Chapter 121: Reflection

Chapter 2: Reflection

Larulas’ body dissolved into countless shimmering fragments of pure white stardust, drifting like springtime willow catkins within the pitch-dark prison cell.

Lu Yun sat motionless on the cold floor, palms open, where a faint pale glow slowly faded into the air.

By now, Lu Yun naturally understood that it was Larulas who had sacrificed her life to save him.

But why?

Even counting from their very first encounter, barely more than a day had passed.

In Lu Yun’s previous human life, spending just over twenty hours with someone would hardly suffice to forge even a casual friendship.

Yet in the world of the little spirits, the pure-hearted and simple Larulas was willing to give up her life for him.

This left Lu Yun momentarily unable to process it.

The hard chill of the floor beneath him sent a sharp sensation through his body, his expression clouded with complexity.

Ordinarily, if someone else was willing to die for him, he would have been deeply moved.

But at this moment, his heart was gripped by a strange, indescribable emotion that outweighed gratitude.

It was like a neighbor you barely know suddenly naming you as heir in their will on their deathbed.

Bizarre. Confounding.

What Lu Yun did not realize was that he was the first—and only—Pokémon Larulas had ever encountered in her brief life.

With a soul as pure and simple as white paper, her sensitive heart was profoundly lonely.

After their conversation in the realm of consciousness, she had unconsciously regarded Lu Yun as a precious companion.

Knowing her time was limited, it was not surprising that she chose to transfer her life energy to this cherished partner.

Thus, layered with these complex circumstances, such an unbelievable outcome came to be.

Within the cell, the once-floating specks of life energy gradually faded away, and the darkness revived, swallowing the room once more.

Lu Yun sat cross-legged, arms folded, eyes gently closed.

He was reflecting.

Larulas’ death was like a fuse igniting a powder keg within his heart, stirring a turbulent sea of emotions.

Since crossing into the Pokémon world and learning he had a system—meaning no matter how many times he died, he would simply waste some items and return to the cycle space—his mindset had changed.

He had grown careless, treating life as meaningless.

As if playing an immersive virtual game, the people and Pokémon he met were, to him, mere system NPCs.

Everything he did felt like drudgery, a tedious task to be completed.

Unbeknownst to him, each of his actions could affect the development of the world he inhabited and the fates of the humans and Pokémon around him.

Perhaps... he truly needed to take things more seriously.

To genuinely care for every person and matter he encountered.

He exhaled a long breath, as if shedding a heavy chain, his mind easing.

At the same time, the previously scattered glance in his eyes was replaced by a resolute gleam.

Clenching his fists, he punched forward.

Muscles bulged fiercely in his arms, powerful gusts whipped through the cramped cell, sending clouds of dust swirling beyond the bars.

The oppressive gloom in the air cleared away.

Thanks to Larulas’ pure life energy, Lu Yun had not only escaped the illusion crafted by the “Decay Demon’s Blood Eyes,” but the three conflicting energies within his body had begun to calm down.

Like a twisted rope, they intertwined into a strange symbiotic entity.

After all, Fighting-type and Ghost-type energies are fundamentally opposed.

Fusing them completely is nearly impossible.

But peaceful coexistence, a mutual non-aggression, holds some possibility.

At this moment, after two near-death experiments, Lu Yun’s outward appearance had changed significantly from when he had first possessed the body.

Most striking were his crimson eyes.

As if influenced by the “Decay Demon’s Blood Eyes,” his original orange-red gaze had been replaced by a dark red tinged with faint malevolence.

Lu Yun even noticed his dynamic vision and night sight had improved.

Next was the change in his skin.

The original color of the Fighting-type body was a bluish-gray like bluestone.

But now, Lu Yun’s skin had dimmed into a strange dark gray, like an overcast sky heavy with clouds.

Lastly, and least conspicuously, the muscles across his body had tightened under the influence of the Ghost-type energy.

They felt compressed, power unchanged but explosiveness greatly enhanced.

In appearance, if the original Lu Yun was robust, now he seemed sleek and lithe like a cheetah.

An instinctual premonition stirred within him: these changes were only the beginning.

Deeper transformations awaited.

“Wait!”

Lu Yun furrowed his brow.

The punch he had just thrown felt different from before.

Stronger...?

Half in doubt, he activated the system.

...

Species: Machamp

Level:

Ability: Guts

Skills: Low Kick, Leer, Focus Energy, Strange Light, Revenge, Grudge

Evaluation: An unusual Machamp, something seems to be happening deep within its body.

Held Items: Terrakion’s Shattering Shoulder Guard, Marant’s Heart

...

“This…”

Lu Yun rubbed his eyes. Had he leveled up again?

He clearly remembered that before his second surgery, he was level five.

But now, the level indicator had changed from “5” to “—”.

With a curious gaze, he opened the system message log.

...

“Experience +”

“Experience +3”

“Experience +”

“Experience +”

...

Sure enough, another massive influx of unexplained experience points, just like before.

Lu Yun frowned, pondering what the two instances of experience gain had in common.

Both were discovered after waking from a deep sleep.

The sleep was due to surgery... wait.

Surgery?

His eyes suddenly lit up. He seemed to have uncovered the truth.

If his guess was correct, the surgeries performed on him not only brought physical changes but also granted him large amounts of experience.

Thinking it over again, Lu Yun grew more certain of his hypothesis.

“It must be!”

He blinked and was about to close the system.

But his gaze inadvertently flicked over the skill list.

That fleeting glance revealed something unusual.

“Grudge?”

Previously, Lu Yun’s focus had been on level and experience.

He hadn’t noticed that, alongside the standard Fighting-type skill “Revenge,” a new Ghost-type skill, “Grudge,” had appeared in his moveset as his level rose.