In the depths of a decrepit, timeworn house, an elderly gentleman diligently undertook the task of cleaning his smudged windows.
His countenance, though inscrutable, displayed tiredness as he robotically maneuvered his stiff, weathered hands across the glass pane.
Suddenly, the old man's expression changed; his eyes widened in astonishment.
He clutched his chest in a moment of agony and plummeted to the ground with a resounding thud.
A few seconds later, a hazy plume of smoke gathered on top of the old man's body before forming into a rough sphere.
The sphere circled around the body of the old man before disappearing into thin air.
...
In the void, Xia Feng was floating with his eyes closed.
The sphere that circled the old man's body entered his body through the center of his brows, and Xia Feng snapped his eyes open.
[Simulation Complete!]
[Life Rating - D]
[You can permanently retain a talent or choose a reward and extract it into the real world!]
[1. Piano (Expert)]
[2. Longevity Serum (20+ Years of Life)]
[3. Simulation Avatar's Memories (94 years)]
[Note- Due to low Life Rating, you can only pick one.]
Xia Feng ignored the prompts for a moment and closed his eyes. He was currently experiencing vague feelings that he couldn't make sense of.
The simulation was merely a movie he could watch with himself as the protagonist. Unless he chose the third reward, he was merely a spectator.
This also confirmed something for him.
The only thing he received from the novel was information and the system.
In the original novel, the first world the protagonist simulated was of a Mecha World.
Xia Feng couldn't help but wince at the calamity that ensued, as the protagonist and his family were crushed by a colossal mecha, mere bystanders in a confrontation between two powerhouses.
Nonetheless, the protagonist being the protagonist got a Soul Cultivation technique.
The huge mechas required considerable mental and soul strength.
But since the protagonist had barely done anything, he only got a small part of the whole technique.
Now that he thought about it, living for nearly a century in his first simulation was incredibly lucky.
The protagonist barely lived for 7 years.
Having a mortal world as his first world was unlucky though.
He didn't gain anything worthwhile, and unfortunately, his life rating was only a D grade. If it were C, he could've picked at least two rewards.
D grade meant that his life in the simulation barely had an impact on the world.
The only reason he even got a D was probably because he was funding the illegal group, and they probably had some breakthrough in the future.
Or maybe his children had done something.
It didn't matter if it was bad or good, as long as the world was affected, he would get a Life Rating.
His feelings were a bit complicated; the simulation was essentially him living another life.
It meant that his personality was almost the same.
He could not help but let out a mirthful laugh.
To think he would fall low enough to traffic humans, but he didn't judge himself too harshly.
The simulation had rules of its own.
The Xia Feng in the Simulation was unaware of the Simulator system. He only thought he was reincarnated/transmigrated randomly.
As such, he made many decisions out of desperation.
To the simulation avatar, it was its final life, except for certain scenarios.
With a wry smile, Xia Feng decided to set aside his focus on the rewards.
The first reward was his Piano skills he had honed for almost two decades. With his talent, he had even become an Expert!
From the novel, he remembered that skills were divided into 5 grades.
Beginner, Proficient, Expert, Master, and Perfected.
There were a few more details, but now was not the time.
If he chose the Piano Skill, he would have a lot of options to make money, even if he discarded his studies.
In fact, Xia Feng slowly realized that studies weren't really necessary anymore.
He looked at the second reward, and there was a slight glint in his eyes before he sneered and directly moved on to the third reward.
The Life Serum was completely useless.
The potential of his system was very immense. Even a random martial arts world could grant him a greater lifespan, and God forbid should he land in a cultivation world, a century was basically the blink of an eye.
The third reward felt useless as well. Why would he want the life experience and memories of a broken man?
There was nothing substantial in the memories of a mortal man.
One might think that since the skills were part of the memories, why not choose the memories?
Why would picking the skill even be an option?
Only Xia Feng, who had read the entire novel, understood why.
Shaking his head, Xia Feng instantly decided on the first reward.
As soon as he made his decision, the screen flickered, and he felt a stinging pain in his head.
[Simulation countdown- 23:55:23]
Countless images and beautiful sounds echoed in his ears for a few seconds before he regained peace.
Xia Feng felt as if he could play the piano with his eyes blindfolded.
It felt incredible.
It was similar to looking at a math equation you had zero knowledge of and suddenly carrying out a derivation of said equation.
He could only describe the sensation with one word.
Satisfying!
This also confirmed that he wasn't being delusional.
How could he, a modern guy, not feel skeptical regarding the sudden appearance of the system?
Coincidentally, the novel he was reading had some mysterious background.
Coincidentally, out of the millions of readers, he was chosen.
Coincidentally, his words granted him a system.
A sigh escaped his lips as he glanced at the clock.
Barely a minute had passed.
Had he chosen the memories, he would've experienced a century's worth of memories in mere seconds.
"Wait!"
"I-If I chose the memories, would I have, in a sense, had sex, that too multiple times?" He muttered to himself with a weird expression.
"F*ck!"
The novel clearly said that when the protagonist chose memories he would receive the complete memories and would never forget them or any details.
It was like photographic memory.
With slight regret, Xia Feng hurriedly took out a spare notebook and jotted down every important detail from the novel.
...
Morning arrived, and Xia Feng was kicked out of the house for school.
He knew he didn't need studies anymore, but how could he explain this to his parents?
"Hmph, sooner or later they'll beg me to leave school themselves."
With these thoughts in mind, Xia Feng walked to school leisurely.
He did not notice, but his expression was relaxed, different from usual, and he was walking with a straight back, no longer having slumped shoulders.