Chapter 8: Level Up

[Congratulations!

You have leveled up.

Scam Level: 1

(150/250 Experience Points)

Level Up Reward: "Basic Scamming Guide" received]

[Quest: "Get to Scam Level 1" completed.

Reward: "Communication Skills Menu" unlocked]

'"Communication Skills Menu"? "Basic Scamming Guide?" These don't seem related to cultivation; there is a scamming guide so I guess the communication skills menu is also related to scamming?'

Eric was intrigued but he decided to put this aside till he got home.

It was time for him to return home, take a bath and eat breakfast anyways, so he temporarily forgot about the rewards and walked back home, awaiting Jane's delicious cooking.

***

Back in his room, after eating yet another delicious breakfast, Eric opened the Scam System to check what his rewards really were.

He decided to check the guide first and thought about it in his mind. Instantly, a screen appeared with a bunch of text on it, which Eric carefully started reading.

[Basic Scamming Guide

A scam is basically a deal wherein one party manipulates it so that they benefit way more than the other party. A scam is successful when the other party falls for the trap and doesn't catch the scammer in the act.

In order to perform a successful scam, one's communication skills will definitely play a huge part; consequently, the higher one's communication skills, the higher their success rate while scamming.

There are three primary communication skills: Persuasion, Intimidation and Charm.

Persuasion

Persuasion deals with using your intelligence to make the target believe you and is the most commonly used tactic while scamming.

Persuasion works with all sorts of targets and doesn't have any specific target audience with a higher affinity.

This corresponds to the cultivation of the Mind.

Intimidation

Intimidation deals with using your strength and power to make the target submit to you.

Intimidation works best with targets which are weaker than your own level of strength.

This corresponds with the cultivation of the Soul.

Charm

Charm deals with using your attractiveness in order to make the target infatuated towards you.

It works best against targets of the opposite sex to you or other targets interested in your sex.

This corresponds with the cultivation of the Body.

The most basic way to upgrade these skills would be to excel in the corresponding field of cultivation; such as having a higher level of soul cultivation than your target would allow you to constantly put pressure on them to intimidate them and increase the success rate of the scam.

There are, indeed, other methods to increase these communication skills, but they are not a part of this guide. For now, you should focus on using your common sense and logic to scam your targets, as well as the previously mentioned most basic method: having a higher cultivation level than your enemies, to increase your communication skills.

Check the "Communication Skills Menu" for more information regarding this topic.]

The text finished and Eric was lost in thoughts.

These three basic communication skills being related to the three paths of cultivation; the way they were mentioned as different fields or types instead of different paths of cultivation; the three communication skills not being exclusive like the paths of cultivation; the origins of the Scam System and the extent of its abilities, all of these questions were flooding Eric's mind.

He was quite simply overwhelmed by all this information.

'Why does nobody talk about or know these three communication skills which are tied to the three paths of cultivation? Is it possible to practice all three paths of cultivation at the same time? If yes, why are the people here not doing that? Is the Scam System hiding some sort of secrets of the world?'

Eric's thoughts raced in his head as he felt like some sort of a conspiracy theorist. Till this point onwards, he had only treated the system as some kind of 'plot armor like ability' he had received while mysteriously getting transmigrated to this game world.

He had not yet considered the situation to be more complex than what he had imagined.

Calming his mind down, Eric opened the Communication Skills Menu and checked what it exactly was.

[Communication Skills Menu

Communication Skills are measured in points, which depend on two primary aspects: cultivation level and rewards from previous scams.

Every minor realm gives you one point in the respective communication skill; and every 100 experience points earned from scamming using a certain skill gives 1 point of the respective skill.

In case of multiple communication skills being used in one scam; both will be given points, based on the contribution of each skill.

The user will start off with one point in each category from default.]

The screen progressed and displayed his current amount of points for each communication skill.

[Persuasion: 3

Intimidation: 1

Charm: 1]

Eric was surprised to see that the points from his two previous scams were counted, not that he minded it.

He also realized how as the System updated and added new functions, the world became more like a game. Having certain stats that alter how NPCs react to and interact with Players was something quite common in games.

Taking in all the information he had just been given, Eric realized one thing: the Scam System was way more complex than what he had initially imagined.

'Well, looks like I should try to improve my Communication Skills as well. The first level up and quest's rewards were pretty good. Going forward, they would be even better than now.'

After what he had found out that day, Eric seemed to have matured a bit and his determination to get stronger only increased.

'Oh, I almost forgot!' Eric remembered as he took out the bag of herbs from his inventory, 'Let's make use of these Qi Gathering Herbs.

I feel like I'm getting closer and closer to breaking through to the 1st Layer of the Spirit Apprentice Realm. With the effects of these herbs, it will only take me one or two days from now.'

He took one herb in his hand and ate it in one bite. In an instant, he felt his entire body light up and the speed at which he absorbed Qi drastically increased. Pleased by the herb's effects, Eric started cultivating with full concentration for an hour.

Like this, he kept on resetting the herb's effect by taking a single herb out of his inventory at a time and ingesting it every hour as soon as the previous herb's effect ran out.

After 4 hours of cultivation, he felt tired and lay down on his bed, looking out the window into the sky.

It had only been a couple days since he had arrived in this world and he had already adjusted quite well and had serious determination towards a goal. Compared to his previous self, Eric couldn't help but feel proud.

'I've really improved from before. It feels like I have accomplished more in less than a week here than 24 years on Earth.

Initially, I found this kind of life strange and awkward, especially because the voice called it a game, but now… I've seemed to grow fond of it… Maybe, I like it here more than back on Earth…'

Before he got lost in his own thoughts, a notification from the Scam System interrupted his thoughts and brought his attention back to here.

[New Quest: Breakthrough to the Spirit Apprentice Realm

Task: Achieve the Spirit Apprentice Realm of Soul Cultivation

Time Limit: 3 days

Completion Reward: Apprentice Qi Pill (1)

Failure Penalty: None]