Old Chen noticed that a bright light radiated from the pair of vertical pupils at the next moment.
He felt his consciousness plunge into a pure white world, descending rapidly as if he was falling off a cliff in a dream. He was startled and exited from the trance in a panic.
Then, he found himself in a completely dark world.
There were five versions of him unfolding before his eyes.
One had solid and plain leather armor and a sharp and heavy iron sword in his hand.
One lurked in the corner with two daggers and suddenly disappeared when their gazes met.
One had a hunting bow on his back and spiked gloves on his hands.
One wore a monocle and held a book in his hand, reading under the moonlight.
One hand held something that was constantly changing, with an amiable smile.
So, this is how I choose my profession?
Old Chen was slightly startled.
What the hell! Did I crossover to another world?
Old Chen subconsciously looked at the person dressed as a warrior, and then he found that his perspective had changed and shifted to the warrior-version of him.
Feeling the weight of the long sword in his hand, he was convinced that this wasn’t his weak body that fell into the category of an internet-addicted youth.
This game is fantastic! He couldn’t help but exclaim.
Old Chen was a little convinced that this might be a “world transmigration game” at this point.
[Do you want to finalize your initial profession as a swordsman?]
[Warning: Once the initial profession is finalized, it cannot be changed!]
At this moment, Old Chen saw a line of prompt flashing before his eyes.
“No, no, I don’t confirm.” He answered quickly.
He reluctantly suppressed the admiration for this game and concentrated on observing the only five professions available to him.
Warrior? Rogue? Hunter? Mage?
What is this last profession?
Random profession?
There are too few starting professions for this game…
Old Chen didn’t hesitate much and chose the profession that appeared like a mage. It was his typical choice. As long as the mage profession was available, he would prefer it.
[Do you confirm finalizing your initial profession as a wizard apprentice?]
“Yes!” Old Chen shouted in excitement.
Then, everything in front of him disappeared. Ripples unfolded before his eyes, and a standing mirror emerged.
The mirror was pitch black and with only one line visible on it.
[Please name your character.]
[Warning: Once confirmed, this could no longer be changed!]
“Longjing tea [1].” Old Chen replied.
His typical Game ID would be “The Longjing Tea Who Drinks Longjing Tea”. However, considering the contract’s clauses that he had just read, he chose a shorter and less ridiculous one.
As for retaining the term “Longjing Tea”, that was his final stubbornness.
Another ripple surfaced on the mirror. The initial attribute panel of Longjing Tea had appeared.
[ID: Longjing Tea]
Human. Male. Level 5
Health: 100%
Attributes: Strength 5, Agility 5, Constitution 5, Perception 8, Will 5
Available Attribute Points: 2
Shared Experience: 0
Profession Overview:
Wizard Apprentice LV5: [Touch of Healing] (Idol School), [Stone to Mud] (Shaping School), [Movement Prohibition] (Edict School). Please select one spell among the three.
[Please confirm your initial panel!]
What is the rule? DnD? Doesn’t seem like it?
What are the effects of different attributes? Why doesn’t the system say it?
Longjing Tea hesitated slightly.
He regretted it a little for not taking Cade’s words to heart. I should have asked for the game strategy. Now that I can’t exit, I’m going in blind…
Firstly, he added 10 points to the Perception attribute.
His gamer instinct told him not to distribute points in a balanced manner. It might not be the most optimal route to invest all the attribute points on the primary attribute, but it wouldn’t be the worst route.
As for the three spells, he had read them for a long time.
Luckily, the spells came with an introduction.
[Touch of Healing (Instant): Curse your dominant hand, allowing it to obtain the temporary ability to heal minor injuries by touch.]
[Stone to Mud (Instant): Curse your gaze, and alter the “stone” you look at into “mud” instantly.]
[Movement Prohibition (Instant): Chant the edict to inhibit all the targets who heard it from moving. Those who fall within your gaze experience double the effect. Those pointed at by your fingers have the effect inflicted on them doubled too.]
So, a close-range healing, an unreliable crowd control ability, and a spell to dig traps.
Longjing Tea’s common sense in games told him that healing was the most necessary. After all, any healing ability would allow a wider window for team errors.
However, the problem was that the contract stated it was a real world. Therefore, the boss monster wouldn’t be dumb and mechanical. If he knew the importance of a healer in the party, wouldn’t the boss know as well?
Wouldn’t the boss target the healer first?
Longjing Tea chose the Edict School spell without debating for too long, simply for its more useful self-defense purposes.
I don’t know whether the wizards of this world can use weapons other than the staff.
If so, I want to arm myself with a gun.
Indeed, when he saw the trailer, he noticed that guns existed in this world. It just so happened that he was trained in firing and assembling guns as well.
Although the guns that existed here were antiques, they shouldn’t be too unfamiliar.
Hehehe, I can control an assassin rushing toward me and turn him into a standing target for me to shoot. That sounds so satisfying.
Moreover, Longjing Tea’s instinct vaguely sensed that the magnitude of these three spells differed.
The Edict spell is more potent than the healing one, while the [Stone to Mud] seems inferior.
Is the spell given at random? That doesn’t seem possible though?
Could it be related to my talent?
The ripples in front of Longjing Tea faded without a pause.
What emerged again was him wearing a clothed robe with a thin book in his left hand.
He looked down and found that he could comprehend the book title, even though he had never seen this kind of text.
“Use and Choice of Prohibited Spells”
Immediately afterward, new texts appeared before his eyes.
[Please make some fine adjustments.]
[Warning: You can only beautify your appearance. The beautifying effect shall not exceed 50%.]
Seeing these two lines, Longjing Tea fell into deep thought.
After customizing his character for 2 hours, he finally lowered the 62% beautifying effect to 48%.
“It feels like 50% isn’t enough.” Longjing Tea smacked his lips, seemingly unsatisfied.
He originally wanted to put on more muscles but thought that it might affect his attributes. So, he only improved his fitness slightly and drew out his abdominal muscles, yet the beautification effect had increased to 70% directly.
After he stopped trying to add muscles, the beautifying effect rose much more slowly.
“Fuck, when it says only limited to beautifying, it really only comes down to that.” Longjing Tea said as he finished adjusting his face.
Then, two lines appeared before his eyes.
[Return to the material world.]
[Enter the Mist Continent.]
Hmm, I feel like going offline first.
I have customized my face for two hours already.
Although he wanted to enter the game, Longjing Tea persuaded himself to go offline immediately with his excellent self-control.
So, he tapped on the first button.
When he woke up again, he found himself lying on the table with Cade’s greasy coat on him. Cade was sitting on the sofa with legs crossed, drinking tea, playing with the phone, and eating snacks—presumably, the secretary brought Cade those.
The first thing Longjing Tea did was to look at the time.
Have two and a half hours passed?
Hmm, that’s the same time I used to customize my face.
In other words, the real-time to game time ratio is 1:1?
“How are you feeling, Beer Chen?” At this moment, Cade smiled and said, “I gave you my only invitation code. Aren’t I very kind?
“Come here, call me daddy!”
“Fuck off! Forget it. We’re on an equal score!”
Old Chen shook his hand a little frustratedly, rushed over, and drank a glass of water.
Then he hesitated and said softly, “But still… Thanks, Captain.”
He was grateful that his old captain granted him entry to a new world.
“It’s fine.” Cade said solemnly, “Mr. Chen, quickly change our live broadcast contract with a shorter stream time requirement. Of course, you can lower the salary. You remember the streamer system that Old Goose told you about before, right?”
“Sure, we can settle with that.” Old Chen hesitated for a moment but still responded, “I will get it done tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? How about today?”
“We brothers should catch up with a meal later. Then, I need to ask you how to start the game optimally.”
Old Chen smiled, “Then, I will go home and grind on the game.”
“It’s only 4 p.m., though?”
“Fuck, I’m the director. I’m already very productive even when I only work until 4 p.m.!”
He yelled, “If it wasn’t for waiting for you…”
“Huh? You mean…”
“What? I mean I definitely work hard! You’re the person interrupting my work, which in turn affected the performance of our platform. So quickly call me daddy to repent for your sins,” said Old Chen righteously.
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Credits to MindMatrix for editing this chapter and improving the readability.