Reinforcement

Walking through the campus, the twilight glow was no longer blinding. Although the temperature had dropped slightly, it was still hot enough to drive a person mad. Lu Li controlled his pores to release the excess heat. Carrying a schoolbag that was practically empty, he walked across the bridge, the Wu River flowing ceaselessly beneath it.

The Wu River cut through Leping City, dividing it in two. Leping No. 2 High School, where Lu Li attended, was located on the east bank, while he lived on the west. His gaze swept over the river below. Over the years, excessive sand dredging had left the riverbed riddled with hidden currents, and the surface was constantly churned by various whirlpools. In short, if a passerby fell into this stretch of the river, they would basically never survive. Every year, he heard of people falling in and dying; very few survived. Of course, Lu Li was one of the few who had.

Reaching a residential area, Lu Li expressionlessly opened the door to what was called "home." Pushing it open, he saw a girl of fifteen or sixteen lying on the sofa, her fair, slender legs crossed, drawing the eye. The girl was watching a cartoon on TV with a bored expression; it seemed to be called Jackie Chan Adventures.

"You're back!" the girl asked upon seeing Lu Li push the door open. Lu Li changed his shoes, gave a grunt of acknowledgment, and returned to his room with a blank face. The girl, long accustomed to this, continued watching her cartoon.

The girl's name was Ji Yue, the daughter of Lu Li's maternal uncle—his cousin. Lu Li's parents had passed away in an accident a long time ago. The young Lu Li had been taken in by his uncle, who had also taken possession of his parents' inheritance.

Life under someone else's roof was never easy, which had caused Lu Li to become silent and withdrawn. Had it not been for that accidental fall into the river a year ago, Lu Li would likely have remained that way forever. He had always felt a barrier between himself and his uncle's family, so he either went out or stayed in his small room.

Closing the bedroom door, Lu Li tossed his schoolbag aside and lay directly on the bed. With a thought, he opened the dialog box, and the panel floated before him. Lu Li clicked directly into the shop. Rows of modules were listed there, each priced at 100 game points. However, the modules here were constantly changing, their availability highly unstable, and they were frequently out of stock. Most players, unable to find the modules they needed in the shop, had to post on the forum to buy or trade for them, though that was not safe and carried a high risk of being scammed.

Lu Li browsed for a while, found the healing option in the corner of the shop, and clicked it. The panel emitted a ripple, and Lu Li felt something sweep over his body before a diagnostic result appeared:

[Spiritual deficiency in the left hand, a total of eight areas of spiritual damage in the body. Repair requires 300 game points. Confirm payment? Yes/No.]

There was nothing to think about; Lu Li clicked "Yes." The panel then emitted several pale green light particles that drifted into Lu Li's body, specifically into his left hand. When the particles vanished, Lu Li flexed his left hand and found that its dexterity had returned to its original state.

With only 550 game points remaining in the bottom right corner, Lu Li closed the shop and returned to the game's dialog box. It was waiting for him to perform his basic enhancement. He had learned on the forum that the three basic enhancements were the first and final gifts from the game; all subsequent enhancements would require the player to combine modules themselves.

The Alienation Path, the Implant Path, and the Inner Demon Path each had their own advantages. Among the three, the Inner Demon Path had the highest potential, the Alienation Path was second, and the Implant Path was the lowest. The Implant Path provided the strongest strength in the early stages but was difficult to progress in later on. The Inner Demon Path also offered decent strength, but the Inner Demon monsters carried the risk of backlash. The Alienation Path had the slowest progress, but it offered the most security regarding both late-game growth and personal safety.

"First, rule out the Implant Path!" Lu Li had no interest in loading things into his body, especially when those things were provided by the game. Heaven knows if it would provide some disgusting demon and turn him into something equally repulsive.

"Then there's the Alienation Path. I have extreme control over my body; alienating any part of it would feel very strange... Does that mean I have to strengthen the Inner Demon Path?" Lu Li's thoughts wandered. The feeling at the bottom of the river was not pleasant—the sensation of suffocating and sinking into the dark water, along with what he saw at the very end. Lu Li was one hundred percent certain that if he chose the Inner Demon Path, the Inner Demon monster that appeared would definitely be related to that experience.

"Not the Inner Demon Path, and definitely not the Implant Path. That only leaves the Alienation Path. It's a pity that I can already control my hair and fingernails; what else could I possibly alienate?" Lu Li sensed his body in detail. Everything was under his control, and he would never willingly alienate it into something unrecognizable unless absolutely necessary.

"The Alienation Path: alienate a part of oneself, turning it into an alienated organ..." Lu Li stood up and turned on the room's light. As the incandescent bulb overhead shone down, a shadow appeared at Lu Li's feet. "So, does a shadow count as a part of me?"

Lu Li wore an intrigued smile. Everyone had a shadow, or rather, most things with physical substance possessed one. From a physical perspective, a shadow was merely an optical phenomenon—a darker area formed because an object blocked the transmission of light. However, when describing someone else's shadow, we often refer to it as "that person's shadow," subjectively treating the shadow as a part of that person.

Furthermore, many folk legends suggested that shadows had always possessed a spiritual nature. There was a legend that a person's soul resided within their shadow. Regardless of whether this legend was true, from this perspective, the shadow might indeed belong to a person.

"No need to overthink it. Why not just try it and see?" Lu Li contacted the game with his mind and pointed at his shadow. "I choose the Alienation Path enhancement. I designate my shadow for enhancement!"

[Player YZ0135 is performing an enhancement selection. Confirming enhancement option. Proceed with enhancement? Yes/No.]

"Confirm!" No sooner had Lu Li confirmed than his vision blurred, and he appeared in a space of unknown darkness. The next moment, a powerful light source appeared behind him, casting a long shadow from his feet. A massive amount of information flooded Lu Li's mind. Visually, it was merely a simple change of light and shadow, yet it caused Lu Li's vision to fail; he could receive no images, or rather, he received so many that his eyes had crashed.

Though his ears heard nothing, it felt as if someone were whispering right beside him, piercing straight into his soul. A wave of nausea washed over him, and Lu Li's consciousness plunged into boundless darkness, knowing nothing more...

The first chapter for today. There will likely be another chapter around six o'clock tonight. Xu Ming thanks everyone for their support. Please don't send red packets, though; they aren't good for a new book. Just adding it to your library and voting is enough...