Knight Don Quixote

It was only then that Li Wei "saw" the panel in his mind, and he could not help but feel suspicious.

"Is this... some kind of cheat?" Li Wei's mind had only just awakened. "Did I awaken a system while I was asleep?"

Before he could figure it out, Don Quixote, clad in simple armor, had already strode out of the basement. Li Wei could only follow close behind him.

Li Wei had heard before that forcibly waking a sleepwalker could cause tremendous harm to their cognition and mental state, with even a slight risk of mental breakdown.

Though he did not know whether that claim was true, considering that this man was his guardian, his uncle, and currently his only support, it was better to just let him do as he pleased.

He followed Knight Don Quixote out of the apartment building, and they walked one behind the other along the sidewalk by the road.

It was already deep into the night. The entire alley was empty, with barely a soul in sight. Only the wail of police sirens and the occasional gunshot from somewhere unknown reminded Li Wei that this was Brooklyn, the worst district in New York for public safety.

Li Wei looked at Knight Don Quixote and could not help asking, "Uncle... Sir Knight, where are we going?"

"We are going to find goblins, my squire," Don Quixote declared loudly. "You must know that goblins are very cunning. They hide deep in the dense forest, and we must be very, very careful to find them."

If we can find goblins in New York, Li Wei thought silently, I'd rather find a succubus, an elf, or even Santa Claus, so I can beat the hell out of him for his gold coins.

"Ha!"

For no apparent reason, Knight Don Quixote suddenly shouted, making Li Wei jump.

"Right there!" He pointed ahead. "That filthy, stinking goblin! The culprit behind the villagers' harassment!"

Li Wei followed his gaze and saw a... trash can?

Before he could say anything, Don Quixote shoved him. "Go, my squire. As a knight's squire, I believe you can handle this lone goblin!"

Li Wei pointed at himself in confusion. "Me? But... you're the knight. I didn't accept any quest to protect a village."

"You are a knight's squire." Don Quixote gave Li Wei's head a hard pat. "A lone goblin does not warrant a knight's personal intervention!"

Li Wei did not catch the latter half of that sentence, because Don Quixote's iron-gloved hand had smacked him on the head, and his skull was still buzzing.

Fine, fine. As long as it was not a person.

He walked numbly over to the trash can, looked at Don Quixote, then at the trash can. Gritting his teeth, he punched the trash can hard.

"Very good, squire." Don Quixote's satisfied voice rang out. "Keep beating it! Let it know how formidable you are!"

Li Wei had no choice but to keep punching and kicking it, then finally kicked the full trash can over.

"Excellent." Don Quixote walked to his side, staring at the trash can with his eyes tightly shut. "This stinking goblin has been defeated by us."

"Does that mean our mission is complete?"

Li Wei turned to the tightly shut-eyed Don Quixote and asked.

Knight Don Quixote fell silent for a moment, as though seriously considering Li Wei's words.

"We've already defeated this goblin." Seeing that his words seemed to be working, Li Wei continued, "If we leave its corpse here, perhaps it will intimidate the nearby goblins and keep them from offending the village."

Don Quixote's eyes moved beneath his lids. "You make sense, Squire Li Wei. It would be better to leave its corpse here."

"That's good," Li Wei said. "What are we doing now?"

"Now we return to report our success," Don Quixote announced loudly. "A knight must tell the village chief that he has eliminated a vile goblin today."

Li Wei looked at Don Quixote's back, hurriedly crouched down to set the trash can upright, stuffed the garbage back inside, and followed him.

So I can influence Uncle Don Quixote through words? Li Wei thought as he walked behind him. Maybe I can make him spend less time sleepwalking this way?

Don Quixote had simply walked out in armor, commanded Li Wei to defeat a trash can, then walked back inside in armor.

After they entered the apartment, Li Wei watched Don Quixote remove his armor with his eyes closed and stuff it back into the corner.

"Squire, you performed bravely today," Don Quixote said. "This knight is very satisfied."

After saying that, he expertly took off his clothes, changed into pajamas, and entered his partitioned room. Just over ten seconds later, he began snoring.

At that moment, a voice appeared in Li Wei's mind once more:

[Quest: Assist the knight in clearing out goblins completed]

[Reward: System panel unlocked, attribute points +0.1]

[Your knight is very satisfied with you. Additional reward: Gold coins +1]

Suddenly, Li Wei felt a slight weight settle into his right pocket, as if something had fallen into it.

His heart suddenly began pounding, faster than it had ever beaten before.

He hurried into the bathroom, locked the door and windows tightly, then tremblingly reached into his right pocket.

He felt a cold, hard, round piece of metal.

When he pulled it out, a flash of golden light gleamed beneath the lamp. A gold coin covered in intricate patterns and bearing an utterly unfamiliar design lay quietly in Li Wei's palm.

Li Wei drew in a sharp breath.

He weighed the gold coin in his hand. It was probably around five grams, though he had no idea whether it was real gold or fake.

"If it's real gold..." He turned the coin over and over beneath the light filtering in from the streetlamp outside. "It could probably sell for several hundred dollars."

But the system panel in his mind seemed more important. Li Wei casually shoved the coin into his pocket, then focused completely on the mysterious voice in his mind.

After some experimentation, a translucent panel appeared before his retinas.

[Name: Li Wei]

[Age: 17]

[Strength: 0.8]

[Spirit: 1.0]

[Agility: 0.9]

[Constitution: 0.8]

[Skills: None]

[Equipment: None]

[Available attribute points: 0.1]

[Drawable skills *1]

(Reference: An ordinary twenty-year-old adult has a value of 1 in every category.)

Sure enough, it was the standard template of a Chinese senior-year high school student.

Li Wei had already accepted the fact that he had a system and began carefully evaluating his physical condition.

His strength and constitution were both weaker than those of an average adult. His agility was slightly better, but still below average. Only his spirit had reached the level of an ordinary adult.

Li Wei looked at the available attribute points, then suddenly took out the gold coin in his pocket again.

He turned the coin over and over in his hand. The design and patterns on it did not belong to any country he knew. A person could not imagine something they had never seen or conceived of. This gold coin was undoubtedly a system reward, not proof that he had gone insane.

As for allocating points...

He turned his head to glance at Don Quixote, whose snoring was thunderous, then returned to his own small partition and did ten push-ups on the floor.

He did not have many tools at hand to test changes in his body, so he could only use this simple method for a rough evaluation.

Yet Li Wei's frail body, which had never exercised before, began struggling after just ten push-ups. The first few were fine, but by the seventh or eighth, the delayed lactic acid finally let him experience aching muscles and full-body trembling.

After barely completing ten push-ups, he climbed up from the floor, panting heavily as he brushed dust from his hands.

The subhealthy state represented by 0.8 constitution and strength had made ten push-ups nearly impossible for him. The last time he had done push-ups was probably for middle school gym class.

Now it was time to test the true changes brought about by this system's attribute allocation.

"Sys... System, give me... points!"

[Constitution 0.8]—[Constitution 0.9]!