August, the end of Summer, the beginning of Autumn.
It was four in the morning.
The streets outside the window were still illuminated by street lights.
Chen Chuan stood by the window, deep in thought.
"Did I actually transmigrate into my own novel?"
He was but a normal university graduate living in modern society. He followed the trend on the internet and wrote a modern-city genre webnovel.
For some reason, he ended up being transported into the world of his novel yesterday. Right into the shoes of one of the supporting roles in the novel—Chen Chuan.
It was a coincidence; the character shared the same name as he. That was because he wanted to save himself the trouble during the drafting period. He ended up writing his own name into the novel.
Fortunately, the setting of the novel was still Earth, but in another parallel world. He had no problems familiarizing himself with the place.
In fact, just then, he heard a voice inside his head.
[Chen Chuan. You can select one of the two items to help you start your life in this world.]
[Option 1: A lottery ticket worth 500,000,000 Yuan.]
[Option 2: A Cultivator's Spirit Storage Ring]
[You have one hour to make a decision.]
That was the reason why he was now at the window. He slid the window panel open and took in the cold morning air of summer's end. His mind never once stopped weighing his choices.
'Should I just take the 500 million?'
The world he was in was a parallel version of the real world; almost a carbon-copy. If he had 500 million, he could live a carefree life.
In fact, if he used the 500 million yuan lottery, he would get his money legally. He could spend the money without worrying about anything else.
As for the Cultivator's Spirit Storage Ring…
'What would it contain?'
"What's inside the Spirit Storage Ring? Can I see it? If there are secret arts, what language are they in? Will I be able to read them? Also, am I able to freely use the items in the ring?"
His cautious behavior was unleashed at that moment. Those questions that he needed to ask were very important.
However, the voice in his head did not reply. Instead, it repeated the same statement it said earlier.
[You can select one of the two items to help you start your life in this world.]
'There isn't much time left…'
Chen Chuan gazed at the streetlamps in the darkness and gritted his teeth. He had made his decision.
"I choose the Cultivator's Spirit Storage Ring!"
[Spirit Storage Ring will be given.]
[After gathering 10,000 Reputation Points in this world, you can choose to go back to your original world, and you are allowed to bring along 10% of the wealth you have gained in this world.]
The voice in his head vanished and a cold object suddenly manifested in Chen Chuan's hand.
He lowered his head. It was a ring lined with platinum, simple in design, and an aura of desolation surrounded the ring.
[Spirit Storage Ring]
Chen Chuan tried muttering, "Activate."
In the next instance, Chen Chuan saw a greyish space. The space contained items arranged in an orderly fashion. The air around was glowing with mythical brilliance.
The space was not large. There were only ten items inside after a quick count.
Chen Chuan's internal monologue kicked in as he tried to withdraw the items.
'That violet longsword…'
'That ancient and simple-looking book…'
'That beautiful doll…'
Chen Chuan wanted to withdraw all items, but things did not turn out the way he wanted. All the items remained unmoved.
Chen Chuan was worried.
'Oh no! I got duped! Can they not be withdrawn?'
Chen Chuan tried another time and discovered that almost all items were blocked with some kind of grayish mist. There was only one item where he could vaguely sense—A Mountain of Gold.
Chen Chuan mentally said, 'Withdraw the mountain of gold.'
Crsssshhh!
After the entire commotion, Chen Chuan felt something heavy pressing on the top of his feet. He lowered his head and discovered a large number of golden leaves piling up around his feet.
Even though the light in his room was turned off, the brilliant golden sparkle from the golden leaves itself could still be seen through the faint light from the street light outside the window.
Chen Chuan grabbed a handful, and when he felt the weight and the icy cold sensation of the golden leaves, he was certain that those were real gold.
The golden leaves were about the size of a one Yuan coin. They looked alive. The veins on the golden leaves were distinct and life-like.
Chen Chuan turned to the inside of the Spirit Storage Ring and noticed he had only withdrawn a very small portion of the [A Mountain of Gold]. There was still a very large portion of the golden leaves in the ring.
Bang bang bang!
"Chen Chuan! Do you know what time it is? What are you doing in the room?"
Chen Chuan's mother's voice blared from outside the door.
With a single thought, he hurriedly transferred all the golden leaves back into the ring. He spoke aloud to the door, "Nothing! I dropped my books! I'm going to sleep now!"
After hearing the footsteps of his mother walking away, Chen Chuan returned to understanding the contents [Spirit Storage Ring]. He observed the items in the ring closely and discovered some patterns.
The ring's inventory was divided into spaces like boxes. There were a total of ten slots.
Only in the first slot, which was the one containing the [A Mountain of Gold] was visible; the remaining nine slots were still shrouded with a layer of fog.
"I see what's going on. Those shrouded in fog cannot be taken out," said Chen Chuan to himself.
"The fog seals the item from use. Fulfil the requirement in order to withdraw the item," a voice rang inside his head.
Chen Chuan was shocked. He had thought the voice would be gone after he had selected the [Spirit Storage Ring].
Chen Chuan asked, "What are the requirements needed to unlock those items?"
"You need to spend a large amount of money. The more you spend, the more items you will be able to unlock."
Chen Chuan understood. It was basically just buy buy buy.
It was late, and Chen Chuan yawned and went to bed.
…
On the morning of the next day, when the sun filled the entire room with rays.
Bzz. Bzz. Bzz. Bzz.
The phone sitting on the bedside vibrated.
Chen Chuan opened his eyes and fetched the phone to look at the time. It was already nine in the morning.
There was a Weibo message from Zhou Qi.
[Chen Chuan, if you're free today, let's meet up. I have something to tell you.]
Zhou Qi was a beautiful girl whom "Chen Chuan" knew during high school. She was "Chen Chuan"'s girlfriend, which he had gained using unconventional methods.
However, Chen Chuan also knew something else. Based on the story's current timeline, today was the day where Zhou Qi would ask him out for a date and break up with him.
Chen Chuan had now transmigrated into the world of his novel. He knew how the story went. Not wanting to waste more time with Zhou Qi, he replied with a voice message, "No need for us to meet. Let's just break up."
He shut his phone off. He did not wait to see how Zhou Qi would react. With the "mountain of gold" sitting in the ring, he knew that he would never be lacking women.
Chen Chuan withdrew heaps of golden leaves from the [Spirit Storage Ring] and planned to sell them off for some money.