An unknown amount of time later, Lin Wu woke up and fell down. He could not control his body and felt as if he was in a new body again.
"Wha-What is this now?"
The first thing that Lin Wu spotted in front of him was the two desiccated corpses of the Boar and the Man that was dressed in ancient clothes. Though the shocking thing was, Lin Wu felt as if these corpses had gotten smaller instead.
He went closer to take a look and discovered that it was not the corpses that had gotten smaller but rather he himself that had gotten bigger.
"No wonder I can't seem to control my body well. I somehow grew bigger." Lin Wu said to himself.
Lin Wu's body was now the length of an arm and his thickness was about the same as that of a finger. The eyes that were once small black dots were now bigger black dots.
"Is this the work of the stupid system? What did it do this time?" Lin Wu questioned.
"System." He called out.
~Ding~
NOTIFICATION: Would you like to view previous logs?
"Yes."
HOST STATUS: Unconscious
REROUTING ENERGY: Beginning pending calculations
WARNING!: Excessive energy load
SELF-PRESERVATION PROTOCOLS: Activated
PENDING CALCULATION: Completed
ALERT!: Detected data nodes
ISSUING QUEST: Obtain Data nodes
QUEST COMPETED: Data nodes obtained
REWARD OBTAINED: Data nodes (quantity = 2)
ANALYZING DATA NODE: Unknown parameters found
WARNING!: Need additional computing power
PERMISSION TO ACTIVATE COMPUTATIONAL A.I.: Rejected, host integration not found
REORIENTING SUB-ROUTINES: Host enhancement started
NOTIFICATION: Please wait for enhancement to complete
HOST ENHANCEMENT: Completed
HOST VITALS: Stable
PARTIAL INTEGRATION PROCESS: Complete
WARNING!: Host permission required for further tasks.
Lin Wu was finally able to understand what had happened all this while he was unconscious. The system seems to have been unable to handle the energy and thus had made him unconscious so that it could do it without harming him. The system even enhanced his body and made it grow to his current size.
"Huh, seems like the system needs me to be stronger in order to work as well. I guess its not that stupid." Li Wu said to himself.
'Though it doesn't help that I'm still a worm.' He thought with resignation.
Just as Lin Wu was about to think about what to do next the notification screen appeared in front of him again.
~Ding~
NOTIFICATION: Unanalyzed data nodes available, please give permission to proceed.
Lin Wu wondered if he should give the system the permission or not. According to him, the system seemed to be rather buggy and malfunctioning. He could not tell what it would do next, but in the end, he decided to go ahead with it.
'At least it hasn't caused me any harm yet. Well, except for the fainting.' Lin Wu thought.
"Permission granted." Lin Wu approved.
~Ding~
PERMISSION TO ACTIVATE COMPUTATIONAL A.I.: Granted
ANALYZING DATA NODE 1: Please wait patiently
~sigh~
"Now how long do I need to wait?" Lin Wu muttered.
But just as he said this, another notification sounded.
~Ding~
ANALYZING DATA NODE 1: Completed
UPGRADING DATA BANKS: New data obtained
UPDATING HOST DATA: Please check the relevant window.
ANALYZING DATA NODE 2: Please wait patiently
Lin Wu felt a little surprised at the speed at which the system had finished the process. With the previous record, he was expecting it to last at least a few hours and not just a couple of seconds. He wondered if the next process would be completed at the same speed. He waited for a minute, but nothing happened.
"Huh, seems like this one will take more time. Now then, how do I check the new window that its saying." Lin Wu said to himself.
"Umm, Host data?" Lin Wu ordered.
~Ding~
A new window then appeared in front of Lin Wu. This one was completely different from the map and the notification window. This one had way more things written and seemed to be more organized. Lin Wu then started reading the data that was written in the new window.
——————————————————————————————————
HOST NAME: Lin Wu
AGE: 25 days
HOST SPECIES: Common Mud Worm (enhanced) [juvenile]
????????
AWAITING ADDITIONAL DATA: Analysis underway
——————————————————————————————————
Lin Wu felt a little underwhelmed at the lack of information in the window. He had expected a more detailed explanation, but it seemed like this was all that was currently available.
"Well, it's better than nothing at least. I now know what I am and also for how long I've been in this world." Lin Wu said to himself.
'Seems like I need to wait for a little while more to get the data from the second data node. Wait, I understand that the energy source was blood, but where did these data nodes come from?' Lin Wu thought.
Just as Lin Mu was wondering this, another notification appeared.
~Ding~
DATA NODE 2: Analysis completed
DATA BANKS: Updated
HOST DATA: Updated
ALERT!: Please check the relevant window.
"Oh, that was not that long. Let's check what's new."
"Host data." He ordered.
~Ding~
The new notification window appeared in front of Lin Wu. But this time the window was much more large than before.
——————————————————————————————————
HOST NAME: Lin Wu
AGE: 25 days
LIFESPAN: 2 months
HOST SPECIES: Common Mud Worm (enhanced) [juvenile]
HOST CULTIVATION: Third stage of the Body tempering Realm
QI STORAGE: Unavailable [Insufficient cultivation]
BLOODLINE: None
CULTIVATION TECHNIQUES: None
QI SKILLS: None
INVENTORY: Empty
BEAST CORE: Not formed
—————————————————————————————————
Just as Lin Wu finished reading the window, another notification popped up.
~Ding~
QUEST COMPLETE: Gather Viable energy resource
REWARD OBTAINED: Body enhancement
ISSUING QUEST: Reach the Qi refining realm
REWARD: Increased lifespan
FAILURE: Death
Lin Wu was completely shocked by the new information that he just obtained. He now understood that he was in no common world, but was rather in a cultivation world.
'That explained the ancient styled clothes of the man. But what am I supposed to do now? Will I die in 2 months? If don't want to die, I need to complete the quest. But for cultivating won't I need a cultivation technique, what do I do?' Multiple questions appeared in Lin Wu's mind as he got dazed.
~Ding~
But just as he was about to lose hope, another notification appeared.
ENERGY SOURCE DETECTED: Marked on map
SCANNER FUNCTION: Available
QUEST ISSUED: Kill the approaching beast
"Beast? What beast? Tell me more, you stupid system!" Lin Wu cursed as he heard the rustling of bushes.