Chapter 2: Short Ceremony.
"Hold up!, Just one second. What do you mean by Null God?!" Lin Mu almost screamed in alarm when he heard such a fiendish name. "Null God?.... sounds like the guy who got picked last in the pantheon dodgeball game."
" Also What's a Cultivation System?" Lin Mu asked again with a confused look on his face yet the system remained silent. He searched through his mind in other to find out what it meant but he only found a vague explanation.
' Although i can vouch that am not completely clueless to what a system is, and if am correct, Then cultivation should have something to do with those wuxia novels about celestials and immortals that grandpa used to love reading during his leisure time's....but if that's the case, Why do I have a feeling that Null is the name of some bag guy...not to mention it said Null God, sounds to me like a very bad guy, a Final boss who got nerfed in the patch notes....' Lin Mu winced at the thought.
Nevertheless , since Lin Mu couldn't do anything about it now, he began walking home with a pondering look on his face as he stared at his smartphone only to see the strange new app on his smartphone that read " Null God Cultivation System".
" I can't seem to grasp why a system of all things would come in the form of an app?, It doesn't seem practical to me. I mean what's next?, A heavenly scroll disguised as a PDF?" Lin Mu really found it hard to believe that this simple app in his phone was actually a legendary system like it said.
His face darkened when a thought suddenly came to mind." Please tell me it's not one of those scam's sent by hacker's and scammers, Last thing I need is 'Prince of Nigeria' vibes stealing my soul." Lin Mu thought while staring at the app icon with his usual gloomy look.
Feeling a bit skeptical he clicked on the icon, instead of a grand explosion like he expected, His phone only vibrated before it's screen blacked out. "Yup, totally legit. Definitely not downloading malware that'll make me the Chosen One of identity theft." He remarked sarcastically while staring at his phone screen in silence.
He kept on looking at his phone for awhile as if expecting something else to happen but after some time of nothing happening, He shook his head and placed his phone back in his pocket.
Unbeknownst to him, The moment his phone was placed in his pocket, it coincidentally switched back on, While several fleeting texts and symbols began flashing on the screen.
" I knew it was a scam, I mean this is just ridiculous, There's no way something like that could be true right?" Lin Mu asked himself while in doubt.
" I've read about thing's called systems in novels and stories but a cultivation system app is a first for me " Lin Mu decided not to keep thinking about it, The sun was going to set soon anyways and he needed to return home as soon as possible and commence with his grandfather's honouring ceremony.
***********
"Am home..." Lin Mu called out yet all he got as a reply was the aching silence of the house. Having lost his grandfather a few years ago, There was no one else to answer him when he returned to his home or to be specific, his late grandfather's home which was a simple house fit for an entire family.
A house which was once filled with the fond laughter and joy of several was now enshrouded by gloom and silence.
Lin Mu's home was as silent as a graveyard and the only sounds that could be heard were the sound's of leaking pipes and chilling draft's.
Besides the occasional sounds, the house was properly arranged by him himself, and due to the fact that he didn't have much money as a teenager, he couldn't afford to spurge on some things most people could, Like TV subscriptions and the like.
_________________________________________
"Home sweet home..., Just me, the leaking pipes, and my crippling loneliness."
"What I wouldn't give for this place to be haunted.....at least then I'd have some company."Lin Mu teased himself a bit, Probably trying to ease his mind from the encounter he experienced earlier.
Not wasting much time, Lin Mu got to work. He found a spacious spot in the living room and placed his grandfather's portrait atop the table in the living room, While surrounding it with some eastern decorations and the offerings he had prepared beforehand, Then adding two incense sticks which he lit before the alter.
He knelt before the alter, His mind filled with several emotions and the fond memories he recalled about his beloved late grandfather.
Just when Lin Mu was about to commence with a bow, His pocket began vibrating rapidly and with it came an annoying ringing that was heard throughout the sitting room.
Ring!!!
Ring!!!
Ring!!!
' You've gotta be kidding me, Who on earth would suddenly be calling me by now of all times ' Lin Mu furrowed his brows in discomfort before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his smartphone only to be shocked at it's contents.
[Ding!]
[Transportation location finalized]
[Initiating Null God Cultivation System Tutorial]
[Sending Host to Broken star Dimension: 657:886.1]
[Countdown for transportation commencing]
[Host's first transportation shall begin in]
[10]
[9]
"..." Lin Mu's eyes squinted at the sight of the notifications on his phone, Although he felt doubtful, Something within him felt as if his life would be over if those numbers fell all the way down to zero.
[8]
[7]
[6]
[5]
[4]
The moment the countdown went past 4 he tossed his smartphone on the sofa out of fear, yet to his surprise, The same phone he had tossed away reemerged within his grasp the next second.
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Now Beginning the Dimensional Transportation]
"Seriously? A free trial without consent?, Null God, are you my ISP?!!!".
"...No stop this!, I don't want this!" Lin Mu's eyes widened with disbelief when he saw his body begin to fade like the sands of time.
" Please don't take me away, Please!"
" Grandpa!" Lin Mu cried with teary eyes, He tried making his way towards his grandfather's alter, yet before his hand could reach it, it had already vanished completely.
"Ok I believe you!!, Your a real system so please stop this Damnit!!!" Lin Mu screamed when he saw that almost all of his body had already faded like sand in the wind.
" Darn you!!!!, At least warn me before dragging me into an interdimensional purgatory, you cosmic piece of shi–!!!" Lin Mu yelled before his head turned to sand and scattered as well.
_________________________________________
A few seconds later, Lin Mu's body slowly began to materialize once more from simple grains of flowing sand till his entire body was constructed out of thin air.
The instant he appeared, Lin Mu felt his throat burn from the scorching air that was swept into his lungs, He opted to slow down his breathing by taking short breaths and fortunately for him it helped in reducing the burning flame within his lung's.
" Cough cough, Where on earth am I?!" The moment Lin Mu opened his eyes, He was left dumbfounded because of the scene he saw.
Instead of his simple parlour earlier, What came into his line of sight was a blood red sea of nothing but sandy dunes that filled the land as far as the eye's could see and a striking red sky.
"This feels like the perfect spot to die of dehydration or get eaten by something with too many teeth." Lin Mu shivered at the thought.