Lakeside Garden, Building 6, Apartment 101.
As soon as Eric got home, he locked himself in his small bedroom. Outside, Amy knocked on the door several times, but Eric refused to let her in, much to her frustration.
However, Eric had no time to deal with Amy's temper. There were things he hadn't quite figured out while withdrawing the money, and now he finally had the chance to properly examine them.
…
Inside the small room.
The $10,000 Eric had withdrawn sat on his left, while on his right was all his "savings"—a single $10 bill.
His face had returned to normal, but his eyes still carried a hint of confusion.
When he had withdrawn the $2,000 at the ATM, he suddenly saw something like a flash in his vision, similar to a floater, causing his sight to blur for a moment. Then, a few lines of small, clear text appeared before his eyes:
- Wealth: 2000
- Vitality: 1
- Spirit: 1
These three simple lines of information were straightforward yet left Eric momentarily stunned.
"A system?"
As a modern young man, Eric wasn't unfamiliar with the concept. He had read countless novels and seen many movies where characters had systems like this. In many reincarnation stories, such systems were often the key to the protagonist's rise to power.
But the appearance of this system felt abrupt, and it was extremely basic—no detailed manual, no explanation of features.
If the system had appeared when he was first reincarnated yesterday, Eric wouldn't have been as surprised, but its sudden emergence now caught him off guard.
However, after a brief moment of shock, Eric quickly realized that the "Wealth" figure must be directly tied to the money he had in hand. He immediately did an experiment: each time he withdrew more money, the wealth value in the system increased by the same amount—every $2,000 he withdrew added 2,000 to the system's wealth figure.
This confirmed the direct correlation between money and wealth in the system, though Eric still had questions.
Why didn't the system appear when he had $28 in his pocket yesterday?
He guessed that there must be a threshold, and only after reaching a certain amount of wealth did the system activate. Yesterday's sum had likely been too small to trigger it.
Eric quickly came to this conclusion and even mocked himself, "I must've been so poor that the system didn't even bother with me."
Besides the wealth value, there were also the vitality and spirit values.
Eric speculated that vitality was related to physical health and strength, while spirit likely corresponded to his mental state, willpower, or some other psychological factor.
He immediately connected this to the current knight system. High vitality and a strong body were basic requirements to become a knight. As for spirit, Eric wasn't yet sure of its specific function, but he had a feeling it would also play an important role in becoming a knight.
"It seems these two values are crucial for my chances of becoming a knight," Eric thought as he looked again at the wealth number in the system.
"Could it be… that wealth can be used to increase vitality and spirit?"
With that thought in mind, Eric decided to test it. He mentally commanded the system, "Use wealth to increase vitality."
The system didn't respond.
Frowning, Eric tried again. "System, use wealth to increase vitality!"
Still nothing.
He began to try various commands: "Exchange wealth for vitality!" "Buy vitality with money!" "Increase vitality!"… but all of it was in vain.
Feeling frustrated, he muttered, "Is this stupid system waiting for me to threaten it before it'll do anything?"
As soon as he said that, the system finally reacted! The numbers in front of him changed:
- Wealth: 0
- Vitality: 1.1
- Spirit: 1
Eric was dumbfounded.
"What the…? You really can use wealth to increase vitality?"
He immediately checked his body and, sure enough, he felt a subtle change. Though his vitality had only increased by 0.1, he could feel his body becoming lighter, with a little more energy than before.
However, seeing the wealth value drop to 0 left Eric feeling a bit down. After all, that was $10,000 he had just withdrawn! Even though the money was still physically in his hands, the system showed that his wealth had become zero.
"So, the system doesn't actually take the money; it just considers the money as wealth and uses it to convert into vitality." He thought, though he still found the system a bit hard to understand. Additionally, the exchange rate left him feeling very dissatisfied.
"Ten thousand dollars only gave me 0.1 in vitality?" Eric cursed under his breath.
At this rate, if he wanted to reach the vitality level required to become a knight, the amount of money he would need was astronomical! He couldn't help but chuckle bitterly. "Looks like I'm going to need to figure out how to get a lot more money."
Still, at least he had figured out some of the system's basic rules. Wealth could be converted into vitality, but it required a massive amount, and for now, he was far from the level of vitality needed to become a knight.
As for spirit, it hadn't changed at all. He suspected that it might require a different method or another type of wealth to increase it.
"It seems that just having cash isn't enough. Maybe I'll need other forms of wealth, like valuable items, real estate, or stocks, to increase my vitality and spirit faster."
Eric started thinking of ways he could increase his wealth, plotting strategies in his mind.
He realized that becoming a knight wasn't just about talent or hard work—it required a massive financial backing. Knights being a profession for the wealthy wasn't just a coincidence.
At that moment, Eric became even more determined. Now that he had a system, he was going to find a way to use it to grow stronger.
Looking once again at the stack of $10,000 on his desk, he clenched his fists. "I *will* become a knight!"
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