First Awakening

The sky was dark and overcast, and a typhoon howled overhead. Torrential rain seemed ready to pour down at any moment.

In weather like this, even cars stayed off the roads. Every household had its doors and windows shut tight, and some had even pulled down the iron shutters they rarely used.

Baihai City, a coastal city, hadn't experienced such a powerful storm in a long time.

And yet, in a lush park under these conditions, a man stood on the ground with his face covered. He was a muscular young man wearing a high school uniform. Red liquid trickled between his hands, and a brass bullet slowly worked its way out of his forehead. Blood ran down his hands and stained his expensive Rose Academy uniform. At his feet lay two disfigured corpses, and a pistol with its safety off could just be seen on one of them.

Boom!

After who knew how long, a bolt of lightning flashed fiercely, jolting the young man out of his daze. A flood of memories was quickly sorted, filed away, and then fully absorbed. His once-clouded eyes gradually cleared.

Could someone in this world really stumble upon a criminal gang's deal, not run away immediately, and instead stick around to watch?

Was this guy named Liu Tian really that curious? Hadn't television and movies taught him that the curious always died young?

What? The film industry in this world had only just started getting off the ground? His family hadn't been well-off, so he couldn't afford to watch many foreign movies, and he'd barely seen any films at all?

Oh. Well, that explained it.

The newly reborn Liu Tian sighed and rubbed his head. The bullet hole in his forehead had vanished without a trace, as if he'd never been injured. He nudged the two corpses at his feet with his shoe, thinking about how to dispose of them.

He didn't know them, and their mangled faces made it impossible to identify them. But they'd gone out of their way to meet in a place like this under such ominous skies, had drawn their guns without hesitation when discovered, and had stayed calm even as they faced death. They were no amateurs. He needed a reliable way to deal with them that wouldn't cause trouble for him.

A fierce gust swept past. Liu Tian looked up at the sky, then at the manhole cover not far away. It didn't take long for him to come up with a solution.

But first, he had to see what the thing that had caused this whole disaster was.

At the thought, Liu Tian crouched down and first flicked off the safety catch on the revolver, which could go off at any moment. Then he searched the two bodies thoroughly. Before long, he found a suspicious object in the other man's inner pocket.

It was a little object wrapped in layer upon layer of black cloth and bound with thin string, hidden inside the pocket. If Liu Tian hadn't searched every inch of the body painstakingly, he wouldn't have found it tucked between the man's thighs.

It was so carefully hidden. Let's see what this thing is.

The sky grew darker, and thunder rolled without pause. Liu Tian knew he couldn't waste any more time. He hurriedly unwrapped the black cloth, revealing a small object that was clearly no ordinary thing.

It looked like a column made of gold, its surface seemingly assembled from countless diamond-shaped fragments. It was about as thick as an adult's index finger and no more than fifteen centimeters long. It was hard to imagine what it was even used for.

What a strange thing. This was what had cost two people their lives? Could it be solid gold? It didn't feel heavy enough.

Liu Tian frowned and picked up the column. It felt strangely smooth and warm, yet light as air. The instant he touched it with both hands, a warm current flowed out of it and into his body.

?

Before Liu Tian could even react, a familiar voice sounded in his ear: "Welcome to the Add Points Panel."

Then a simple panel appeared before his eyes.

It consisted of a rectangular bar and numerous small square slots.

The top bar displayed the words "Origin Point: 1" in black lettering.

There was only one square slot below. The writing inside was tiny, but with the slightest focus of his mind, Liu Tian understood what it said.

Heavenly Martial Fist: Level 3, effects: Physical Strength (Level 2), Agility (Level 1), Killing Intent (Level 1). Can be upgraded.

Liu Tian blinked. The simple panel appeared and disappeared with his thoughts. The little regret he'd still felt was instantly replaced by delight. He gripped the column tightly in his hand and could clearly feel more warm currents flowing into him. They were faint, but continuous.

Knowing this wasn't the right time to test whether the panel worked the way he imagined, Liu Tian dismissed it with a thought. He quickly wrapped the golden column up as it had been before and put it in his trouser pocket. After reconsidering, he hurriedly moved it to his inner pocket instead, zipping it up tight for safekeeping.

Perhaps because there were several layers between them, the continuous flow of warmth vanished the instant contact was broken. But this wasn't the time to investigate its limitations. Before the drizzle began, Liu Tian stripped the corpses bare, destroyed every identifying mark, then heaved up the several-hundred-pound stone manhole cover and tossed both bodies inside. He watched them get swept away by the rising, murky floodwater.

If nothing unexpected happened, once the typhoon passed, the two corpses would have drifted through the sewer, which ran straight to the sea, and out into the ocean. And if something did go wrong, it didn't matter. This world wasn't as safe as the one he'd come from, and its technology was underdeveloped. There were no computers, no phones, no security cameras, and plenty of unclaimed bodies already floated through the sewers.

Besides, this typhoon was perfect for killing. The sewers' capacity would surely be stretched after today. Once the bodies were mixed in with the rest, Liu Tian had no fear that two naked corpses would expose him.

It sounded like a lot, but the whole thing had taken barely ten minutes. The drizzle was gradually turning into heavy rain. Not wanting to challenge the danger of the storm, Liu Tian tucked the revolver into his waistband and hurried home.

Liu Tian's home was in an upscale residential neighborhood not far from here. His father was an accomplished whaler for a deep-sea shipping company and had already sailed off with his crew; he wouldn't be back for several months. His mother had gone back to her hometown a month ago to rest during her pregnancy. Liu Tian was the only one at home.

That was why, after casually brushing off the doorman, who knew better than to ask too many questions, Liu Tian made it home without a hitch. Once he'd changed his clothes, hidden the gun, and washed away the grime, it was naturally time to get down to business.

Add Points Panel! Come out!