I wasn't sure if I heard him correctly. For a brief moment, the reverend's silhouette flickered, and I swore I saw someone else in his place. not the ancient, almost century old bald man with liver spots, but a far more…sinister figure with his features concealed under a hood. A figure whose body was wreathed in a cloak.
Chills ran down my spine, and even though I knew this wasn't a good idea, I decided to take the risk. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, and quite frankly, I was out of options. I didn't know of any other feasible way of recovering my cultivation, so I had no choice but to accept his assistance, no matter how suspicious he seemed.
Taking a deep breath, I nodded and extended a hand.
"What do I need to do to regain my cultivation?"
The reverend's grin spread across his face, a smile so wide it looked unnatural. He shook his head and coughed.
"To be more precise, you aren't actually going to regain your cultivation. I'll be helping you obtain new abilities. Even if you do restore your cultivation, you're not going to be the same cultivator you were in the past. I hope that's fine with you."
"As long as I can fight against spirit beasts and demonic monsters, as well as protect people, I don't mind." I didn't hesitate. The reverend nodded, impressed.
"Excellent resolve. Then follow me."
Instead of leading me to the temple's interior, secluded as it was from the outside world, he led me to a more scenic spot on the hilltop. Stopping between a couple of trees and under an overhanging branch, he surveyed the sea and port that gave Xia Hai City its name.
I followed him, stopping a few yards away and watching both him and the shores below in bewilderment. Why did he bring me here? To become one with nature or something?
The reverend suddenly turned around and pointed at me. Before I could react, a straight line of qi burst out of his finger and slammed into my forehead, knocking me over to the ground. As I coughed and wheezed, suddenly disorientated, the reverend chuckled somewhere above.
"You…what the hell did you do?!"
"Calm down and look around you. Are there any changes?"
I blinked for a second, dazed, before I obeyed. For a moment, I didn't know what he was talking about, but then I suddenly saw the huge blue holographic window floating in front of me.
"…huh? What the hell is this?" I gaped at the text that was displayed across the window.
-Welcome to the Super Summoning System! -
"Huh? What's a super summoning system?"
"Obviously, it's a system," the reverend replied with a chuckle. I gaped at him uncomprehendingly before spluttering incoherently.
"What? How? Why?"
"Calm down, young man." The reverend held up a hand. "I'm who you would call…the game master. An architect, if you will. I assign systems to promising candidates who have demonstrated great valor and courage."
"You mean…like that time when I saved Li Wang?"
"That's right."
I stared at him skeptically for a moment, still not sure if I could trust what I was seeing in front of my eyes. This wasn't some kind of illusion or something, was it?
"No, this is real. It's not a dream. I assure you that everything you're seeing right now is real. Go ahead and experiment."
I poked the window, and the text changed to display my name.
-Song Jun Wen. Currently crippled. Yet to begin any quest. –
"Um, okay, so…what does this super summoning system do? Also, what's with the weird name? Why 'super'?"
"Well, you need a fancy title for clicks," the reverend explained indifferently. "Research shows that people tend to click on grand titles more than they do for supposedly 'unique' titles. And it has more commercial potential. The existences beyond the fourth dimension would be more likely led to believe that this is some power fantasy with an overpowered protagonist and a harem."
"…what the hell are you talking about now?"
My jaw dropped as I struggled to wrap my head around the reverend's indecipherable words. He coughed and turned away.
"Never mind. You don't need to know. Just treat it as if I think it's a cool title."
"I don't like it. Change it."
"Sorry, kid. But I make the decisions around here. I'm the game master, after all. Besides, don't you have a more important thing to worry about than the name of your system?"
"Right." I tried to recall what the protagonists of system web novels or manhua did. Tapping on the window, I tried to look for a menu or options, but nothing came out. The window continued to display my limited information. After a few attempts, I gave up and stared wearily at the reverend. "Um, how do I use this thing?"
"Don't poke it or touch it. You wouldn't like it if someone touches you all over, would you?"
"Um, then how am I supposed to…?" I was barely able to keep the exasperation out of my voice. What, the system was a living thing now? It has feelings?
"Speak to the system. Politely. You're asking it for a favor."
…really? Was he for real?
However, as I had no other choices, I decided to play along for now. Taking a deep breath, I turned to stare at the window.
"I'm sorry, system. How do I make use of you?"
The text actually changed.
-Is there anything I can help you with? –
"Well, for starters, I don't know where to begin. Am I supposed to level up or something? Do you provide me quests or skills or abilities? How do I regain my cultivation?"
-Request received. User wishes to regain cultivation. Generating quest. –
There was a spinning light thing in the center of the window as it generated a quest. I gaped at it, speechless. I was hoping for something, but I guess a quest would be a good start.
-System has issued quest: "Hellish Hot Springs" –
-Please proceed to the Di Yu Mountain range and immerse your body in one of the hot springs in there. Completion of this mission will grant the appropriate rewards. –
I stared at the window for a few moments, then cocked my head to the side.
"That's…it?"
-Yes. Please begin the quest any time at your convenience. –
"But the Di Yu Mountain range is filled with lots of dangerous fire-type spirit beasts!"
-Yes. Please be careful when venturing into the Di Yu Mountain range. Take all precautions necessary. –
"Like what?"
-That's up to the user. –
The window vanished. I waved at it and tried summoning it, but it didn't appear again, except a single message.
-The system will only respond when you complete the quest. –
"Wait! How am I supposed to complete the quest!?"
"That's completely up to you," the reverend replied. The bastard was smirking. I flailed about, trying to suppress my panic.
"Don't give me that! I lost my cultivation! I don't have any techniques or weapons I can use! How am I supposed to survive against the fire type spirit beasts in the Di Yu Mountain range?!"
"I'm sure you'll figure something out."
"That's not something I can simply 'figure out'! This is supposed to be a system, right? Where's the beginner's pack? Where are the techniques? Lucky draws? Don't I even get a tool or treasure to help me out here?"
The Reverend snorted and shook his head in disapproval. He wagged a finger at me.
"That's the trouble with the younger generation these days. Whatever happened to recognizing the value of hard work and initiative? What, are you expecting cheats or something? You want the system to conveniently drop treasures and skills onto you when you haven't done anything to earn them? Are you really that lazy and entitled? You think such things are free? You want the rewards, you have to put in the effort to actually earn them. Not just wait for a system to randomly give you free gifts. You're a human, aren't you? Then behave like it, not just passively stand around and wait for the system to hand you everything on a silver platter!"
I found myself completely unable to refute his logic. That was right. Those trashy system web novels and manhuas were having an adverse effect on my upbringing. I was taking everything for granted and becoming one of those entitled protagonists I often espoused to hate.
No wonder you had some authorities condemning the spread of such genres of web novels and manhuas. They were a toxic influence that encouraged readers to adopt a lazy, entitled mentality. That explained the abusive comments from the existences beyond the fourth dimension.
Still…
"What's the use of having a system when it doesn't really…offer me anything? You could have just told me to go find a hot spring in the Di Yu Mountain range. Why bother with this whole system nonsense?"
"It's because it's one of the themes," the reverend explained. "Well, technically the theme is 'Others' but the description seems to mandate that the participating story requires a system, and so we have a system."
"…um, what the hell are you talking about now?" I stared at him incredulously. The reverend coughed and turned away with a flourish of his robes.
"Nothing. Just game master rhetoric. Anyway, now that you have your quest, you should go think about how you can accomplish it. Take good care of your system – from now on, you'll be relying on it."
Even if he said that, the system didn't seem very reliable. Well, I suppose the reverend had a point. If I had the time and energy to whine, I might as well dedicate all of that to thinking of a way to complete the quest. Furthermore, nothing in this world was free. I shouldn't take it for granted that I was entitled to having miraculous gifts drop into my lap from the heavens. If I wanted the rewards, I should work for them.
The problem, though, was that I had no idea how I was going to survive a fire type spirit beast infested mountain range long enough to get to one of its hot springs.