Chapter 1: Mythical Trait, The Simulator!
"Da Chun, do you dare to bet one more time?"
Chen Yi, shouldering a heavy hemp sack, stood by the pier, looking at the surging waters of the Qing River.
He wanted to jump in.
Da Chun chuckled.
"Brother Yi, Old Zhang and the others said there are man-eating monsters downstream! The Black Stone Gang at least provides food. Even if we can't get full, hehe..."
Chen Yi sighed and glanced at his chubby friend, whose eyes were currently standing guard in two different directions.
He wished he could be as carefree as Da Chun.
Even if they had been press-ganged by the gang, forced to sign an indenture contract, and made to work as free coolies at the pier.
But...
'I am a transmigrator, and I have a System. Am I really going to be trapped at this lousy pier for my whole life??'
Before his eyes, a notification only Chen Yi could see flickered in and out of existence.
[Time until next Trait Extraction: 00:10:03.]
With a thought, the System panel appeared.
[Name: Chen Yi]
[Realm: None]
[Cultivation Method: None]
[Equipped Traits (3/3): Well-Developed Deltoids [White], Hunger Resistance [White], Hyper-Beast Pain Perception [White]]
[Acquired Traits (17): Pointy Head [White], Protective of Food [White], Loves Eggs [White]...]
[Current Probabilities for Qualities:]
[White (Common) 99%, Green (Rare) 0.9%, Purple (Epic) 0.089%, Golden (Legendary) 0.01%, Prismatic (Mythical) 0.001%]
This was Chen Yi's Trait Extraction System.
This "Cheat" had two small problems.
First, he could only draw once a year.
If the drop rate was high, a low number of draws would be acceptable.
But its second problem was that the drop rate was extremely low!
The lowest tier, White Traits, had a rate as high as 99%, severely polluting the pool!
In the past seventeen years, Chen Yi had drawn seventeen times, and they were all White!
To improve the probability of high-quality traits, as well as the capacity to equip more traits, there was a way—cultivate Martial Arts and raise his Realm!
However, Chen Yi had no "Root Bone," so he could not cultivate Martial Arts.
So, it was a dead end.
White traits weren't completely useless, though.
For example, the three Chen Yi currently had equipped:
[Well-Developed Deltoids]: Slightly increased his shoulder strength, making it convenient to carry cargo.
[Hunger Resistance]: Reduced the discomfort of an empty stomach.
[Hyper-Beast Pain Perception]: Lowered his sensitivity to pain, making it feel a bit more comfortable when he got beaten up.
The overseer saw Chen Yi dazing off by the river and lashed out with his whip.
"What are you staring at! Asking for a beating?!"
He got hit again.
Chen Yi made a pained expression, though in reality, it didn't hurt much. However, an injury was still an injury.
Chen Yi stared at the countdown while he worked.
[Time until next Trait Extraction: 00:03:01.]
'System, put some effort in, will you? I know the probability of good traits is low, but have you heard of Murphy's Law? Can't you let me get lucky just once? You don't want to watch your host waste his whole life like this, do you?'
Recalling the past eighteen years...
Chen Yi was born into a peasant family in Luoding Village, Baiyun County.
Though not wealthy, he had no major issues with food or drink, which was considered decent in a feudal society.
Until three months ago, when a group of mysterious men stormed the village.
Luoding Village was slaughtered; not even the chickens or dogs were spared.
Chen Yi lost all his kin in a single night.
Chen Yi survived thanks to the "Village Guardian" Da Chun—who possessed an IQ of 250—who dragged him into the Qing River that flowed through the village.
The two sank into the turbulent river and fell unconscious.
When they woke up, they had drifted to the neighboring Qinghe County Town and were fished out by the Black Stone Gang.
"The Black Stone Gang saved you. To repay this life-saving grace, you decided to work as coolies for us, requiring only one meal a day? Oh my! How could we accept that!"
The indenture contract wasn't read clearly.
The thumbprint was forced onto the paper.
The sacks were shouldered on the spot.
Just like that, Chen Yi and Da Chun had been carrying sandbags on the pier of Qinghe County Town for three months.
Born a farmer, Chen Yi wasn't afraid of hard work.
But no wages, never being full, and frequent beatings? He really couldn't take it anymore!
He didn't know how long these bitter days would last.
Finally, the countdown for the Trait Extraction ended.
A ball of light, visible only to Chen Yi, floated before his eyes.
This light orb was composed of countless specks of light, looking like a galaxy.
All the specks were moving at high speeds in irregular patterns.
The orb was generally white.
If one looked carefully, they could see green and golden specks, and even an extremely faint flash of prismatic color!
These light specks were the Traits.
Whichever one Chen Yi touched, he would extract.
Chen Yi wanted to grab those purple or golden specks.
But they flashed by too fast and were too few in number; his vision was almost entirely filled with white.
'Forget it, I'll grab one blindly! Emperor of Luck, grant me strength!'
Chen Yi closed his eyes and slammed his hand down.
At this moment, the gears of fate finally began to turn!
All the points of light retreated, and only the one Chen Yi touched first began to expand rapidly, brightening!
Seven-colored rainbow light dazzled the eyes. Even with his eyes closed, Chen Yi's pupils were illuminated.
'So bright... so dazzling... Holy crap!!'
Chen Yi roared internally, trying hard to suppress the expression on his face, straining so hard his facial muscles twitched.
Prismatic... A Mythical Trait!!!
[The Simulator (Prismatic ◇ Mythical):]
[As you can see, you now possess the cheat known as a Simulator. However, every time you use the Simulator, you must complete a guide quest or wait for the cooldown. The first time is free.]
[Inside the simulation, you can moderately intervene in the process. Furthermore, you can perform a Trait Extraction once per year within the simulation. However, this Trait (The Simulator) must remain equipped at all times; if unequipped, the simulation ends early.]
[After the simulation ends, you inherit ALL Traits, memories, Realm, cultivation methods, and skills.]
[Start the simulation, young man~]
'No child cries every day, and no gambler loses every day!'
'A 0.001% Mythical probability, and I actually hit it on the eighteenth try?!'
'Wait.'
'I'm still alive, right?'
'It didn't consume my lifespan in exchange for luck, did it?'
Chen Yi patted himself all over. Fortunately, everything was still intact, and he hadn't aged.
It seemed he had simply gotten lucky for once.
After reading the effect of the "Simulator" trait, Chen Yi had only one thought.
'This isn't just a Myth myth—this is a damn cheat!'
Before transmigrating, he had read all sorts of web novels on "Yellow Tomato," so he was no stranger to what a Simulator was.
'Judging by this description, as long as I live long enough in the simulation, it equates to gaining many extra chances to draw traits, which effectively increases the drop rate!'
If even a 0.001% Mythical Trait could be drawn, Chen Yi believed the System's card pool wasn't rigged at all.
By increasing the number of draws through simulation, he would eventually draw a useful trait.
The System's traits were all-encompassing; even obtaining a trait for a Root Bone wasn't impossible!
With the Simulator, forget about escaping the Black Stone Gang—crushing the Black Stone Gang would be a breeze!
'The Black Stone Gang that oppresses me and Da Chun, and that group of people who killed my family—wash your necks and wait, I'm coming to settle the score soon! Start Simulation!'
It happened to be lunchtime. Chen Yi, holding his thin porridge and pinching a steamed bun, moved away from the crowd.
Lines of white text on a black background floated before Chen Yi's eyes, looking just like a text adventure game.
[First simulation does not require completing a guide quest or waiting for cooldown.]
[Initial Equipped Traits: Simulator [Prismatic], Well-Developed Deltoids [White], Hunger Resistance [White].]
[Simulation Start!]