"Dad! Mom! I'm back!"
"I, your son, am officially a junior trainer now!"
The moment Lin Rui stepped into the house, he shouted proudly, not even waiting for his parents to ask, afraid they might somehow miss the news.
Sure enough.
Hearing his voice, the two elders poked their heads out of the kitchen and asked in unison, "Son, which Pokémon did you choose? Let it out so we can see!"
Lin Rui chuckled. He took the Poké Ball from his waist and tossed it out with what he thought was a very cool motion.
"Come out, Magikarp!"
A red flash of light appeared.
A red Magikarp materialized in front of the two elders, flopping and jumping happily on the floor.
The instant they saw it, the smiles on their faces froze.
[Ding! Negative emotions from Lin Zhiguo: +99…]
[Ding! Negative emotions from Zhang Chunmei: +99…]
"Son… you chose Magikarp as your starter Pokémon?"
Lin Zhiguo pointed at the Magikarp on the ground, his face full of disbelief.
Although Zhang Chunmei didn't say anything, her expression said everything.
Helpless, Lin Rui could only explain, "Dad, Mom, don't look at it like this now. Once it evolves into Gyarados, it'll be very powerful!"
Hearing this, the two elders exchanged puzzled looks.
Even though they weren't trainers, they knew that Pokémon had to level up to evolve.
And the fastest way to level up was by gaining experience through battles.
But apart from jumping around, what could Magikarp even do?
Letting it fight would just be a joke.
"Honey," Zhang Chunmei said thoughtfully, "maybe we should add another dish tonight. Braised carp sounds pretty good."
"I think that works," Lin Zhiguo nodded seriously.
The two of them continued chatting, completely ignoring Lin Rui and the Magikarp on the floor.
[Ding! Negative emotions from Magikarp: +111…]
Huh?
Magikarp could also produce negative emotions?
Lin Rui was stunned when he saw the system notification.
He had assumed only humans could contribute negative emotions. He hadn't expected Pokémon to count as well.
It seemed this system had far more functions than he initially thought.
Rolling his eyes at the two elders, Lin Rui recalled Magikarp into its Poké Ball, turned around, went into his room, and locked the door.
Outside the room, the two elders looked at each other.
"Did we go too far?" Lin Zhiguo asked hesitantly.
"It's all your fault. You suggested adding dishes," Zhang Chunmei complained as she turned back toward the kitchen.
"You agreed to it too! Why are you blaming me alone?"
In truth, Lin Rui wasn't angry at all. He could tell they were just joking.
He returned to his room simply because he wanted to study the system.
"System?"
Lin Rui tried calling out mentally, but after several minutes, there was no response.
Instead, a panel resembling a game interface appeared before his eyes.
In the center was his personal information. Beneath it were three options: System Mall, Lottery Center, and Income Record.
Lin Rui first looked at his personal info.
[Name: Lin Rui]
[Occupation: Junior Trainer]
[Pokémon: Magikarp]
[Balance: 598]
He understood everything except the last line.
What did this "balance" mean?
Just as he was wondering, the number 598 suddenly flickered and changed to 642.
At the same time, a message popped up.
[Ding! Negative emotions from Lin Zhiguo: +44…]
"So this balance… is negative emotion points?"
With that realization, Lin Rui opened the Income Record.
Inside were detailed logs of every negative emotion he had collected so far.
The total was exactly 642.
Now certain of what the balance represented, he opened the System Mall.
At the moment, there was only one item available.
[Magic Candy]
[Description: A candy filled with energy. After a Pokémon consumes it, its level increases by 1.]
[Price: 1000]
Magic Candy!
This was good stuff.
Lin Rui had been worrying about how to level up Magikarp, and this item was the perfect solution.
But the price…
One thousand points.
How many negative emotions would he need just to evolve Magikarp?
"Looks like I need to find a way to collect more negative emotions."
"But what exactly counts as a 'negative emotion'?"
"Forget it. Let's check out the Lottery Center."
With that thought, Lin Rui opened the Lottery Center.
In the next instant, the panel transformed into a massive spinning wheel.
Below it was a button labeled Click to Start, along with a reminder.
[Each draw consumes 100 balance points.]
"Only 100 points. That's not bad."
Compared to Magic Candy costing 1000 points each, this was very affordable.
Lin Rui pressed the button.
The wheel began to spin.
Round and round it went.
More than a minute passed, and it still didn't stop.
"Do I have to tell it to stop?"
The moment he said that, the wheel's speed began to slow.
So that's how it works.
"What kind of treasure will I get from my first draw?"
"Will I get a divine beast right away? If not, a quasi-god would be fine too."
Before night had even fallen, Lin Rui was already dreaming big.
Finally, the wheel stopped.
The pointer landed on a Poké Ball.
"A Poké Ball? No way it gives out a quasi-god just like that!"
Lin Rui's heart raced.
But in the next second, reality hit him hard.
It was a Poké Ball—but just the most ordinary red-and-white one, completely empty.
[Congratulations to the host! You have obtained an ordinary red-and-white Poké Ball!]
[Red-and-White Poké Ball]
[Description: The most common Poké Ball. Can be used to capture wild Pokémon.]
"Damn it… I got excited for nothing."
Even so, Lin Rui still put it away.
An ordinary Poké Ball cost 500 each at the Pokémon League.
He had spent only 100 negative emotion points to draw something worth 500, which was basically free profit.
Very cost-effective.
"Again!"
Winning something on his first try greatly boosted Lin Rui's confidence.
He now had 542 points left—enough for five more draws.
If he managed to draw a Pokémon Egg, he would strike it rich.
Even the most common Caterpie egg was worth hundreds of thousands. Selling it could earn him at least tens of thousands.
As Lin Rui pressed the start button again, the wheel began spinning.
He silently counted to ten, then shouted, "Stop!"
The wheel slowed down at random.
"Pokémon egg… Pokémon egg…"
"Damn it—thank you for your patronage!"
It was so close. Just a little more, and the pointer would have landed on the egg.
Instead, it passed over and stopped on Thank You for Your Patronage.
Lin Rui nearly went crazy.
"If this happens again, I'm done believing in this!"
[Thank you for your patronage. Please keep up the good work!]
[Thank you for your patronage. Please keep up the good work!]
[Thank you for your patronage. Please keep up the good work!]
Three times in a row.
Lin Rui was so angry he almost spat blood.
He had started with over 500 points, and in less than a minute, he was left with only 100.
"The last 100 points… I don't believe it. If you've got the guts, then keep thanking me for my patronage!"