After returning to the luxurious guest room, none of them spoke to one another. Instead, they sat on their own beds, absorbed in examining their weapons while checking the system panels and functions visible only to themselves.
However, since Chuan Wenwu had already been slacking off earlier and turning his attention to studying this system-a must-have for anyone transported to another world-he had gotten a rough understanding of the functions currently available in the system attached to his hero weapon ahead of the others.
In short, besides the basic function of displaying his attributes as numerical stats, there was another equally important module: the "Weapon Manual," which specifically strengthened his exclusive divine weapon and could be opened through the weapon tab on the main page.
Its functions were roughly equivalent to a skill tree in an ordinary online game. By raising the wielder's level and fusing materials, items, and defeated monsters into the weapon, he could gradually unlock its power. It also recorded the different weapon forms his little shield could take in the future. Every new shield he unlocked would grant a random attribute boost, status enhancement, or skill.
If the system did not later unlock a bunch of messy modules like wings, enchantments, socketing, drilling, auras, or martial souls as he leveled up, then this Weapon Manual would probably be his main means of improving his combat power.
"It really is just like a game!" Chuan Wenwu remarked as he lay comfortably on the soft, spacious bed, scratching the chin of Bruce, who was lying beside him.
He had wanted to try having Bruce open his own system panel, but Bruce did not seem to have developed full intelligence yet. Perhaps Bruce would only be able to properly interact with him after gaining some levels? After all, he could view Bruce's basic attributes in his companion slot, and there was an [Intelligence: 9] entry there.
The thought was actually pretty exciting!
"Actually, isn't this just a game? I know one that feels exactly like this~" Motoyasu Kitamura declared smugly, responding to Chuan Wenwu's earlier remark.
Interested, Chuan Wenwu pushed himself upright on the bed. "Oh? Let's hear it."
"Huh? You don't know it? It's a super-famous online game!" Motoyasu Kitamura looked thoroughly incredulous.
But Ren Amaki immediately spoke up on his behalf. "Well, Wenwu said he's from Huaxia~ So it makes sense that he wouldn't know about the popular games here in Fusang... Hey, Motoyasu, Itsuki, you're both from Fusang too, right?"
He had gone straight to calling Chuan Wenwu "Wenwu." Pretty quick to get familiar.
But... Fusang?
Chuan Wenwu was puzzled. Could these three really have come from the same world as him? Otherwise, they should have said they were from Dongying.
But if they really came from the same world, there was no way he would not know about a famous game from Fusang City...
Itsuki Kawasumi nodded. "Yep!"
"That's right, I'm from Fusang~" Motoyasu Kitamura said with a grin. "Who would've thought? Of the four heroes summoned here, three of us are from the same country. You're the only one from Huaxia, Wenwu~"
Seeing Chuan Wenwu lower his head in thought, he seemed to misunderstand something. Patting his chest, he assured him, "But don't worry. We won't leave you out. Whatever else, we're all heroes summoned here together to save the world. We're companions..."
Yet, to everyone's surprise, Chuan Wenwu suddenly threw out a very strange question. "The country of Fusang?"
"Huh?"
Everyone nearly fell over.
Itsuki Kawasumi asked, "Wait, why are you questioning that of all things?"
Chuan Wenwu smiled. "Ah, well, where I'm from, Fusang is Fusang City, part of Huaxia. Hearing you suddenly call it the country of Fusang would naturally strike me as strange, wouldn't it? But since you're from a country called Fusang, we obviously aren't from the same world."
Having said that, Chuan Wenwu kept smiling and quietly observed their expressions.
Since their worlds were different, he could not apply every development and change from his original world to theirs. Chuan Wenwu intended to use it as a reference and test how people from another world's Dongying... no, Fusang felt about Huaxia.
To his surprise, however, he saw no strange changes on the other three's faces, only a fleeting look of envy...
Huh?
What the hell?
Envy?
Chuan Wenwu rubbed his eyes, wondering whether he had seen wrong.
Motoyasu Kitamura, Ren Amaki, and Itsuki Kawasumi, the three youths from Fusang, seemed to accept quite readily that they and Chuan Wenwu came from different worlds, thanks to the circumstances in their own country. But that did not stop them from envying the Fusang of another world.
Yes, envy.
Motoyasu Kitamura theatrically bit the bedsheet, his face full of envy as he muttered, "Wow! The people of Fusang in your world are so lucky. They actually became part of Huaxia's territory! They must be living the good life now!"
Ren Amaki said, "Exactly!"
Itsuki Kawasumi said, "I'm so jealous..."
Chuan Wenwu said, "?"
When I put up a question mark, it doesn't mean I have a problem. It means I think you-you lot-have a problem.
The corner of his eye twitched as he asked, "You... really want your country to become part of Huaxia?"
Motoyasu Kitamura answered as though it were obvious. "Of course. Anyone who's heard about the standard of living in Huaxia would want to be part of it, right? I hear the benefits there are amazing!"
Ren Amaki continued, "Not like back home. Those goddamn bastards in the Rice Association are absolute animals. They've driven rice prices through the roof. Two and a half kilos cost fifty thousand yen! Ordinary people can't even afford rice anymore, so all we can do is eat less, move less, conserve energy, and spend more time in game worlds..."
Itsuki Kawasumi, who was a year older than Ren Amaki yet considerably shorter, also muttered with a face full of envy:
"Fusang in your world must have had a really good relationship with Huaxia before, right? I hear Huaxia has always advocated protecting national sovereignty, peaceful coexistence, and shared development. If Fusang over there hadn't been on such good terms with Huaxia, there's no way they would've made an exception and helped it become part of Huaxia... I really want to know how that Fusang prime minister built such a good relationship with Huaxia. Our prime minister ought to learn from him..."
You really don't need to learn that!
Chuan Wenwu pressed a hand to his forehead. From their back-and-forth, he roughly deduced the relationship between Fusang and Huaxia in their worlds-
Apparently, thanks to certain historical changes, the conflicts between Fusang and Huaxia in their worlds had not become the sort of blood feud that existed in his own, one that could only be washed away with blood.
Relations had eased, Huaxia had grown powerful, and the gap in living standards between the two countries widened by the day. Naturally, the people of Fusang, living in dire straits, desperately wanted their country to become part of Huaxia. But Fusang's government disagreed, and so did Huaxia's.
When people wanted something they could not have, resentment inevitably built up. That was why Itsuki Kawasumi had snapped at Chuan Wenwu earlier in the audience chamber after he announced where he came from.
Looking again at the other boy's scrawny, one-and-a-half-meter frame at seventeen years old, and considering his background, it was hard not to wonder whether malnutrition had left him like this... Chuan Wenwu decided to forgive him.
But the thought of them trying to imitate what Dongying had done in his original world to get their own Fusang "successfully" incorporated into Huaxia made Chuan Wenwu struggle to keep a straight face.
Had they considered that Huaxia in my original world might have made that exception precisely because its relationship with Dongying was bad enough?
After considering his words for a moment, he skirted the sensitive details. "That's right. In my world, the people of Fusang have integrated well into the Chinese nation. Everyone loves one another, lives in harmony, and enjoys a very happy life."
Because the ones who preferred invading and obstructing others had already been physically disposed of.
Seeing their envious faces and their desire to explore the subject further, Chuan Wenwu hurriedly cut them off and steered the conversation back on track:
"Stop, stop, stop... Guys, since we've already been summoned from different worlds to be heroes in this other world, can we focus on what's in front of us? Look how far off topic we've gone. Let's get back to the point-Motoyasu, Ren, Itsuki, you don't mind me calling you that, right?"
"Of course not. We're companions, after all~"
Chuan Wenwu nodded casually too. "Yeah, just call me Wenwu... What were we talking about again?"
Motoyasu Kitamura said, "Games. This world's setting is practically identical to Emerald Online!"
Itsuki Kawasumi said, "No, no, no. It should be Dimension Wave. This is a console game world."
Ren Amaki said, "What are you talking about? This is clearly Prabe Star (Heroic Superstar) Online!"
Surprisingly, all three had different opinions about which game this world resembled.
Chuan Wenwu: Wow.
Before you continue