Chapter 20: What a drag
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"Ah???" His voice cracked a little. "one thousand?"
He rubbed his eyes hard in disbelief. Rub rub.
Then he checked again After he was done rubbing.
"Hey system… is your head okay?" he whispered. "Who charges that kind of amount?"
He let out a slow exhale. "huuuu…"
His voice trembled between confused and annoyed. He was confused and annoyed.
"Golden ticket is one thousand? For what? For who?" He slapped the air. "Humph!"
Then it suddenly hit him. His eyes widened. And His mouth opened.
"Ohhhh…" he breathed. "I don't think I read the system message well.okay now I'm sure I read it properly"
Yin Zhe decided to check his reactive points account.. [10,028 Reactive Points. (RP)]
He scratched his head. Ruffle. scratch.
"So when I was bitten earlier… I got a point. A whole Reactive Point.or RP."
He rubbed his chin again. "That means… I must have missed the message. No wonder. It's now 10,028 Rp"
His face twisted into a strange expression.
"Wait… does this mean… if I want more RP… I have to let mosquitoes bite me?"
His voice broke a bit at the end.
"Haaa… no way. Don't tell me that's the plan."
He leaned back, staring at the ceiling.
"Does this mean I need to hunt mosquitoes? Like… walk around exposing my blood, letting them land on me?. NAH… NOPE"
He dragged his hand down his face. flawp.
"This is mad."
He took a good look at his status panel again, watching the small number for Reactive Points blink at him like it was mocking him.
"Just one point from a bite. One," he muttered.
He dropped his head. "Ahhh… this system…"
He shook his head and made another sound, "Tch."
Then another thought punched him in the guts.
He quickly sat up.
"Ohh!. I remember. Almost forgot. I can still get points from people's reactions towards me."
His eyes brightened up a bit.
"Yeah… earlier. When everyone was looking at me like I was weird… I got points."
He clicked his tongue. "So all I need to do is appear in public and let people react."
He nodded slowly. "That's easier. Easy cultivation. The reactive system is the best"
But then he paused. And His face changed again.
"Hmmm… but what about the other one?. The part where I get points anytime I get attacked?" His voice became small.
"Does that mean… the system wants me to be a punching sandbag?"
A shiver crawled down his back.
"tch…"
He stared at his own arm like it had betrayed him.
"So all I have to do is stand there and let people beat me up?. And then I'll gain RP?" He clenched his fist. "That's… that's insane." His voice cracked again. "System, are you trying to turn me into a training dummy?.. what if I get killed in one hit?."
He pointed at the air like the system was standing in front of him. "Is this your plan?? To let me suffer so I can gain points for you??. Haaa… scam, scam"
He pushed back his hair, and slid his fingers through it.
His heartbeat echoed in his ears. It sounded strong, loud, and frustrated.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
He swallowed. Gulp.
"Even if Jade Skin protects me… that doesn't mean I should be enjoying beatings. I'm not a maniac that enjoys getting beaten hard."
His voice lowered. "This life… is hard... beat me daddy"
He stood up, and paced back and forth in the small room with slow steps. Each step made a soft tap against the floor. Tap. Tap. Tap.
His thoughts raced.
"If I want a golden ticket… that means I need… one thousand hits?. Like attacked +1000"
He laughed weakly, "Ahhh… no way. By then I'd be a vegetable"
He put his hands on his waist, as he shook his head like a disappointed parent.
"The system, you really have no mercy. Pity this poor host" He let out another sigh. Then he whispered to himself:
"But maybe… maybe there is another way. Maybe I just need to get into a crowd. Then many people reacted to me. a lot. Like a lot of reactions. That alone gives points. So… maybe I don't need to get beaten into pulp." He nodded to himself. "That sounds smarter."
He sat down again, eyes fixed on the glowing shop panel.
[Golden Ticket. 1000]
[10,027 Total Reactive Points. (RP)]
It didn't blink. Neither did it change. It just sat there like a mountain laughing at him from a great distance.
"Humph… I will get you," he muttered. "Maybe not today… but I will." His voice carried a stubborn kind of pride.
Yin Zhe rubbed his arm again, remembering the mosquito.
Yin Zhe sat quietly on the edge of the bed, his eyes locked onto the glowing system panel. The shop was floating in front of him. The room felt quiet and still, like the room was holding its breath with him. He slowly rubbed his fingers together, while thinking, and thinking, and thinking.
His gaze moved to the other small icon in the shop. This one said [Skill Ticket. 1,000 RP.]
He leaned forward a bit and let out a soft "huh uh…", the kind that someone makes when they're confused but trying to pretend that they understood.
"So one ticket is one thousand reactive points?" he whispered, scratching the side of his head with a slow s
Scrrt Scrrt motion. "Humph… it's also expensive."
He tapped the air gently, and a small window popped open with a ding. He read the description with a raised eyebrow.
[Skill Ticket: Used to upgrade any skill. The tickets are used to unlock higher levels.]
"still feels like an expensive game In real life" Yin Zhe paused. Then he chuckled. "Hehehe"
It wasn't a normal laugh. It sounded weird. It was a quiet and broken "hehehehe" that made him sound like he was processing too many things at once.
"A game in real life… hmmm… do I look like an NPC?. That you can bully around" he muttered, while rolling his eyes in the air. "Nah, this thing is mad."
Still, the idea didn't really scare him. It made him excited. His fingers curled and relaxed as he breathed slowly, and more thinking.
"If I can upgrade my skills… then the competition… the shattered star competition…"
He gulped. Glrk. Then he shook away the thought for now.
He reached for the small pill bottle he had gotten from the elder earlier. the one with the spirit essence pills inside. Picking it up made a faint clink sound as the pills shifted inside the bottle. Yin Zhe opened the lid and held one of the pills between his fingers and examined it.
It was round and Smooth. Almost like a small candy ball kids would fight to buy.
He inhaled softly. Sniff. While using his Nine Breath Cycles reactive technique.
A small wave of energy brushed across his face, warm and clean. He shivered a bit. "Ahh… too strong."
He had read the scroll earlier and added to his memories from this world, so he knew the rules. He'd done his homework. if he ate it, he would lose around half of its medicinal properties to the air. Fifty percent gone, no matter how fast he consumed it. That's just how it is for all cultivators. How much of it you could retain depends on your talents.
He hissed. "Tsk… waste. What a drag" But he had something others didn't. The Nine Breaths Circle Reactive Technique.
He closed his eyes and breathed out slowly. Fwooooh. Then he inhaled again, his chest expanding as the technique began to run.
A soft glow pulsed under his skin.
Thrm… thrm… thrm…
The room felt a little different. Like the air around him was being pulled in tiny circles by his technique.
He held the pill near his nose and sniffed again.
Sniff!
And something crazy happened. The pill had instantly shrunk. Not by a lot though. But it was enough to see.
"Ehhh?" Yin Zhe leaned closer. "Did it just reduce in size?"