Chapter 34: The Morning After (Patreon)

Watching Rider—disheveled, kneeling, and sucking blood from her index finger—Shinji found himself feeling something he absolutely should not have felt this early in the morning.

For a young man full of energy, the scene was… far too stimulating. The sight of her delicate lips closing around her finger, the slight tilt of her head, and her faintly dazed expression… it was the kind of moment that could easily push a teenage boy’s imagination in a direction it shouldn’t go.

But then he remembered there was a younger sister in the house.

No.

Bad thoughts, begone.

If Sakura heard anything weird while he was doing questionable things…

That would definitely be bad.

A terrible example.

Unacceptable.

…Should he tell Rider that he’d picked his nose with that finger last night and forgot to wash it?

While Shinji drifted through these ridiculous thoughts for a few minutes, Rider’s semi-transparent form fully solidified. Her barely maintained clothing slowly restored itself, covering the dangerously exposed areas. The moment felt slightly suggestive, but not in a way Shinji could responsibly entertain.

Releasing his finger, Rider stood up.

“The barrier.”

“Huh?” Shinji blinked, then sensed the lingering magic. He casually waved his hand. “Disperse.”

With his command, the formations and restrictions in the room crumbled. The magical channel reactivated, and Rider once again felt Sakura’s presence.

“It seems you didn’t take my warning seriously yesterday, Rider…” Shinji said with a soft, amused smile.

Oddly, looking into his smiling eyes, Rider didn’t feel annoyed at all.

She took one last glance at him, then turned and disappeared, returning to spiritual form.

[Grandson, your quest rewards are ready for collection.]

Shinji finally remembered he had completed the main quest yesterday and immediately pulled up the system interface with excitement.

However…

Upon seeing the lone, suspiciously cheap-looking silver metal ring in the inventory, his expression instantly went blank.

Are you kidding me?! Just a lousy ring?

At least put a diamond on it!

You probably bought it from a street stall for ten bucks!

And where did all the stuff I saved up over the years go?!

Did it grow legs and run away?!

[It’s inside the ring.]

Huh?

Shinji’s expression softened a bit as he took the ring out of the inventory.

Looking at the utterly ordinary ring in his hand—the kind you’d buy at an accessory shop for a few hundred yen—Shinji finally recalled something from the few cultivation novels he had read in his previous life.

A storage ring.

Could this be…

That’s right. Satisfied?

Satisfied my ass! I spent so many points and ten years completing the main quest, and all I get is this piece of junk?

Is the system space not big enough or something?

Do I even need this?

Give me back my youth! Refund! Go to hell!

[Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. This is just a bonus. You should already know what the real reward is.]

Tch.

Shinji clicked his tongue, got up, went to the desk, opened a drawer, picked up a thin platinum chain, threaded the ring onto it, and placed it around his neck.

The chain was one of the few relics belonging to his mother—a woman he had never met—found only after digging through the house.

The system was right. The real reward wasn’t this 100-cubic-meter storage ring, but something he desperately needed at this stage.

Human spiritual composition is divided into three primary soul aspects—Essence, Awareness, and Will—and seven inner nodes, corresponding to the seven energy centers of the body. These centers regulate vitality, emotion, instinct, and psychic flow.

Shinji was missing one of these seven crucial nodes—the Central Node, the stabilizing core that connected the other six. Because of this, he had been unable to break through to the Reinforcement Stage, the realm where the body and spirit begin transcending mortal limits.

And the system’s reward was exactly that missing Central Node.

…Half of it.

“Damn, giving only half and having the nerve to call it a reward.”

Shinji clicked his tongue, muttering with disdain while checking the rest of his rewards.

[Point reward: 100,000.]

[Storage ring.]

[Items inside the ring: Hades’ Cap, Large-Scale Arcane Analyzer (One-time use), Half a Central Node…]

Seeing the Arcane Analyzer—a silver metal device with a small LCD panel, only half a palm in size—Shinji’s lips curled slightly. The original reason for wanting to intercept Medea no longer existed.

This damn system actually did something decent for once.

Because the half Central Node managed to connect the other six, Shinji had successfully broken through the bottleneck and reached the Reinforcement Stage while asleep. Although he hadn’t strengthened even one node yet, he was now officially a Reinforcement-stage practitioner.

Wait… is something missing?

After reviewing the rewards, Shinji realized something.

Where’s the weapon?

Aren’t I supposed to use magical tools at this stage?

If you don’t give me a weapon, what am I supposed to fight with?

And what the hell is “Hades’ Cap”?

Did you steal it from some golden hero’s treasury?

And doesn’t it overlap with my own aura-concealing method?

Swap it for something else!

[Quest rewards cannot be exchanged.]

Dammit!

[However, a new batch of weapons has just been added to the points shop. Considering your good performance in this quest, grandson, I’ll give you a 1% discount.]

Looking at the entry-level magical tools in the points shop—none priced below 98,000 points—Shinji fell silent once more.

He had felt this way before, but this time the scythe’s blade was far too blatant.

It was practically screaming: You’ve grown another batch, little leek. Time for harvest.

“Damn system, let’s negotiate, alright? Could you maybe not make your intention to bleed me dry so obvious? Can’t we preserve at least a shred of dignity here? Does it have to be this blatant? This isn’t even tearing off the mask anymore!”

[…Understood, grandson.]

“So, how about changing that 1% discount to a 50% discount?”

[…No.]

Well-versed in the system’s tricks, Shinji pressed on. “Let me ask first—do you have something like ‘Basic Artifact Forging’? How much does it cost?”

[Buy an entry-level magical tool, and ‘Basic Artifact Forging’ is included for free.]

“What if I only want ‘Basic Artifact Forging’?”

[Free gifts are not sold separately. Of course, you can obtain it through the lottery. Right now, a 5-draw guarantees ‘Basic Artifact Forging’!]

Shinji: …

…

7:00 AM.

Sitting on the edge of his bed, Shinji stared, his eye twitching, at the miniature peach-wood sword in his hand. After an hour of bargaining, he had finally bought it for 85,000 points. It was probably carved from a freshly cut peach-wood branch, only one and a half inches wide, with a blade about a foot and a half long—a pocket-sized peach-wood sword. He also held the first page of the Basic Artifact Forging manual.

Residence-Pacifying, Spirit-Repelling, Evil-Warding Peach-Wood Sword.
Required Materials — Fresh Peach Wood, Carving Knife.
Forging Method: Carve your preferred sword shape onto the wood, engrave your favorite patterns, and finally attach your preferred pendant…

Shinji had no desire to read further. He lifted his hand and slapped himself hard across the face.

Smack!

I am such a fucking idiot!

.....

I’ve updated the mc's power system—changing it from a Japanese-style (origially chinese) format to a simple-style one. This won’t affect the story, just make things clearer.

Thanks for reading!