[Conditions fulfilled… System synchronization complete — 100%]
[Money-Lending System successfully awakened]
[Host binding in progress… Binding complete]
[Scanning Host… 25%… 30%… 56%… 85%… 99%… 100%]
[Host scan complete]
[Status Interface established]
[Inventory Interface established]
[All system functions are now available]
[Beginner Package containing essential knowledge has been generated]
[Package successfully delivered to Inventory]
Rows of cold, emotionless mechanical voices startled me awake from my dream.
Instinctively gripping the thin straw mattress on the wooden kang bed, I looked around in a panic, searching for the source of the noise.
There was no one in sight.
"No one is here…"
I muttered to myself, feeling partially relieved yet deeply confused.
"But I heard the voice very clearly… ah-!"
[Would you like to check the Status Interface? Yes / No]
Without any warning, a faint glow gathered out of nowhere, slowly taking the shape of a translucent panel.
It hovered silently in midair, about an arm's length away from me.
Words written in an unfamiliar language appeared upon it, accompanied by the same cold voice I had heard in my head.
I gasped in shock.
Even though this was the first time I had ever seen these strange words, I could read them and understand them!
"English!"
I muttered in amazement.
These words were exactly the same as the ones I had seen in my dream.
The person from the other world had taught me how to read and write in this language during that dream!
Another word surfaced almost instinctively in my mind.
"System!"
The person from the other world had read stories like this on his magical device called a mobile phone.
I remembered him saying something about it.
"System is a golden finger… but… what is a golden finger?"
I frowned in confusion.
"Why is it called a finger? How is it different from my finger?"
I looked at my tiny fingers in my hands with confusion.
Even though I had inherited memories from the other world thanks to that kind person, I still couldn't understand most of the things within them.
Many words were far too complicated for me.
"Is it because I am too young to understand adult words?"
I tilted my head.
"Can adults understand them?"
There was no one around me as I pondered in confusion.
"What should I do with you?"
I asked directly toward the mysterious thing that had appeared out of nowhere, but it gave no response.
My eyes returned to the sentence asking whether I wanted to open the status interface.
"Status… video game…?"
Another memory surfaced.
Status screens often appeared in the video games that the kind person liked to play in his free time.
I remembered how magical it felt, so many colorful images appearing on a thin screen.
Those status windows showed numerical values of physical and magical abilities, along with detailed descriptions.
I tried to press the "Yes" option, but my finger passed straight through it, as if I were touching air.
"Whoaaa~!"
My mouth opened into an 'O' shape as I waved my hand through it again and again.
Each time, a strange buzzing sound echoed in my head.
"Haha… it's so fun!"
I laughed.
"I want to show it to Dad and Mo-Ah!"
Sudden realization struck me, freezing me in place.
"M-mom and Dad… they're both gone… to the gods…"
Tears welled up in my eyes as memories surfaced, my parents' smiling faces, how they hugged me every morning when I woke up early to greet them.
Placing my hand over my chest, I tried to console myself.
"It's okay… Even if Mom and Dad went to the gods, they will always watch over me from heaven… at least that's what Auntie Mei said…"
Thinking of Auntie Mei made my heart sink again.
I remembered how she had left me alone with my uncles and their family.
"Why did she leave me alone?"
I asked myself.
"Did my uncles threaten her?"
No answer came to mind.
I replayed everything that had happened yesterday.
"Uncle and Aunt want money. They don't care about me… I don't want to give away what my parents left for me… I can't do anything to them. They'll use my age as an excuse to steal my parents' assets soon…"
"They're afraid of outsiders interfering…"
"Outsiders…"
"Ah!"
Now that I thought about outsiders, I remembered Uncle Chen's parting words.
Little Tianyuan, if you need any help, come to Uncle immediately… no matter how trivial or how big it is…
Uncle Chen Guangyi was a true friend of my father.
In the past, whenever there was a chance, my father always spoke very highly of him.
During the funeral, after paying his respects to my parents, Uncle Chen stayed by my side for a long time, quietly watching my uncles' actions.
"Now that I think about it… as soon as Uncle Chen told me to come to him for help, Aunt's face twisted unnaturally…"
I murmured.
"She even went to speak with her husband after that…"
Perhaps because of the complicated memories of an adult lingering in my mind, I was able to slowly analyze patterns and discern what was happening around me.
Uncle Chen Guangyi was the owner of a pawn shop in Qinghe City.
He had many connections and always kept two strong men guarding him and his shop.
I had heard from my father that Uncle Chen once helped him draft a land purchase contract with a fair fee.
An idea immediately formed in my mind.
I wanted to rush to Uncle Chen's house at once, but I restrained myself.
It was still the middle of the night.
"I'll go to Uncle Chen first thing in the morning…"
Turning my attention back to the screen, I wondered aloud, "How can I select the option if I can't touch it? I want to choose 'Yes' though…"
As soon as the words left my mouth, another panel appeared, replacing the old one.
[-Status-
Name: Li Tianyuan
Age: 12
Cultivation: None
Spirit Root: Fire Spirit Root (poor quality)
Talent: Very Low
Fate Color: Gray
Fate Value: 15
Title: Host of the Money-Lending System
Destiny:
Li Tianyuan, son of humble merchants. After his parents were killed by evil cultivators, the entire fortune that should have belonged to him was stolen by his uncles. At the age of thirteen, he died miserably after confronting his cousin Li Wei and demanding his rightful inheritance. Despite being born with rare cultivation potential, his fate ended before it truly began.
However, due to unforeseen intervention, the fate of this individual has been greatly altered and has already gone beyond the written destiny. Further changes can no longer be discerned.]
"Heh?!!!"