Lin Hao wiped the wooden counter with a damp rag. He stared blankly at the dust floating in the afternoon sunlight.
He still couldn't wrap his head around it. Just two days ago, he was crossing the street to buy some oranges. He remembered the loud horn, the screeching tires, and the massive grill of a delivery truck hitting him. Then, nothing but darkness.
When he opened his eyes again, he wasn't in a hospital bed. He was lying on a hard wooden floor in an old, dusty room, wearing rough linen clothes. Along with a massive headache, he had inherited the memories of another young man, also named Lin Hao.
He looked up through the open front window. A weathered wooden board hung above the door. It read: Hao Tea Shop.
The original Lin Hao was a 18-year-old orphan. He ran this rundown tea shop on the edge of the Black Ridge Forest. It was a common rest stop for mercenaries and fighters who hunted magical beasts in the woods. The original owner had died of a sudden fever just three days ago, leaving the body empty for the new Lin Hao to take over.
Lin Hao sighed and tossed the rag into a bucket. "Well, I guess I pour tea for a living now."
Before he could sit down, the front doors banged open.
Three men walked in. They wore heavy leather armor patched with beast fur, and each had a thick broadsword strapped to their back. Mercenaries. They tracked mud across the clean floor and sat heavily at the center table.
The leader, a man with a thick scar over his left eye, slammed his fist on the table. "Hey, shop boy! Bring us three pots of your best Qi-nourishing tea. And bring all the fresh meat you have. Make it fast."
Lin Hao stayed behind the counter. "We only have regular green tea," he said in a flat voice. "And dried rations. No Qi tea, no fresh meat."
The room went quiet. The scar-faced man slowly stood up. He kicked his chair aside, the wood cracking against the floor, and walked over to the counter. He was a full head taller than Lin Hao.
"Are you playing stupid with me, brat?" the man asked. His voice was dangerously low. "I know the old man who raised you kept a stash of the good leaves in the back. Go get it."
"I told you, we don't have any," Lin Hao replied.
The man's eyes turned cold. He reached across the counter and grabbed Lin Hao by the collar, lifting him off his feet. Lin Hao grabbed the man's wrist, trying to pull away, but it felt like grabbing a solid rock.
"Listen to me, trash," the mercenary spat. A faint, hot red aura flared up around the man's arm—the clear sign of a Qi cultivator. "I had a bad hunt today. Give me the tea, or I'll break both your legs and find it myself."
Lin Hao couldn't breathe. The heat coming from the man's Qi-coated arm burned his skin. He was completely helpless against a real fighter.
Suddenly, time seemed to freeze. The red aura stopped flickering. The dust in the air hung perfectly still.
A mechanical, emotionless voice rang directly inside Lin Hao's mind.
[Ding. Host's life is in imminent danger.]
[The Gambling System has fully booted up.]
A glowing blue screen appeared right in front of Lin Hao's face.
[Item Gamble System Online. 10 Novice Points Awarded.]
[Touch an item to wager points. Win: Multiplier. Lose: Item destroyed.]
Lin Hao stared at the floating words. His hand twitched toward a heavy ceramic teapot on the counter. He didn't fully understand what was happening, but he was ready to try anything.
Before he could even make a choice, the frozen dust particles fell. Time snapped back to normal. The heat from the mercenary's arm burned his neck again.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" a sharp, older voice yelled from the entrance.
The mercenary stopped. His grip loosened just enough for Lin Hao to suck in a desperate breath of air. The large man turned his head toward the open door, his face twisting in annoyance. "Who's asking—"
The words died in his throat.
Standing in the doorway was an old man with a neat white beard. He wore a pristine, flowing white robe with a silver cloud stitched over the left chest. Behind him stood four younger people dressed in the exact same uniform. Their clothes were spotless, and their hands rested easily on the hilts of expensive, matching swords.
Lin Hao recognized that silver cloud emblem from the previous owner's memories. Cloud Peak Sect. They were one of the major powers controlling the area around the forest.
The blood completely drained from the scar-faced mercenary's face. His threatening red aura vanished instantly, like a blown-out candle.
He let go of Lin Hao. Lin Hao dropped hard to the floor behind the counter, coughing and rubbing his bruised throat.
"Elder!" The mercenary suddenly bowed, bending his back so low he looked like a folding chair. His rough, arrogant voice turned squeaky and frantic. "We didn't know the esteemed Cloud Peak Sect was in the area! I apologize if we disturbed you. We were just... having a little joke with the shop boy. Just a friendly misunderstanding!"
The old man didn't even look at him. He just frowned at the muddy boots and the mess the mercenaries had made on the floor.
The two other mercenaries at the table were already standing, their heads bowed low, not daring to make a single sound.
A young girl stepped out from behind the old man. She looked around sixteen or seventeen. Her black hair was tied back in a neat ponytail, and she had a calm, almost bored expression on her face. She didn't look like someone who had just walked through a dangerous beast forest.
She glanced in disgust at the groveling mercenaries, then looked past the counter at Lin Hao, who was still catching his breath on the floor.
"Enough noise," she said. Her voice was quiet, but everyone in the room heard it clearly. She walked over to a clean table, pulled out a wooden chair, and sat down. "Just bring a pot of hot tea for everyone."
The scar-faced mercenary nervously backed away toward the front door, keeping his head down.
Lin Hao slowly pushed himself up using the counter. His neck throbbed, and his legs felt a little weak. He looked at the glowing blue screen still hovering quietly in the corner of his vision, waiting for his command. Then he looked at the tense, quiet room.
He cleared his throat, hiding the blue screen from his focus. "Coming right up."
Lin Hao slipped through the beaded curtain into the cramped back room. As soon as he was out of sight, he leaned against the cold stone of the cooking stove and let out a long, shaky breath.
His heart was still pounding. He grabbed a wooden bucket and poured water into a large iron kettle, setting it over the hot coals.
While the water heated up, the original owner's memories started clicking into place.
He realized exactly who was sitting in his shop. This was the Azure Wind Empire, a small, remote human territory. Powerful cultivators were extremely rare here. In this region, the Cloud Peak Sect was basically the law. They controlled the trade routes and the borders of the Black Ridge Forest.
The girl sitting out there was clearly a high-ranking disciple. The fact that an older Sect Elder stood behind her without talking spoke volumes.
Lin Hao shook his head, pulling himself back to reality. He opened a small wooden cabinet and pulled out a tin canister.
He popped the lid off. Inside lay a handful of cheap, dry green tea leaves. They were slightly stale. If he served this bitter, cheap water to a spoiled genius who just indirectly saved his life, she might just trash the shop herself.
Lin Hao looked at the glowing blue text still hovering in his vision.
[Current Balance: 10 Novice Points.]
"Alright, System," Lin Hao muttered under his breath, making sure no one outside could hear him. "Tell me what kind of gambling you actually have."
The blue screen blinked and the text shifted.
[Item Selected: Stale Green Tea Leaves.]
[Game Type: Coin Toss.]
[Wager: 5 Novice Points.]
[Heads: 100x Quality Multiplier. Tails: Item turns to ash.]
[Do you want to toss the coin? Yes / No]