Half an hour later, after Fang Yuan said a few words of comfort to Lin Luo and promised to not fire her, he sent her away and told her to come back tomorrow.
Watching her leave, he placed a "Closed" sign on the door and locked it tightly, before returning to his chair.
When he sat down again, he was no longer able to hide his excitement and he had the urge to let out a wild laugh.
Thankfully, he managed to restrain himself in time and didn't embarrass himself and ruin his reputation.
Fang Yuan couldn't be blamed for violent intense reaction.
Imagine that you one day find yourself having transmigrated to a completely different world, losing the conveniences of modern life and having to struggle in order to survive.
If they were to face such situation, most people would start doubting whether they had gone crazy and whether they were experiencing hallucinations.
The fact that Fang Yuan was able to accept this situation so quickly was actually quite admirable.
Now, when he discovered that he had a system, how could he still remain calm?
Fang Yuan followed the instructions of the message he just received and with a thought of his mind, a transparent panel appeared in his field of vision.
[Name: Fang Yuan]
[Occupation: Antique Shop Owner]
[Skills: Antique Appraisal]
[Simulations: Beggar(0/3)]
[Origin: 0]
The panel was quite simple and was relatively easy to understand, as it just displayed his information in simple terms.
It was the last two columns on the panel that attracted most of Fang Yuan's attention.
According to the message he received, the function of the system was to allow him to personally go through a certain part of another person's life, by "transmigrating" into their bodies.
Of course, this didn't mean that Fang Yuan would really transmigrate, but that the system would create a fake, simulated world and then throw him in, replacing the original owner of that body.
The way to receive simulations was quite simple, and the only thing that Fang Yuan had to do was to come into contact with special items, just like the old page he previously touched.
The message didn't say what it was that made these items special, but when Fang Yuan recalled the previous feeling of longing he felt when he saw the vase, he was sure that he would be able to identify them easily if he happened to meet one.
On the last column, the currency of the system, Origin, was displayed.
By spending Origin, Fang Yuan was able to bring items into the simulation, as well as take items out of it.
Unfortunately, the message didn't mention how to obtain Origin, meaning that Fang Yuan would have to discover it on his own.
"Of course, there are still some things I have doubts about.", Fang Yuan thought, but no matter how much he asked the system, it wouldn't answer him, as if it was dead.
Seeing this, he could only shake his head and put his focus on the panel in front of him.
"In fact, the best way to obtain more information is to actually use the system."
Whether it was in his previous or in this one, Fang Yuan had always been a decisive person and didn't like wasting time.
So, without any hesitation, he "clicked" on the word [Beggar] on the system panel and chose to start the simulation.
The next moment, his vision went dark and he felt the world around him spinning.
---
Weak.
This was the very first feeling that Fang Yuan had, as he struggled to control his own body.
While he moved, his muscles stretched and the weakness of his body became even more apparent.
When Fang Yuan opened his eyes, he found that he was laying on the ground inside a dark, cold alley.
"Did I 'transmigrate' into a corpse?", he couldn't help but complain when he saw his current situation.
Lowering his head and looking down at himself, Fang Yuan saw that he was wearing a bunch of gray, coarse clothes, while his body was very thin and looked as if he hadn't eaten for weeks.
Seeing his appearance, it didn't take a genius to understand the reason behind the weakness of his body.
Just when he was about to look for further clues, a bunch of memories poured into his mind and he quickly understood his current identity.
"Zhao Ergou, an abandoned child, currently living as a beggar..."
Through these memories, the reason behind the name of the simulation became clear.
Obviously, it was referring to the identity of his current body.
Having received these memories, Fang Yuan noticed that his control over his body increased and raised his head to look around.
Just as he was expecting, he was not alone in this dark alley, but there were also a few other beggars that lay on the ground just like him.
Fang Yuan knew that these people were either orphans that had no one to support them or they had been abandoned by their parents at a very young age and ended up here.
Zhao Ergou, the previous owner of this body had a similar experience.
Just as these thoughts were passing through his mind, a string of semi-transparent words that only he was able to see appeared in his field of vision.
[Mission: Survive the night.]
These four words seemed to be written in blood that slowly dripped down, making them seem quite terrifying.
"How ominous...", Fang Yuan commented casually, but he knew that although this mission seemed simple, the implication behind it meant that he was bound to face danger in the near future.
"Tap, tap, tap..."
Suddenly, a continuous sound rang in his ears, coming from around the corner and slowly getting closer to the alley.
A few seconds later, the sound became louder and its source revealed itself.
It was a woman in her early thirties, with long golden hair and a pair of blue eyes, that wore a long, golden dress.
The tapping sound that Fang Yuan heard previously came from this woman, or to be more accurate, it came from her black heels when they stepped on the wet, muddy ground.
From the fabric of the her clothes and their bright colors, Fang Yuan immediately realized that this woman should be of high status, possibly a noble in this area.
Unfortunately, he couldn't know anything her exact identity, as the previous owner of this body was just a beggar.
Let alone knowing the nobles, Zhao Ergou didn't even know the name of the city he was living in.
Just when Fang Yuan was complaining about this world's illiteracy, the rest of the beggars also discovered this blonde woman and while they were surprised, they mostly showed worry.
After all, for people like them, the appearance of an unexpected visitor was hardly a good thing, especially when the visitor's status was obviously impressive.
"Shh, don't worry. I just saw you here and I came to bring you some food.", the woman spoke in a soft voice and comforted them, and while speaking, a gentle smile appeared on her face that was full of motherly love.
Her gentle smile and voice seemed to have the ability to infect the people around her, and the usually wary beggars instantly let down their guard.
"Tap, tap, tap..."
The tapping sound came again as the woman took a few steps closer and reached into her bag, taking out a few pieces of white bread.
Then, she stretched her hands and gently placed a piece of bread on each of the beggars' hands, and patted them on the head.
The sound of rumbling spread in the alley and having not eaten for days, the beggars didn't hesitate to eat the piece of bread, swallowing it in a few mouthfuls.
Fang Yuan was the only person among the beggars that didn't rush to eat the bread, but stared at it silently.
Having read the content of the mission that the system issued, coupled with the strangeness of the current situation, he immediately understood that something was wrong.
However, perhaps because he stood out and caused her to notice him, the woman stopped in front of him and leaned down, bringing her smiling face close to his.
"Come on. Just eat it.", she whispered and before he could react, the smiling woman had taken the bread of his weak hand and forced it into his mouth.
Instinctively, Fang Yuan chewed on the bread and hurriedly gulped it down.
"Good, good.", he heard the woman say and a soft, delicate hand touched his head and played with a few strands of his black hair.
Unfortunately, Fang Yuan didn't have the time to appreciate this woman's show of affection.
The moment he swallowed the bread, he felt as if his whole body was burning, as if what he swallowed was not a piece of bread, but a piece of hot, scorching lava.
At the same time, Fang Yuan found that he lost control of his body and it started trembling violently on its own, while tears flowed out of his eyes and made his vision blurry.
Due to the twitching of his body, his head turned around and he faced the rest of his companions in the cold alley.
Just like him, the bodies of the other people were also trembling violently and they opened their mouths wide, gasping for air.
It was the first time for Fang Yuan to become witness to such scene and most importantly, it was the first time that he felt that his own death was imminent.
In his last moments, he struggled to raise his head and looked at the woman that was still standing in front of him, only to see that there was still a bright smile on her face, as if she was very happy with what was she was seeing.
But when he stared into her eyes, Fang Yuan discovered that they were completely indifferent, devoid of any human emotion.
The next moment, three bloody words appeared in his field of vision, followed by boundless darkness.
[You've died.]