Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Curtains Rising 2
âSystem verified as first-time activation, please input username vocally, and the system will automatically encrypt your soul attribute as the password, no manual settings required.â
âThatâs some high-tech stuff!â Garen clicked his tongue appreciatively. Of all the many civilizations that he had experienced, the Mech World was the most technologically advanced. But this thing before him left that world in the dust. Evidently, there would always be something out there that was better.
âFor the username, letâs go with Greatsaber,â said Garen offhandedly.
âUsername confirmed, Greatsaber is already taken, please re-enter a username.â
âItâs already taken...â Garen touched his chin. âThen use Scarlet Snow.â
âScarlet Snow is already taken, please re-enter.â
âScarlet Snow Greatsaber!â
âSorry, this username is taken...â
âBlood Splatter Greatsaber!â
âSorry, this username is taken...â
âSaber King!â
âSorry, this username is taken...â
âSaber God!â
âSorry, this username is taken...â
âSaber Saint!â Garen was getting exasperated.
âSorry, this username is taken...â
âSaberâs all taken, then use Sword!â
âSaberâs All Taken, this username is available.â
â...â
Garen was beginning to doubt this system.
âConfirm username, âSaberâs All Takenâ?â
âConfirm.â He could not be bothered to waste more time on this.
Whoosh.
The silver button in front of him immediately projected a pyramidal 3D image.
The white image spun once, slowly, and a black lighthouse logo appeared in the middle of it.
âWelcome to the Lighthouse Systemâ
A row of words appeared in the very middle of the image, and they were actually written in the local language.
Immediately after that, a white screen that looked like a forum popped up.
It began with Trading Zone on the very top, followed by Quest Zone, Information Zone, and finally News Zone at the bottom. Four in total.
At the bottom right corner, by his personal account, there was an indicator stating his Contribution Points: 0.
Garen immediately pressed Quest Zone, and found two more options inside, Accept Quest or Submit Quest. He pressed Accept Quest, and was instantly hit by a barrage of information.
âForming a team to farm Little Hell Demons, price negotiable.â
âSunrise Celestial Technique World: Middle-ranking disciple from the Celestial Sect urgently requires Ultimate Yin ingredient in order to create an instrument, those in possession of any please mmm...â
âA regular martial artist from the Martial Arts World is hiring powerhouses to challenge dojos, the fee is one hundred points a day.â
âHigh altitude exploration quest: ruins discovered in this world, looking for someone to undo magical formation, price negotiable.â
...
Garen was a little overwhelmed by the long list of various quests, it looked like there were all sorts of quests from all sorts of worlds.
At the bottom, there were even quests asking for someone to bake a cake, ferment some wine, or plant something. There really was something for everyone.
He pressed one, and saw that it also contained the worldâs weakening degree.
Garen tapped the explanation, and instantly understood.
âMeaning this is how much each world reduces the visiting Transmigratorâs powers? Minus one means youâll be one level weaker, minus two means two levels.â
He quickly entered the Four Cornerstones World into the search bar, but it came up with no results. He did, however, see the information of this world in the user bar.
âWeakening degree of current world: -12 (all levels reduced by 12 levels, minimum level Mortal, Level Zero.)â
â...Tsk-tsk, twelve levels, no wonder itâs so crazy here, such an oppression is just downright nuts.â Garen bet that Kong Xinxue and crewâs wish to hire a powerhouse would go up in smoke, what kind of a powerhouse could withstand that twelve-level reduction and still manage to fight that so-called indestructible Slayer?
Even the six-thousand-year-old faerie, Nine-Tailed Fox, had been weakened so far as to become a regular person, what was more anyone else.
Garen did not consider himself in the equation, because people from the Ancient Endor Mother Stream System had to discard their previous powers and leave with only their souls, so they were forced to start over from scratch every time. That was completely normal to him.
But it was different for the other power systems.
Closing the Quest tab, he pressed the News tab next.
âDemon World Information Exchangeâ, â Xianxia 1 World Information Exchangeâ, âMartial Arts World Information Exchangeâ, âWilderness World Information Exchangeâ, âLatest Updates on World Changesâ
âEncyclopedia of Forbidden and Dangerous Areasâ.
There was a ton of information along those lines, all crammed in there.
Garen just browsed through them briefly.
There was also a page for asking questions and requesting help in the News tab.
Garen pressed it, and found a chatroom space. There were people chatting in there, but they seemed to be reaching the end of their conversation.
âThanks for your help, Silly Bear, I feel a lot better now. No matter how hard the going gets, Iâm still a Transmigrator, so I gotta still make something of myself!â â typed the user called Carlos.
âJust try your best! Good luck!â â Silly Bear replied encouragingly.
âHelp requested: Iâve been reincarnated as a sprig of grass in the middle of the road, and now I get run over every day, what do I do?â â Lilâ Grass.
â...â â Silly Bear.
âYou get used to it once you get run over enough times... My condolences.â â Flying Divine Wings.
âHelp requested: My mom was killed! My dadâs still outstation, I have a hoe and two water buckets, and I plan to fight them to the death, anyone got any good suggestions?â â Whole Family Died.
â...Do you know martial arts?â â Silly Bear
âNo, I just possessed this idiot kidâs body this morning, and in the afternoon...â â Whole Family Died.
â...Itâs a low martial arts world, huh... Itâs okay, itâll just hurt for a while. As long as your soul is unharmed...â â Gothra Number 1.
â.....â â Whole Family Died.
âExcuse me, anyone here knows how to make beans sprout?â â Beanie.
âYou wanna grow bean sprouts?â â Silly Bear.
âNah, I just accepted a quest, itâs a compulsory advancement quest from the academyâs teacher, every one of us has to germinate a hundred buckets of bean sprouts within twenty days... The teacher said that if a Sorcerer canât even make bean sprouts, they might as well go die!â â Beanie.
âWhat the heck does bean sprouting have to do with sorcerers!â â Silly Bear.
âYours sure is weird...â â Apollo.
âNo one would come here asking if it was a regular quest that wasnât weird... Câmon, help me out, Iâm dying here!â â Beanie.
Garen laughed as he read, compared to these tragic Transmigrators, he suddenly felt that his own adventures were perfectly great. His mood was a lot lighter, and more importantly, he no longer felt as though he was always the only one fighting, the only one moving forward. This sort of feeling gave him a true sense of belonging, and of acknowledgment.
Soon enough, another question popped up.
âHelp requested: I have Human-Level martial power, how do I defeat a Fire Demon unharmed?â â Snow Mountain
âWho do you think you are, Ximen Chuixue 2 !? If I can do it unharmed, why would I still be here? The heart core of a Fire Demon is worth two hundred Contribution Points per pop, why wouldnât I be out there earning it for myself?â â Kadaj
âMy wife cheated on me, my brothers teamed up to summon a Fire Demon to off me, and theyâre supported by the High-Speed Life Halo and Holy Prayer Light up there that my parents just cast. Câmon, guys, help me.â â Snow Mountain
â...Just how bad do you have it, your wife brothers and parents are all working together to get you!â â Kadaj
âI canât help it, issa long story.â â Snow Mountain
âHire someone.â â Silly Bear
âExcuse me, do I add soy sauce when frying tomatoes?â â Cooking God.
â...â â Kadaj
â...â â Snow Mountain
Garen laughed as he continued reading, constantly refreshing the chat history and the help requests since he had nothing better to do.
********************
Since he found out about Lighthouse, Garenâs mood has been getting even lighter. Whenever he had free time, he would constantly go through the news, information, and quests on the forums. Most of the quests required leaving this world and heading to another, and the transmigration process costs a fee in Contribution Points. The points needed to enter different worlds varied as well.
So now he still did not have points to let him transmigrate to other worlds, and besides, this world might still have that Soul Energy he was interested in. That was why he had no plans to leave for now.
But even so, he had managed to drastically widen his horizons.
He also knew now that other than the Mother Stream System, there were actually so many more different systems. Each of these systems started from the basics and moved on to the higher level studies, but of course they all required uniform Contribution Points.
Garen also set up a martial arts teaching course there, in which he explained some basic and common tips for martial arts. It was very useful for some rookie Transmigrators.
And before he knew it, his physical fitness had increased as well. The nourishment of the Soul Energy and the way his Saber Art trained his internal organs meant that he was soon at this bodyâs current limit. Plus, his Soul Limit had long since been increased to an average of fifty thanks to his Soul Seed, so even after he achieved the physical limits of the human body in this world, Garenâs physical fitness did not stop increasing. Instead, it continued to surge upward.
The days passed one by one, and Garen felt unprecedentedly fascinated and relaxed. His nerves, pulled taut over the past few worlds, also began to loosen up somewhat.
In these days of meaningless rest and relaxation, he also discovered, to his surprise, that the rate of his Soul Energy production was slowly starting to increase. The Soul Energy in his Soul Ring increased in speed and volume. It was clearly a result of the holistic work-play, yin-yang balance he had achieved.
And before he knew it, the thing that those Transmigrators called the Plot of this world, that which Garen had once called the fate of the general trend, finally started to move again.
*******************
In a small, dark alley in Lily of the Valley.
Silver Chain wore a black coat, a mask, and a cap, hiding his face completely as he sat beside the trash cans all alone.
The cries of the wild cats and dogs rose and fell in the night, and only a few passersby walked past the entrance of the alley in the distance. Other than that, there were no other noises.
These were Lily of the Valleyâs slum areas, and almost no one dared to just wander around the streets at night, because these streets were far from safe.
âSilver Chain.â A tall and slender blue-haired woman abruptly appeared at the alley entrance, staring coldly at Silver Chain, who was sitting on the floor.
Her hair was tied into a tall ponytail, her long hair tied into a bunch that cascaded down the back of her head. She wore blue pearl earrings, her long and narrow blue eyes giving off a contemptuous, arrogant air.
Tap.
The woman took one step forward. She wore a skintight, dark blue pants-suit, her tall black heels stepping down hard on the cement floor, clicking loudly.
âItâs you...â Silver Chainâs voice was hoarse, as he tilted his head to glance at the newcomer.
âYou disobeyed my orders,â said the woman coldly. âYou even killed the person sent to watch and warn you, so surely you must know what the consequences will be.â
âYou wanna kill me?â Silver Chain stood up without a single hint of emotion. âIâve been modified, do you really think you can still beat me?!â
âOf course, I wonât be the only one.â The womanâs smile was ice-cold.
Tap... tap... tap...
More footsteps came from behind Silver Chain.
He turned around, but he saw who had arrived, his pupils dilated abruptly.