Kael opened the system panel. A factory blueprint materialized, floating in the air like a blue hologram. The twenty-by-twenty-meter structure tracked the movement of his hand.
He adjusted the placement carefully, selecting flat, stable ground far from the lake's edge. Satisfied, he confirmed the command.
White light detonated from the blueprint.
Kael stumbled back, shielding his eyes. The light didn't burn, but it was blinding, like staring into a sun that had decided to visit the earth.
The ground beneath his feet trembled. Not violently, but with a deep, rhythmic pulse, like a heartbeat.
Metal replaced shadow.
Gray walls. Solid. Seamless. A cube-shaped building formed in seconds, a small chimney rising from its roof.
When the light faded, Kael lowered his hand.
A building stood before him.
Not a wooden hut. Not a stone structure. A factory, sleek, angular, constructed from gray metal that gleamed faintly under the sky. No seams in the walls. No signs of human workmanship. It looked machined, not built.
Impossible.
Kael stared at it, his breath caught in his throat.
He'd summoned a building out of thin air.
Magic. Technology. He didn't know what to call it. But whatever this system was, it wasn't just a game interface.
It could reshape reality.
[Factory successfully built.]
[Main Mission: Establish a Factory – Completed.]
Another panel appeared instantly.
[Reward acquired: Qi Gathering.]
"Finally," Kael muttered, his breathing still unsteady.
He was about to inspect the reward when a new panel materialized.
[New Main Mission: Accumulate 100 Coins]
[Reward: Skill Book – Four Heavenly Techniques]
Kael narrowed his eyes.
A skill book.
That reward wasn't ordinary. Just reading the name made him want to finish the mission immediately.
He dismissed the panel and examined the factory again. The structure felt cold and absolute, gray metal, no windows, only thin black slits that served as vents.
Kael stepped closer. As he approached, an information window appeared.
[Factory]
Owner: Kael
Employees: 0
Coins: 0
Land: Rice Field ×1
"Rice field…?" Kael muttered.
He slid open the entrance and stepped inside.
A small lobby greeted him, a reception desk, clean flooring, and a single door to the right. He moved through into a preparation room. Waiting chairs arranged in neat rows. Work uniforms hanging on the wall. Agricultural equipment, hoes, sickles, organized with precision.
Everything felt… ready.
Kael opened the final door.
A vast space stretched before him. Four rice paddies laid out in perfect rows, each subdivided into two sections. Soil dark and nutrient-rich. Soft light illuminated the space without any visible source.
"How is sunlight reaching here…?" he murmured.
He looked up. The ceiling glowed with soft, even illumination, no bulbs, no lamps, no visible source. Just light, as if the air itself had decided to emit radiance.
And the rice paddies looked… perfect. Soil dark and rich. Water channels already cut. Everything optimized, down to the millimeter.
This wasn't just a building.
This was a system-designed production facility.
Kael ran his hand along the edge of one paddy. The soil was slightly warm to the touch, as if alive.
"If the system can build this with one mission reward," he murmured, "what happens when I complete ten? A hundred?"
For the first time since arriving, he felt something other than fear or confusion.
He felt possibility.
He found stairs at the corner of the room and descended into the basement.
A warehouse.
A vast empty space with iron shelving, bright white lights, and a small desk with a computer on top.
Kael powered it on.
[Warehouse]
Inventory: (Qi Gathering)
Storage Racks: –
Features: (Sell), (Market)
His attention immediately fixed on a single line in the inventory panel.
Breakthrough Pill (Qi Gathering).
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
"So you're hiding here," he said quietly.
But his hand stopped before touching the item. His eyes shifted to the other menus on the screen: Sell and Market. Curiosity overrode his eagerness for now.
He would consume the pill later. Right now, he needed to understand the full scope of what the system could provide.
He opened the Sell menu first.
[Sell]
Sell factory products to obtain Coins.
Commodity:
Rice (1 Sack = 1 Coin)
"That's it?" Kael narrowed his eyes briefly, then nodded slightly. The system was simple. Too simple, even.
One sack of rice = one coin.
No haggling. No price fluctuation.
Kael closed the menu and shifted to Market.
When the panel opened, his eyebrows rose.
[Market]
Purchase all factory-related needs.
Land:
Coal Mine (50 Coins)
Lumber Yard (50 Coins)
Alchemy Garden (50 Coins)
...
Item:
10 Mana Stones (1 Coin)
Iron Sword (1 Coin)
Skill Book: Strong Fist (10 Coins)
...
Food:
Venison Soup (1 Coin)
Milk Soda (1 Coin)
...
His eyes widened.
"Milk… soda?" he said.
The word felt foreign... and far too familiar at the same time.
If this was truly soda like he knew in his old world, then this factory system wasn't just a tool. It was something far more dangerous.
And far more valuable.
For a moment, a small hope crept into his mind.
Maybe there's a way back.
Kael shook his head slowly, forcing his thoughts back to reality. Too early to think about that.
He scanned the Land and Item menus again. Everything was available, from agricultural tools to cultivation equipment. Everything… could be purchased.
With a single condition.
Coins.
"Then," he said, closing the panel, "I just need to make this system work."
He turned to the small desk at the corner of the warehouse. His hand pulled open the lower drawer.
A transparent glass box lay inside.
At its center rested a blood-red pill. Its color was deep, almost as if it absorbed the light around it.
Kael's breathing slowed.
"There you are."
He opened the box slowly. The moment the pill touched his fingertip, cold spread across his skin, uncomfortable, but not painful.
Without hesitation, Kael lifted the pill and placed it in his mouth.
It dissolved immediately.
No bitter taste. No sweetness. Just cold sensation flowing down his throat, spreading through his body.
Kael stood motionless.
Waiting.
He held his breath, checking every part of his body. His heartbeat remained steady. No pain. No surge of energy like he'd read about in novels.
Seconds passed.
Then...
[Congratulations.]
[You have entered Qi Gathering – Stage 1.]
[Inventory Update: Qi Gathering consumed. Slot available.]
Kael exhaled a long breath without meaning to.
"…That's it?"
But as he focused his attention, the world around him shifted.
The air.
There was something in the air.
Tiny specks of light, barely visible, drifting freely around him. Kael watched, holding his breath.
With a single thought, he pulled them toward him.
The specks moved slowly, gathering in his palm. Soft blue light formed, pulsing gently like a living breath.
"Heh…"
Kael clenched his hand. The air around him vibrated.
Pah!
He thrust his fist forward. Wind collided with something, pushed back hard as if struck by solid matter.
Kael stared at his own hand, then smiled.
"So this is the power of a cultivator…"
He redirected the Qi flow to his legs. Blue aura reformed, wrapping around his calves and soles.
One kick.
Pah!
The grass in front of him compressed. The soil trembled slightly.
Kael stopped.
A shadow of someone receiving that strike flashed across his mind, and he understood. Whoever took a direct hit wouldn't walk away unharmed.
He loosened the Qi flow. The blue light faded slowly, dissolving back into the air.
Kael took a deep breath.
"Good," he said quietly, his eyes shining.
"First step complete."
He turned to the computer screen. The inventory panel remained active, showing an empty slot where the pill had been.
But what mattered wasn't the empty slot.
What mattered was the power now flowing through his body.
He exited the warehouse, climbed back to the main floor, and stood in the center of the indoor rice paddies. Soft light illuminated the space. Green grass grew outside. And before his eyes stretched infinite possibility.
A factory he had built from thin air.
Power flowing through his veins.
And one clear mission: accumulate 100 coins.
The next step was not a dream.
"The infrastructure is ready. The power is secured." Kael looked at the empty rice fields. "Now, I need a workforce."