looking at his personal panel.
The personal panel was a "perk" granted by the world to everyone after the great global change (the Fusion) thirty years ago.
It gave everyone their own profession, such as Student, Teacher, Merchant, Magical Girl, Investigator, Evil God, and so on.
A profession represented a person's role in society. By performing actions that aligned with their profession, they could raise their professional level and increase their corresponding base attributes.
Name: Chen Li
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Main Profession: Transmigrator (Unique Profession)
Level: LV0 (0/1)
Profession Trait: None
Base Attributes:
Stamina: 21 (Average for a normal LV0 adult is 10)
Agility: 23
Spirit: 56
Talent: Transmigrator (Sealed)
Passive Skill 1: Spacetime Transmigration (Sealed) — Current Transmigrations: 0.
Passive Skill 2: Vortex of Fate — Constantly trapped in the vortex of fate, unable to escape. While it brings trouble, it also brings equal rewards.
Passive Skill 3: Supremacy — Immune to almost all abilities related to time, space, and fate. Upon touching an opponent, their related abilities will be temporarily disabled or unusable.
Sub-Profession: Forger
Level: LV18 (49/1800)
Profession Trait: Deft Hands
Current Negative Statuses: None.
Transmigrator, a rare trait that was both a talent and a profession.
Because of his second passive skill, Chen Li was very good at dealing with trouble.
This latest incident was caused by the Jixia Academy invitation letter… Because he was used to speedrunning things, Chen Li had forgotten to tell the guy that his invitation was for the logistics department.
---o---
"Demons and monsters, leave quickly, demons and monsters, leave quickly…"
Chen Li's phone rang with a strange ringtone.
As a Transmigrator, having a ringtone that could genuinely exorcise demons should be perfectly reasonable, right?
Chen Li picked up his phone, skillfully declined the voice call, and checked his messages.
[Runaway Princess from the Bamboo Forest of the Lost]: Get on! Let's play!
This was a regular part of Chen Li's daily routine. He was being rushed today because of the delay.
[Demons and Monsters, 'Li'ave Quickly]: Just ran into some trouble, not home yet.
[Runaway Princess from the Bamboo Forest of the Lost]: Are they badly hurt?
[Demons and Monsters, 'Li'ave Quickly]: I'm the one who got into trouble!
[Runaway Princess from the Bamboo Forest of the Lost]: So, are they badly hurt or not?
[Demons and Monsters, 'Li'ave Quickly]: No physical injuries, but they compensated me with a Relic.
[Runaway Princess from the Bamboo Forest of the Lost]: That's more like it. So… you playing?
[Demons and Monsters, 'Li'ave Quickly]: My mouse is asleep, otherwise I would've carried you. Tomorrow for sure.
"If they weren't hurt, you'd beat them up for me? Why don't you worry about me first?" Chen Li typed.
[Runaway Princess from the Bamboo Forest of the Lost]: Scourges live for a thousand years, so you're definitely fine, right?
"…" replied Chen Li.
He never should have immediately transferred money when he first saw that text message: [I am Kaguya Houraisan. Due to the schemes of villains, I have been stranded here from the world of Gensokyo. Send me 5000 so I can have a full meal. Once I return to Gensokyo, I'll have Eirin make you 100 Hourai Elixirs!] He should have let her starve a bit, get a taste of life's hardships!
Daring to transfer money after receiving a single text wasn't a sign of Chen Li's poor anti-fraud awareness. It was mainly because, with his trouble-magnet constitution, a scam text might not actually be a scam. At least one of those "seeking a son for a fortune" texts turned out to be real…
But no one told Chen Li that the "son" they were seeking was a "disciple."
That was how Chen Li acquired his current sub-profession.
Sub-professions were extremely rare and valuable in this world, so Chen Li hadn't lost out on that deal.
Two years of continuous gaming companionship from "Kaguya Houraisan," as well as the occasional free shipment of "Immortal's Slough" for him to forge "survival items," proved that his 5000 hadn't been spent in vain.
Though Chen Li always made sure to pay for the materials afterward.
As for whether his gaming partner was the actual Kaguya Houraisan from the games, Chen Li didn't hold out much hope. It was probably just some immortal cosplayer.
He had even seen someone claim to be Qin Shi Huang before.
It was just that… the "Immortal's Slough" she provided always seemed a bit off.
The day he saw a heart from an immortal in the delivery package, so fresh it looked like it had just been plucked, Chen Li was completely stunned.
---o---
"So, you're the [More Functions] that the inexplicable system unlocked?" Chen Li turned his head to look at the tiny, figurine-sized pixie sitting on his shoulder.
Objectively speaking, even with his world-weary eyes that had seen many strange things, he had to admit she was exquisite and beautiful. Just too small.
A man shouldn't… at the very least, he mustn't…
Seven days ago, Chen Li had woken up to find he had a second panel.
He was very worried at first, but after seven consecutive days with no incidents, and after asking an Evil God to help check his body and finding nothing unusual, Chen Li could only focus his attention on the daily troubles that came his way.
Just moments ago, this system had issued a mission to teach the shield-wielding student a lesson. The reward was unlocking more functions.
"Yes, Master."
"So, what can you do?"
"For example… I can help you solve the problem of your uncontrollable talent," the pixie said with a smile.
"!!!" Chen Li's eyes lit up.
Now that you mention that, I'm wide awake.
…
The "Transmigrator" profession sounded wonderful, but the actual hardship was unknown to outsiders.
Putting aside the endless trouble brought by his second passive talent—which wasn't entirely a bad thing, since bigger storms meant more expensive fish—the most fatal aspect of this talent was its [Transmigration] ability.
Because it was a passive skill!
Could you imagine? At thirteen, Chen Li was walking home from school, and the next thing he knew, he had walked into a foreign country, where he personally witnessed a cult's sacrificial ritual.
Do you have any idea how much psychological trauma that can cause a thirteen-year-old child?
And that could only be considered an aftershock or a prelude to a real transmigration.
A formal transmigration would present even greater crises!
And also… who decreed that if you transmigrated to the past, you were guaranteed to be able to transmigrate back?
Thankfully, this profession seemed to abide by a juvenile protection law of sorts. The first true transmigration wouldn't happen until he turned eighteen. Chen Li still had time.
Why not give up this profession? Because it was locked to his panel! It was more annoying than a certain 360's bird wallpaper!
Training? Sorry, there were no such things as universal skills in this world.
The system pixie's proposal was very tempting.
However…
"What a cute doggy. I bet if I punched it, it would cry for a long, long time, right?"
However… watching the pixie say such terrifying words to his family's dog, Wang Cai, after he got home, Chen Li felt something was very wrong.
Wang Cai was his family's black hound.
For some reason, Investigators all liked to keep hounds at home. Perhaps because Evil Gods were weak to dogs.
"Oh, right. Master, have you made your decision? As a starting bonus, the Miracle System can use the Power of Miracle to bless your sub-profession, giving you one chance to forge an Item of Wonder. As long as you use your talent as the main forging material and add supplementary materials of a matching nature, there is a chance to upgrade your talent and make it controllable." The pixie's smile remained gentle.
"A chance… What do you mean?" Chen Li instantly caught onto a key phrase.
"It's a miracle, you know how it is," the pixie said, twirling her long white hair with her fingertip.
"Speak human."
"The chance of an upgrade is very small."
"How small?"
"About 90%."
"Isn't that pretty high?"
"No, I mean there's a 90% chance you'll shatter along with your profession, a 9% chance your talent will become controllable, and a 1% chance the upgrade might succeed."
"Shatter?"
"It means you die."
"?!!" exclaimed Chen Li.
Who would dare to try that?!
"What are you looking for, Master?" the pixie asked curiously, watching Chen Li's actions.
"I'm looking for the unbind button. Speaking of which, I don't recall agreeing to bind this system," Chen Li said, scrolling frantically through the system panel.
"It's an automatic binding. And what do you mean by that? Don't you want me anymore?" The pixie's smile froze on her face, her expression gradually turning icy.
"No, of course not. I like you very much." A sense of inexplicable danger washed over him, and Chen Li quickly shook his head.
"Phew, you scared me. Please don't make jokes like that in the future, Master. The Miracle System will only ever have one master." The pixie's smile returned.
"Really?"
"Yes. The system can lose a master, but it can't be un-bound."
Damn it!
How is this binding? This is a kidnapping!