Chapter 2. Choosing a Profession

Returning to the present, Michael checked his smartwatch. Pressing on the touchscreen, a small blue window popped up, presenting a virtual 3D interface.

It was August 9th, 2024, and he had been waiting in line since 7:20 a.m. this morning.

Fortunately, the weather was good, albeit slightly hot. 

Absentmindedly replying to the 'thug' trying to make small talk, he looked back to his waist with strange eyes.

'Does this even count as a system?'

Two days ago, he heard the system's 'voice' for the first and last time. As mentioned, Michael received a 'gift' in the form of a small spatial pouch and 100 spirit stones.

That's it! No skills, talents, divine cultivation methods, epic jobs, or soul grandpa to guide him... nothing!

Rubbing the bridge of his nose while trying hard not to curse and look like an asshole in the middle of the crowd, Michael luckily escaped the need to chat with the one-shoe guy, as it was the man's turn to be 'interviewed.'

Mentally calling his status page, another deep breath followed as he tried hard to stay calm.

[ Host: Michael Lewis

Age: 18

Lifespan: 120.9 years (92.3 original lifespan + 28.6 added lifespan through cultivation)

Cultivation: 4th Level of Qi Gathering (23%)

Spiritual Roots: Inferior

Assets: 1 Spiritual Pouch (1 cubic meter), 100 spirit stones. ]

More? Haha! There was nothing more to show according to this trash system, it seems!

Feeling his stress levels increasing further, he closed the interface.

As for the 'newbie package' he got, it couldn't be called good, but it couldn't be called bad, either.

After some digging around, he found out that the monthly income of a family with Golden Core cultivators actively hunting for demons and beasts was somewhere around 35 - 40 spirit stones. 

Obviously, those with more noble professions would make much more. Depending on their tier, an Alchemist, Forgemaster, Talisman maker, or Array Master would make at least double that amount at the same cultivation realm.

His parents managed to save only 1,200 or so spirit stones during the past ten years after tightening the belt to the point where it affected their own cultivation, wishing to support their children.

Grant Lewis was a Sword Cultivator who fought on the frontlines against invading demons. He brought in 25 spirit stones monthly, mostly because it was a dangerous job with a fairly high risk of death.

As for his mother, Silvia, she was a Tier 2 Alchemist. Unfortunately, despite her talent in this field, having two children severely affected her practice. With Michael's Inferior-grade spirit roots, he needed at least three times the usual amount to cultivate when compared to a Normal-grade root.

Then, five years ago, Roderick's talent was exposed, prompting them to throw most of their life savings to provide him the best chance for the future. Marrow-Cleansing Pills, a Tier 3 Spirit Gathering Array in his room - which not even Father Grant had - a Nascent Soul-level cultivation technique bought at a discounted price from a large sect, with the promise of having their son join once he reached 18, and TONS of resources to help the little brat advance smoothly through the levels.

After running the numbers two days ago and asking his father, Grant admitted that the money spent on his younger brother should amount to somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 spirit stones, at least according to his parents.

Checking online the prices of the array and the cultivation technique, the math wasn't mathing. At full price - if you could find one - a Nascent Soul-level cultivation manual would cost 15,000 to 20,000 spirit stones. 

A Tier 3 Spirit Gathering array implied finding a Golden Core-level Array Master and inviting them to install it. The general prices he found online were around 6,000 to 7,000 spirit stones.

After putting some pressure on both parents, they revealed that they sold the house Silvia got from her parents as dowry, explaining why they moved to this apartment four and a half years ago.

He wasn't jealous of his 'genius' brother since his mentality as a 32-year-old man wouldn't allow for it. He was a bit bummed about his incompetence, but after running the numbers, his parents should have spent at least 2,000 to 3,000 spirit stones in cultivation materials for him, even with his poor spirit roots.

Why did that happen? Because the previous host was stubborn and wanted to try. His parents agreed. One dared to try, while the others dared to support it...

Returning to the situation at hand, Michael saw the 'thug' almost done with his paperwork and realized it was almost his turn.

His presence here was due to the 'vocation' recruitment the local sect was conducting. The six different queues represented the six different occupations the Bright Moon sect was hiring for.

There were the popular Alchemist, Beast Tamer, Forgemaster, Array Master, Talisman Maker, and Programmer. 

That's right! Programmer was a goddamn cultivator's occupation in this world! However, it wasn't simple coding that one needed to do since that part could be easily solved with the help of an A.I. 

[Next!](?)

"Hello."

[Name.](?)

"Michael Lewis, sir."

[Hello, kid. I'm Atlas. Cultivation level and spirit roots?](Atlas)

"4th Level of Qi Gathering and Inferior roots, sir."

The burly man finally lifted his head from the tablet he was scribbling on and looked at the young man before him. Michael didn't see the usual pity or scorn you read about in the novels, which made him breathe in relief. 

[Hmm... Why chose Programmer?](Atlas)

"Because I lack talents in the other areas. I should have a fair chance in this field, though."

[Oh? What makes you that confident?](Atlas)

"Haha! I guess I won't be able to convince you with words, sir. It will be easier to prove it later."

[Heh. If you're sure, it's 20 spirit stones for the training course. Pay up and join the others.](Atlas)

Taking out the amount from his pouch, he paid the woman standing next to Atlas while the man continued with the person behind him.

[My name is Mina. Before I accept the spirit stones, I want to make sure you are aware of the implications, Michael.](Mina)

"Yes, Miss. Please go ahead."

[Mhm. First off, your spiritual roots are pretty bad, and the Qi transmission required as a Programmer would be significantly impacted. That means you'll have to work at least 5 - 6 times more than the others for the same project, while the end result might not be even 70% of theirs. Do you understand that?](Mina)

"Yes, Miss."

[Mhm. Then, irrelevant of the specialization you chose, the training course will last for six months. Whatever you learn in these six months is entirely up to you. There won't be a designed tutor for each and every one of you; instead, there will be weekly lectures and online resources for you to study. Do you understand that?](Mina)

"Yes, Miss."

[Mhm. Then, finally, regardless of your end result, if you are satisfied or not with the level of progress you've made as a Programmer, we take no responsibility for it. If, after these six months, you cannot reach even the most entry-level proficiency as a Programmer, no matter how much of a fuss you kick up, you won't be refunded your tuition fee. Do you understand that?](Mina)

"Yes, Miss."

[Good. Here's the spiritual contract. After reading it, sign your name at the bottom and infuse a strand of Qi in it.](Mina)

Taking the contract, he moved to the table behind the front counter and sat down to read through the paper. He wasn't worried the Bright Moon sect would trick him into a shoddy contract since, in this world, sects were pretty much equal to local governments back on Earth.

Instead of countries, there were Cultivator Alliances, with over 120 such organizations spanning the Green Sanctuary, and sects acted as the governing bodies of cities.

The Bright Moon sect was responsible for the Riverview city he was living in.

After ten minutes of curiously reading through the words written with Spiritual Ink, Michael signed his name at the bottom and placed his finger on the bottom right corner of the contract, squeezing a strand of Qi and sending it into it.

It was difficult to explain how he could use Qi or even cultivate - since he extensively tried that in the past six days, hoping his transmigration somehow affected his cultivation potential.

There was no such 'Deus Ex Machina,' unfortunately, but he could control the strands of Qi inside his body, draw the Qi from the air, and compress it into more strands inside his Dantian. 

If he had to put it into words, it was akin to breathing. He knew how to breathe back on Earth, and he knew how to breathe in this new world as well. As for cultivating, after he inherited the previous host's memories, it was similar to a conditioned reflex.

Handing over the signed contract to the third person, Michael nodded his head in greeting.

"Hello."

[Hello. I'm Anna. Have you already decided on a specialization?](Anna)

"Yes, Miss Anna. Secret Realm Manufacturing."

This was the culmination of six days spent researching and trying to find a path for himself in this familiar yet strange world.

As the name implies, Secret Realm Manufacturing was a state-of-the-art virtual system that cultivators could connect to and train in.

It was similar to full-dive games he read about in online novels, with a slight difference: cultivators could not only improve their combat standards and practice new skills/spells inside, but they could also stabilize, fortify, and even advance their cultivation while inside.

To create such a thing, a Programmer would write the code with the help of an A.I., while the person himself would infuse his Qi and something called 'intent' into the project.

By doing so, the virtual Secret Realm would work in a similar manner to a Spirit Gathering array. Once the downloaded 'program' was installed and the hardware was used, the intent infused in the Secret Realm would activate and draw Qi to the user.

The details he found online were quite vague, not fully explaining what intent was and how such a thing could attract Qi since it was only a virtual program at the end of the day, but this training course he signed up for should provide more in-depth details.

[I see. Hmm... only four people so far have signed up for this specialization, you being the fifth. The classes start tomorrow at 8 a.m. A Tier 2 Programmer will give you an introduction and explain what materials you need to learn next. Any questions?](Anna)

Shaking his head, he received a message with an address for the location where his 'classes' would be held, bade farewell to the young woman, and left.

He made this decision carefully after researching online what these Secret Realms were used for and how they looked. He even downloaded a free demo of such a 'program,' curious to see how it worked.

Suffice it to say he was mindblown after trying one of the most basic Tier 1 Secret Realms and found himself in the middle of a jungle. The smell of trees, the taste of a leaf, the feeling of the stuffy tropical air as he tried to move the flora out of his way and advance deeper... it was absolutely insane!

He almost thought he had transmigrated for a second time, only to be brought back to reality after the headset he borrowed from his younger brother disconnected him from the Secret Realm. After all, the demo lasted only five minutes, enough to tantalize the mind and make one yearn for more.

What stupefied him even further was the lack of games in this world. He thought that with this technology in place, there would be incredible shooters or RPG games to try.

Unfortunately, no matter how much he searched, nothing of the sort existed.

The closest he got were some Secret Realm offshoots, also known as failed products made by Qi Gathering newbies trying to reach industry standards.

Even in those fake games, everything was still based around rather plain settings, such as sitting at the top of a mountain and cultivating, fighting against a beast, which was incredibly repetitive and boring from what he saw in a video online, and some training grounds that allowed the users to experiment with their skills and spells indefinitely.

It took a couple more hours of research to find out how this could be since the technology was this advanced, and the reason was rather... simple.

Invasions.

To this day, starting from 15,000 years ago, when this world underwent its first evolution, the Green Sanctuary and its human inhabitants had to continuously fend off invasions from other demonic realms.

They would happen very often, with the longest 'break' the cultivators had being two years and five months. Whenever one of these invasions happened, an actual Secret Realm would be formed, which would act as a pocket dimension for cultivators and demons to use as a battlefield.

Therefore, throughout the years, humanity's efforts in developing cultivation and technology were primarily for the sake of staying alive.

They could do that by venturing inside these Secret Realms whenever they appeared and continuously fending off the demons inside for long periods of time.

'That's why nobody had time to play games. Instead, everyone tried to become stronger and contribute to society.'