Understanding This World's Strangeness +1

Understanding This World's Strangeness +1

A fierce hunger woke Wei En.

He stood up blankly and looked around.

A bed, table and chairs, bookshelf, wardrobe...

Messy clothes, neatly arranged printed books, a trophy, a blue-and-white striped box, a box with an oak base...

It was not until he saw the Parchment clenched in his hand that he remembered.

Right.

He had already exchanged for the Basic Meditation Method... and the handsome face on the Parchment involuntarily resurfaced in his mind!

What the hell was that thing!?

Was he hallucinating, or...

No, it had to be a hallucination!

How could his face appear on a Parchment recording a Meditation Method?

Wei En hurriedly rolled up the Parchment, tied it with hemp rope, and tossed it onto the table.

"Items with supernatural powers really can't be touched carelessly. They're too dangerous!"

Could the Specter School be screwing him over?

He had spent his entire fortune, only to get this thing?

After a long while, Wei En sighed and turned to look out the window. It was still before dawn.

It seemed he had not been unconscious for long.

But he was so hungry...

Why was he this hungry?

No, he couldn't hold on. He had to fill his stomach first.

Suppressing his hunger, Wei En went to the bed, dug out a piece of Black Bread, and wolfed it down.

Ever since learning about the previous owner's daily life, he had increasingly felt that his life in his previous world had been truly blissful.

To save enough money to exchange for a Meditation Method, the previous owner had done everything possible!

When hungry, he ate the cheapest whole-wheat Black Bread. When thirsty, he drank tap water.

Meat? Not a chance.

Even during the freezing winter, he had never lit the fireplace, enduring the cold for three whole months.

Unfortunately, that harsh endurance had also caused his sudden death.

If not for that, Wei En would never have come to this damned world!

"Whew..."

Only after Wei En finished every last crumb in his hand did his stomach feel a little better.

What had that bizarre Meditation Method done to him? Why did it feel as though it had hollowed out his body?

He opened the System Panel to see whether there were any notifications.

Name: Wei En Loft

Bloodline: Salute People

Class: Wizard Apprentice (Junior Apprentice)

Resilience Level: 13 (13) (Represents physical strength, including strength, speed, constitution, and so on.)

Mental Level: 20 (20) (Represents mental power, including perception, willpower, soul, and so on.)

Origin: 2 (2) (Represents one's own Origin Trait.)

Talent: None

Skill: Ghost Meditation Method Level 1 (0/10)

Survival Points: 21

[You safely made it through another day. Evaluation: Guaranteed reward. Are you satisfied? Reward: Survival Points +3.]

[Your glib tongue successfully helped you escape the wrath of Senior Wizard Apprentice Olivia Tapia, but you will not be so lucky next time. Reward: Survival Points +2.]

[You learned the Ghost Meditation Method, made initial contact with the supernatural, and gained +1 understanding of the world. Congratulations! Evaluation: Though you are still weak, you have already embarked on the path to becoming stronger! Reward: Survival Points +3.]

[Congratulations, you have obtained the class: Wizard! Level: Junior Apprentice! Special reward: Mental Level +3.]

[You suffered Origin Erosion from an unknown existence. You successfully endured the Origin Erosion, and your Origin Trait mutated! Congratulations, you have become inhuman! Special reward: Origin +1, Mental Level +2, Resilience Level +4.]

The entire System Panel had changed dramatically!

Not only had a class and Origin Trait appeared, but he had also gained a Meditation Method skill?

Wei En stared at those notifications, especially the final one, reading it over and over again.

"Origin Erosion from an unknown existence... Origin Trait mutation... inhuman..."

In other words, if he had failed to endure the Origin Erosion... he would have died?

What a damned scam!

"No wonder those people looked at the previous owner with sympathy when he came to Kaster. There was such a huge trap waiting for him."

Wei En cursed and slammed his fist down on the table.

Bang!

The spot he struck shattered directly.

"This is..."

He looked at his hand, clenched it again, and felt the explosive strength coursing through his body.

Then he thought of something and opened the System Panel again.

His Resilience Level was 13?

His attention had been focused on the Origin Erosion earlier. Only now did he realize that surviving it had brought him such generous rewards!

Aside from his surging strength, he could feel that his body had become lighter, as though a gentle jump would send his head straight through the roof.

No wonder he had felt such intense hunger after waking up.

He had not been hollowed out. His strengthened body simply consumed more energy.

And that was not all—

Wei En noticed other changes as well. Everything around him had become clearer—not merely clearer to the eye, but clearer in sensation.

The sensations conveyed by his five senses had become sharper. He could see more clearly and hear farther away.

For example, in this room, he knew he was not the only living creature present.

There were also three cockroaches, two mice secretly eating beneath the cabinet, and a little Spider weaving its web behind the bookshelf... even the ant in the corner was perfectly clear to him.

He could even hear the footsteps of a distant Black-Robed Lamplighter, along with his murmured prayer: "Praise the Lord of Dawn, protector of the peace of the Kaster City-State."

So this was the effect of reaching Mental Level 20.

This was what strength felt like.

This was what he had desired most after learning the truth about this world!

Wei En excitedly swung his fists. Strength, strength, strength...

"This feels incredible!"

Wei En grinned at the hole in the table. The panic and fear from being betrayed by the Parchment had vanished without a trace.

He could not help but think optimistically: Perhaps Ghost was not trying to screw him over. Perhaps these were all tests for him?

Only by surviving the invasion of that bizarre existence within the Meditation Method could he gain Origin and become a wizard?

If that was really the case, then everything made sense!

"How about trying to meditate?"

Wei En did not know how to meditate, but since the System Panel showed that he possessed the Meditation Method skill, it probably would not be too difficult.

Then, naturally, he sat down in the chair, closed his eyes, and focused his mind...

Hmm?

Wei En felt as though a glimmer of light had suddenly appeared in the darkness before his eyes.

He opened his eyes and looked around in confusion. Could he see things even with his eyes closed?

"Where is this?"

What appeared before him was not the familiar room, but an unfamiliar world.

A land of black soil, an endless dark sky, and that glimmer of light—a tree, a gigantic tree radiating red light.

Wait.

"W-what is that?"

So the creature on the Parchment really existed...

So his face really had appeared on that monster's abdomen!