Rewarding You with a System
Origin Star. Cangyuan Continent. About 200 kilometers upstream of the Long River Delta.
Mu Ri stood on the earthen slope, ignoring his companions' shouts from below.
He was wrapped in an unknown animal hide, roughly sewn together, barely enough to cover his body. In his hand he held a bone spear, the tip of which was made from the fangs of a wild beast, gleaming faintly in the sunlight.
He is looking into the distance.
The water level of that ever-flowing Long River seemed to be higher than usual at this moment.
They only moved here last year; their previous home collapsed.
"Last time... when the big tree was scorching hot... the water would also climb over the bank... it seems like that time is almost here again."
Mu Ri observing for a long time, I felt that the endless Long River was indeed higher than before, I murmured to myself.
But those concepts churned in his mind, making it difficult to form coherent sentences. He thought for a moment, rearranged those scattered thoughts in his mind, and only after confirming that he understood them did he turn around and run down the embankment.
He went to find his mother.
His mother was the oldest woman in the tribe's history. No one knows her exact age, but she had lived through more than forty "hot tree seasons," and was usually responsible for distributing food and deciding on migration times.
"Eek... Ahh... Water... It's rising... Let's go, let's go!"
Mu Ri gestured wildly for a long time before his mother finally understood the complex meaning he was trying to convey. He made various syllables as he tried to express that complex meaning.
The mother paused for a long time, and finally took a charred fruit from the fire beneath her and gave it to him, telling him to go away.
Mu Ri left the cave dejectedly and went back to the earthen slope to stare blankly.
Unable to communicate.
This concept suddenly popped into Mu Ri's mind.
He felt isolated from the others in the tribe, as if by some unseen force. He could feel a multitude of thoughts, ideas, and things he wanted to express within himself.
But he just couldn't express them clearly. The words were clear in his mind, but when they reached his lips, they turned into broken syllables and chaotic gestures.
The same goes for everyone else.
Everyone in the tribe lives in their own world, relying on instinct to survive.
No one has ever discussed why it gets cold, why it gets hot, why trees bear fruit, or why rivers flow ashore.
No one asked "if," "why," or "what if."
It felt like something was missing.
Something unified that allows ideas to flow clearly.
At the same time, everyone lived according to their instincts, and no one considered other tribes or the Future...
Just then, a dozen or so figures emerged from the woods in the distance.
They carried all sorts of tools in their hands—stone axes, bone spears, wooden clubs—and the carcasses of their prey on their shoulders.
Hunting party.
The concept popped into Mu Ri's mind; it was the name he had given to this group of people.
This was the tribe's "extra income" and one of its main sources of meat. Hunting teams would hunt outside all year round, and every now and then they would bring meat, bones, and leather to the tribe in exchange for mating opportunities and other supplies.
Their own tribe was large and powerful, and they were not afraid of these hunting teams composed of strong men; in fact, they were, to some extent, the ones who drove them.
This is a relatively good way of coexisting nowadays: the hunting party provides meat, and the tribe provides women and temporary shelter, thus balancing food and force.
Mu Ri about this, I was suddenly surprised.
How come he can make these concepts so clear today?
Normally, it would take him a long time to figure out these relationships. Today, it seems... his mind is much Spiritual Light?
"Huh? Could it be... that I'm an adult now?"
He calculated that he had already passed through thirteen "tree-bearing times," and after several dozen more "dark times," he would reach adulthood.
Darkness passed, Sun rose again.
The hunting party emerged from the cave satisfied, having accomplished something with the women of the tribe that they did Mu Ri...
Mu Ri ignored them and walked straight to his mother.
"Waaah... Leaving... the hunt, reaching adulthood..."
A small percentage of the adult males in the tribe will remain in the tribe, while the majority will become farmers or join hunting teams.
Mu Ri wanted to join a hunting party.
He knew the hunting party would keep hunting, constantly moving around, and exchanging resources with nearby tribes.
Mu Ri a hunter once described to me: There was a tribe whose people were very strange; they always danced around a fire and kept making the same roar.
Mu Ri felt that this tribe had a way of organizing people.
He needs to go there.
His mother looked at him, and looked at him for a very long time.
Then she took out a piece of animal hide, opened it, and inside were thirteen animal teeth.
The mother looked at the number of teeth, then at the Mu Ri, and nodded.
Mu Ri left with the hunting party.
Before he left, a female companion who had grown up with him chased after him. She stood at the edge of the tribe, watching him from afar, and let out a howl.
"You... go to other tribes... do it? Not... with me?"
Mu Ri understood what she said. But he just shook his head and didn't turn around.
That night, Mu Ri lay in a tree, experiencing his first night in the wild.
The members of the hunting party each found a thick branch and tied themselves to it to prevent falling. Mu Ri followed their example, securing himself with vines, and closed his eyes to prepare for sleep.
Then he realized something was wrong.
He could see even with his eyes closed.
It was a deep blue board, floating in front of him.
There were some drawing-like things on the board. Not real drawings, but shapes he didn't quite understand but could still perceive. He looked closely at those shapes and found himself slowly coming to understand their meaning.
[Civilization Development System]
[Bound Person: Mu Ri]
[Current Main Quest: Unify the Nearby Tribes]
[Time Limit: One Year]
[Rewards: Bronze smelting technology, exploration technology, basic tool technology, agricultural technology...]
[Current General Task: Developing Languages and Concepts of Identity]
[Quest rewards have been distributed in advance: a slight increase in Intelligence and Hunting Skills]
Instantly, Mu Ri felt something flooding into his mind.
Weaknesses, honing, running, breathing, toxins, organization, traps...
He saw how to track prey, how to make traps, and how to kill the largest beasts with the least amount of effort. He saw how to organize a group of people, how to assign tasks, and how to get everyone to follow a single command when hunting.
Mu Ri suddenly sat up.
Then everything went black, and he fell straight off the tree.
The other members of the hunting team exchanged bewildered glances, sensing that the newcomer had fallen ill.
Finally, the strongest man in the group picked up Mu Ri and placed him on a tree to prevent him from being eaten by wild animals.
"Very good, here's a system as a reward."
Su Luo made her move.
[The Child of Civilization has been chosen]
[Completed achievement - [The Beginning of Everything]!]
[Gain 100 Civilization Points]
[Current Child of Civilization: Mu Ri]
[Child of Civilization Traits:]
Establishing a soul link with Survivors allows for remote sensing, communication, and issuing commands, but it consumes Civilization Points.
Their learning ability and growth potential are enhanced, and they may also inherit some of the Survivors ' powers.
After death, you can Resurrection after consuming a large amount of Civilization Points (limited to one time only) (one free Resurrection is available three days District War).
During the lifespan of the Child of Civilization, the development speed of the entire civilization increases by 50%.
[Intervention has been initiated, consuming 168 Civilization Points in total]
[Civilization not yet established; after establishment, civilization traits can be selected]
Hearing a barrage of prompts on the temporary panel, Su Luo's consciousness returned to the Pure White Space, leaving a Subconscious monitoring layer.
"How was it?" Yun Xiaoxiao floated over and asked curiously.
"Not bad, a decent start. The Child of Civilization is quite intelligent and has his own ideas."
Su Luo's gaze fell on the [Planet Model].