A farce was unfolding at the gates of Cangxing City Middle School.
"Chen Li, you'd better hand over that Jixia Academy invitation as compensation for my shield, or you'd better sleep with your eyes open tonight, or you might not see the sun tomorrow! My dad is..." the boy in a school uniform said aggressively, despite being covered in shield fragments from his defeat.
"Shut up." Chen Li shoved the barrel of his alchemical pistol into the boy's mouth in disgust.
Are you people who come looking for trouble all taught by the same master? I'm so sick of it!
"Uhh, uhhh..."
"My father is the legendary investigator, Chen Shi."
"..." The boy, who was furious that his shield had been shattered by the other's pistol, instantly calmed down upon hearing those words.
A legendary investigator? Those lunatics who even the Evil Gods think are crazy?!
"Now, no more nonsense. Hand over the 'Relic' you promised as compensation." After pulling the alchemical pistol out, Chen Li held out his left hand, completely ignoring the gasps from the students at the school gate who had just learned his parents' identity.
Anyway, they'll forget about it tomorrow because they don't have enough resistance to the forgetting-type curse on my parents, so there's no need to pay attention.
"Ahem, well... Brother Chen, I'm just a student." The boy immediately pleaded.
"You could be a 'beast' and it wouldn't matter. You don't have to pay, but your whole family better sleep with their eyes open, or you might not see the sun tomorrow. Oh, and by the way, clean this for me." Disgusted by the boy's drool, Chen Li handed him the alchemical pistol.
"I'm sorry, I was wrong!" It took the boy only five seconds to wipe the pistol clean and hand over his bet. After getting the item, Chen Li turned and walked away toward a self-driving taxi.
Chen Li knew that after losing the Relic, his parents would give the boy a severe beating, but what did that have to do with him?
Do you understand what 'contractual spirit' means?
"I can't believe Chen Li's dad is a legendary investigator! By the way, why does Chen Li seem so experienced at handling people who look for trouble?" The students were chattering.
"Why so experienced? Nothing else, only that my hand is practiced." Sitting in the taxi and hearing some of the discussions, Chen Li complained to himself while looking at his personal panel.
It was because he was so used to this scene that he called it a farce.
After the great change in the world 30 years ago, everyone in this world has their own status panel, a "perk" bestowed by the world. In this world where identity is a profession, raising one's professional level also improves corresponding base attributes.
Name: Chen Li
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Main Profession: Transmigrator (Unique Profession)
Level: LV0 (0/1)
Professional Trait: None
Base Attributes:
Stamina: 21 (Average for a LV0 adult is 10)
Agility: 23
Spirit: 56
Talent: Transmigrator (Sealed)
Passive Skill 1: Time-Space Transmigration (Sealed) - Current Transmigration Count: 0.
Passive Skill 2: Fate's Vortex - Constantly trapped in a vortex of fate. While bringing trouble, it also brings equal benefits.
Passive Skill 3: Supreme - Immune to almost all time, space, and fate-based abilities. When you touch an opponent, their abilities are temporarily nullified or made unusable.
Sub-Profession: Forger
Level: LV18 (49/1800)
Professional Trait: Dexterous
Current Negative Status: None.
Transmigrator is a rare trait that combines both talent and professional attributes. Because of Passive Skill 2, Chen Li is very good at dealing with trouble.
As for the Jixia Academy summer camp invitation? Because he was so used to speed-running things, Chen Li even forgot to tell the other boy that what he received was a logistics invitation. With Chen Li's sub-profession level, getting an invitation was completely normal.
"Beep!"
Hearing his phone ring, Chen Li took it out.
[Lost Bamboo Forest's Runaway Princess]: Get online! Let's game! 9
This was pretty much Chen Li's daily routine.
[Demons and ghosts, get 'off' me]: I just got into trouble, so I'm not home yet.
[Lost Bamboo Forest's Runaway Princess]: How badly is the other guy hurt?
[Demons and ghosts, get 'off' me]: I was the one who got into trouble!
[Lost Bamboo Forest's Runaway Princess]: So how badly is the other guy hurt, exactly?
[Demons and ghosts, get 'off' me]: No physical injuries, but he paid me a Relic.
[Lost Bamboo Forest's Runaway Princess]: That's more like it. So... are you gaming?
[Demons and ghosts, get 'off' me]: My mouse fell asleep, otherwise I'd be all in. Tomorrow for sure.
"He can still beat someone up for me if they're not hurt? Why not ask how I am?" Chen Li complained in his mind.
I shouldn't have immediately sent her money after seeing that text message back then: [I am Kaguya Houraisan, a princess on the run from the world of Gensokyo after being harmed by villains. Send me 5000 so I can have a full meal. After I return to Gensokyo, I'll have Eirin make you 100 Hourai Elixirs!] I should have let her starve for a while and experience the bitterness of life first!
The fact that he would transfer money after receiving a single text message wasn't because he had a low awareness of fraud; it was mainly because with Chen Li's 'trouble-prone' constitution, a scam text wasn't necessarily a scam. At least once, a 'seeking a son for a large sum' text was actually 'seeking a son for a large sum'…
...but no one told Chen Li that the "son" [子] was actually "disciple" [弟子]. Chen Li's current sub-profession came from that.
Sub-professions are very rare and valuable in this world because although leveling them up doesn't increase base attributes, it grants extra professional traits. Two years of playing games with this 'pretty voice, sweet-sounding' gaming partner, and the occasional free delivery of "undying exuviae" for him to forge "survival items," proved that Chen Li's 5000 wasn't wasted. Although Chen Li would pay her afterward each time, having a reliable source was also important.
As for whether his gaming partner was the real Kaguya Houraisan, Chen Li had no hopes. Maybe it was just some undying species cosplaying. Chen Li had even seen someone claim to be Qin Shi Huang. It's just... the "undying exuviae" the other party provided always seemed a little off. When he saw a freshly picked Undead Heart in a package, Chen Li was completely dumbfounded.
"So, you're the 'more functions' provided by that inexplicable system?" Chen Li turned to look at the small fairy-like figure sitting on his shoulder, which was the size of a figurine. Objectively speaking, even with Chen Li's experience, he had to admit to its exquisite beauty. It was just too small.
Seven days ago, Chen Li woke up to find he had a second status panel. Although he was very worried at first, nothing happened for seven consecutive days. After asking an Evil God to check his body for anything unusual and finding nothing, Chen Li could only focus more on dealing with the daily troubles that came his way.
And just a moment ago, this system gave him a quest to teach that shield warrior a lesson, with the reward of unlocking more functions.
"Yes, Master."
"So, what can you do?"
"For example... help you solve the problem of your uncontrollable talent." The little fairy said with a smile.
"!!!" Chen Li's eyes lit up.
"If you're talking about that, I'm all ears."
...
The "Transmigrator" profession sounds great, but the actual hardship is unknown to outsiders. Let's not even mention the constant troubles brought by Passive Talent 2; that's not necessarily a bad thing, because the bigger the waves, the more expensive the fish. The most fatal part of this talent is its "transmigration" ability. Because it's a passive!
Can you imagine? At 13 years old, Chen Li was walking home from school and suddenly found himself in a foreign country, personally witnessing a cult's sacrificial ritual. Do you know how much psychological trauma that could cause a 13-year-old child?
And this could only be considered an aftershock or a prelude to a transmigration. According to the description of the professional trait, a real "transmigration" directly teleports you to the biggest fate node in that world's past or future, making you face countless potential powerful enemies and ever-present risks, and requiring you to try to survive. And... who said that after transmigrating to the past, you'd definitely be able to come back? Fortunately, this profession seems to follow a "minor protection law," and the first true transmigration won't begin until he turns 18, so Chen Li still has time.
Why not abandon this profession? Because this profession locks the status panel! This means Chen Li can only improve his strength through self-training. But because learning non-professional skills is highly inefficient after the world's great change, his growth has been difficult.
The little fairy's proposal was very tempting.
However...
"What a cute doggie. If I punch it, it'll probably cry for a long time, right?"
However... seeing the little fairy say something so terrifying to his dog, Wangcai, after returning home, Chen Li felt something was off. Wangcai was Chen Li's black hunting dog. For some reason, investigators all liked to keep hunting dogs at home.
"Oh, right. Master, have you thought about it? As a beginner's perk, the Miracle System can use miraculous power as an enhancement to give your sub-profession a chance to forge a miracle item. As long as you use your talent as the main forging material and add supplementary materials that match its properties, there's a chance to upgrade your talent and make it controllable." The little fairy's smile was always very gentle.
"A chance... what does that mean?" Chen Li instantly noticed a word.
"It's a miracle, you know how it is." The little fairy wrapped its finger around its long white hair.
"Speak in plain language."
"The chance of success is very small."
"How small?"