Luke's gaze landed on the notification that appeared in his vision, 'It really is like an RPG game!'
An RPG game or 'Role-playing game' consists of the player controlling a fictional character that undertakes a quest in a world the developer built. It would mostly give the players missions or quests to complete to finish the game, just like the mission Luke received.
"Hey, do you also have those noob gift pack to give me or something?" In novels, the protagonist with a cheat system like he has is usually given a gift pack to aid him in his journey. But ever since he was reincarnated, he didn't receive any, and neither does he have the equipment to fight off the mountain lion.
The mountain lion, as its name implies, lives in the mountain. If it somehow comes across the shack –which was built not far from the edge of the mountain– and it sees Luke lingering, Luke would have a pretty tough time since he doesn't have equipment.
[Ding! Complete the mission to get the Gift pack reward.]
"Wait! Do you really expect me to fight with a lion? A f*cking lion!? I couldn't even fight off a dog!" As Luke said that, a moment of his past resurfaced in his mind. He couldn't help but shiver in fear.
[Ding! As Host was dragged into this world, Host could buy any item from the store below Foundation Establishment. Host has one minute.]
The grayed out Store function in his vision suddenly glowed a golden hue for a couple of seconds before it revealed the much more visible word 'Store'. The system already told Luke that he only has one minute before this opportunity ends, he clicked the store function and bought all sorts of things, albeit sh*tty, he doesn't have any choice since he doesn't know what they do. All the Store contained were either books, pills, cauldrons, and a few miscellaneous cards. The list was so long that he didn't even see weapons, and there wasn't a filter function that would allow him to see only weapons and not irrelevant things.
[Ding! Your one minute access to the store has all been used up.]
Luke breathed a sigh of relief, he hasn't had this much exercise for as long as he could remember. Beads of sweat poured down his face as his body limply fell to the ground, his breathing hastened in the process to try and catch up his breath. Luke then checked the system interface to see what he bought.
[--Status--]
Name: Luke Forrester
Level: 0 [Mortal]
EXP: 0/5,000
Cultivation Technique: None
Items: 30x Cultivation Manual, 3x Cauldrons, 10x Qi Gathering Pills, 10x EXP Card multiplier x10(1 hour).
Game Funds: 1,438,923⁽³⁰⁰⁾.
Store
"There are EXP boosts!? What the hell!" Dreaming was out of the topic at this point, he could feel everything vividly. But after seeing that there are EXP boosts like in the games he cheated before, he again felt like this was all a dream. Being able to level up by only getting EXP is already a cheat, but the system really had to give him another cheat, which is making the EXP he earns multiply to ten.
"D-does the EXP card... stack up?" What Luke is referring to is the concept called 'Stacking'. It is where a consumable item or in this instance, boosts, will stack up the more he uses it. If he uses the EXP card multiplier five times, it would make the experience he gains become fifty times instead of ten because of the stacking function.
[Ding! No.]
Luke felt relieved but at the same time, he felt like something within him broke into pieces. He wanted his life to become like that of a king in this world, but since the stacking function doesn't work, his dream would have to wait for the time being.
As he was conversating with the system, a flurry of footsteps came from below the mountain, and as time passes, the footsteps became louder and louder.
"H-how do I use these cultivation manual thingy's? Do I read them or what?"
[Ding! Host just needs to take out the item and touch it.]
Seeing the reply, Luke obliged and took out the first cultivation manual he saw. It doesn't matter if what he took was a Lower level manual because that would be impossible since the manuals were arranged from the strongest to weakest. The book instantly appeared in his hand and then he touched it.
The book and his hand let out a golden hue and lit up a portion of the cave's entrance before the contents of the book began appearing in Luke's mind. The words were somewhat profound since Luke is foreign to these kinds of things, but he got the hang of it as time goes.
After taking a 'Qi Gathering Pill' and activating the EXP multiplier card, he did what the book asked and began cultivating since he felt like he was obligated to.
[Ding! Gained a thousand EXP]
[Ding! Gained a thousand EXP]
[Ding! Gained a thousand EXP]
[Ding! Gained a thousand EXP]
...
[Ding! Congratulations. Host has successfully reached Qi Condensation 1st level.]
Luke got awoken by the sudden notification, as his vision returned, what greeted him was a giant lion in mid-air. The suffocating pressure created by the lion isn't what any normal people would expect. Luke calmed himself down and thought of what to do to fight off this lion.
After he dodged the attack, he only got scratched on his left shoulder. Even though he's a human, his speed isn't comparable to a lion since they walk on four paws. Still, he won't just surrender his life, he already died once, he doesn't want to die again. His survival instincts kicked in, and the adrenaline rush made his heart beat faster.
The pressure from the lion alone could make him fall to his knees, but the adrenaline rush added to it, making his legs shake uncontrollably, threatening to fall down any time now. In all of his lifetime in earth, he hasn't experienced a fight with anyone, much less a fight with a giant lion that could kill him any moment now, but the will to live kept him going.
"System, do you think I could kill this lion?"
[Ding! Host has a 60% percent chance to kill the Mountain Lion.]
'60% percent is enough' thought Luke as he ran towards a broken piece of wood near his shack, he knew he wasn't athletic, but he felt like he ran much more faster than when he was in school. At this point in time, the lion had already landed and began running towards Luke at an unbelievable speed.
Luke grab ahold of the stick and pointed it at the lion, his legs were about to bend down but he gritted his teeth and persisted. He doesn't want to feel this type of pressure from anyone, let alone a lion. Since the lion is still a Qi Condensation beast, it doesn't have much intelligence and continued to rush towards Luke without taking note of the sharp piece of wood.
Time seemed to slow down as the battle took place between a man and a beast. Luke could just wait for the lion, but because of his lack of experience in fighting, he foolishly rushed forth without taking in the consequences of his actions. The sharp piece of wood penetrated the Lion's throat as Luke gritted his teeth, praying that it would finally kill the damn lion.
Seeing that he now has the advantage, he took the chance and threw wild punches at the lion. A few of his punches missed, but the majority of his punches landed straight into the lion's skull and cracking it in the process.
[Ding! Congratulations. Successfully killed Mountain Lion. Gained 1,000 EXP]
[Ding! Mission Accomplished. Rewards has been sent to Host's inventory.]
He didn't just stop there and continued punching the lion even after it was already dead. Luke threw punch after punch as he said these words, "Thank. You. For. Making. Me. Realize. I'm. Weak."
His eyes let out a red light as he stared at the corpse the lion, lying motionlessly on the ground, but the red light quickly disappeared as his body fell down limply to the ground. He checked his system status to see what items he received.
[--Status--]
Name: Luke Forrester
Level: 1 [Qi Condensation 1st Level]
EXP: 100/200
Cultivation Technique: Forbidden Devouring Scripture
Items: 30x Cultivation Manual, 3x Cauldrons, 10x Qi Gathering Pills, 10x EXP Card multiplier x10(1 hour), Access to Store card (1 Minute), Gift Pack, Lion Hide, Lion Meat.
Game Funds: 1,438,923⁽³⁰⁰⁾.
Store
The moment the system appeared in his vision, he took notice of his experience bar. At level zero, he needed a staggering five-thousand experience, but now, he only needed two-hundred to level up.
"Why did I need 5,000 experience before?"
[Ding! Host needed five-thousand EXP to be able to go straight into Qi Condensation without doing all the hard work normal cultivators have to do.]
"Like what?"
[Ding! Normal cultivators have to cultivate their body and mind by training for years before being able to sense the energy called 'Qi'. Then, they have to cultivate their spirit by harnessing Qi and gathering it in their dantian. It would take a normal cultivator months or even years to be able to get into Qi Condensation Lower Level.]
"Qi what? What is Qi Condensation?"
[Ding! Qi Condensation is the first and lowest rank in Cultivation. It is where the person gathers Qi, and the higher the rank, the more Qi the person needs to breakthrough.]
The mention of ranks piqued Luke's interest, in the games he played in his previous life also has ranks, but the names were different. In the novels he read, ranks were given based on the person's battle-prowess, and those ranks were E to S rank with E being the lowest and S being the highest.
"In the mortal realm, are there also cultivators?"
[Ding! Yes. But some don't go to the path of cultivation.]
Luke nodded, if there were beasts as strong as that lion, there would surely be humans with the same strength, or else the eco-system would fail, "Then what did I get by leveling up? Am I able to buy anything in the store now?"
[Ding! Host could check your rewards by going to your inventory. And no, Host wouldn't be able to access the store freely, but Host could access the store by using the 'Access to Store card'. Host could get those cards by completing missions, leveling up, or in gift packs.]
Before Luke delves into all this, he went inside his shack first and sat down on the stool.
"Open the gift pack."
[Ding! Congratulations on getting 1x Special Lower Level Spirit Tool: Pistol, 1x Access to Search function in Store card (20 seconds; pause is permitted), Appraisal Eye (Spirit rank skill), 1x One up card (Able to buy items above one realm of the Host's current realm.) ]