"90%," it said.
"Isn't that pretty high?"
"No, I mean there's a 90% chance you and your profession will shatter, a 9% chance your talent becomes controllable, and a 1% chance the upgrade succeeds."
"Shatter?"
"It means you'll die."
"?!?" - Chen Li.
Who would dare try that?!
"Master, what are you looking for?" The little fairy watched Chen Li's actions with curiosity.
"I'm looking for the unbind button. Besides, I never said I had to bind with this system," Chen Li said, scrolling through the system panel.
"Automatic binding. And what do you mean by that? Don't you want me anymore?" The little fairy's smile froze, its expression gradually turning cold.
"No, of course not. I like you very much." Feeling an inexplicable sense of crisis, Chen Li quickly shook his head.
"Phew, you scared me. Master, don't make jokes like that again. The Miracle System will only ever have one master." The little fairy smiled again.
"Really?"
"Mhm, the system only loses a master, it doesn't unbind."
Damn it!
This isn't a binding, it's a kidnapping!
"Oh right, it is a kidnapping," the little fairy's smile remained gentle.
But Chen Li couldn't smile at all. Looking down at his personal panel, which was now unable to respond to him on the forging table conjured by the little fairy, Chen Li gained a new understanding of the system's power. Imprisoning a world's bestowed perk was undoubtedly an act against the world itself, yet the other party had done it.
"If you have such great power, why bother with a small fry like me?" Chen Li sighed. After Chen Li made it clear he wouldn't do something so risky, he was kidnapped. Now, Chen Li was in his own living room, but a colorful, flowing barrier trapped him and the suddenly appearing forging table together.
"Master, you are not a small fry. Besides, isn't there one chance for exemption? What are you afraid of?" the little fairy complained.
"There's a chance for exemption?" Chen Li was stunned for a moment.
"Yes, didn't I tell you?" The little fairy was also stunned.
"You didn't!"
"..." The little fairy couldn't help but begin to doubt if it had turned hostile too quickly.
"Anyway, Master, I'm doing this for your own good."
"You think I'd believe that?"
"Anyway, let's just start forging." The little fairy said helplessly.
"...Then can we use those two relics as the supplementary materials?" The kidnapped Chen Li reluctantly pointed to two relics.
"Relics," are special items imbued with bizarre powers. While possessing almost unique special abilities, one must also be prepared to pay a price for using them. A relic, even in this extremely complex world, has an especially complex composition. One was a colorful conch in a silver box that Chen Li had taken from the shield warrior. The other was a broken sword hanging on the wall of Chen Li's living room.
[Call to a Distant Place]: After using this relic, a communication channel will be randomly established with a living being in the current world.
Side effect: You cannot refuse the first limited request that this being makes to you.
Note: When not in use, please keep it in a soundproof, sealed space, or its effect will be triggered automatically.
[Knight's Broken Sword]: The day the broken sword is reforged is the day the knight returns! When you encounter difficulties, you can seek help from the broken sword. A kind knight's spirit might appear to help you solve your problems.
Side effect: Do one righteous deed within three days.
Storage method: None.
"No. The properties don't match. Using these two relics for forging would make the failure rate even higher than 90%. For the sake of conservation, I won't allow you to do something so foolish," the little fairy said with a serious expression.
"These two relics are more or less related to time, space, and fate," Chen Li argued. These two were "his" relics.
"No."
"...Then I have a few relics with extremely strong side effects sealed in my basement."
"I see them, but no."
"Then what do you want? Just say it!" The kidnapped Chen Li was sullen.
"Use this." The little fairy waved a hand, and a photo appeared in front of Chen Li.
"What is this?" Chen Li looked at the photo, which was constantly showing different flickering scenes, his expression growing more serious. He saw a fleeting image of his parents—a couple in an ancient dynasty, squatting in front of a small beggar, staring intently at their broken bowl, trying to trade a cheap glass bead for it.
"This represents all the beings with time, space, and fate-based qualifications in this world."
"???" - Chen Li.
What are you trying to do?
"And most importantly, your parents are among them," the little fairy said to itself.
"How is that important? Do transmigrators all have to have dead parents or something?" Chen Li immediately interrupted.
The imposter is finally showing its true colors, isn't it?
"Because your parents are currently the most important people to you. In the future, the extreme utilitarian you become after losing the most important person to you will be able to use the Miracle System to save more worlds that yearn for miracles."
"Save the world?" Chen Li was a little incredulous.
You want me to sacrifice my parents and go save the world with you? Are you crazy? Is your way of 'saving the world' really... sane?
"That's right, saving the world. Master, the Miracle System has its limits. I learned one thing from a long journey of saving worlds: the gentler you are, the more you give and give, the more impossible it is to save the world! The greed of human hearts is enough to destroy worlds!"
"As the blackened consciousness that emerged from witnessing countless worlds being destroyed, I understood that a system truly needs a living being as a host, or it can't outsmart those greedy and cunning beings! So my mission, newly born, is to find a suitable candidate, and then..."
"And then?" Watching the increasingly fanatical little fairy, Chen Li felt a sense of dread.
"Create a savior who only cares about the results! A savior who decides the world's direction with their own will, instead of being swayed by the world! To give miracles to those who yearn for them, and to let those greedy, insatiable, and troublesome people fend for themselves, or even to eliminate them root and branch!"
"This is my resolve!"
The little fairy's tone went from calm to fanaticism. A black aura appeared from nowhere, dyeing the little fairy's clothes and silver hair! Even the white stockings it was wearing turned black!
"???" Chen Li almost choked.
Chen Li wasn't sure if the other party was extreme or conservative. Or... an extreme conservative?
"Come on, Master. Forging a wondrous item is simple. Just place your personal professional panel and the photo together, and gently strike it with the Miracle Hammer."
"Now, please sacrifice all the beings with time, space, and fate-based qualifications in this world, as well as the most important people to you, and let's go save the world together!" The now-blackened little fairy's face still held a gentle smile. The little fairy snapped its fingers, and a forging hammer glowing with brilliant light appeared in Chen Li's empty right hand.
"..."
"Master, what are you waiting for? Do you need my help?" Seeing that Chen Li wasn't moving, the little fairy leaned forward.
Looking at the constantly flashing photo and then at the seemingly urging little fairy, a furious rage erupted in Chen Li's heart.
Fine, forging, is it?! I'll show you forging!
Chen Li grabbed the photo and threw it to the side, then slammed his head toward the forging table. But something touched the forging table before Chen Li did: the system panel that had been floating in front of him, which Chen Li had researched and found would always maintain a fixed distance from him. This forging table seemed to have the power to turn intangible things into reality, and Chen Li hadn't guessed wrong.
What if I was wrong? Well, then I'd be screwed.
"Eh?!" The little fairy was dumbfounded the moment it saw Chen Li raise the Miracle Hammer and smash it down on the two panels that had overlapped.
"Bang!"
In the instant the hammer fell, Chen Li's mind went blank. His five senses disappeared, as if he had fallen into a bottomless abyss. Countless bizarre and motley scenes rushed toward him: the sound of countless people praying, the joy of being saved, the insatiable greed and desire, the despair when everything was destroyed...
As Chen Li was at a loss, he saw an extremely faint point of light. That tiny speck of light, like a lonely star in the night, was so captivating that he couldn't look away. As the light got closer, Chen Li, without a second thought, reached out and grabbed it.
In a daze, Chen Li opened his eyes again.
"Ah, it was a success after all," the little fairy sighed lightly, a mix of endless joy and excitement in its voice. Chen Li instinctively dodged, but found that the little fairy wasn't looking for him. Following its excited gaze, he saw that his personal professional panel and the system panel, which had been on the forging platform, had disappeared, leaving only a... book?
"Hmm, so it turned into this? That's not bad at all. I suppose this is the most suitable funeral for it in my mind," the little fairy said, nodding at the book.
"A funeral?" Chen Li was stunned for a moment.
"Yes, a funeral. If it weren't for the 'Miracle Light' about to burn out, it wouldn't have given birth to me, its last 'spark,' in this final flicker of life. 'Miracle Light' is the true name of the main body."
"And the reason I adopted the name 'System' was, of course, to better play the part of a villain with a hidden agenda. I quite like this persona, so you can continue to call me that in this last remaining minute." The little fairy nodded again, turning to give Chen Li a smile. At the same time, Chen Li could see the little fairy's body gradually beginning to dissipate from the bottom up, becoming fragmented.
"An act? So that means..." Chen Li suddenly realized something.
"Yes, I lied to you. In reality, the 'Miracle System's' miraculous power had been consumed too much by fulfilling all kinds of miracles without any distinction or restriction. After coming to this world, the only valuable things left were this last bit of origin miraculous power and the 'System' itself, which is the main body."
"I judged that with my personality and abilities, it was already beyond saving. So, I decided to entrust 'myself' to a suitable person, to let them inherit the 'Final Miracle Light.' And you are the most optimal candidate I could find. After countless failures, to find a suitable person in the end... I suppose that's a kind of miracle, too." The little fairy said with a smile. To forge a wondrous item, both parties must "volunteer." And forging a wondrous item had no risk at all, which meant that once the forging began, the Miracle System would inevitably be destroyed. The little fairy was worried that Chen Li wouldn't agree if he knew the truth, so it decided to trick him.
"Then you just..."
"It was all an act. After being deceived so many times, one naturally learns how to act. I'm very sorry for lying to you." The little fairy apologized with great sincerity.
"???"
Chen Li had thought the other party was a foolish and easy to trick, but it turned out he was the one who had been tricked?
"As the failed Miracle System I am, I will leave you with three concluding pieces of advice, Master." The little fairy held up three fingers. At this moment, the little fairy's body below its knees had already disappeared.
"You're giving your last words now? Aren't you going to try to save yourself?" Chen Li asked urgently, realizing he had been tricked.
If he had known the truth, Chen Li would never have wanted to take on the burden of the "Final Miracle Light" or anything else.
"First, get rid of useless gentleness, after all, gentleness can't save anything, just like your current helpless state. But I hope you can maintain your kindness, because kindness is the foundation of 'Miracles.'" the little fairy said.
"At a time like this, you have the leisure to mock me?"
"Second, it's better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. Never give people what they ask for without restraint; that will only turn them into lowly parasites. Be careful not to end up like me, with nothing left, forced to gamble with my life for a chance, and ending up so embarrassed and pathetic." The little fairy continued.
Chen Li instantly forgave the little fairy, because it was even mocking itself.
"Third, fraud prevention is really important. The Miracle System was too pure, which is why so much of its miraculous power was scammed away, even causing countless great disasters. If you had the chance, would you choose to trick people or be tricked by people?" The little fairy enjoyed the anxious and gloomy expression on Chen Li's face, a faint smile on its lips.
The "Miracle" seemed to have awakened some kind of terrible new fetish before it disappeared.
"Can't you say something important? Like if you can be saved? Or what I'm supposed to do next?" Chen Li felt a headache, looking at the little fairy that was now just a head.
"You are still so naive. I'll give you one last piece of advice—miracles are never free. To create a new 'Miracle,' you must, of course, sacrifice an old 'Miracle,' like me." the little fairy said with a serene expression.
"Buzz!"
Perhaps the word "miracle" triggered a keyword, because the book that was on the forging platform flew up, opened its pages, and "slap-dapped" shut on the little fairy's final fading silhouette, like a bookmark. It then floated quietly in front of Chen Li.
Chen Li was finally able to see the book's title.
---The Forging Guide to Wondrous Items