Chapter 2: The System

The system was almost identical to the game she’d played before crossing over, but Yun Qing hadn’t spent much time on that game and didn’t know much about it. Over the past four days since arriving in this world, however, she had thoroughly studied her own golden-fingered system.

She possessed a very rudimentary cave dwelling, which consisted of two parts: a homestead and a field. There was no house built on the homestead—most of it was in ruins, save for two machines placed in the center: a basic fabricator and an energy converter. Most of the field was barren, with only ten small plots, each about a foot square, that were fertile.

Improving either the homestead or the field required leveling up, as well as silver and spirit stones, all things Yun Qing currently lacked. The cave dwelling was dilapidated, but it had one great advantage: she herself could enter it. Yet, whenever she tried to spend time inside for proper study, Liu Liu always reminded her: “Energy is about to run out. Please exit the cave dwelling soon.”

She hadn’t yet had the opportunity to research what items the basic fabricator could produce. The energy converter could transform any item into energy for the cave’s operation, but as Liu Liu explained, “The energy converter itself consumes energy, and the items you collect aren’t enough to offset the cost. It’s best not to use it.”

Why was it always Liu Liu who spoke? Yun Qing glanced helplessly at the black Labrador sprawled at her side—Liu Liu, as in “to slip away.” He was a creature only she could see. According to Liu Liu, he was a manifested system assistant sprite, able to answer all her questions. In reality, he either claimed ignorance, complained of hunger and demanded meat, or asked for spirit stones. Only the most basic questions would receive a proper answer. Liu Liu explained this was due to her low level and insufficient permissions.

She hadn’t chosen the name Liu Liu; the system had assigned it at random. She’d been so startled by the sudden appearance of the system sprite that she hadn’t thought to rename him. Renaming the dog required five hundred spirit stones, which, penniless as she was, Yun Qing simply could not afford.

All she hoped was that Liu Liu wouldn’t “slip away” at the first sign of trouble, and if he did, at least take her with him.

Aside from the cave dwelling and Liu Liu, she also had an attribute panel. Her character: Yun Qing, Level: 1. There were other stats as well—health, hunger, vitality, spiritual power, divine sense, energy, attack, defense, gathering, combat, crafting, and several more.

There was a backpack and a shop. The backpack had dozens of slots but nothing in them; the shop had no items for sale. During her three days recovering in Ye Village, she’d run many tests on the system.

She could store items in the backpack—small materials could be stacked up to a hundred per slot, while larger items took up one slot each. Odds and ends could be bundled together in a pouch and then put into the backpack as a single slot.

To store items, she had to touch them with her right hand. To retrieve something, if her right palm faced upward, the item would appear in her hand; if her palm faced down, the item would appear below her hand. If her hand was in midair, the item would simply fall to the ground.

She’d placed a large rock and several pebbles in her backpack. The rock could be used for smashing, and the pebbles as “hidden weapons” for throwing at a distance. In this way she at least had basic melee and ranged tools for self-defense.

With the cave dwelling out of energy, she couldn’t study it further for now. In emergencies, however, it could be a place to hide.

Villagers’ names and levels would appear in white above their heads. Except for those she’d met in the past few days, all names were unknown. This gave Yun Qing a unique ability: once she’d learned someone’s name, it would always display above their head when she saw them again. Such a skill would have been invaluable in the modern world—unfortunately, she couldn’t go back.

The adults’ levels were all unknown; she could only see the levels of children, and even then, only those within ten levels above her. If someone was more than ten levels higher, their level would be hidden.

All the children’s levels were higher than hers, but Yun Qing didn’t believe she was weaker than them—she chalked up her low level to needing to defeat monsters for experience.

When her hunger dropped below thirty, her mind would focus on only one thing: eating.

Yun Qing picked up a piece of fish and said to Liu Liu, “You haven’t eaten in three days—do you want some?”

Liu Liu shook his head. “I don’t eat this. I want meat.”

“Isn’t fish meat?”

“I’m so hungry. I want to eat meat.”

Yun Qing raised an eyebrow. Apparently, he wasn’t hungry enough. Fine, she thought—the fish was barely enough to fill her to seventy percent satisfaction anyway.

Within five minutes, all that was left in Yun Qing’s hand was a fish bone and the leaf she’d used to wrap the food.

Health: 100/100. Hunger: 68/100. Vitality: 100/100.

Her vitality was finally back to full. She felt lighter than she ever had before. Tomorrow, she’d have no trouble joining the villagers in gathering resources.

She didn’t have to leave the village to contribute. She could help by weaving cloth, making gauze, bandages, and clothes; she could cook—though only food that added to one’s attributes counted as proper cuisine; she could construct defenses or reinforce formations; or, if she were very old or very young and someone cared for her, she could stay.

The loom seemed simple enough to use, but she’d need a lot of practice to become proficient. She could cook, but she didn’t know how to make food that increased attributes. She had no clue about formations. And as a newcomer with no connections, she had no one to rely on. Her only option was to go out and look for resources.

The next morning, Yun Qing slung the grass-woven backpack over her shoulders and arrived early at the village square where those heading out to collect resources gathered.

“Hey! Yun, right? I said your little injuries would be healed in three days!” someone called, a boy’s voice arriving before she even turned.

Yun Qing looked back. The youth was sixteen or seventeen, with a bright and handsome face. He wore a black cap that somewhat hid his looks, and when he spoke, a pair of pointed little canine teeth flashed, making him seem especially mischievous and endearing.

It was Ye Xiaolang, the one who had brought her back from the wild.

He spoke with such confidence because, when she’d first arrived in this world, her health had been below fifty, her whole body wracked with pain. She’d thought even a hospital stay of half a month wouldn’t be enough, while Ye Xiaolang had been sure she’d be fine in three days.

Yun Qing smiled. “Xiaolang, you’re amazing—one look and you could see how serious my injuries were.”

Ye Xiaolang disliked being called “little.” He only looked young; in fact, he was not a child anymore. He snorted, “Tch, call me Brother Wolf!”

Before crossing over, Yun Qing had been twenty-one. This boy was clearly younger than she was—she wouldn’t argue with a kid, but she definitely wasn’t calling him brother. She smiled, “Today I’ll be going out with the villagers to gather resources. There’s a lot I don’t understand, so I hope you’ll look after me.”

Ye Xiaolang swung his spear and pointed to the big pack on his back. “We’ll see. I’m going hunting, you’re not coming with me.”

She had learned over the past few days that resource gathering outside the village was divided into four main tasks: mining, lumbering, herb and food gathering, and hunting. Of course, it wasn’t strictly divided—miners could also gather herbs if they wished.

She didn’t know how to do any of these things. Her system backpack would make her an excellent porter, but since no one else seemed to have a storage bag, using it openly might bring trouble.

Hunting was definitely dangerous. It was best to start with the easiest tasks and secure her basic needs. Yun Qing spread her hands. “Alright, I’ll go at my own pace.”