NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 5
“Reality”
“June 17, Sheng Year 741, 18:44”
“Evaluation: Compared to the first simulation, your ability to gather intelligence has significantly improved in the second one. You’ve also started to become fearless in the face of death… Is this a good thing?”
“Accept it. This is the reward for those who are unafraid of death.”
“Reward: Mortality Points *3, [Death Reversal Lv.1]”
“Mortality Points: 14”
“Huff—”
A sharp intake of breath rang out as Xia’er sat up abruptly from the bed, her hands supporting her body.
The left side of her face still throbbed with phantom pain. No matter how composed she had acted earlier, the agony of torn flesh would not diminish in the slightest.
Xia’er ignored the system’s commentary and directly summoned the system interface within her mind.
“Simulation”
“Skills”
“Warehouse”
“Point Store”
She focused her consciousness on the Point Store, and a silvery translucent list unfolded before her. Several new items appeared in front of Xia’er.
Her gaze swept over the garments at the top of the list, pausing momentarily on an item that caught her attention.
It worked…
“[.450 Revolver (Veteran)]”
“Mortality Points: 1”
That cheap?
Xia’er blinked, finding it hard to believe what she saw. The graduation certificate and school uniform had both cost 1 Mortality Point, which she thought was absurdly steep for such ordinary items.
But when she saw that the revolver only cost 1 Mortality Point, she couldn’t help but feel skeptical.
If buying a piece of clothing for 1 Mortality Point felt like a rip-off, then purchasing a gun for 1 Point seemed far more worthwhile by comparison.
Still, given the system’s past tendencies, she suspected there must be some hidden catch.
“How many bullets are left in the gun?” Xia’er asked cautiously.
“Five-round cylinder, three bullets remaining.”
“If you want to buy bullets, they cost 1 Destiny Point each. Thank you for your patronage.”
Crazy if I bought from you.
It seemed the system’s value system differed greatly from Xia’er’s own ordinary perspective. Whether it was clothes, a gun, or even a bullet, everything seemed equally priced in the system’s eyes.
Only after interacting with more items could Xia’er better understand the system’s pricing rules for different objects.
Despite the revolver having only three bullets left, Xia’er decided to purchase it anyway. For now, it was the only thing that could provide her with a greater sense of security. Even though Mortality Points had other uses, she had no choice but to prioritize buying the gun.
“Purchase.”
Xia’er’s Mortality Point balance dropped from 14 to 13. After exiting the Point Store, she noticed a golden highlight in the upper-right corner of the “Warehouse” tab.
Upon opening the Warehouse, the four slots were no longer empty. In the first slot, the icon of the revolver appeared.
With a flick of her will, Xia’er extended her hand, and white light coalesced into the form of an old black revolver, which she now held firmly.
It was heavy, with a grip that was extremely uncomfortable for human ergonomics. The gun body bore several scratches, and even the trigger seemed loose, yet it was well-maintained, its surface gleaming faintly.
It looked just like the firearms from the late 1800s of her previous life, aligning with Xia’er’s understanding of the current era.
She had always assumed she lived in a parallel version of London, but now it was clear that this was no longer the ordinary world she once knew.
There were mafia bosses orchestrating bizarre “rituals” to assassinate her. Coupled with information from Milla’s letter about the mafia collaborating with church followers, plus the existence of the system itself, Xia’er couldn’t help but question whether extraordinary abilities truly existed in this world.
No matter what kind of hidden truths lay behind this reality…
Human dangers are something one must first find a way to overcome in the present.
Xia’er returned the pistol to the warehouse and opened her “Skills” interface, checking the new skill she had just acquired.
Besides the initial “Agility Lv.1,” there was now an additional “Death Resistance Lv.1.”
“Death Reversal Lv.1: When you’re about to die, all negative statuses will be cleared, consuming a large amount of Spirit Power to forcibly maintain survival in a near-death state for a short period. If spirit power is depleted without escaping the near-death condition, death occurs.”
A forced extension of life by a few seconds…
Xia’er stared at this skill with a somewhat odd expression.
If this were in a game, this would undoubtedly be a god-tier skill, something reserved for ultimate moves.
But for her current situation, this skill was nothing more than a useless appendage.
In the simulation, if she died, these extra seconds wouldn’t change much—perhaps only allowing her to gain some additional information.
In real life, if she sustained a fatal injury, those extra seconds would be practically useless; performing emergency first aid within such a short time would be nearly impossible.
However, thinking positively, this skill could at least be used in simulations to lock blood (health), grab equipment or items, or even trade life for crucial intelligence.
While the initial Agility merely enhanced physical attributes, this Death Reversal was truly on par with Extraordinary abilities.
Moreover, Xia’er noticed that next to these skills, there was a small golden “+” sign glowing.
As soon as her consciousness touched the “+” sign, a system prompt appeared before her.
“Would you like to consume 10 Mortality Points to upgrade [Death Reversal]?”
No.
Xia’er firmly declined.
She only had 13 Mortality Points left, enough for just one simulation. If the next simulation didn’t bring significant improvement, it would almost mean losing the chance to simulate again.
Currently, aside from simulations, she hadn’t mastered any other methods to obtain Mortality Points, and the pressing time didn’t allow her to leisurely search for ways to acquire them.
Rogue Yian had been targeting Xia’er six months ago, always trying to provoke her and her sister, behaving in a thoroughly obnoxious manner determined to pick a fight. Now, it seemed this wasn’t a coincidence.
The Black Water Party approached her during the second simulation but didn’t kill her sister in the marketplace as they did in the first simulation. This was different from the previous run.
The sole difference between these two instances was that the person who killed Yian had changed—it was now her.
Could it be that the so-called “Ritual’s” requirement was that either she or her sister had to kill Yian to start? Was that why Yian went out of his way to provoke them?
What if she and her sister were both in the marketplace? At the police station? Or even at a noble friend’s house? Would the ritual still proceed?
If possible, Xia’er would try each scenario.
But the dwindling number of Mortality Points reminded Xia’er that if the next simulation didn’t yield substantial changes and earn enough points, she wouldn’t have enough points to continue simulating.
Instead of choosing to flee and gamble on possibilities, relying on luck to exploit loopholes that the enemy might have meticulously planned for half a year—timing her death down to the minute—Xia’er leaned toward another option.
An option that the enemy couldn’t possibly anticipate.
To strike back.
Xia’er took a deep breath, summoned the System Interface internally, and opened the “Simulation.”
The timing for each simulated day varied, so she needed to know whether the next simulation would be set tomorrow, the day after, or even today, to plan accordingly.
“Future Day: 10h (Sheng Year 741, June 18th, 4:45) (Consumption: 10 Mortality Points)”
“Past Day: 30 Days (Sheng Year 741, May 16th, 7:30) (Consumption: 100 Mortality Points)”
“Older Day: ***, *** Days (???) (Consumption: 10,000 Mortality Points)”