Fengtian City.
November began with a cool turn in the weather, marking the start of autumn.
Coinciding with the end of a major event, countless materials had recently been produced from a secret realm, hence the streets of the city were filled with the calls of vendors.
"Just out of the oven, E-grade material 'Red-haired Jiu Long Yan,' essential for the promotion of the 'Driver' profession, on sale for a limited time at 50,000 credit points! Only one available, first come, first served!!"
"Extremely rare F-grade material, 'Fox-Tail Grass,' excellent forging material, the perfect choice for creating your own divine weapon!"
"The best profession legacy..."
In the Seventh District, numerous shop owners stuck their heads out, eagerly calling out to the passersby on the streets.
Many customers stood at the entrances of the shops, faces full of indecision, clearly mulling over which item to buy due to their somewhat shy wallets.
"..."
Chen Miao was squatting on the steps of an alley across from the Drum Tower District, squinting his eyes and fiddling with the Jade Amulet of Safety in his hand, observing the scene outside.
It had been seven days since he had arrived in this world, and he was preparing to enter the secret realm for the first time.
Before that, he had to make thorough preparations.
Yes.
He had transmigrated.
Seven days ago, he transmigrated into this world, bringing nothing with him but the clothes on his back, and only this Jade Amulet of Safety that he always wore close to his body.
Before his consciousness plunged into darkness, he faintly remembered the astonished cries of people nearby. Instinctively looking up, he saw a coconut growing larger and larger.
"Bang."
The next second—
His vision went dark, and he was in this world.
He had lived until 24 in his previous life, never imagining that he would experience transmigration, just as he never thought that going on a trip one day would end with being killed by a coconut in a foreign land. Life always had its uncertainties.
This world was largely similar to his previous life, the greatest difference being the existence of numerous Supernatural Occupations and ordinary Lifestyle Occupations, as well as countless secret realms worldwide. If one could safely return from these realms, they could acquire materials to craft weapons, level up, or even advance in their occupations.
In this world.
Almost everyone had a profession.
Students had the "Student" profession, which significantly enhanced memory and was regarded as the simplest profession to activate but the hardest to level up.
Workers had professions like "Bricklayer" and "Carpenter," where relevant skills would improve through long-term repetitive tasks.
Even "Delivery Person" and "Driver" had their corresponding professions.
These were known as Lifestyle Occupations, while the remaining ones like "Bandit," "Thief," "Fighter" were referred to as Supernatural Occupations.
Lifestyle Occupations were responsible for maintaining the normal functioning of society, while Supernatural Occupations often chose to go to secret realms to gather materials, or to protect large companies, and to fight against invasions of foreign races.
Like that E-grade material 'Red-haired Jiu Long Yan,' essential for the promotion of the 'Driver' profession, one reason it sold for a high price of 50,000 credit points was that it was also essential for the promotion of the 'Bandit' profession, but this fact couldn't be openly advertised.
At least, not in the advertising slogan.
It was inappropriate.
...
"Sigh."
Crouching in the dark alley, Chen Miao tucked the Jade Amulet of Safety back inside his chest, looking at the translucent panel in front of him.
'Player Name': Chen Miao.
'Player Level': Level 0 (0/100)
'Profession Name': Gunman (to be activated)
'Occupation Exclusive': Can use firearms.
'Attribute Panel': Detailed body attribute panel to be activated after breaking through Level 0.
'Occupation Activation Conditions':
1: Craft the exclusive F-grade weapon 'Python R6 Revolver'; materials required—F-grade material 'Fox-Tail Grass' *2, F-grade material 'Saltpeter' *2.
2: Clear a secret realm once.
3: Spend 200 Star Coins.
-
To ensure his safe exit from the secret realm, crafting his exclusive F-grade weapon, the 'Python R6 Revolver,' was an urgent task. Having such a weapon for self-defense significantly increased his safety, but the problem was that the materials required to craft this weapon totaled a whopping 12,000 credit points.
Now, he wasn't just penniless.
Due to being unregistered, he didn't even have the wristwatch needed to make payments in credit points.
How to get 12,000 credit points was a big problem.
And 'Gunman' was the Supernatural Occupation he had chosen. In this world, everyone could activate a profession, but the difficulty of activation varied for each.
When he first transmigrated, the first thing he did at night was to borrow some clothes from a passerby in a dark alley. When dawn broke, he rushed to the city library to learn about the history of this world. He swore he had never been so eager to learn about history!
Thus, he gained a better understanding of this world known as Blue Star, learning many fragmented pieces of knowledge.
For example, there was a Lifestyle Occupation called 'Person of Leisure.'
The activation condition was simple, just needing to go seven consecutive days without any income, and the effect of this profession was that if a player's monthly income was less than 6,000 credit points, it would be topped up to 6,000 credit points.
If it exceeds 6k, then the portion exceeding 6k in credit points will be deducted.
Every day upon waking, 200 credit points are automatically deposited into the account, but one can never enter secret realms, upgrade professions, craft weapons, learn skills, promote their profession, nor participate in major events, etc.
To be honest,
he was tempted at the time.
The currency in this world was essentially equivalent in purchasing power to that of his original world; receiving 200 credit points daily, which equates to a monthly income of 6k, and not having to do anything but stay home—it was practically the dream occupation for slackers.
Unfortunately, this profession was only available and activatable to citizens who had resided in Broken Pot City for over three years. He checked the distance, and it was a bit too far.
The first step to integrating into this world was to select a profession. Though professions could be changed and retrained, doing so would require a great cost, almost like starting from scratch. Therefore, the choice of the first profession had to be made very carefully and cautiously.
After much deliberation, he chose the Gunman Profession.
This was a characteristic profession of Fengtian City and once a popular one too. However, it had gradually declined due to various reasons and was now scarcely chosen by anyone. His reason for choosing this profession was simple.
First, he loved the charm of firearms.
Second was... there weren't other options.
The Legacy Books for other Supernatural Occupations were damn expensive, and he had found one for the "Gunman" in a trash can.
As for Lifestyle Occupations?
He didn't consider them.
Having been reborn, why not try something new instead of continuing to slog from nine to nine at a job?
Would that still be embracing a new life, or would it merely be descending into hell to endure torture?
"Miao!"
At that moment,
an excited, yet hurried voice rang out next to Chen Miao's ear, interrupting his wandering thoughts. A slim man quickly stepped into the alley and approached him, his eyes filled with irrepressible excitement as he whispered hoarsely.
"Everything went smoothly, it's all set!"
Indeed.
No money for materials meant no materials to craft weapons, no weapons meant no entering secret realms, no entering secret realms meant no materials, no money, no experience, and gradually... people disappeared.
It was a perfect, hellish Mobius loop.
And the only way to break this closed loop—
was to make money!
After thoroughly reading the criminal law of this new world at the library, he made his first decision upon arriving in this world: lead a team and make big money.
The methods to quickly make 12k credit points as per criminal law were numerous and not difficult.
And just then.
"Ding, city-wide announcement from Fengtian, the next major event in Fengtian City is a combat event, titled 'Coward's Special'."
"All citizens aged between 18 and 60, possessing a Supernatural Occupation, and not exceeding Level 3, will be forcibly transported into this major event."
"Please prepare accordingly."
"Ding..."
The announcement was broadcast three times in succession.
And this electronic, synthesized mechanical voice echoed in the ears of all citizens within Fengtian City, including Chen Miao.
"..."
As the voice sounded, Chen Miao's eyes narrowed slightly. The pace had to be stepped up; it was said that during the last combat event, several hundred citizens from Fengtian City who participated died.
With his current strength and forcibly being transported into a combat major event, he didn't believe he could survive.
He would have to arm himself completely from head to toe.
He looked up at the darkening sky above.
Below the dark clouds over Fengtian City, a huge line of light displayed a countdown.
"Until the next major event 'Coward's Special' begins — 168 hours."
"Phew!"
Chen Miao took a deep breath, turning to the man bursting with excitement next to him, and took the business card handed to him: "Is this clinic negotiated? What's the price?"
"3000 per day."
Then the man in front of him, although still excited, had a bit of confusion in his eyes: "But Miao, why are we spending 3000 credit points to rent an andrology clinic for a day?"
"Even though it's pay first, service later, running away could be quite painful if we get caught."
"Ever heard of 'using borrowed chickens to lay eggs'? Rent a clinic, go skin some people."
Chen Miao looked down at the "Big Sunflower Andrology Clinic" business card in his hand, glanced at the detailed address of the clinic, and then strode out of the alley towards the outside of Seventh District: "Keep up, we don't have much time left, we need to accelerate."
"Oh, okay."
The man hurriedly followed without another word, glancing around curiously: "Can skinning really make a lot of money?"
"Theoretically, no."
"Ah?"
"But we're not going by theory; we're practicing."