System Self-Check
As the system notification signaling the end of the deathmatch faded, a handsome young man returned to the shelter from the Deathmatch Arena.
He looked at the unfamiliar living room, got up and stretched, his bones cracking and popping.
"This so-called Deathmatch Showdown is actually real."
He calmed himself down and sensed the surroundings for a moment, then his expression turned somewhat grim. "It's Spirit-Deprived Land? In such a world with such scarce spiritual energy, let alone recovering one's cultivation, even maintaining one's realm would be difficult."
The young man frowned as he walked into the bedroom and turned on the computer. "Using the internet to find out what's going on?"
At first, his movements were as clumsy as a beginner's, but he quickly became proficient and browsed information online like an ordinary person.
[Bite!]
[The sixth Deathmatch Showdown has ended; the return begins.]
[Settling in progress--]
[Settlement complete.]
[Final ranking of Deathmatchers: 1]
[Total Deathmatch Points: 246 (Double points active)]
[Top ten rewards have been distributed]
[First prize reward has been distributed]
[Performance in this Deathmatch Showdown: Unbelievable]
[If you perform well, you can permanently retain one ability gained in this Deathmatch Showdown.]
[Reward details can be viewed in the Data Panel.]
In the room, Lu Bai slowly opened his eyes.
An overwhelming sense of emptiness welled up inside me.
Unfortunately, the power gained in the Deathmatch Arena cannot be brought back to the real world.
Compared to the previous life- Deathmatch Showdown, this time, returning from the world of cultivation, Lu Bai felt with unmistakable clarity that the seemingly omnipotent power within him was instantly drained away.
Such a huge sense of disparity even made Lu Bai feel somewhat melancholy.
"No matter how strong I am in the Deathmatch Arena, it's all fake, not real, so don't get carried away or obsessed with it."
Lu Bai let out a long sigh of relief, composed himself, and began to review the gains from this round of Deathmatch Showdown.
[Deathmatch Arena ID: 92****8743]
[Username: Clever Mephisto]
[Main title equipped: Innocent Smile (4-star)] (Click to view available titles)
[Subtitles already equipped: Frenzied Slaughter (4-star), Ultimate Murderer (4-star)]
[Talent: 137.2 + 24.6 (1 point can be converted into 0.1 talent, currently in the process of conversion, estimated time: seven days)]
[Abilities:?,?, Flash Time, Ink Dye, Mental Time Chamber (Click to select)]
[Evaluation: Difficult to evaluate, this is unreasonable, system self-checking in progress...]
Unlike usual, Lu Bai didn't rush to check the abilities or titles.
His attention was instead drawn to the comments section, which he usually rarely glanced at.
In his memory, the evaluation in the last column of the personal interface was basically the Deathmatch System praising itself in different ways.
Unexpectedly, after this Deathmatch Showdown ended, the evaluation section changed to "unreasonable," and it even said that it was conducting a self-check.
Lu Bai stroked his chin thoughtfully.
Based on his understanding, the Deathmatch System itself has no self-awareness; it's more like a rigid, pre-programmed system.
"So, is there still a bug detection feature?"
Despite this unexpected turn of events, Lu Bai wasn't too nervous.
Ultimately, abilities like [reload] and [restore] should clearly not be possessed by deathmatch fighters; they should belong to the underlying logic of the Deathmatch System.
In terms of permissions, this underlying logic is absolutely no worse than system self-checking, just like you've never heard of a doctor cutting off a patient's head before treating them.
Lu Bai was genuinely curious about what the Deathmatch System would ultimately uncover.
He shook his head, clearing his mind of the chaotic thoughts, and focused his attention on what he had gained from this Deathmatch Showdown.
There's not much to say about capability retention.
All three abilities were pretty average, so I decided to keep the only color-level ability—[Iron Fist Breaks Wind].
After selecting the abilities to retain, Lu Bai casually opened the title section.
He viewed titles more as something he'd rather have than not accept.
Strictly speaking, he didn't really feel that the title provided him with much help.
Since these are all passive effects, they are difficult to quantify.
[Compassion (One Star): The wearer is more likely to receive requests from others.] (Top ten reward, generated based on performance style in Deathmatch Showdown, can be worn)
[Peerless National Scholar (3-star): Improves management ability to a certain extent when worn.] (Reward for ranking first, randomly drawn from the pool of titles below 3 stars, can be worn)
Lu Bai hadn't given much thought to where these two titles would be effective; he simply tossed them into the title library as upgrade materials.
"It's time to go home."
He walked out of Desheng Tower, ignoring his colleagues who were also finishing their Deathmatch Showdown along the way, and headed straight for the central area.
It's worth mentioning that the residence the city association gave him was completed and handed over a week ago.
If there were no other options, siblings Lu Ziyi and Lu Qingyan could certainly endure the darkness.
Now that we can live in a better place, there's no need to continue squeezing into those cramped pigeonholes in Livability City.
So, on the second day after the house was handed over, Lu Qingyan started nagging Lu Ziyi to move out.
In addition, Lu Ziyi was just a teenage girl who was also looking forward to moving into a spacious and bright new house. She moved in at lightning speed, leaving Lu Bai wondering where they got such strong initiative.
The pursuit of a better quality of life is a biological instinct, which Lu Bai understands, and he won't let the siblings suffer without effort.
"Hey bro, you're off work so early today?"
Lu Qingyan, who was squatting in the yard playing in the mud, saw Lu Bai from afar and rushed towards him excitedly.
Lu Bai's eyelids twitched, and he took a half step back. "Go wash your hands first."
Upon hearing this, Lu Qingyan's eyes immediately welled up with tears.
He sighed in a nostalgic tone, "Brother, you've grown up too. You've finally become the person you hated most when you were a kid."
"Yes."
Lu Bai walked past the tearful little boy and casually asked, "Isn't your sister home?"
"No, I wouldn't dare do that at home."
Did they say where they went?
"Who knows? She's been acting all mysterious these past few days. I suspect she's thinking about men."
"?"
Lu Bai was silent for a moment, then commented, "You really should go back to school."
The city council was quite generous, approving a residential area of 200 square meters for Lu Bai, with an internal building area of nearly 180 square meters.
If you're really that ruthless, you could easily build a Livability Building in such a large area and cramm several thousand people in.
Lu Bai pushed open the door and entered, then changed into slippers and went straight to the sofa to slump down.
He then picked up his phone and began checking public opinion poll data for various areas of the shelter.