Chapter Two: Newcomers to the Realm of Chaos

Clang!

A muffled thud followed a series of slashing and tearing noises.

“Huh? Did a loot drop?”

A fist-sized sphere of light floated above the freshly fallen corpse. With delight, Chu Cheng picked it up. The orb shattered, revealing a flintlock pistol identical to the one the pirate had wielded, along with a gleaming brass bullet.

“So it’s this?”

Chu Cheng spread his hand, and a semi-transparent weapon panel appeared before him.

Black Sail Flintlock (Common)
Type: Ranged, Firearm.
Requirements: None.
Base Range: 45 meters.
Base Damage: 30 Piercing.
Description: Standard-issue firearm of the Black Sail Pirates. Average power.

It was a plain, unremarkable weapon—nothing much to say about it. Chu Cheng equipped it without hesitation.

This thing was single-shot, requiring half a minute to reload; in a typical fight, it could be used only once.

Still, for someone as starved for attack options as Chu Cheng, it meant one more way to deal damage. Open with a thrown dagger, follow up with a shot—the level-five Black Sail pirate would be left with barely half his life. One more casual slash, and the enemy would fall, making combat far more efficient.

In the Chaotic Realm, weapons and armor weren’t tied to one’s class but to attributes; as long as your stats qualified, you could equip anything.

If a mage built up enough strength, he could don plate armor.

Whether you could actually wield it well, or unleash its full potential, was another matter entirely.

Afterward, Chu Cheng continued to scour the beach, hunting for isolated Black Sail pirates.

He fought from morning till noon, pausing only for a bit of rations.

“I’m level nine with ninety-one percent experience. Just nine percent more killing and I’ll reach level ten, then I can return to change classes, just in time for this month’s minor assessment. I’ve been at the bottom long enough—it’s time for me to rise.”

“And besides, my transmigration cheat is about to activate.”

Chu Cheng closed his eyes and let his consciousness sink inward, clearly sensing the multicolored orb deep within his mind.

What exactly this thing was, he still didn’t know. In his previous life, he’d picked up a perfectly smooth stone bead with intricate patterns at a tourist site, which claimed it was dug from ancient strata billions of years old.

He’d scoffed, dismissing it as commercial bluster.

Yet, after an unexpected accident took his life, the bead he’d always worn suddenly transformed into a blinding sphere of light, enveloped his soul, tore open the fabric of space, and flung him into a temporal vortex.

He awoke again as an infant whose only skills were eating and sleeping.

Arriving in this world, he felt little out of place and adapted quickly. He’d been an orphan in his previous life, with nothing to tie him down.

Perhaps the energy spent traversing time and space had been too great, or for some other reason, the bead remained dormant within his soul, only beginning to stir as he grew older. Now, it was on the verge of awakening—just a step away.

He was full of anticipation.

He’d read enough novels to know that transmigrators were supposed to have a golden cheat, propelling them to the heights of success.

This thing in his mind was clearly his golden cheat—his future seemed radiant.

With it, what were monsters in the Chaotic Realm, or school assessments, or even the so-called life-defining college entrance exam?

The thought filled Chu Cheng with energy.

He ate a little, drew his twin blades, and resumed hunting monsters.

Crack!

A throwing knife for a sneak attack, then a shot from the flintlock—the level-five Black Sail sailor was left with barely a dozen hit points. Chu Cheng closed in, blades flashing, and easily cut him down.

Even when he occasionally encountered two pirates together, his burst combo could instantly dispatch one before focusing all his might on the second, facing almost no threat.

With several successful attempts, his confidence grew, and he expanded his range to include pairs of pirates.

Thus, he swept back and forth along the beach, advancing steadily, cutting down foes until the afternoon.

At last, after felling a certain pirate, his accumulated killing experience reached a critical point. His level rose from nine to ten, earning him three free attribute points, which he promptly assigned to Agility.

“Open attribute panel.”

He intoned silently, and a luminous screen, visible only to himself, appeared, displaying a series of data.

Name: Chu Cheng
Race: Human
Level: 10
Talent: Unknown (99%)
Main Attributes: Constitution 6+8, Strength 6+10+1, Agility 7+10, Perception 8+2, Intelligence 8, Spirit 8
Secondary Attributes: Toughness 2, Reflex 3, Will 1, Life Regeneration +1/sec
Health: 140
Stamina: 140
Mana: 80
Melee Attack: 17+11 (Slash), 17+9 (Pierce)
Ranged Attack: None
Physical Defense: 7

Skill Resistance: 0
Movement Speed: 107
Skills: Dagger Novice, One-Handed Sword Proficiency
Life Skills: Basic Fishing, Basic First Aid, Basic Cooking

This was Chu Cheng’s stat panel—still very basic.

The attributes were straightforward: the numbers before the plus sign represented his initial stats, based on his physical qualities. The human limit was ten points; for an ordinary youth like him, these were reasonable.

The numbers after the plus were free points gained from leveling up and bonus stats from equipment. Each level before ten granted three free points.

Chu Cheng planned to become a strength-agility hybrid warrior, so he distributed his points evenly.

In the Chaotic Realm, before reaching the extraordinary rank: each point of Constitution equaled ten health points; five points of Constitution granted one point of Toughness; ten points of Constitution gave one base defense.

One point of Strength gave one base physical attack and allowed ten kilograms of carrying capacity.

Ten points of Agility equaled a hundred points of base speed, with each additional point adding one speed. Five points of Agility granted one Reflex.

One point of Intelligence gave ten mana; five points added one percent to magic damage; ten points gave one percent base magic resistance.

One point of Spirit meant one mana recovered per minute; five points gave one Will.

Toughness acted as resistance, reducing the duration of negative spells, curses, stuns, and other enemy debuffs affecting the body. With enough Toughness, one could become immune to low-level spells.

Reflex represented reaction speed. With high enough Reflex, you could respond swiftly to emergencies and avoid being ambushed.

Will, a counterpart to Toughness, provided resistance to mental effects.

All these attributes were easy to grasp. Chu Cheng had read plenty about them and no longer found anything novel—except for the Unknown Talent, now at ninety-nine percent.

Through years of exploration, he understood that the progress of this talent’s unlocking was probably tied to his golden cheat’s awakening.

Now, with both at ninety-nine percent, just one final step remained. He guessed this talent was likely the ability that came with his golden cheat.

He was full of anticipation.

Talents were rare; most Descendants awakened with none at all, and only a few ever did.

Some awakened them upon first gaining a data-form body; some, upon changing class at level ten; and some, upon advancing to the extraordinary rank.

In all, there were three chances in life to awaken a talent. Chu Cheng’s awakening at level ten was right in the middle—not too late.

Talents came in all shapes and forms. Most granted overwhelmingly powerful abilities, either active or passive. Building one’s skills and equipment around a core talent could create synergies greater than the sum of their parts.

Chu Cheng looked forward to his imminent awakening, hoping for a pleasant surprise—a powerful talent to call his own.