Several hours ter, during breakfast, I looked at the message that was still in my head, which everyone else was oblivious to.
The Progress System has been installed successfully!
Would you like to start a new simuted life?
Looking at Ryker and the others eating and chatting, not paying attention to me, I focused on this blue panel. While my nguage skills were next to garbage, I could still read and write basic words, and I understood the meaning of everything.
"Either I am hallucinating, or that old man was a real god..."
Thinking of this, I took a deep breath and finally decided to give it an honest shot.
"Okay, start!"
Just as I gave the mental order, the panel dispyed new words.
Analyzing Pyer Stats... Done.
Creating a new Game Avatar based on the host's stats... Done.
Congratutions! You started a new Game Life with your new Game Avatar!
If you want to check your Game Avatar's progress, please say Check Life Progress.
Please wait patiently for this life to conclude!
And then... nothing. Really, nothing happened. I couldn't even begin to describe how disappointed I felt. But I then had a thought and mentally spoke.
"Check Life Progress!"
And then, I saw a new panel.
Life Progress:
Simuted Life: Laborer #1(Can rename).Age: 18 years and 1 day.Expected Lifespan: 67 years and 279 days.Warrior Realm: 0Magician Realm: 0Current Time Progression Speed: 1 Simuted Year/ 1 Real-Life Day.
Csses: Laborer lvl 10(In Progress) [Click to Expand]Abilities: Concentration lvl 5(In Progress) [Click to Expand]Happiness Multiplier: 1.5x [Click to Expand]
"Well... it isn't wrong... and my lifespan is 67 years?! That's pretty high!" I thought.
Most drop at around 50, so I was surprised I could live that long!
And then, curiously, I looked at the Csses section.
Csses:
Common:
Urchin: Lvl 7 (A polite term for a child cutpurse)Laborer: Lvl 10(In Progress) (The most basic day-wage worker. Respectable, but dirt-poor.)
"Hm... Okay. Fair. But I don't know what it means..." I warily thought.
I was indeed an urchin for a good half of my short life, so that made sense. And since I am now a borer, it made sense that it was progressing. However, I didn't understand what those Lvl even represented... or what increasing those numbers meant.
Just as I was wondering, the system kindly gave me a series of expnations.
Levels (Or Lvl for short):
The quantified proficiency in a certain css or skill. The higher it is, the more proficient you are. However, it also becomes more difficult to progress as it becomes higher...
At a time, you may only select one Css and one Ability to progress in...
Css:
A css holds all of the abilities required to function in that css. The higher the level, the more proficient you are in that css.
Css Levels have higher effects early, but the higher the css level, the more perfect it is, meaning it has less effect.
"Ah... Thanks, weird system thing..." I thanked it.
And then, I willed myself to return to the main menu and select abilities.
Abilities:
Essential:
Concentration: lvl 5(In Progress)Productivity: lvl 1
Combat:
Strength: lvl 7
"My Productivity is just lvl 1?! Rude... But at least my Strength is a bit high. But what do these abilities represent, anyway?"
Once I asked these questions, the system replied.
Ability:
Represents a fundamental ability inherent in you. Whether you cultivate it or not is another question.
As Fundamental Abilities, each level improves its effects by 1%.
Concentration:
Through training your focus, you improve your ability to concentrate better. Improves Ability Leveling Speed.
Productivity:
Learn how to become more efficient at work, getting more work done in less time! Improves Css Leveling Speed.
Strength:
Condition your body through grueling physical training! Strong individuals usually get paid more in reted work... Of course, it is also a prerequisite for some types of work. It is especially so for combat-reted work.
"Okay... I really don't know what to make of this." I scratched my head.
And then, I returned to the main menu and checked the st part.
"Happiness Multiplier? The hell is that?" I asked myself as I clicked on it.
Happiness Multiplier:
Multiplies the learning speed of everything. It is a bit special, as it is affected by the real world. So make sure to improve your quality of life! (I added it here so you won't ask more stupid questions...)
Ability Score: 1 (No reted abilities yet! You will get there eventually...)Wealth Score: 1.25 (You live in a dreary rented apartment on the 5th floor, nestled between foul-smelling, whoremongering bachelors for warmth, and subjected to fire hazards. Even a personal tent has more dignity than this... And don't even mention the food and clothing... Blugh.)Ally Score: 1.2 (You have three loyal (albeit boorish) friends who smell like hogs in a pigsty. At least they have some street smarts and can keep you retively safer.)Women Score: 1(Because 1 is the lowest value.)
Total score: 1*1.25*1.2*1 = 1.5x
Evaluation: You are a poor, virgin loser who is above beggars, comparable to bor sves, and below everyone else. Yikes!
I almost felt a vein popping on my forehead as I read these stinging words. To me, this was a real low blow.
"Well, sorry for being born an orphaned urchin and loser!"
With that, I angrily closed the stupid thing and gradually forgot about its existence.1Valid crashout IMHO
A month flew by in a fsh, without any God appearing, thugs disappearing, or a weird system panel showing. Peace was restored to my normal, albeit almost-wretched, life.
But all that changed when, after exactly 32 days, I received a message proving the system's existence.
Your game avatar has reached the end of the expected lifespan at 50 years old and died.
Would you like to conclude this life now? Y/N?
Warning: Life Conclusion causes immense mental strain. Please rest in a safe location before proceeding.
Warning: Without concluding this life, the Progress System can't continue running. Please conclude this life as quickly as possible!
This made me confused and troubled.
"Wait... What? Its over? That so-called copy of me died... at 50 years old? Wasn't my lifespan 67?"
Still shocked, I temporarily closed the message and continued to work.
And so, we return to the present, where I sleep next to my hog-smelling friends, bnkly staring at the system message, still shocked.
"Why did I die so young? System, answer me!" I demanded to know.
And then, the system gave its reply.
System Reply:
Due to your squalid conditions and harsh work environment, your simuted lifespan was gradually reduced, with your avatar dying at 50 years old. Please change your occupation and life conditions as soon as possible!
This calcution doesn't account for other life hazards and is only the predicted maximum life expectancy. You can still very much die from anything else...
I pursed my lips, feeling sour. Finally, I came to realize the cold reality. Lifespan wasn't something stagnant, but something to be maintained and cherished. If I ignored my health, I would live a short life.
This realization renewed my determination to exit this shitty life of mine.
Taking a deep breath, I finally spoke in my mind.
"Conclude this life."
The moment I said this, I felt information flooding my brain. It wasn't normal information, however... It was difficult to expin in words. It was as if dozens of years of work experience flooded my head... No, it was as if I experienced everything once, but forgot everything at the same time. It was more akin to Muscle Memory.
If I were to do it this time, I felt that I could likely learn faster from these muscle memories and become better at my work as a borer.
Just when these experiences were concluded, I felt a second rush of information. This time, it was all about how to focus and concentrate better on tasks. While I didn't gain the ability to concentrate better, I now know tricks on how to improve my concentration faster, tricks worth three decades of hard work! It now became closer to an instinct.
Finally, when both were over, I received several messages.
Simuted Life: Laborer #1 has been concluded.
Life Summary:
Simuted Life: Laborer #1Final Age: 50 years and 18 daysFinal Warrior Realm: 0Final Magician Realm: 0
Csses: Laborer lvl 50 [Click to Expand]Abilities: Concentration lvl 67[Click to Expand]
Life Evaluation: Born into poverty, died in poverty.
Hint 1: Improving quality of life goes a long way... both figuratively and literally. Earn More, Buy Property, Eat Better, Live Better, Get higher-quality friends, better healthcare, hire servants, and fuck women(Just avoid squalid, diseased prostitutes if you don't have ways to cure or resist STDs...). All of these will contribute to your Happiness Score.Hint 2: Perhaps try using that newfound focus to train other, more immediately useful, abilities? Strength is important, but if you train Productivity, you might unlock something useful for your happiness score...Hint 3: Remaining a lowly borer would only continue the vicious cycle... Try other, more lucrative professions with high potential. How about the military, or at least skilled bor?Hint 4: Realm is key to success! Raise your Realm as soon as possible! The army offers free training manuals for promising, poor recruits... But for that, you might need to reach lvl 10 in real-world Strength... You are still a bit cking.Hint 5: Both Real-Life and Simuted progression affect new simutions. Try bancing both.
Somehow, I felt like I just got scolded by the system. It actually had to show me so many hints. It was clear that the system was dissatisfied with my childish tantrum.
While I was reflecting on it, the system showed me a familiar message.
Your simuted life has concluded.
Would you like to start a new life?
"Yes!"
After saying that, the system gave me the same familiar message, but with another addition.
Analyzing Pyer Stats... Done.
Factoring in previous simuted life... Done.
Creating a new Game Avatar based on the host's stats and previous lives... Done.
Congratutions! You started a new Game Life with your new Game Avatar!
If you want to check your Game Avatar's progress, please say Check Life Progress.
Please wait patiently for this life to conclude!
My eyes widened in excitement as I realized that the new simuted life obtained some benefits from the st life!
Excited, I immediately checked the new Game Life.
Life Progress:
Simuted Life: Laborer #2(Can rename).Age: 18 years and 33 days.Expected Lifespan: 67 years and 275 days.Warrior Realm: 0Magician Realm: 0Current Time Progression Speed: 1 Simuted Year/ 1 Real-Life Day.
Csses: Laborer lvl 10 (50)(In Progress) [Click to Expand]Abilities: Concentration lvl 5 (67)(In Progress) [Click to Expand]Happiness Multiplier: 1.5x [Click to Expand]
Hint: In the early game, leveling up lower-level Csses and Abilities is faster, especially if they were previously high-level. From there, you can enjoy their benefits and level up other abilities and csses(If there are any)...
The moment I looked at it, my mood suddenly soured. My lifespan was reduced by 4 days! How could I be happy, knowing that?!
"Dammit... I really need to leave this squalid life as soon as possible, or it would be the death of me... literally!"
With that decision in mind, I began to pn for the future.
bignt
