Becoming a Superhuman?

Xu Zhi was grateful that she had a habit of hiding her emotions at home, so her expression management was fairly good. She did not make an overly ridiculous face the moment the fruit appeared before her.

She fell silent for two or three seconds, then gently tapped the black fruit with her fingertip.

It was slightly cool, with smooth skin, somewhat like a glass marble.

Xu Zhi pinched the fruit between her fingers and raised it before her eyes. Perhaps it was an illusion, but she felt that black liquid was churning within the glass-bead-like fruit.

"Can this thing be eaten?" she wondered. Lowering her head, she happened to see a line of text appear on the game screen.

[You are thinking about this fruit's origins and purpose. You thought of many things, but sometimes things are not that complicated. This is merely a fruit. It can become a seed, nourished by time and energy until it grows into a towering tree, or it can serve a simpler purpose.]

[Be eaten.]

Judging from the narrator's surprised tone when she had picked up the fruit, Xu Zhi concluded that this was probably a relatively precious item in the early stages of the game. After some thought, she decided to feed it to the little snake. If nothing went wrong, she would try eating one herself when she found the next fruit.

"Still, how am I supposed to put this back into the game?"

The moment the girl finished speaking, the black fruit in her hand vanished.

Xu Zhi immediately opened the game inventory. Sure enough, she found the black fruit inside.

She tapped the fruit and chose to feed it to the little snake.

[A good choice. Your Familiar truly needs it.]

[After consuming this unknown fruit, a massive amount of energy begins raging within the Familiar's body. It needs to quickly find a safe place to digest the energy brought by the fruit.]

[Please choose: Find a safe place to sleep and digest the fruit. Estimated time: one hour.]

"One hour?"

Xu Zhi was somewhat surprised. The previous few level-ups combined had not taken long, yet digesting this fruit would take an entire hour?

She began looking forward to the surprise the little snake would bring her once it had fully digested the fruit an hour later.

Besides, she had started playing the game right after waking up and had not even washed up yet. This hour was perfect for getting herself ready.

By the time Xu Zhi had slowly finished getting ready, wheeled herself into the living room with the Game Console in hand, poured herself a Cup of warm water, and took all her medicine in batches, the time was nearly up.

She watched the handheld screen, waiting for the countdown to end.

[Your Familiar has painstakingly digested a portion of this fruit's energy. It is far too weak to fully absorb all of the fruit's power, but even so, it has gained considerable benefits.]

[Level Lv3→Lv10]

[Mental: 120

Body: 480

Attribute: Blade

Traits: Toxin Lv5, Sharpness Lv3, Bloodlust Lv3, Cunning Lv1]

[Current evolution points required: 0/1000]

[Your Familiar has reached Level 10 and gained intelligence. You may now name it.]

Well, damn.

Xu Zhi had not expected such a tiny fruit to give the little snake such an enormous boost. Looking at the Familiar on the screen, whose body had swelled to resemble a black python, she sighed in amazement. But what excited her even more was this: when the game showed that the little snake had reached Level 10, her own body underwent a noticeable change as well.

Her breathing became smoother. The constant sensation of weakness in her body lessened, and her dizziness eased. At the very least, she no longer felt so dizzy that she wanted to vomit whenever she suddenly turned her head. Her heart, however, did not seem to have changed much. Simply raising the little snake to Level 10 was clearly far from enough.

Still, at least she no longer had to worry about suddenly dropping dead at any moment.

After thinking about it, Xu Zhi named the little snake: Little One.

Yes, it was that simple and crude. Xu Zhi quickly admitted that she simply had no talent for naming things.

There was nothing to be ashamed of!

The girl indignantly pressed the confirm button.

[With a name, your Familiar has finally gained wisdom. It can also slowly absorb the energy around it to accumulate evolution points. From now on, you need only control the general direction, and your Familiar will carry out your commands on its own.]

"What does that mean?"

Xu Zhi had only just begun to wonder when options appeared on the screen.

[Please choose: 1. Have your Familiar continue leveling up as quickly as possible. 2. Have your Familiar search for mysterious items left behind in this land. 3. Rest.]

Xu Zhi chose 1, and another line of text appeared on the screen.

[Your Familiar has accepted your command. Due to the Cunning trait, its chances of injury and death are reduced, and it is less likely to risk its life hunting prey.]

[Your Familiar has begun leveling up. You may return in 7 hours to check its progress.]

"Hm?"

Had it turned into an idle game?

Then what was she supposed to do for these seven hours? Keep reading?

But the game clearly was not going to give her such a leisurely opportunity.

[For a certain special reason, you may extract one trait from your Familiar.]

[Please choose: Extract.]

"A special reason?"

Xu Zhi thought about it briefly. She was not sure whether the reason was the black fruit or the Familiar reaching Level 10.

But in her heart, she thought the black fruit was more likely.

Either way, it was a good thing.

Supernatural abilities had appeared in the real world for a year now, yet there were still very few superhumans. It was not as though Xu Zhi had never dreamed of becoming one someday, but she had always felt that such good fortune would never favor her.

Now, it seemed that her dream was about to come true.

As long as she extracted one of Little One's traits, she would possess an extraordinary ability and no longer belong among "ordinary people."

Now that the moment had truly arrived, Xu Zhi found that she was not as thrilled and excited as she had once imagined. Perhaps the existence of the Game Console had already diluted some of that excitement.

Of course, her heart could not handle such intense emotions anyway.

She considered Little One's traits. If possible, she naturally wanted to draw the highest-level Toxin. Her health was poor, and poison might become an ability that could save her life.

It was only a one-in-four chance. Not low, but not high either.

With complicated emotions she could not quite put into words, Xu Zhi chose to extract.

[Extracting.]

[Congratulations, you have drawn: Bloodlust Lv3.]

Xu Zhi fell silent.

Bloodlust was the one trait she had least wanted to draw.

At a glance, this trait was clearly something that required "violence" to be useful. With her current body, how was she supposed to make use of Bloodlust?

[Due to the differences between you and your Familiar, the trait will also undergo slight changes.]

[Bloodlust Lv3: When fighting an enemy, their blood will trigger your ability and extend your vitality. You may extract a trace amount of vitality from blood to replenish yourself. The more blood there is, the more excited you become. However, remaining in a Bloodlust state for too long will contaminate your mind.] As those words appeared, Xu Zhi felt as though the blood in her body had boiled for an instant. Crimson flashed in her eyes, only to vanish in the next second, and the sensation of surging blood within her quietly faded as well.

"What was that feeling?" It was rather strange. She had never felt so "hot-blooded" before. It was odd, but Xu Zhi did not dislike it.

This was indeed a trait that required "violence" to be useful, but

the fact that she could extract vitality from blood to replenish herself actually suited her quite well. What she lacked was strength and endurance. With her frail body, she would run out of energy after only a few exchanges in a fight. If Bloodlust could keep her body within a state where she could still move, perhaps she could catch an opponent off guard and kill them in return.

[Please note: Because your trait originates from your Familiar, your trait level will also increase when your Familiar's trait levels up. If your Familiar dies, the trait will disappear.]

Xu Zhi raised an eyebrow, feeling that this was actually a good thing.

After all, she had no way to level up Bloodlust herself right now, nor did she know how to do so.

[Because your first Familiar has reached Level 10, your second Familiar has been unlocked.]

[Would you like to enter the initial interface, choose your second Familiar, and begin raising it?]

"Huh?"

There was something this good too?

"Then of course I do!"