A Godlike Start

The setting sun slowly dipped.

Rays of afterglow spilled across the ruined martial arts hall. The floor was a scene of utter devastation, and little rat heads poked out from the cracks, swaying back and forth, giving Lin Qi an indescribable sense of peace.

"Player Fang Zhen, age 29. Physical fitness detected: strength, 76 kilograms; speed, 7.3 meters per second."

"Evaluation?"

"Elementary school student."

Lin Qi looked at the little notebook in his hand, scratched his head, then crossed out the words "elementary school student" and added seven more words after them.

Kindergarten senior class, pending evaluation.

"Having to act like an NPC while making them obey me—this team is really too hard to lead."

Lin Qi put away his notebook and could not help sighing. His gaze shifted directly to a corner beneath his field of vision, and a translucent panel slowly appeared.

System: Martial Transmission System activated. Current mission: "Fully restore Obsidian Martial Arts Hall." Reward: Coach B6 Training Machine. Maximum number of players that can be introduced increased by 40.

Host: Lin Qi.

Age: 25.

Martial arts level: Preparatory Quasi-Apprentice.

Strength: 92 kilograms. (Quasi-Apprentice standard: 100 kilograms)

Speed: 8.9 meters per second. (Quasi-Apprentice standard: 10 meters per second)

Players that can be introduced: 10. (Host's current online player limit: 1. Current reservations: 5.)

The Martial Transmission System could bring people from Blue Star into this world through a game launch, cut off the connection between players and this world at any time, and even let players revive after death without costing him anything. Its abilities were downright heaven-defying.

But now...

Lin Qi felt that he had finally seen this system for what it really was.

Although the system could bring players over, their physical fitness was obviously terrible.

Bang!

Bang! Bang!

"This secondhand generator really is unreliable. Even the basic power supply keeps cutting in and out. And it still cost me 500 bits? That Black Lizard's heart really is black."

Inside the lounge, Lin Qi patted the loudly rumbling iron lump before him and could not help muttering under his breath.

Lin Qi had originally been a twenty-five-year-old entrepreneur on Blue Star. He had worked desperately hard since his university days and started his own gaming technology company. He had only recently achieved financial freedom and been ready to enjoy life when, fourteen days ago, he suddenly transmigrated into this world.

Transmigrating would have been one thing, but not even a single article of clothing had been preserved for him. He had arrived in his natural state, which was honestly a little excessive. Fortunately, his luck was not bad. He had landed right away in this now-abandoned martial arts hall.

While searching the hall for clothes, Lin Qi had dug up quite a few old books and magazines, giving him a rough understanding of the basic information about this world.

This Blue Star was completely different from the Blue Star where he had once lived. Not only was it a high-martial world where countless races gathered, its technological level was also higher, while its dangers were beyond imagination.

In July 2025, Blue Star's sea level suddenly split apart, and the great catastrophe descended from then on.

The wilderness was filled with powerful monsters unafraid of modern firearms. Beast tides that emerged from time to time could easily destroy city after city, shrinking humanity's living space on this planet more and more.

Fortunately, humanity later found a way to cope: martial artists.

By studying martial arts, people could break through the limits of the human body and evolve their lives, allowing humanity to gain the power to fight those powerful monsters for the first time. Then the myriad races appeared, martial arts flourished for centuries, and even now, martial artists remained people's pursuit, humanity's hope of protection. Countries and races across the world had even made martial arts a compulsory high school subject, with college entrance examinations depending on martial exam scores.

If one's martial exam score failed to meet the standard, then even a liberal arts student with perfect scores in every other subject could forget about entering university. And for those wanting to attend a martial arts university, the martial exam was the key of all keys.

As for finding work after graduation, that went without saying. During interviews at major companies and enterprises, the first thing HR did was have the applicant take a punch.

If they caught the first punch, the second interview round consisted of catching a second punch. If they passed all three rounds, no other assessment was needed—they could start work immediately.

Because of the rise of martial arts, all kinds of martial arts halls had sprung up like bamboo shoots after rain. The Obsidian Martial Arts Hall where Lin Qi now lived had been one of the human martial arts halls established when the City of Light Chasing was first founded.

Although the area where Obsidian Martial Arts Hall stood had now become the City of Light Chasing's abandoned district, a place so miserable even stray dogs would shake their heads at it, the hall covered over eighty thousand square meters. However dilapidated it was, it still had places that could shelter him from wind and rain, so Lin Qi did not have to sleep on the streets.

"As expected, this generator is beyond saving." Lin Qi gave it another hard smack. The hall's power still flickered on and off, and the lights continued flashing. It was clearly not fixed.

"This is a generator, a precision instrument. Do you think it's one of those disobedient bratty kids that can be fixed with a couple of smacks?" A woman over two meters tall, with fair skin, a high ponytail, and a mechanical prosthetic arm, walked straight up beside Lin Qi and kicked the iron lump several times. Every kick cracked the surrounding floor inch by inch. After more than ten kicks, the hall's lights finally stopped flickering. "There. Your strength is still a little lacking. You need to train more."

"Thanks." Lin Qi gazed at the brightly lit training ground and could not help remarking, "As expected of a licensed mechanic in the City of Light Chasing. Your strength really is beyond that of ordinary people."

Luo Qi, twenty-four years old, was an employee at a weapon shop in the outskirts of the City of Light Chasing. She was also Lin Qi's savior after his transmigration to this high-martial world, the one who had allowed him to truly understand this world and the City of Light Chasing.

"Save the flattery. I won't knock off a single bit for you." Luo Qi rolled her eyes at Lin Qi, raised her mechanical prosthetic arm, and pointed outside the hall at the battered old car parked there. "I transported everything over and left it there. I'll throw in ten alloy shovels for free. Three composite longbows, along with nine Black Steel Arrows. These weapons are all high-end goods made from A5-class alloy. Even those young masters who are Quasi-Martial Artists use them from time to time. Fifteen thousand bits altogether. Are you paying in installments or settling it all at once?"

"Fifteen thousand bits? That cheap? I heard rent in the city is going up lately, isn't it?" Lin Qi looked at Luo Qi in surprise. "And isn't your younger sister only in her first year of high school? This is the time she needs tutoring to make her final sprint. Selling them to me this cheaply means you'll earn quite a bit less this month. Did you land some huge order recently?"

Making weapons took a considerable amount of time. As a weapon shop employee, Luo Qi only made five or six weapons a month, earning purely manual labor fees. The cost of A5-class alloy was high, and three A5 Grade Weapons for fifteen thousand bits was practically the cost price.

Money was extremely hard to earn in a high-martial world, and what people earned was often not enough to spend. Good jobs generally required Martial Apprentices, while an ordinary person with official status earned only two thousand bits a month.

Luo Qi was slightly better off as a mechanic, but only by a limited amount. Earning an extra five or six hundred bits was already decent. Yet living in the suburbs, her monthly rent alone took up half her income. The production fees for three weapons were equivalent to half a month's salary disappearing.

As for attending high school in this world, the costs were far from ordinary. Tuition alone was six thousand per semester, and then there were all the nutrition expenses required for training one's blood vitality. Ordinary people found it difficult to support even one student, and supporting one alone was even harder.

"Rent around here really is going up lately. And it isn't just us—the same goes for every race. Who knows what kind of luck the Half-Scale Race had? Several genius martial artists were born among them, and their status in the City of Light Chasing rose sharply overnight. Since the Half-Scale Race pays less rent, the rents for all the other races naturally have to rise." When Luo Qi spoke of martial artists, envy also appeared in her eyes.

Becoming a martial artist was difficult enough. Becoming one before the age of twenty-five was even more difficult. On the human side, it had been nearly twenty years since any genius martial artist had appeared.

After sighing for a moment, Luo Qi looked at Lin Qi and said, "Don't worry about my affairs. I'm a mechanic, after all. I'm not short on your money. How many installments are you planning to use? I recommend spreading it over ten years. The interest is a little higher, but at least you can afford it every month."

"No, I'll settle it all at once." Lin Qi reached into his clothes and pulled out eighteen crisp banknotes, each worth one thousand bits.

"So you really did take that step." Luo Qi looked at the money in her hand, then regarded Lin Qi with a complicated expression. "Which gang? How much did you borrow?"

"The Gorilla Gang by the suburban warehouses." Lin Qi did not hide anything from Luo Qi. "I borrowed thirty thousand. In two months, I repay sixty thousand."

On the first day after Lin Qi transmigrated into this world, he had been thinking about how to become a martial artist. But on his way to the City of Light Chasing's urban district, he encountered two high school students from martial arts classes sparring beneath a bridge. Their fight caused the bridge to collapse, badly injuring many passersby. He had been one of them.

Luo Qi had also been on the bridge at the time. Before falling, he had pushed her, preventing her from falling with the bridge. Out of gratitude, Luo Qi took the badly injured him to the hospital afterward.

As an undocumented drifter, Lin Qi received no care or compensation from the City of Light Chasing. He had no money on him, so Luo Qi advanced two thousand bits and gave him another thousand so he would not starve to death. The hospital cured his injuries, but he now owed it ten thousand bits, to be repaid interest-free in four installments—meaning twenty-five hundred bits a month.

For an undocumented drifter living in the City of Light Chasing, repaying twenty-five hundred bits a month was basically impossible. Undocumented drifters could only do illegal jobs. Their daily food expenses did not even exceed five bits, let alone earning twenty-five hundred. Making even a fraction of that would be impressive.

As for becoming a martial artist, even a basic training method casually sold in the city library cost tens of thousands of bits. And practicing a training method blindly by oneself was useless; specialized guidance was also required, and those instruction fees were several times the cost of the training method. It was completely beyond the reach of an undocumented person like him.

"You borrowed that much... You aren't planning to go into that line of work, are you?!"

"Mm."

"You've lost your mind! You're gambling with your life!"

"To make money, you always have to gamble on something. As for farming, I think I have a pretty good chance."

During his days in this high-martial world, Lin Qi had already understood how difficult it was for an undocumented drifter to survive. If he wanted to make big money in the City of Light Chasing, there were only two paths.

The first was becoming an experiment for major companies. The second was farming.

In the wilderness of a high-martial world, even true martial artists faced peril upon peril. But every major city had limited land and huge populations, and food had always been scarce—especially food that could accelerate the growth of blood vitality.

When ordinary people wanted to become martial artists, training their blood vitality consumed massive amounts of bodily energy, which ordinary food could barely satisfy. Fortunately, technology in this high-martial world was advanced, producing many special plants. One of them was Blood Essence Rice.

As long as Blood Essence Rice was planted somewhere rich in energy, it needed only ten days to mature and contained abundant energy. Major cities were generally built atop Energy Veins, which provided sufficient power sources for the cities. Thus, the closer one was to the city center, the denser the energy became, and Blood Essence Rice became the staple crop cultivated by major cities.

But each city was only so large, and the Blood Essence Rice they produced was far from enough to feed everyone. There were many places in the wilderness brimming with dense energy, so wilderness farming became a good way for undocumented drifters to make money.

As long as someone could grow a batch of Blood Essence Rice in the wilderness, even if it was only ten jin, it would sell for two hundred bits per jin at the City of Light Chasing's market price—two thousand bits total. Yet the seeds for ten jin of Blood Essence Rice cost only five hundred bits. A fourfold profit was enough to drive many people mad, much less undocumented drifters.

"You're really insane. Ordinary people can't touch that trade. Even Martial Apprentices who have stepped onto the path of martial arts don't dare enter the wilderness carelessly. Forget whether your little body can find a hidden energy-rich location in the wilderness and protect that Blood Essence Rice. You should know that this trade is currently controlled by the various gangs. If they find out, nothing good will come of it." Luo Qi said helplessly, "You really have gone to the bar too often. Do you think everyone can become an urban legend?"

"Wild Jackal Fei Jin and Steel Chaser Qi Lan did indeed break through the gangs' blockade as drifters. They even became martial artists, becoming legendary figures every drifter yearned for. But among the City of Light Chasing's tens of millions of drifters, how many such legends could there possibly be?"

"Give it up while you can still turn back."

"I know a pretty good hospital. With your looks, if you stop being a man, I'm sure quite a few rich people would like the delicate, refined type like you."

Luo Qi's words were sincere. Her eyes even seemed to see Lin Qi's bright future already, leaving Lin Qi stunned for a moment.

Delicate and refined?

Lin Qi did not consider himself short. On his original Blue Star, he had been a tall man at 186 centimeters. It was just that in this high-martial world, where everyone trained, middle school students were commonly two meters tall and high school students commonly reached 2.2 or 2.3 meters. His height indeed counted for little here, but surely he did not need to be pitied?

"Forget that route. The stakes are a little too high, and I don't have that kind of mental fortitude." Seeing Luo Qi still wanting to talk, Lin Qi hurriedly cut her off. "Do you have a wilderness distribution map of the various gang forces in the City of Light Chasing?"

Although many monsters roamed the wilderness, there were also many relatively safe areas. Some of those places had energy-rich land, and the major gangs generally occupied them to grow Blood Essence Rice for sale in the city. Anyone else wanting to grow Blood Essence Rice could only avoid those places.

Although the Azure Crystal Weapon Shop where Luo Qi worked was not an especially powerful weapon shop, it was still one of the better ones in the suburbs. It privately supplied and transported weapons to the major gangs often enough that it should know more or less about their areas of wilderness activity.

"Sigh, you're just too conservative." Luo Qi looked at the resolute Lin Qi, silently lamented his lack of ambition, sent him an electronic map, and turned to leave. Before leaving, though, she still reminded him.

"If you really can't repay that money by the deadline, remember to notify me in advance. I'm sure you don't want to hand your body over to those gorillas. I have connections over here. I should be able to sell you for a good price. Maybe I can even leave you one kidney to use later."

"I can still keep one?" Lin Qi looked at Luo Qi in surprise. He had not expected her connections to be so solid.

Sixty thousand was no small amount—it was two years of income for an officially registered ordinary person in the City of Light Chasing. Lin Qi estimated that his body was worth only sixty or seventy thousand at most. Otherwise, those gorillas would not have lent him merely thirty thousand.

"Why not let that twenty-nine-year-old give it a try?"

"Sixty thousand in one go. Not even those Quasi-Martial Artists make money that easily. And he can keep one kidney and survive. It's simply perfect!"

Lin Qi watched Luo Qi disappear into the night and could not help feeling tempted. But he shook his head and quickly abandoned the thought.

Players were different from ordinary people. They could revive infinitely. If certain factions discovered the problem and found an endless supply of little fruits to pick, then came looking for him afterward, that would be a huge problem.

Two hours later, in the basement of Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.

"Not bad stamina. You've got potential." Lin Qi looked at Fang Zhen, who was still barely standing, and nodded. With this sort of stamina and perseverance, he was definitely a promising farming hand. Lin Qi's evaluation of Fang Zhen immediately rose greatly, and he could directly cross out the words "pending evaluation." "By the way, how are your kidneys usually? What do you feel right now?"

"How are my kidneys? What do I feel? Do weak legs count?"

"You don't feel anything?"

"Bro, am I supposed to feel something?"

Fang Zhen could not help looking warily at Lin Qi outside the iron bars, panic rising in his heart. Lin Qi had made him do two thousand squats over two hours, and now he was asking about his kidneys and what he felt.

What the hell was he supposed to feel? What did Lin Qi want him to feel?

Good? Fantastic?

"Sigh, a kindergarten senior class student really still won't do."

"???"

Lin Qi sighed faintly, glanced at the time displayed on his wristwatch, then looked at Fang Zhen as if waiting for something. Fang Zhen was about to say something else when he felt an indescribable stabbing pain in his brain—then in his kidneys. Immediately afterward, he spat out a mouthful of black, stale blood, and everything went dark.

System: You have died.

"A game? This is a game?!"

Fang Zhen stared wide-eyed at the system notification, completely dumbfounded.

Were game companies nowadays really this good at playing around?