Chapter 16. Progress
Sitting cross-legged on the cultivation mat, Michael couldn't help but swear at the previous bullshit novel authors pulling up numbers out of their asses.
He had been cultivating for almost an hour now, and except for feeling a slight difference in the speed with which he absorbed and converted Qi into Qi Strands, he wouldn't be able to tell the percentage increase even if his life depended on it.
'I was the idiot to believe in them, to begin with! Fuck! Ugh... maybe around a 5 to 10% cultivation speed increase? Considering my ridiculously low aptitude, the difference is almost negligible. As for eliminating impurities out of my spiritual roots... *Sigh* That might only be an advertisement to sell their product!'
Trying to keep his spirits up since he still had nine more Marrow-Cleansing pills to go through, he heard the alarm previously set on his smartwatch ringing.
'So a full hour passed, but I can still draw more Qi. It seems that after expelling some impurities, my limit increased!'
This happiness was also short-lived, as the initial 62 minutes only went up to 66—a four-minute increase.
'Well... beggars can't be choosers. If this sort of increase persists with the other nine pills, I'll almost double the time I am able to cultivate daily. In the long term, that means a higher chance of breaking into the Foundation realm before 50.'
His Qi recovery through meditation also increased somewhat.
The cultivation system of this world was relatively straightforward for the Qi Gathering realm. First, you cultivate to draw Qi into your body. Then, you circulate the said Qi through the pathways highlighted by your cultivation technique in an attempt to refine them.
Finally, when refined into a Qi Strand, push it into your lower Dantian - the area behind your belly button - and store it there.
A cultivator can use the Qi stored for various purposes, but once created and stored, the Qi Strand creates something similar to a mold in one's Dantian.
Therefore, when the Qi Strands are used up, the cultivators only have to meditate, draw Qi into their bodies, and push it straight into these molds to 'regenerate' them.
That's why, in his case, while it took him ten years to cultivate 600+ Qi Strands, he can spend only six hours to fully recuperate his consumed reserves through meditation.
Remembering he had a long day ahead of him tomorrow, Michael went to sleep.
-------Scene Break-------
With a somewhat annoyed expression, Michael pulled up the interface of the items he replicated with Mildred's help.
[ Item Name: Magic Wand
Item Type: Upgraded Accessory
Description: A simple wand used to channel magic energies, it is favored by apprentice wizards and great warlocks alike.
Cost: 625 gold coins
Resell Value: 312.5 gold coins
Attributes: +3 to All
Active Skill: Energy Charge
Skill Description: Instantly restores health and Qi per charge stored.
Max Charges: 20
The player gains a charge whenever a visible enemy within 120-meter range uses an ability.
Ability Effect: +20 Hit Points and Qi Points Restored per Charge
Can be assembled by combining 1 Magic Stick, 2 World Tree Branches, and the Magic Wand Recipe. ]
It still felt a bit clunky, but to Michael's surprise, after all these details were added, infusing Intent into the item was much easier.
That's how it was already February 22nd; a full week had passed, in which he did nothing else except help the A.I. conceptualize these items, after which he poured Qi into it like a construction worker on a job site.
With the last item wrapped up, he decisively disconnected from the deep-dive space. In Michael's brain, if he spent a second longer working, his mind might collapse.
Taking a quick shower and putting on a pair of casual pants and a clean T-shirt, he met Nolan and Selina in the building's lobby.
[Look who's here! I could've sworn you died. After all, I haven't heard as much as a peep from you this past week.](Nolan)
"Tsk! Don't pout. It's disgusting when you do it."
[Fuck!](Nolan)
[Still... I thought I was obsessed with working on my Secret Realm, but I have to bow in awe to Your Majesty. Seven full days of burying yourself in work... Aren't you afraid you'll develop mental issues?](Selina)
"Isn't that why I invited you both out? You two have been doing pretty much the same thing."
After collapsing most of his synapses working on rendering the items in his game, Michael decided to take a break by going out to see the city with these two.
Ever since he arrived in this world, he only focused on fitting in and finding a niche for himself. Now that both goals have been temporarily achieved, it is exploration time!
Smartly selecting the duo as 'guides,' he followed them around for the entire day. From the normal mortal pubs where they ate and drank, then went to an incredibly advanced 3D cinema to watch a movie about the demonic invasion from 20 years ago, and finally, partied until 2 a.m. in a nightclub.
Barely balancing his body as he exited the cab and entered the elevator, he almost smashed his forehead into the kitchen sink while confusing it for the one in the bathroom, somewhat successfully washed his face, and then passed out on the cultivation mat.
By the time he woke up the following day, it was already 11:42 a.m.
"Well, I'll be damned! The mind-clearing effect of the mat actually helps with the hangover. It seems like I owe that brat, Nolan. *Yawn*"
Scratching his belly, he drowsily walked to the kitchen and ravaged yesterday's leftovers.
With all the accumulated stress gone, he reconnected to deep-dive space and continued working.
This process of working himself close to death and then reviving by going out with the duo continued for another three weeks.
On March 16th, 2025, the '1v1' version of the game was ready to be launched.
In fact, it should've been ready two days ago, but both he and Mildred kept nitpicking on the small details, eventually wasting the extra time.
Actually... wasting wasn't an accurate description, as they identified and fixed a lot of problems.
For the first time, Michael felt the product was almost completed, and under 'Professor' Morano's insistence, he brought over the project to undergo a second Heavenly Laws recognition.
[*Sigh* There is no such thing as a perfect Secret Realm, Michael. Even if I gave you another week, you will still find things to improve and modify. That's the beauty of our profession. However, don't forget that the sect is sponsoring you for a reason. They need to see results; otherwise, it will be difficult to keep eating up their resources in the future.](Morano)
Embarrassed, he kept nodding to show his agreement. He knew he exaggerated with his desire for perfection before launching, but in his defense, it was mostly due to the incredibly bugged-at-launch games he kept playing in his past life.
As it was his first Secret Realm to be released on the market - if it successfully passed the sect's assessment - he didn't want to set a bad precedent.
Even if it would be the sect's reputation that takes a hit if the game is crappy and buggy, it would still be a big hit to his confidence.
'This past month has been incredibly fruitful.'
[ Host: Michael Lewis
Age: 19
Lifespan: 120.9 years (92.3 original lifespan + 28.6 added lifespan through cultivation)
Cultivation: 4th Level of Qi Gathering (37%)
Spiritual Roots: Inferior
Assets: 1 Spiritual Pouch (1 cubic meter), 5,000 spirit stones. ]
First, on March 2nd, he went and received his 'salary.' After sending 2,000 spirit stones to Mother Silvia's account, his assets returned to 5,000 spirit stones (2,000 previous balance and 3,000 new).
The second thing he was pretty delighted about was his cultivation progress. As he could only use the Marrow-Clearing pill every five days—mainly because the body and mind needed to heal after enduring the pain—he successfully used half of the batch he ordered.
With only five pills left for the future and a lot of impurities removed, his progress in this past month went up by 7%.
It wasn't a lot, but going by this standard, he only needed nine more months to reach the 5th level of Qi Gathering.
Finally, after using more than 80% of his time while awake to 'develop' the game, his checklist underwent a drastic change.
[ Checklist
1. Heroes - Concept and Intent (about 65% done)
2. Items - Concept and Intent (COMPLETED)
3. Island - Concept and Intent (about 90% done)
3. Neutral Creeps - Concept and Intent (about 65% done)
4. Regular Creeps (A.K.A. soldiers) - Concept and Intent (COMPLETED)
5. Neutral Items - Concept and Intent (about 75% done)
6. Leveling Mechanics - Concept and Intent (COMPLETED)
7. Combat Mechanics - Concept and Intent (COMPLETED)
8. NPC Interactions - Concept and Intent (about 85% done)
9. Skill Mechanics - Concept and Intent (COMPLETED)
10. Cosmetics and Monetization - Concept and Intent (about 65% done) ]
Except for the slight awkwardness when heroes verbally interacted with the NPCs - mostly since their Concept wasn't fully finalized - the neutral creeps and neutral items, which weren't very relevant to the 1v1 version, Michael had mostly reached the checkpoints needed to release the game on the market.
Obviously, only 81 heroes were ready to be played at the moment, but that was more than enough to satisfy the hungry customer base.
After a lot of back and forth with Mildred, he decided to temporarily forgo the idea of a Battle Pass or any other in-game microtransactions, as he was trying to build a decent reputation for himself, and shearing the players from the get-go was detrimental toward this goal.
[Why are you spacing out? Did you hear what I said?](Morano)
"Yes, senior. Thank you for explaining things to me. I know my mistakes."
[You... *Sigh* Nevermind. Let's go inside. Elder Melinda and another Elder from the Finance Branch are waiting for you.](Morano)
"Finance Department?"
[As I said, do you think it's easy to earn the resources of the sect without showing anything in exchange? Don't worry too much about it, though. The sect master was pleased with the last version we showed him. As long as you made some progress, there won't be any complaints. It's more of a routine visit, really.](Morano)
Slightly concerned, he followed behind Morano into the room, where he saw the beautiful Elder Melinda, with her golden locks and green eyes dancing as she laughed at the jokes the other Elder was making.
Unlike the middle-aged men - Morano and Elder Roland - this new face was much younger and had a charming aura about him.
Just with a few words, the beauty was eating from the palm of his hands. Either that, or she was interested in getting her monthly resource allowance increased.
[You're here, Michael! Come! I am curious to see how much your game has progressed so far. Did you bring the two versions like the last time?](Melinda)
"Greetings, seniors. Just the demo this time, I'm afraid. However, it's mostly finished. I need another week or two for more adjustments, and it can be pushed on the market."
[Hoh? That confident? What adjustments are left to be made?](Melinda)
"I still need to buy the Foundation and Golden Core-realm Combat Packages. Once those are applied, 99% of my work is complete. For the demo. The full version depends on how highly you rate the project based on what you see today."
[Hahaha! It seems that the full version will be something to look forward to.](Morano)
The new Elder remained quiet as he gestured for Morano to open the three boxes. Unsurprisingly, they were an Obelisk and two other 'attachments.'
After some 'cable work,' the three devices were connected and functional.
[Since Melinda mentioned the last time your project was tested, only Elder Roland managed to actually enter your Secret Realm, I borrowed these two devices from the main branch. With them, after the Obelisk completes the assessment, the three of us can each connect to a separate instance.](?)
[Thank you, Elder Brad, for your understanding. I initially thought we'd have to take turns, but it seems you've solved this problem quite easily.](Melinda)
Confirming that the beauty was either flirting or trying to flatter this pretty-faced Elder, Michael mentally shrugged and pressed his smartwatch on the scanning port.
After a quick download, the trio put on their headsets, and all three devices were activated.
As the trio entered the deep-dive virtual realm to wait for the game to start, the Heavenly Laws shone their light on the Obelisk.
'Hoh? Isn't this better than I expected?'
The 15-centimeter display showcased the results: 10th-level, or otherwise put, low-grade Advanced recognition!
Smiling gently as four different cameras recorded everything in the room, Michael calmly looked toward the huge display behind the three 'judges.'
The trailer for the game was reaching its end, and the Tutorial started.
'Let's see how these three newbies do. I'm really curious if any of them are daring enough to pick the Hard or Insane difficulty A.I.'
-------Scene Break-------
As it was his first time seeing this promotional video, Elder Brad was impressed by the newbie's daring and slightly attracted by the brutal fights presented in it.
But at the end of the day, a video is just a video. If the game mechanics are lacking, he had no option but to honestly explain the situation to the sect leader.